CHARO performing on guitar at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas

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As I promised, here’s that video clip of Charo and her guitar at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas – August, 2009. The virtuoso performance took place in the Crazy Girls showroom. The clip is 46 seconds long.

María Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza is also known as Charo.

I felt priviliged to be able to witness this performance by one of the finest Flamenco guitarists in the world.
The great Andres Segovia gave Charo master-classes when she was in her teens. The classes certainly paid off, or so it would seem.

[ If the above video does not play smoothly, click here to watch it on the LVBC YouTube channel. ]

Link to the original post of Charo’s performance at the Riviera.

Charo’s Official Website
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Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado – Sold Out

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Great American Beer Festival
Great American Beer Festival
photo GABF
The Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado – September 24-26, 2009 is sold out.

The 2010 Great American Beer Festival will be held on September 16-18, 2010. Next year’s festival tickets will go on sale in June 2010.

“The Great American Beer Festival not only offers the chance to sample some of the finest beers the world; it offers multiple opportunities to learn about all things beer. Take some time to discover the various areas that make up what we call Great American Beer School. Here, you can explore the world of beer and food, learn about the brewers behind your favorite beer, understand what judges look for in a beer or pick up a few books to learn more about our favorite beverage. The Great American Beer School goes beyond tasting and delves into the craft beer experience. Check out these enlightening and interactive areas.”

2009 GABF Quick Stats
3,362 Beers in the GABF Competition
2,100 Beers served in the hall
495 Breweries represented in the hall
73 Beers entered into the Pro-Am Competition
51 Breweries attending for the first time

Some information is from the GABF wesite.

Visit the official website of the Great American Beer Festival

Visit the main pages of the LasVegasBuffetClub…

When a fish bites your heel and it’s green like an eel – that’s a Moray

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Dean Martin - Wiki
Dean Martin - Wiki

Sung to the tune of Dean Martin’s 1953 song “That’s Amore.”

All together now:

“When a fish bites your heel and it’s green like an eel, that’s a MORAY”

Moray Eel 
Google Images
Moray Eel
Google Images

Yes, there are other types of EELS.

“That’s Amore” is a 1952 song by composer Harry Warren [] and lyricist Jack Brooks. [] It became a major hit, signature song for Dean Martin in 1953″

Visit the main pages of the LasVegasBuffetClub…
c.2009-LasVegasBuffetClub – All rights reserved

Robin Leach: “Charo cancellation: Injured foot or poor ticket sales at the Riviera?”

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Charo performs at the Riviera in Las Vegas on July 15, 2009.
Charo performs at the Riviera in Las Vegas on July 15, 2009.
Photo: Leila Navidi
This post was culled from Robin Leach’s Las Vegas blog, September 11, 2009.

“Rumors abound that the real reason Charo suspended her show at the Riviera yesterday, citing a foot injury, is because of disappointing and sluggish box office ticket sales.”

“Producers were allegedly bleeding red ink due to falling tourism numbers and the barren, darkened stretch of the Strip between the Encore and Sahara.”

“Charo says the ankle injury sustained after a TV cable trip backstage at the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon this past weekend at the South Point made it impossible for the show to go on.”

“I’d have thought that because Charo is such a brilliant Flamenco guitarist and energetic singer, she could have sat on a stool with her foot bandaged up and won the sympathy vote!”

Connect with Robin Leach’s blog…

Visit the main pages of the LasVegasBuffetClub…

The Thrill Aien’t Gone Forever: BB King’s Blues Club at the Mirage opens in November

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Lucille
Lucille
Credit - BB King.com

BB King’s Blues Club
3400 S. Las Vegas Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV
89109
www.bbkingclubs.com

Legendary electric picker, BB King – master of Lucille and owner of the classic Blues tune “The Thrill is Gone” – is bringing his namesake restaurant, bar and nightclub: BB King’s Blues Club to the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas.

King is a pioneer (50s) electric-powered blues singer who excelled (largely, in part) due to his soulful guitar style’s expressive string-bending technique, and weaving notes around sounds coming from his gravely voice.

B.B. King’s Blues Club Holding Job Fair: Interviews At Mirage Sept. 9-10
“LAS VEGAS — Despite a steep drop in tourism, Las Vegas is preparing to open a number of new hotels and restaurants that will put people back to work.”

“Musician B.B. King is the latest star to attach his name a Las Vegas restaurant. The B.B. King’s Blues Club at the Mirage resort is hiring to fill multiple positions at its bar and restaurant.”

