PS Love Blog

Kelly Corrigan, the woman who wrote “The Middle Place” is going to be in town on Saturday, for a reading at The Nevada Survivor’s lunch.

I have not yet read the book, but I have it on good authority it is a great read and will have you both laughing and at times, shedding a tear. This is her story about surviving cancer. Amazon.com has over forty reviews of the book and an average rating of five, the highest. My guess is, if you can make it to the reading, it’ll be worth it.

You can see an excerpt of the book on Kelly Corrigan’s website.

Saturday, March 15 at 11am
Reading at Nevada Survivors Lunch
* tickets available from Susan G Komen
Rio Grande
Las Vegas, NV

Winner Takes All, Steve Wynn, Kirk Kerkorian, Gary Loveman, and the Race to Own Las Vegas.Well here is your text book on Steve Wynn, Kirk Kerkorian and Gary Loveman and those who surround them. This book is jammed packed full of good information, detailing the processes that made these men the business stars they are today. It is so much information I had to actually frequently re-read paragraphs. You cannot let your mind wander reading this one. It is almost too much information.

What I liked about this book was the inside track on how these guys made their deals. I love business and the soap opera that makes deals happen. In a company’s sale or even just in real estate, it is always predator and prey. In deals both sides are the predator and both sides are the prey. To see this in high stakes action in the book is purely fascinating.

Christina Binkley is a columnist for the Wall Street Journal and spent many years with these guys in her normal day job. She knew them, it seems, from the inside out. Especially Steve Wynn. I now know more about Wynn and his dealings than I ever wanted to know, haha.

Being new to Las Vegas, only having moved here a little over a year ago, I would hear people mention these names. I always felt rather stupid not knowing who they were. I had a general idea who Steve Wynn is because I see his huge hotel sitting there on the strip and it’s named after him. I had no knowledge of Kerkorian or Loveman. Now I feel completely caught up.

After finishing the book, which leaves off at the planning stages of the City Center, I am left with a question. What is in the future for Las Vegas?

I get the feeling that Wynn and Kerkorian are entering the end phase of their turn at the wheel of owning Las Vegas. It is the Corporate Era, and I just suspect Las Vegas is now going to enter a new stage. We’ve had it as a farm & railroad town, we’ve had it mob ruled, we’ve had it gussied up and streamlined like a great big, fancy hotel chain, and now what? Eras are eras, they don’t last forever.

I was surprised to learn that Wynn is really the one of the bunch who actually lives in Las Vegas. The rest of them are really two timers. They actually live some place else and come here to make their money. This, I think, gives us a hint. They will all be gone but Wynn once they’ve had enough of Vegas’s numbers.

Currently, Las Vegas is experiencing an down turn. I do believe it is because of Wynn, Kerkorian and Loveman’s manipulation of the masses. They took fun and luxury and turned it into the psychology of marketing. They changed everything and marketed the crap out of it. Now that they’ve reached the peak of squeezing every quarter out of the tourists, the tourists are now staying away. The fun is gone. Customer service is almost completely gone as employees could not care less about you or your good time. The good deals to attract gamblers are gone. A lot is gone. The press isn’t bragging about what a great town we have, the press is talking about the sudden downturn of tourism here.

Who is to blame? I think it is fairly obvious when you read the book. What does the future hold? I guess it is anybody’s guess. What I fear is that Las Vegas is now ruined due to corporate greed. I hope I never see a tumble weed bouncing its way down Las Vegas Boulevard. I’m afraid what we are seeing right now is the first bit of the end of our growth, the end of hotel building, the end of the cash cow everyone lives on here. These guys featured in this book are now venturing out to Asian countries to feed off of them for a while. They are competing elsewhere as much as here. Maybe they will slowly start selling off their hotels to independents at a huge loss. Then in Las Vegas we’ll get our town back, our customer service back. Sort of a happy medium between mob rule and corporate rule as the pendulem swings to the middle.

Christina Brinkley doesn’t seem to try to make a point in the book. It is your basic, nonjudgmental reporting. She does touch on something interesting though. She writes about one of the men having some issues with marketing to gamblers. That really did make me think. Is it moral to tempt a gambler and survive by manipulating their weakness?

