AREA15, the highly anticipated entertainment venue will be welcoming ODDWOOD, the first of many food experiences. The centerpiece of this bar and cocktail area features a twinkling LED Japanese weeping maple tree, 23 feet high.
This entertainment venture will feature retail, art, outdoor concert space, and plenty of specialty entertainment. Oddwood will have an ever-changing 28×17 ft. wide exotic tree to give you an ever-changing mood. They will serve cocktails, premium beer, and a full coffee bar provided by Vesta Coffee Roasters. Las Vegas Entrepreneur Ryan Doherty has brought this venue together.
Another bar and restaurant announced at AREA15 is LOST SPIRITS DISTILLERY, they are one of the world’s top distilleries. The experience starts with a surreal amusement park. Whisky and rum tastings, undersea train rides, boat rides, and holograms all come with world class spirits. Winston Fisher, the chief executive officer of AREA15, said Lost Spirits is a dream-like tasting experience. Cofounder of the Distillery, Bryan Davis is thrilled to bring his Lost Spirits to this world class AREA15 phenomenally.
More restaurants will be announced soon. AREA15 is on the west side of the freeway, with a sign that no one can miss.
What are your expectations of yourself? What are the standards in life that you have set? Your life is based on the reflection of your standards.
In my life, I have seen so many people live in should’ve and could’ve. “I should exercise more, I should work more consistently, I could be more successful, etc., etc.“
The other day I was listening to a motivational video by Anthony Robbins, and he said something that was very profound. “If you really want to have success and you want to raise your standards, it’s important that you change your “should“ into “must.” Changing those words completely gives you a whole new mindset.
When you decide something is an absolute “must”, you are making a 100% commitment that you are going to find a way to make something happen.
When you raise your standards and you make it an absolute must, you are making the decision to take control over the quality of your life. You are raising your standards.
Is there any area in your life that you are not getting what you want because perhaps you have not raised your standards? Life is too short to settle for less. Raise your standards and live life to the fullest. You deserve the very best.
Here are a few areas of life where we can all raise our standards.
1) Financial
Take control over your finances. Keep track of all of your expenses. Make the decision to become debt-free. Have an emergency fund. Save for the future.
Take advantage of the opportunities you have. Work hard and become the best that you can be. Develop a strong work ethic and expect greatness. Believe in yourself and your abilities. By doing this, you will be rewarded in so many ways.
2) Physical
We only have one earthly body and it’s very important that we do all the things necessary to take care of ourselves.
Don’t abuse your body. Raise your standards by eating good, healthy foods. Exercise daily. Get plenty of sleep and learn to relax.
3) Attitude
Mindset is an important key if we want to have success. Make the decision to put quality thoughts in your mind. Surround yourself with positive people and make sure that your environment is positive.
Instead of putting yourself down, learn to build yourself up. Positive affirmations will inspire you to do your best.
This week, identify where your standards may be lacking. Going forward, make the commitment to bring them to a higher level.
We are all under construction and it’s important that we continuously make the decision to grow.
Remember, you are designed for greatness, never sell yourself short. Make the decision to raise your standards in all phases of life and become the very best YOU that you can be.
This is a great summary of the previous 11 podcasts we have written about, hosted last week from The Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas. Host Reed Redmond hosts this event with Geoff Shumacher, Stan Hunterton, and Jane Ann Morrison who wrote for the Review Journal during that time.
CIRCA, the new downtown hotel opening late October, will have a host of new restaurants.
To start off we have BARRY’S DOWNTOWN PRIME, serving steak and seafood. Barry S. Dakake formerly of Scotch 80 Prime at the Palms, a fabulous venue, is in charge here. The menu will be of the highest caliber.
SAGINAW’S DELICATESSEN will serve salads, chopped liver, Reubens, matzo ball soup, and breakfast specialties. Yes, that menu is what Delicatessen’s are famous for!
PROJECT BBQ will have Carolina barbeque dishes featuring pulled chicken, pork, and brisket. They will have picnic tables and an outdoor bar.
VICTORY BURGERS & WINGS will be located in the sports book. Their Victory burgers will use brisket, Angus beef, and short rib all rolled into one; along with chicken wings and fries. Their second specialty is a Michigan Olive burger with chopped olives and olive brine on the top.
