1.
Las Vegas
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The city anchors the Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area and is the largest city within the greater Mojave Desert. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment and it is the leading financial, commercial, and cultural center for Nevada. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World and it is a top three destination in the United States for business conventions and a global leader in the hospitality industry, claiming more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any city in the world. Today, Las Vegas annually ranks as one of the worlds most visited tourist destinations. The citys tolerance for numerous forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of Sin City, and has made Las Vegas a popular setting for literature, films, television programs, Las Vegas was settled in 1905 and officially incorporated in 1911. At the close of the 20th century, it was the most populated American city founded within that century, population growth has accelerated since the 1960s, and between 1990 and 2000 the population nearly doubled, increasing by 85. 2%. Rapid growth has continued into the 21st century, and according to a 2013 estimate, perhaps the earliest visitors to the Las Vegas area were nomadic Paleo-Indians, who traveled there 10,000 years ago, leaving behind petroglyphs. Anasazi and Paiute tribes followed at least 2,000 years ago, a young Mexican scout named Rafael Rivera is credited as the first non-Native American to encounter the valley, in 1829. Trader Antonio Armijo led a 60-man party along the Spanish Trail to Los Angeles, the area was named Las Vegas, which is Spanish for the meadows, as it featured abundant wild grasses, as well as desert spring waters for westward travelers. The year 1844 marked the arrival of John C, frémont, whose writings helped lure pioneers to the area. Downtown Las Vegas Fremont Street is named after him, eleven years later members of the LDS Church chose Las Vegas as the site to build a fort halfway between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, where they would travel to gather supplies. The fort was abandoned several years afterward, the remainder of this Old Mormon Fort can still be seen at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue. Las Vegas was founded as a city in 1905, when 110 acres of adjacent to the Union Pacific Railroad tracks were auctioned in what would become the downtown area. In 1911, Las Vegas was incorporated as a city,1931 was a pivotal year for Las Vegas. At that time, Nevada legalized casino gambling and reduced residency requirements for divorce to six weeks and this year also witnessed the beginning of construction on nearby Hoover Dam. The influx of workers and their families helped Las Vegas avoid economic calamity during the Great Depression. The construction work was completed in 1935, in 1941, the Las Vegas Army Air Corps Gunnery School was established. Currently known as Nellis Air Force Base, it is home to the team called the Thunderbirds
2.
Nevada
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Nevada is a state in the Western, Mountain West, and Southwestern regions of the United States of America. Nevada is the 7th most extensive, the 34th most populous, nearly three-quarters of Nevadas people live in Clark County, which contains the Las Vegas–Paradise metropolitan area where three of the states four largest incorporated cities are located. Nevada is officially known as the Silver State because of the importance of silver to its history and economy. It is also known as the Battle Born State, because it achieved statehood during the Civil War, as the Sage-brush State, for the plant of the same name. Nevada borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, Nevada is largely desert and semi-arid, much of it located within the Great Basin. Areas south of the Great Basin are located within the Mojave Desert, while Lake Tahoe, about 86% of the states land is managed by various jurisdictions of the U. S. federal government, both civilian and military. Before European contact, Native Americans of the Paiute, Shoshone, the first Europeans to explore the region were Spanish. They called the region Nevada because of the snow covered the mountains in winter. The area formed part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the United States annexed the area in 1848 after its victory in the Mexican–American War, and it was incorporated as part of Utah Territory in 1850. The discovery of silver at the Comstock Lode in 1859 led to a boom that became an impetus to the creation of Nevada Territory out of western Utah Territory in 1861. Nevada became the 36th state on October 31,1864, as the second of two added to the Union during the Civil War. Nevada has a reputation for its libertarian laws, in 1940, with a population of just over 110,000 people, Nevada was by far the least-populated state, with less than half the population of the next least-populated state. However, legalized gambling and lenient marriage and divorce laws transformed Nevada into a major tourist destination in the 20th century, Nevada is the only U. S. state where prostitution is legal, though it is illegal in Clark County, Washoe County and Carson City. The tourism industry remains Nevadas largest employer, with mining continuing as a sector of the economy. The name Nevada comes from the Spanish nevada, meaning snow-covered, most Nevadans pronounce the second syllable of their state name using the vowel of trap. Many from outside the Western United States pronounce it with the vowel of father, although the latter pronunciation is closer to the Spanish pronunciation, it is not the pronunciation preferred by most Nevadans. State Assemblyman Harry Mortenson proposed a bill to recognize the alternate pronunciation of Nevada, though the bill was not supported by most legislators, the Nevadan pronunciation is the de facto official one, since it is the one used by the state legislature. Nevada is almost entirely within the Basin and Range Province, and is broken up by many mountain ranges
3.