I’m a Lewis Black fan, like most people. You may not know him by name but when you see his picture you say, “Oh, THAT guy! He’s always yelling about politics, yeah, he’s really funny!” So, when I saw on his website he was doing a book tour, I naturally said, “Book? There is a book? Must have book.” “Nothing’s Sacred” by Lewis Black is a New York Times best seller.

My mouse went dashing off to my favorite bookseller and voila, a Lewis Black book. Who knew?

When my book order arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find a Lewis Black book in it. I had completely forgotten there was a book. I was supposed to read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas because of a bet. Oddly enough I have gone through my life thus far having never read Hunter S. Thompson. I figured he was just another druggy, cult icon and probably wrote just as nicely as that might suggest. If I like his writing I owe this tourist and his wife a drink when they get to Vegas in September. But here before me was a book by Lewis Black. I weighed my options. Black comes first. He’s hotter and well, still alive.

So, in I dove. Lewis Black was now my new reading material while I ate my cereal. I pushed the raisin bran box aside and every morning I read a chapter or two. It started a bit slowly. I was having some concerns about his writing ability right off, but it didn’t make sense. I know he can write and he can write funny too, obviously! He’s a huge star and didn’t get that way by stealing material or whatever, I expected an awesome write. Right in the introduction he explains this book project and how he hammered it out while on the road. He didn’t labor for years over writing his first novel, Simon and Schuster contacted him and gave him a deadline. Yikes. That’s tough.

After a few chapters the writing turned fabulous and I was loving it. Not that I didn’t love the material in the beginning, I did. I’m just a super picky person about writing. I know you can’t tell judging by the way I write, but still. Those who can’t do, critique. Remember that. I think he was rushed to write it and they rushed into production without maybe a final rewrite. It doesn’t matter though, the book is great anyway.

This book is a road through Lewis Black’s childhood, college years and some of his grown up life. It actually does answer the question of how he got to where he is today. It has lots of photos scattered throughout which will make any fan drool.

He talks about some things that I too experienced back in the 1960s and 1970s. Things I have blocked from my memory, thank you for bringing up that shit… I didn’t want to be reminded of Kent State, but there ya are, talking about Kent State. I’m one of those people who still cannot watch war movies because of the exposure to the Vietnam war, the hatred of our society with brother against brother and staying high enough to not let it all bother us. The protests, the walk-outs, the bombings, the sit-ins, oy. I like to forget it all. I like to just hide out and pretend it all just never happened. Then I get to Lewis Black’s college years in the book and whammo, there I am again watching the death toll every day on TV over supper. Thank you very much, Mr. Funny Guy.

I did really enjoy his telling of his youth, though. Lewis Black has a wit like no other and he’s funny as it gets. His writing is much like his stand up. Some of the book near the end has become a lot of his act. Now in print you can enjoy it over and over. He is one interesting and funny guy.

I’m glad I put the book ahead of Hunter S. Thompson. Although, that guy is anxiously awaiting my response on that. I actually finished Black’s book a couple of weeks ago and have been lazy. I should have written about it sooner. Then last night I had this really weird dream about him. It was something about being in Missouri with him and then he said things were going to be better once we got to Virginia, I think it was. I have no idea what all that means, or what the dream was trying to tell me, or why even have a weird dream with him in it. I figured I’d better get the book report done. Nothing will confuse me more than having Lewis Black haunting my dreams.

Soon enough, Lewis Black will be in Las Vegas. He’ll be at the Hollywood Theater in the MGM Grand, April 10 thru April 16, 2008. I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve seen him live before and was so disappointed when the show came to an end.

This time, I will be waiting with my book after the show, hoping I’ll get his signature. Oh, who am I kidding? I want a date. LOL By the way, the sign “Take me, I’m yours” I put on the unwanted trash can worked. Someone did come by and pick it up and take it away. I’m still considering that method here. Hey! I’m single, would you expect anything less?! There is a photo of him starting the chapter “The Sixties” and he has the most awesome legs. Suppose he still does?

Author Dennis Griffin will present “Las Vegas and the Mob,” a lecture on the life of Chicago mob enforcer Tony Spilatro, at 11 a.m. Feb. 20 in the Winchester Cultural Center, 3130 S. McLeod Drive.

