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THE LATEST

8 “Detail-Disoriented” Dave Rice couldn’t get his players to

stick to the script, and it cost him his

dream job. By MIKE GRIMALA

1 0 “Technically Speaking” CES extols the virtue of

a plugged-in world.

By LISSA TOWNSEND RODGERS

1 2 “A Theory for Sheldon” How will its new owner influence

the Review-Journal?

Politics by MICHAEL GREEN

Plus … Seven Days, The Deal,

Ask a Native and Style.

NIGHTLIFE

2 1 “Animal Style” UK bred, L.A.-based DJ Jackal

goes worldwide on the web.

By KAT BOEHRER

Plus … Seven Nights and photos

from the week’s hottest parties.

DINING

3 7 “Good Morning, Henderson!” Two new reasons to rise and

shine in the Southeast.

By AL MANCINI

Plus … wild spins on eggs Benedict,

Dishing With Grace and Drinking.

A&E

4 3 “Wzup! Martin Lawrence Returns” The comedy star talks about his favorite

Martin character and those Bad Boys 3

rumors. By ZONEIL MAHARAJ

Plus… Seven’s 14, an appreciation

of David Bowie and looking forward

to Painted Stories.

4 8 “Aesthetic Evidence Finds Beauty in the Breakdown” Decay in the desert is a theme of

Julian Kilker’s new photo exhibit.

By AMBER SAMPSON

SEVEN

QUESTIONS

5 4 Emmy Award winner Lucie Arnaz

talks about her parents, her dad’s native

Cuba and a special part of Lucy-Desi

history that will accompany her to

The Smith Center.

FEATURE

“The Comeback City”Will electric cars and the Elon Musk-backed Hyperloop be the game changers North Las Vegas needs to get the storied city off life support once and for all? By EMMILY BRISTOL

J A N U A R Y 1 4 – 2 0 , 2 0 1 6C O N T E N T S

Cover photo illustration by

Ryan Olbrysh.

16A rendering of Hyperloop Technologies’ pod in dock.

PUBLISHED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE OBSERVER MEDIA GROUP

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Vegas Seven is distributed each Thursday throughout Southern Nevada

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P U B L I S H E RMichael Skenandore

E D I T O R I A LEDITORIAL DIRECTOR Nicole Ely

MANAGING EDITOR Genevie Durano

SENIOR EDITORS Paul Szydelko, Xania Woodman

SENIOR EDITOR, A&E Geoff Carter

SENIOR WRITER Lissa Townsend Rodgers

STAFF WRITER Emmily Bristol

CALENDAR COORDINATOR Ian Caramanzana

S E N I O R C O N T R I B U T I N G E D I T O RMelinda Sheckells (style)

C O N T R I B U T I N G E D I T O R SMichael Green (politics), Al Mancini (dining),

David G. Schwartz (gaming/hospitality)

A R TCREATIVE DIRECTOR Ryan Olbrysh

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Cierra Pedro

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Anthony Mair, Krystal Ramirez

V E G A S S E V E N . C O MTECHNICAL DIRECTOR Herbert Akinyele

ENGAGEMENT EDITOR Zoneil Maharaj

SENIOR WRITER, RUNREBS.COM Mike Grimala

WEB PRODUCER Jessie O’Brien

ASSISTANT WEB PRODUCER Amber Sampson

P R O D U C T I O N / D I S T R I B U T I O NDIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION/DISTRIBUTION Marc Barrington

ADVERTISING MANAGER Jimmy Bearse

DISTRIBUTION COORDINATOR Jasen Ono

S A L E SBUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Christy Corda

DIGITAL SALES MANAGER Nicole Scherer

ACCOUNT MANAGER Brittany Quintana

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Robyn Weiss

Ryan T. Doherty | Justin Weniger

PRESIDENT Michael Skenandore

VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING AND EVENTS Keith White

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Sherwin Yumul

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Sim Salzman

CONTROLLER Jane Weigel

LAS VEGAS’ WEEKLY CITY MAGAZINE | FOUNDED FEBRUARY 2010

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Tech will not only provide an economic boost to the region, it will demonstrate that Apex is the ideal location for vi-sionary technology businesses.”

But Hyperloop is just the tip of the high-tech iceberg.

The announcement that same month that Faraday Future would start build-ing a $1 billion factory that will occupy 3 million square feet at Apex is an even bigger deal than Hyperloop, which is a temporary project.

“I think those two projects are going to be transformative for North Las Ve-gas, particularly in the sense of Apex,” Sandoval says. “Apex has always been about potential, and now we fnally have an opportunity to realize that po-tential. There have been several major companies that have looked at South-ern Nevada, but we didn’t have the infrastructure here to accommodate them. We now have that.”

That infrastructure came in large part from a package of bills, amounting to $335 million in tax incentives and infrastructure improvements, passed at a Nevada Legislature Special Session last month.

Faraday, which debuted its concept vehicle at the Consumer Electron-ics Show on January 4, is expected to have its 100 percent electric cars roll-ing off the assembly line in 2017. The company will be moving some of its current employees from California to Nevada and will staff up to 4,500 employees—half of whom will be lo-cals—at peak production, says Fara-day Future spokeswoman Stacy Mor-ris. Another estimated 9,000 indirect jobs could be created as well. The frst shipments of parts from California are expected this month.

