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When the heat drives you a little crazy, sometimes the only sane reaction is to just go with it. Take that 3 p.m. walk to the office-park deli, leaving the shades on your desk; hit the walking trails till noon on Sunday, then take the kid out for some extra batting practice. Vegas in the summer is a reality show waiting to be made: Deadliest Vinyl Car Seat. We may not have the gritty-joyous open-the-hydrants street scenes of a Brooklyn midsummer, but there are badges of honor to be won out there in the cicada-buzz of our deserted August streets. This week, Matt Jacob wonders why our lily-livered kids insist on staying indoors, Geoff Carter earns his summer stripes by living without wheels, and Kerry Candaele explains his peculiar but oddly convincing preference for roasting at a Vegas pool over chilling at the California beach. It’s all part of our annual Dog Days issue, complete with fiction, fashion and an old-fashioned tale of man’s best friend.
Seven Questions
Seth Casteel
The photographer on stumbling upon his signature style, handling overnight success and pressing on when shit happens
August 9th, 2012
You may not recognize the name, but you probably recognize the work: captivating photographs of dogs frolicking underwater (see the front cover of this magazine). What you almost certainly don’t know is the backstory. Prior to this past winter, Seth Casteel was, essentially, just another starving artist. In 2009, the Southern California resident and film-school graduate quit his day job in creative advertising with Walt Disney Studios to pursue his dream—photographing pets both on land and underwater—full time. Read more »
Dog Days of Summer
I’m Walking Here!
An overheated pedestrian’s guide to staying alive
August 9th, 2012
On its face, it seems simple. Drivers, please don’t hit pedestrians. And pedestrians, please don’t jump in front of moving cars. If we could reduce every struggle to these basic terms, wars might be averted and that Hunger Games movie would have been, like, six minutes long and ended with an ice cream social. Read more »
Dog Days of Summer
Newsprint and Juice
Our resident Vegas native remembers the summer jobs of old
August 9th, 2012
When I was growing up here in the 1970s, I used to flip the handlebars up on my 10-speed road bike, drape a canvas sack over them, pedal my bike across what were then just four lanes of Rancho Drive traffic, and faithfully shuttle about 60 copies of the Las Vegas Review-Journal to six cul-de-sacs just north of Rancho Bel Air. Read more »
Dog Days of Summer
Wilshire and Citrus
A man, his dog and a great depression
August 9th, 2012
On a scorching Sunday in late June, my son and I finished a baseball workout, stopped at Thrifty Ice Cream on Pecos Road, bought a chocolate milk shake and took it to my 100-year-old grandmother, Lillian Lorand Dubin. She peppered us with questions about our changing little world—a new baseball team, a new home, a new dog. Most of all, she wanted to know about the dog. Then she repaid us with a dog story of her own. Read more »
Dog Days of Summer: Fiction
Summer Games
August 9th, 2012
At the community pool of the Inverness subdivision in the desert town of Zantrum, a little basketball hoop with a beige backboard was bolted to the cool deck. This was at the three-and-a-half-foot mark of the amoeba-shaped basin, the place where parents take their pre-swimming children to teach them what it feels like to be cold and wet in public. Read more »
Dog Days of Summer
Melting Away?
August 9th, 2012
One look at Craigslist’s plentiful offering of ice cream trucks tells you something’s up. They range from a 1958 Good Humor truck to a 2004 converted handi-van, some with mouth-watering images of ice cream on the side and others with oddly spaced, hand-painted words: Children Crossing. Read more »
Dog Days of Summer
Who Needs the Coast? I’m Headed for Vegas!
A California beach boy’s path to poolside enlightenment
August 9th, 2012
I grew up in a small town on California’s central coast, five miles from a beach called Surf. Many an unsuspecting tourist, lacking adequate skills in cartography and without a second sense for the absurdly ironic, eyed the AAA map while driving down from Big Sur, detoured off Highway 101, and ended up on this freezing patch of coastal earth. Read more »
Dog Days of Summer
Summer Shame: A Glossary for Men
August 9th, 2012
Pocket sag: The excessive pull on one’s cargo shorts caused by an Android phone. Hane: The elastic band of one’s briefs, visible due to pocket sag. Duffelupagus: Individual with lousy car A/C. Arrives at business meeting soaked and sheepish with knapsack in tow, slinks into restroom to change. Read more »
Dog Days of Summer
Simon Rust Lamb
Chief operating officer for Insomniac Events, age 38.