Fremont Street
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Fremont Street is a street in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is the second most famous street in the Las Vegas Valley after the Las Vegas Strip. The abundance of signs, like cowboy Vegas Vic, earned the street the nickname of Glitter Gulch. Fremont Street formerly carried several national highways, including U. S. Route 93, US95, US93 and US95 have been rerouted along Interstate 515, while US466 has been decommissioned. The section of Fremont Street east of the Fremont East District is currently designated Nevada State Route 582, Fremont Street dates back to 1905, when Las Vegas itself was founded. Fremont Street was the first paved street in Las Vegas in 1925, Fremont Street also carried the shields of U. S. Route 93, US95, and US466 before the construction of the interstates. While gambling was well established prior to being legalized, the Northern Club in 1931 received one of the first 6 gambling licenses issued in Nevada, Glitter Gulch was closed to vehicle traffic in September,1994 to begin construction on the Fremont Street Experience. The 1964 Elvis Presley film Viva Las Vegas featured nighttime footage of Fremont Street during the opening credits. The 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever featured a scene in which James Bond, running from Las Vegas police. The 1987 music video for the song I Still Havent Found What Im Looking For by U2 was filmed on Fremont Street and featured the members wandering around. In the 1987 anthology film, Aria, one of the segments involves two young lovers driving down Fremont Street before attempting suicide. The second season of the NBC show Crime Story featured Fremont Street in its opening credits, 1998s Very Bad Things featured Fremont Street in the movie. 1990s Honey, I Blew Up the Kid prominently featured Fremont Street in the movie, 1991s Cool World showed all the animation coming out of the Union Plaza Hotel and going down Fremont Street. In 1994, Glitter Gulch was featured prominently in the TV Miniseries The Stand, the 1997 comedy Vegas Vacation includes a few scenes on Fremont Street. In a 2005 release, Panic. at the Disco released a song about Fremont Street called Build God, Fremont Street appears in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas as The Old Las Venturas Strip. The 2007 film Next, has Nicolas Cages character entering the Golden Nugget from the Fremont Street Experience, Ice Cubes music video for Chrome and Paint took place on Fremont Street, with Ice Cube in a lowrider. Heavily referenced in the Tom Waits song Mr. Siegal, featured at the beginning of the TV series - CSI season 7 finale episode 24. Featured in the credits of the TV series Vega$. Magician & illusionist, Criss Angel, has done many demonstrations there, featured in The Real World, Las Vegas
4.
