Columnist John Katsilometes: How UNLV flute student Kuk cooked at Carnegie Hall

Thursday, Nov. 3, 2005 | 7:50 a.m.

On Oct. 14 UNLV doctoral flute student Jennifer Kuk performed at Carnegie Hall. "It's true what they say -- you have to practice to get to Carnegie Hall," she said this week.

Kuk (pronounced "cook") speaks from experience. The 32-year-old musician practices at least four hours a day and has done so since age 10. In New York she performed with pianist Sallie Pollack of the Manhattan School of Music, and UNLV soprano Veera Khara at Weill Recital Hall.

Weill is a smaller venue than Carnegie's Isaac Stern Auditorium, the main hall. As Kuk said, "It seats just a few hundred, but it has the same beautiful chandeliers and stage, the same atmosphere. It was amazing."

NoteMart

Just above Middlesex: For the second year the "AXE Best Cities for Hooking Up in America" has tracked dating trends and listed the top 80 cities in the country for "hooking up," and Las Vegas finished a disappointing No. 63, just ahead of Middlesex, N.J., and behind Riverside, Calif.

The age demographic targeted by the survey, conducted by the AXE deodorant body-spray company and Sperling's BestPlaces, was 18 to 24. The criteria included percentage of singles, population of 18- to 24-year-olds, dating venues per capita (coffee shops, bars, dog parks (!), beaches, health clubs), lingerie shops per capita and lingerie and sleepwear purchased, and flowers and jewelry bought as gifts.

The survey listed Seattle No. 1, followed by Honolulu; San Francisco; Austin, Texas; and San Diego. "I would have expected Las Vegas to rate higher," AXE spokesman Dan Cohen said. "But it is more of an older-adult playground, not so much for younger adults and teens" ...

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Richardson was one of hundreds of elementary school students in Clark County who submitted an entry, either a rendering or written composition about the doomed craft. Richardson's rendering was the winner ...

Strange order: Generations collided at the Klondike casino on Tuesday. An older patron playing blackjack ordered a Coke with a "jigger" of vodka. The 20-something cocktail waitress asked what that meant; she had never heard the term and it was explained to her that it is a measurement of a small shot of liquor ...

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