Saturday ramblings

The original portions of the structure are poorly ventilated, without elevator service and look much like they did when it was opened in 1941.  There have been additions that feature more modern amenities but all in all it is not a place that one would normally make their first choice in where to stay in Las Vegas.  Yet, the El Cortez Hotel in Sin City has just earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places

 

For the uninitiated, there are two major hotel/casino areas in Las Vegas.  The so-called “Strip” which is much longer these days than originally, since major properties began being built to the South of Flamingo Boulevard decades ago.  Then there’s the Fremont Street Experience in the downtown area.  The El Cortez is only a block away from the Fremont Street Experience geographically, but miles away in most other respects.

It remains what would call a “grind joint”.  Low minimum wagers, and mostly rookie dealers at the table games.  There is a poker room that’s somewhat improved from the mid/late 1980s, when I first learned how poker is really played.  I spent many, many hours there, before moving on to bigger and better poker rooms around town (I did live in Las Vegas for over two years after all).  I have a certain soft spot for the place in my heart.

They used to run (they still may for all I know) a Social Security number contest.  Enter once and then just show up every day to see how many of your numbers are a match for the nine they draw.  I once won a decent sized prize and I had to go upstairs to the office of the owner to collect my money.   Naturally it was paid out in chips, rather than cash.  For once, I went straight to the cage, cashed out and left.  If you’re going to be in Las Vegas, it’s worth a quick stop, just to see what the town was once like everywhere. 

Other thoughts on my mind on a Saturday:

My level of exhaustion is starting to concern me.  I’m so tired today that I skipped going to see a movie and now I’m strongly considering getting something delivered/picked up for me, so I don’t even have to leave my room again today.  I spent most of the morning lying in bed and just watching television.  Maybe I just needed a day of doing nothing.

We have the iPhone, the iPad, and the iWatch is on the way.  Where will it stop?  A pair of iShoes?  The iWallet, an electronic repository of money that replaces the need to go to the ATM ever?

Tomorrow’s L.A. Marathon course doesn’t come that close to the office, and we’re only open from Noon to 4 p.m., but I suspect we will probably have no walk-in traffic.  I don’t care, I have clients scheduled for three of those four hours.

Depending on who you believe, the late DeForrest Kelley, who gained fame and fortune playing “Dr. Leonard McCoy” on the original “Star Trek”; owed a lot of an actor named Malachi Throne, who just passed away.  The story is told that Throne passed on the role of McCoy after losing out in his efforts to play “Spock”.  His voice was present in “The Cage”, the show’s pilot and he did play “Commodore Mendez” later on.  RIP.

Danny DeVito and Rhea Pearlman have reportedly reconciled, while Ryan Seacrest and Julianne Hough have reportedly split.  Why is this so important that both are top ten trending searches on Yahoo?  Never mind, I know.  Our obsession with celebrity.

A minor league baseball player just received a 100 game suspension for violating MLB’s drug policy.  Maybe if they were more aggressive in monitoring major league players and testing them without notice, there would be more of these drawing more attention.  Maybe some of the problems with drug use in the game could be avoided.  Maybe pigs will become airborne.

If the Lakers don’t do well in the playoffs this year (and they will get there), one of the reasons may have been on the other team’s bench last night.  Indiana Pacers Assistant Brian Shaw should have been the replacement for Phil Jackson, but for some reason the Lakers’ ownership decided to distance themselves from anything that would remind them of Jackson.  Bad choice, guys.  Kudos Shaw, for turning down the Bobcats head coaching gig, preferring to take the helm of a team that “has a chance”.   His time will come.

Movie trailers often reveal too much.  I suppose I should be grateful that last year’s “Lincoln” didn’t show a shot of him being assassinated, or that bin Laden got killed in “Zero Dark Thirty”.

This Date in History:

On this date in 1521, Magellan reaches the Philippines.

On this date in 1802, the Army Corps of Engineers is formed, with their first mission to found and operate the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

On this date in 1815, Prince Willem declares himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, that nation’s first constitutional monarch.

On this date in 1861, Edward Clark replaces Sam Houston as Governor of Texas.  Houston refused to swear an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy.

On this date in 1935, Adolf Hitler ordered Germany to violate the Treaty of Versailles and re-arm.

On this date in 1942, the first test of a V-2 rocket took place.  It exploded upon launch.

On this date in 1945, the battle of Iwo Jima ends, although there remained some small pockets of Japanese resistance.

On this date in 1958, Ford Motor Company produced its 50 millionth car.

On this date in 1968, the My Lai massacre takes place

On this date in 1968, General Motors produced its 100 millionth car.

On this date in 1978, former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro is kidnapped.  He would be murdered later on.

On this date in 1984, William Buckley, the CIA’s chief of station in Lebanon was kidnapped.  He died in captivity.

On this date in 1985, AP journalist Terry Anderson is kidnapped in Beirut.   He was held for almost seven years before his release.On this date in 1995, Mississippi finally ratifies the 13^th Amendment, abolishing slavery.

Famous Folk Born This Date:

James Madison

John Butler Yeats

Mike Mansfield

Henny Youngman (no, we won’t take your wife)

Dr. Joseph Mengele (notorious, infamous and a piece of scum)

Pat Nixon

Jerry Lewis

Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Chuck Woolery (original host of “Wheel of Fortune”, greed cost him that gig)

Erik Estrada (a CHiP off the old block)

Nancy Wilson

Flavor Flav (I think he’s selling chicken wings now)

Lauren Graham

Brooke Burns

Blake Griffin (the Clippers are very grateful)

And on this date in 1935, one of my personal heroes, Aron Nimzowitch passed away (yeah, I know there were a lot of other passings on this date, but I only list one per day).