Young Electric Sign Company
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YESCO is a privately owned manufacturer of electric signs based in Salt Lake City, founded by Thomas Young in 1920. The company provides design, fabrication, installation and maintenance of signs, the company was created by Thomas Young on March 20,1920. The young sign painter had left England just a decade earlier to immigrate with his family to Ogden, in the beginning, his shop specialized in coffin plates, gold leaf window lettering, lighted signs and painted advertisements. As the science of lighting and sign-making advanced, so did Tom Young’s signs, in 1933, YESCO opened a branch office in the Apache Hotel in Las Vegas. The company erected their first neon sign in Las Vegas for the Boulder Club, YESCO – soon became recognized as a leader in the sign industry, tackling large and complex sign projects. For example, it erected the first neon sign in Las Vegas for the Boulder Club in the late ’30s. YESCO continues to design, build, install and maintain signs, in recent years, YESCO has built a substantial outdoor digital media division of its business. YESCO has approximately 1,000 employees, more than 40 offices, additional smaller manufacturing and service facilities are located through the United States and Canada. YESCO offers sign and lighting service franchises in states east of Colorado, in 2015 Young Electric Sign Company sold YESCO Electronics, a child company, to Samsung. In this sale Samsung gained the YESCO Electronics manufacturing plant and all the employees of YESCO Electronics, YESCO Electronics is known for their outdoor electronic media signs. NBC ushered in the millennium with a new YESCO “message globe” in its NBC Experience store, the electronic sign quickly became recognized as one of the most distinctive electronic displays in the world. From the outside of the building, it looks like a brilliant illuminated globe, the 35’-diameter hemisphere is covered with thousands of full-color LEDs. Colorful video and special effects, along with animations provided by YESCO’s media services group, are displayed on the globe’s surface, when it was first turned on, it literally stopped traffic on West 49th Street. Perhaps the world’s most recognized electronic sign, Vegas Vic was designed by, upon its installation in 1951 over the Pioneer Club on historical Fremont Street, the 40-tall electronic cowboy immediately became Las Vegas’s unofficial greeter. The 135-foot tall marquee features a 100-foot high, 50-foot wide, concave, double-faced LED message center with a first-of-its-kind “moving eraser. ”Conceived by Steve Wynn, the eraser weighs 62,000 pounds, and is counterbalanced by a 62, 000-pound weight inside the sign. The sign uses 4,377,600 LEDs and the eraser is powered by a 300 horsepower motor at its base that runs a gear, some of the retired signs include the sign for the Silver Slipper casino and Aladdins lamp from the first version of Aladdin Casino. In 2004 the Binions Horseshoe sign Harrahs, YESCO installed the vaulted canopy arching 90 feet above four blocks of Fremont Street. Born in Sunderland, England, in 1895, Thomas Young was 15 years old when his family emigrated to Ogden, hard-working and talented, the boy applied his passion to making signs, becoming a Master Sign Writer
5.
Martin Stern Jr.
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Martin Stern Jr. was an American architect who was most widely known for his large scale designs and structures in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is credited with originating the concept of the structurally integrated casino resort complex in Las Vegas, the International Hotel, which later became the Las Vegas Hilton, and the first MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, two pivotal Martin Stern Jr. When it was completed, the International was the largest hotel in the world and it is now the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino. The first MGM Grand, larger than the Empire State Building and in its turn the largest hotel in the world, as the Telegraph observed, this loss only seven years after the hotel was completed was devastating to Stern. The MGM Grand was nonetheless rebuilt within eight months and reopened and it was sold in 1985 and is now Ballys Las Vegas. Nearly half of Martin Stern Jr. s projects were in Nevada while another quarter were in California, the following partial listing by decades sketches less than one third of Sterns work. 1955, Encino Village, a subdivision of 400 homes in Encino, Los Angeles,1955, Holiday Hotel Reno in Reno, Nevada - the birthplace of the World Series of Poker. 1958-61, Mountain Shadows in Scottsdale, Arizona 1959, Del Webbs Towne House, on Market between 7th and 8th Streets in San Francisco, California. 1960, Paradise Valley Country Club, Paradise Valley, Arizona 1963, Ships Coffee Shop, Los Angeles, California,1963, Beverly Hills, California Public Library. 1964, Kaanapali Beach Hotel, Maui, Hawaii 1964, Del Webbs Ocean House in Mission Bay, San Diego,1966, The Silver Slipper Hotel, known for its giant rotating rooftop silver slipper, Las Vegas. Purchased in 1968 by Howard Hughes,1969, Kings Castle in Incline Village, Nevada 1969, International Hotel, with Kirk Kirkorian. The International Hotel was purchased by the Hilton Hotels Corporation in 1970,1973, MGM Grand Hotel and Casino with Kirk Kirkorian. Rebuilt after the 1980 MGM Grand fire, sold in 1986 and reopened as Ballys Las Vegas. 1974, Las Vegas Hilton Benihana Village
6.
