Jerry Garcia

The late Grateful Dead leader Jerry Garcia would have been 67 this Saturday, Aug. 1. In honor of the music icon’s birthday, there are two special celebrations going on in the Atlantic City area this weekend. And one, which starts tonight, is free!

Beginning at 7pm on Saturday, Aug. 1, at McCullough’s Emerald Links in EHT, the Tony Mart’s Rock ‘N’ Roots Jamfest will include headlining act (and long-time Grateful Dead vocalist) Donna Jean Godchaux and her band doing Dead tunes and more.

The Ryders

Also on the bill is The Ryders, a group that plays original music typically, but for this occasion will perform a tribute to Bob Dylan and the Band — and the Dead.

For the most part, the Ryders will play Dylan tunes that the Dead or Jerry covered at some point.

Meanwhile, beginning tonight (July 31) and running through Saturday, Aug. 1, with a late viewing from 9pm-midnight, Resorts in Atlantic City will host the exhibit “Jerry Garcia: A Visual Journey.” On display will be  Jerry Garcia’s artwork, featuring “one of the largest collections of original drawings, watercolors, etchings, hand-signed lithographs, and early print proofs never publicly displayed before.”

Also on display at this free, nationally touring exhibition will be several of Garcia’s personal items, including a black T-shirt he wore onstage, his used guitar pick, his Fender-made attaché’ case, his business cards & more.

“Everything on display will be for sale,” says Resorts spokesperson Brian Cahill.

Garcia died in 1995 and a large collection of his artwork was purchased by Image Makers Art Inc.

Here are the dates and times for the exhibit. which will be held next to Boogie Nights at Resorts.

Friday, July 31: 6pm-midnight (open to the public)
Saturday, Aug. 1; 3–6pm & 9pm-midnight (open to the public)
Saturday, Aug. 1; 6-9pm (private showing – by invitation only)

For more information, call 610-999-5880 or visit imagemakersart.com

Dear Cliff Lee,

Hello and welcome to the Phillies. It was so exciting to see you chatting with Jamie Moyer in the Phillies dugout last night in San Francisco.
Good luck tonight. Please don’t get worried about the Phillies lack of offense and sloppy play last night. They really are a lot better than that. I guess they were too excited about getting a Cy Young Award-winning pitcher for the stretch drive.
This is something new for the players and devoted fans like myself. We are used to seeing our arch-rivals— you now officially hate the Mets and the Atlanta Braves by the way — get the big name pitcher or position player for the push to the playoffs.
Some of us devoted Phillies fans are still in a haze with a silly grin on our faces thanks to our cagey GM Ruben Amaro picking you up and right-handed bat Ben Francisco without having to give up J.A. Happ, Kyle Drabek, or Michael Taylor. Boy, no wonder those Cleveland Indians stink.
Thanks for coming to town. I look forward to seeing you mow down the Mets and make those stinkin’ Braves fans choke on their tomahawk chop.

Yours truly,
Lori Hoffman
Devoted Phillies fan since 1964

P.S.: After you pitch a gem tonight and are the star of the game and are being interviewed for TV, be on the lookout for Shane Victorino. He will be looking to smack you with a shaving cream pie. It is a rite of passage as a new Phillie.

We get props for dissing a Baltimore paper’s error-filled piece on Atlantic City.

New Phil-Lee

Instead of Toronto Blue Jay Roy Halladay, the Philadelphia Phillies have made a deal with the Cleveland Indians for 2008 AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee. According to MLB.com, “the Phillies and Indians have reached an agreement that would send Lee, a left-hander, and outfielder Ben Francisco to the Phillies for prospects Jason Knapp, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald and Lou Marson.” Look out.

