Last July — that would be 2014 — a hubbub took over several pages in the RGJ. Circus Circus is promoting a contest to paint murals on the Virginia Street side of their Casino in a 24 hour Marathon. First, a competition was held to select 8 artists to paint 14 feet high by 30 feet long murals in each of 7 structural bays of the building. Circus Circus is providing the artists a $750 stipend for paint and other materials. On Saturday at 10am, brushes are be put down, the murals judged and the winner awarded a $2,000 First Prize. $1,000 goes for Second and $500 for Third and your mural will be on prominent display for one year along with the others.
Recently, my senses perked with the announcement in the RGJ for the 2015 contest. I clipped the RGJ and dusted off my camera. There’s a story here for RectorSite.
standby for new murals
blah blahwe all predict there will be enough paint and talentI got to Virginia Street just at the right time on Saturday afternoon. Deadline past, Judging just completed but the street still closed for cleanup and tidy-up.here we are, looking north on virginia street; left to right as you face circus circus… and the first mural encountered just happens to be the winner of the SECOND PRIZE: Owl Be Waiting by Bryce Chisholm,Yellow Bird by David Cherry, Reno NV
Tom by Stephane Cellier, Virginia City NV
FIRST PRIZE: Ascension by Anthony Padilla, Sacramento CAUntitled by Asa Kennedy and Derek Miller… the dry grass to the right and the pedestrians to the left seem to fit right in to this compositionEvolition of Man by Danielle Rumbaugh
Nice job… and they’ll be up all year, go take a look for yourself.
January 7, 2015
The Ohio State Buckeyes will play the Oregon Ducks at ATT Stadium in Arlington TX on Monday, January 12. And the Reno-Tahoe Buckeye Alumni are doing a watching party at the El Dorado. Be there!
I went to the El Dorado during the week and checked out the Brew Brothers where the watch party will be held. It’s a big room with a long bar and about 30 TVs (C counted). No super-big TVs but you can see at least 3 from anywhere you sit. I asked the bartender about the watch party. “It’ll be mobbed,” he said. “Come early for a good seat.”
I dreamed that if we left at 3:00 for the 5:30 kickoff, we’d be first to snare a seat. That turned out to be true — even though we left at 3:15. We had a long wait, but the ESPN pre-game show was on, so not too boring. And Buckeyes began arriving in groups, shouting “OH,” to which we would respond, “IO.” It was too dark to read the magazines I brought.
“Our TV’s.” Governor wearing white collar in front of us.
We settled at a high table facing three screens; two regular and the center one bigger. We were just behind a table set for 14. Turned out to be Governor Brian Sandoval’s table, he got his law degree at Ohio State and challenged his classmates to join him and root on the Buckeyes. Brian reminded us that Nevada is a small, rather laid back state. Imagine Jerry Brown sitting there? Probably not.
THE GAME
Oregon won the toss (heads) and took the ball, as is their wont… drove for a TD. 7-0.
The Buckeyes scored once, then again with impressive runs by Ezekiel Elliott and chunk yardage passes by Cardall Jones.
Oregon came back to 20-21 in the Third Quarter owing to Jones’ *Jameis Winston impression,* but that was it. When the Bucks turned it over on their own 30 and stopped the Ducks on the 1 foot line on downs, then took the ball and drove 99 yards for their own TD, I said to all, “This game is OVER.”
Indeed. Final score of 42 – 20.
It was a good experience in that sports bar; lots of OH and IOing and high fiveing and carrying on. And Buckeyes are a friendly bunch, many came over to talk. There was plenty of time for that during long commercial breaks. Not tooooo bad, as the commercials were expensive and for the most part new and well produced.
Buffalo WingsHog Wings for next time.
Food was good and the menu very interesting. For two, not more expensive than the Buffet (if you don’t stay five hours). Beer was good. We will be back in that place.
But the event was the thing: First EVER, UNDISPUTED CHAMPION of College Football, or so the shirt says. I like the sound of that.
my new shirtCarol, Governor Sandoval, BrianSports Illustrated prediction, result appliedA win for the Governor
Greg Thompson, who has produced more shows in the fabled Sammy’s Showroom at Harrah’s Reno than any other producer, will return this summer with an updated version to his long running hit show “Broadway Showstoppers”. Thompson, who calls the Sammy’s Showroom, “the best showroom in the business,” has produced over 600 shows throughout the world over his 40 year career. “Broadway Showstoppers” has won the “Show of the Year” in Atlantic City, Biloxi, Reno and Lake Tahoe and was inducted into the “Broadway Round Table Hall of Fame”.