Off-roading
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Off-roading is the activity of driving or riding a vehicle on unsurfaced roads or tracks, made of materials such as sand, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, and other natural terrain. Types of off-roading range in intensity, from leisure drives with unmodified vehicles to competitions with customized vehicles, off-roaders have been met with criticism for the environmental damage incurred by their vehicles. There have also been extensive debates over the role of government in regulating the sport, traveling on off-road terrains require vehicles capable of accommodating off-road driving such as ATVs. These vehicles accommodate off road conditions with extended ground clearance, off-road tires, some manufacturers offer vehicles specifically meant for off-road use. Some examples of recreational off-roading include the following, Dune bashing is a form of off-roading on sand dunes, a Large sport utility vehicle such as the Toyota Land Cruiser is an example of vehicle used. Vehicles driven on dunes may be equipped with a cage in case of an overturn, Similar to auto-racing, experience and skill is required to maneuver the car. Before entering the desert in an everyday-use SUV or pickup, it is essential to reduce the tire pressure. This is done to more traction by increasing the footprint of the tire and, therefore. For example, tires with a pressure of 35 psi would be reduced to approximately 12-14 psi. A common modification is to fit beadlock rims, which allow tire pressure to be lowered further, without risking tire. Upon entering the desert, it is common to meet with a pack of vehicles, the group leader then leads the pack through the stunts in single file. The main reason for this technique is to prevent vehicles from losing track of direction, high speed racing in the open desert includes chases and racing on a rough desert terrain with numerous pots and bumps at the maximum speed. Drivers mostly use RWD and 4WD trucks with long travel suspension, wide stance on the front and this type of trucks is often called Prerunner. Routes in Africa generally have obstacles in largely uninhabited and uncharted terrain and these circuit routes are over 50 km and usually around 300 km long This is a type of travel undertaken with a 4x4 that mostly goes over tracks and contains some bits of off-roading. Traditionally these trips are going through relatively uninhabited areas, popular are the deserts in Tunisia, Morocco and other North African countries, continent crossing trips through Africa, trips through Mongolia or Northern Scandinavia. Due to the weight the suspension is often reinforced with stronger springs. Green laning is a pursuit, generally suitable for any four-wheel-drive vehicle. The term green lane refers to the fact that the routes are predominantly along unsurfaced tracks, forest tracks, in the UK they are usually roads which are not maintained in any way and will often include fords
7.
Hunter S. Thompson
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Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author, and the founder of the gonzo journalism movement. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, to a family, Thompson had a turbulent youth after the death of his father left the family in poverty. He was unable to finish high school as he was incarcerated for 60 days after abetting a robbery. He subsequently joined the United States Air Force before moving into journalism and he traveled frequently, including stints in California, Puerto Rico, and Brazil, before settling in Aspen, Colorado, in the early 1960s. Thompson became internationally known with the publication of Hells Angels, The Strange, for his research on the book he had spent a year living and riding with the Angels, experiencing their lives and hearing their stories first-hand. The work he remains best known for, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream, politically minded, Thompson ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado, in 1970, on the Freak Power ticket. Thompsons output notably declined from the mid-1970s, as he struggled with the consequences of fame and he was also known for his lifelong use of alcohol and illegal drugs, his love of firearms, and his iconoclastic contempt for authoritarianism. He remarked, I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, after a bout of health problems, Thompson committed suicide at the age of 67. In accordance with his wishes, his ashes were fired out of a cannon in a ceremony funded by his friend Johnny Depp and attended by friends including then-Senator John Kerry, hari Kunzru wrote that the true voice of Thompson is revealed to be that of American moralist. One who often makes himself ugly to expose the ugliness he sees around him and his parents were introduced to each other by a friend from Jacks fraternity at the University of Kentucky in September 1934, and married on November 2,1935. Thompsons first name came from an ancestor on his mothers side. On December 2,1943, when Thompson was six years old, on July 3,1952, when Thompson was 14 years old, his father, aged 58, died of myasthenia gravis. Hunter and his brothers, Davison Wheeler and James Garnet, were raised by their mother, Hunter also had a much older half-brother, James Thompson, Jr. from his fathers first marriage, who was not part of the Thompson household. Virginia worked as a librarian to support her children, and is described as having become a heavy drinker following her husbands death, ultimately he never joined any sports teams in high school. Thompson attended I. N. Bloom Elementary School, Highland Middle School, also in 1952, he was accepted as a member of the Athenaeum Literary Association, a school-sponsored literary and social club that dated to 1862. Its members at the time, generally drawn from Louisvilles wealthy upper-class families, included Porter Bibb, during this time Thompson read and admired J. P. Donleavys The Ginger Man. As an Athenaeum member, Thompson contributed articles to and helped produce the clubs yearbook The Spectator, the group ejected Thompson in 1955, citing his legal problems. Charged as an accessory to robbery after being in a car with the perpetrator and he served 31 days and, a week after his release, enlisted in the United States Air Force
8.
