Mark Evanier's Blog, page 93

Signs of Las Vegas #3

When it first opened its doors in 1950, Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn in Las Vegas was more like a motel than the giant hotel of the same name that would soon stand on that choice hunk of real estate.  The complex had been built with mob money and for a time, was probably the nicest place you could stay in that town. The above photo was taken in 1951 and as you can see, the star attraction then was Tom Ball's China Doll Revue, "direct from Broadway." That would make you think the China Dolls came from a Broadway theater. They did not. They came from Tom Ball's China Doll nightclub located in New York on 51st Street near Broadway. More on that place and them in another, upcoming post.

The photo of the Desert Inn may not seem like a very interesting photo to you but it is to me.  My parents were married at the Desert Inn in March of 1951 and honeymooned there.  For all I know, they might have been staying there when this pic was snapped.  One of those cars out front could even have been my father's car. I have no idea what he was driving then.

The morning of March 3, he drove it — whatever it was — to the L.A. Airport and picked up my mother, who had flown all night from Hartford, Connecticut to get there.  The two of them then drove to Las Vegas where they picked up a marriage license, which they said was about as easy to do in Vegas then as buying a Hershey Bar.

Next, they drove to the Desert Inn. Compared to the kind of mega-resorts they're building these days in Vegas, the Desert Inn probably looked like an outhouse with a couple of slot machines in it. There, they checked into a room and visited a little wedding chapel on the premises to say their "I do"s. My mother recalled they had to wait in line because there were three couples ahead of them.

Once they were joined in holy matrimony 'til death would them part, they had dinner in the hotel's fanciest restaurant, then retired to their room for the night.  When they told me about all this, they didn't mention anything about seeing Tom Ball's China Doll Revue but maybe they took it in the next evening.

Come to think of it, probably not. And no, I was not conceived at the Desert Inn.  I was born exactly one year later. They were enormously happily-married until my father died in 1991, nine days after they celebrated forty years of marriage.

The Desert Inn, which some of you saw in the Albert Brooks film, Lost in America (and other movies) was torn down in 2000 soon after its fifty year anniversary celebration. A few years before they did that to it, I took my mother there for dinner and a show, and we got to talking with a waitress who'd worked there for twenty-plus years.

My mother asked if any part of the original structure still remained. The waitress said no and my mother said, "That's too bad. I left a red sock here in 1951 and I was hoping it might still be around someplace." The waitress said, "Well, you're welcome to check the Lost and Found but I don't think it'll do you much good."

The Desert Inn was replaced by the Wynn Las Vegas, which cost $2.7 billion to build. If you ever stay there and you happen to see a red sock lying around…

Today's Video Link

Long ago in another era, I was known to hang around The Comedy Store and The Improv a fair amount of time and I saw a lot of great comedians and some who, deservedly, you've never heard of. There were certain comics who didn't get a lot of respect from their peers but there were some who did. When Richard Pryor or David Letterman or Jay Leno went on, other comedians would stop hitting on waitresses and talking smack about their competition and listen to the person on stage…and they always stopped and listened when Gary Mule Deer went on. It's nice to hear that he's still doing it…

Today's Bonus Video Link

One of the few things in the news I'm following is the sale of Alex Jones's Info Wars operation to, perhaps, the folks who bring us The Onion. I don't understand the intricacies of the auction and after watching this video from our old friend, the Legal Eagle, I know a lot more about it but understand a lot less.

I also don't understand why anyone even slightly expects Mr. Jones to change his act. It's an act that made him very wealthy in the first place, very famous and very beloved by enough of the population for there always to be a market for said act. Why suddenly be reasonable when being fiercely unreasonable has made you a success beyond your wildest dreams? Okay, so he's not as wealthy now as once was. He's surely not going to give up on the chance of getting some or all of it back.

Here's one of the Eagle's associates laying the matter out for us. There's also a commercial in here for Ground News, the same folks who've been sponsoring Randy Rainbow as of late. If I weren't trying not to follow most of the news these days, I might take advantage of their subscription discount offer…

Shoulda Mentioned This…

If you're going to participate in Open Registration this Saturday for the 2025 Comic-Con International, you might do well to read this page from the folks at The San Diego Comic-Con Unofficial Blog. They're not affiliated, connected or associated with Comic-Con International but they sure are helpful.

Note to Self:

Set up to record ABC's news show 20/20 next week on Wednesday, Nov. 27 at 9 PM in my and most time zones. They're doing a two-hour episode subtitled, The Untold Story of Mary Poppins: A Special Edition of 20/20, full of interviews and old footage about the 1964 movie. And yeah, it's a crossplug to promote that movie which they're airing the next night but it should still be of interest. (I like the movie too but I have it on DVD and watch it whenever I like — without commercials.)