August 9th, 2012
Describing his style as “private-school uniform with punk-rock details,” Lamb says part of his job is being a chameleon. Working for Insomniac, he drifts between the music and corporate worlds having to present himself appropriately whether he’s meeting with creatives or the mayor. Unexpected details and small surprises (think black buttons on a shirt) are ways that Lamb lets himself stand apart while still suiting up. Read more »
Dog Days of Summer
Farid Matraki
Vice president and general manager of Crystals at CityCenter, age 45.
August 9th, 2012
A retail powerhouse whose domain is the high-end enclave Crystals, Matraki has made fashion his business for more than 20 years. Walking past stores such as Bottega Veneta, Gucci and Brunello Cucinelli daily means he has the very best of style right at his fingertips. Dressing the part of a high-end exec is just another day in the life. Read more »
Dog Days of Summer
Isaiah Orlen
Director of sponsorship for the Venetian and the Palazzo, age 33.
August 9th, 2012
Orlen’s style is much like his roots—firmly planted in a New York City and Miami aesthetic. Accustomed to warm summer weather, he’s a pro at mixing lighter colors and fabrics into looks, which he calls “street couture.” Willing to take risks when dressing, Orlen says you should never say never when it comes to fashion. “Style and fashion change daily, and they reflect your personality.” Read more »
Dog Days of Summer
Joe Pickens
Marketing and events assistant for Bagatelle Las Vegas, age 29.
August 9th, 2012
This is the first desert summer for Pickens, a Philadelphia native, who lived in Missouri before coming west in January. The newbie says time spent working as a model gives him the confidence to take risks with his style, and he finds inspiration in the oddest of places. “I was eating sushi and the color pattern of the fish struck me, so I thought if it works on sushi it can work on clothes.” Read more »
Dog Days of Summer
Boiling Point
Don’t sweat the temperature. Five of Las Vegas’ sartorial studs show how to dress for sizzling weather.
August 9th, 2012
Dog Days of Summer
Jared Garcia
Artist relations for XS and Tryst nightclubs at Wynn Las Vegas, age 30.
August 9th, 2012
Since his job in nightlife allows him the freedom to dress beyond the traditional suit, Garcia takes every opportunity possible to express his upscale casual style. Working in artist relations makes him the No. 1 go-to guy for Wynn Las Vegas’ roster of DJs, including Diplo and Afrojack. “I need to stay current and on top of trends, I don’t want an artist to come in and say, ‘Who is this guy and why is he taking care of me?’” Read more »
Pets
For Dogs, a Ruff Summer
August 9th, 2012
As difficult as summer is for Las Vegans with seasonal allergies, the pollen blowing about the Valley can make man’s best friend downright miserable. These environmental allergies are not new, but workers at several veterinary hospitals say they are seeing an increase in allergy cases—though it’s not clear why. “I feel like every year I’m telling people, ‘Allergies are really bad this year,’” says Christiano Fontes, a veterinarian with Sunridge Animal Hospital in Henderson. Read more »
The Week
Where Have All the Kids Gone?
August 9th, 2012
From mid-June to early September, the daily routine was pretty much the same: Wake up, eat breakfast, get dressed, receive a swift kick in the ass out the door. Not that we always needed said kick. It was summertime, our time. After nine months of being cooped up in a classroom—the lone release during a six-hour day being a 20-minute kickball game at recess—we couldn’t wait for summer, for the chance to rediscover the great outdoors. There were bikes to ride, cans to kick, all-time quarterbacks to select, tennis and Wiffle balls to knock into the grumpy old neighbor’s backyard. Read more »