Oscar Zeta Acosta
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Oscar Zeta Acosta was an American attorney, politician, novelist and activist in the Chicano Movement. He was most well known for his novels Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo and The Revolt of the Cockroach People, Thompson characterized him as a heavyweight Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo, in his novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Acosta disappeared in 1974 during a trip in Mazatlan, Mexico, Acosta was born in El Paso, Texas to Manuel and Juanita Acosta, from Mexico and El Paso, respectively. Oscar was the child born but second to survive childhood. He had a brother, Roberto, born in 1934. After the family moved to California, the children were raised in the small San Joaquin Valley rural community of Riverbank, California, Acostas father was drafted during World War II. After finishing high school, Acosta joined the U. S. Air Force, following his discharge, Acosta worked his way through Modesto Junior College. He went on to San Francisco State University where he studied writing, becoming the first member of his family to get a college education. He attended night classes at San Francisco Law School and passed the California Bar exam in 1966, in 1967, Acosta began working locally as an antipoverty attorney for the East Oakland Legal Aid Society. In 1968, Acosta moved to East Los Angeles and joined the Chicano Movement as an activist attorney, defending Chicano groups and activists. He represented the Chicano 13 of the East L. A. walkouts, Rodolfo Gonzales, members of the Brown Berets and his controversial defenses earned him the ire of the LAPD, who often followed and harassed him. Local law enforcement and the FBI linked Acosta to an organization called the Chicano Liberation Front. In 1970, Acosta ran for sheriff of Los Angeles County against Peter J. Pitchess, during the campaign, he was jailed for two days for contempt of court. He vowed that if elected, he would do away with the Sheriffs Department as it was then constituted. Known for loud ties and a flowered attaché case with a Chicano Power sticker, Acosta lost to Pitchess 1.3 million votes, in 1972, Acosta published his first novel, Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo, about a lawyer fighting for the rights of a marginalized people. In 1973, Acosta published The Revolt of the Cockroach People, in the summer of 1967, Acosta met author Hunter S. Thompson. In 1971, Thompson wrote an article on Acosta and the injustice in the barrios of East Los Angeles, for Rolling Stone magazine, titled Strange Rumblings in Aztlan. This article also discusses the death of Los Angeles Times columnist Rubén Salazar, Thompson wrote about this trip in his 1972 novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
9.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream is a novel by Hunter S. Thompson, illustrated by Ralph Steadman. The book is a roman à clef, rooted in autobiographical incidents, the work is Thompsons most famous book, and is noted for its lurid descriptions of illegal drug use and its early retrospective on the culture of the 1960s. Its popularization of Thompsons highly subjective blend of fact and fiction has become known as gonzo journalism, the novel first appeared as a two-part series in Rolling Stone magazine in 1971, was published as a book in 1972. It was later adapted into a film of the name in 1998 by Terry Gilliam, starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro who portrayed Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo. The novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is based on two trips to Las Vegas, Nevada, that Hunter S. Thompson took with attorney and Chicano activist Oscar Zeta Acosta in March and April 1971. Thompson wrote that he concluded their March trip by spending some 36 hours alone in a hotel room feverishly writing in my notebook about his experiences and these writings became the genesis of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream. He had first submitted a 2, 500-word manuscript to Sports Illustrated that was aggressively rejected, Thompson joined the array of Vegas experiences within what he called an essentially fictional framework that described a singular free-wheeling trip to Vegas peppered with creative licenses. The novel lacks a narrative and frequently delves into the surreal. The basic synopsis revolves around journalist Raoul Duke and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo, however, this job is repeatedly obstructed by their constant use of a variety of recreational drugs, including LSD, ether, cocaine, alcohol, mescaline, and cannabis. The preface quotes Samuel Johnson, He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man, Thompson posits that his drug use is intended to render him a mess, that he is the poster boy of a generation of cripples and seekers. Their erratic behaviour depicts the failure his generation feels. The wave speech is an important passage at the end of the chapter that captures the hippie zeitgeist. Strange memories on this night in Las Vegas. It seems like a lifetime, or at least a Main Era—the kind of peak that never comes again, san Francisco in the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. Maybe not, in the long run… but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los Altos or La Honda. … You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a universal sense that whatever we were doing was right. Not in any mean or military sense, we didnt need that, there was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs
10.
