For my dad on this Father's Day.

Thirty years ago last week, I was fixing dinner in my small apartment in downtown Los Angeles, the news was on the television in the background.

They announced that John Wayne had died (I don't remember if I had heard the news earlier in the day) but this I remember. I stopped what I was doing and moved to the sofa. They came back from commercial and then ran an extended piece about Wayne's death, playing the scene from She Wore a Yellow Ribbon where he says good-bye to his troops before they go out without him. I, like many other people, cried.

I grew up in the 1960s, a decade full of dissent and turmoil. I was against the war in Vietnam and not what could be described by any stretch of the imagination, a fan of Richard Nixon's. Given my politics, liking John Wayne films back then was more than just unpopular, it was very unpopular.

But I had grown up with a dad who loved his movies (and his politics) and he taught me to love those movies. Back then (as Moira likes to say when dinosaurs roamed the land -who knew they liked television), classic movies on the big three networks were all we had.

Two of the television stations in Las Vegas each ran an afternoon movie. On Saturday and Sundays, their was the late afternoon movie. And almost any night of the week, one of the big three networks had a "________ at the Movies" almost every night in prime-time. Then there was the Late Movie and that was followed by the Late, Late Movie. There were no VCRs or DVDs back then , so if a movie you liked came on, you jumped at the chance to see it.

My dad and I would watch westerns together. Both my parents were western fans but my dad took the time to watch the movies.

We all know the story of how Wayne broke into movies. He started in the late 1920s in silent films. He was an incredibly handsome young man. The only man more handsome than him (in my opinion) was Joel McCrea. They both oozed charm and sexuality. Wayne worked as a prop man back then and caught John Ford's eye. Raoul Walsh cast him in The Big Trail.

Trail didn't score and Wayne toiled doing a number of 'Singing Sandy" b-westerns. By the late 1930s, John Ford wanted to make a western, his first since his silent days, he had a new location he wanted to try out in Monument Valley (thanks to the Gouldings being very persistent about him looking at their portfolio of location shots) and his son had found a short story, "The Stage to Lordsburg" that caught Ford's fancy.

There's been a great deal written about the zeitgeist of Ford and crew in Monument Valley for the shooting of Stagecoach. But that dolly in on Ringo's face as he stops the Lordsburg stage is still one of the best introductions of a character on film. Wayne's portrayal of Ringo is two-fold. He may be seeking vengeance but he is not a cold-hearted man. He treats Dallas, the saloon girl, the same as he treats Mrs. Mallory, with respect. It was the break-out role Wayne needed at a time when he needed that break.

Wayne became a beloved American icon but still gets short shrift when it comes to the one thing he was very good at, acting. People still say he was playing "John Wayne" but he wasn't. Nor was he just going through the motions. Howard Hawks saw something in Wayne that even Ford had missed. Hawks cast Wayne as Tom Dunson in Red River. Dunson ages over the course of the movie and Wayne put his heart into portraying the older Dunson. The story may not be everyone's cup of tea, but there's no denying that Wayne is good in the film. Ford saw an early cut of the film (which sat on the shelf for two years) and claimed, "Hell, I didn't the s.o.b. could act." (Which tells us a great deal about the relationship between Wayne and Ford, in light of Wayne's stellar performance in Ford's own They Were Expendable.)

But after seeing Red River, Ford cast Wayne as Nathan Brittles in the second of his cavalry trilogy, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, giving Wayne the opportunity to play a man in the twilight of his career. Wayne was his in early 40s by the time he etched the character of Brittles and played the Captain as a man in his late 50s. You feel Nathan's aches and stiffness of joints as well as his glance around when he has to use his bi-focals to read the sentiment on his shiny, new watch.

Together, Ford and Wayne would create one of the darkest characters to grace American film, Ethan Edwards in The Searchers. In this film, Wayne pulls no punches as a man on an obsessive journey to find his niece, taken by Indians. Edwards is a racist, having little good to say about anyone but more so, Indians, despite the fact that his adopted nephew and partner on the journey, Marty, is Indian.

Edwards could have been easily become a caricature but Wayne's wonderful acting keeps that from happening.  The look between Ethan and Martha  before he leaves is so subtle it was 20 years before viewers understood that in that scene was the entire backstory of Ethan and Martha and how they loved, and still loved, each other.  