Last but not least is an Asian spot, 8 EAST featuring all sorts of Oriental dishes. So be prepared for some great new places to try.
To add to all of these are five new bars. Above the sports book will be the OVERHANG BAR. Rooftop features the LEGACY CLUB with seasonal drinks. Inside there will be VEGAS VICKIE’S, named after the downtown iconic sign, the 165 ft. MEGA BAR with big screens and 120 beers on tap, and outside with all the excitement and noise of Fremont Street will be the CIRCA BAR, the longest bar in Las Vegas.
Sir Alan Parker made his exit on July 31, 2020. He was more than a filmmaker extraordinaire. The gentleman was knighted in 2014 for services to business, charitable giving, and philanthropy. Although some did not consider him an auteur director, there was no denying that every one of his films bore his proud signature with stories that moved us, entertained, and many times demanded us to reflect: Midnight Express, Fame, Shoot the Moon, Mississippi Burning, and The Commitments to name just a few.
Born in Islington, North London, the man came from a working class family. Those roots never left his heart and mind, he displayed them beautifully for many years on celluloid much to his audience’s pleasure. Before he became a filmmaker, Parker started his mastery of the image in his late teens in television advertising for over ten years.
He eventually made two shorts and a TV movie before he was handed his first gig as a filmmaker. The film was an immediate challenge that could easily discourage many artists. With less than favorable reviews and a box-office bomb, Parker persevered two years later and rose like a phoenix from the ashes…
1978, Westwood, California was the place for young people to hang out. It wasn’t just because a popular college campus, UCLA, was nestled in the midst of it. It was not just the dining experiences offered. This was an arena for young street vendors, performers, scientologists, Hare Krishna, and the hub for movie premieres. That year, the film that caught the attention of so many young people was Midnight Express. My friends and I knew little about it. We were just told that we had to see it, and it would be an experience we would never forget.
They were right. Within the first ten minutes we were shaken to the core, and as the film unfolded we kept uttering to ourselves, My God, did this really happen? From the dynamic performances of Brad Davis and John Hurt to the haunting music of Giorgio Moroder, the true story about a college student attempting to smuggle drugs out of Turkey and thrown in prison with a sentence that seemed like an eternity was riveting.
The shocking thing was that we all took it as if the young man just did something stupid. It was only his first offense, and his last that would have him endure the brutality of a Turkish prison. The film left us sweaty and exhausted as it did with many in the audience and brought to the forefront a director, Alan Parker, whose imagery conjured powerful emotions and had an uncanny way with a story that made you live it while in the safety of a darkened theater.
It was hard to believe that two years earlier, Parker had delighted a smaller audience with his musical gangster film Bugsy Malone that consisted of only children including a very young Scott Baio and Jodie Foster. It was totally original and never given a real chance to find its audience. Cream pies were substituted for bullets, kids singing with dubbed adult voices, the script was kitschy fun, but it also went over so many people’s heads. The studio had no idea how to market it, and it was decided it would be placed as a second bill with the more successful The Bad News Bears.
Parker proved in those two films that not only was he a chameleon of cinema, but a fabulous story teller with a true original voice. Two years later, that voice returned to a very different musical that would rock the cinema world. Fame became the song and movie that would have people lining up for hours to catch it a second or third time around. The story of a group of unrelated teenagers attending a New York high school for gifted students of the performing arts touched a nerve with moviegoing audiences like very few films ever did. Parker did it with his signature lens, genuinely great new talent, musical numbers that would be long remembered, and an incredible rousing climax that would leave audiences cheering.
Alan Parker did not appear to be someone who was obsessed with box-office results. His films seemed to come from his gut and heart. He was fearless in choosing his projects, and they were not always pleasant. His follow up to Fame was a very introspective look into the decimation of a marriage. Shoot the Moon had Albert Finney and Diane Keaton pull no punches in this devastatingly hurtful tale of cheating couples, the pain of separation, divorce, and the torment children endure throughout the battle of their parents.
Parker just about achieved everything he wanted in the film. It was uncomfortable, exhausting, and relentless to watch. He captured the raw nerve that the messiest of divorces exposes, and it was far from a box-office success. Critics were divided, but it still received accolades from Cannes, BAFTA, the Golden Globes, Writers Guild of America, New York and National Society of Film Critics.