Milton Prell
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Milton Prell was a hotel owner and developer most notable for his projects in Las Vegas, Nevada. Born in Saint Louis, Missouri, as a man he moved to Los Angeles. He was good friends with Colonel Tom Parker, best known as the manager of Elvis Presley, Elvis married Priscilla in Prells apartment at the Aladdin Hotel in a private wedding shielded from the media. Prell was married to Devorah Zion on July 9,1945, they had one child, Prell started in the gambling business with a bingo palace in California. Prell ordered that the prizes were to be given out honestly to the players, Milton Prell was a successful jewelry salesman in Los Angeles and moved to Butte, Montana in the 1930s. According to the Las Vegas Sun, “, went on to become an automobile salesman and later he became a jewelry salesman. Before long he organized his own organization which rapidly became one of the most successful in California. In 1937, still thinking in terms of his dream, Prell gave up his business in Los Angeles and moved to Butte. He originally planned to enter the business in Montana, but was sidetracked by the business potentialities of fabulous Las Vegas. ”Frank Schivo. Frank’s mother Emma, operated a small café and bar in Butte, the Schivos and the Prells became friends early on and Frank went to work in Prell’s casino behind his retail operation which was a front for the illegal but tolerated gaming operation. Schivo became a protégé of Prell and travelled with him to Reno and Las Vegas, after many preliminary trips to Nevada, Mr. Prell and his family moved to Las Vegas in 1945 with the idea of opening a small hotel. Remembering the success of his club in Butte, however, he decided first to open a similar spot, Club Bingo soon became one of the most popular non-hotel gathering places in Las Vegas and its rapid success again brought forth they young Milton Prells dream. Eda Schivo, Frank’s sister became Milton Prell’s private executive secretary, and her brother Frank Schivo became Prell’s key employee in the Club Bingo, Milton Prells first project in Las Vegas was Club Bingo on the Las Vegas Strip. This club was opened in 1947 before many of the hotels and casinos had opened on the strip. In 1952 the Club Bingo closed and the building was remodeled, Club Bingo opened on July 24,1947 with 240 rooms on the Los Angeles Highway across from the El Rancho Vegas. In addition to other games, it featured a 300-seat bingo parlor. Milton Prell took over in 1952, remodeled the club and opened in October of that year as the Sahara, called The Jewel in the Desert by Prell, the Sahara had a Moroccan theme with statues of camels standing in front of the hotel. Prell sold the Sahara to Del Webb in 1961 who owned it for the next 21 years, during that time Webb added the tower increasing the hotel to nearly 1,000 rooms
11.