The program is free.

Registration for the lecture is required. Those interested in “Las Vegas and the Mob” must call the Winchester Cultural Center at 455-7340.

In 2006, Griffin released “The Battle for Las Vegas,” the story of Spilotro’s Vegas reign.

The presentation and lecture will use clips from the Martin Scorsese film “Casino” to highlight similarities and differences in the movie version, starring Joe Pesci as Spilotro, and the real events included in Griffin’s book.

Before he became an author, Griffin was an investigator with Pinkerton’s Inc. and the Department of Health as well as a deputy sheriff in Madison County, New York.

He wrote “The Morgue,” a fictional account of the operation of a medical examiner’s office, and “Red Gold,” also based on personal experience.

“Policing Las Vegas,” the history of law enforcement in Las Vegas and Clark County from 1905 to 2004, was released in 2005.

“The Battle for Las Vegas” is his second foray into nonfiction and is the subject of a bus tour that leaves from the Greek Isles six nights a week.

Griffin’s most recent work, “Cullotta — The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster and Government Witness,” was released in 2007.

I saw this great video today. It is an interview with Frank Cullotta (the mobster) and Dennis Griffin the author who wrote about him. For more information see: Dennis Griffin website and The Vegas Mob Tour website.

The author of “Cullotta” is going to be on air at 11am Pacific time. Click on the button to hear his radio program. It will be saved to an archive is you miss today’s show when it’s live.

Cullotta. The Life of a Chicago criminal, Las Vegas mobster and government witness. Written by Dennis N. Griffin and Frank Cullotta.

Good book.
The end.

HA!

No… I’ve got a thing or two to say.

I already read Dennis N. Griffin’s other book (The Battle for Las Vegas, the Law vs the Mob – see my review on Nov., 26th) about Las Vegas and I’m glad I did read them in that order. It is good to have the background about Cullotta before getting into his list of deeds, I think. That’s just me, I suppose.

At times “Cullotta” did turn into one of those ‘page turners’ and was difficult to put down. Frank Cullotta was one crafty and very busy criminal. What makes him interesting, other than just plain inspirational to entrepreneurs, is that he became great friends with one of the cops who nailed him in the end of his chosen profession.

I think the book is a must buy. It is fun to have some history of Vegas; it is really inspirational to see a guy just keep on keeping on no matter how down the chips were. It is a good read. I really enjoy Dennis Griffin’s easy going and clear writing style. So much so that I think I’m going to actually join the local writers club. I simply HATE joining things, however, in this case, I would really like to talk to the author about some things he had to face when writing these Las Vegas books.

Want to hear something really creepy? Yeah, I thought so. Well! You know that movie “Casino”? There is a scene in that movie where a guy is going through the house filling this other guy full of bullets. He ended up dragging the guy into the pool and then leaving. Guess who was the murderer in that real life situation? Frank Cullotta. Guess who was an adviser on the set? Frank Cullotta. Guess who they HAD PLAY THE PART OF THE MURDERER?! Frank Cullotta! EEEWWWW! When you watch that movie, you are watching the actual murderer act out the crime!

So! First read The Battle for Las Vegas, then read this one. Really good writing, fascinating subject matter, and then go listen to this podcast. It is an interview by The Vegas Tourist Podcast of Frank Cullotta, the author, Dennis N. Griffin, and the cop that Cullotta ended up becoming friends with after his career in crime came to an end. Here is a link.
You need to scroll down to the podcast #40. Thanks “Vegas” for giving me that link. Great interview!

It’s book review time!

The Man Who Invented Las Vegas was a book I bought thinking it was the life story of Bugsy Siegel. It is not. It is a book written (and appears to be self published) by the son of William Wilkerson, the man who actually did start the project of building the Flamingo Hotel. Yeah, I thought it was Siegel,too.

This book is a loving tribute to the author’s father. He is correcting the wrong of history by making sure people know the actual history of the Flamingo. I admire his respect and compassion for his dad but I am left with the feeling that his research was mainly hearsay and highly influenced by his feelings for his father. Some of it I take with a grain of salt, but feel that what he was saying was true about the historical events.