From there, Parker took on an even darker subject, Roger Waters’ Pink Floyd: The Wall. Here was a downer of a musical fantasy and the director didn’t flinch upon giving us one of the most depressing musicals set to film with mental isolation, drug use, fascism, dark sexuality, violence, gore and self destruction. Yet, audiences and critics found it brilliant, especially fans of Pink Floyd. The most amazing outcome was the film was number three in the box-office next to two far more upbeat films, An Officer and a Gentleman and Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
The director would take a lighter more upbeat note on mental disorders with his next film, Birdy starring Nicolas Cage. The story of a young man coming home from Vietnam and obsessing on becoming a bird. Then just as one would think Parker would lighten up, he turned to an even darker tone with his wonderful spin on a film noir horror piece, Angel Heart.
This was a film Parker had so much faith in. It was basically Chinatown crossed with The Exorcist. But, not only was he castigated by the ratings board, critics were mixed and those that did not like it were downright unnecessarily venomous. This was probably due to the mix of satanism, violence and sex with a former Cosby kid, Lisa Bonet. Mickey Rourke was spot on as the downtrodden gumshoe. He looked and acted as if he came straight out of the 1940s. Parker’s vision of New Orleans was appropriately spooky. It might not have had the build-up and shock value of Friedkin’s The Exorcist, but the film did supply an eerie tone that left one unsettled as the house lights came back on in the theater.
Just as some were ready to count the filmmaker out after the disappointment of Angel Heart, Parker returned with a fervor delivering one of his most powerful films that would nab six Academy Award nominations, Mississippi Burning. A haunting look into the disappearance of three civil rights workers in Jessup, Mississippi in 1964 and the two F.B.I. agents with two vastly different styles of handling the situation. This film is as important today as it was the day of its premiere in 1988. It’s Parker firing on all cylinders, the powerful messaging and impact place the film alongside Schindler’s List, Gandhi, Das Boot, and Braveheart.
Parker would go on to do the wartime romantic drama Come See the Paradise. The film felt like an Oscar contender, but it would be ignored by the Academy and audiences making it a box office flop. The filmmaker would switch gears and return to his musical comedy side with a dash of drama becoming one of the most rousing and soulful films in many years, The Commitments. Taken from a 1987 novel by Roddy Doyle and using the same writer for the screenplay, Parker unveiled the story of a young Irishman, a music fanatic, who decides to form a “soul band” out of some working class youths.
From the extremely funny auditions to the endearing forming of the band and how they try to bring soul to the Northside of Dublin, Parker’s film feels extremely personal. We become frustrated, angry and at the same time fall in love with all the members of the band. The ending is appropriately melancholy and leaves the audience begging for more. It is truly one of Alan Parker’s most joyous films.
Parker would go onto to make four more films in ten years including the Broadway musical hit Evita starring Madonna. In 2005, he received an honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Sunderland. In 2013 he was awarded the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award “in recognition of outstanding achievement in the art forms of the moving image.” Which seems to coincide with what he learned from his mentor, the legendary director Fred Zinnemann (A Man For All Seasons, From Here to Eternity, High Noon). Zinnemann told him, making a film is a great privilege, and you should never waste it. Parker lived that credo and displayed it throughout his work much to our pleasure.
The idea of purchasing a new place can be exciting. But if you’re already a homeowner, you may need someone to buy your current home before you can commit to a new one.
Selling one home and buying another simultaneously could feel overwhelming — even more so than purchasing your first home did.
Think of it like walking a tightrope: You’ll need skill and balance. But don’t worry, because you won’t be doing it alone. We will successfully work through this process together.
Make the most of your time. You should prepare for buying and selling to take a few months. Giving yourself and the other buyer and seller a six-month window is more likely to allow you to complete both transactions on time. Of course, this is an estimate since each situation is different.
Sort out your finances. Many repeat buyers apply for a home equity line of credit (HELOC) or a bridge loan. A HELOC borrows against your home’s equity, while a bridge loan is a short-term loan that can be secured against your current property. Speak with your lender about your financing options.
Take the temperature of the market. Whether you decide to go through with the transactions in a buyer’s or seller’s market can make all the difference in your timelines. We’ll discuss this throughout the process, as market conditions can change within weeks.
