The head of the NSW gambling regulator has declared the “soap opera” over, after a report cleared the casino of any wrongdoing in handling sex harassment claims against Mr Vaikunta – whose sacking in February triggered an inquiry by the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA).

The Star “properly and thoroughly” looked into the complaints made by two women who in December accused Mr Vaikunta of harassment, the report by Gail Furness, SC, said.

“Echo and The Star have demonstrated a positive culture which has systems in place for reporting sexual harassment … investigating claims and taking action,” the report said.

However, the casino and its owner Echo Entertainment may still face sanctions over their failure to inform ILGA of the allegations until after Mr Vaikunta was removed, which Ms Furness said may have breached its obligation to the authority.

ILGA chair Chris Sidoti paid tribute to the two women at the centre of the scandal, but said that chapter of the affair was now closed.

“This has played like a soap opera over the past few months, all sex, drugs and rock and roll,” he told reporters in Sydney.

“Well, this particular season of the soap opera is over.”

Mr Sidoti said while he personally found Echo's delay in notifying ILGA about the harassment complaints “difficult”, the authority had yet to decide whether it would take action.

He said the maximum penalty available to the authority was to take away Echo's casino licence and impose a $1 million fine, although maximum penalties were unlikely.

The circumstances surrounding the exit of Mr Vaikunta led to a war between the casino and the state government, with Premier Barry O'Farrell dragged into saga through his former communications director Peter Grimshaw.

Mr Grimshaw and his partner, one of Mr Vaikunta's alleged victims, were accused of mounting a secret campaign against the casino.

He and his partner believed delays in the Star investigation amounted to a cover-up – claims dismissed by Ms Furness.

The report said Star owner Echo had conducted its investigation into Mr Vaikunta “free from external influence”, though it acknowledged Mr Grimshaw's “adverse views” about the casino and Mr Vaikunta.

It cleared Hospitality Minister George Souris and his media adviser Norm Lipson of any wrongdoing, after both were linked to the alleged anti-Star campaign through their friendships with Mr Grimshaw.

Echo chief Larry Mullin said the company was “looking forward to moving on from this” and was confident the casino had not breached its obligations to ILGA.

“We have shown that we do not tolerate sexual harassment or inappropriate behaviour in any form from our staff or our customers, no matter what level of the company or the community,” he said.

Star keen to move on from Vaikunta saga

“We decided to take this radio show that has been so successful and we thought we would bring it to another medium of TV,” said Lee of Wayland, who pens a column for the Herald in addition to his other media gigs.

“The Bernard Lee Poker Show” can be heard on Tuesdays on 1510 AM, and a three-episode run can now be seen Mondays on Comcast SportsNet New England.

In his media takeover, Lee credits his background as an Ivy League scholar and Fortune 500 marketing guru.

“I don’t think my parents sent me to Harvard thinking that this is where I’d end up, and I think that everything that I have done throughout my entire career has led up to this moment,” said Lee, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Harvard and an MBA from Babson College.

“To have my own show is really exciting. You don’t have these types of opportunities very often,” he said.

Card ace joins TV club with Comcast poker show

Bingo. Five letters. An entire world of social, cultural and prize-winning opportunities. The Island Players explore them all during their season-ending comedy “The Queen of Bingo,” a simple, but heart-warming charmer about two sisters, a pile of bingo chips and lots of love.

“The Queen of Bingo” catches Sis (Michelle Langlas) and Babe (Judith Gangi) during bingo night at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. Over the rattle of bingo balls, the patter of a smooth-talking caller and the smell of sweat from the boy’s locker room, the women come to terms with life, love, winning and losing. Jeanne Michels and Phyllis Murphy wrote the show.

While “The Queen of Bingo” isn’t deep or thought-provoking, it does serve up a plentiful helping of laughs. Co-directors Scott Lilly and Kevin Moriarty take the slim script and embellish it as much as they can. Gangi’s comedic skills, honed during the past few years at Naples City Improv, also help lift the show immeasurably.

Gangi and Langlas share some wonderful chemistry on stage. The directors work with that, allowing the actresses to banter at a brisk pace, bicker like sisters or get into the fury of a bingo game. For all that the show features just two women talking, “Bingo” zooms by on a light cloud of giggles.

