Championship Boxing at the Tropicana, The Twilight Saga, God: The Failed Hypothesis, Movies This Week, Café Rio Mexican Grill, The Ms Nevada Senior America 2008 Pageant, The M Resort, Spa and Casino, Movie Opening This Week: Traitor, and more…

 

Zeferino Entertainment.

 

Thanks to Dave Khansari of ZEntertainment, I was seated in the VIP section of the Championship Boxing matches held August 23rd at the Tropicana Resort & Casino. I had a great time! In association with 944 Magazine and the Tropicana, it was a five fight card night held in the Grand Ballroom. The championship match was for the NABO Super Lightweight Title. Marvin "Much Too Much" Cordova Jr. (19-0-1, 11 KO's, pictured) fought Derrick "Super" Samuels (15-3-1, 4 KO's) for the title.

 

Seated where we were, I had a terrific view of not only the boxing matches, but the fighters’ families and friends. The family members were fascinating, and I learned all the boxing lingo. My favorites? “Pop the top off, baby!” and “Keep your hands up, baby!” Boxing promoter Zeferino Ramirez’s wife and children (2 little girls and a toddler, who kept repeating everything his father shouted) were real pros. The oldest girl kept yelling out smart moves to Marvin Cardova and Zeferino’s wife could easily have been part of Cordova’s ringside team. A fan’s four-year old son kept running around shadow boxing and yelling, “Marvin, left hook!”

 

The ten round fight was exciting but with no knockouts, the judges gave Cordova the Split Decision win. The referee was booed when he stepped into the ring since he had stopped one of the fights on the undercard. The undercard matches were Pacheco vs. Grajeda in the Bantamweight match; Williams vs. Page in the Light Heavyweight division; Daniels vs. Wasswa in the Featherweight bout (the match that Referee Toby Gibson stopped) and Laleye vs. Henderson in the Cruiserweight match. As the first round neared the end (at 2:20), Laleye floored Henderson. Referee Tony Weeks stopped the count and the match was over. Another move the fans were unhappy with.

 

Zeferino Entertainment is fast becoming one of the leading boxing promotion companies in the country, encouraging and nurturing fighters through disciplined hard work and high standards of excellence. Zeferino Entertainment actively recruits and develops fighters and will hopefully be organizing more bouts in Las Vegas. This was my very first boxing night in Las Vegas and I thoroughly enjoyed the change of pace. Tickets were priced at $35 and $75 and were available at the Tropicana Box Office. ZEFERINO ENTERTAINMENT // WELCOME

 

What I’m Reading.

 

The Twilight Saga. Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series is a Harry Potter-like phenomenon. The first movie made from the series, Twilight, opens in November. To get ready, I have the first three books, Twilight, Eclipse, and New Moon. The newest, the fourth and final novel in the series, Breaking Dawn, was just published by Little, Brown Books (for Young Readers). “Younger Readers” is a misnomer, since the Twilight series has captivated a huge adult audience. The first book is a suspenseful and sensual tale introducing us to 17-year-old, Isabella, who moves to a small town in Washington State and meets, and falls for an enigmatic, gorgeous classmate. He’s a vampire.

Since I always read non-fiction books, reading Twilight is a surprise and a treat. It’s wonderfully written in a direct and psychologically-motivated style. How does Stephenie Meyers know so much about brooding teenagers? I’m having a hard time putting it down. And there’s not one footnote in the big book. If the director of the Twilight movie can capture the erotic tension of the book, Harry Potter and his friends are going to be seen as cute pre-sexually aware kids playing with wands.

 

God: The Failed Hypothesis.

 

How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist by Victor J. Stenger (author), Christopher Hitchens (foreword). Physicist Victor J. Stenger contends that, if God exists, some evidence for this existence should be detectable by scientific means, especially considering the central role that God is alleged to play in the operation of the universe and the lives of humans.

 

Stenger clumps the Violent-Vengeful-Jealous God of the Old Testament with the Loving-Forgiving-Father God of the New Testament. For Stenger, this Two-Faced God is a phantom, sometimes meddlesome, sometimes can’t be bothered with the suffering of his creation. He doesn’t answer prayers or cares about sacrifices – human or animal. For Stenger, this God, the Judeo-Christian-Islamic model, certainly doesn’t deserve any adoration. God doesn’t live up to the hype.

 

But can we question God’s motivations? If He didn’t want to help early man and allowed the human race to dwindle down to 2,000 people, maybe He had a good reason. He was culling the herd.

 

Stenger plunges into all sorts of things: Does prayer work? No! He doesn’t even respect my friend Larry Dossey by acknowledging he is an M.D., and his best selling book, Healing Words. (Photo of Dr. Dossey on left, taken at the 2008 SSE annual meeting.)

 

NDE’s? Nonsense! Miracles? No way! PK, ODE’s and psychic phenomena? Ridiculous! For Stenger, the idea that Moses got messages from God is laughable. No prophecy ever came true!

