Random Thoughts and Things That Irritate Me

Just some things that irritate me,  make me wonder and really make me mad.  Hey, it's my birthday.  I should get to blog about personal stuff every now and then.

 

1.  The NBC Late-Night Fiasco.  I know there are folks on Team Conan and folks on Team Leno.  But guess what?   There are no people on Team Zucker and that’s the way it should be. 

 Jeff Zucker, the one-time boy genius who was going to make NBC #1 forever and ever, instead, made one of the worst decisions in network history.  Now Zucker is blaming Conan for not delivering a higher audience for the Tonight Show and blaming Jay for not delivering a higher audience for the Jay Leno show.  

Despite the fact, that he, Jeff Zucker, was the architect of this entire fiasco. 

In the old days of corporate America when you screwed up on a scale this grand, you did the right thing by taking the blame and stepping down immediately.  Not Jeff Zucker, he really wants to be the poster boy for everything that we hate about Corporate America today.  That is, instead of admitting your mistakes and taking your punishment, you instead blame the victims and ask all of America to ignore your hand in designing this fiasco and ask that we all just pretend you’re not to blame.  Sorry, Jeff Zucker, there’s a reason the only person on Team Zucker is you.

 

2.  Post-Apocalyptic Movies.   They come around every few years.  Anyone remember “The Postman” with Kevin Costner?  Earlier this winter we had “The Road” with the wonderful Viggo Mortensen and based on the acclaimed novel by Cormac McCarthy.  Didn’t do well at the box office.  I’m thinking when it comes to post-apocalyptic movies, movie goers want someone forceful, charming and who offers hope.  Kevin Costner in “Postman” not so much, Denzel Washington in “The Book of Eli”, hell yeah!

 

3.  Mel Gibson in “Edge of Darkness”.    With all the problems Mel has had with his fans and his personal life the last few years, is this really the time in his career to start channeling Jack Nicholson?  Doesn’t he realize that Jack is still alive and can probably kick his ass for stealing his act?

 

4.  Smokey Robinson.  Who knew that Smokey was Wayne Newton’s half-brother?  I didn’t .   Did you?  Well, have you seen Smokey lately?  I saw him the other night on an American Masters documentary on Sam Cooke and my jaw dropped to the floor.  There was Smokey, our Smokey, looking like he had gone to Wayne Newton’s plastic surgeon and was proud of it!

 All I could do was hang my head in despair.  Has looking youthful in America sunk so low that someone like Smokey has to chase the fountain of youth to be taken seriously?  For God’s sake, he’s Smokey Robinson!!!!  That should be enough to let him grow old gracefully and still love him!

5.  The Las Vegas Sun.  I read the paper every day on-line.  When I click on News it takes me to a new page where it previews the big Las Vegas news story of the day and has one or two other line items for other news stories.  Underneath it says, More Las Vegas News.  I click on that thinking it will take me to more news stories about what is happening around Las Vegas. 

Instead, it takes me to the weather articles.  Rain in the forecast, not so much.  In the winter, reports of a cooling or cold trend, in the summer, reports of the heat.  I don’t really want to know the weather.  I want to know the More Las Vegas News stories.  Why doesn’t the Sun have a separate weather page?  Or do they really think the weather in Las Vegas changes enough to warrant being the end page for More Las Vegas News?

6. Sheldon Adelson.  He built a new casino in Bethlehem, PA on the grounds of the old US Steel plant.  As part of the deal with the city, he also funded a museum detailing the history of Bethlehem and the importance of US Steel to the community. 

Years before, Shel Adelson built a casino/hotel in Las Vegas called “The Venetian”.  It was built on the site of the famed and beloved Sands Hotel.  We didn’t get a museum detailing the history of Las Vegas or the importance of the Sands Hotel.  The Sands was home to the Rat Pack.  The Sands was one of the first hotels to break the color barrier.  The Sands was the hotel we think of when we think of Classic Las Vegas.  We got squat for all that history.  Thanks, Shel.