That kind of job creation is not only a boon for North Las Vegas, but also the entire region. The Faraday factory is expected to spur economic growth of $85 billion during its frst 20 years. The state projects $230 million to pour into its general fund and another $270 mil-lion going into local coffers.

“To have an advanced manufactur-ing facility that is the frst of its kind, right in North Las Vegas, will be an incredible beneft for the residents there,” Sandoval says. “We’ll have Ne-vadans building those cars. These aren’t being built in Germany. They aren’t being built in Detroit. They’re being built in North Las Vegas.”

But many wonder if it will be enough to save North Las Vegas.

“I don’t know if I’d use the word ‘save,’ but it’s defnitely going to bring it back. I mean, it can’t help but do that,” San-doval says.

*****

north las vegas has always been the younger, scrappier sibling to Las Vegas.

offcially incorporating 70 years ago, the site of the city has had many incarnations. It all started when Utah rancher Thomas L. Williams bought 140 acres of desert north of Las Vegas for $8 an acre and eventually created 18

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From top: Faraday’s factory concept, the FFZERO1 concept

car, Hyperloop rendering.

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Your city after dark, photos from the week's hottest parties and inside XS’ artist relations

NIGHTLIFE

Animal StyleUK bred, L.A.-based DJ Jackal goes worldwide on the web

By Kat Boehrer

➜ MIKEY PENNINGTON has come of age in the age of social media, a now-integral tool used by musicians to push their work—and their careers—for public consumption. Pennington (Jackal onstage and online) says his favor-ite social outlet is Twitter, where he posts his artistically aggressive, often caps-locked stream of consciousness. But he’s also capable of speaking (and in more than 140 characters) about the upsides and pitfalls of conducting a brand on the Internet. Follow him on Twitter and Ins-tagram at @JackalProducer, and catch him playing Hard Rock Live with Brillz and Party Favor on February 13.

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THU 14Can you believe we’re already two weeks into the New Year? It seems like only yesterday we were making bad decisions and making new acquaintances while seeing some of the best talent in the world. The hands on the clock just keep spinning, don’t they? They’re like vinyl records. Speaking of, you can watch turntable technician DJ Sam

I Am spin actual records as part of the Sayers Club’s White Label

Thursdays. Tonight’s theme is West Coast classics, so come prepared by rockin’ your Chucks, ironing your khakis and sipping on a few 40s. Westsiiide! (In SLS, 10 p.m.,

TheSayersClubLV.com.)

FRI 15R&B songstress Erykah Badu performs at Brooklyn Bowl. We still can’t get enough of “Cell U Lar Device,” her take on Drake’s “Hotline Bling,” which appeared among other phone-related bangers on her But You Caint Use

My Phone mix tape. It’s a refresh-ing reimagining of the Toronto rapper’s meme-generating hit that takes it a step further by blending the cover with her 1997 hit, “Tyrone.” We shouldn’t expect anything less from @FatBel-lyBella who is known for her exuberant, eclectic personality. Experience some of that tonight, and fall in love with songs such as “Bag Lady” and “On & On” all over again. (At the Linq, 7:30 p.m.,

Vegas.BrooklynBowl.com.)

SAT 16At Hakkasan, you can witness one of the greats blow out the candles. Dutch turntable master Tiësto celebrates his 47th birthday a day early. You’d think the man would push off turning the big 47, but we applaud him for jumping the gun because it’s got a sort of lovable youthfulness to it. Speaking of, remember when he teamed up with Martin Garrix to crash a boat into David Guetta’s dock? That was fun, even if it did cost them a few thousand bucks to repair every-thing. See if he’ll do any childish pranks tonight. We anticipate he’ll pull some funny business when he drops “Secrets.” Wish him a happy birthday and then pull some pranks of your own. (In MGM Grand, 10 p.m.,

HakkasanLV.com.)

SUN 17They say, “consistency is key,” right? We’re not sure who “they” are in this instance, but the quote rings true. Just ask Hot 97.5’s DJ Franzen, who has been steadily rocking the SunDrai’s party on a regular basis. He recently posted a photo of the venue on Instagram, with a caption saying that he’ll be spinning every Sunday in 2016. Catch one of those sets tonight, and if you miss out, don’t worry—you’ve got 49 other chances to see him. (In the Cromwell, 10:30 p.m.,

DraisNightlife.com.)

MON 18This week’s edition of XS’ forward-thinking Movement Mondays series is helmed by Los Angeles’ mix maestro RL Grime. He’s been keeping a low-profile lately by playing sporadic shows, tweeting sparingly, and occasionally drop-ping a remix every now and then. We’re thinking he’s just waiting to

unleash a secret weapon of new tunes to add to our playlists. If any of them are as good as Void’s rambunctious “Valhalla” or climatic “Golden State,” we’re excited. See if he debuts any tonight. (In Encore,

10 p.m., XSLasVegas.com.)