“Broadway Showstoppers” was first produced in 1978 and has played throughout the country for more than 35 years. The show was the first of many shows Thompson produced for Harrah’s Reno beginning in 1991 and “Showstoppers” was brought back to Harrah’s in 1998 and again in 2005. Each time Thompson gives the show a new twist by adding current Broadway hits to the mix of classic Broadway blockbusters. “We will still pay tribute to the classic musicals from the Golden Age of Broadway like “West Side Story”, “Guys & Dolls”, “Grease”, “Chicago” and “Cabaret”, said Thompson, “but we will also be performing the hits from the hottest shows on Broadway today. The hits from Mamma Mia, Motown, Carole King’s “Beautiful”, “Jersey Boys”, “Rock of Ages”, Million Dollar Quartet and more!”
MY TAKE:Wow! Whatta show. The curtain rose to a grizzled fifty-something stage manager chomping a (fake) cigar and admonishing actors lounging at the back of the stage to get their act together. He proceeded to turn to us and tell stories about why they weren’t ready for the show — it’s Monday… we’re closed Monday — he came down the steps at the front of the stage to kibbutz with the audience and warm us up. Soon, two women in tight black dresses were at a dressing rack — rear stage left — fiddling with tidying their costumes. The stage manager was talking of great shows of the past — Sammy is Sammy Davis Jr. who played this room many times — and the Broadway shows that had passed through here. CABARET, for one — he broke into the “Welcome” song in German and was joined by the two women. They sang and danced their way through selected Cabaret numbers and the stage manager noted a well known Broadway story of Romeo and Juliet, set to music by Leonard Bernstein and two men wearing black jackets with JETS in white letters across the back joined the women.
“When you’re a JET
you’re a JET all the way
from you’re first cigarette
to you’re last dying day…”
Now, we have five actors, all with Broadway voices, Broadway dance moves and Broadway looks performing Broadway Showstoppers. And we’re in the FRONT ROW.
I was agonizing over what to do for Carol’s Birthday on Thursday when the Arts section appears in the RGJ. That’s it! ! ! Broadway Showstoppers. I got tickets for Monday August 18 in the VIP section of Sammy’s Showroom at Harrah’s Reno. Planned to do the buffet around 6:30, then the show at 8. Well, anytime you go to a show, or dinner or whatever at a Casino, the first thing to do is get a “locals” card (for out of towners, its called a players card. Good for a discount on the Buffet, at least… and in this case, complementary Showroom tickets. “Show it to the Box Office, they’ll refund your money spent on line and give you new tickets.” What did I know?
Harrah’s Carvings Buffet is pretty good. Good food, good variety, not noisy, a guy promptly serving drinks and picking up dirty dishes and the place is very clean with a clientele a cut above your bargain buffet. And restrooms are easy to find, commodious and clean.
When we gave our show tickets to the Maitre’d at the showroom, he took us to seats in the middle of the General Admission section. I looked surprised and mentioned that I bought VIP tickets on line, but when my “locals” card allowed me comp tickets, I traded them in, I thought for equal tickets. He allowed as how they weren’t packed and maybe he could do something for me and escorted us down through the VIP section to the FRONT ROW CENTER.
Carol — front and center — about 20 minutes before the show… the room eventually filled up.
I know he didn’t expect it, but I gave him ten bucks.
Great show and Great Evening. Everybody at Harrah’s seems enthusiastic about their interaction with customers. And not only that, they gave us a “locals” parking pass to their garage which happens to be right next to Aces Ballpark.
Brian got the Aces road jersey because it says R E N O across the front in very large letters. That way, when he’s traveling, there won’t be any doubt about where he’s from.
What a perfect shirt to wear to the Aces Meet the Players dinner.
Eric and Alison got me and Brian two 12-game partial season tickets to the Aces for our birthdays last year. We liked that, so we re-upped for 2014. As partial season ticket holders we get many season ticket holder perks; one of them being this Meet the Players dinner.
It’s an intimate affair for 800 with fine food and drink in the Nevada Ballroom of Harrah’s Casino Resort.
the front of the Nevada ballroom from our table — there are 3 rows of tables behind methe rear of the Nevada ballroom from our table
my plate — Brian’s was similar — good stuff, including greens, roast beef, a wonderful pasta salad, mushroom ravioli, chicken cutlet, redskin potatoes… and that’s a Dos Equis draft Continue reading “Meet the Players Dinner”→
Removal of skin cancer on my nose by Mohs Micrographic Surgery.
Dr Kevin Kiene January 9, 2014
Skin Cancer and Dermatology Institute.
Tamera Van Dyke, my regular dermatologist discovered a possible skin cancer on the bridge of my nose in late October. It tested positive, so she made an appointment with Dr. Kiene to have it removed by Mohs surgery.