The show come steeped in the culture of bingo halls, Big Diamonds, daubers and Cover-Alls. Bingo (and its superstitions) remains enough a part of our shared culture that audiences can laugh as Langlas unpacks a huge bag filled with bingo supplies, good luck tokens and a coffee thermos – then giggle again as Gangi arrives with a 7-Eleven mug the size of Connecticut, troll dolls and a prayer candle she lights over her cards.

While the light-hearted show focuses mainly on silliness (characters in the bingo hall, an escaped mouse, Babe’s attempts to evade love-happy Coach Anderson), it does (briefly) veer into the serious. Widower Sis struggles with loneliness, while Babe fights the battle of the bulge. Surprise, surprise – bingo turns out to be the answer to both their prayers.

The script never does treat any topic with real dignity though, and some of the jokes skirt the line of insensitivity. It is a credit to the actresses and directors that most of the material – especially Babe’s long speech about her weight – manage to be funny.

Gangi dives into the hyper-active, hyper-sensitive Babe with glee, waving troll dolls over her cards for good luck, screaming at the caller and being the picture of every loud, obnoxious bingo maven you’ve ever encountered. Her improv gifts allow her to know exactly when to pump up a scene with a yell, a scream or an exaggerated reaction or simply toss a used-up dauber into the trashcan for “two points!”

Newcomer Langlas gives prim, proper life to the more orderly Sis. Every photo and charm is in position, every thread on the powder-blue pantsuit in place and every hair in the neat gray bob hair-sprayed to within an inch of its life. Her long monologue, about finally being a winner, serves as the real heart of the play – as Sis discovers herself and what matters. Langlas plays the moments of self-discovery beautifully.

“Queen of Bingo” comes complete with a segment that allows the audience to play a game of bingo for prizes. Lilly and Moriarty rightly enhance this segment – playing it for major laughs. They wrote additional comedy bits for the previously unseen character of “Flo McPheeny,” now played in turn by Angella Anderson and Rachel Gallentine and beefed up Ray Kane’s Father Francis. The pair bring lively sass to the moment – especially when Kane offers up a silent prayer for forgiveness after glancing at Flo’s rather perky … assets.

The audience went absolutely bananas for this segment. After intermission, which includes a trip to an authentic concession stand (the BeachDogs mobile hot dog cart), the crowd plays bingo for a special prize – one I’m sworn not to reveal. Some bingo fanatics bought extra cards (one comes free in the program) and a couple regulars even had daubers!

The air was electric as bingo queens with six or eight cards screamed “SLOW DOWN” at the caller (a velvet-voiced Jeff Manning) as they tried to keep up. A first bingo brought groans – then cheers as it was revealed as a “bongo,” the patron being mistaken. Tension built, with audience members calling out “I need O-68″ or waving their cards excitedly in the air. Finally … “BINGO!”

This one’s a winner. “The Queen of Bingo” delights as two quirky sisters share confidences over bingo cards and a mountain of chips. Judith Gangi brings a barrel full of laughs to her crazy Babe, while Langlas gives quiet grace to Sis. Buy extra cards for the post-intermission game – and be sure to wink at the lovely Flo!

B-I-N-G-O! B-I-N-G-O! And Bingo was his name-o! Email me, , find me on Twitter at @napleschris or read my Stage Door theater blog. You can also sign up to receive the Stage Door blog via email.

Full Disclosure: The BeachDogs mobile hot dog cart is operated by Chris Quinton; Quinton is the son of Mary Quinton, an staff member of the Naples Daily News. The Marco Eagle, one of the community publications of the Naples Daily News, is also a community supporter of the Island Players.

© 2012 gonaples.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Review: Island Players score a winner with delightful ‘Queen of Bingo’

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Horseshoe Casino Cleveland’s first weekend of operation will put inexperienced dealers’ skills — and hardcore card players’ patience — to the test.

Horseshoe owner Dan Gilbert and General Manager Marcus Glover have asked that patrons flocking to the casino go easy on 600 dealers who are largely local and new to the trade. Glover says accuracy is the first priority and speed will come in time.