SLS Las Vegas
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The SLS Hotel & Casino Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It is owned by Stockbridge Real Estate, the hotel was formerly known as the Sahara Hotel and Casino. It was in operation under that name for 59 years from 1952 to 2011, the hotel had 1,720 guestrooms and suites with a casino covering more than 85,000 square feet, and sits on 55 acres including the All Net Resort and Arena. The hotel is the site of the SLS station, the northernmost stop for the Las Vegas Monorail, the SLS anchored the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip. The renovated property reopened on August 23,2014, after a $415 million renovation as part of SBEs chain of SLS hotels, the first casino built on the site was the Club Bingo, which opened in 1947. Owner Milton Prell replaced the casino with a new hotel in 1952 called the Sahara Hotel. It was located just outside the City of Las Vegas, and was the resort to open on the Strip. The resort was built by Del Webb, the Sahara was one of the last remaining vintage Rat Pack casino-hotels, leaving only the Flamingo, Caesars Palace and The Tropicana. The porte-cochere entrance, topped by a minaret, was designed to set the resorts warm Moroccan flavor. In late 1954, the hotel hired jazz musician Louis Prima to be their late night lounge act, along with his then-wife Keely Smith and sax player Sam Butera, they created one of the hottest late-night attractions on the Strip. In 1956, Abbott and Costello appeared together for the last time on the Sahara stage before their permanent breakup, the hotel constructed the first high-rise tower on the Strip in 1959, designed by Martin Stern. In 1961, the hotel was purchased by Del Webb, in 1962, a Don the Beachcomber restaurant opened in the hotel, becoming a top attraction to not only hotel guests but a variety of celebrities as well. A 24-story tower was added in 1963, which made the hotel the tallest building in Las Vegas, the resort was the site of the annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon for many years, mostly in the 1970s, and for a brief time in the 1990s. Performers at the resort over the years have included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, in 1964, The Beatles stayed at the Sahara and played two shows at the nearby Las Vegas Convention Center. Del Webb ran into problems in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He sold the Sahara to Paul Lowden for $50 million in 1982, ownership changed in 1995, when Archon Corporation sold the property to Bill Bennett. Bill Bennett owned the hotel until his death on December 22,2002, the 27-story tower addition was added in 1987, and a new porte-cochere was added by the relocated pool in 1997. In 1999, further added a roller coaster and a restaurant
12.
Planet Hollywood Las Vegas
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Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corporation, Hilton Grand Vacations operates the timeshare portion of the property, known as Elara. In April 2010, Total Rewards replaced the A-List Player rewards card at Planet Hollywood, the Tally-Ho was originally opened in 1963. In 1964, it was renamed Kings Crown and failed after six months, in 1966, it was purchased by Milton Prell, and the hotel got a $3 million renovation, including a new 500-seat Baghdad Theater showroom. Prell turned the English-themed hotel into an Arabian Nights theme, a serrated canopy and a $750,000 15-foot Aladdins Lamp sign were added. The Aladdin opened on March 31,1966, with flower petals pouring from the ceiling, the opening entertainment included comedian Jackie Mason, the Jet Set Revue, a musical review that showcased The Three Cheers and the Petite Rockette Dancers in the Baghdad Theatre. Prell introduced an innovative main showroom policy by offering three different shows twice nightly with no cover or minimum charges. The Aladdin contained a 9-hole golf course, a little more than a year after it was opened, the Aladdin was host to Elvis and Priscilla Presleys wedding. In August 1969, the Aladdin completed a $750,000 makeover including renovations to the Sinbad Lounge, a $250,000 porte-cochere continued the towers arabesques. The Aladdin added a new $300,000 140-foot blockbuster sign with little neon, huge attraction panels and none of the arabesque of the Aladdins original sign. The Aladdin celebrated the Grand Opening of their new Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts with singer Neil Diamond being paid $650,000 for four shows, the resort was sold to Wayne Newton and Ed Torres in 1980 for $85 million, snubbing an offer from comedian Johnny Carson. Newton sold his share to Torres 21 months later, Newton sued NBC, who had alleged in broadcasts, that his purchase of the Aladdin was tied to the mafia. He won a $22.8 million judgement, which was overturned on appeal, in February 1984, the Aladdin went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In 1981, heavy metal band Iron Maiden played at the Aladdin – it was their first ever concert in America, in 1986, Japanese businessman Ginji Yasuda purchased the Aladdin out of bankruptcy for $54 million. Yasuda spent an additional $35 million to refurbish the resort, Yasuda was removed as the casinos operator by state regulators in September 1988. Yasuda placed the resort in Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 1989, the property was publicly put up for sale in 1990, after months of unsuccessful private attempts to locate a buyer. The New Jersey-based Bell Atlantic-Tricon Leasing Corporation acquired the resort out of bankruptcy from Ginji Corporation in 1991 and that year, Bell Atlantic-Tricon put the property up for sale at a minimum price of $44 million. In January 1994, businessman Donald Trump considered purchasing the Aladdin for $51 million, Trump decided not to purchase the Aladdin as he felt the price was too high
13.
