My View From Las Vegas
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Alexander The Great
fighting wordsWhat Made Alexander So Great?The real mystery of his life isn't his bisexuality.By Christopher HitchensPosted Monday, Nov. 29, 2004, at 10:30 AM PT
The current pointless tussle over the bisexuality of Alexander of Macedon is only the latest and cheapest tribute paid to our fascination with him. Recent studies have also raised the question of whether he was a hopeless alcoholic (or perhaps an almost sacrificial votary of a cult devoted to Dionysus, the god of wine) and of whether he was just another bloodthirsty conqueror.
But note this first: This man really did exist, and these events really did occur. Our sources may be fragmentary and inconsistent and contradictory, but they involve us in disputes about real people and events. For the next four weeks, you won't be able to go into a supermarket without hearing pseudo-devotional music concerning an episode 2,000 years ago that may well never have taken place. Meanwhile, Jews will be celebrating Hanukkah, which commemorates the victory of the Orthodox over those Jews who had succumbed to "Hellenism" in Alexander's time. ("Hellenised Jew" is still a taunt hurled by Orthodox Israelis against the secular.)
Alexander is only a "myth" because his achievements were legendary in his own lifetime and for the secondary and myth-generating reason that we do not know where he is buried. But this has not prevented archaeologists and historians from closing in. It took a very long time for Manolis Andronikos to locate the tombs of the Macedonian royal house, including that of King Philip. But a British classicist named Nicholas Hammond, who had worked with the Greek resistance during World War II, consulted all the ancient accounts he could find and pointed to Vergina, in Greek Macedonia. Dig there, he said. And Andronikos found it. The unmistakable Greekness of the trove is part of the reason that the Greek government is so upset at President Bush's recent decision to recognize former Yugoslav "Macedonia" under its assumed name.
Alexander himself was not above using myth for propaganda purposes. He claimed descent from Achilles, the hero of Troy, and from Zeus himself. He took the work of Homer with him wherever he went. He wanted to be acknowledged as Pharaoh in Egypt—the loftiest of all aspirations in those days—and also to be recognized as a god by those who worshipped the Olympian pantheon. Alexandros Megalos, to give him his Greek sobriquet, reminds us of the root of our word "megalomania." But should he be compared with the other great despots of antiquity, or with more modern totalitarians and butchers?
A very absorbing recent book, Alexander: The Ambiguity of Greatness, by Guy MacLean Rogers, argues that this modern temptation should be avoided. Alexander's tutor was Aristotle (a fact that supplies endless fascination to those who study the relationship between philosophers and monarchs, from Machiavelli to Leo Strauss). And Aristotle, perhaps sharing in the continuing rage and shame at the Persian desecration of the Acropolis in 480 B.C., urged his pupil to treat the peoples of the Persian Empire as coldly as he would plants or animals. The available evidence is that Alexander did not take this advice.
He certainly followed the custom of ancient warfare in allowing the massacre of cities that did not surrender and the enslavement of captives. He never hesitated to employ torture in extracting confessions or other sorts of information. But in smashing the gruesome power of the seemingly eternal Persian Empire, he showed some gallantry and some cunning. Formerly subjected peoples were permitted various kinds of autonomy, and the captured family of the vanquished Emperor Darius was treated with almost exaggerated respect. Alexander further married a Bactrian wife and encouraged his officers and generals to do the same. Indeed, he was criticized by the Macedonian hard-liners for being too deft in assimilating himself to the customs of those he had defeated. It was only by this policy of alliance that he was able to keep his army on the march all the way across Afghanistan to India, and then back through modern Iraq and the Gulf, founding city-states all the way—some of which still bear versions of his name. If we have the word polis, we owe it to this early form of primitive globalization, just as we are indebted for almost all of our political terms to the Greek language. The term "known world" would be almost oxymoronic were it not for this combination of military and political genius. Once Alexander had spent himself, people in hitherto unconnected regions knew that there was a world beyond their own constricted horizons. And they had a lingua franca, in the form of bastardized Greek, which even the later Roman sphere had to adopt.
As for how he spent himself: He was both a hero and a debauchee. When his homesick and grizzled troops began to grumble at Opis, on the banks of the Tigris, in 324 B.C., Alexander is said to have challenged every man present to strip and show his wounds. He himself, he announced with no fear of contradiction, was marked on every part of his body—except his back. This prefigures the words of King Henry ("then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars ... ") on the eve of Agincourt—and it was followed by Alexander's sullen retreat to his tent in emulation of Achilles before Troy. We may distrust the idea of military glory and heroism, but if Alexander did not display these qualities, then such qualities do not exist.
It's notoriously difficult to be a hero at the bar and in the sack, in any order, but Alexander seems, in spite of hangovers that lasted for days and that often nearly killed him, to have married the Bactrian Roxane for her beauty more than for her dynastic value and to have made other interethnic marriages that were designed to produce heirs. That he loved his male comrade Hephaestion seems to be one of the few conclusions upon which all chroniclers agree and about which none were surprised. The case of the beautiful eunuch Bagoas is less clear, but Oliver Stone will have done the world a service if he sends readers back to Mary Renault's marvelous novel The Persian Boy and, indeed, to a rereading of her work in general.
Though his temples and cities and monuments do not show the hideous barbarism and vanity that was displayed by some of those he overthrew (there is a little Greek temple in upper Egypt conspicuous for its proportion and modesty among the vast trunks of grim, power-proclaiming stone), Alexander was eventually brought low by hubris. He did not know when or how to stop, and he wanted to be worshipped as well as admired. Unlike Ozymandias, however, it cannot be said of him that none of his work remains. And if we search for a neat contemporary allusion—imperial overstretch? clash of civilization?—we come up short because this time, as before, it really is too early to say.Christopher Hitchens is a columnist for Vanity Fair and a regular contributor to Slate. His most recent book is Love, Poverty and War. He is also the author of A Long Short War: The Postponed Liberation of Iraq and of Blood, Class and Empire.Article URL: http://slate.msn.com/id/2110188/
Cirque du Soleil "The Horses"
November 30, 2004
The Stage Is Set: Enter Horses at Full GallopBy JOE SHARKEY
ANTA MONICA, Calif. - On the beach near the Santa Monica Pier, Normand Latourelle is successfully growing a small pasture of grass for his horses, all 37 of them.
Mr. Latourelle, a founder of the Cirque du Soleil who is taking an elaborate new equestrian-based circuslike extravaganza called "Cavalia" on tour, is a detail man who decided that since horses like grass, grass they shall have, even on a beach. "The city authorities, they said I was insane, but I found the right sod and seeds to order, and look: grass," he said, showing off the sprouting green blades.
"In a week or two, horses can graze on this," said Mr. Latourelle, a 49-year-old Canadian. He created "Cavalia," which is being presented through Jan. 2 inside a huge, 90-foot-high white canvas tent pitched like a multitowered sand castle on the beach here.
The show, with its cavorting horses and troupe of 32 riders, aerialists and acrobats who perform feats against swirling images projected on a screen, has been selling out most of its 1,900 seats nightly since it opened here on Nov. 10. Ticket prices range from $62 to $92 for all but a special section of special-package seats. Mr. Latourelle said he expected to bring "Cavalia" - pronounced ca-VA-lya - to New York in the spring.
In 1985, Mr. Latourelle helped push the Quebec-bred Cirque du Soleil from a motley collection of acrobats, jugglers, clowns and other street performers into an international big-top phenomenon.
He has replicated some of the Cirque atmospherics for "Cavalia." But there is a big difference. While Cirque does not use animals, "Cavalia" luxuriates in the horse.
Mr. Latourelle left Cirque in 1990. When deliberating on the current project, he and his companion and business partner, Dominique Day, decided that horses were just the thing, though neither knew much about them.
One thing Mr. Latourelle did know: performing horses, shackled to bits and reins and obediently repeating tricks as they circled a ring, would not do. He wanted horses that would express the idea of freedom.
This concept - the horse unfettered - has its charms but also poses some challenges, especially considering that stallions were to be the stars in "Cavalia."
"You know about stallions?" Ms. Day asked with a small laugh on opening night this month as she and Mr. Latourelle watched the equestrian co-director and principal trainer, Frederic Pignon, work with a gray Lusitano stallion in a training ring in the expansive side tent where the horses are stabled.
Any experienced rider knows about stallions. Most important is the fact that these proud, muscular, unneutered male horses are intensely competitive, in a ring or on a racetrack. Riding a stallion in the company of other stallions is not to be done lightly, since macho horse-to-horse grudges can become suddenly, brutally physical.
