The Playground
Work is hard. Everybody needs recess.
04.30.09 · 2:53 PM
Staying in Cirque Shape
John Maxson, 36, has performed in Cirque du Soleil’s “O” for 11 years. Getting older has made it more difficult to stay in shape, and he has had to adjust his workout to prevent injuries. Read more...
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Facebook04.30.09 · 12:32 PM
Chirps, barks and laughs with the Human Sound Effects Machine
Few people can claim they created a music genre, but Michael Winslow, the “Man of 10,000 sound effects” is credited with developing beatboxing. This makes sense. Winslow is a human sound effects machine. He can crank out everything from birds chirping to police sirens to a Cajun southern drawl. He has even mastered slot machine noises and has been courted by casinos to do ads for them. You may know Michael Winslow from Gremlins, at least that’s one of his ... Read more...
04.29.09 · 5:48 PM
Holly Madison says goodbye to her Playboy tattoo
Trust the ink, or lack thereof: There’s very little chance of reconciliation between Hugh Hefner and his former number one squeeze, Holly Madison. Hefner’s former flame had her Playboy bunny tattoo removed yesterday. Madison had the red bunny head logo inked onto her lower back seven years ago, but times have changed significantly since she went under the needle: She broke things off with 83-year-old publishing magnate last fall; moved out of the sprawling Playboy mansion; and quit her job ... Read more...
04.28.09 · 12 PM
Sharing love with strangers in the desert night
After a carburetor-mutilating, offroading, multiple F-bomb dropping, almost getting irremediably lost trip through the vast Nevada desert, my friend and I finally found the gathering in the middle of nowhere. We parked our car among the Joshua trees and boulders and stumbled through the night into a hallucination: Three 12-foot tall monsters stood guarding a giant gateway to more darkness. A crowd of people dressed as colorful creatures and characters stood around, admiring the three effigies that would soon be ... Read more...
04.27.09 · 7:03 PM
So You Think You Can Dance dashes hopes in Las Vegas
“There’s nothing fun about sitting in a chair and ripping away hopeful people’s dreams,” said So You Think You Can Dance judge Adam Shankman during a break from the show’s callback auditions Friday afternoon inside the Theatre for the Performing Arts at Planet Hollywood. He’s right, of course. Telling sunny-faced aspiring Wade Robsons that their moves are sub par or their personalities lack pop is a literally thankless job, like the dentist, only on national TV. But, as the saying ... Read more...
04.27.09 · 12:04 PM
A farmers market grows on Fremont: Vegas eats local at summer markets
On Friday, April 24, East Fremont—most famous for its bars and nighttime foot traffic—got a family-friendly, earth-friendly makeover. The Las Vegas Farmer’s Market kicked off its 2009 season with a soft opening this past week at the corner of Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard. The weekly market sets up shop hocking everything from “VIP Tomatoes” to organic cotton candy every Friday from 4 p.m. – 8 p.m. Sticking to the slogan “Make it, bake it, sew it or grow ... Read more...
04.26.09 · 1:35 PM
A real life call girl calls bull
I first encountered Jenny DeMilo, an opinionated high-class GFE (girlfriend experience) escort, through a feisty comment she had posted on the widely read, hotly debated Confessions of a Hipster Hooker, a feature story on Radar Online that has since been removed from the site. The article, authored by Jessica Pilot, was supposedly a non-fiction, first-person account of Pilot’s interaction with four upper-class, professional, twenty-something Manhattan women who spent their days as white collar society bachelorettes and their nights as the ... Read more...
04.25.09 · 1:18 PM
Epicurean 2009 makes for a delicious affair
As the 19th Annual Epicurean Affair approached, three things were certain: There would be good food, good drinks and someone was going to end up in the pool. Indeed, at Epicurean, held April 23 at the Flamingo’s sprawling pool complex, the food was fantastic, the drinks powerful and plentiful and the person in the pool turned out to be none other than Giorgio chef Nico Chessa, soaked courtesy of friend and fellow kitchen quarterback Luciano Pellegrini. But before the splash, ... Read more...
04.24.09 · 11:57 AM
Video: Get your summer six pack with the Chippendales workout
I have several questions prepared for Nathan Minor, a built, dirty blonde 33-year-old Chippendales dancer and personal trainer when I meet him at the Las Vegas Athletic Club for a workout. Important health questions like, “Are squats or lunges more effective in building a bodacious, traffic-stopping ass?” But really I just want to know one thing: Do his clients come onto him during sweaty one-on-ones at the lateral pulldown? Because I could definitely see that happening. Minor admits that he ... Read more...