Meanwhile, I set up my streaming/DVR thingie (I'm no longer using TiVo) to record a reunion concert for the Broadway show Ragtime which PBS announced they'd run on November 29…and now they're not running it. This is the second time they've scheduled it for broadcast and then someone reneged or whatever happened. But they're not airing it…then, at least.

Today's Video Link

The Adelaide Central Market in Adelaide, South Australia is one of the oldest markets on that continent. It's said to be a great place to shop for fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, cheeses and baked goods…and every so often, you can find a production of Sweeney Todd in its aisles…

Today's Video Links

I like to link links. At the 1974 Academy Awards ceremony, Jack Lemmon won Best Actor for Save the Tiger beating out a pretty impressive list of nominees — Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino and Robert Redford…

And the next night, he did a suprise (to the audience) walk-on on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show…

More Marvel Music

Back in this message, we linked you to fresh, good quality audios of the opening and closing of the 1966 Marvel Super-Heroes cartoon show. All the themes from that series are now online and you can listen to 'em here. There's reportedly a vinyl (VINYL!) record of them out, too.

Fun in Hi Skule

Here's me filling out one of those online questionnaires that make the rounds. This one's about one's Senior Year in high school…

Class of: 1969

Did you know your current love? Nope.Type of car? Didn't have a car then. I was highly dependent on the Santa Monica Bus Lines.What kind of work did you do? A tiny bit of writing that paid a tiny bit of money.Where did you live? West Los Angeles.Were you popular? No but I wasn't unpopular.  And some kids liked that I could say silly things at the right moment.Were you in band or choir? No, that would have required talents I have never possessed and will never possess.Ever get suspended? Nope.  Never did anything wrong except the one time I slugged a guy in the locker room.  The Boys' Vice-Principal took a look at our respective records of behavior and expelled the other guy. Such is the value of having a reputation for never doing anything wrong.If you could, would you go back? Not a chance.  It would be like going back to prison.Still talk to the person that you went to prom with? Didn't go to the prom.  That might have required dancing, another of those talents I have never possessed and will never possess.Did you skip school? No.  I never did anything wrong except as noted above.Go to all the Football games? I have never been to a football game in my entire life.  I don't really even know how the game is played. Is that the one with the puck?Favorite subject? None of them but if you forced me to pick the one that's been the most useful in my life, it would be Typing where I learned to do what I'm doing at this very moment.Do you still have your yearbook? Somewhere.Did you follow your career path? Absolutely but in strange, unpredictable ways.Do you still have your high school ring? Somewhere.Who was your favorite teacher? I liked a Physiology teacher named Mrs. Jodele for reasons that had nothing to do with Physiology.  We just kind of became friends and had interesting conversations. Back when I was surrounded by girls, there was a value in learning a bit about how to talk to a woman.What was your hairstyle? Uncombed, even just minutes after I'd combed it.Favorite shoes? I had these ugly, prescription orthopedic shoes that weighed a ton and made me walk like a duck. I no longer have to wear them but I still walk like a duck.Favorite food? Probably Italian.Favorite band? When pressed to name one, I would usually say The Association but I really didn't have a favorite.What cologne/perfume? Buitoni Meat Sauce, probably.How old were you when you graduated? Seventeen.  I'd skipped a couple grades then missed half of one due to a childhood illness.Who will play along? I have no idea what this question means.What high school did you attend? University High School in West L.A.  It's still there but the important thing is that I'm not still there.

A Quick ASK me: Alan Sacks

I have a whole bunch of messages like this one from Jim Graves…

I'm probably not the first to send you this, but in case I am, here is an article in the Hollywood Reporter website regarding the death of Welcome Back, Kotter co-creator Alan Sacks. I assume you knew him from your time working on the show, perhaps you even knew him well. If you counted him as a friend, my condolences on your loss.

Thanks but I'm afraid I never met Alan Sacks. He had — and I'm sure, still has — a fine reputation as both a writer and a human being. But I don't think he ever came around when I was working on that show… or if he did, no one bothered to introduce him to me. My loss, I guess.

But I got a number of e-mails about Mr. Sacks and every day or two, I get a message asking "Why didn't you write an obit for So-and-So?" referring to someone else. Sometimes, they presume I had a grudge or something against the person. No. I either never knew the deceased or couldn't think of anything to say about them that had not already been said elsewhere. Please…don't assume I'm snubbing someone who just died. The reason I'm not posting about them is almost certainly not that. It might even be that I hadn't heard about their passing.