The "Cavalia" herd consists of hardy breeds: swift quarter horses; fast, agile Arabians; proud Lusitanos; and big, steady Percherons. Eighteen are stallions and the rest are geldings: neutered males, still strong and sometimes willful, but without that fierce stallion temperament.
"Cavalia: A Magical Encounter Between Man and Horse" is being promoted as a celebration of the unique emotional and physical bonds between humans and the animals. The performance is presented on a 150-foot-wide stage: 150 feet is about the length a galloping horse needs to create a blazing blur under the swirling lights, as riders and soaring aerialists perform their stunts.
Nonriders in the audience applaud loudest for the high-flying riders' acrobatics. But experienced riders, who began talking about the show during earlier performances in Seattle, San Francisco and San Diego, can be heard murmuring appreciatively at stunts that would be considered virtually impossible in show competition or dressage.
Here is one you won't see at the Olympics: a rider plants a leg on each back of a cantering pair as they circle the stage and jump a five-foot-high hurdle while the rider executes a somersault and manages to land, upright, in the original position.
Another act is more subtle. Mr. Pignon cavorts with three unfettered white stallions onstage, putting them through dressage paces. Mr. Pignon, a soft-spoken horseman who says that the only way to train a horse is with patience and gentleness to build mutual respect, then has each animal lie down, side by side. In turn, he asks each to get up. Two do. The gag is that the third, a big, splendid Lusitano, refuses importunings to arise.
"That's the hardest trick in the show," a horsewoman in the audience whispered on opening night when the stallion finally jumped up and joined his two companions in a wild, rearing finale.
"Cavalia," with its herd and its 100-strong company of performers, trainers, grooms, stagehands and others, was expensive to mount. It took six years and $27 million before it opened last year in Canada. "Raising the financing was the longest part, but of course that allowed me a lot of time to think about what I wanted," Mr. Latourelle said.
Both "Cheval," another horse-themed circus created by a Cirque alumnus, and "Zingaro," a French horse circus, failed to attract a sizable following in the United States. At each, horses performed in traditional circus rings.
"We certainly didn't want to have a circus with horses in a ring going round and round for two hours," Ms. Day said.
Though many of the horses in "Cavalia" do in fact perform fitted with saddles, reins and bits, Mr. Latourelle insisted that the show hew to a narrative of the horse as free spirit. The concept blossomed fully on a trip to France, where he and Ms. Day looked up Mr. Pignon and his wife, Magali Delgado, who are prominent breeders and trainers of Lusitanos.
"At their farm in the south of France, I was expecting to see the usual things - riding horses in the round," Mr. Latourelle said. "Instead, Fred brought three stallions to the field and started to run and play with them. For me, the script was partly written right then: the dream for freedom. I said, this is the story we have to tell, that it is possible to be in a good relationship with horses in which there is mutual respect and a sense of the possibilities of freedom."
He was sold when Ms. Delgado put one of her Lusitanos through its paces using finger and body gestures. She is a fearless rider who performs precise dressage movements on a stallion, without reins or bit, and then gallops bareback merrily around the stage. The four quickly teamed up.
A major part of the training philosophy is that respect is owed the wills, temperaments and moods of a horse. "The stallions know they can just walk off that stage if they want," Ms. Day said.
Each performance of "Cavalia" is predicated on the possibility that at least one horse might well decide he is tired or bored and simply say, "Goodnight," Mr. Latourelle said. "This is not my night. I'm out of here."
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company Home Privacy Policy Search Corrections RSS Help Back to Top
Stress and Health
November 30, 2004
Too Much Stress May Give Your Genes Gray HairBy BENEDICT CAREY
ome stressful events seem to turn a person's hair gray overnight.
Now a team of researchers has found that severe emotional distress - like that caused by divorce, the loss of a job, or caring for an ill child or parent - may speed up the aging of the body's cells at the genetic level.
The findings, being reported today, are the first to link psychological stress so directly to biological age.
The researchers found that blood cells from women who had spent many years caring for a disabled child were, genetically, about a decade older than those from peers who had much less caretaking experience. The study, which appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also suggests that the perception of being stressed can add years to a person's biological age.
Though doctors have linked chronic psychological stress to weakened immune function and an increased risk of catching colds, among other things, they are still trying to understand how tension damages or weakens tissue.
The new research suggests a new way that such damage may occur and opens the possibility that the process can be reversed.
"This is a new and significant finding," said Dr. Bruce McEwen, director of the neuroendocrinology laboratory at Rockefeller University in New York.
He said the research provided some of the clearest evidence yet "of the price in wear and tear on the tissues that everybody pays during a stressful life."
"And we know as we get older," Dr. McEwen continued, "we have a greater tendency to put on fat, to develop heart disease and diabetes."
In the experiment, Dr. Elissa Epel and Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn of the University of California at San Francisco led a team of researchers who analyzed blood samples from 58 young and middle-aged mothers, 39 of them caring for a child with a chronic disorder like autism or cerebral palsy. Using genetic techniques, the doctors examined the DNA of white blood cells, which are central to the body's immune response to infection.
The scientists focused on a piece of DNA, called the telomere, at the very tip of each cell's chromosomes.
Like the head of a split matchstick, the telomere shrinks each time a cell divides and duplicates itself.
Cells may reproduce themselves many times throughout life to repair and strengthen their host organs, to grow or to fight disease.
A chemical called telomerase helps restore a portion of the telomere with each division.
But after 10 to 50 divisions or so - the number varies by tissue type and health, and biologists still do not understand the system well - the telomere gets so short that the cell is effectively retired and no longer able to replicate.
People born with a genetic disease called dyskeratosis congenita, which causes accelerated shortening of telomeres, die young, usually by middle age, most often as a result of complications from weakened immunity.
Change in telomere length over time, in short, is thought to be a rough measure of a cell's age, its vitality.
And when the researchers compared the DNA of mothers caring for disabled children, they found a striking trend: after correcting for the effects of age, they calculated that the longer the women had taken care of their child, the shorter their telomere length, and the lower their telomerase activity.
Some of the more experienced mothers were years older than their chronological age, as measured by their white blood cells.
"When people are under stress, they look haggard, it's like they age before your eyes, and here's something going on at a molecular level" that reflects that impression, said Dr. Blackburn, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics.
The researchers also gave the women a questionnaire, asking them to rate on a three-point scale how overwhelmed they felt by daily life, and how often they were unable to control the important things in their lives. The women who perceived that they were under heavy stress also had significantly shortened telomeres, compared with those who felt more relaxed - whether they were raising a disabled child or not.
"Some of the women who had a lot of objective, real stress also had a low perceived amount of stress, and the next step is trying to understand what it is that promotes this kind of resilience," said Dr. Epel.
She said the group had plans to test the effect of meditation, mindfulness training and yoga on both perceived stress and telomere length.
A form of counseling called cognitive therapy, in which people learn to temper their responses to stress, could also help, psychologists say.
Personality and upbringing almost certainly account for some of this difference, however. In 2003, researchers who followed some 850 New Zealanders from birth to 26 reported that variations in a single gene helped predict which children would later become susceptible to depression, after stressful events like divorce or unemployment.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have shown, in monkeys, that warm and attentive rearing of offspring can protect young animals from precisely this genetic variation, promoting resilience in genetically vulnerable individuals. Cold or abusive rearing, psychiatrists say, can have the opposite effect.
"All of these factors intertwine to make up how a person handles stress," said Dr. Ronald Glaser, director of Ohio State University's Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research, who with his wife, Dr. Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, has documented the effect of stress on immune function. "We now have evidence, from a broad range of fields, from studies of wound healing, of inflammation, of vaccines, and now of cell age that really make the case" that stress can cause real harm.
Experts caution that the telomere study needs to be replicated and that no one has yet shown convincingly that psychological stress significantly shortens people's lives. And it is far from clear exactly how fretting over a child's learning disability, say, can cause a parent's telomeres to shorten before their time. Although researchers know that emotional strain of this kind prompts the release of stress hormones, like cortisol, which over time can damage cells, no one knows how these hormones or other stress-related toxins affect telomeres.
"Right now, that is the black box," said Dr. Blackburn, "and that's what we're going to study next."
