A&E
Brush With Greatness?
Dennis Oppenheim’s paintbrush gateway to the Arts District set to open
When artist Dennis Oppenheim, renowned for his challenging and often-ironic works, looks at Las Vegas, he sees a landscape whose image has real substance. “It has this sort of ring to me, this feeling of exuberance and excess and intoxication, of fantasy in the desert,” he says.
So when the opportunity arose in spring 2007 to design a gateway to Las Vegas’ 18b Arts District, his imagination took off.
Read More »Blogocracy
Music blogs transfer taste-making from the elites to the masses, but some blogs are more equal than others
It’s no secret that times are tough for music magazines. Ever since the Internet, music fans have been shifting the ways in which they learn about music. Music blogs, with their ability to deliver much more than words, seem to be at the forefront of that exploration. Whether they are simple, one-man operations or fully staffed online companies, music blogs give everybody a voice.
Read More »Designer Love
A love affair between two modern greats makes for a genius movie
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a film as sumptuous as Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky. Exquisitely designed, lushly photographed and beautifully acted, this historic footnote to the secret lives of two of the most brilliant and fascinating people of the 20th century is absolutely mesmerizing. Who knew they were lovers?
Read More »Tailor-Made Art
An architect brings his eye for detail to his new career as a painter
When Michael P. Thieme moved to Las Vegas in 2005, he did so as an architect. He joined SH Architecture and helped design, among other buildings, the cutting-edge Cashman Equipment building on St. Rose Parkway. A year and a half later he’d moved on to interior design firm Parker Scaggiari and was involved in an ambitious renovation of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Then the economy tanked, and the architect was out of work.
Read More »Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story
Satire is never easy, but it’s a particularly tough sell during the summer months. By mid-July, most everyone is ready to turn off their brains and enjoy some passive entertainment. But before you gorge yourself on techno-thrillers and chick lit, or pickle your cortex with frozen margaritas, do yourself a favor and consider adding Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story (Random House, $26) to your beach bag.
Read More »The Librarian Loves ...
Selected by Jeanne Goodrich, executive director for the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.
We live in a rush-rush world, bombarded by the latest news, celebrity gossip and political ads; we’re pulled by trends and pushed by an erratic economy. Slow down, take a break and turn to your contemplative side with Vietnamese monk and Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh’s Living Buddha, Living Christ (Riverhead Trade, 2007).
Read More »Sites to See
- An Epic Shannon Production
- Tweetings Will Continue Until Morale Improves
- What, No Flames?
CD Reviews
- Stornoway Beachcomber’s Windowsill (4AD)
- Los Lobos Tin Can Trust (Shout! Factory)
- Liz Phair Funstyle (Self-released)
- The Innocence Mission My Room in the Trees (Badman)
- Klaus Schulze Volumes III and IV (Revisisted/SPV)
- Arcade Fire The Suburbs (Merge)
Cinema Without the Cineplex
Why Video-on-Demand is the future your movie theater doesn’t want you to know about
On an average week, about eight films are released theatrically in the U.S. Of those eight, only two will open at your local cineplex regardless of which podunk suburb you’re trapped in. Three will open in “limited release,” which means they’ll get shown only in the top five to 15 “major markets” (i.e., cities such as Chicago and San Francisco), before gradually “rolling out” to smaller markets (if they do well at the box office). The remaining three movies will open in New York and/or Los Angeles.
Read More »Neon Reverb DJ selects seven acts that could be next year’s Best Band
Donald Hickey, better known as “The Donald,” is the pervasive voice behind Neon Reverb Radio 91.5 KUNV. The full-time airline pilot started hosting the weekly show to bring “modern, left-of-the-dial music to Las Vegas.” The longtime Las Vegan’s Saturday show features independent artists from across the nation mixed side-by-side with local artists, making him the right guy to spot the Valley’s finest locally grown bands.
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