 

7. Cell Phones.  If you are shopping in Trader Joe’s, do you really need to be talking on your cell phone?  Do you really think the rest of us care about your conversation, that we care about who is picking up the kids, what’s for dinner, what your plans of the evening are?  News Flash!  We don’t. Trader Joe’s are not large stores.   If your call is that freakin’ important take it outside and let the rest of us shop in peace.  Because you standing in the middle of the aisle talking away while you and your cart block the rest of us from shopping is only making us hate you more.

 

8. Trying to park your car while talking on your cell-phone?  Please get off the phone!  Now!

 

9. The El Cortez.  With all the focus on rehabilitating Downtown, will someone, besides us, please acknowledge that the crew behind the El Cortez ROCKS!  Jackie passed his legacy to a group that understands his legacy.  Thank-You!!!!

 

10, Endangered Buildings.  As the economy starts to rebound more and more buildings and homes will become endangered:

  •  Flora Dungan Humanities Building designed by Zick and Sharp.  One of the last original campus buildings yet, UNLV higher ups want it gone.
  • Valley High School- an impeding update will destroy much of the original Zick and Sharp original architecture.
  • City Hall, another Zick and Sharp late mid-century modern architecture.  Mayor Goodman wants a new City Hall closer to the Smith Center.  If the that happens, the current building will be torn down to make room for a new casino/hotel.
  • East Fremont Motel Auto Courts.  One of the largest and last standing groups of motor auto courts still in existence.  Not to mention the wonderful neon signage still standing.  All are endangered.
  • The Las Vegas High School Historical Neighborhood.  Despite being on the Historical Registry of Historical Places, this neighborhood still does not have City Preservation Protection.  Thus, many of the homes that date back to the 1920s-1930s are being torn down and in there place are rising McMansions.  This is our best example of a Historic District and we are letting it go to waste.

Happy Birthday, Elvis!

 

 

Elvis would have been 75 years old today had he not died almost thirty-three years ago.  He was one of the premiere entertainers of the 20th Century, that uniquely American century that we are not likely to see again in our lifetimes.

Like Frank Sinatra before him, Elvis found a renewed sense of performing in Las Vegas.  His coming was heralded in the press and billboards for months before he graced the stage of the newly opened International Hotel (now the Hilton).

He had first come to Las Vegas in the 1956 and played the New Frontier Hotel where he was on the bill with Shecky Greene and Freddie Martin and his Orchestra.  The gig hadn't gone well.  The audience was not quite ready for the boy from Tupelo's style. 

Over the years, Elvis returned to Las Vegas to enjoy watching other entertainers.  He and the late Freddie Bell became friends and when Elvis say Freddie do a rendention of "Hound Dog", Presley wanted the song.  Freddie said sure and Elvis went to the top of the charts.

He came back to Las Vegas in the early 1960s to shoot "Viva Las Vegas" with Ann-Margaret.  The film, playing today on Turner Classic Movies as part of an all-day tribute to the King, is one of his best.  Before he was drafted, he had an up and coming career in the movies.  "Loving You" was a hit.  Howard Hawks had wanted him for the part of Colorado in his upcoming western, "Rio Bravo" starring John Wayne and Dean Martin.  But the Army had other plans and Elvis was drafted.

After he returned from the service, he began making a series of musicals.  Some are good, some are hokey.  "Jailhouse Rock" and "Viva Las Vegas" are the two best.  "Viva" has the additional bonus of footage of Las Vegas from the early 1960s when the town, Fremont Street and the Strip looked much different than it does today.

He married Priscilla at the old Aladdin Hotel in 1967.

 

It was supposed to be a secret but UPI bureau chief, Myram Borders, who had grown up in Las Vegas and had returned as a well-known and respected journalist, received a call in the middle of the night. 

"This guy is saying 'I have a big story for you but I need money' and I told him the UPI doesn't pay for stories.  I suggested he call some fairly large newspapers in the East which I knew would be closed anyway.   Well, he called back awhile later saying 'no one's answering'.  I said well, what's the story and he said 'Elvis Presley is gonna get married a the Aladdin Hotel.'" (Interview with Myram Borders, 2003)

"So I went out to the Aladdin and started wandering around the hallways, kind of seeing any indication of a wedding, which I couldn't and the security guards thought I was a hooker, trying to go from room to room or something.  They were trying to chase me out of the hotel all the time and all I was doing was walking up and down hallways.  Finally, about 7:30 or 8:00 in the morning I saw one of the Nevada Supreme Court Justices, David Zenoff, walk into the hotel and I thought 'it's true'.  I asked him why he was there and he said 'I'm gonna marry Elvis Presley'." (Interview with Myram Border, 2003).

