The following post is the last entry from LA Times’ blogger Richard Abowitz whose daily blog (The Movable Buffet) the LasVegasBuffetClub has used as a valuable source of information time and again. Thanks Richard for your excellent reporting.
“In a very Vegas way, I got lucky.”
“In October 2005, I was hired by L.A. Times editors who had found my Vegas writing online. I became one of the first bloggers in the history of the L.A. Times. Vegas was booming in those years, and tourists from California were pouring into town, many buying investment homes. The idea of a blog that documented daily the happenings and entertainments that drew so many to Vegas made sense on a lot of levels. Obviously, much has changed since then, and I am sad to report the Movable Buffet blog is being discontinued.”
“The Vegas news and events that were covered here you will now find covered by other L.A. Times blogs in entertainment and travel. For those of you who enjoy my Vegas coverage for the Los Angeles Times, my print column continues to run in Sunday Calendar (along with photos from Sarah Gerke). I also hope to blog about Vegas again soon, and so please keep an eye out.”
“I have to thank Sarah, the Buffet’s loyal photographer, above all others. She was on board with this blog from Day 1. She shot Vegas out of pure joy. Thank you, Sarah. Your photos, as so many readers have commented, have always been incredible. I also need to thank the fantastic staff of the L.A. Times, who for four straight years has hosted this blog, edited its entries and made suggestions that have made me a better writer, reporter and even person.”
“But most of all, I want to thank those of you who have read me daily or even once. I hope I wrote something you enjoyed. I am very grateful to all. Thank you. Be well.”
Icy Watermelon Sorbet
I got the basic recipe for this Icy Sorbet from Carol Alt’s raw food cookbook. I embellished the recipe with a few new ingredients.
ICY WATERMELON SORBET
Ingredients:
1/2 seedless watermelon
1/2 medium lime
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
dash of cayenne pepper
1 tsp. sugar-free, Raspberry Jell-O
water
– scoop out the pulp from the watermelon and puree in a blender or food processor until liquefied, retain the shell
– add the juice from the lime, orange juice, cinnamon, cayenne and Jell-O
– blend again, adding water if necessary
– pour into an ice-cube tray and freeze
– when the mixture is frozen, remove the cubes and place them in the blender
*blend until the “sorbet” has the consistency of a snow cone
– place in a pint deli-container or used ice-cream container and freeze
I snapped this photo of Denver artist Jesse Dubois at the Whole Foods store on South Colorado Blvd. Jesse had an easel set up in the cafe section of the market. The (accidental) sepia tones in the photograph are not altogether unlike the colors in some of Jesse’s pastels. I think the back-lighting created the effect.
I first met Jesse years ago when he had an easel set up in a shopping mall. He was trying to work between periodic harrassments from mall-punks. Jesse has certainly paid his “dues,” and he has evolved into a fine artist.
One of his major works, a bronze sculpture of a female, Denver physician, can be seen at the end of the train-line in the Five Points area of Denver.
I heard this tune (Richard Heene’s theme song) on the radio and had to post it. It’s a simple old-school- rock-style song with a “Creedence-like” driving (simple/basic) lead guitar.
The following was copped from TMZs Youtube channel …
“Richard Heene was so committed to getting his own reality show, he even went so far as to come up with his theme music — because every wacky amateur scientist/handyman needs good theme music.”
“Heene worked with a guy named Smokey Miles (and Meson Music BMI) to compose theme songs in 2005 for two shows Heene cooked up — “The Psyience Detective” and “The Contractor.” And they are gems!”
“The first, which Richard played bass on, goes a little something like this:”
“When you want to learn the mysteries of how things work
Weather, the planets, the whole universe.
Tune into the show, that’s really effective
Watch Richard Heene — Science Detective!”
The second tune is sort of a country-style talking ramble – not as interesting.
“Not at all surprising, after the impressive Labor Day weekend “test” of Frank Marino’s Divas Las Vegas revue (more than 5,000 people saw the new show over four nights), the Imperial Palace has made Divas a part of their ongoing entertainment lineup. Beginning tomorrow night (Saturday, October 17th), Frank Marino plus a cast of 13, will take the 10 p.m. time slot in the __-[sic] seat showroom. In addition to Marino, who, as producer, Mistress of Ceremonies/ Hostess, is the glue that holds Divas together, the performers are made up of impersonators Derrick Barry as Britney Spears and Lady Gaga, Kenneth Blake as Madonna and Dolly Parton, Larry Edwards as Tina Turner and Beyonce, Sammy Gonzales as Liza Minnelli, Joseph Santellano as Bette Midler and Shirley Bassey, Steven Wayne as Cher and Celine Dion, and Crystal Woods as Diana Ross and Whitney Houston. The Frank Marino Dancers are Jonathon Arsenault, Jeremy Butcher, Michael Cannarata, Stephen Lowry, Jason Mckenzie, and Paul Pratt. Choreography is by Gary Thomas (for the Britney Spears and Lady Gaga numbers) and Brad Barnes (all other numbers). Frank Marino’s Divas Las Vegas joins the family-friendly Japanese hit “Muscle Musical,” Matsuri, and the Australian “boy band” Human Nature, presented by Smokey Robinson. Matsuri plays at 4 p.m., Wednesdays through Mondays, with an added 8 p.m. show on Fridays. Tickets are $49.99 and $59.99. Human Nature show times are 8 p.m., Saturdays through Thursdays, and tickets are $49.95 and $59.95. Divas plays at 10 p.m., Saturdays through Thursdays. Ticket prices are $69 and $79. For reservations, call (888) 777-7664, toll free.”
On my last trip from Sin City, I shot this photo with my little Canon Powershot SD 1200 IS.
[C 2009-LasVegasBuffetClub. All rights reserved.]
Can you spot the naked woman?
This photo was resized. If you want a full-size image, send an email to the webmaster and we’ll email you the original image. Scroll to the bottom of any page on the main website and click the “Send Mail to Webmaster” link. www.LasVegasBuffetClub.Com
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.
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.”
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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
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
by 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
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