 

Man interprets God, he doesn’t understand Him. Why should God submit to Stenger’s code of logic? A summary by Stenger of his arguments can be found here:   http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/Godless/Summary.htm  

 

Café Rio Mexican Grill opens a third location in Las Vegas at 6575 North Decatur Blvd. I’m going to the Grand Opening Wednesday afternoon, September 3rd. We will enjoy a fabulous complimentary meal and, since I love the Café Rio Mexican Grill at Fort Apache, I am looking forward to it. Grand opening festivities will include a check presentation to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Las Vegas and an official ribbon-cutting.

 

Movie Opening This Week.

 

Traitor. I like Muslim countries and Muslims. I have traveled to many Muslim countries in Africa. I have found that Muslims actually live their religion. There are no Sunday Christians or High Holy Day Jews among them. Of course, I have never met a Muslim terrorist or Fundamentalist Muslim, but the Muslims I have met have all been willing to discuss and talk about any subject with Americans. In Morocco, at a talk given by our Muslim tour director, he encouraged questions. Someone was rude enough to ask about the Prophet Mohammed’s child bride.

 

I spoke up: “I hope I never have to defend the Catholic Church’s centuries of horror called The Inquisition, the popes who had illegitimate children, or the sale of Indulgences to get into Heaven!”

 

“Traitor” is a mature, complicated thriller that may very well be a welcomed change for moviegoers sated with a diet of superheroes and comedies. Writer-director Jeffrey Nachmanoff does a swift, globe-trotting introduction to the complex story of FBI agents Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) and his partner Max Archer (Neal McDonough) on the hunt for an American, Samir Horn (Don Cheadle), captured in Yemen about to sell explosives to terrorists.

 

Samir declines their help to give up his contacts for freedom. While in a Yemen prison with another terrorist, he shows is a devout Muslim. An escape arranged by the terrorist, Omar (Said Taghmaoui), brings Samir in contact with a well-funded terrorist network. Samir has the right credentials to be trusted; he was born in the Sudan, his father was assassinated, and he was trained by the U.S. military as an explosives expert.

 

Soon his handiwork is seen in Spain and France bombings. He’s even spotted on a surveillance camera walking away from the Normandy bombing. A coded message suggests that Omar’s group is preparing a big Thanksgiving attack in the U.S.

 

This is an interesting film in that Samir, and the group he is working with, are all deeply religious. Their convictions are well stated. Yet, as soon as Samir meets up with his secret contact, the story twists and turns in quite a satisfying manner.

 

 

 

My friend Jimmy Muro (credited on “Traitor” as J. Michael Muro) was the Director of Photography on “Traitor”. Photo of Jimmy, second from left standing next to me, in New York in 1987.

 

The Ms Nevada Senior America 2008 Pageant was held August 25, 26 & 27th, 2008 at 1PM at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Sixteen high-achieving women from Nevada took the stage to compete for the 23rd annual Ms Senior Nevada pageant title. The contest was open to women who have reached the age of 60. This is the fourth year the contest has been held at the Suncoast. The winner goes on to represent Nevada in the Ms Senior America pageant Oct. 19 to Oct. 25 at

Harrah’s in Atlantic City, N.J.

 

The pageant was split into four phases — a private interview, a talent portion, an evening gown presentation and the philosophy of life. The private interview was held the day before the pageant in front of a panel of five judges. My dear friend, singer Ann McCormack, was named Ms Senior Nevada America’s “Woman of the Year”! Annie, who has been a professional singer for 68 years (but looks decades younger with a sexy, trim figure to match her sensational, strong voice!) sang on Wednesday and gave a tribute to Ms Senior Nevada America‘s state director Patty Ogren, who passed away last year. Annie entertains at senior citizen centers in Las Vegas. If you hear she will be giving one of her mini-concerts, be sure to snag an invitation. http://www.senioramerica.org/Nevada.htm  (B&W photo of Ann from www.whosdatedwho.com/pictures/V/5/V5B2Y4.jpg)

 

The M Resort, Spa and Casino.

 

We’re getting a new casino opening in March, 2009! Las Vegas is whistling past America’s grave economic forecast. The M Resort, Spa and Casino is located on over 90 acres at the southeast corner of St. Rose Parkway and Las Vegas Boulevard.

 

Situated higher in elevation than other resort-casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, the M Resort will provide optimal views of the world-famous Las Vegas skyline from its guest rooms, suites, conference center and restaurants. The resort features 390 guest rooms and suites, over 92,000 square feet of gaming and more than 60,000 square feet of meeting and conference space in addition to a variety of luxury amenities including up to one million square feet of retail. The resort will also feature a 14-screen digital movie entertainment complex. Entertainment options will provide unique dining offerings and a state-of-the-art spa and fitness center. www.theMresort.com.