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company Home Privacy Policy Search Corrections RSS Help Back to Top
Monday, November 29, 2004
OPENINGS AND CLOSINGS
VEGASRESOURCE.COM NEWSLETTER=================================OPENINGS AND CLOSINGS, HERE IN LAS VEGAS, DURING THE LAST TWO MONTHSby billhere, Publisher.CLOSED DURING THE PAST TWO MONTHS:====================================++++++++++ALGIERS HOTEL: Located across the street from Circus Circus is closed. ++++++++++ATA AIRLINES: With flights from Chicago Midway Airport, Indianapolis and Tampa/St.Petersburg is now closed and all assets sold to AirTran Airways.++++++++++BOURBON STREET: Mostly Magic show closed.++++++++++CASTAWAYS: Station Casinos bought the casino from the mortgage holder to make sure no casino reopens and rivals their Boulder Station.++++++++++COMDEX: Convention is canceled.See story at: http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116671,00.asp++++++++++DESERT INN: The last two towers of the old Desert Inn; St.Andrews and Palms Towers have been imploded to make way for Wynn Las Vegas Phase 2.++++++++++FLAMINGO: The afternoon Bottoms Up Show closed.++++++++++GOLDEN NUGGET: Spirit of the Night Show closed.++++++++++GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS MUSEUM: Closed.++++++++++HAWAIIAN MARKET PLACE: Closed its food court.++++++++++IMPERIAL PALACE: Hawaiian Luau Show closed for the season.++++++++++LA CONCHA MOTEL: Demolished by wrecking ball.++++++++++MGM MIRAGE: Teatro Bar closed for remodeling. Will reopen December 31st as the Teatro Euro Bar.++++++++++MIRAGE: Renoir Restaurant has closed and will reopen in the new Wynn Las Vegas.++++++++++MONORAIL: Closed indefinitely pending safety tests. Three times, parts have fallen off moving trains since the opening. [Two pound washer; 60-pound wheel assembly and a drive shaft. Also one instance of an exit door, with passengers on, opened on the wrong side.]++++++++++PALACE STATION: The Lippin' to the Hits Show closed.++++++++++RIVIERA: [1] Escape-The Magic Show with Dixie Dooley closed.[2] Hail Hail Rock 'N' Roll Show opened and closed.[3] The Dirk Arthur part in the Splash show has been closed.++++++++++ROYAL RESORT: Dinner With Mama Show closed.++++++++++SAHARA: Saturday Night Fever Show closed.++++++++++VENETIAN: Venus Bar closed until end of December for remodeling.++++++++++WESTIN CASUARINA: [1] Two shows opened and closed immediately: "Divas" and "Exposed".[2] The Collin Foster Magic Show closed.++++++++++WESTWARD HO: Grubstake Jamboree Show closed.++++++++++WET 'N WILD WATER PARK: Closed permanently to make way for a 3,000 room high rise hotel/casino, with a nautical theme called Palace of the Sea. Lot has 27 acres and can be built as high as 750 feet. No further details or financing announced by ARCHON GROUP, the new owners.++++++++++WHISKEY PETE'S: Hail Hail Rock N Roll Show closed.++++++++++==========================================================================CLOSINGS COMING UP====================++++++++++Nov.28, 2004= Harvest Festival floral display closing - Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens.++++++++++Dec.10, 2004= SPLASH closing until Feb.1, 2005 with new production numbers - Riviera.++++++++++Jan. 9, 2005= Monet Art Exhibit closes at Bellagio Gallery of Fine Arts.++++++++++Jan.9, 2005= Virgin Records Megastore closing - Forum Shops in Caesars Palace, Phase 2.++++++++++Jan.16, 2005= The Pursuit of Pleasure: 17th Century to Present - art exhibit closing in the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum in the Venetian.++++++++++Jan.17, 2005= The Key Largo Hotel and Casino, on Flamingo, just 2 blocks east of Bally's, is closing permanently. A developer has bought the property and will demolish the Key Largo and proceed with their residential construction plans.++++++++++Jan. 17, 2005= MonteLago Village closes their public ice skating rink.++++++++++Sep.15, 2005= Blue Man Group closes at the Luxor and opens at the Venetian.++++++++++==========================================================================OPENED IN THE PAST TWO MONTHS:===============================++++++++++AAA AWARD RATINGS: [1] Five Diamond ratings to hotels: Bellagio, Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton at Lake Las Vegas.[2] Five Diamond ratings to restaurants at: Bellagio (Le Cirque and Picasso) and Mirage (Renoir).++++++++++ALADDIN: [1] Reopened under Planet Hollywood management as a Sheraton hotel. Operations will continue to be normal while the changes are made in the next two years. No further details available for now but expect major changes.[2] Opened a 12-table Poker Room.++++++++++ALADDIN - DESERT PASSAGE: [1] Krave alternative nightclub opened where the Ibiza nightclub and the Blue Note Jazz Club were previously located. Information: http://www.kravelasvegas.com[2] Fashionistas Show opened in the above Krave nightclub. Information: http://www.fashionistastheshow.com/[3] Bruce in the USA (Bruce Springsteen Tribute Show) opened. Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays in the V Theatre in the Desert Passage Mall inside the Aladdin.[4] "X" - An Erotic Adventure Show opened in the V Theatre in the Desert Passage Mall inside the Aladdin.++++++++++BARRICK GAMING: [1] New owners of the Plaza, Las Vegas Club (now the Vegas Club), Western and Gold Spike bought the very small Nevada Hotel and Queen of Hearts Hotel.[2] Started the Barrick Play Card which is a slot club for the Plaza and the Las Vegas Club (now the Vegas Club).++++++++++BINION'S HORSESHOE: The very funny "Vinnie Favorito Comedy Show opened. A "billhere" recommended show.++++++++++BOURBON STREET: The Michael Johns Hypnotism Show and the Hypnosis Gone Wild Show have opened.++++++++++BUDDY HACKETT:Read a marvelous interview with Sandy Hackett about his father Buddy Hackett: http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2004/oct/01/517602990.html++++++++++CAESARS PALACE: [1] The fabulous Mesa Grill Restaurant opened.[2] Eliminated box men at their craps tables. Other casinos that have done so are: Bally's, Flamingo and Paris Las Vegas.[3] Extended the Celine Dion show into 2007.++++++++++CAESARS PALACE - FORUM SHOPS:[1] FAO Schwarz toy store, closed due to bankruptcy, reopened, with new owners, after renovations. Huge wooden Trojan horse in front remains. Located in Phase 2.[2] Forum Shops opened a spectacular $139 million, three-story, Phase 3, with an expansion from the existing mall all the way to The Strip and has a three-story grand entrance direct from The Strip across the street from Harrah's. The beautiful mall has inlaid marble floors and specially built spiral escalators for the three floors. There is also classical 35-feet statues, plus a 60-foot-by-30-foot reflecting pond. About 60 upscale new stores such as: Dolce & Gabanna, Jeweler Harry Winston, famous Miami restaurant Joe's Stonecrab & Seafood, Boa Prime Steak, Sushi Roku, high-end shoe and fashion accessory emporium Donald Pliner, Taryn Rose, Guiseppe Zanotti, Casa Fuente Cigars, shoemaker Bruno Magli, Caolina Herrera, Pucci, Celine, Thomas Pink, Custo Barcelona, Peter Max, Davante Optical, Casa Fuente, Agent Provocateur, Villa Reale(Art de Mexico), Il Mulino, Tommy Bahama, Luca Luca, Chrome Hearts, Juicy Couture, Versace Home Collection, Sony Style, Brooks Brothers, Nambé and Valentino. THE NEW MAIL IS BEAUTIFUL BUT THE MERCHANDISE IS VERY EXPENSIVE.++++++++++FASHION SHOW MALL: A Spanish, tapas restaurant, Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!; Ra Sushi Bar; Capital Grille Steakhouse and Maggiano's Little Italy Restaurant all opened.++++++++++FIESTA RANCHO: Opened a $7 million ice arena and poker room.++++++++++FLAMINGO: Using MindPlay technology at their blackjack tables. All cards and chips are coded for instant computer tabulation. The casinos use it to evaluate the level of comps a blackjack player will get. HOWEVER, the problem is that they stop the game and shuffle the cards when this system tells them that the players have an advantage over the casino. Do not play blackjack at the Flamingo! A gambler has filed a legal action against the Flamingo and others. Full story on the legal action and full description of MindPlay at: http://www.hotel-online.com/News/2004_Oct_19/k.LVC.1098295284.html++++++++++FOUR QUEENS: Their slot club is now called the Royal Winners Club. Formerly the Reel Winners Club.++++++++++HARRAH"S: Renamed the Playa Lounge to The Piano Bar featuring karaoke and dueling pianos.++++++++++HAWAIIAN MARKET PLACE: The free Birdman of Las Vegas show opened.++++++++++HOTEL ROOM RATES: Are up over 20% from last year.++++++++++IMPERIAL PALACE: [1] Has lost a $400,000 verdict to a blackjack counter who was wrongfully detained by Imperial Palace security personnel. Hopefully, casinos will now tread lightly when gamblers count cards at blackjack tables. The full story at: http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Nov-05-Fri-2004/business/25149847.html[2] Southern Nevada Physicians opened a medical clinic, located on the 8th floor in the Imperial Palace, which is available to all tourists and locals. They are open a convenient 7 days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and take most insurance plans. Their local telephone number is 309-5144.