I struggled to read the book in the beginning because it seemed to be written by someone who is not a writer. It did flow better as it went along, probably due to the help he lists in the credits. Interesting in the ‘about the author’ page he lists himself as a freelance writer and has a short list of newspapers and such he has written for.

I never went to college. I made a conscious decision at one point not to go to college because I planned to grow up to be a creative writer. I didn’t want them to ‘learn’ all of the creativity out of me. I never wanted to write like people did who went to college. And here we have exactly what I was fearing. A college educated book. There are pages and pages of footnotes at the end of the book. Why? I dunno. He lists a bibliography too. Well, that’s interesting.

One personal thing struck me when reading the book. The picture he paints of Bugsy Siegel of being a man who hung around Wilkerson to basically suck up because he admired his talent then becomes insanely jealous of him. Siegel suddenly puts Wilkerson on his hated list and goes in to frequent jealous rages and tries to destroy him. Siegel ended up taking credit for Wilkerson’s work when it was going well and then blamed him in the end when Siegel screwed it all up. I have to tell ya, aside from the death threats made by Siegel, this is a very accurate description of one of my husbands. It was freaky. Is this some sort of psychological disorder or something? Even to the point of constantly throwing money around to be the big shot,that was my ex. That is just too weird.

The book is $17 and it is slightly over a hundred pages long, not counting all the appendixes, footnotes and bibliography. I read the whole thing this afternoon. I think it is worth reading to learn about the gambler who dreamed up the Flamingo hotel and how that whole Siegel thing happened. Buy it new? Naw, I don’t think so. I’ll tell ya what, you send me $5 and I’ll priority mail it to you. Then when you’re done, pass along to someone else. Everyone who reads it should sign the last page. Maybe someone will report back one day on how the book is doing. Sort of like a travel gnome!

Does anyone know of a book written about the history of the Sands Hotel and Casino? There is a guy I knew briefly in the mid-1970s that I’d like to talk to but I can’t find him. His name is Dave Wells. He told me back then that his dad owned the Sands. I would really like to get the back story on that now. If you know Dave, let me know or have him email me. If you know of any books about the history of the Sands, let me know that too. I’d like that to be the next chapter of my Las Vegas history lesson.

So I finished this book a couple of days ago. It was an easy read. It is written in such a way that you feel like you ran into someone at a party and you sit down and listen to the fascinating story he has. The book has a nice, easy going style that keeps you wondering about more.

There are a lot of characters here, too many for me to keep straight. Dennis Griffin does a great job though with repeating some information with the names so those with poor retention like me can keep up with the story. He put the book in sections, which I think was a great idea. He first introduces the mob and gives some background on them. Then he introduces the cops and gives some background on them. In the final part he goes into what happened in Las Vegas. To wrap it up, he gives some current updates to what happened after the book was done.

This had to be a difficult book to research and to write. The author had to determine what he could put in print and what he really, really shouldn’t. That alone would probably make me insane. Another big issue is most of these people involed in removing the mob control from Las Vegas are dead. At least one the mobster side. Those people don’t have a real long life span. It must have been really tough to figure out who was just making crap up and who really knew what was going on. Or, who didn’t just have an ax to grind.

I have met some people in my time who were, let’s say, less than reputable. I was young, pretty and fairly in the deep bottle at the time. This book stirred a lot of memories. So much so, it sort of creeped me out. I keep going back to a time in the 70s and 80s where I was exposed to these types. Who WERE those people??

After reading this book and realizing the time span for the Las Vegas battle for power, I’m concerned. I’m concerned that I knew people who at the least knew the people this book is talking about. That is uncomfortably close. One of those people I knew way back when may have even been involved.

In my ignorant and nieve youth, I could have taken one left turn, just one, and my life would not have turned out like it has. That is a very disturbing thought.

Living in Southern California during that time, and then getting sober across the lake from Chicago had me right next to all the action. I had no idea what was going on at the time. When an old guy in my twelve-step meetings kept telling me stories about when he ran numbers, living in Chicago, and “The Outfit” I had no idea really what he was talking about. Now I can put those stories in perspective. I am thanking God I don’t remember a single one of his stories.