04.22.09 · 8:22 AM
Wynn rings dinner bell with discounted menus
For the sake of this exercise, imagine what a three-course meal might cost you at the Wynn’s Alex restaurant. Keep in mind while you do that chef Alessandro Stratta’s elegant French cuisine has been awarded two stars by the Michelin Guide, was given the Mobil Travel Five Star Award in 2007 and 2008 and the AAA Five Diamond Award of Excellence for both years, as well. (The kitchen has lots of plaques in it.) Now, picture an appetizer of Maine ... Read more...
04.21.09 · 1:38 PM
The epicurean life: Las Vegas restaurants team up to celebrate all things delicious
Epicurean, adj. - fond of or adapted to luxury or indulgence in sensual pleasures; having luxurious tastes or habits, esp. in eating and drinking. If there was a time when luxurious tastes were reserved for the wealthy or well traveled, that day has passed. Today, truffled mashed potatoes are nearly as common as French fries on restaurant menus, and caviar isn’t just for those born with a silver (or mother of pearl) spoon. Appreciation of well-crafted food and beverages is ... Read more...
04.21.09 · 3:16 AM
Thank your lucky caramel swirls: It’s free cone day!
When I was in college and just had one of those days, I would treat myself to a half pint of Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food ice cream – that frozen ode to the jam band made with chocolate ice cream, marshmallow, caramel swirls and fish-shaped fudge. The only downside was the “freshman 15” beginning to creep up on me after one too many bad days. But one small cone won’t derail your diet, and it’d be a downright shame ... Read more...
04.20.09 · 6:44 PM
It’s Snoop Dogg double vision as rapper meets wax doppleganger on 4/20
It’s 4/20 and Snoop Dogg is in Las Vegas, but the iconic rapper is vowing to “lay low” on the counterculture holiday. “I lay low, I stay in the hotel, so I won’t get no trouble, so the media can keep me out of their face,” he said earlier today. When asked if he’d celebrate 4/20, he said, “You better know that,” – but wouldn’t go into specifics. A bright-eyed Dogg began the afternoon by unveiling his new wax figure ... Read more...
04.20.09 · 2:09 PM
Las Vegas chef launches tasty iPhone app
On TLC’s Take Home Chef Australian chef and cutie pie Curtis Stone accosts strangers in the grocery store then offers to up his culinary services and his bankroll if they’ll let him come home with them and take over their kitchen for a night. If only there were one of him in every grocery store. Now, a Las Vegas chef is offering up the same scrumptious skills minus the television cameras and awkward small talk. Chef Marco Porceddu of Ago ... Read more...
04.19.09 · 1:15 PM
Las Vegas company has a passion for pleasure
It seems like a normal get together between girlfriends. A dozen young women, ages 18-22, are sitting in an apartment living room, chatting and laughing while they snack on chocolate-dipped strawberries and cupcakes. Take a closer one and what’s that on the cupcakes? A little candy in the center makes the desserts look like breasts. Those succulent strawberries are sitting in a penis-shaped tray. And the women are molding miniature penises out of Playdoh. I’m at a Passion Party and ... Read more...
04.17.09 · 1:03 PM
He’s Super Crazy: Fake stunts and real pain in lucha libre
This weekend Primm will turn into a border town when Mexican lucha libre fighters join boxers and mixed martial arts fighters for three days of blood, sweat and full contact action at Battle At the Border I. The triple header kicks off Friday, April 17 at the Star of the Desert Arena with Cuban fighter Yuriokis Gamboa taking on Jose Rojas in the World Boxing Association Featherweight World Title bout. Saturday belongs to MMA with eight bouts in four weight ... Read more...
04.16.09 · 6:28 PM
Win tickets to Snoop’s private party at Madame Tussauds
Snoop Dogg is coming to town and here’s your chance to see him both in the flesh and life-size wax: The Weekly is giving away six passes to see Snoop at the exclusive unveiling of his first wax figure at Madame Tussauds. The rapper will reveal the statue during a private event at the museum on Monday, April 20 at noon. Fifty members of the rapper’s LA-based kids football team, the Pomona Steelers, will also join him at Tussauds. Note: ... Read more...
04.16.09 · 2:53 PM
Give me some of your tots!