TUE 19 By now, you should be fully aware of Bernie Sanders’ cam-paign slogan, “Feel the Bern.” The Democratic presidential hopeful's slogan is practically everywhere: on bumper stick-ers, T-shirts, headlines and, of course, tweets. Even Run the Jewels rapper Killer Mike has a lot to say about the man. But what about Burns? Ever since signing to Calvin Harris’ Fly Eye label in 2011, he’s facing a similar phenomenon. Calvin’s co-sign allowed the two to remix each other’s songs, and land him residencies in Las Vegas while touring the country. BURNS, the bearded beatmaker, recently teased us with an Instagram

photo of him creating new music in the studio, so you can safely anticipate hearing a few tonight. If the party gets too hot, shift the party to Heart of Omnia and catch DJ Shift instead. (In Caesars Palace, 10:30 p.m.,

OmniaNightclub.com.)

WED 20Isn’t it crazy how A Tribe Called Quest created an entire song re-volving around politeness? In “Can I Kick It?” Q-Tip and Phife Dawg graciously ask listeners if they are able to rap before dropping bars and bars of ’90s hip-hop heat. Co-incidentally, that’s also the name of the Wednesday parties at Vanguard Lounge. Can I Kick It? features sets by local DJ/producer duo Byra

Tanks and mix master Zack the

Ripper. With a party as outrageous as this, it’s no wonder the downtown hot spot named a weekly party after a bona fide ’90s hip-hop classic. Feel free to get wild; just remember to be polite. (516 Fremont St., 10 p.m.,

VanguardLV.com.)

NIGHTLIFE

DJ Franzen.

Seven NightsYour week in parties

By I A N C A R A M A N Z A N A

Erykah Badu.

Burns.

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D I M I T R I V E G A S & L I K E M I K E

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T I C K E T S & V I P R E S E R V A T I O N S | O M N I A N I G H T C L U B . C O M | 7 0 2 . 7 8 5 . 6 2 0 0 |

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NIGHTLIFE

➜ WHEN WYNN RESORTS locked down Jared Garcia to handle artist relations for XS, it could not have selected a more ideal candidate. The Utah native and former VIP host is now Las Vegas’ proverbial ‘cool kid,’ something requisite to acting as an ambassador to major music and Hollywood heavyweights visiting the club as guests or performers. And they come back for the guy who’s talented with the talent.

What does it mean to work in artist relations?

I oversee all logistics. That includes travel, hospital-ity and creating the show advances for each artist for the week. Part of my role is also curating long-lasting relationships with our artists and making them feel really like their second home is Vegas. My responsi-bility for the artists starts when they land and doesn’t end till they take off.

What’s the secret to nurturing these relationships?

It’s ultimately about getting to know people. Main-taining relationships is pretty easy for me, but it’s important to be educated about their musical style, the music they produce and who they collaborate with on tracks. I gain trust by going for that extra mile for them while they’re on property, and also by

ensuring their agents, management, family members and friends are well looked after when they bring them on the road.

For example, David Guetta recently brought some of his family to town, and I set up a trip to the Grand Canyon. I took them to Maverick Helicopters, bought them tickets to Le Rêve and made sure they felt comfortable while on property. David participated in some of the activities, but he knew they’re going to be well taken care of, and he trusted me with that.

Another example would be the frst time we had Alesso at XS. It was probably one of the frst shows that he had in Vegas. It was Halloween weekend, and I took him to a costume shop and showed him around the city and property. I met him at the airport, checked him in and did all the bells and whistles for him.

Are your relationships rooted in friendship or business?

Building a friendship is very important. Each artist is different, but building a relationship does helps the business in the long run. Whether it’s an artist who plays our venues regularly or one who has yet to sign, my goal is to look after them the best I can. I try to keep questions about their album, tours, anything music related to a minimum since they’re already

consumed with business meetings, interviews and fan interaction.

XS is focused on EDM right now. What are your thoughts

on the genre?

I’ve been a fan of EDM for a long time, way before I moved to Vegas. But I do like to balance my music tastes by listening to different up-and-coming artists, such as Goldroom and old-school stuff like Incubus.

Is the Las Vegas consumer’s musical tastes are evolving?

Everyone’s taste changes, and genres meld. For example, what Diplo did with Justin Bieber [and Skrillex with “Where Are Ü Now”] was amazing. It’s something that David Guetta has been doing for years now, crossing over with pop and R&B artists. I would love to see more of that.

How do you describe your personal style?

My style is more of like a fashion-forward street-wear. At the moment I’m into the Saint Laurent look.

What artists do you feel have the best style?

The artists that I share the most similar style with are Alesso and Diplo. I actually take them to my favorite sneaker spot [Feature Sneaker Boutique] quite often.

Everything’s RelativeXS artist relations executive Jared Garcia takes his job personally By David Morris

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Restaurant reviews, news and one-upping the Turducken

Few breakfast dishes

have left themselves as

open to artistic interpretation

as this one has.

BENEDICTION | PAGE 40

DINING

Good Morning, Henderson!Two new reasons to rise and shine in the Southeast By Al Mancini

Kitchen Table’s Croque Madame.

➜ BREAKFAST—and to a lesser de-gree, lunch—tend to get short shrift in the restaurant world. The goal of most casino chefs is to knock your socks off at dinner, and perhaps offer an abbreviated lunch menu to satisfy the resort. And while weekend brunches have become showcase events for many casinos over the past seven or eight years (pioneered by the late Kerry Simon at Palms Place), spots that offer truly interesting breakfasts seven days a week tend to be few and far between. But there seems to be a shift in the local culinary mentality with regard to the frst two meals of the day, with chefs fnally beginning to take them seriously. That trend is most obvious in Henderson, where a pair of impressive new restaurants from casino veterans are dedicated solely to breakfast and lunch.

