The Real Reno

[Jim_Scripps]

Like half the members on Reno Baby!, I work in marketing and we are talking at work about a project that taps into the "real Reno" - you know, the Reno that is so hard to describe to people ... how we reside somewhere in the cultural space between San Francisco, Boulder and Tuscaloosa.
We want to chronicle the attributes of our city that make us who we are, and the people who make those attributes what they are. I'm not talking Artown and Hot August Nights -- not the polished stuff. I'm talking the Awful Awful, the 50 tattoo parlors in a three-block radius dowtown, and the Mad Max Skater guy who harasses motorists on Moana and Virginia.
Who/what would you nominate?

[Elisa Maser]

Totally agree w/ mehwolfy - wherever you go, you always know someone. I was in fifth grade with this crazy bike dude - Jimmy. Don't remember his last name, but sure remember how much he got picked on at school. At least he channels his energy into his bike (& his helmet must receive space signals, don't ya think?)

[sorg]

Nada Motel.

Art in motel rooms, Last weekend of June, Hotel El Cortez, Town House Motorlodge, 2nd & Arlington, 50 artists display their work in semi-sleazy motel rooms, drink a beer with ya' too probably.
go here, sign up, and say "hey what the hell is Nada Motel?" http://www.artreview.com/group/nadamotel

[Elisa Maser]

Is this the next generation of Dada Motel?

[sorg]

YES, it's a festival of artists, do-it-yourself style. Ill be brief, but here's the event's basic information:

30 rooms filled with artists so far (total of only 17 last year). Some rooms have multiple artists. Also entertainment all 4 days downstairs in the Trocadero Lounge a.k.a. "Cock Fight Lounge" which is fully arranged by Tova Ramos, who's full of energy and smart as a whip. No animals in attendance though, and I think between bands and stuff there's a martial arts/dance group and MAYBE heavily–padded fighters. I don't know if that part will end up flying.

We'll have a neon parking lot exhibition at the TownHouse and fire-spinners, hoopers, maybe aerialists, and I hope to get the Burlesque crew in the Cock Fight room. It's all free to the public.

Each artist pays for her own room and promotes it herself. We are DIY, trying to boost artists' grasp of 'self promotion'. I ran a gallery, BleuLion until '05 and got to see what my people (artists) tend to do, which is hold their paintings in one hand and grasp anything anyone will give them in the other. "I'm an artist, help me"
–Art Is Not a Charity is my new mantra and I want artists to empower themselves–quit waiting for grants and jurors to tell you what to do. That's why we're not an organization, we're trying to not do it for them. In fact the tight group of us call ourselves the '(dis)organizners' and I'm referring to myself as NadaSpokesperson#5. Why 5? No idea.

It's June 26th–29th, Hotel El Cortez, Town House Motorlodge, 2nd & Arlington, period.

[sterlingdoak]

Reno is simple - you can, for the most part, get/do anything you want, any time of day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and it won't take you more than 45 minutes to get there. Now that is BAD ASS. Oh, and did you know Dave Coverdale lives in Incline??? Chew on that for a minute.

[Wolfy]

I like how you can't go anywhere or do anything without finding someone you know. Got yelled @ by Sterling from a balcony of the Park Tower as I was parking my bike, went up and found D.Bob and Steve white too!

Then there's the second tier weirdos you see around, like the waiving guy and madmax the skater. etc. etc. and the guy I call Chesty McCougarhunter, down @ the river in bluejeans, no shirt, long flowing hair on a mountain bike riding around trying to get cougars to check him out.

In SanFransisco you see wierdos, but there are so many it's overload.

-M

[Ellen]

Not exactly a positive, but smoking. And drinking at retro dive bars. Kind of a last bastion of ca 1960s lounge lifestyle...you can still go to places like the El Cortez Lounge where Frank Sinatra played in the 40s, and the decor hasn't changed much; up until recently, you could still see people smoking cigarettes in grocery stores, laundromats and all kinds of places that would be horrifying in California etc. I think this has a certain kind of appeal, there are certain celebrities that make regular trips here to enjoy the relaxed, retro/hedonist vibe and kind of slum it for the weekend. California's smoking section ;).

[Jackie Shelton]

Today is a perfect example of what is wonderful about living in Northern Nevada. You can not beat our weather. We get four (fairly) distinct seasons, and the weather is never too extreme. It might hit the 100s in the summer, but never for more than a few days in a row. It'll snow, but usually (usually) not enough that you have to shovel to get your car out of the driveway. And our spring and autumn days are magical!

[elainevdw]

Don't forget hitting up the casino cafes (like Tivolis) at 3 a.m. then finding an arcade. :) Or the high probability that you'll meet someone who does extreme endurance sports, like Boston, the Western States 100, bike tours around Tahoe, hiking the Rim Trail -- and/or who has been a Burning Man regular for 10+ years.

Good stuff.

[Elisa Maser]

People ... Mills Lane is all Reno - a real hangin' judge and honest-to-goodness boxing ref. Jeff Johnson - or Neon Fish Guy, as I call him - he's done 90% of the art neon in town and just always seems to be in the coolest places. Howard Rosenberg - not a native, by any means, but certainly influenced by the this Nevada soil. Maya Miller - who represented the best of Nevada's spirit. Moya Lear. The families that own Louis Basque corner, Santa Fe and Coney Island. Bill Chrystal - pastor & chautauqua star. Dolora Zajick - the world's reigning mezzo-soprano (she is rarely here - but this is definitely her home). Mark Curtis (would someone give this man a zoo to run?). Karen Craig - totally the brains behind Artown ... and the downtown farmer's market. Dianna Sion Callendar - for the darker side of the Reno art scene.

[Brent Busboom]

I would also add Bruka. Though local theater doesn't make Reno unique, I think there IS something unique about Bruka. There's also the Spider Bug that you can see from the Wells overpass. The Fleischmann Atmospherium Planetarium, which was the first atmospherium of its kind in the world.

Though he recently retired (but maybe he'll be back, now that his one year non-compete clause is almost up), you could add Tad Dunbar, simply for the fact that he looks unlike any other tanned, blow dried, teeth whitened news anchor you'd find in a different market. Oh, and our governor could probably kick the ass of any other governor in a speed texting contest.

Ninety-nine cent breakfasts at the Cal-Neva, which leads right into the endless number of casino buffets (including the derisively titled "all you can keep down for $5.99" Circus Circus buffet). The motels (there seems to be a huge concentration of mom and pop hotels in Reno). The Halfway Club and The Elbow Room.

A guy named JP Willis ("The Yardist"), a scourge to just about every municipal code imaginable. His house on 1750 C St. in Sparks has to be seen to be believed. Visit http://www.myspace.com/yardist for a clearer picture. Also former Reno resident Donald Rilea. Go to http://www.myspace.com/donaldrilea and look at the photos of action figures he's taken--they are often bizarre and sometimes disturbing.

On a sad note, despite Reno having many more options culturally than it did 20 years ago, our selection of movies is actually worse. Ever since the Keystone closed at its second home in the Reno Hilton, there hasn't been a theatre that has truly championed independent films (I know, the museum is trying, but the films only show a couple times each week).

[Jackie Shelton]

Tad Dunbar is back on the air (KRNV) in August. You knew we'd see him again!