While signs of the apocalypse abound these days, Town Square seems none the worse for wear, as evidenced by the line wrapped around Cadillac Ranch for yesterday’s grand opening and a swamped patio at Blue Martini. In search of other less crowded dining options, I stumbled upon Bar Louie and one very happy hour. In addition to a generous $1 half pound burger special on Tuesdays from 5 p.m. until close, Louie has a happy hour from 3 p.m. - ... Read more...
04.16.09 · 2:36 PM
The closest you’ll get to a stripper on your lunch break
The gentlemen’s club industry powers-that-be know that the hottest action isn’t in the VIP room; it’s online. Pumpsmag.com, launching soon according to Urban Daddy, is an online-only digital magazine (AKA Web site) dedicated to a subject that never seems to get old: the strip club. Although designed primarily for patrons, staff, investors and owners, the site is poised to become the go-to URL for bored and randy cubicle slaves, right after the requisite stopovers at Facebook and YouTube. What could ... Read more...
04.15.09 · 9:05 AM
Via Brazil swarmed by drunken accountants!
Maybe we’re getting ahead of ourselves, but that’s what could happen when exhausted CPAs find out that Brazilian churrascaria Via Brasil Steakhouse is serving free drinks to Las Vegas accountants today to help them celebrate Tax Day. The Summerlin-based restaurant is offering a free drink at the bar to all CPAs this Wednesday, as well as 10 percent off food purchases all day. If there’s a better way to celebrate an end to fiddling with exemptions, receipts, W-2s and 1099s ... Read more...
04.14.09 · 4:24 PM
Meet the man who dressed your server
The next time you admire cleavage framed by a well-cut bodice while your Bloody Mary is topped off, you will know who to thank: Danyel Carbone. “I like a girl who can dress well,” is one of the first things Carbone tells me, when I sit down with him for sushi and sake at a little place on Sahara near Buffalo. “I like a girl who is into fashion. If she’s not, she’s got to be pretty lame!” Carbone has ... Read more...
04.13.09 · 5:35 PM
They just don’t make ‘em like that anymore…
I was blown away by the Viva Las Vegas car show before I even entered the event. My adventure started in the parking lot. As a pack of three motorcycles pulled away, I slid in only to discover I was parked next to a 1929 Model A Ford. The souped-up car looked more like a work of art than an operable machine, with an open engine leading to eight exhaust pipes and a cut out roof exposing a small bench ... Read more...
04.10.09 · 6:51 PM
Heaven is a place that serves “frrrozen hot chocolate”
If heaven has a place on Earth, it’s probably called Serendipity. But as with all good things, it comes with a wait. Sometimes up to a three-hour wait. Like many others, I’ve braved the long line in the cramped waiting area of the legendary Serendipity 3 in New York City. But as of this week, lucky Las Vegas tourists and locals will no longer have to stand the wait (hopefully) or travel the 2,500-plus miles to get a piece of ... Read more...
04.10.09 · 6:39 PM
The forgotten film festival
It was either the Las Vegas Film Festival or the Las Vegas International Film Festival, depending on which signage you believed (both titles are evident on the website), but regardless of the name, it was definitely upstairs in a pair of out-of-the-way conference rooms in the Eastside Cannery. That’s where I was last night to take in the second edition of the confusingly named event, which last occurred in July 2007 in some even more out-of-the-way conference rooms at the ... Read more...
04.10.09 · 4:51 PM
At the Neon Venus, art is life and life is a party
On May Day as the sun starts to set, between 50 and 200 people painted in vibrant colors will freeze in expressive poses, creating a living sculpture garden alongside the Strip. “We’re trying to bring people together to make a splashy thing,” says Peter Valentino, who co-owns Neon Venus Theater with his wife, Lissette Napoleoni. Valentino and Napoleoni are organizing the human sculpture experiment, which will take place in the small park adjacent to the theatre where Las Vegas Boulevard ... Read more...
04.10.09 · 2:48 PM
Touring Las Vegas, one music video at a time
Flo Rida and Teairra Mari “caused a scene” inside Rain this past Tuesday, Dre, Fiddy and Slim played around with Maloof last Sunday and Katy Perry woke up in a Fantasy Tower Sky Villa back in March. But way before the Palms got so popular, Las Vegas was the location of choice for many a music video. The City of Lights—oh yeah, that’s Paris—The Neon City—damn, that’s Shanghai—Sin City has provided a dynamite backdrop for many a rock star, rapper ... Read more...