Kitchen Table is a collaboration between Anthony Nunez, who’s worked at Le Cirque, Border Grill, STK, Brooklyn Bowl, Mercadito and Whist Stove & Spirits, and Javier Chavez, who’s put in time at Vic & Anthony’s, Brooklyn Bowl, Mercadito and Whist. It’s a small, casual spot, with a kitchen so tiny that it operates 24 hours a day in order to get all the prep work done. There’s a large outdoor patio where the chefs smoke their own pigs. But despite that smoker, and the fact that the restaurant is open from 7 a.m. till 4 p.m., the focus here is overwhelmingly on break-fast. And it offers what currently tops my list as the best breakfast menu in the Valley.

I know that’s tall praise. But I can justify it with four simple words: foie gras for breakfast! Kitchen Table in-vites customers to add the rich duck liver to any dish, but specifcally pairs it with four decadent sweet dishes, including pancakes with maple gastrique and caramelized apples; waffes with blueberry com-pote; amaretto French toast with caramelized pears and candied nuts; and biscuits with marmalade and peanut butter. It’s an idea that turns on its head the tradition of accenting an earthy foie appetizer with a touch of sweet, and it works beautifully.

The foie is just a small com-ponent of the massive breakfast collection, however. There are more traditional waffes, pancakes and crepes. Omelets include duck and chorizo versions. There are a half-dozen Benedicts. The chefs have commissioned three custom sausages. And smoked salmon can be accented with caviar.

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➜ A QUICK SEARCH OF classic American Breakfast dishes will undoubtedly yield eggs Benedict at the top of most lists. The Joy of Cooking attributes its origin to New York’s famed Delmonico’s in the 1920s, while other sources date it back to the Waldorf Astoria circa 1894. Regardless, the basic recipe—two poached eggs and either ham or bacon atop two halves of a toasted English muffn, drizzled in Hol-landaise sauce—is familiar to just about every American. But few breakfast dishes have left them-selves as open to artistic interpretation as this one has. And the chefs of the Strip are putting some of the wildest spins on the staple that you could imagine. Here are some of the best.

DINING

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Chefs bless us with new takes on a breakfast standard By Al Mancini

Border Grill’s Yucatan eggs Benedict.

LOBSTER EGGS

BENEDICT AT

SUSHISAMBA

Why settle for ham when you can have lobster? If that seems like a no-brainer to you, head over to the Palazzo’s Japanese/South American enclave for weekend brunch. Large chunks of sweet sautéed lobster meat are sandwiched between the egg and the traditional English muffn base. To give it an Asian touch, the Hollandaise is accented with a touch of sweet miso and citrusy ponzu. It’s fnished off with a smattering of fresh chives and accompanied by a side salad with olive oil, salt and pepper and lemon zest. It’s perhaps the most decadent offering on the list. $18, 702-607-0700, SushiSamba.com.

SHORT RIB BENEDICT

AT TOP OF THE WORLD

It’s a bit ironic that the most elegant restaurant on this list includes the biggest, sloppiest take on the Benny. But I’m not complaining. Chef Claude Gaty starts with a pair of monstrous potato cakes seasoned with Parmesan, asiago, goat and cream cheese. He tops them with fork-tender short ribs braised in a red wine demi and seasoned with a touch of cinnamon and star anise. This is topped with eggs and a large dose of Hollanda-ise favored with sweet Peruvian peppadew peppers. Accompanied by a helping of seasoned vegetables, it’s a deli-cious mess that’s big enough to share, served every day on the lunch menu alongside one of the best views of the Valley. $28, Strato-sphere, 702-380-7711, TopOfTheWorldLV.com.

PORK BELLY BENEDICT

AT STK

The Cosmopolitan’s sexy steakhouse of-fcially launched its Sunday Brunch Club on January 10. A sneak pre-view of executive chef Stephen Hopcraft’s new menu features an Asian spin on the Benny. He

replaces the traditional English muffn with a spongy bao bun—a per-fect match for the crispy pork belly with soy ponzu glaze that tops it. Next up, of course, are the eggs. And the dish is fnished with Hollanda-ise infused with a hearty dose of yuzu. The sharp Asian citrus favor, while strong, helps cut through the richness of the pork and the Hol-landaise. $24, 702-698-7990, STKHouse.com.

SEA SCALLOP

BENNY AT CRUSH

The MGM Grand’s small-plates restaurant offers this particular Benny on its dinner menu. It’s a petite dish with a Span-ish fair in which the seafood is the clear star. The two medium scal-lops, caramelized on the outside and translucent in the center, sit atop two tiny potato cakes and a bit of Spanish chorizo. In keeping with the petite theme, quail eggs supply a touch of runny yolk. And for a bit more spice, the Hollandaise is seasoned with chipot-les—without a doubt, the most elegant prepara-tion on this list. $18, 702-891-3222, CrushMGM.com.

