By Victoria Alexander

Las Vegas: Satan Vacations Here

Join Me at Refugio Altiplano, Old Dirt, Vegas Grand Prix, Hellbound Hitchens, Outing Top Gays, Unhappy Billionaire, and more...

“I lie about the age of my cats." Monique van Vooren, discussing America's obsession with youth.

Refugio Altiplano. I’m going to attend another series of Ayahausca Ceremonies at Refugio Altiplano - The Refugio from July 11-21, 2007. Want to join me? I’m thrilled to be going to Refugio, run by Scott Petersen (pictured), where the prevalent activity is ongoing ayahuasca ceremonies that are held approximately 150 days throughout the year! As you know, I am an advocate of ayahuasca (I had my first ayahuasca ceremony in 2000 in the Amazon) which is considered by many of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon to be the Mother of All Medicines. The medicine provides a powerful visionary journey.

While praying to the spirit of the plants, the Refugio shamans spend hours preparing the ayahuasca with the banisteriopsis caapi vine, chakruna leaves and other ingredients harvested fresh from specific areas of the jungle.

The Ayahuasca Ceremonies normally begin in the evenings and last anywhere from 4 to 6 hours. The shamans bless the smoky tasting liquid and take the first dosage, then pour a predetermined amount for each participant. After participants are blessed, the shamans begin singing, whistling and drumming their plant and animals songs (icaros), inviting the spirits to protect and guide you in your journey. Assistants are always available to assist the guests throughout the ceremony and insure their comfort and safety. (Photos by Gail Imel, who has written a glorious hymn to her stay at Refugio – called “Lung of the Earth” - that can be found on http://www.ballofdirt.com/entries/13663/190245.html).

This Week’s Movie’s Previews. I saw “The Hills Have Eyes 2” (not so bad!), “The Reaping” starring Hillary Swank (horrible), “Grindhouse” starring Kurt Russell (nasty, bloody fun), and “Perfect Stranger” starring Halle Berry and Bruce Willis (Halle’s hit movie).

Regarding “Torture Porn,” considered Hollywood’s newest “cash crop,” Premiere magazine’s (April 2007) Tom Roston wrote an article titled “Shock and Awful.” Roston writes: “Particularly appalling are the movies that promise graphic forms of torture.”

According to this article, “Saw” was made for a little more than $1 million and has grossed more than $100 million worldwide for Lionsgate. Hence, there was “Saw II” ($5 million budget) and “Saw III” ($10 million budget). Both made $150 million globally. Of course, there will be a “Saw IV”. Roston is outraged and doesn’t understand the allure of these films.

Roston says these kinds of films make terror palatable in three primary ways: (1) the films’ authority figures, usually cops, are written to be as immoral as the torturers; (2) the victims do ridiculously stupid things, inviting the audience’s contempt; and (3) the victims themselves are shown to be immoral, and are pursued by sadists who are supposedly punishing them.”

Vegas Grand Prix. This past weekend, racers sped through the streets of Las Vegas at 180 mph! The 2.44-mile race route encompassed sections of Bonneville Avenue, Main Street, Carson Avenue, First Street, Bridger Avenue, Casino Center Boulevard, Fourth Street, Ogden Avenue and Grand Central Parkway encircling the heart of downtown.

On Thursday, I attended the Vegas Grand Prix media lunch The Ice House Lounge, 650 South Main Street, at Bonneville Avenue, Las Vegas. Drivers were introduced and a short question and answer session followed. All the drivers were available for one-on-one interviews.

Champ Car drivers Sebastien Bourdais, the three-time series defending champion; Graham Rahal, son of three-time Champ Car titlist Bobby Rahal; Will Power, 2006 Roshfrand Rookie of the Year; Simon Pagenaud, rookie and 2006 Champ Car Atlantic Series Champion; Paul Tracy, Las Vegas resident and 2003 Champ Car World Series champion; and Alex Tagliani, Las Vegas resident and seven-year Champ Car veteran were at the lunch.

Frankie Muniz, former star of “Malcolm in the Middle,” who enters his rookie season in the Champ Car Atlantic Series sponsored by the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Vegas Grand Prix owners Dale Jensen and Bradley Yonover and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman attended the luncheon and were available for interviews.

Anderson Cooper Wants A Boyfreind? Out magazine has anointed CNN’s golden boy Anderson Cooper and actress Jodie Foster U.S. top closeted gays. Writer Michael Musto argues in his Out cover story that Cooper and Foster live in a "glass closet," a "complex but popular contraption that allows public figures to avoid the career repercussions of any personal disclosure while living their lives with a certain degree of integrity." Out’s editor Aaron Hicklin said that "if you live in New York City, and if you're gay, it's not too long before you spot Anderson Cooper at certain bars or concerts.”

AIDS activist and playwright Larry Kramer says, "We need all the Anderson Coopers to come out. Besides, he's real cute, and I hear he wants a boyfriend very bad. And he can't get one being in the closet."

Foster’s biography on IMDB.com says: “Has been in a serious relationship with Cydney Bernard since they met in 1993 on the set of the movie Sommersby (1993).”