++++++++++LADY LUCK: OVATION variety show opened.++++++++++LAKE LAS VEGAS: MonteLago Village opened a public ice skating rink until Jan.17th. Information at: http://www.letsgoiceskating.com/information.htm++++++++++LAS VEGAS CLUB: Changed its name to Vegas Club.++++++++++LAS VEGAS HILTON: [1] David Brenner show opened.[2] Aussie Angels topless revue show opened.[3] The Nightclub is now called the "Shimmer Cabaret".++++++++++LAS VEGAS STRIP TROLLEY: Now available for charter.++++++++++MANDALAY BAY: [1] Forty Deuce, an L.A. hot night club, with a burlesque show, opened in the Mandalay Place Retail Mall: http://www.fortydeuce.com/[2] Fleur de Lys Restaurant opened next to the Aureole Restaurant.[3] MIX Lounge (very exclusive) opened on the top floor of the new THEhotel at Mandalay Bay.[4] House of Blues opened Monday night karaoke with a live rock band.++++++++++MCCARRAN AIRPORT: Boarding pass or official ticket and a government-issued ID (drivers license, military ID or passport) are now required to pass any security checkpoint. E-ticket receipts, itineraries (travel agent or airline) and vouchers will no longer be accepted. Boarding passes will no loner be available at the gates. Boarding passes may be obtained on most airline internet sites, ticket counters, SpeedCheck kiosks (at the airport and Convention Center) or at skycap curbside stations.++++++++++MGM MIRAGE: [1] Construction started for the RESIDENCES AT MGM GRAND a huge 40-story, 576 suite, new condominium, which is being built where the MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park was located, in the back of the MGM Grand property. Turnberry & MGM Mirage are partners in this multi-building project, Completion for the first tower is March, 2006. Tel.:1-888-891-1688 or (702) 891-5555. Beautiful internet site is at: http://www.mgmgrandresidences.com The second tower is 50% sold and construction is to start July, 2005.[2] MGM Mirage announced a multi-phase, master planned community called Project CityCenter stretching from the Bellagio, all the way to the Monte Carlo. The Boardwalk Hotel & Casino will be demolished in 2006. No other definite details, timetable or financing have been announced for the project.[3] You can stay at the Mansion at MGM Grand for $5,000 per night!++++++++++MIRAGE: Announced that a new 90-minute show created by Cirque du Soleil, featuring a celebration of Beatles music, will replace the closed Siegfried & Roy Show. A new $100 million theater replacing the Siegfried & Roy Theater and seating 2,000, with 360-degree seating, is already under construction. The stage will be a theater-in-the round. Cirque performers will appear from below as well as above the stage. The new show is tentatively called "The Boys" and is estimated to open around May, 2006. This will be the fifth Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas after "O", Mystere, Zumanity and KA.++++++++++ORLEANS: Opened a new $40 million, 460-room, 21-story Tower, facing Tropicana Avenue. Total rooms are now 1,886 after this latest expansion.++++++++++PALMS: Started construction on the second tower, just behind the existing one. This 40-story tower to have 300 rooms (making a total of 720 rooms) and indoor and outdoor swimming pools. Completion in January, 2006. Playboy will open a nightclub, lounge, retail store and sky villa.++++++++++PLAZA: [1] New Italian restaurant Larry Manetti's opened.[2] Larry G. Jones, impressionist show, opened.[3] The Comedy Zone reopened.++++++++++RIO: [1] The All American Bar & Grill reopened after renovations.[2] The I-Bar Ultra Lounge opened after renovating of the old Ipanema Bar.++++++++++SILVERTON: [1] Opened Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World with a 40,000-gallon aquarium, waterfall, a stream stocked with fish meandering through the store, climbing wall, NASCAR display, archery and pistol ranges and a marine and boat showroom. [2] Opened the free AZURE live mermaid show, which will be on every two hours and takes place in a huge saltwater fishtank sharing the waters with mermaid friendly fish. Adjoing is the Mermaid Restaurant & Lounge.++++++++++STARDUST: [1] Bought 13 acres of land adjacent to its southwest side, for $43 million. Increases the site's size to 63 acres owned. It also has 9 acres leased to Budget Suites motel. The lease expires in November, 2006 but has an early cancellation clause. Stardust is obviously planning a huge project.[2] Ba-Da-Bing Show opened.++++++++++STRATOSPHERE: Opened the world's highest topless, indoor pool on their 25th floor, called Beach Club 25. Its restricted to Stratosphere hotel room guests.That's the third topless pool in Las Vegas after Caesars Palace's Venus Pool (outside the Palace Tower) & Mandalay Bay's Moorea Beach Club (beside the main pool area). The one at MGM Grand is no longer in operation.++++++++++TREASURE ISLAND (TI): Remodeled Buffet reopened and is called "Dishes".++++++++++TREASURES TOPLESS CLUB: Closed. Liquor license revoked by the City for allowing prostitution.on its premises. Hello City Fathers - what about every other so called Gentlemans Clubs and those listed in the over 115 pages under "Entertainers" in the Las Vegas Yellow Pages?++++++++++ VENETIAN: Construction has started on their third tower called "Palazzo" on the south-east corner of The Strip and Spring Mountain where the now demolished Tam O'Shanter Motel was located. The meeting rooms for this phase are under construction next to the Sands Convention Center. The 53-stories tower will have 3,025 suites, cost $1.6 billion, with casino (1,900 slot machines and 80 table games), meeting space, shopping mall, restaurants, underground parking and 1,500-seat theater. There will be a 60-foot glass domed entry lobby with a two-story fountain. When completed, it will be part of the largest hotel complex in the world with over 7,000 hotel rooms. All opening in the first quarter of 2007.++++++++++WESTIN CASUARINA: The Forbidden Vegas Show opened.++++++++++==========================================================================OPENINGS COMING UP====================++++++++++Nov.26, 2004= Opening of the new Cirque du Soleil show to replace EFX in a completely renovated $135 million 1,951-seat theater. The show cost $30 million and with all that money spent they will call the show "KA". Not KAKA just "KA". Information at http://www.ka.com ("O" Show cost only $90 million). The show will be Asian-themed and will have an actual story about two brothers who square off after embracing the forces of good and evil. Expect fire and water in the show. Exploding stage. The costumes are "earth tone" in color.++++++++++Nov.27-Jan.15, 2005= The Stars Are Out Tonight Show, on ice and public ice skating - Roman Plaza Center in front of the casino - Caesars Palace.++++++++++Nov.29-Feb.10, 2005= Christmas floral display - Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens.++++++++++Dec. 2, 2004= Fab Four Beattles Tribute Show opens in the "V" Theater in the Desert Passage Mall inside the Aladdin. [http://www.thefabfour.net]++++++++++Dec. 3, 2004= Marriott opens The Renaissance Las Vegas Hotel which is a $100 million new 548-room, 14-story, non-gaming, hotel at 3400 Paradise Road. Southeast corner of Desert Inn and Paradise Roads. ENVY Steakhouse and Starbucks Coffee Shop, swimming pool, spa and a five-story parking garage. Located 300 feet from the Convention Center. Information at: http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/lasbr?WT_Ref=mi_left++++++++++Dec.18, 2004= Green Valley Ranch opens their new, 296-room, $110 million Tower. ++++++++++Dec.20, 2004= MIX Restaurant is opening on the top floor of the new THEhotel at Mandalay Bay.++++++++++Dec.23, 2004= Bellagio opens another tower of 928 rooms, costing $375 million, called the Spa Tower, south of the main pool area. Includes spa, retail, convention and restaurant space. Electronic drapes and fully stocked mini bars will be included in each room. One of the restaurants will be called Sensi, serving continental cuisine, and will have its four kitchens in a sunken arena in the middle of the dining room with diners seated around its edge. The European-style pastry shop, The Patisserie, will offer an assortment of chocolates, cookies, cakes, crepes, salads, sandwiches, and more. Sensi Restaurant to open featuring four open kitchens in a sunken arena in the middle of the dining room. The tram from Bellagio to Monte Carlo, which is now closed, will re-open at the same time.++++++++++Dec.31, 2004= Caesars Palace opens a huge two-story nightclub called PURE, where the old Caesars Magical Empire was located. Glass elevator takes you up to the outdoor terrace, facing the Flamingo, with a panoramic view of The Strip. Grand opening to feature Mariah Carey. Three distinct venues will include: Pure Nightclub; Red VIP Room and the Pussycat Dolls Lounge (opening in February, 2005) which will feature a nightly sexy cabaret show.