“On-site interviews will be held Sept. 9 and 10 inside the St. Croix A and B ballrooms at the following times” read more from Fox 5 News in Las Vegas…

From ClubPlanet:
“From early morning to late night, B.B. King’s Blues Club will serve the best in Creole cuisine fused with that southern comfort touch. Palates of Las Vegas visitors and locals alike are sure to be awakened by signature items such as Fried Dill Pickles, Gumbo Ya Ya Straight from the Bayou, Lip Smacking Ribs, Southern Fried Catfish and Banana Bread Pudding. It doesn’t stop with the food, as the drinks are just as tasty and full of soul – from the Boll Weevil that’s sure to pack a punch to the Wang Dang Doodle that the women will love.” read more from ClubPlanet…

VegasChatter reports November opening…
BB King.com – Official Website
Access the main pages of the LasVegasBuffetClub…

No parole for Manson follower Krenwinkel

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No parole for Manson follower Krenwinkel
No parole for Manson follower Krenwinkel

By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP
Fri Jan 21, 6:22 AM EST
Former Manson family member and convicted murderer Patricia Krenwinkel leaves after being denied parole at a hearing at the California Institution for Women in Corona, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

CORONA, Calif. — Parole board officials turned aside Patricia Krenwinkel’s claims of being a changed woman and ordered the Charles Manson follower to remain in prison, saying the deaths of seven people in the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders still “remain relevant.”

The two member panel said Thursday that the viciousness and notoriety of her crimes outweighs her efforts at rehabilitation behind bars.

“This is a crime children grow up hearing about,” said parole commissioner Susan Melanson. She said they had received 80 letters from around the world advocating Krenwinkel’s continued incarceration. “These crimes remain relevant.”

Melanson and deputy parole commissioner Steven Hernandez not only refused Krenwinkel’s parole bid but made her ineligible for reconsideration for another seven years., the longest denial handed down so far to any Manson family convict. Her four decades behind bars has made her the longest incarcerated woman in the California prison system.

Melanson and Deputy Commissioner Steven Hernandez issued their decision after the intense hearing and more than an hour of deliberations

Krenwinkel, now gray haired and grandmotherly looking at 63, wept and apologized.

“I’m just haunted each and every day by the unending suffering of the victims, the enormity and degree of suffering I’ve caused,” Krenwinkel said.

She was soft spoken and contrite in response to board members’ questions, describing the downward spiral of her life after she met Manson and came under his spell.

“He sang to me and made love to me,” she said. “…I left everything and went with him. He seemed like the answer to my salvation.”.

Because of him, she said, “Everything that was good and decent in me I threw away.”

It was her late father, she said, who helped her realize during his visits to her in prison, “what had happened, and the monster I became.”

The panel had the option to deny parole for up to 15 years. Melanson said they felt that was unnecessary and commended Krenwinkel for her self-improvement and community service in her four decades at the California Institution for Women.

But they dismissed Krenwinkel’s explanation that she was seeking approval from Manson by following his orders to kill.

“The panel finds it hard to believe a person can participate in this level of crimes and can’t identify anything but ‘I wanted him to love me,'” Melanson said.

Krenwinkel’s claim that she is rehabilitated was met by anger and opposition from a prosecutor and families of the victims.

“If Patricia Krenwinkel has remorse, I don’t see how she could walk into this room,” said a tearful Anthony Di Maria, the nephew of Jay Sebring, who was killed along with Tate. “No punishment could atone for the cold-blooded murders in this case.”

Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Patrick Sequeira also suggested that if Krenwinkel was remorseful she would waive her parole hearings and accept her punishment.

Krenwinkel was convicted along with Manson and two other female followers in the seven murders. One of her co-defendants, Susan Atkins, died of cancer last year. The board’s commitment to keep the Manson killers in prison was evident when they refused her compassionate release as she was dying.

Krenwinkel admitted during her trial that she chased down and stabbed heiress Abigail Folger 28 times at the Tate home on Aug. 9, 1969, and participated in the stabbing deaths of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca the following night. Both homes were defaced with bloody scrawlings. She was convicted along with Manson, Leslie Van Houten and Atkins. Another defendant, Charles “Tex” Watson was convicted in a separate trial.

All were sentenced to death after a tumultuous nine-month trial. But their sentences were commuted to life when the U.S. Supreme Court briefly outlawed the death penalty in 1972.

None of those convicted in the Tate-LaBianca killings has ever been paroled. Parole boards have repeatedly cited the callousness, viciousness and calculation of the murders.