Old Dirt. The New York Daily News’ Rush & Mollory notes that legendary editor at Conde Nast, Leo Lerman, writing in his journals, Amazon.com: The Grand Surprise: The Journals of Leo Lerman: Books: Leo Lerman,Stephen Pascal dished on all the stars he had access to.

“Marlene Dietrich asked me whether I would ghost her memoirs but I thought it over and decided that she would never really tell what the public wants to know."

“The Grand Surprise” says that Steve McQueen was bisexual (so said Truman Capote), according to Dietrich Greta Garbo was into “jumping men”, and composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky had a famous asset that wasn't musical. Lerman heard through a chain of Russian gossips that Tchaikovsky committed suicide after fatally injuring a young sailor in the heat of passion. Lerman claims Alexander III said at the time, "Such a pity. I have so many sailors, but only one Tchaikovsky."

According to Wikipedia, Tchaikovsky had a truly bizarre personal life. He hid his homosexuality with a very brief, disastrous marriage. Regarding his death, Wikipedia says: “Most biographers of Tchaikovsky's life have considered his death to have been caused by cholera, most probably contracted through drinking contaminated water. In recent decades, however, various theories have been advanced by some sources that his death was a suicide. According to one version of the theory, this represented a sentence imposed by a "court of honor" of Tchaikovsky's fellow-alumni of the St. Petersburg School of Jurisprudence, in censure of the composer's homosexuality.”

Christopher “Hellbound” Hitchens. New York Post’s Page Six ran a preview of Christopher Hitchens new book, "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything." I have a copy of Hitchens vicious attack on Mother Teresa, "Missionary Position." “God Is Not Great” crucifies every religion. Hitchens writes:

"Religion has retarded the development of civilization." He calls Saint Augustine "a self-centered fantasist and an earth-centered ignoramus.

On the Koran: "I simply laugh when I read the Koran, with its endless prohibitions on sex and its corrupt promise of infinite debauchery in the life to come."

On Islam: "A mask for a very deep and probably justifiable insecurity . . . not much more than a rather obvious and ill-arranged set of plagiarisms, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - in its teachings that can even begin to justify such arrogance."

On Gandhi: "A fakir and guru" whose belief in primitive farm-based living meant that "millions of people would have starved to death if his advice had been followed."

On the Dalai Lama: "A hereditary king appointed by heaven itself. How convenient!"

On Moses: "Commandingly authoritarian and bloody-minded" and given to "genocidal incitements."

Okay, but what does Hitchens say about Buddha, Mormons and FLDS?

Unhappy Billionaire Fool. ABC’s 20/20 interviewed Powerball winner Jack Whittaker, who won $314 million, the largest undivided lottery jackpot in history. Jack, who was already a wealthy businessman, opted to take his prize as a one-time payout of $113,386,407.77, after taxes. Right after winning Whittaker said he was going to keep answering his own phone, opening his own front door and turning to God for guidance. Whittaker pledged 10% of his winnings to Christian charities. He also donated $14 million to establish the Jack Whittaker Foundation, a non-profit organization. Jack was generous: He tipped the woman who sold him the winning ticket by buying her a house and a new car.

On ABC’s show, Fat Jack wept, said he was miserable, and wished he’d never won the money. His wife divorced him, his beloved granddaughter died, and he was sued by everybody. He’s broke too. But I have another take on his sad, sad story. Instead of letting his Jack Whittaker Foundation – a standard tax-avoidance strategy for wealthy celebrities, sports stars and lottery winners – handle all the letters and phone calls, Jack wanted to be a God-like benefactor. He obviously loved people begging him for help. Jack also loved going to strip clubs.

Why didn’t Jack move to a private, gated estate in Florida and have some Foundation employee answer his mail? Jack liked walking around town being besieged by everyone as if he was a sheikh in a cowboy hat. (In Islam, zakat, the giving of alms, is the third of the five pillars of Islam. It is obligatory to give away 2.5% of ones savings and business revenue, as well as 5-10% of ones harvest, to the poor.)

A private foundation, such as the Jack Whittaker Foundation, is a privately funded and controlled entity that makes distributions to various charities. A private foundation means that a person could transfer personal property to their private foundation and receive an income tax deduction for the transfers. The foundation must distribute at least 5% of the funds in the foundation every year to a charitable cause. Payment of compensation (or the payment or reimbursement of expenses) can be made to the creator of the foundation, family members or others performing services for the foundation.

I found a March 2000 article in Forbes magazine that reported on the Holyfield Foundation, set up by boxing champion Evander Holyfield to promote spiritual, educational and athletic development among youth. The tax-exempt foundation reported spending $646,000, but only $92,991 reached charity. Some $457,000 went for fundraising expense alone.

Along with personal jets and homes in the islands, Forbes said that charitable foundations were becoming a must-have for more and more celebrities.


If you would like to contact me about this column, or be included on my private distribution list for a weekly reminder, just email me at Masauu@aol.com.

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