Michael T. Toole's list of 10 cultural touchstones of a Las Vegas adolescence prompted some responses, these among them:
Great top 10 list on Lost Vegas this week. Missing one thing, though—and this may be something that the next generation down remembers more: In the '80s, on Channel 10, between shows, rather than air public-service announcements or previews, they'd just show a series of taped views of Nevada—from an airplane flying low through the desert. That was the best stuff on Channel 10 (at least, now that I've grown to appreciate it in its absence.)
Item Number 9, Cinema 1-2-3, caught my attention. The writer wrote that discount theater is still alive at the Tropicana Theaters off Trop and Pecos.
I remember the theater as it was long ago. However, a recent visit to the Tropicana Cinemas was an eye-opener. Clean restrooms, vibrant paint job, a classy lounge couch.
Management is planning on showing indie films on a regular monthly basis. This should be of interest to local indie filmmakers.
There is more. Curious? Check out their website at www.tropicanacinemas.com.
I happily concur with the last sentence of the item: "At least some people know how to keep the ball rolling."
I am writing in response to Kate Silver's story on the Fremont Street Experience vendors being "let go" (As We See It, August 5). How funny that this was done under the guise of preserving the feel of "vintage Vegas." Joe Schillaci, the president and chief executive of F.S.E., tries to present the case as if the virtue of "our 10 great legendary casinos" is somehow being spoiled by these freakish vendors.
If there was truly any regard for the history and integrity of these casinos, then maybe they would tear down that hideous canopy. The buildings that are obscured by that piece of crap are beautiful! They are tall! They are unique! Yes, they are legendary. You would never know it now.
I don't want to hear about "vintage Vegas" or "legendary casinos." I am tired of it. Years ago, it was decided that "old Vegas" was no good and that it would take closing off the street, an enormous metal canopy, a pedestrian mall and crap-peddling vendors to bring people Downtown. Never mind that this concept has been a proven failure in other cities.
Now, after 10 years of this embarrassing and failing Fremont Street Experience, they realize that a circus sideshow is not the answer and that we need to preserve "vintage Vegas."
I say F you!
Those vendors, selling cheap Day-Glo underwear and beer bongs, were invited by you! As long as the real sparkling remnants of old Vegas (some of the imploded hotels, the Glass Pool Inn, the Green Shack, the buildings that were Vintage Madness and the Enigma, now the Algiers!!!) continue to not be preserved, rather disrespected and eventually destroyed to make way for cubic zirconia, I don't want to hear about it. Las Vegas will continue to be sold out to the highest bidder. It is as phony as some idiot "swinger" in a moth-eaten zoot suit, yapping about how "money" the Peppermill Lounge is now with 60 television sets.
Anything that ever existed in this town that had class and style is gone. The landscape looks like the rest of cheap, generic, stucco, Wal-Mart America ... except the buildings are a little bigger. This is really as bad as it gets, people. I am tired of the backtracking. Those in charge of turning Fabulous Fremont Street into Heavy Metal Parking Lot made their bath ... now it's time for them to soak in it.
Editor's note: Is A. Moneypenny your real name?
May the Olympic gods defend us from the misinformed blather of Bob Costas.
The problem with this windbag is not merely that his pompous yammering added nothing of value to the magnificent opening pageant of the Athens Olympic games. The far greater problem is that, throughout the spectacle, he smugly delivered one distortion or falsehood about Greek mythology and history after another. From his misidentification of Hermes (god of youth and patron of athletes) as Eros to his litany of mistakes about Alexander the Great (who declined to participate in the Olympic games, even though his friends urged him to compete as a runner, because his opponents would have been commoners), Costas's performance was a shameful tribute to the dismal state of cultural literacy among America's professional broadcasters.
NBC should be ashamed.
An August 5 letter from one Lisa Mikolyski (her real name? We don't know!), attacking U.S. Sen. Harry Reid for not supporting a constitutional amendment against gay marriage, got under this reader's skin:
Happiness, love and family values CAN be found in gay unions.
And if you live in Las Vegas, where men and women get married in the morning and divorced in the afternoon, I believe you should be a bit more open-minded.
One hundred years ago, blacks and whites could not get married freely in this country, Ms Mikolyski.
But I have the feeling you would have approved of that.
This fella was so upset by the fact that we pictured a gorgeous interview subject in black and white that he temporarily lost control of his cap-lock key:
Props on the center color-print ads, but shame on you for running a B&W of Jana Speaker, because NOBODY, absolutely nobody, looks good in B&W, much less HOT. Even the DMV undertands this.
But Jana herself is wrong about constant HOTNESS maintenence. Some effort is required, but there is very little correlation between relative HOTNESS and the maintenence needed. Walking is VERY effective for maintaining HOTNESS and it's FREE.
Well done article on the 9/11 commission report [Cover story, July 29]. Still, there is a big "what if?" Candidate Kerry said, "We should not go to war unless we have to." That is, unless our country is in "imminent danger." What if America had entered WWII in 1939 instead of 1941? How many millions of lives would have been saved? Wouldn't the Holocaust have been prevented?
Another what if. What if America had declared war on al-Qaeda and bin Laden before 9/11? After all, they had already declared war on us. What if troops had invaded Afghanistan before 9/11? Would there have been a 9/11?
In regards to Iraq: Bush only completed a war his father had left undone. Democrats and Republicans alike had said the Bush Sr. was wrong to have left Saddam Hussein in power.
It's impossible to say what would have happened to George W. Bush had not declared war on Iraq. Yet, for Bush's opponents to claim Hussein was no threat is to ignore recent history. In another time, I believe the president would be praised as a liberator, who freed a country against a thoroughly corrupt regime.
Here's the final what if. What if there had been a weakling, McGovern-like, social program President from Jan. 2001 to Jan. 2005? Is this the kind of President you want in this era of terrorism?
Phil Hagen's July 29 Bar Exam column, praising the Roadrunner Saloon, mentioned another bar, Play of the Day, in passing, prompting this response:
PoD is home for many of my family and I now. Many of us made friends with the other locals (Hawaiian folks) that frequent the bar. The beer is cheap, the company is familiar and the bartenders are good-looking. (I know you were referring to Kathy, but for the females, there's Chris.)
Thursday night is karaoke night and attracts the big Hawaiian crowd. I never saw it as a college bar, though. Most of us would go there around 9 or 10 to load up on cheap drinks before hitting the clubs. Honestly, there's nothing special about PoD. It's like home, just as he described. I use to think Whiskey Sky was my "home," but the crowd is too yuppie or inconsistent. At PoD you can count on the crowd. It's like Cheers.
On the other hand, I can't stand the Roadrunner. The food is good, but that's if you can be served. I've gone there at least three times where the service was horrible. We can't get a table or they tell us to seat ourselves and never get service.
I thought it was just interesting that someone actually mentioned Play of the Day, home of the Steelers. I liked your article.