But not necessarily Friday, when crowds that have been heavy since the casino opened Monday evening are a good bet to grow even larger. The Horseshoe is likely to get spillover from an Indians inter-league game against the Miami Marlins and a post-game fireworks display.

Dealers handling poker, blackjack and other games appeared competent, and in many cases comfortable, as gamblers hunkered around the tables late Thursday morning and early afternoon. But rough edges plainly showed.

Some dealers shuffled cards and slid chips in a deliberate and cautious manner. A man dealing blackjack knocked over a stack of eight decks he was preparing to put in a shuffling machine, and he had to collect cards that spilled across the table.

A female blackjack dealer failed to return a man’s chips after a push, or tie, and called over her shoulder for a “coach” when the gambler politely protested. The coach confirmed the error, and the game resumed.

“I’m sorry,” the dealer assured the gambler. “It won’t happen again.”

Lee Shepherd of Cleveland played blackjack for about eight hours Friday, watching as dealers double-checked procedure with pit bosses. He went with the flow but said he won’t be as forgiving if the flaws persist a month from now.

“I’d get up and go,” said Shepherd, 57. “Like with anything, after a routine, you should be accustomed to it by a certain period of time.”

Another blackjack player, Steve Gatins of Copley Township, noticed dealers double- and triple-counting chips. Gatins, 30, was unruffled, saying he believes they will pick up the pace within a few weeks.

Tim Walter, 28, acknowledged that he occasionally grew frustrated with plodding play. Knowing that the casino brought 1,600 jobs to Cleveland made delays tolerable.

“I’m happy to give them that time,” the Eastlake man said. “It takes time to learn.”

The Horseshoe’s dealers received several months of training from Caesars Entertainment, which manages the casino and owns a minority stake in the business.

But the pressure multiplies exponentially when music is blaring, serious gamblers are waiting for cards and big money is at stake. Throw in a losing streak or a long, hot wait outside in the Horseshoe’s lines, and players could get testy.

A dealer’s first taste of live action can cause shell shock, said Jill Vangen, owner of the Ohio School of Casino Dealers in Warrensville Heights.

“It puts a whole new spin on the game,” Vangen said. “People just have to realize it’s going to take a while for everybody.”

Follow Thomas Ott on Twitter @thomasott1.

Horseshoe Casino Cleveland dealers face first weekend test

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) introduced a bill Tuesday to make green cards, or permanent residency, available to students who earn an advance degree, master’s or Ph.D. from a research university, meaning a university that has received a federal funding for research.

To accomplish this, Cornyn’s bill eliminates the so-called diversity lottery, which today makes 55,000 green cards available via a lottery, and makes those visas available instead to STEM grads.

The legislation, called the Securing the Talent America Requires for the 21st Century Act of 2012, or STAR Act, doesn’t appear to increase the overall number of green cards allocated annually.

Cornyn, as the ranking member of the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security, is in a position to get attention for his bill. But efforts to increase green cards from both parties have been stymied by broader immigration issues.

Lawmakers who favor bills such as the Dream Act have long worried that if tech gets what it wants it could peel away political support for more comprehensive reform efforts.

The Dream Act would provide a path to green cards to children of undocumented immigrants, who, in many cases, have been raised and educated in the U.S.

Cornyn’s effort has the support of the IEEE-USA, which has backed other efforts to make green cards for available for STEM workers.

“We want skilled foreign workers who want to remain in the U.S. to basically stay and contribute to our economic growth and our job creation,” said Keith Grzelak, vice president of government relations and volunteer for the IEEE, and also an engineer and attorney. “It always seemed crazy to me that we trained these people here and then they have to leave.”

There is bipartisan support in the House for similar types of green card legislation focused on STEM grads, but one sponsor of a bill, U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), recently said the a “toxic environment” in Congress was preventing people from accomplishing “reasonable things.”

Patrick Thibodeau covers cloud computing and enterprise applications, outsourcing, government IT policies, data centers and IT workforce issues for Computerworld. Follow Patrick on Twitter at  @DCgov or subscribe to Patrick’s RSS feed . His e-mail address is .