YUCATAN EGGS

BENEDICT AT

BORDER GRILL

A menu classic for at least fve years, this Mexican spin on a Benny was created by former Border Grill chef Mike Minor for the weekend brunch menu at the Mandalay Bay location, but it’s now only available at the Forum Shops. The base is a manchego cheese biscuit cra-dling achiote-roasted Yucatan pork, topped with poached egg and Hollandaise. And it’s sprinkled with pickled onions and chives. In true Mexican tradi-tion, it’s accompanied by black beans. The only danger: flling up on these bad boys and not saving room for the other dishes on the all-you-can-eat menu. Included in $35 brunch, in the Forum Shops at Caesars, 702-854-6700, BorderGrill.com.

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[ SCENE STIRS ]

SAVE THE DATE, THEN GET A DATE FOR WINTER COCKTAIL EVENTS GALOREFIRST FRIDAYS AT RIVEA

Alain Ducasse’s Rivea on the 64th floor in

the Delano is wasting no time in the New

Year, and will kick off a new monthly Mixol-

ogy Dinner Series on January 15 ($100,

702-632-9500, DelanoLasVegas.com).

The event, which will continue on the first

Friday of each month, will pair cocktails by

Proprietors LLC—the team behind the bar

program in the adjacent SkyFall Lounge—

with cuisine by Rivea executive chef Bruno

Riou. Rotating themes will allow Riou to

stretch his legs a little to create four-course

menus featuring a mix of new dishes

and signature ones. The series’ premiere

installment will focus on Saint-Tropez, and

you can also block out February 5 for Win-

ter Black Truffle, March 4 for Artichokes

and April 1 for the eminently challenging

Peas & Asparagus. We can’t wait to see the

cocktails that come out of that one!

BACK THAT GLASS UP

Happy Groundhog’s Day! Atomic Liquors

(917 Fremont St., 702-982-3000, Atomic.

vegas), will have you seeing double when it

brings the spirit and beer worlds together

for Not Your Father’s Boiler Maker, 7-11

p.m. on February 2. Sample pairings

created by brewers and distillers, such

as Kopstootje, a biere de garde by Upright

Brewing Co., formulated to be the perfect

beer back for Bols Genever. San Fran-

cisco’s Seven Stills—makers of whiskey

from craft beer—will serve their Dogpatch,

a distillation of Almanac Brewery’s Dog-

patch sour beer that has been aged in new

American oak. Other participants include

Basil Hayden’s Bourbon and The Bruery.

The Clockwork Owl food truck will be on

hand with Southern cuisine, and guest

bartender Anthony Pullen of Bols Genever

will demonstrate how to do a proper Dutch

kopstootje (that is, a hands-free slurp of

genever, followed by a beer).

SPLURGE ON SPLENDOR

Southern Nevada Public Television’s 27th

annual Splendor in the Glass fundraiser

event on February 20 in the ballroom at

Westgate Hotel (3-7 p.m., $85 in advance,

$100 day of, VegasPBS.org/WineTasting)

will feature, among other things, a cooking

demonstration by chef Grant McPherson.

The wine and beer tasting event is Vegas

PBS’ signature fundraiser, and raises

critical funds needed to support program-

ming and outreach. Guests will sample

beverages from more than 60 wineries and

breweries, courtesy of Southern Wine and

Spirits of Nevada. Other festivities include

live entertainment by the Woody Woods

Jazz Combo, savory hors d’oeuvres and a

silent auction. – X.W.

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DRINKING

New Year, New CrewThree beverage pros making 2016 a year of adventure By Xania Woodman

➜ WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE ABOUT A

fresh start? These three vibrant bev-erage professionals have one major thing in common: Each is embarking on a delicious new adventure in 2016.

RYAN MCGINNIS

After three years of working with Blackheath Beverage Group, McGinnis is taking the leap of all leaps, and on January 1 announced the launch of his own company. O-D-V Imports (as in “eau de vie,” or “water of life”) will assist with the sales and marketing of a portfolio of craft, premium and indepen-dent spirits in Nevada, Colorado and Arizona. That portfolio already includes Atlantico Rum, Tequila Fortaleza, Casa D’Aristi liqueurs and Cocktail Caviar by Holl & Kamp.

“I designed this company to help smaller craft spirits come together in a portfolio where they won’t com-pete with each other, to get them into the right places so the brands can take off organically,” says McGin-nis, who graduated from UNLV with a dual degree in hospitality and bev-erage management and later worked for Montecristo Rum, Price Imports, Diageo and Ketel One Vodka.

So what’s the difference between McGinnis and a brand ambassador? “Experience. I was an ambassador for a long time ... but ambassadors aren’t really held to [moving] an actual volume of cases. I’m there to help these brands grow beyond just getting some staff trainings or making people friends of the brand. I’m there to build cases up,” he says about his currently one-man-show (“I don’t even have a title!”). But he does know what success will look like in 2016: “If a bartender recommends my brands to you, I’ve done some-thing right. If a customer asks for them on their own, then the brand is defnitely on the right track.”

GENE SAMUEL

Gordon Ramsay Pub lead bartender and budding beverage vlogger Sam-uel won’t be doffng his bar apron any time soon, but you will see him repping for Cornerstone Marketing (CornerstoneMktg.com), co-created by former Bon Vivant Alex Straus and launched in Hollywood on Janu-ary 1. The company’s brand ambas-sadors are well placed in “pockets” of mixology activity including the Pacifc Northwest, New York, Chi-cago, Miami and San Diego, where Cornerstone will advocate for its portfolio of brands with placement

in bars, staff training, community engagement and other services.