At one point in the book the author puts in a quick mention of what the local population thought of this battle. They were concerned that if the mob was run out of town then all the petty criminals would take over the streets and Las Vegas would no longer be a safe place to live. Guess what? It is 2007. The locals’ fears were well founded. That is exactly what happened. The mobsters could keep the petty thieves and gang bangers under control. The police department here cannot. This is an unfortunate outcome.

I like to think that Las Vegas was this paradise back ‘in the day’ when the mob ruled, there was a dress code enforced near the casinos, and Vegas meant class and luxury. Well, after reading the book, it wasn’t exactly that way. It was no paradise. However, if you kept your nose clean, it was safer to walk the streets then.

So? Should we encourage mob rule once more? Would today’s Outfit be able to take the streets back from these teenage career criminals who like to shoot high school students just to watch them die? I don’t know. I don’t know if even they would know what to do with today’s gangster types. Although, I wouldn’t put it past Tony “the Ant” Spilotro to line up one thousand murderous punks and shoot them all into hamburger. Well, after pealing their skin off first or some other delightful entertainment. But, Spilotro is now dead, along with most of the rest of them. Maybe the mob will come back like it was, maybe it won’t. Time will tell, I suppose.

Read the book. If you’re interested at all in why Las Vegas is Las Vegas, and if you’ve ever wondered about why Las Vegas has a former mob attorney for a mayor, read the book. It’s a keeper.

This is what got me started on wondering about Las Vegas history: Bugsy Siegel. What was he like? I know he was Jewish. Do you suppose he went to shul? Did he have a bar mitzvah? Why didn’t his mom just knock him off when he started going bad? So many questions… I’m hoping this book will answer some of them. I’ll let ya know.

Remember that movie “Casino”? Well, I guess this has something to do with that. I hear it is a very informative book, written by Dennis N. Griffin and Frank Cullotta. It is called: Cullotta – The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster and Government Witness. I assume from that subtitle that he ratted somebody out.

I have decided to get caught up on my Las Vegas history. It’ll be my own little History Month. I bought a few books to read and I’ll review them here on the blog. The reviews on these books are already really good and that’s why I chose these. Maybe you want to get into some fascinating reading too, then use the comments link to tell me how I have it all wrong, ha ha.

The Battle for Las Vegas is all about how somebody or other ran the mob out of town. Um, yeah, this city has never been the same since. Maybe I can get Marty over here to guest blog for me. He knows a lot about what Vegas used to be like when it was mob controlled. I was only here once. My graduation class all went to Disneyland to celebrate graduation. I went to Vegas. Yeah, I was a little troubled for a while… maybe a long while… anyway, I started gambling in Circus Circus and the jerks threw me out! How dare they! So I haven’t stepped foot in the place since. I see that casino sitting there, in all its nastiness and ruining a kids good time-ness. Screw them. To say I tend to carry a resentment, I suppose, is an understatement. It has been over thirty years and I’m still not ready to go in.

Most residents will agree, living in Las Vegas was MUCH better under mob rule. Unless, of course, you were on the wrong side of some mobster. Even then, it was better because your suffering wasn’t going to last long!

Okay, what was I talking about? Yeah, the book. Here it is:

Happy Reading!

OMG.
So, I was walking into the Exhibitor’s area and there is a woman with an awesome camera taking a photo of this guy jumping up to the BlogWorldExpo banner.

He’s absolutely adorable. So, hey, I asked if I could join in and take a photo too! Unfortunately…. she’s a professional and I am so lame at this. The lighting was completely wrong for what I had going on and I barely even had a photo in the end.

And he is SO hot. I want a date with this guy SO badly.

His name is Brad Feld. I’m changing my name to: I SO WANT TO GET TO KNOW BRAD FELD.

Oddly enough, I walked into a class by mistake and he was on the panel. So, at least I did get a few more minutes of that eye candy. Of all the pictures I totally screwed up.

If you’re in town tomorrow, Mr. Feld, please daven at Shaarei Tefilla. Oh please, please, please. Okay, enough gushing and making a fool of myself.

Aw, I just read in his blog that he’s married. Bad for me, good for him!