04.9.09 · 7:09 PM
So You Think You Can Dance to hold callbacks in Las Vegas
There’s something to be said for the guilty pleasure of watching usually composed celebrities go completely out of their element to stumble through the jitterbug or tango on Dancing with the Stars. More than Us Weekly’s shots of Brangelina sipping Starbucks or Julia Roberts grocery shopping, the awkward twirls and dips remind us that even some of the pretty people have two left feet. Not everyone can be Usher, after all. But if you’re after quality dancing rather than celebrity ... Read more...
04.9.09 · 1:16 PM
Flo Rida and Teairra Mari’s Vegas video shoot is more work than play
Rap videos often showcase the glitz, glamour and luxurious things in life: Fancy cars, beautiful women, and extravagance as far as the eye can see. Rap video shoots, however, are hardly glitzy, glamorous or luxurious – even when accomplished artists like Flo Rida or up and coming R&B songstress Teairra Mari are involved. The two were at Rain nightclub on Tuesday shooting a video for their collaboration, “Cause a Scene.” “This video, ‘Cause a Scene,’ is definitely going to be ... Read more...
04.9.09 · 8:57 AM
Las Vegas chefs to light up the kitchen on Top Chef Masters
Think of it in sports terms. Top Chef has been playing college ball. Now, they’re stepping up to the big leagues and two of Las Vegas’ top chefs are set to appear on an enhanced version of the popular series Top Chef. Top Chef Masters will feature 24 of the nation’s most well-known and well-respected chefs, including Las Vegas’ own Rick Moonen and Hubert Keller. Moonen is best known as the driving force behind RM Seafood, while Keller is has ... Read more...
04.8.09 · 5:53 PM
Holly Madison sets her sights on a reality TV return
Holly Madison has hardly had time to catch her breath since being eliminated from Dancing With the Stars last week but the blonde bombshell is already setting her sights on her next TV project. “I’m working on developing my own reality show that I’ll also produce,” she said on Saturday at a party for her ex-boyfriend and Playboy mogul, Hugh Hefner. Though she was careful to say, “It’s not set in stone yet,” Madison’s fingers are crossed and she’s anxious ... Read more...
04.8.09 · 12:17 PM
NHL stars to party Las Vegas-style for NHL awards weekend
Hockey’s biggest and brightest stars are coming to Las Vegas, and if Gary Bettman has his way, this year’s NHL awards will kick off a raucous and rocking, star-studded weekend to remember. Love him or hate him, the NHL commissioner is determined to turn the annual awards gala into a destination weekend for both players and fans. “This is all part of raising the profile of the game,” Bettman said at a press conference at Ghostbar on Monday afternoon. This ... Read more...
04.7.09 · 5:17 PM
How to rock vintage duds for Viva Las Vegas 12
Planning to hit Viva Las Vegas 12 this weekend at the Orleans? Better get your pumps in a row. The Weekly visited the Bettie Page store inside the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood where pin-up model and retro spokes-dame Doris Mayday gave us the lowdown on how to rock Rockabilly. 1. The perfect cheesecake dress - Look for dresses with a below-the-knee hemline and darting to nip you in at waist. Feminine details like buttons, lace, flair and nautical ... Read more...
04.6.09 · 10:35 PM
See the future at the Psychic Eye
Business is down nearly everywhere, but inside The Psychic Eye readings are up 20 percent. At the location at Russell and Eastern (there are three other Psychic Eyes and several similar shops in Henderson and Las Vegas), a minimum of 60 people come in each day seeking answers and direction. The store has plenty of success stories. A few days ago, they tell me, a woman came in frantic about not being able to find her brother. With the help ... Read more...
04.6.09 · 6:40 PM
I’m a little bit country… oh, who am I kidding?
Covering the Academy of Country Music Awards, or “Why I wasn’t at Wet Republic yesterday.” 5 p.m. ish, Sunday, April 5, 2009 One of these things is not like the other. One of these things just doesn’t belong. That would be me. While I listen to anything from classical to rock to electronic dance music, sometimes even a bit of angsty-folk or rockabilly, I cannot stand country. Yup, I’m one of those people. And somehow I ended up at the ... Read more...
04.6.09 · 5:43 PM
Life is just a cabaret
“20,” a man greets me as I walk through the door of Don’t Tell Mama piano bar on Fremont Street East on Sunday evening. “You’re 20,” he repeats, smiling like being 20 is a really good thing. I introduce myself to the man, who identifies himself as Lloyd, and the petite couple working the door who Lloyd identifies as the new bar’s proud owners. They’re smiling, too. “We love you,” Lloyd says. “I love you,” I reply, because that’s what ... Read more...
