‘The Donald’ has history of well-timed zingers
Donald Trump's retaliatory DNA has been on full display in recent weeks.
Zing "The Donald" and be prepared to duck.
It's nothing new. Almost five years ago, on the eve of the opening of the $8.5 billion CityCenter, Trump took aim.
In an interview with CNN's Larry King, Trump called the ambitious project "an absolute catastrophe."
The criticism seemed to come out of the blue, an unwarranted cheap shot.
But with Trump, where there's rancor, there's usually reprisal.
This was.
Turns out, Jim Murren, chairman of what was then called MGM Mirage, had provoked Trump in an article in L.A. Weekly.
Comparing his 67-acre, multitower CityCenter project to other newly completed Las Vegas towers, Murren said the Panorama Towers "are not Fifth Avenue. And Trump (International) certainly is not Fifth Avenue."
The interview by Las Vegas writer Steve Friess had been published a month earlier.
Trump waited for the right moment and lashed back with his "catastrophe" prediction.
Asked for comment, Alan Feldman, senior vice president of public affairs for MGM Mirage, offered an 11-word reply.
"I can hardly imagine anyone's opinion that matters less than his," Feldman said.
Trump came back with another prediction. He emailed me a copy of my column that quoted Feldman and circled the quote.
He added a handwritten comment on the copy of the column: "The CityCenter is architecturally unappealing — it will be the biggest bust in the history of real estate — good concept but badly designed and really badly executed."
Sound familiar?
FINDING HIS FOCUS
I go back a long way with this Jeff Scheid, the longtime R-J photographer you've been reading about this week.
He's my half-brother, but we dropped the half a long time ago. Nothing half about it. Same mother, same hometown, same family.
I'm proud, not just about where he came from, but how far he's come.
When he was a year out of high school, he got a job in the eastern Montana oil fields. Made good money for a small-town kid.
One day Jeff surprised his little brother Joey, 17, with a pair of fancy new basketball shoes. Joey's basketball career was taking off. Jeff wanted to add a brotherly assist.
Days later, Joey died in a car accident during Fourth of July weekend.
Our family was devastated.
Jeff returned to the oil rigs, often partying too much, he later told me, to dull the grief.
One day, after lengthy soul-searching, he decided he needed a new focus in his life. A purpose.
He bought a ton of photography equipment. He had never brought up photography around the dinner table. His old-school dad, dealing with his own deep grief, questioned the move.
Jeff hoped it would be a way out of the oil fields, a fresh start. A creative challenge. Something to push past the pain.
He worked at small Montana newspapers for a while and freelanced in San Diego, where I was working for The Associated Press.
On his way back to Montana a few months later, he stopped in Las Vegas. A job interview was set up at the R-J. He got a foot-in-the-door job shooting photos for the promotions department.
That was 34 years ago. He worked his way up, eventually winning multiple state photographer of the year awards.
So if you get a chance, check out his Fallini ranch photo gallery over the next year in the Nevada State Museum in Carson City.
It's titled: "Ranching in the High Desert: Five Generations, One Family."
It's about some incredibly tough people who never quit and photographed by a guy who bought a camera that changed his life.
THE SCENE AND HEARD
The pitbull is back: "Bobby Slayton & Friends" return to the South Point this weekend, Friday through Sunday. Joining him: Lenny Clarke from "Rescue Me" and Jim Florentine, a smash in the final episode of FX's "Louie."
SIGHTINGS
Supermodel Chrissy Teigen, celebrating her sister's birthday with their mother and friends at Andiron Steak & Sea on Friday in Downtown Summerlin. ... Retired NBA stars David Robinson and Steve Smith, dining at La Cave Wine & Food Hideaway (Wynn) on Thursday night. ... Music-producing legend Clive Davis, taking in Rod Stewart's show Wednesday night at The Colosseum (Caesars Palace). ... Chef Gordon Ramsay, with his family at "Mystere" (TI) on Tuesday.
THE PUNCH LINE
"Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams are the highest paid female athletes in the world. After hearing this, Ronda Rousey beat them up and took their money." — Conan O'Brien
— Norm Clarke's column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 702-383-0244 or email him at norm@reviewjournal.com. Find more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow Norm on Twitter:@Norm_Clarke