As the Las Vegas brand ambas-sador, Samuel says his frst order of business will be to align himself and his portfolio with a number of charitable agencies, such as Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation. His frst event will be a barbecue on Feb-ruary 7 at the Sand Dollar Lounge. “With this company we are actually able to pick and choose which brands we want to represent—whatever we feel is a great product that needs to be showcased in our local market or nationwide. And then we can incor-porate our charities. That’s a little different than a national program where you might see a brand ambas-sador two, maybe three times a year.”

In his new role, Samuel will work in concert with other entities including suppliers and beverage development teams. But it’s not about competition: “This is going to help everyone. That’s what brand ambassadors do. When you have someone like myself to al-leviate some of the pressure for a rep who’s working 24/7, you shine.”

LEANN KRUGER

Kruger stepped into the role of Ne-vada/Arizona brand ambassador for Mezcal El Silencio (MezcalElSilencio.

com) after leaving Southern Wine & Spirits at the end of 2015. With a brand-new year in front of her Kruger—a former bartender at Sage and XS—is raring to go.

“I’m really excited about getting back to work with the bartenders; they’re the front line of the indus-try. They’re my people,” Kruger says. “I enjoy the sales meetings with beverage directors and bar owners, but my focus and my pas-sion are the bartenders.”

With two available marques (joven and espadin), El Silencio artisanal Oaxacan mezcal is already 2 years old, having debuted in 2014 at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans. But it only arrived in Las Vegas in March, leaving Kruger lots of room to grow. Among her goals, “getting the word out about the brand, getting it on cocktail menus and really having the bartenders of Las Vegas familiar with the brand, because they’re the ones who introduce it to consumers.”

In her own time tending bar, Kruger says she dabbled in mezcal, “but when I started with Southern is really when I got into it. I’ve always been a Scotch girl—I love smoky and peppery—so it was an easy transition to mezcal. To me, it’s a lot closer to Scotch than it is to tequila.”

Ryan McGinnis, Leann Kruger and

Gene Samuel.

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➜ MOB MONTH at the Las Vegas-Clark

County Library District concludes in a fitting

way. This series of lectures and discussions

ends with a “duel” between two authors

reading excerpts from their Mafia tell-alls,

while two local artists create live works of

art from their explosive words.

Painted Words: Duel in the Library happens

January 31 at Clark County Library’s main

branch. The Painted Words series is the

brainchild of Eric James Miller, president

of the Vegas-based nonprofit Writers of

Southern Nevada, who observed that all this

town’s literary conferences featured only

“talking heads.” It inspired him to come at a

classic idiom from a new angle.

“If a picture is worth a thousand words,

then aren’t a thousand words worth a pic-

ture?” Miller says. He felt a reading series

with local artists would be something new

for Vegas, and thus Painted Stories was born

in early 2015.

This month’s event features Randy Sutton,

a former Metro police lieutenant and actor

(he first appeared in Martin Scorcese’s

Casino) and Vito Colucci Jr., a former of-

ficer with the Stamford, Connecticut Police

Department and now a private investigator.

Sutton will read from his book A Cop’s Life,

while Colucci Jr. will read from Rogue Town,

his account of working undercover to topple

organized crime in Stamford, which he co-

authored with Dennis N. Griffin.

As compelling as the authors’ stories

are, the artists could steal the show.

Meegan Boiros and Michael Davies will

be painting live, on a shared stage, as the

authors read aloud.

“It’s a unique experience,” Miller says.

“You’re watching a one-of-a-kind artwork

unfold on canvas right in front of you. Words

evoke a dream state in the listener as well

as the painter.”

Both are seasoned local artists, so the

match should be a good one. Boiros, a mem-

ber of the Las Vegas Artists Guild, is an art

instructor for Pinot’s Palette in the District.

And Davies was recently named the 2015

Las Vegas RAW Artist of the Year.

The Painted Stories format has evolved

over time. Initially, as many as four writers

read short stories while a single artist

painted a unique artwork for each one. The

process has since been refined, Miller says.

“Having only two readers makes it easier

on the artists,” Miller says. “Now the artist has

25 minutes to paint, rather than just 10 to 15.”

And those 25 minutes are like nothing

else you’ve seen, promises Miller.

“Except for sound of the authors reading,

you can hear a pin drop in the room. The

audience is mesmerized, giving both reader

and artist their undivided attention.”

Considering today’s technology-blunted

attention spans, that’s almost more

extraordinary than the tales of Mafia,

murder and mayhem. —Elisabeth Daniels

Learn more about Writers of Southern

Nevada, an all-volunteer organization that

strives to connect the Valley’s writers, at

NevadaWriters.org.

➜ DAVID BOWIE IS GONE. He left Earth on January 10, after some 50 years of making music, flm and art for a world that embraced him even when it didn’t quite understand him. His discography is, on the whole, unmatched in its quality—yes, even when you factor in Tin Machine and Never Let Me Down. And today, like many of you, I’m listening to that music. There is no better way to pay homage to David Bowie than to listen to his records.