When he returns from the canyon and tries to tell Brad and Marty something of what he saw, he digs at the ground with his knife and yells, "What do you want me to do? Draw you a picture? Spell it out? Don't ever ask me! Long as you live, don't ever ask me more." 

In the end, he returns Debbie to the Jorgensen's but as the family, rejoicing in the return of Debbie and Marty, enters the house, Edwards cannot follow. He is too much of an outsider, doomed to wander, like the dead Indian whose eyes he had shot out, between two lands never to be a part of either.

His last film with Ford was the elegiac Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and he etched a character who loses everything while the man who everyone thought had done the shooting gets the glory and the girl.

But as the 1960s roiled on, the directors he liked working with were either dying, retiring or having a hard time getting studios to back them. He worked with Hawks and Henry Hathaway found a studio to back True Grit (Though Hathaway wanted George C. Scott originally). While some see Rooster Cogburn as the ultimate caricature of Wayne's persona, those of us who have studied his career see another finely etched character.

He finished out his career with Mark Rydell and Don Siegel. Rydell directed him in the The Cowboys one of only three films in long filmography where Wayne was killed on screen. Co-star Bruce Dern was talking to Wayne just before the shooting of that scene and told Wayne "Do you know how much they are going to love me in Berkeley?" to which Wayne replied, "You have no idea how much America is going to hate you." They were both right.

He ended his career with The Shootist, another elegiac western about a man who has out-lived the era he loved. Wayne was not in the best of health while making the film and shortly after filming was completed discovered that the "Big C" had returned.

He took the stage in the winter of 1979 at the annual Oscar ceremony and it was apparent that this battle would not be won. He got a rousing standing ovation and was moved to tears by the response.

He was a top box-office draw for almost his entire career after Stagecoach and somewhere along that career he became an American icon and we invested in him those ideals that we needed him to be.

But he loved being an actor and while I could never agree with his politics, I loved him for all those wonderful characters he brought to life. He made it look so easy that many people never realized how finely tuned those characters really were.

But for some of us. We knew, we always have. If there is any doubt, I would suggest renting Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance with an open mind.

You'll be surprised. I promise.

"Lest We Forget" (Happy Father's Day to my daddy)

Okay, it's time for our annual listing of the various 4th of July Firework Displays and Celebrations. Check back often as this list will get added to throughout the month.  Unlike other sites that just re-posted information from last year without taking the time to verify, I called the various hotels and venues to make sure that the information posted here is, indeed, correct.

Thursday, July 2nd:

Annual Night of Fire at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway features fireworks, SMRA Supermodifieds on Thursday, July 2

Includes Fireworks

The Bullring, Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s NASCAR-sanctioned 3/8-mile asphalt oval, will kick off the Independence Day holiday weekend on Thursday, July 2, with its annual Night of Fire. The night of family fun features fireworks and NASCAR Whelen All-American Series stock car racing, a jet car and SMRA Supermodifieds.

Spectator gates will open at 5 p.m. with racing at 7 p.m. Fireworks are tentatively scheduled for 9:30 p.m.
Stock car racing classes include: SMRA Supermodifieds (50 laps), MetroPCS Super Late Models (76 laps), Chargers, Outlaw Enduro Bombers (76 laps), twin Legends Cars features, Bandoleros.

Spectator admission:
Adults: $15.
Senior citizens and military personnel with ID: $12.
Children (6-12): $5.
Family 4-Pak (2 adults and 2 children): $38.
Stockyard (VIP tailgate area in Turns 3 and 4): $149 (includes 4 admission tickets). Stockyard passes are available for purchase by visiting or calling the LVMS Ticket Services Office.

The Bullring's concession stand offers a family-friendly dollar menu, including $1 hot dogs, $1 soda and $1 beer. For more information, please call the LVMS ticket office at (702) 644-4444 or visit www.LVMS.com.

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North Las Vegas 10th Annual Independence Day Jubilee

Friday, July 3rd (only):

The multi-platinum selling group All-American Rejects will perform at Mandalay Bay Beach Friday, July 3. The concert is scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m.

Tickets priced at $40, including taxes and service charges, are now on sale and available at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Mandalay Bay at (877) 632-7400 or Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000.

Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mandalaybay.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

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July 2nd and 3rd:

Las Vegas 51's Baseball Game

and Fireworks

When: July 2nd and 3rd,after the game
Where:Cashman Field
Admission: $14
More info: 702-326-7200

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Friday, July 3rd - 5th:

Beer Bash on the Bridge

July 3 – 5, 2009

New York, New York

Who: 20 Brewers with 40 Beers

Featuring DJ Chris Landry daily – Live entertainment nightly

Dates: July 3 – July 5, 2009

Price: $40 per person in advance / $45 at event

$95 3-day Pass (tax not included in prices)

Includes unlimited beer and entertainment

$10 per person – Bridge access only

Cash Bars will be available

Limited Menu for purchase will be available

*Must be 21 or older

See the Box Office for tickets and information

Time: Friday, July 3: Bridge open from 3 p.m. – 11 p.m.

Sat. & Sun., July 4 & 5: Bridge open from noon – 11 p.m.

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TRAVEL BACK IN TIME TO 1969 AS FREMONT STREET

EXPERIENCE

PRESENTS “SUMMER OF ’69: VEGAS OR BUST”

July 3rd - 5th

Faux Fireworks Display on the FSE Canopy

“American Pie 4^th of July” commemorates Independence Day weekend from Friday, July 3 through Sunday, July 5 and highlights Fremont Street Experience’s Viva Vision show, “Don McLean’s American Pie.”

Headline concerts will feature Janis Joplin’s Original Band Big Brother & The Holding Company on Friday, July 3 and The Grass Roots on Saturday, July 4.

The evening of the 4^th of July will also showcase a brilliant virtual fireworks show on the Viva Vision canopy.

Saturday, July 4th (only):

60th Annual Boulder City Damboree

Evening Fireworks

When: July 4
Where: Boulder City
Schedule: Pancake Breakfast - Bicentennial Park - 7am
Parade - Nevada Way - 9am
Damboree Ceremonies and Midway Booths - Broadbent Park- 11am
Fireworks Festivities - Veteran's Memorial Park - 6pm
Visit the Boulder Dam Damboree online

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Summerlin July 4th Parade

The annual Summerlin Patriotic Parade returns July 4, 2008 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

The parade begins at the corner of Hillpointe Road and Hills Center Drive in The Trails Village of Summerlin.

Participants travel south toward the Village Center Circle roundabout before heading west on Trailwood Drive.

It usually attracts more than 25,000 people. The event is free.

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Downtown Henderson Fourth of July fireworks & celebration

When: 6-9 p.m. July 4

Where: Henderson Events Plaza and surrounding area

Admission: Free

More Info: 702-267-2171

Attendees will enjoy three stages of live music by the Henderson Symphony Orchestra, country music entertainer Randy Anderson and more.

Additionally, families will have the opportunity to indulge in a variety of food and beverage options while the children are entertained by an assortment of fun activities including a rock wall, dunk tank, bounce house and more. The

Independence Day celebration will culminate with a spectacular fireworks display from atop City Hall.

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Las Vegas Springs Preserve and the Las Vegas Philharmonic Team Up for

"Star Spangled Spectacular!"

(note: NEW LOCATION!!!)

This year, Las Vegas’ favorite and most patriotic pops concert has a new home: the Springs Preserve! Join us on Saturday, July 4 for "Star Spangled Spectacular" as we celebrate the birth of our nation with a fun and rousing line-up of patriotic music performed by the Las Vegas Philharmonic, under the direction of Conductor David Itkin.

Doors open at 6 p.m. and the concert begins at 8 p.m. in our beautiful outdoor amphitheater. Tickets are limited and available for purchase online and at the Preserve box office. There are three ticket levels offered:

VIP Package – $82.50 per person
Includes pre-concert VIP reception in the ORIGEN Rotunda with complimentary gourmet hors d’oeuvres, beer and wine service, and an exclusive tabled seating area in the amphitheater.

Amphitheater Seating – $27.50 per person
Includes assigned concert seating within the Springs Preserve amphitheater and access to on-grounds food and beverage concession stations.

Grounds Pass – $17.50 per person
Includes non-seated access to the concert venue amid standing cocktail tables, as well as the balcony at the Springs Cafe by Wolfgang Puck, and access to food and beverage concession stations.