How had Elvis come to choose the Aladdin as the spot for his nuptials?  He could have been married at any hotel any town or even the Little Church of the West which was famous for its celebrity clientele.  Well, Presley and Prell, according to George Stamos, had a long-time friendship that dated back to the 1950s.  Though Presley never appeared at a Prell hotel, he was often seen in the Casbah Lounge at the Sahara during the years it played host to Louis Prima and his band, Freddie Bell and the Bellboys and many others.

According to Paula Clark, no expense was spared on the Presley wedding.  "Colonel Parker gave us instructions to use 'unlimited funds' in preparing the wedding and reception.  To miss the crowds, Prell had arranged for them to get their license down at the County Courthouse at 2:00 am.  Just before the wedding, Clark realized that there were no provisions for the press and a ballroom was quickly converted complete with donuts and coffee.

As  100 friends, family and a bevy of writers and photographers gathered to watch the King of Rock and Roll marry Priscilla, Myram Borders' story of the impending wedding hit the wire.  She had scooped them all.

In 1968 he had appeared on NBC in a televised special, "One Night with You".  Dressed in black leather and with a small audience seated around him at the lip of a round stage, Elvis reminded Americans across the country, what his brand of magic was all about.  For a country used to seeing him in M-G-M musicals romancing girls, the performance was electric.

That one night of television paved the way for Elvis to return to the stages of the Las Vegas Strip.  Kirk Kerkorian was building the International Hotel when he signed Elvis to perform there.  Barbra Striesand opened the hotel in July of 1969.

Elvis followed her and Las Vegas was never quite the same.  Sinatra had been the King of the Las Vegas Strip for over a decade.  "Liberace could fill a hotel, Sinatra filled the town." Don Payne, former head of the Las Vegas News Bureau, told me in an interview a few years back.

Elvis' arrival at the International heralded the era of a new King in town.  His shows sold out almost as soon as they were announced.  He played the hotel twice a year, in January and August.  "Elvis: That's the Way It Is" (also on TCM later today) captures not only the experience of seeing Elvis live but also the behind-the-scenes drama as well.

His voice and his style were unique.  We had never seen anything quite like Elvis Presley when he blazed on the scene and held us enthralled with his performing.

All these years later, we likely never will again.

Happy Birthday, Elvis!

Here's the schedule for Turner Classic Movies' salute to the King (Friday, Jan. 8th - All Times PST):

3:15 AM Harum Scarum (1965)
  An American film star is kidnapped in the Middle East. Cast: Elvis Presley, Mary Ann Mobley, Fran Jeffries. Dir: Gene Nelson. C-85 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
4:45 AM Kissin' Cousins (1964)
  A singing military officer gets mixed up with his look-alike hillbilly cousin. Cast: Elvis Presley, Arthur O'Connell, Yvonne Craig. Dir: Gene Nelson. C-96 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
6:30 AM Spinout (1966)
  A singing race-car driver has to choose among three amorous females. Cast: Elvis Presley, Shelley Fabares, Diane McBain. Dir: Norman Taurog. C-93 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
8:15 AM Roustabout (1964)
  A female carnival owner hires a hot-blooded young singer to save her touring show. Cast: Elvis Presley, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Freeman. Dir: John Rich. C-101 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
10:00 AM Girl Happy (1965)
  A rock singer is hired to chaperone a gangster's daughter in Fort Lauderdale. Cast: Elvis Presley, Shelley Fabares, Gary Crosby. Dir: Boris Sagal. C-96 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
11:45 AM Speedway (1968)
  A race car driver tries to outrun the beautiful tax auditor out to settle his account. Cast: Elvis Presley, Nancy Sinatra, Bill Bixby. Dir: Norman Taurog. C-94 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
1:30 PM Blue Hawaii (1961)
  A Hawaiian playboy defies his possessive mother to take a job with a tourist agency. Cast: Elvis Presley, Joan Blackman, Angela Lansbury Dir: Norman Taurog. C-101 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
3:15 PM Viva Las Vegas (1964)
  A race-car driver falls for a pretty swimming instructor who wants him to slow down his career. Cast: Elvis Presley, Ann-Margret, Cesare Danova. Dir: George Sidney. C-85 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format, DVS
4:41 PM Short Film: Romantic Nevada (1943)
  C-9 mins,
5:00 PM Elvis on Tour (1972)
  Extensive concert footage highlights this documentary about the King's touring in the early '70s. Cast: Elvis Presley, James Burton, Glenn D. Hardin. Dir: Robert Abel, Pierre Aldridge. C-93 mins, TV-G, Letterbox Format
6:42 PM Short Film: Look At The World Of Soylent Green, A (1973)
  C-10 mins,
7:00 PM Elvis: That's The Way It Is 2001 (2001)
  Restored version of the King's classic Vegas concert film. Cast: Elvis Presley. Dir: Denis Sanders. C-96 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format
9:00 PM Jailhouse Rock (1957)
 