++++++++++Dec.31, 2004= MGM Grand reopening the TEATRO Euro Bar after remodeling.++++++++++Dec.??, 2004= Venus Bar reopening after remodeling - Venetian.++++++++++OPENINGS COMING UP FOR 2005-2006-2007 WILL BE IN THE NEWSLETTER OF DECEMBER 15th.======================================================================Let us know how we can help you further. We want to make your next trip to Las Vegas the best trip you have ever had.----------------VEGASRESOURCE.COM NEWSLETTER===================================Our customer service policy is very simple:"The customer is always right!"===================================COUPON BOOKS AND COUPONS for meals, shows, tours, attractions and rides, gaming guides and informational lists on Las Vegas are available at:http://www.goemerchant7.com/?Merchant=vivalasvegasn++++++INSTANT MESSAGING is now available on the bottom of all of our internet sites. This means that you can leave a message and get an answer back, WITHIN AN HOUR, to your Las Vegas concerns. ++++++ CAR RENTALS as low as $12.42 per day or $107.42 per week. Just go on the internet to:http://www.VegasResource.com/Cars.html++++++PRODUCTION SHOWS, Over 80 Las Vegas production shows like Clint Homes, Scintas, V-The Ultimate Variety Show, Splash and the World's Greatest Magic Show etc.The first tickets for every Las Vegas show are given to casino high rollers and Casino Hosts for free distribution to high-stakes gamblers.We then buy the first eight tickets, as soon as they go on sale, for every show in Las Vegas. That way we know you will get the absolute best seating. Those eight seats are listed on the internet and it's first-come-first-served.Once those eight tickets are gone, we do not sell any others as we cannot guarantee good seating. No tickets are sold on the telephone or in person. You pick up thetickets at our booth in the Airport or any of our 14 other ticket booths around town.To purchase any of the first eight tickets that become available to shows, concerts, tours, or attractions, at great prices, just go on the internet to:http://www.VegasResource.com/Tickets.html+++++======================================================================NOTE: If you do not wish to receive any further correspondence from this sender just go on the internet to:http://www.VegasResource.com/Unsubscribe.aspOr simply send an e-mail to:billhere@VegasResource.com(the e-mail address you furnish must be identicalto the one you subscribed with or just return theNewsletter you received showing the e-mail addressit was sent to and add a note to unsubscribe).====================================================================VEGASRESOURCE.COM2908 Moonlight Bay Ln.Las Vegas, NV 89128-7248. ====================================================================ISSN 1521-1983-Library Of Congress,Washington,DCCopyright 1997-2004. All rights reserved.Reproduction in whole or in part, without the consent of the publisher, VegasResource.com, is prohibited. TO HAVE FAMILY OR FRIENDS SUBSCRIBE:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ask them to go on the internet to:http://www.VegasResource.com
Rush To Death A Tragedy
News Home - Help
UPPER WEST SIDE MAN DIES IN ELEVATOR TRAGEDY
Mon Nov 29, 3:30 AM ET
By DAN KADISON, TOM LIDDY and BRIDGET HARRISON
A retired teacher, with less than an hour to catch a Caribbean cruise, yesterday tried to save time by taking the freight elevator of his Upper West Side building — then plunged 14 stories to his death when it stalled and he tried to climb out.
•
Gotbaum Throws Penalty Flag
•
Pols Close In On Deal For $1.4b Javits Expansion
•
Berserk In b'klyn
•
Guy Gets 2 Months Of Jail Credit For 'free'
•
Suicide Sparks Chaos
Edward Helig, 76, who lived in a penthouse apartment at 168 W. 86th St., had ignored warnings and taken the elevator up from the lobby to pick up his wife, Sally Ordonez, and their luggage because the passenger elevator was not immediately available.
They were heading down again in the freight elevator when it got stuck between the 14th and 15th floors. Helig squeezed out, lost his footing and plummeted down the shaft, cops said.
"The doorman said, 'Don't take it up! Don't take it up!' and he took it up," a source said.
The tragedy unfolded shortly after 3 p.m. when Helig rode the passenger elevator to the lobby to hail a taxi to the passenger-ship terminal on the Hudson River at 50th Street.
The couple was to board a ship departing at 4 p.m. for an 11-day cruise.
"He said, 'I'm desperately late to catch my boat,' " said a neighbor who rode the elevator to the lobby with Helig.
The neighbor said Helig raced out to the street, hailed a taxi and told the driver to wait for him with the trunk open. Then he came back to get his luggage and his wife.
The passenger elevator was not at the lobby level, and he rushed into the freight elevator.
"Next thing I heard, the doorman was hysterical," the neighbor said.
Ordonez had to be rescued from the elevator and was in a state of shock. "She's very distraught. She's really out of it, she cannot talk to anyone," said her brother-in-law, Pat Cacho.
Neighbors said Helig, who had lived in the building since 1966, was an impatient man who frequently argued with his landlord about the elevator.
A building employee said the passenger elevator regularly had problems, and Helig often took the freight elevator, even though he wasn't supposed to.
Additional reporting by Philip Messing
Story Tools
Email Story
Post/Read Msgs
Formatted Story
Ratings: Would you recommend this story?
Not at all 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 Highly
Copyright © 2004 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.Questions or CommentsPrivacy Policy -Terms of Service - Copyright Policy - Ad Feedback
Entertainment In Las Vegas
Home > the Edge > Travel News
Past 7 days Archives
HERALD INTERACTIVE TOOLS
Get RSS Feed Post Comments in Forum View Text Version
function emailPopUp(URL,NAME) {emailwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'fullscreen=0,hotkeys=1,location=0,menubar=0,channelmode=0,dependent=1,directories=0,scrollbars=1,status=0,titlebar=1,toolbar=0,resizable=yes,width=512,height=440,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10');emailwin.focus();}document.open();document.close();
Email to a Friend Subscribe to the Boston Herald
RELATED TRAVEL NEWS
Big, bad and naughty: Las Vegas lacks subtlety but little el...Foodies enjoy a sinfully delicious citySane City: Bet on Reno as a lively Vegas alternative
RELATED NATIONAL NEWS
Ex-stripper and her lover acquittedHard Rock pays $100,000 to settle complaintSenators intervene, blocking USDA move to get tiger attack v...Las Vegas tour bus crashes, injuring 19Las Vegas monorail closes again after another piece falls of...Vegas shows a sure bet for good timeBy Dean JohnsonThursday, November 25, 2004
LAS VEGAS - Even the person who never throws a card, rolls the dice or pulls a slot machine handle during a jaunt to Vegas will find plenty to do.
There might be more musicians, illusionists and performers in permanent residence in Sin City than any other place on Earth.
A few possibilities to consider:
Elton John. He'll be at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace on Feb. 8-26 and March 29-April 10. For tickets, call 888-4eltonj.
Wayne Newton. You can't truly say you've enjoyed the complete Vegas experience until you see Mr. Showbiz. For tickets to his Stardust show, call 702-732-6325.
The Star Trek Experience. This is intergalactic heaven for Trekkies in the Las Vegas Hilton. The $30-plus ticket isn't cheap. But the museum/historical walk/exhibition and two indoor Disney-quality rides at the end are worth it. You can even have yourself morphed into a photo with the Enterprise crew and finish with a snack at Quark's bar . . . after you've purchased some Klingon ale. Go to startrekexp.com or call 888-GOBOLDLY.
Penn & Teller. The rock 'n' roll illusionists are hunkered down at the Rio. For tickets, call 702-777-7776.
Rita Rudner. There aren't many stand-up club comics these days better than Rita, and she's a regular at New York New York (702-740-6815).
Cirque Du Soleil. This famous Montreal-based circus has three troupes in residence in Vegas with two more shows due to open in the near future. ``O'' is an on, above and underwater spectacular unlike anything else the famed theatrical group has done. It's at the Bellagio (702-796-9999). ``Mystere'' is in residence at Treasure Island (702-796-9999) and though less exotic than ``O,'' it is still a fascinating production.
Rock musicals. Las Vegas also has become the elephant graveyard of rock musicals. They all seem to go there and never leave. There's ``Mamma Mia'' featuring the music of ABBA at Mandalay Bay (877-632-7400), the rejuvenated disco of ``Saturday Night Fever'' at the Sahara (702-737-25150) and Queen's ``We Will Rock You'' at the Paris Casino (702-946-4567).