Bowie was more than a supernaturally gifted songwriter and musician. He was, as my girlfriend said this morning, “a beacon for freaks.” So many of our friends felt validated by him; no matter what your struggle was, Bowie had a soundtrack for it. As we read our way through our Facebook feeds, we real-ized that every single person we knew—the goths, the jocks, the poets, the rockers, the ravers—every one of them had been drawn to Bowie at an early age, and every one of them knew a different man, from Gob-lin King to Thin White Duke to Ziggy Stardust.

I saw Bowie perform only once. It was October 19, 1995, at the Thomas & Mack—the Outside tour, which he conducted in partnership with Nine Inch Nails. The two bands actually shared the stage for fve songs, including Bowie’s “Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)” and Trent Reznor’s “Hurt.” The rest of Bow-

ie’s set was heavy with songs relating to death, either directly (“Look Back in Anger,” “A Small Plot of Land”) or obliquely (“Andy Warhol,” “Under Pressure”).

And yet, I have rarely seen a performer with more life in him, more commitment to the moment at hand. Some assholes in the audience threw their wa-ter bottles at Bowie, but he didn’t let it faze him. He just danced around the projectiles and unwrapped gift after gift: “Breaking Glass,” “I’m Deranged,” and "The Man Who Sold the World.” And at the end of his set, at the end of a splendid version of “Teenage Wildlife,” he mimed stabbing himself in the gut and fell over, “dead.” That night, 20-plus years ago, Bowie bluntly told us that he would have to go someday,

and he predicted the way he would go out: singing.Today, every Bowie song is a sacred thing. Yes,

even the pop stuff he made in the 1980s and early 1990s, the music that Pitchfork would like to pretend doesn’t exist. I can hear Bowie’s alpha and omega in every single note. He was always, always telling us that this was too good to last, and always exhorting us to live fully in the moment: This is our last dance/this is our last dance/this is ourselves. I couldn’t state David Bowie’s central message more clearly than that. Live your life as whoever you want to be. Enjoy every second doing it. And, when you can, throw Aladdin Sane or Black Tie White Noise on the stereo, and remember the man who souled the world.

A&E

[ ART ]

STORYTELLING FOR THE EYES

PAINTED STORIES:

DUEL IN THE LIBRARY

2 p.m. Jan. 31, free, Clark County

Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Rd.,

702-507-3458; LVCCLD.org.

[ MUSIC ]

The Man Who Souled

the WorldRemembering David Bowie

By Geoff Carter

Randy Sutton, pre-paint.

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➜ TECHNOLOGY

has spoiled desert driving. In the age of smartphones, we tear through the Mojave using every shortcut our GPS can fnd. But for researchers such as Julian Kilker, the desert is much more than a scenic distraction en route to a vacation spot. It’s his laboratory.

An associate pro-fessor of emerging technologies at UNLV, Kilker straddles the fence in terms of research, merging quantitative methods such as statistics with the visual feldwork he does behind a camera lens. This marriage of methods has resulted in his latest exhi-bition, Aesthetic Evidence: Place, Context and Process in the Southwest, at Nevada Humanities Program Gallery.

“Most of my images—in fact, almost all of my images—deal with a combi-nation of landscape and evidence of human interaction with that loca-tion,” Kilker says.

The researcher has spent many nights in the roughhewn desert to cap-ture his work. One night at Whitney Mesa he used long camera exposures to track the fight paths of McCarran-bound airplanes—and with spare use of Photoshop, he overlaid the fight trails. If you look closely, you’ll notice that one plane actually veers off course.

“That’s the sort of thing you won’t see just standing there and looking at the sky,” he says.

Seedy buildings are some of Kilker’s most common subjects to shoot, and since he normally photographs in the desert at night, the environment is con-stantly crackling with an edgy tension.

“When I go to these places the frst time, really, the hair rises on the back of my neck,” he says. It takes multiple visits before the photographer says he can let his guard down.

Kilker’s portfolio is full of exhibits just like Aesthetic Evidence. One under-lying theme emerges from the group, one we’re wired to ignore: decay.

The researcher explains his choice of subject matter through a story in which he found a dated picture from the early 1900s in pristine condition. Later, he discovered it had been Photoshopped. After some digging, Kilker recovered the original, degraded image … and realized he preferred it that way.

“It shows evidence of somebody folding it and putting it in their wallet perhaps,” he explains. “It shows evi-dence of somebody touching the photo a lot … Decay essentially tells more in-

teresting stories. Something that hasn’t decayed has not lived a full life yet.”

At Nevada Humanities, you’ll fnd one of Kilker’s most interactive pieces, “Annie and the Shaman.” It’s a photo taken of a rock formation near Mount Irish at dusk with what appears to be a countdown accompanied by someone having an “oh shit” moment in written letters and numbers. There’s an audio device next to the piece where, through a receiver, you can listen to a record-ing of an atomic test in 1953. Knowing all of this, it truly puts the photo into context. And the writing? It’s all been light painted on-site by Kilker.

Aesthetic Evidence also puts Kilker into perspective. Similarly to how anthro-pologists observe themselves interact-ing with foreign cultures and environ-ments, Kilker says he’s done the same with his work. And the researcher goes to great lengths to make that possible, even if it means improvising gear: In a behind-the-scenes clip at the exhibit, Kilker creates a makeshift camera dolly, using a fence post as a rail.