Springs Preserve annual passholders receive a discount of $7.50 off VIP or reserved amphitheater seating. Children 12 and under receive $7.50 off amphitheater seating or grounds pass (cannot be combined with passholder discount). VIP and Amphitheater seat assignments will be given on a first-come, first-serve basis beginning at 6 p.m. on July 4. Please bring your printed ticket with you.

For info on purchasing tickets: https://websales.omniticket.com/lvs/

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Lake Las Vegas Entertainment and Fireworks

BBQ and Entertainment

The Band will be "JV All-Stars"

Fireworks Display: 10:00 pm

The Event is Free

For more information: 702-564-1600

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4th of July BBQ & Fireworks Show

Rio Hotel

When: 7-10 p.m. July 4
Where: Sapphire Pool, Rio
Tickets: $50 for admission, BBQ and one drink or $30 for admission only

More info: 702.448.6789 for cabana/daybed reservations

The Girls of Sapphire and DJ Madam Malixa will host a BBQ and fireworks

at the Sapphire Pool at the Rio on July 4th.

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Rock the Block with El Cortez

When: 7 p.m. July 4
Where: Fremont East Entertainment District, downtown Las Vegas
More information: 702-385-5200
The El Cortez hotel-casino brings the Fourth of July festivities downtown with Rock the Block, a concert featuring alternative rock sensations Otherwise and Hupastank.

The outdoor concert is $15 and begins at 7 p.m. in the Fremont East Entertainment District.

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MYSTIC ROOTS BAND RETURN TO

MANDALAY BAY BEACH SATURDAY, JULY 4th

Evening Highlighted by Fireworks Extravaganza

Mystic Roots Band (MRB), known for its original style of reggae, hip-hop and dance music with overtones of rock, funk and ska, will perform live on the Mandalay Bay Beach stage Saturday, July 4. The fireworks show is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. followed by the concert at 9:15 p.m.

Tickets priced at $20, not including applicable service charges, are now on sale and available at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Mandalay Bay at (877) 632-7400 or Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mandalaybay.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

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Caesars Palace is having by-Invitation Only Private Party

on the rooftop which will include fireworks.

So, if you know someone at Harrah's (corporate owner of CP) or someone in management at Caesars or a connected slot host, you have to call and get on the invitation list.

Fireworks are set for 9:00 pm

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 STATION CASINOS ANNOUNCES

NINE-PROPERTY FIREWORKS SHOW

ON 4^TH OF JULY

Plans are in the works for nine fireworks showsto go off simultaneously on the 4th of July from nine different Station Casinos’ properties throughout the valley including Red Rock Resort, Green Valley Ranch, Palace Station, Boulder Station, neighboring properties Texas Station and Fiesta Rancho will be a shared location, Fiesta Henderson, Aliante Station, Santa Fe Station and Sunset Station.

The fireworks show this evening and the nine-property fireworks show on the 4th of July have been produced the Grucci Family, one of the premiere fireworks companies in the world.

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The Las Vegas Hilton Hotel will have a Fireworks Display just after dark.

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Please note that the County's Red, White & Boom has been cancelled and is being replaced by Red, White & Splash --smaller community events at the following county pools:

Laughlin, Nevada announces:

When: July4, the festivities begin just after dusk
Where: Laughlin
How Much: FREE to the public along the Laughlin River walk
More Info: 800-227-5245 or 702-298-2214
Enjoyone of the mostspectaular fireworks display in the West choreographed to fabulous patriotic music simulcast on various local radio stations.

The Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas' new home at the Springs Preserve that thanks to budget cuts may not open.

Well, the dust has finally settled from this year's legislative session, and the result has been devastating for the state's Division of Museums and History. Beginning July 1, 2009, the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas, together with all museums in the state system, will be open only 4 days a week--Wednesday through Saturday--and closed Sunday through Tuesday.

Early in the legislative session, Governor Jim Gibbons and his staff wanted to completely eliminate the Department of Cultural Affairs, "zero out" the budget, close all the museums in the state system and lay off their staffs. The state library and archive would have been closed, and the Arts Council shut down. What Gibbons and his staff did not understand, particularly in the case of the state's museums is that each deed of gift a donor signs is a legal contract the state has to honor. If the museums were closed and their staffs eliminated, what would become of their collections? The IRS has very tight rules for non-profits that would have made it almost impossible for Nevada's museums to divest themselves of their collections.