A quick rush. Adrenaline junkies can visit Flyaway (877-545-8093), where a vertical wind tunnel allows you to go indoor skydiving and never be more than a few feet off the ground.
Critters. The MGM Grand has a lion exhibit where visitors can ``interact'' and even get their pictures taken with the lion cubs, depending on the cubbies' mood, on any given day. And though Siegfried and Roy aren't doing their live animal act at the Mirage anymore, you still can visit their Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. There's no traditional dolphin show, but visitors can be dolphin voyeurs and watch them from underwater viewing sites. The Secret Garden includes white lions and tigers as well as other big cats in natural settings.
Beyond Vegas. If you still have itchy feet after all that, numerous travel companies operating in the city offer day trips to a variety of locales, from the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam to Bryce Canyon.
Sands Macau
US-based Las Vegas Sands raises Macau casino budget to 1.8 bln usd - report
HONG KONG (AFX) - The Las Vegas Sands Group plans to spend 1.8 bln usd on constructing its new casino in Macau, doubling figures previously proposed for the project, the Standard reported.The group said this in a filing this week with the US securities regulators ahead of a planned flotation by the company, the paper said.The Standard noted the proposed Macau resort will resemble the company's flagship Venetian casino in Las Vegas and will be the biggest casino to be built in the former Portuguese colony.The first phase of the project will feature 1,500 hotel suites and 49,000 square meters of gambling halls, the report said.Like its casino in Las Vegas, the Macau Venetian is likely to have faux canals with gondoliers and Venice-themed facilities.The new property will join the company's Sands Macau, which opened in May, the first foreign-owned casino to take advantage of new laws allowing overseas competition in what had been a gaming monopoly controlled by tycoon Stanley Ho.
Boston Herald View of Las Vegas
HERALD INTERACTIVE TOOLS
Get RSS Feed Post Comments in Forum View Text Version
function emailPopUp(URL,NAME) {emailwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'fullscreen=0,hotkeys=1,location=0,menubar=0,channelmode=0,dependent=1,directories=0,scrollbars=1,status=0,titlebar=1,toolbar=0,resizable=yes,width=512,height=440,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10');emailwin.focus();}document.open();document.close();
Email to a Friend Subscribe to the Boston Herald
RELATED TRAVEL NEWS
Vegas shows a sure bet for good timeFoodies enjoy a sinfully delicious citySane City: Bet on Reno as a lively Vegas alternative
RELATED NATIONAL NEWS
Ex-stripper and her lover acquittedHard Rock pays $100,000 to settle complaintSenators intervene, blocking USDA move to get tiger attack v...Las Vegas tour bus crashes, injuring 19Las Vegas monorail closes again after another piece falls of...Big, bad and naughty: Las Vegas lacks subtlety but little elseBy Dean JohnsonThursday, November 25, 2004
LAS VEGAS - The key to enjoying Vegas is understanding the desert city is all about the three Bs: bucks, bods and just plain big.
That becomes obvious almost as soon as you touch down at the airport. One of the first things you're likely to see as you enter the terminal, for example, is a bank of slot machines.
While waiting for your luggage you just might spy the airport's gym, which is open 24 hours a day, because you just never know when you might want to work on your ``buffness'' while you wait for a flight or a friend.
The ``big'' comes a little while later, when you take the short hop from the airport to the middle of the sprawling ``strip'' where the major casinos are located. Then it's all around you: big buildings, big billboards, big traffic jams . . . just big.
That's when it really hits you: Las Vegas has all the refined subtlety of a cattle stampede, but it does look and smell a lot better.
Life is centered round the casinos, of course, whether you're a gambler or not. The hotel you stay at will likely have a casino, and nearly everything that happens in the hotels is funneled through the casinos, so most people will succumb to the urge to gamble.
Don't know the first thing about slot machines, dice or card games? You're still not safe. Anyone (age 21 and up) can get caught up in the bright lights, constant noise, and perpetual 24/7 activity, and wander over to one of the gaming tables and wager a little money on War.
That's right. War. Remember the card game you learned when you were, oh, about 7. Each person gets one card. The highest card wins. Done.
Yep, you can even wager on the War in Vegas. No one is safe.
Money is still what fuels the city. Bucks spent, bucks saved, bucks wagered, bucks lost.
There are plenty of ways to make or lose money at the casinos, of course. The lavish, sometimes surreal, shopping malls linked to most casinos also just scream out for your cold hard cash (or MasterCard, or Visa, or whatever).
Nearly every resort offers its own version of the sprawling buffet to help people save a few bucks here and there. Or you can hunker down at any of the dozens of upscale eateries in the city and really go through some serious money in just a couple hours (and love every minute of it).
And then there's sex. Vegas probably won't be hosting a resident production of ``Up With People'' anytime soon. There are topless revues and girly shows scattered across the strip.
And it's almost impossible for any male to walk down a sidewalk for any length of time without dozens of people, it seems, trying to press business cards into his hand that feature various exotic women willing to share various exotic activities with him (even if you're already escorting your wife, as I was).
Another thing to remember during any Sin City visit: Just check that sense of refinement and restraint at the airport.
That advice even applies to clothing. The big-bucks ties in the high-dollar men's shops would get you stoned by the fashion police on Newbury Street.
Everything about the city is so over-the-top, so completely off the scale that you need to remember to just laugh at the spectacle and surging tackiness of it all. Let it wash over you and enjoy the bath.
For example, the night my wife and I took in the admittedly spectacular water show in front of the Bellagio resort, we viewed it from the top of the Paris' 50-story Eiffel Tower across the street. To do that, we had to walk in front of the Arc de Triomphe.
Earlier in the day we dined near a reproduction of the Caesar Forum's Trevi Fountains, walked by a facsimile of Michelangelo's David, took a tour through a reconstruction of King Tut's tomb at the Luxor and, of course, traipsed across the Venetian's Bridge of Sighs to watch folks take a gondola ride.
Oh, there's more. A volcano erupts in front of the Mirage several times an hour every night. Using the tram at the Luxor means walking in front of a colorful (and big, of course) copy of the Sphinx. Enter the Venetian and the ceiling is crammed with gilded, rococo-framed copies of masterworks.
I don't think we walked more than 10 blocks to do all that, and I left out a lot of things in between.
It's insane and so American. We've taken most of the world's great art and cultural icons and plopped them near malls and casinos and Armani stores.
In fact, a trip to Vegas makes you realize why so much of the world is genuinely puzzled by Americans. They wouldn't dream of trying to re-create those things, especially putting them together for our personal viewing pleasure.
Plus you can just see a few veteran Vegas fans making their way over the great pond to Europe, seeing the original masterpieces and thinking, ``They're so much better in Vegas. They look newer and cleaner, and they're much easier to get to.''
And indeed they are.
Vegas of course also means fine cuisine and some excellent hotels, some with glamorous spas.
Now that's real civilization.
Emmy Awards 2004
'Sopranos,' 'Angels' Win Big at Emmys
0920emmy_awards
An estimated 14 million viewers watched the triumphs of HBO's "The Sopranos" and "Angels in America" on the Emmy Awards Sunday night on ABC - an alarmingly low number for what is supposed to be television's big night.
If those preliminary Nielsen Media Research numbers hold up, that would represent the smallest audience for the Emmys since 12.3 million saw it in 1990 on Fox - at the time a new network that many people weren't used to seeking out.
The latest figures mark a 22 percent drop from the 17.9 million viewers who saw the Emmys on Fox in 2003. Ratings were down even more sharply - 34 percent - among viewers aged 18 to 49, the demographic most attractive to advertisers.
While disappointing to ABC, the numbers might serve as an ominous sign for television in general. This is the opening week of the TV season for the major broadcast networks and the Emmys are held in September to get viewers excited about new and returning shows.
Also disturbing to the networks: Emmy headlines were all about HBO, a premium cable service available in about a third of the nation's television homes.
One bright spot for the networks was the best comedy award of Fox's "Arrested Development," which proved at least SOMEBODY was watching the ratings-starved show.
"The Sopranos" was the first cable series to be named best drama, while "Angels in America," the miniseries about AIDS in America during the 1980s, had a record-breaking night.
"We've put a lot of work into it and I think we've gotten better. It's good that it finally paid off," series creator David Chase said of "The Sopranos," which is entering its last season.
Meanwhile, the theme was "gone, but not forgotten" in many of the acting categories as stars who ended their runs as beloved characters on "The Sopranos," "Frasier" and "Sex and the City" collected most of the series trophies.
Drea de Matteo, who played the ill-fated mob girlfriend Adriana la Cerva on "The Sopranos," won for best drama series supporting actress, while Michael Imperioli, who played her backstabbing boyfriend Christopher Moltisanti, collected supporting drama-series actor.