This type of transparency about process is rare in photography, but it serves a purpose. Aesthetic Evidence isn’t your run-of-the-mill show full of once-over art. It’s designed to teach you something.

“There’s a lot behind [these im-ages], and that’s what I’d like people to leave with is this sort of enhanced understanding of the importance of looking at things closely and, frankly, looking at the world more closely around them.” —Amber Sampson

[ ART ]

AESTHETIC EVIDENCE FINDS BEAUTY IN THE BREAKDOWN

AESTHETIC EVIDENCE:

PLACE, CONTEXT AND

PROCESS IN THE SOUTHWEST

Nevada Humanities Program Gallery,

1017 S. First St., Suite 190. Through

Jan. 28. Mon-Fri, 1-5 p.m. 702-800-

4670; NevadaHumanities.org.

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back. I went there all the time with my mom to see the Rat Pack, Wayne Newton, Steve Law-rence and Eydie Gormé, Sammy Davis Jr. and so many others. Now I’m performing there. I’m selfsh, though, because I want to bring this to Vegas in a big way, too. I’d love to do a residency or play a room like Donny and Marie Osmond [at the Flamingo]. But I love Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center. It’s smaller, so I can’t get off the stage and do costume changes or have all 12 musicians with me. Now I have nine and I just wear one thing, but that’s fne. It’s a great room—a very special, beautiful place—and run so well. The technical staff and acoustics are the best.

Do you find that many

second-generation enter-

tainers either

have horrible

memories of

their families

and want

to separate

themselves

completely

from them

or are very

proud of their

parents and want to

carry on their legacy?

Both those things can be true. My parents were divorced when I was 7. My dad was an alcoholic. My mom had a bad tem-per. There were drugs and alcohol throughout my childhood. In many ways I have some bad memories, but I have some very good ones, too. And I have a lot of talent I’ve been able to pull from these two incred-ible people. They opened up the world to me, and life is good. Sure, there was diffcult, challenging stuff, but everybody’s life is like that. It’s all part of who we are. How it affects you depends on how you deal with it. I have so much gratitude for where I am at this point. I’ve been married for 35½ years [to actor, playwright and director Laurence Luckinbill], and we have fve great kids.

Dare I ask if you might bring

the conga drum your dad

played to the Vegas show?

My brother has the conga drum my dad played. It is huge! I can’t lift it. I have the conga drums Little Ricky played in I Love Lucy. They’re about 3 feet high and the head is about 6 inches across. My son played it, and I have it now. I also have my mom’s ukulele. I’m going to bring the drum with me and play it in the show.

The Lucy Desi Museum

in Jamestown, New York,

pays tribute to your parents.

Are you involved with that?

I’m not on the board anymore. My brother Desi and I left the board because they weren’t paying attention to what we were saying. There was nothing terrible going on—we just didn’t like the direction they were going. Now there is a new board of directors, and they came to us and said, ‘We want your input

about what we do next.’ We asked that they go back to what our mom said she wanted in the

beginning, which is to honor the art of comedy and show how healing it is. They are doing a lot of great things there now both at the museum and other places. It’s my mom’s hometown, and I’m sure my mom would have been very proud and excited.

I’m guessing you have

been following recent

news about your dad’s

homeland of Cuba?

Yes! I’m dying to go there. I was supposed to go on a Lucy Desi cruise this month, but it didn’t work out. I was at the White House [coincidentally] on December 17 and saw a lot of activity and [news] cameras. I asked if something big had happened, if I should be afraid of something. ... They said no. It turned out that was the day they opened relations with Cuba! I am defnitely going. Now when I sing “I Will See You in C-U-B-A,” I am not just dreaming. I will really go.

Many think of you as an actress, but it seems you’ve

been concentrating more on music lately.

For 27 years I have been doing concerts and per-forming in nightclubs, and I love, love, love doing it. I wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t for my father’s infuence. When he died, I found tapes of his, some original recordings that no one had unless they were real collectors. I started listening to them and hearing what his big-band days were like. I wanted to be him! I wanted to have a band and perform like him.

Did you start a band right away?

Oh, no. It was about four to six months later that I started getting offers to do these shows and I said,

“No, no, no, why are you even asking me?” I didn’t even know why the offers were made. One thing led to another and holy smoke, now I’m doing just what I wanted to do when my dad died. I’m playing clubs like the [famed New York] Rainbow Room. About 10 years ago, someone said “You should do a CD,” and that’s why I started doing these numbers to salute him, [such as] “El Cumbanchero” and “I’ll See You in C-U-B-A,” things from my dad, Irving Berlin, the whole Latin Roots album [released in 2010].

Why bring the show to Vegas?

I do have friends who sort of dread going there, but I have never felt that way. I love it there. I am a throw-

Lucie ArnazThe Emmy Award winner talks about her parents, her dad’s native Cuba and a special part of the Lucy-Desi history that will accompany her to The Smith Center By Nancy Dunham

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LUCIE ARNAZ:

LATIN ROOTS

7 p.m. Jan. 15-16,

Cabaret Jazz,

$39-$55,

TheSmithCenter.com.