Archive for February, 2009

Guys, ease up! He doesn't even have any powers now!

NBC’s Heroes has come back strong from its season break with a new volume, “Fugitives,” and it seems to have shaken off a bunch of its discombobulated storylines with overcrowded characters, leaving viewers with something much more streamlined: New York Senator Nathan Petrelli is rounding up all powered people as a campaign to keep America “safe” for normal people, and the central “heroes,” on the run, have teamed up to oppose his efforts.

While the plot is basically a convolution of several X-Men comic book storylines (including “Days of Future Past,” in which mutants are rounded up into internment camps), it works pretty well. Gone (for the most part) are the wildly varying character personae, the confusing continuity and the unclear objectives of each sub-plot.

Whereas Season Two was … nearly unwatchable, the first volume of Season Three, “Villains,” was entertaining but draining. I look at “Villains” as nothing more than a set-up for “Fugitives” — a way to clean the slate and reboot the show. And now I find myself not just tolerating Heroes with hope for something better, but thoroughly enjoying every twist and turn and dangling on every cliffhanger ending.

To Tim Kring and his writers: Stay the course. You have a good thing going here, and might even see a return to those vaunted Season One numbers (or as close to in this attention-scattered age) if good word spreads around.

Two fists beat as one

The Fist came out of hiding last night for Twestival at Revolution Lounge, as discussed in length yesterday. There was a great turnout, with many blue “tweetinis” consumed and plenty of anonymous Twitter-folk converted into real, live people. No word yet on whether or not the 175-plus Twestivals taking place around the world raised $1 million for charity: water, but I’m pretty sure we had $1 million worth of fun, either way.

I shot some video last night of both Revolution and a new Latin-themed nightclub at the Rio, ND’s Fuego, but a) the video’s not that great and b) I haven’t had time to edit it anyway, as I’m in deadline hell, so I’ll just leave you with this report from KLAS-TV Channel 8 anchor Dave Courvoisier, who’s also very active in the Twitter and blogging community:

“Tweet. Meet. Give.”

That’s the tagline for Twestival, a charity event organized by the Twitter community taking place in more than 175 cities around the globe today. The goal is to raise at least $1 million for charity: water, a non-profit organization working to bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

The Las Vegas event kicks off at 7 p.m. at the Beatles Revolution Lounge inside the Mirage resort on the Las Vegas Strip. Pre-registration for the event has closed, but tickets can be purchased at the door by cash only. All proceeds benefit charity: water, and in addition to the cool people, sexy atmosphere and free “Tweetinis” going around, there are some cool raffle prizes if you cough up a little more than the $20 standard donation, including bottles and tables at Light Group nightclubs, personalized, limited-edition cupcakes from Retro Bakery and gift cards from Dunkin’ Donuts.

It’s all for a great cause, it’ll be interesting to meet the faces behind those mysterious tweets, and awesome people such as KLAS-TV’s Dave Courvoisier, CineVegas’ Roger Erik Tinch and, of course, me, will be there.

charity: water for Twestival from charity: water on Vimeo.

In case you missed the first two entries in this series, here’s a quick recap: I’m rolling out 100 things about me that are either interesting, odd or otherwise notable. Some of these things are public knowledge, but a number of them will likely take you by surprise. And I’m either disclosing enough to not ruin my future political aspirations with closet skeletons or disclosing too much and demolishing those hopes. Either way, here’s the next 25 in our rundown… (more…)

The greatest band on Planet Earth will rock you Saturday, Feb. 7 at the Freakin' Frog. Can you afford to miss it?

1. Shop for cancer research. Recession be damned, Juicy Couture is opening a new retail location in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. And if you shop at the 4,800-square-foot boutique during opening weekend this Thursday through Sunday (Feb. 5 to 8), Juicy will donate 10 percent of your well-spent cash to the Nevada Cancer Institute.
2. Feed a starving artist. First Friday is this week, but as usual, real art lovers know the good stuff happens the day before. So get your fill of the best local, national and international art on Thursday, Feb. 5 with an opening reception at Trifecta Gallery, a closing reception at Naomi Arin Contemporary Art and the two-year anniversary of Danny Roberts’ Damned Ink Studios.
3. Get drunk for public television. We all grew up watching Sesame Street, Electric Company and 3-2-1 Contact, and we’re much better human beings for it. So help ensure the next generation of boob-tubers has the same opportunity and get yourself liquored up at the same time at Southern Nevada Public Television’s 20th Annual Splendor in the Glass Benefit Wine & Beer Tasting on Saturday, Feb. 7 at the Las Vegas Hilton.
4. Channel your inner groupie. What better way to cap off your Saturday night than with live, original rock ‘n’ roll and the largest selection of beers this side of the Mississippi? I don’t know. So be at the Freakin’ Frog at 10 p.m. to catch Think, Fractured and As Yet Unbroken — yes, that last one is my band, and you will love it. If you don’t, you hate America and the terrorists win.