After learning to play the guitar in prison, a young man becomes a rock 'n roll sensation. Cast: Elvis Presley, Judy Tyler, Mickey Shaughnessy. Dir: Richard Thorpe. BW-96 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format, DVS

 

82 drinkers ticketed with DUIs spent New Year's Eve in Las Vegas Jails.

It was an interesting New Year's Eve in Las Vegas.  According to reports, 82 people where charged with DUIs on New Year's Eve, another 57 on miscellanous charges and 2 were charged with felonies.  I guess when it comes to celebrations, revelers in Las Vegas seem to think that over-the-top is the only way to go.

From the R-J:

Several dozen party-goers spent the night sobering up behind bars after the Nevada Highway Patrol used all available troopers to help police Las Vegas' New Year's celebration.

Eighty-two people were arrested on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs -- far more than the 12 arrested by state troopers last year. Another 57 were arrested on miscellaneous charges and two were arrested on felonies.

Trooper Chelita Rojas said the department had every trooper from its Southern Command, plus some from its Northern Command, on valley freeways making traffic stops.

"There were a lot more officers on the road able to pull people over," Rojas said.

Las Vegas police also had all of its 3,241 officers working on New Year's Eve. Some were operating DUI checkpoints, but the department did not release the number of people arrested.

But it was a relatively peaceful celebration for the Las Vegas Valley. Law enforcement agencies reported no slayings or fatal accidents on New Year's Eve or the morning after.

In the Reno area, authorities arrested 27 people for driving under the influence on New Year's Eve, down slightly from last year.

But the number of people taken into protective custody for intoxication was up to 32, compared with 26 last year.

Additionally, the Washoe County Jail reported five arrests were made for domestic battery. In all, 84 people were booked into jail over a 12-hour period beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday.

In Las Vegas, about 315,000 people from out of town rang in the New Year on the Strip and downtown -- the largest such party west of the Mississippi, according to tourism officials. That's an 8 percent jump from the year before.

In downtown Las Vegas, officials gave out 5,000 more wrist bands to people than last year to watch the various tribute bands under the Fremont Street Experience.

Along the Strip on New Year's Eve, the crowd was still streaming in at 11:30 p.m., with hundreds of people walking over the Flamingo Road overpass at Interstate 15. They were greeted by a rocking performance by a group playing bongos between Caesars Palace and Bellagio.

Some visitors came to forget their troubles, some to see off a 2009 that has been tough on many, and yet others came for, well, different reasons.

Clad in traditional Scottish wear, including a green plaid kilt, 26-year-old Jackson Murray, from Scotland, said he and friends traveled across the pond because they enjoyed the hit 2009 comedy, "The Hangover," in which a group of friends wake up in their Caesars Palace hotel room not remembering anything that happened during the raucous night before.

Asked where he was staying, Jackson said, "Caesars, obviously."