Las Vegas Weekly

July 23, 2009 · 2:02 PM

Strip Scribbles: Jason Statham is a kickboxer, not a UFC fighter

By Robin Leach

The Expendables stars Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham.

Photo: Millennium Films

Filming has wrapped in Louisiana on the new Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham movie The Expendables being produced by Planet Hollywood Chairman Robert Earl, who will throw its world premiere party here next spring. Jason, who burst on the scene with the Transporter films, is featured on the cover of the current Planet Hollywood in-room glossy magazine.

Jason says he takes his martial arts skills very seriously, learning boxing from his father and going on to kickboxing and jujitsu, which he works out on daily. Jason says filming with Sly is a childhood dream come true, having watched all the Rocky films as a kid growing up in England.

Spotted at UFC 100 last weekend, Jason said: “I’ve become a big fan, but the thought of me stepping into the Octagon with somebody like Chuck Liddell actually frightens me because those guys are lethal.”

On a weeklong visit to Planet Hollywood, where his father came to celebrate his own birthday, Jason revealed that the worst experience he’s had in his film career was in Crank, when he had to dangle from a helicopter 30,000 feet above L.A. with only two safety lines so the camera could prove it was real!

*A decade-long dream, assisted by many of our Strip stars and headline Hollywood celebrities, has finally come true with the first patients being welcomed to the new Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health downtown. Every February, a “Keep Memory Alive” gala dinner has been hosted on the Strip, raising millions of dollars through auctions and donations from our valley’s leading business people and casino owners. Now the privately funded vision has become a reality with the center designed to advance the research, early detection and treatment of neurological diseases including Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s and ALS.

Said our Southern Wines and Spirits head honcho Larry Ruvo, who dedicated the center to his father, a victim of Alzheimer’s: “We still have much more to accomplish, but welcoming patients and caregivers is a truly significant benchmark for all involved. It’s certainly a day worth celebrating for all those afflicted or involved with the diseases and who have worked so hard to make this effort a reality.”

The $100 million facility, designed by Frank Gehry, houses clinical space, a diagnostic center, neuroimaging rooms, physician offices and laboratories devoted to clinical research and is managed by the Cleveland Clinic.

Congratulations to all involved for a remarkable and incredible achievement!

*You no longer have to go through withdrawal symptoms that CineVegas has finished and next year’s festival won’t crank up for another 11 months. If you have an iPhone, you can now download the Cineslots application. It’s a slick, three-reel game with each spin providing information on hundreds of films, star honorees and wild stories from its 11-year run. There are even rare video clips and wallpaper and hidden experiences to discover. This year’s festival highlights will be available in an update to be released shortly. The app for iPhone and iTouch is complete with the shake feature to flick the movie reels!

*I’m marveling at some of the beautiful exclusive masterpieces that David and Natalie Bauman have assembled in their Palazzo store, Bauman Rare Books. From time to time, I’ve highlighted here some of their literary wonders. Now a true masterpiece highlight is the very first complete edition of the most important scientific book of 18th century America: Benjamin Franklin’s observations and experiments on electricity back in 1789. It’s priced at $22,000. Other scientific books on display include authors Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Stephen Hawking and Charles Darwin, with their books priced from $850 to $12,500.

*The Orleans Arena will be home for the new three-year contract extension with the West Coast Conference that will keep the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships in Las Vegas through the 2011-12 season. The extension comes after the West Coast Conference sold out The Orleans Arena for the 2009 WCC Basketball Championships. The 2009 championship, which was the WCC’s first-ever at a neutral site, set conference records for total championship attendance (33,320) and single-session championship attendance (7,845).

Star surveillance

Mel Gibson, his son Thomas and two friends attended the Blue Man Group show at The Venetian. … Newly married boxing legend Mike Tyson was solo at The Palomino Club. … Steven Tyler of Aerosmith was with friends for dinner at Little Buddha inside the Palms and ordered chicken spring rolls and George’s Lobster Roll, named after hotel owner George Maloof. In town for his band’s concert this weekend at MGM Grand, Steven took 14 members of his entourage to see Cirque du Soleil’s O at the Bellagio. On this way through a rear private entrance, Steven stopped and chatted with cast and crew until show time and bought treats from a vending machine backstage for a 5-year-old girl in his party. … Comedian Howie Mandel hosted crooner Brian Evans and actor-songwriter Arman Zajic backstage at the MGM Grand Hollywood Theater before his show. Brian, who resides on Maui and here in Las Vegas, was on the Strip for meetings with casino execs about a concert series here. … Singer-songwriter Mat Kearney hosted a charity concert inside Carey Hart’s Wasted Space at the Hard Rock Hotel to benefit the City Mission of Las Vegas. Mat performed songs from his newest album City of Black & White and his hits “Closer to Love,” “Undeniable” and “Nothing Left to Lose.”

Tonight’s tips

Tickets were in such high demand for tomorrow’s Blink-182 concert that the group added an earlier show, which kicks off the two-night stand at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel this evening. For Blink-182, it’s the band’s first tour in five years, and for star drummer Travis Barker, his first since the deadly plane crash in which he was severely injured last September with DJ AM. Blink-182 will have indie rockers Chester French and punk rockers Motion City Soundtrack as their musical guests tonight. … Kelly Rowland will celebrate her No. 1 worldwide hit “When Love Takes Over” with DJ David Guetta at a special performance and party at Tao in The Venetian. … Asher Roth and Kid Cudi bring their Great Hangover Tour to House of Blues at Mandalay Bay.

Tomorrow’s teases

Two wild, three-day pool parties go head-to-head in a showdown between Snoop Dogg in Kandyland with the Miss Sunset Tan beauty pageant and the Ultimate Singles in Sin City party with Robin Thicke, plus even more parties with Steven Tyler and rival bashes between Dancing With the Stars beauties Stacy Keibler and Melissa Rycroft.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter HERE.

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