OUR BLOGGERS ARE SAYING…
If you're not checking out the local blogs on reviewjournal.com, here's just a sample of what you've been missing:
Now it's President Obama
From Publisher Sherman Frederick:
The important thing today is that Obama separated himself from too many hand-wringing Democrats like Harry (Reid) who seem to despise calling post 9-11 "a war." They see it as a tussle of ideas that started with America bullying itself around the globe and all the Osama bin Laden's of the world are doing is pushing back.
So, it was music to my ears when Obama said plainly and without qualification that "we are at war." That acknowledgement, if it is followed with "we are at war" deeds, might keep Americans on American soil safe and bring peace sooner.
Go to www.lvrj.com/blogs/sherm
Along the MLK Day Parade route ...
From columnist John L. Smith:
Plumber Jimmy Grover is usually working at this time of day, but he could miss seeing his daughter, T'onna, appear in the parade as part of the sparkling group of children from Kermit Booker Elementary School.
He's proud of how far the country has come, but he says, "I really don't think it's a race thing. I really think it's something that people just coming together more. Not looking at this side and that side. It's just like Martin Luther King said, we've just got to come together."
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Perhaps the biggest cheers of the morning came for the Kitty M. Ward Empowerment School's dance troupe and live band. Or maybe it was the Booker Elementary kids, or the Martin Luther King Junior Elementary cheerleaders, or the Rose Warren Empowerment Elementary group, or ... well, you get the idea.
Don't expect me to judge which cute kids are the cutest. Today, they're all medal-winners.
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Employees at A Special Memory Wedding Chapel on Fourth Street say they have several weddings booked for the afternoon. No word yet whether the happy couples are going down the aisle with Dr. King's "Dream" speech in mind.
Louise Dunaway of the chapel says Januarys are generally slow in the hitching business, but this year so far has been an exception. Recession or no recession, business is better than average.
Who knows, maybe people see the tax advantages of marriage, filing jointly.
Go to www.lvrj.com/blogs/smith
On metaphor patrol at the Beauty Bar
Review-Journal music writer Jason Bracelin describes singers from a Sunday night hard rock concert ...
-- Early Man's blond-haired front man Joel Grind "shook his mane like a wet dog trying to dry itself, his coarse bark giving strong, insidious voice to needle-in-the-red rippers like 'Nuke the Cross.' "
-- Headliners 3 Inches of Blood is a bunch of woolly Canadian hair farmers who look like evil lumberjacks. Their front man, Cam Pipes, actually lives up to his ridiculous name with a lung-bursting falsetto shriek that would certainly be what Zeus would sound like if he were a furry Canuck fond of singing about dragons.
They opened with "Deadly Sinners," a song cheesier than a stack of pizzas and just as awesome.
Go to www.lvrj.com/blogs/vegasvoice
The missing blimp
From gaming writer Howard Stutz:
If you haven't spotted the M Resort blimp flying over the Las Vegas Valley recently, there's a reason. The airship is in Southern California for a few weeks.
In preparation for the $1 billion hotel-casino's opening on March 1, M Resort officials have taken the blimp into the San Bernardino and other Inland Empire communities to promote the 390-room property.
It took a few days to get the blimp to Southern California, normally a nine-hour flight. High winds caused a three-day layover in Barstow. It should return to Las Vegas in time for the opening.
Go to www.lvrj.com/blogs/stutz
Your guide to all things Rebel football
From sports writer Mark Anderson:
-- Irshad Stolden, a first-team all-division wide receiver from Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) High School, committed to UNLV's football team. Stolden (5 feet 10 inches, 165 pounds) caught 47 passes for 902 yards and seven touchdowns last season. The track sprinter, who has been timed at 21.7 seconds in 200 meters, averaged 19.2 yards per reception.
-- UNLV football coach Mike Sanford's finest recruiting class faced taking a big hit over the weekend. Baltimore linebacker Horace Miller, listed as a two-star prospect by Scout.com and Rivals.com, was scheduled to visit Louisville. Scout downgraded his commitment to a "soft verbal." Previous questions arose about how solid Miller's commitment was to the Rebels.