Make strategic negotiations. We’ll include relevant contingencies in your contracts. For instance, a home sale contingency makes the purchase of your next home valid only if your existing home sells, which can protect you financially.
Whether you’re selling, buying or doing both, reach out to have an experienced real estate professional by your side.
I’m not even the least bit ashamed to admit that most of my fashion over the past three months has been with comfort in mind. In fact, between you and me, yesterday was the first time I’d left my home in those said months, and it was for a doctor appointment. While I’ve bought some new clothes, its been garments that are much more attuned to gardening and outdoor adventures with kids than my usual garb. I can’t be the only one with heels on timeout, and with boutiques largely still closed to the public, one has to ask: What have been the effects of COVID-19 on the fashion industry?
Boutiques Have Gone Online and into Exclusive Facebook Groups
Many of the purchases I have made have been through deals offered by boutique owners in private Facebook groups. Owners then offer shipping or as allowed, contactless pick up or delivery. This has been a great way both to support the small business owner and to continue to update a wardrobe. There is, however, one thing to be aware of: Many boutiques are discounting prices in place of a return or exchange policy due to concerns about sanitation.
Fashion Is Largely Functional
While I’m a huge fan of form, function is taking the front seat. Pockets, easy-to-wash (if I don’t have to send my partner out to run errands, I’m not going to), and humidity-friendly so I can be outside a lot this summer have taken a front seat. We’ve seen masks that make statements start really showing up in social media feeds. That’s definitely an example of form rushing to meet up with function.
Sustainability Takes a Front Seat
Sustainable fashion has been a needed thing – and now it’s starting to get more of a stage. People are starting to look in their closets more to see what they have that they can remix or upcycle. Things they can’t do that with have been finding a second life thanks to sites like Poshmark, The Real Real, and ThreadUp. We can expect to see more of this as production for fashion lines are more impacted by the virus, economy, and shutdowns.
Are Virtual Fashion Shows Coming?
It’s still a bit early to predict what will happen to the traditional fashion show with the rise of COVID-19, but don’t be surprised to see more virtual fashion shows in the wake of the virus. In “How the Covid-19 Pandemic is Affecting the Fashion Industry,” published on May 12, 2020, Elle Magazine points out that Shanghai Fashion Week was a completely digital event, and that designers posted their new collections via website and social media.
Indie Brands May Get a Lift
With major brands less in the forefront due to social distancing policies limiting shopping activities, small independent labels are getting more of a voice. According to the May 12,Elle Magazine piece, many of the independent brands have been doing their part to aid with COVID-19 relief efforts. I’ve certainly seen this in many of the local businesses here in Wichita, so it doesn’t surprise me that many fashion brands have been doing the same thing.
The End of Some Brands and Boutiques
Unfortunately, we will see the end of some brands and boutiques. Clothing sales have fallen, and rental fees for shop spaces still must be paid. Despite many efforts to transform their selling platform, some brands just won’t be able to make the digital transformation and some styles and clothing types may become temporarily obsolete (think the wedding dress industry in a time when gatherings over 10 aren’t advised).
Madame Curie’s story is so remarkable that there have been over half a dozen films that have attempted to capture her story. Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge was a 2016 production that received mixed reviews concentrating on the romance between her and her scientist husband. Unfortunately, bringing that aspect to the forefront was a simplistic way of looking at her life. Les Palmes de M. Schutz was a 1997 French film that took a more humorous look, but also provided the drama that went with the lives of Marie and Pierre Curie. In the same year, Marie Curie: More Than Meets the Eye was a TV wartime drama that had Curie as a secondary character being spied on by two young sisters who believed she was involved in espionage.
There were also two more TV productions. In ’66 an Italian made mini-series sought to capture the spirit of Madame Curie and ten years later the BBC would present a highly touted mini-series based on her life. But, throughout the years the first film of Curie’s life was by far the best. In 1943 Madame Curie garnered seven Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor – Walter Pidgeon and Best Actress – Greer Garson. Fast forward to Amazon’s presentation of this very complicated woman that made a dramatic change for mankind. Although flawed like Madame Curie’s life, the film is beautifully mounted, intelligent, and delivers a far more realistic relationship between the two scientists with a bravura performance by Rosamund Pike. This version could easily be considered a close runner up to the Greer Garson film.
