I’m now at the Rat Pack chapter and the early 1960s.

Reading this a 2nd time proves (to me) how much of this book entered my sub-conscious the first time I read it.

I’ve read a few hundred books about Las Vegas & gaming since 1995. I have five favorites. I would place this book and ‘Viva Las Vegas: Architecture After-Hours’ as (IMO) the two most important Vegas books to take to a deserted island (and the two most packed with well researched information, unique observations & inspired assements).

I’ll probably finish this book by Saturday and can then get back to a project I was working on…with a clearer perspective than I had before.

From ‘Wonder Pets’ to the ‘Suburban Xanadu’, Dr. Davenschwartzer covers it all.

When I am out with my friends at a tavern called Rossi’s on State Street in Chicago I occasionally wear my Las Vegas t-shirt (the only one I have has a picture of Frank, Dean and Sammy on it in front of The Welcome to Las Vegas sign) and people will see my t-shirt and start talking about Las Vegas. Rossi’s customers include a mix of locals, restaurant and hotel workers who work near by, conventioneers and tourists. When I tell them I lived in Las Vegas for 4 years they tell me where they stayed, how much money they won, how the mob still runs Las Vegas, etc., etc. It’s pretty funny and almost always entertaining.

It was good to read your article and looking at Vegas from a kid’s happy perspective.

BTW. Earlier today I read your (‘Suburban Xanadu’) concept of the “green felt jungle” being more like a “green felt garden”. How appropriate. And now your column is called the “Green Felt Journal”

This ‘Vegas Seven’ Magazine did a good thing by placing the full contents on-line. It’s definitely a good way of getting their magazine “known” by those of us who might not have seen it on news-stands or have been likely to purchase it.

Their zooming feature allowed me to also read that good article about Lake Mead & the El Nino effect. Who would have known that this weather pattern (named after a “little child”) might be the thing that keeps Vegas from drying up.

As self-sufficient as our city seems (trucking in goods, etc) we still need to rely on Mother Nature’s providence to a high degree.

One thing I’ve always thought of as sort of a miracle is the fact that Earth’s temperature never goes higher than 137 degrees. What if we couldn’t depend on that consistency?

Here’s a fun fact (from my ‘Dunlop Illustrated Encyclopedia of Facts’):

The hottest place (‘mean temperature’) in the USA is in Key West, Florida (76.6F). The hottest in the world is Somalia (88F).

Highest USA temperature on record: 134 degrees in Death Valley on July 10, 1913.

……..

That’s actually pretty good, though, seeing as most Americans couldn’t name that many things in Jordan.

And it’s not an excerpt… it’s what we in the business call a “rehash.” I spent many agonizing minutes making it not an excerpt.

Pop culture portrayals of gambling, Las Vegas, etc. are fascinating to me–I think these so-called philosophers nowadays have some theories about “particularity” or something–like what is it about, say, Nevada, that is particularly Nevada to non-Nevadans? When Nevadans NOT from Las Vegas ever leave Nevada, and say they are from Nevada, the automatic response is, “Oh yes! I know Las Vegas!” (Or Orange Countians are categorized as gun-toting Birchers, and so on.)

When overseas I found it more productive to say I was from Disneyland, which is close enough.