See more by Patrick Thibodeau on Computerworld.com.

Read more about Gov’t Legislation/Regulation in Computerworld’s Gov’t Legislation/Regulation Topic Center.

Senate bill slots 55,000 tech green cards

But anyone with even a cursory grasp of pitching peripherals could see that Lowe’s 2011 season had all the traditional markings of an outlier. His batting average on balls in play was unusually high at .327. He stranded fewer than 66% of his base runners.  His walks were up a bit from his career rate, sure, but he actually increased his strikeout rate too.  Have a look:

GB%BABiPLOB%K%BB%Career62.6%0.29669.7%15.4%7.0%201159.0%0.32765.9%16.5%8.4%

More than anything, 2011 looked like one of those unfortunate seasons where everything seemed to go wrong: batted balls became hits and base runners became runs more often than normal. That stuff is mostly random—pitchers tend to hover around .300 on batted balls and a 70% strand-rate no matter who they are—and the Indians were right to jump on the bargain when they did.

So for $5 million (the Barves, by the by, are paying Derek Lowe $10 million this season not to pitch for them) and a non-prospect, it seemed more than worth the risk. The Indians had every reason to believe that Derek Lowe would revert to the pitcher he’d been throughout his career.  For reference, here are Lowe’s career numbers as a starter:

ERAWHIPK/9K/BB4.071.3355.62.09

Those are good numbers. Not great numbers, mind, but combine them with veteran leadership, durability, and any other intangibles you want to tack on for good measure and they’re plenty worth a $5 million gamble.

So as I said: I was onboard with this move.  Seemed to make good sense—never too much middle-of-the-road pitching, and whatnot.

But what we’ve seen so far in 2012 has been anything but middle-of-the-road.  After yesterday’s complete game shutout of the Minnesota Twins, Lowe is sitting pretty with a 6-1 record and a 2.05 ERA.  Among qualified AL starters he now ranks first in ERA, first in groundball percentage, first in pitcher wins and twelfth in innings pitched.  He has done all this while sustaining a completely normal BABiP, by the way, of 0.300.

So what gives?  How did a mid-rotation, soon-to-be 39 year old groundballer just become Roy Halladay?  I’ll be honest: I have no idea.

All the normal places I look suggest that this just shouldn’t be happening.  For instance, if Lowe has a completely normal BABiP rate of .300, how is he stranding almost 85% of his base runners (he’s fourth in the league)?  You’d think that if his batted balls drop in for hits at a normal rate, he’s bound to have more of those runners score, no?

Furthermore, his peripherals so far this season are actually much worse than they were last year.  As mentioned above, Lowe struck out 16.5% of the batters he faced in 2011 and has struck out 15.4% for his career.  So far in 2012?  It’s only 5.8% (!), which makes him, BY FAR, the least strikeout-prone pitcher in the AL this season.

I should mention here that I have a piece in the works that would argue that low K-rates are no big deal, as long as your walk-rate goes down accordingly.  You want to maintain between 2 and 3 strikeouts for every walk you issue, no matter if you strikeout 25% of batters or 6%.  After all, Josh Tomlin struck out only 4.84 batters per nine innings pitched last season but still had a brilliant K/BB of 4.24—good for fourth best in the AL—due to his excellent command.

So back to Lowe: who cares if he’s not striking anyone out, as long as he’s not walking anyone either, right?  But he is walking people—a lot of them, in fact.  At least in relation to his strikeouts.  Right now, Lowe’s K/BB ratio is 0.76, meaning that for every strikeout he records, he allows about 1.3 walks.  Remember, you want that K/BB ratio to be above 2.00. Last season the worst AL K/BB rate belonged to Brad Penny at 1.19.  No one else sustained a rate below 1.63.  Right now the Indians have two starters below 1.00—with Ubaldo checking in at an execrable 0.80.  For the record, Derek Lowe’s current K/BB ratio of 0.76 is the worst among MLB starters this year.

So if his peripherals are bad and his luck is average, how is Lowe sustaining this run?  It seems to contradict what we know about the way baseball works.

Well, there are probably a few reasons.