Let’s start with Ms. Pike. She embodies Curie and delivers her brashness and boldness with an anguish and frustration, only to reveal a tender side well hidden. Rosamund Pike rises to the level of Meryl Streep with but one difference – she feels approachable. Streep so many times (to me) has come across cold or distant in many roles. Not doubting the women’s prowess as an actress, just many times I felt a disconnect whereas with Ms. Pike I genuinely felt her struggles and her pain – a woman battling to be recognized in a man’s world, being on the edge of discovering something that could change the course of history if she was just taken seriously enough.
For those unfamiliar with this exceptional person, Marie Salomea Skłodowska was a Polish woman living in France in the 1800s who was both a physicist and chemist developing breakthrough research on radioactivity that would eventually lead to X-ray machines, a radiation treatment for cancer and, on the destructive end, be responsible for Hiroshima and Chernobyl. Sadly, she struggled with the scientific community to help fund her research. As brilliant as Curie was, she was not accepted in the boys’ club because of gender and her Polish ancestry.
This would change after meeting with fellow scientist Pierre Curie. He too was not admired by the scientific community, but he was undaunted and found a unique partner in Ms. Skłodowska. They would help each other break through the barriers of the established scientists and go on to win The Nobel Prize in Physics along with the aid of French physicist, Henri Becquerel. Curie’s relationship with Skłodowska started off as a strained one. He not only admired her for her work, but was in love with her as well. On the other hand, she admittedly was too into her work and felt strongly she had no time for a relationship. As they worked together throughout the years, Curie’s patience paid off and they became closer, eventually married.
Director Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) would seem a good fit for directing the Curies’ tale from the critically acclaimed book by Lauren Redniss with a screenplay by Jack Thorne (National Treasure, Wonder). But, Satrapi and Thorne attempt to cram in too much of the Curies, their accomplishments, and what everything they did would lead to in the future. It’s an admirable try, and for some, patience will pay off. The capture of the period is exquisite. Their romance is grounded in reality, and everything involving Madame Curie is fascinating largely due to Rosamund Pike.
The rest of the cast is to be commended as well, especially Sam Riley as the indomitable Pierre Curie. Pike and Riley’s scenes are near luminescent. Their push pull relationship is heartfelt, and Madame Curie’s realization of how much she really does love him comes too late in life. Sad, but true. Their struggles in the scientific community are riveting.
But, things grind to a sudden halt when we are privy to what their research will bring about. A fast forward of things to come can be jolting – treatment for cancer and Hiroshima. I’m not sure if this is a script issue, directorial problem or editing. These scenes, as eye opening as they are, can be intrusive on the rhythm created by the film.
Overall, this did not bother me to the point of dismissing such an important work on a fascinating woman that helped steer us into a future of tremendous possibilities, all the while with a warning of what her discovery could do if used in the wrong hands. Radioactive may not be the best depiction of Madame Curie’s life, but it’s very close and extremely relatable. Even with its flaws I highly recommend catching this film on Amazon Prime.
Directed by: Marjane Satrapi
Release Date: July 24, 2020
Run Time: 109 Minutes
Rated: PG-13
Country: USA
Distributor: Amazon Studios
What does it take to become successful? I get asked that question quite often. I believe that many people are looking for the secret formula or the magic pill. Let me make a few statements here and let’s get this out-of-the-way. “There is no such thing as a get rich quick scheme.” There is no magic pill and there are no secret formulas.
Bottom line, if you want to have success, it’s going to take a burning desire and an incredible work ethic. You have to do what most people do not want to do. To sum it up: Success is all about attitude, attitude, attitude. Keep in mind though, attitude is just the first step. Along with a positive attitude, you simply have to go to work consistently. Attitude plus effort equals success. It sounds simple and it really is, if you apply yourself.
Along with the attitude and the work ethic, I’d like to give you some simple rules today that will help you on your success journey.
1). Wake up early
Successful people are early risers. They get more things done while others are sleeping their lives away. If you were to interview most millionaires and billionaires, the majority of them will tell you that they rise before 6 AM every day.