Forced to avoid shutting down the state's museums, the governor's budget imposed layoffs and deep salary cuts instead. Unlike other state employees who are losing 4.6% of their salary by being furloughed from their jobs one day a month, employees in the Division of Museums and History are taking 20% salary cuts by being reduced to part-time workers. These drastic salary cuts and partial closings follow two years during which museum budgets were cut 11%, a hiring freeze was instituted, and staff positions eliminated.  There is no sunset clause on this.  These budget cuts could remain in effect for the next few years.

The impact of these cuts on public service has been severe. The Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas, for instance, lost its Curator of Education in July 2008 when she retired, and administrators at the Department of Cultural Affairs will not allow her replacement. It's the Curator of Education who plans and coordinates the museum's programs and public outreach. Those duties have fallen to remaining curators and staff, who must still meet the demands of their original jobs.

The museum's reduced hours and unfilled positions mean less time and fewer staff to accommodate school tours, researchers, and museum visitors. It means that fewer groups and organizations will have access to the museum's meeting room. Internally, it means that remaining staff, having to juggle two or three jobs, have less time to acquire materials for the archive and collections, less time to process collections for public use, less time to take advantage of educational opportunities necessary to keep the museum up-to-date and user friendly. It means fewer and smaller exhibits, and fewer and less ambitious programs.

Ironically, the governor's budget also included funds to build the permanent exhibits in the Las Vegas museum's new building at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve. This construction, which should start in July, will take about a year to complete, after which the museum is scheduled to open to the public. However, because so many museum workers have been lost or downgraded with reduced hours, the museum at the Springs Preserve may not have the staff it needs to open.

Let us know what you think about this.  The State Museum is one of our partners in the historical programming that we try to do throughout the year so this affects not only us but all of you as well.

Our pal, Andrew Kiraly at Las Vegas City Life  confirms what one of our panelists at last month's Untold Stories told the audience, about the UNLV memorial to Maude Frazier:

Okay, so Maude Frazier Hall wasn’t exactly a campus hottie in terms of architecturally delighting the eye. And when UNLV’s bumbling current powers that be soothed critics with sweet something-or-others about erecting a “memorial wall” in the razed building’s place, a wall that would pay proper homage to UNLV’s mommy, I thought, okay, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. I’d since seen the memorial wall through my car window as I was zipping by, and figured the burl of fencing around the project meant the wall was a work in progress.

Then I was strolling through UNLV the other day and this mini-monstrosity hooked my eyeballs in its full glory. Work in progress? Hello! More like JERK IN PROGRESS. Turns out this is actually the complete project. I’m no architecture critic, but it looks like whoever made this thing lifted a pallet of sandstone facade from a Summerlin strip mall and played a solo match of Jenga on the campus lawn.

If they were going to knock down a historic building — perhaps a true prince waiting to bust out of frogdom — they could have at least created a memorial wall that truly engages and reflects Frazier’s place both in the history of UNLV and the Las Vegas Valley. But this slapdash stack just ain’t cutting it.

On the upside, it looks like it was inexpensive to produce. So it shouldn’t prove too much heartbreak on UNLV’s wallet to tear it down — and try again.

Surprise!

The fire that destroyed the remaining structures at the historic Moulin Rouge property was caused by humans, according to the City of Las Vegas Fire Department.

According to spokesman Jace Radke, while officials have not yet determined how the blaze started, they have not ruled out arson or cooking by vagrants.  The investigation continues.

The May 6 fire destroyed a portion of two-story apartments at the historic site, on Bonanza Road near Martin L. King Boulevard.

The Moulin Rouge was the first racially integrated hotel-casino in Las Vegas.

The blaze forced property owner Olympic Coast Investment to raze the building.

The Seattle-based company took ownership of the property the day before the fire from the bankrupt Moulin Rouge Properties. Olympic Coast was the senior lien holder for Moulin Rouge Properties.

Olympic Coast President John Hossman wouldn't comment Wednesday on the investigators’ findings. He said the property is still for sale and that several bidders are interested in it.