First, his luck isn’t exactly “average” so far this year.  While his BABiP is plenty normal, he’s allowing home runs on only 5.7% of his flyballs, compared to about 12.3% for his career.  We probably shouldn’t expect that to continue: flyballs typically become home runs at a pretty steady rate, and 5.7% is really low.

On top of the home runs, Lowe has already induced 10 ground ball double plays in only 223 plate appearances, which leads the Major Leagues.  For his career, he’s recorded a GIDP once every 36 plate appearances, but this season it’s once every 22.  That’s a huge jump—and probably unsustainable, what with old dogs and new tricks being what they are—that likely contributes significantly to his oddly high strand-rate this season.

Maybe the Luck Fairy is just paying Lowe back for all the trouble heaped on him in his final few months in Atlanta?  After all, for someone who just couldn’t catch a break near the end of last season, it would seem just if there were some cosmic redistribution—recompense for all those seeing-eye singles that drove him out of Atlanta in such infamy.

But that’s not how luck works—at least not in this instance.  Because when we say luck, what we really mean is “random variation”.  And anyone who’s ever sat at a roulette wheel knows that the next spin has nothing to do with the previous five.  Just because the ball landed black five times in a row doesn’t mean it’s any more likely to land red on the next spin.  That’s not how probability works, and when we measure the random statistics like HR/FB and LOB%, the story is the same.  Blips and streaks happen, but that doesn’t mean the roulette ball is weighted, and it doesn’t mean the Derek Lowe is Sandy Koufax.

I know these sorts of pieces are not typically well-received: it comes off as cynical pessimism of the worst sort, when all I’m really trying to do is answer the questions that pop into my mind.  I’m not trying to beat up on Derek Lowe, honest.  As I said above, I loved the trade that brought him here, and I think he’s going to be a valuable piece of our team, both because of his on-field performance and his clubhouse leadership.  I think the trade looked even smarter in retrospect, when Fausto got held up at a Dominican airport, and smarter still on May 16, with Lowe leading the AL in everything that matters.

This was a good trade, and I’m happy we made it.  We’re a better team for rostering Derek Lowe, and even though I’d be pretty surprised if Derek Lowe wins the ERA title this season, the numbers he’s putting up now—perhaps against all odds—still count.

We’re a first place team with a pitcher who’s leading the league in ERA.  While it might not last, that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it.

What’s Going on with Derek Lowe?

John Williamson, 24, and Marvino Mister, 23, both of Peoria, are both on parole. They were arrested in Peoria on Wednesday and Thursday on armed robbery warrants issued Wednesday in Champaign County.

The holdup of the 22-year-old Champaign man occurred about 6 a.m. April 12 in the underground parking garage of an apartment building in the 500 block of South Third Street.

Assistant Champaign County State’s Attorney Lindsey Clark said the man and two friends had just returned to Champaign from East Peoria, where they had been gambling at the Par-A-Dice Casino the night before.

Clark said the victim won $23,000 at the craps table.

“He cashes out and they announce that over the intercom,” she explained. David Strow, a spokesman for the casino, denies that any announcement was made.

A security guard for the casino escorted the trio to their car and they left, stopping briefly at a nearby gas station before heading to Champaign.

Clark said that after parking the car, two of the men got out. The victim, who was driving, reached over to get his cash out of the glove box when he noticed a man coming at him quickly with a gun.

“He throws the money behind his back and sits up against it,” said Clark, noting that he had previously put about $2,300 of his winnings in a money clip that was in his pocket.

“The guy points a silver gun in his face and says ‘Give me the money.’ (The victim) takes out the money clip and hands him the $2,300. The guy says, ‘I know you have more,’ and threatens to shoot him if he doesn’t give him the rest,” Clark said.

About that time, a car pulled in the garage and scared off the robber before he could get any more money.

Clark said the victim’s friends were already outside the car and were not robbed. However, the gunman told one of them to put his hands above his head, she said.

Champaign police combed the area for the robber but were unable to find anyone. 

After hearing where the men had been, Champaign police investigators, with help from casino security and the Illinois State Police, obtained surveillance video from the casino. Clark said it showed one man “blatantly following the victim while he is at the craps table winning.”