Carol and I arrived at 640 Moana Lane a little before the appointed 9:45 (I should have a companion for company and in case I need a ride home). I was ushered into an examining/operating room at 10:15 and situated in a “dentist type” chair. The nurse gave me a name tag and marked my nose in the suspected area (don’t want wrong guy or wrong body part). She numbed my nose. She laid out the tools and adjusted my chair so I was lying flat, pretty high.
After a few minutes the doc came in with the nurse (or a nurse, I couldn’t see, they’re behind my head out of my peripheral vision — again, like at the dentist) and a male resident. It didn’t take long for him to make a cut and take what he needed. He noticed my Red Sox World Series tee shirt, so we talked a little baseball while he was working. “We’ll examine this tissue and see if we got everything,” he said. The nurse bandaged my nose and took me to fetch Carol from the main waiting room. We were then guided to a small waiting room stocked with drinks, snacks magazines and books. Four other males (a cheek, a nose and two ears) were in the room, two with companions. The instructions said to allow at least three hours for my procedure and it was around 11, so we had the better part of that time to go.
Reno’s Hot August Nights — a 10 day homage to cars, especially vintage and classic — will be televised on the SPEED channel, for those of you who get lots of TV channels. Featured will be the 3 nights of the Auction. Check it out.
This first part was sent in an email to various folks… I repeat that here and add stuff from the auction. Good times. According to the RGJ, “…about 5600 cars were registered for the week-long celebration… Already, 3400 vehicles have been registered for next year’s event.”
Meanwhile, Carol and I, Brian and Natasza went to some events at the Nugget last (Wednesday) evening. Here are a few pictures:
The cremains will be going up in the very first two shells starting the fireworks show at this week’s Festival finale (usually somewhere in the 10 to 10:30 p.m. window). Those first two shells will be what are called Gold Glitter Crossettes (plenty of YouTube video available upon Googling that phrase to review exactly what that variety looks like). Attached is a photo of the actual shells I received today, nicely labeled In Memory Of.
I don’t know who all will actually be attending the concert, but Michelle and I will be at a table, should be fairly easily found as we’re in the very last row of tables (row K), on the side nearest the main entrance, table number 21. If anyone else knows exactly – or has at least some sense of – where they’ll be onsite, let us all know so we can greet each other as best we can at some point during the evening, in what I hope will be a good sized crowd.
I hope we can all get some good photos of the Hale fireworks to share.
Kind of a funny place to plant roses, under the only covered part of our front courtyard.So Brian and Natasza volunteer to take the roses home…And we have that rose bed paved over.
A month or so later, Craig’s List Reno NV sez:
Futons are on sale at K-Mart, — $89 without mattress. But they’re kinda cheesy, so I thought I’d give Craig’s List a shot. Jason’s apartment was so full of furniture — from a friend who moved — he could hardly walk around and decided he had to get rid of the futon.
So his fortune became my fortune. Later that day, after a shout-out to Brian to help me with his truck…
The futon found a home on our front courtyard.
The preparation and thinking about our front courtyard took weeks and months, but actual getting the futon happened very quickly. Monday after dinner, we were able to sit and relax and watch the sunset. We were treated to these amazing clouds, something we would have surely missed had we not a comfy place to sit.
It’s 7:30pm. The sun — as usual — sets in the west. Our courtyard is on the east side of the house, so we don’t see the actual sunset; we see the effects of the sunset.
Artists that came across my phone iPod while walking along the Truckee River yesterday morning.
I follow this path along the Truckee River starting and ending in Mayberry Park. Something over two miles, about 45 minutes.
Bruce Springstein
Lucinda Williams
Thelonious Monk — the small group, not the band, though I have the band
Neil Young
Stan Kenton — Yes, from his album Cuban Fire
Bob Dylan
Macy Gray
I like the stuff on my iPod. Sometimes I think about loading new stuff, but I love what I have and I have enough in variety and quantity that I don’t tire of it. The last thing that I downloaded was Stan Kenton.
Near the western end of the path. The river is pretty shallow and runs fast making wonderful water music.
Last July — that would be 2014 — a hubbub took over several pages in the RGJ. Circus Circus is promoting a contest to paint murals on the Virginia Street side of their Casino in a 24 hour Marathon. First, a competition was held to select 8 artists to paint 14 feet high by 30 feet long murals in each of 7 structural bays of the building. Circus Circus is providing the artists a $750 stipend for paint and other materials. On Saturday at 10am, brushes are be put down, the murals judged and the winner awarded a $2,000 First Prize. $1,000 goes for Second and $500 for Third and your mural will be on prominent display for one year along with the others.
RectorSite 