04.6.09 · 10:30 AM
Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent lay down tracks in Las Vegas
Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent are legendary rappers in their own right yet the three icons recently joined forces during a recording session at the studio at the Palms. The resort’s owner, George Maloof, said the trio had the loudest recording sessions the casino has ever heard. “I think it’s the only time that we’ve had anybody in our studio where you could actually hear the sound through the walls,” he said. “The room … is four rooms in ... Read more...
04.6.09 · 12:44 AM
Toby Keith loves his bar, his grill and his Jack Daniels
Toby Keith loves his bar and loves his Jack Daniels, too. Lucky for him, the two seem to go hand-in-hand The country star put in a Jack-fueled appearance at his namesake watering hole at Harrah’s early Sunday morning. The spot, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill, was crowded thanks to an influx of both country fans and industry insiders who are in town for Sunday evening’s Academy of Country Music Awards. The staff struggled to keep up with ... Read more...
04.5.09 · 11:55 AM
Bistro eats, house-made with love: The Chef’s Palate opens in Henderson
Keeping it fresh and keeping it family, dynamic husband and wife duo Kristy and Chef Rex George quietly popped the cork Friday night on their new bistro, Chef’s Palate Martini and Wine Bar at Eastern and Horizon Ridge in Henderson. A couple for 12 years, married nine, the power pair shares a combined 30 years of culinary experience under their collective belts. Kristy, who runs the front of house, and Chef Rex, who lords over the kitchen, studied food and ... Read more...
04.4.09 · 7:47 PM
Jack Daniels and beautiful women: Hugh Hefner celebrates his birthday at the Palms
Dressed in a colorful Playboy shirt, white pants, a black sport coat and his signature captain’s hat, Hugh Hefner kicked off a day-long birthday party today at the Palms. The Playboy magnate will turn 83 years old on Thursday. The festivities got underway today at 2:30 p.m. as the original playboy made his way to the Palms Place pool where a cheerful Hef partied flanked by girlfriends Crystal Harris, 22, and 19-year-old twin sisters Karissa and Kristina Shannon. Press and ... Read more...
04.4.09 · 1:04 PM
Kenny Chesney takes home Playboy Club key
Country music recording artist Kenny Chesney came to Vegas this weekend for the Academy of Country Music Awards, but he will leave with something some might say is more valuable than an ACMA statuette: A key to the Playboy Club. Two of the club’s iconic bunnies gave Chesney his key on Friday night during the singer’s visit to the sultry nightspot. As a key holder, Chesney is now eligible for exclusive access and amenities at various Palms properties, including the ... Read more...
04.3.09 · 6 AM
Calling all lovers, it’s date night in Las Vegas
What could be more delicious than a really good first date? The conversation flows as freely as the cocktails with the sexual tension simmering almost to giddiness as the flirtation builds to the sweet spiciness of a good mole. By the same token, few things are more painful than a date dissolving into a watch-checking time bomb. Good thing you staged a fake emergency phone call from a friend just in case. For the next three weeks, however, the Venetian ... Read more...
04.2.09 · 11:47 PM
The KISS is mini, the reception mighty
When it comes to getting girls, Joseph Fatale says it’s all about the make-up. In fact, the Mini KISS bassist says he gets more action with the make-up on than off. “We get more girls being in Mini KISS make-up than we doing being out of Mini KISS make-up,” he said. “It brings it a lot. It’s like a magnet.” Sitting on a couch backstage at LAX before the band’s Wednesday night performance, Fatale, a.k.a. “Mini Gene,” held nothing back. ... Read more...
04.1.09 · 12:01 PM
Get your cheapo chicken here!
Update: The Weekly has been informed that though we are doing some punking of our own; we too have been punked this April Fools Day. Not to discourage you from a downtown excursion this evening, but we have discovered the Hennessey’s Tavern’s “25-cent boneless chicken dinner” is actually just a hard boiled egg and the “glass of beer for five cents” equals a shot of beer. Technically, no one has told an untruth, though I think we really fell for ... Read more...
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SMS Alerts
Featured Cocktail
May 15, 2013
by
Sabrina Chapman
The Golden Pillar: An architectural cocktail built for XS
This Sunday, XS nightclub celebrates the grand reopening of its after-dark pool party, Night Swim. Along with the bash comes a new offering of signature cocktails served by the pitcher, ...
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