From checking the identification that patrons are required to produce when they enter the casino, police learned that man was Williamson. Clark said the detectives further scanned the videotape and found that Williamson met up with Mister, who was also identified from the ID he produced when he came in. 

“The defendants came in the casino separately but were seen briefly meeting and both of them were seen near the craps table,” Clark said.

Clark said the videotape also showed that Mister left the casino before the victim, got a car, and parked near the entrance. The victim and his friends then left and right after they left, Williamson left the casino and got into the car with Mister.

Based on the victim’s tentative identification of Mister, the state obtained arrest warrants for the pair. Department of Corrections records show both men are on parole from the Jacksonville Correctional Center.

Champaign police detective Robb Morris said he wasn’t sure how the men knew each other but knows they spent about four months together last year at a work release center.

Morris said the men’s parole agents also helped them in finding Williamson and Mister.

Clark said Williamson has prior convictions from Peoria County for residential burglary and armed robbery and was paroled last July. Mister, she said, was paroled in January for a 2009 residential burglary conviction from St. Clair County. He also had a 2007 controlled substance conviction as an adult from St. Clair County and another for residential burglary as a juvenile.

Because of his prior convictions, Williamson faces an extended term of between six and 60 years if convicted. Mister, the alleged gunman, would face the normal range of penalties of between six and 30 years in prison.

Judge Richard Klaus set bond on the arrest warrants at $500,000 for each of the men. Both were expected to make court appearances in Champaign County this weekend.

Peoria men held for robbing student of casino winnings

It’s Artomatic time again! This year, the D.C. area’s biggest unjuried arts extravaganza runs for five weeks and fills a gigantic former Department of Defense building in Crystal City, Va.. With 10 floors of work by local artists, it’s all a bit overwhelming. But that’s part of Artomatic’s charm.

“After our last event” — an eight-story affair above the Navy Yard Metro station in 2009 that drew a crowd of 70,000 — “we said we weren’t going to do anything bigger,” says Barry Schmetter, Artomatic’s event director. “Yet, here we are, with an even larger space.”

“I tell people Artomatic is the best free date in Washington,” Schmetter says. Better make that a few dates, unless your sweetheart has an incredible attention span and some really comfortable shoes.

Calling this Artomatic “bigger” than the last doesn’t really do it justice. The new venue has 380,000 square feet of space, and it’s packed with work by 1,300 visual artists exhibiting sculptures, photos, drawings, paintings, mobiles, metalwork, jewelry, comics, collages and more. There are also plenty of live-performance spaces for the 750 folks leading workshops or putting on dance, poetry, burlesque, wine tastings, and lectures — including even a “Burning Man for Beginners” talk. Then there’s still room for the food and drink vendors and an artists’ marketplace selling original works.

Artomatic debuted in 1999 with what seems like a modest showcase today: 350 artists displayed their work in the U Street neighborhood’s Manhattan Laundry building. Since then, the event’s been held intermittently; this year marks the eighth Artomatic.

The entry policy for artists is simple: Anyone can participate, as long as they pay a small fee, attend required orientation sessions and volunteer. Since this year’s location is so large, there was room for everyone who applied to participate; nobody got turned away. Of course, “any time you do something like that, you’re going to have people who are still learning their craft,” Schmetter says diplomatically. Translation: There’s good art, and then there’s … other art.

This egalitarian approach has garnered plenty of detractors in the past. Critics grumble that Artomatic is an amateur show; some compare it to a craft show, or a fine-arts Little League where everybody takes home a prize.

Victoria Reis, co-founder and director of D.C.-based arts non-profit and gallery Transformer, isn’t bothered by the range of talent at Artomatic, but rather by what seems to be disproportionate hoopla and resources devoted to the event. “There are nonprofit art organizations like Transformer and [the District of Columbia Arts Center] and others in the visual art community here in D.C. who are dedicated to having ongoing programs for artists and audiences, who are constantly on the hustle to get support,” Reis says. “It’s great for there to be some sort of opportunity for anyone and everyone who makes art to be able to get together and show their work, but I find it to be a really overwhelming visual experience.”