Perhaps up to this point, you may have labeled yourself as a night owl. Gradually start to change your way of thinking which will change your lifestyle. Work your way up to becoming an early riser.
2) Work harder than you did yesterday
Success is going to take a true commitment of working smart and working hard. The harder you work, the luckier you will become.
If you were to do an interview with all of the top producers and you ask them what their secret to success is, every single one of them will tell you that it is their commitment level and their work ethic. Yes, they are all talented but talent alone is not enough.
3) Exercise daily
This was not part of my life for many years. I had all the excuses in the world. I’m so grateful that now this is part of my daily routine. I have more energy than I’ve ever had in my entire life. There are plenty of days that I do not feel like it, but I do it anyway. Why? Being healthy is an absolute must.
Start small and gradually increase your level of exercise. Go for a walk, do some push-ups, go to the gym. Do whatever it takes to get your body moving. You cannot enjoy your success if you are not healthy.
4) Commit to growth
Setting goals are very important and achieving them gives you a positive feeling. Always remember that no matter what level you reach, setting new goals are vital for your growth. Progress equals happiness.
Look for mentors that will help you. Commit to reading. Learn about your craft. No matter what level you reach, you can always improve.
We are all under construction and none of us have truly arrived. If you are breathing, you can always grow and improve.
Make a commitment to work on these four simple rules and keep growing.
I believe in you and I know you can do this! Have a super successful and positive week!
Long before the hard-boiled detective of fiction and film became a cliché, Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) was writing some of the finest crime novels of the twentieth century.His famous private eye protagonist, Philip Marlowe, is the narrator of most of his books, including “Farewell, My Lovely”, “The Lady in the Lake”, and “The Big Sleep”.The latter, published in 1939, was Chandler’s first novel.
In “The Big Sleep”, set in Los Angeles, Marlowe is hired by a wealthy invalid named General Sternwood.He wants Marlowe to investigate and stop a blackmail scheme that is being directed against his family.But what begins as a fairly simple case soon develops into a complex murder mystery that involves the General’s two daughters, Carmen and Vivian—“both pretty and both wild”.The blackmailer himself is shot dead almost as soon as Marlowe begins his investigation.Soon afterward an employee of the Sternwood household also turns up dead.
It is evident almost from the first page that the author of this work was totally at home with his material.However, it is not the intricacies of the plot that draws me to “The Big Sleep” (or to Chandler’s fiction generally).What I like most is the voice of the narrator: his unaffected tone of coolness and the ease with which he describes the dark world he inhabits.He is tough but not hardhearted; he is decent without being self-righteous.His sardonic wit is another remarkable and entertaining trait: ‘Rain filled the gutters and splashed knee-high off the sidewalk.Big cops in slickers that shone like gun barrels had a lot of fun carrying giggling girls across the bad places’; or this exchange with one of the General’s daughters, whose romantic advances the detective calmly spurns:
“Men have been shot for little things like that, Marlowe.”
“Men have been shot for practically nothing.”
At times the first-person descriptions attain a gritty and poetic beauty:‘I braked the car against the curb and switched the headlights off and sat with my hands on the wheel.Under the thinning fog the surf curled and creamed, almost without sound, like a thought trying to form itself on the edge of consciousness.’
There have been, in movies and in books, innumerable attempts to do what Chandler did.Most of these attempts have resulted in bad or weak imitations.Certain writers seem to think they can actually improve on Chandler by ramping up the cynicism and the sleaze.But because Chandler was not only a realist but a consummate artist, he possessed a sound sense of scale.Evil is vividly depicted in “The Big Sleep”, but the author never lapses into excess.The result is a very enjoyable read, even for readers who are not big fans of mystery or detective fiction.
Avoidance may feel safe, but it is a thief. It spares you heartbreaks, but it starves you of healing. And if every door stays closed, how will love ever enter? How will you ever be seen, truly seen, and unconditionally cherished?
This entertainment venture will feature retail, art, outdoor concert space, and plenty of specialty entertainment. Oddwood will have an ever-changing 28×17 ft. wide exotic tree to give you an ever-changing mood. They will serve cocktails, premium beer, and a full coffee bar provided by Vesta Coffee Roasters. Las Vegas Entrepreneur Ryan Doherty has brought this venue together.