"There are so many people that are responsible for this, that if I even try to thank any of them right now, I might puke, choke, cry or die. And you've already seen me do that," said de Matteo, whose character met a grim end last season. She's now on NBC's "Friends" spinoff "Joey."
Mirroring the concern in Hollywood over the dwindling number and quality of situation comedies, the four major comedy acting awards each went for work in a series that has ended. Kelsey Grammer won his fourth Emmy for best actor in a comedy for "Frasier" and Sarah Jessica Parker won best actress for "Sex and the City."
"I had the most extraordinary life on television," Grammer said. "'Frasier' was a gift in my life and the people that I got to meet and work with were the greatest and this is just the cherry on top."
David Hyde Pierce won a supporting actor award for "Frasier," which ended an 11-year run this spring, and Cynthia Nixon won best supporting actress for "Sex and the City."
"In sitcom school they tell you how great it is to have a long-running show," said Hyde Pierce, "but they don't tell you how hard it is to say goodbye."
Although cable ruled the night, Fox's "Arrested Development" provided a rare bright spot for broadcast television, winning as best comedy series after a freshman year that was critically acclaimed but low rated.
"This is so huge for us. You know what? Let's watch it," series creator Mitchell Hurwitz urged viewers.
The broadcast networks also claimed honors for Allison Janney of NBC's "The West Wing" and James Spader of ABC's "The Practice," who won best actor awards for drama.
"You've all made wonderful choices in shoes and dresses tonight and you all look absolutely beautiful," Spader said in a lighthearted acceptance.
"Angels in America," the miniseries adaptation of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning play about the 1980s AIDS crisis, won seven Emmys, including outstanding miniseries and acting trophies for Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Mary-Louise Parker and Jeffrey Wright. Kushner received a best writing award and Mike Nichols won best director.
The two-part series proved a record breaker. With the four Emmys won Sept. 12 at the creative arts awards, it exceeded the nine awards "Roots" won in 1977 to become the most honored miniseries - and matched the 11 won by "Eleanor and Franklin" in 1976, the most for any program in one season.
Streep praised Kushner's words as the reason for the TV miniseries' success.
"The bravest thing in the world is that writer who sits alone in a room and works out his grief, his rage, his imagination and his deep desire to make people laugh. And he makes a work of art that then transforms the world with the truth, because that's all we want, you know," she said. "It's all we need."
The edgier programming on cable has come to overshadow the more restrained fare found on network television, where language, violence and sex are dealt with obliquely.
HBO received a dominant 32 awards. Fox collected 10, followed by NBC with 8, ABC and PBS with seven each and CBS with two.
"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," which has spent this election year skewering the candidates for tiny Comedy Central, won an award for best variety series for the second year in a row. Stewart's writing staff also won an Emmy.
Donald Trump and "Survivor" creator Mark Burnett found themselves looking on from the audience as a less-popular show, CBS' "The Amazing Race," won best reality series for the second year running.
Host Garry Shandling repeatedly poked fun at the genre. "It's to the point now when a commercial comes on," he quipped, "I go, `Thank God, professional actors in a story.'"
___
http://www.emmys.org
Salon provides breaking news articles from the Associated Press as a service to its readers, but does not edit the AP articles it publishes.
© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
Salon Search About Salon Table Talk Advertise in Salon Investor Relations
News & Politics Opinion Tech & Business Arts & EntertainmentIndie film Books Life Comics Audio DialogueLetters Columnists Salon Gear
Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibitedCopyright 2004 Salon.com Salon, 22 4th Street, 11th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103Telephone 415 645-9200 Fax 415 645-9204E-mail Salon.com Privacy Policy Terms of Service
Condo Sales Marketing
Nov. 27, 2004. 01:00 AM
Toronto talent helps sell Las Vegas
Stan Kates, who perfected presale marketing techniques in the Toronto condo market, has won recognition in Las Vegas from a developers' group for his high-tech selling system.
Last month, he won the "Best Use of Technology" award from a new organization called the International Luxury Developer Council in an event co-sponsored by CenterPoint, a Florida-based company that funds project marketing in return for units in a project, and Greenspun Media. The event, at the Aladdin Resort & Casino, focused on the role of high-rise condominiums in Las Vegas.
The Kates Marketing Group recently marketed a Las Vegas condo project called the Manhattan, a series of mid-rise buildings with 700 units, ranging in price from $200,000 (U.S.) to $550,000.
The project, now under construction, sold out in three months, Kates said.
In February, he will start selling two 50-storey towers in a condo project called Las Vegas Central, located close to the city's convention centre. It will include a total of 1,000 units priced from $200,000 to $1.5 million.
"What I'm doing, I'm bringing Canadian or Toronto talent into the market," says Kates. "Las Vegas will become a real high-rise city within the next 10 years and our company will be responsible for selling many thousands of those units."
The Las Vegas Central project, he says, will feature virtual reality tours created by Aareas Interactive, of Toronto; touch-screen self-serve kiosks designed and built by King Products of Mississauga; and HarNak Computer Consulting of Toronto will produce the proprietary database management software and the data mining toolkit.
In the late 1990s, Kates was selling a luxury project in Las Vegas called the Versailles, with the help of a nine-minute video and an imaginative sales-pitch. He managed to sell 26 out of 84 units, which had prices up to $7.85 million. But the developers, he said, didn't have the funds and the project died.
Kates first tested his preselling techniques in 1972 at a 2,600-unit project called Villages of Central Park in Brampton.
star staff
› Need Gift Ideas? Save 50%! Subscribe Now!
FAQs Site Map Privacy Policy Webmaster Subscribe My Subscription
Home GTA Business Waymoresports A&E Life
Legal Notice: Copyright Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Distribution, transmission or republication of any material from www.thestar.com is strictly prohibited without the prior written permission of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. For information please contact us using our webmaster form. www.thestar.com online since 1996.
Heidi Klum
Heidi Klum Hosts New Reality Series
Email this StoryNov 29, 2:30 PM (ET)
(AP) Supermodel Heidi Klum poses on the red carpet prior to the Bambi German media awards gala in...Full Image
NEW YORK (AP) - Heidi Klum is hosting her own reality TV show, but that doesn't mean she's a big fan of the genre. The supermodel prefers to call "Project Runway" - a contest among 12 aspiring fashion designers that premieres Wednesday on Bravo - a documentary.
"We're going to show the public what it's like to be a designer. I think people will be interested to see what it's really like, how talented designers are. What we're looking for is who is talented, not who is the funniest, not who is good-looking," Klum told The Associated Press recently.
Klum, 31, has watched "America's Next Top Model" a few times because that show's creator and host, Tyra Banks, is a friend, and she's also caught Donald Trump's "The Apprentice" once or twice.
"Project Runway" brought contestants from around the country to New York for a series of "fashion challenges." Their work was judged by Klum, designer Michael Kors, Elle magazine's Nina Garcia and Constance White from eBay.
Viewers will see pre-taped episodes that whittle down the number of contestants to three finalists, who will appear in a live runway run-off contest in February during New York Fashion Week.
"You could see very, very quickly who wasn't going to be up to the challenges but then it got very difficult because (the remaining contestants) were equally good," Klum said.
Klum, who also serves as the show's executive producer, said she wanted to find wearable clothes. "The final thing comes down to talent. The winners have to be good, they have to represent themselves well and they have to be able to work with others."
The winner will receive $100,000 in seed money to launch a fashion line, according to Bravo's Web site.
---
On the Net:
http://www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway/
Movie Box Office
'National Treasure' Cashes in at No. 1
Email this StoryNov 29, 8:22 AM (ET)By DAVID GERMAIN
Google sponsored links
Movie Coming Soon - Watch Trailers, Get Sneak Previews, Read Reviews & More at Moviefone!www.moviefone.com Apartments in Montmartre - 2 Private Apartments for Rent 5 minutes from Amelie's Caféhttp://www.montmartreparis.c
LOS ANGELES (AP) - "National Treasure" continued to strike box-office gold, taking in $33.1 million from Friday to Sunday to retain the No. 1 slot over the busy Thanksgiving weekend.
"The Incredibles" remained in second place with $24.1 million, while Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis' holiday comedy "Christmas With the Kranks" debuted at No. 3 with $22.7 million over the three-day weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Premiering Wednesday, "Christmas With the Kranks" took in $32 million over the five-day holiday period.
The weekend's other new wide release, Oliver Stone's historical epic "Alexander," had a so-so debut of $13.4 million, coming in sixth behind two holdovers, "The Polar Express" (No. 4 with $20.1 million) and "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" (No. 5 with $17.8 million).