Cynthia Connolly, the visual arts curator for Arlington arts and community space Artisphere, believes Artomatic might indirectly benefit other arts organizations such as Transformer. Its value lies in its long-term contribution, Connolly says. “I would propose that the D.C. arts scene is a lot stronger than it was 15 years ago, and I would propose that Artomatic had a lot to do with that.”

Philippa Hughes, an art collector and “chief creative contrarian” for the D.C.-based arts group the Pink Line Project (who herself has hosted panel discussions at Artomatic in previous years), sees the event as essential to D.C.’s ongoing evolution as an arts city. “I think to have a rich arts scene, you just need to have as much art as possible in as many venues as possible,” she says. “I love going to galleries and museums, but people don’t just appear there; they have to start somewhere.”

Artomatic has indeed hosted early work by artists who have gone on to critical acclaim with shows in D.C. galleries and around the world, including street artist Kelly Towles, mixed-media artist Elizabeth Morrisette and photographer Frank Day. This year’s group likely holds more up-and-comers; we just have to sift through the Peeps dioramas and sunset photographs to find them.

With 10 floors of fine art and live performances, this year’s Artomatic has something for everyone. Keep an eye out for some recurring themes — and these noteworthy exhibitors — with our handy Artomatic Bingo cards, downloadable here.

Eye of Ra Photography focuses on the nude form and its capacity to take on sculptural shapes. The “Body Language” series features models making letters with their bodies — including one piece that spells out the first few lines of the First Amendment. (10th floor)

Ben Claassen III has made a name for himself as the artist behind the disturbingly hilarious “Dirtfarm” comic in the Washington City Paper, as well as for his illustrations for the Baggage Check and DC Rider columns in the Washington Post Express. (Full disclosure, Claassen is an Express employee.) He’ll be showing a range of work at this year’s Artomatic. (10th floor)

Paul Sikora’s ethereal mobiles are made of materials such as photographic filters, bronze and aluminum welding rods and .007-millimeter-thick piano wire. (9th floor)

Sarah Noble, a planetary geologist, lets her day job inspire her colorful graphic paintings of astronauts, the moon and the solar system. (10th floor)

Matt Sesow’s vibrant canvases are filled with unsettling scenes and anguished figures, some painted in a Cubist style reminiscent of Pablo Picasso’s. (11th floor)

Artomatic, 1851 South Bell St., Arlington; May 18-June 23 (opening reception Fri. 6 p.m.) free; Artomatic.org. (Crystal City)

Artomatic for the People

Chuck Sweeny: Casino chances; F-22 problems; memorial service

She’s making her way around the venue, looking for the next ‘contestant’. Catch her eye and chances are you’ll be invited to take a spin on the wheel. Maybe afterwards you’ll enjoy a cocktail in the ‘society lounge’ and wiggle your ass in a tiny cage. Or maybe the little man in the purple suit will hand you a hammer (for the high striker). Ah yes, Elvis Costello has gone to a lot of trouble to ensure that his is a show like nobody else’s. And, for the most part, the Spectacular Spinning Songbook works a treat.

circus

It really is a rock’n'roll circus. There’s the ringmaster in his top hat (Costello, or ‘Napoleon’); the supporting cast (his sublime backing band The Imposters and the dancers, the colourful props (that wheel sure is cool) and, of course, the star attraction. Which could either be Costello’s voice or his rich catalogue.

It’s a ridiculously fun and spontaneous show. It’s also a brave move, handing over control of your set-list to the audience. But a surprisingly youthful Costello (57) is a master showman; a smooth operator with a cracking sense of humour and a superb array of players by his side. They can pretty much handle anything, effortlessly churning out a delightful combination of rollicking beats, bouncing keys and infectious riffs (I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down, Pump it Up and High Fidelity). It’s just a shame that the final hour lets the side down.

The wheel takes a back seat. Elvis goes acoustic. I Want You lasts forever. It’s a bit of a disappointment after everything that’s come before.

“I’m afraid I won’t know where to stop,” he sings, dragging out an underwhelming finale. It would have been nice to come away wanting more, but by the time he and his gang eventually leave the stage, we’re well and truly spent. HHHII

Elvis gambles on song roulette