Van Houten, 61, the youngest of the women convicted, was long thought to be the most likely to win eventual release. But she was denied a parole date last summer.

Manson, now 75, refused to appear at his most recent parole hearings where he was denied a release date, and it is likely that he will never be released.

Manson followers convicted of other murders remain behind bars.

Debra Tate, sister of Sharon Tate, who also tearfully testified during the hearing, said outside the prison afterward that she will continue attending parole hearings for Manson family members to assure that they are not released.

“People want to forget. I want to forget and forgive and I have forgiven,” Tate said. “I want them to have full lives in a controlled setting. I would never trust them in a free society.”
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

This post was moved July 10, 2010
Leslie Van Houten Denied Parole for Role in Manson Murders By SARAH NETTER – ABC News

“Van Houten’s Father Says, ‘There’s Nothing Wrong With Leslie,’ Victim’s Sister Had Advocated Against Parole”

Leslie Van Houten 2010, Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo
Leslie Van Houten 2010
Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo

ABC News Story, July 6, 2010 By SARAH NETTER

One-time Charles Manson disciple and convicted murderer Leslie Van Houten has been denied freedom yet again.

Van Houten went before a California parole board for the 17th time today, backed by supporters who said she no longer deserves to be behind bars.

The parole board denied the request.

Van Houten was one of five people, including Manson, sentenced to death for her participation in a drug-fueled murder spree ordered by Charles Manson in 1969 at the height of California’s “Summer of Love.” The sentences were later commuted to life in prison.

“Leslie, my God, is unbelievable,” her father, Paul Van Houten, said. “I’ll guarantee you there are people on the outside who haven’t done as well.”

Van Houten, 60, has been described by her supporters and prison staff as a model inmate. She is working as a college tutor while studying for her master’s degree in humanities and has not had one prison infraction on her record in more than 40 years.

But Debra Tate , whose pregnant sister, Sharon Tate, was one of seven people slain by the so-called Manson family during two nights in August 1969, said she had collected 60 letters asking the parole board to keep Van Houten behind bars.

Tate, who has made a full-time job of advocating to keep Manson and his followers in prison, said she has no doubt that Van Houten has been a model prisoner, but pointed out that she thrived only in a tightly controlled environment.

“Is a tiger dangerous if it gets out of its cage? We proved that at the L.A. zoo,” Tate said. “In the cage they are fine. You cannot let them out.” read more from ABCNews.Com

View a LasVegasBuffetClub post on the Manson Family from April 9, 2009

Visit the main pages of the LasVegasBuffetClub

Hottest dinner ticket in Denver: Patsy’s Inn on First Friday

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Patsy's Inn 
Credit: LasVegasBuffetClub, file photo
Patsy's Inn
Credit: LasVegasBuffetClub, file photo

I was doing Navajo street’s “First Fridays Art Walk” on, guess what, Friday night, and was drawn to *Patsy’s (Patsy’s Inn restaurant ) front door like the proverbial moth to a flame. Actually my first stop was going to be Patsy’s. The open door of Patsy’s was emenating energy not altogether unlike the exceptionally bright, (almost) full moon. Maybe it was more like a bonfire, which was burning, in the midst of the smaller campfires – lights from gallery windows. Whatever it was, it was an energy fest.

In addition to the (half-dozen) open art galleries, there was a birthday party (or some other kind of party) going on at the restaurant, adding immensely to the overall ambience of the evening. The entire block was “happening.” Oh yea, the Bug Theater, across the street from Patsy’s was open for business: “Modern Muse Theatre Presents: “SPEED THE PLOW” by David Mamet.”

When I say “it was happening,” I don’t just mean activity, I’m talking classy people in a classy scene. I was at another place near 8th & Colorado Blvd. (which I won’t name) earlier in the evening. The crowd were a bunch of dead-brains with not enough collective imagination to have a bad idea! (I’ve got to write that place off…)

After Patsy’s I headed a block south to the D Gallery ( I received an email invite to their METRO RETRO show.) What a fine gallery. The food spread was tastefully executed – a veritable work of art. I also found two other delicious pieces d’art: artists Jim Petty and Marlene Feinholz each had, at least, one work that passed my threshold test….

*By the way, Patsy’s Inn is a long-time favorite, old-school, neighborhood, Italian restaurant that has been around since the 1920s.
PATSY’S INN Italian Restaurant
3651 Navajo Street
Denver, CO 80211
303-477-8910