Since debuting Wednesday, "Alexander" grossed $21.6 million.
In limited release, the French-language film "A Very Long Engagement" opened strongly with $106,000 in four theaters. A love story set in World War I and its aftermath, the film stars Audrey Tautou, reuniting with her "Amelie" director Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
It was a healthy holiday for Hollywood, with the top 12 movies grossing $215 million from Wednesday to Sunday, the second-best Thanksgiving period ever behind 2000's haul of $232.2 million.
With "National Treasure" and "The Incredibles," distributor Disney had the top two films over one of the busiest moviegoing weekends of the year. The one-two punch has helped lift Disney from a box-office slump that lasted most of 2004, with such duds as "The Alamo,""Around the World in 80 Days" and "King Arthur."
Starring Nicolas Cage as an adventurer who steals the Declaration of Independence to uncover clues to a hidden fortune, "National Treasure" raised its 10-day total to $87.9 million.
The cartoon superhero tale "The Incredibles," from "Finding Nemo" creator Pixar Animation, pushed its total since debuting Nov. 5 to $214.7 million, the fifth movie released in 2004 to top $200 million.
Action-packed but carrying family-friendly PG ratings, "National Treasure" and "The Incredibles" have drawn broad audiences.
"'National Treasure' is a blessed movie. It plays matinees loaded with kids and families, and evenings just loaded with adults," said Disney head of distribution Chuck Viane. "It happened with 'The Incredibles' in the same exact way."
With six of the top 10 movies rated PG or G, competition for the family crowd was fierce, but the movies all managed to find a solid slice of the audience.
"Christmas With the Kranks" succeeded despite poor reviews, and distributor Sony and producer Revolution Studios expect its holiday theme will sustain the movie through the end of the year.
The movie benefited from the family appeal of Allen, who starred in the holiday hit "The Santa Clause" and its sequel, and Curtis, fresh off last year's comic romp "Freaky Friday."
"Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis are the poster adults for children's movies," said Tom Sherak, a partner in Revolution Studios, whose founder, Joe Roth, directed "Christmas With the Kranks." The movie is based on John Grisham's novel "Skipping Christmas."
"Alexander," starring Colin Farrell as the Greek conqueror, also got bad reviews, but the R-rated movie served as counterprogramming over a weekend dominated by family flicks.
"We're certainly different than any other movie out there," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which released "Alexander."
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "National Treasure," $33.1 million.
2. "The Incredibles," $24.1 million.
3. "Christmas With the Kranks," $22.7 million.
4. "The Polar Express," $20.1 million.
5. "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie," $17.8 million.
6. "Alexander," $13.4 million.
7. "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," $6.8 million.
8. "Finding Neverland," $4.7 million.
9. "Ray, $3.9 million.
10. "After the Sunset," $3.3 million.
The Vernacular Of Modern Times
November 28, 2004ON LANGUAGE
KiduageBy WILLIAM SAFIRE
o'shizzle, I'm going to get hella crunk tonight.'' The first slang word is a variant of ''for sure''; the second, hella, is an adjective meaning ''very, a lot, really,'' perhaps a clip of ''helluva.'' But the word that's sweeping the high-school playgrounds and college campuses is crunk, a blend of ''crazy'' and ''drunk,'' which has elbowed aside wasted, just as faded has replaced stoned. A hard drinker, loud but not yet a crunk, is a daunch.
The main interests of high-school seniors and college students include not just drinking, but also sex, reverse peristalsis, superlatives for handsome and ugly, sex, derogations of the stupid, bodily waste, fast automobiles and sex. Accordingly, they create words for these subjects that sometimes last up to three years before they are adopted by adults and then -- as the insider quality of the lingo is lost -- are hurriedly dropped by the originators.
Vehicles -- wheels, as they were once called -- are now whips. ''Have you seen Joe's new whip? It's a stretch Hummer.'' An ordinary car is called a ride, while a large passenger car out of style or otherwise low on prestige is not a whip, but a scraper. ''A vintage Buick -- or, as they call them in the Bay, a scraper -- pulls up, and all four doors pop open.''
What is the latest term for the old cool (including its emphasizer, too cool for school) and the more recent phat and rad? Try tight, which is making a comeback, as in ''Did you see his pimped-out ride -- it was tight.'' The meaning is extended to innocent intimacy with someone: ''Charlie's my boy. We're tight.''
The antonym to tight is not ''loose'' -- logic has no place in the coinage of neologisms -- but janky, also spelled and pronounced jinky or jainky. This slow developer (it started at least a decade ago) has picked up meanings ranging from ''substandard'' to ''weird.'' An expurgated citation goes, ''That janky camo boy got some stuff on the side of my ride.'' (Camo is fashion slang, short for ''camouflage,'' used to describe outdoorsy wear that blends in with jungle greenery. On the gripping post-election cover of The New Republic, the editorial cartoonist Mark Alan Stamaty drew a crowd of recriminating Democrats blaming John Kerry for every possible campaign error, including ''He shouldn't have worn camo.'')
What are the current derogations of what used to be dorks? They are now dillweeds and dipsticks, the latter an instrument to determine the amount of oil in the engine. An obnoxious male showoff seeking to attract females is derided as a floss or as engaged in flossing, which may have a dental origin. The old to hit on of unwelcome flirtation has morphed into to mack. Contrariwise, what used to be ''a man's man'' and is now ''a guy's guy'' is called a bloke, a borrowing from British slang.
''Good-looking,'' male or female, is bangin'. At the top of the heap of desirability is the adjective blaze: ''that guy is blaze!'' means that he is exceptionally attractive. (In the canine world, a blaze is a stunning showing of white fur on the chest of a Bernese mountain dog. My own dog, Sebastian, has a magnificent blaze, much admired by my bitch, Geneva.) A cruel floss may derogate a young woman with an attractive figure but a less-than-appealing visage as a butterface, the term not a dairy derivative but from the phrase ''but her face.''
Superlatives coming on strongest are off the hook, which has topped the old ''wow''; uber, as in ''His whip is uber-fast'' (from the German for ''over, super''); and wooka, as in ''That movie is wooka-sweet.'' Lexicographic Irregulars willing to speculate on the origin of wooka are urged to e-mail onlanguage@nytimes.com.
Though the popularity of smoking pot seems to be getting stale, the lingo of aging Mary Jane (marijuana) maintains its freshness: dank, which in Standard English means ''disagreeably damp,'' in current slang describes the high-grade illegal product, and the adjective's meaning is extended to anything highly rated. On the other hand, the standard English noun stress is used as a synonym for the cheaper variety of weed: ''I'm not gonna smoke this stress.''
The state of excitement generates new verbs. The old pumped has lost its zip; stoked, from the poking of a fire, is a dying ember in slanguage. Amped, from amphetamine or ampule, meaning ''frenetic activity, perhaps drug-induced,'' is current, but this category could use a fresh volt.
I am going to cop out on the latest descriptions of copulation, which -- along with new phrases for excretions -- relentlessly spice up youthful slang. The old euphemisms for coupling -- from yesteryear's all-but-forgotten sleeping together to the last generation's more mechanical parallel parking to the more recent hooking up -- have been replaced by short, less imaginative verbs. The latest slang term for defecation, however, is dropping the kids off at the pool, which offers hope for a new generation of euphemistic suburbanites.
Frankly, if I were to accost a young person and say, ''What's the current term among your contemporaries for 'desirable, attractive'?'' the likely response would be, ''Filthy, Gramps.'' This would follow slang's frequent linguistic pattern of semantic reversal, with ba-a-a-d meaning ''superb,'' with shut up meaning ''tell me more'' and junk no longer pejorative, instead updating the meaning of ''awesome.'' The word sexellent, for ''awesomely sexy,'' strikes me as a strained coinage, but as a silverback, I would not inspire trust in the young interviewee. (Although silverback is defined in the O.E.D. as ''a mature male mountain gorilla,'' current slang uses it to mean ''old man.'' It strikes me as more dashing than geezer, but it's not easy swinging from trees.)
Therefore, I sought intermediaries who have close rapport with users of current youthful slang. These include Pamela Munro, professor of linguistics at U.C.L.A.; Connie Eble, professor of English at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; the Cassandra Report, published by Youth Intelligence; and Grant Barrett, editor of ''Double-Tongued Word Wrester'' on www.doubletongued.org.
Though chill out, meaning ''relax,'' is still in use, it is warming up to marinating, a culinary term that has gained the sense of ''taking it easy.'' Anything tasty is apple sauce, and ''money'' is cheddar.
Totally time to clip. Gotta bounce.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company Home Privacy Policy Search Corrections RSS Help Back to Top