According to online reports, among them an article on the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (IMEGA) Web site, New Jersey and Delaware are taking steps to implement sports betting in an effort to defray mounting state debt due to the weakened economy.
New Jersey is seeking to overturn the Amateur Sports Protection Act (ASPA) of 1992, which prohibits sports betting in all states except the four that already allowed it and were “grandfathered” in — Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon. Of those four, only Nevada continued to implement sports betting after the federal ban was passed, and remains the only state to legally allow sports betting.
Now Delaware hopes to remove a self-imposed ban and revive sports wagering in its casinos this fall. New Jersey — still reeling from increased gaming competition from neighboring states, in-state slot parlors and a partial casino smoking ban — seeks to overturn the law and allow regulated sports wagering in its casinos, and online to state residents. It was estimated that New Jersey could raise over $100 million per year in taxes by regulating sports gaming. Proponents of overturning the law estimate that unregulated sports betting already exists in N.J. and in other states and always has, to the tune of about $10 billion per year.
Back in March, a group representing the N.J. gaming and horse-racing industries filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the ASPA, and in June N.J. Gov. Jon Corzine supported the effort, stating in an Associated Press article that “If one state is allowed to legalize betting on sporting events, all states should be allowed the same opportunity.”
The push by New Jersey and Delaware to implement sports betting is not going unchallenged. All four major professional sports leagues — spearheaded by the National Football League — and the NCAA are against it, asserting that doing so may foster game “fixing” or, at very least, cause suspicion and skepticism that contests may have been tampered with, and/or athletes influenced to alter their play in trade for cash. Two U.S. senators — Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona (both Republicans) —wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking him to vigorously oppose the suit challenging the federal law.

Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or my on-going battle to lose weight in our fast food world. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly

With the launch this week of our terrific new Web site, and this being the 35th anniversary of AC Weekly/The Whoot, it got me to thinking about all the amazing changes that have taken place in the newspaper business.
Look, we all know that the newspaper business is evolving daily and that the end of hard copy papers is looming. Those of us journalistic dinosaurs who still get a great deal of pleasure from reading the Sunday paper — in our hands, not on a computer screen — will be sad the day the newspapers die. Maybe it won’t be in my lifetime (I’m 55), but I suspect it will.
And, although I might be an old school dinosaur, that doesn’t mean I’m sitting around moping about it. I used to write stories on a yellow note pad. Eventually I learned to use a typewriter and then an electric typewriter. I was still using the plain typewriter when I wrote movie reviews and sports stories for the Argo, the Stockton College newspaper. I believe I had graduated to an electric model when I slipped my first movie review for Whoot! (The Entertainment Paper for Night Owls), under a garage door in Somers Point in 1975. (more…)

Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa recently announced the launch of its “Nightlife Rewards” program — the first-of-its-kind loyalty program designed for nightlife customers that proves it pays to party at mur.mur, MIXX, Gypsy Bar and B Bar.
By signing up for a My Borgata card, nightlife goers will now earn comp dollars based on their spending at mur.mur, MIXX, Gypsy Bar and B-Bar, which can be used toward rooms, nightlife, dining, spa treatments, entertainment, retail and more at Borgata and The Water Club. Nightlife Rewards customers will also receive exclusive offers, perks and membership benefits via mail and e-mail, including celebrity meet and greets, A-list vacation experiences and priority access to the hottest Borgata events at Borgata.

Borgata Nightlife Rewards will debut with the exclusive Soul & Cash Giveaway, where cardholders will have the opportunity to enter for a chance to win one of three Kia Soul automobiles, cash and other nightlife prizes by visiting one of Borgata’s nightlife venues throughout the summer on the qualification dates. The Kia Soul car giveaways will take place on August 8 and 22, and Sept. 5. For complete details, go here.

(Pictured above: DJ Sky Nellor’s birthday party on June 6 at MIXX.)

We are really excited here at AC Weekly. As of Monday, July 27, AC Weekly has a new Web site. The site has plenty of cool features (like daily poll questions), more extensive listings and a user friendly vibe that will make it easier to find exactly what you need when it comes to info on who’s headlining in town, what are the hot movies, dining options, nightlife action and all the other great content you’ve come to expect from ACW. Since we are still in the process of adding content to the site, it will only get better. This new site will also allow us to post breaking news when it happens. Please drop by, take a look around and tell us what you think.

The AP reports that the new owners of Tropicana, led by billionaire Carl Icahn, is not looking to making any dramatic changes to the Atlantic City casino any time soon. The deal for the purchase of the Trop is set to close by year’s end.

The Roots at Borgata

Hip-hop superstars the Roots kicked off their residency at Borgata on Friday, July 24, to a packed house at Borgata’s Music Box Theater. Hip-hop legend and beatbox master Doug E Fresh was supposed to appear with the band, but didn’t show. At Borgata’s Event Center that same night, R&B singer Maxwell performed to a sold-out crowd, which included “The Queen of Soul” herself, Aretha Franklin. Maxwell dedicated his hit “Pretty Wings” to Franklin after declaring her “a national treasure.”

Questlove as DJ at MIXX

After the Roots’ show, the band kept the music flowing at MIXX where drummer Questlove DJ-ed  into the early morning hours.

The Roots’ residency at Borgata continues on Sept. 4. Tickets can be purcahsed here.