Las Vegas Strip
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The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of South Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip is approximately 4.2 miles in length, located south of the Las Vegas city limits in the unincorporated towns of Paradise. However, the Strip is often referred to as being in Las Vegas, most of the Strip has been designated an All-American Road, and is considered a scenic route at night. Many of the largest hotel, casino, and resort properties in the world are located on the Las Vegas Strip, fourteen of the worlds 25 largest hotels by room count are on the Strip, with a total of over 62,000 rooms. One of the most visible aspects of Las Vegas cityscape is its use of dramatic architecture, historically, the casinos that were not in Downtown Las Vegas along Fremont Street were limited to outside of the city limits on Las Vegas Boulevard. In 1959 the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign was constructed exactly 4.5 miles outside of the city limits, the sign is today about 0.4 miles south of the southernmost entrance to Mandalay Bay. In the strictest sense, the Strip refers only to the stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard that is roughly between Sahara Avenue and Russell Road, a distance of 4.2 miles. However, the term is used to refer not only to the road but also to the various casinos and resorts that line the road. The traditional definition considers the Strips northern terminus as the SLS, Mandalay Bay, located just north of Russell Road, is the southernmost resort considered to be on the Strip. Because of the number and size of the resorts, the Resort Corridor can be quite wide, Interstate 15 runs roughly parallel and 0.5 to 0.8 miles to the west of Las Vegas Boulevard for the entire length of the Strip. Paradise Road runs to the east in a fashion. The eastern side of the Strip is bounded by McCarran International Airport south of Tropicana Avenue, north of this point, the Resort Corridor can be considered to extend as far east as Paradise Road, although some consider Koval Lane as a less inclusive boundary. Interstate 15 is sometimes considered the edge of the Resort Corridor from Interstate 215 to Spring Mountain Road. North of this point, Industrial Road serves as the western edge, the famous Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign is located in the median just south of Russell Road, across from the now-demolished Klondike Hotel & Casino. Marketing for these casinos usually states that they are on southern Las Vegas Boulevard and not Strip properties. The first casino to be built on Highway 91 was the Pair-o-Dice Club in 1931 and that casino stood for almost 20 years before being destroyed by a fire in 1960. Its success spawned a second hotel on what would become the Strip, the funding for many projects was provided through the American National Insurance Company, which was based in the then notorious gambling empire of Galveston, Texas. Las Vegas Boulevard South was previously called Arrowhead Highway, or Los Angeles Highway, the Strip was named by Los Angeles police officer and businessman Guy McAfee, after his hometowns Sunset Strip
14.
Groundbreaking
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Such ceremonies are often attended by dignitaries such as politicians and businessmen. The actual shovel or spade used during the actual groundbreaking is often a special ceremonial shovel meant to be saved for subsequent display, commemorative information may be subsequently engraved on the shovel. In some places, clergy may also provide blessings, particularly if the building is being constructed by a church or religious-affiliated organization. The term groundbreaking, when used as an adjective, may mean being or making something that has never been done, seen, or made before, builders rites Topping out Cornerstone Publicity stunt Ribbon cutting ceremony Media related to Ground-breaking ceremonies at Wikimedia Commons
15.
Topping out
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In building construction, topping out is a builders rite traditionally held when the last beam is placed atop a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony is often parlayed into an event for public relations purposes. Long an important component of timber frame building, it migrated initially to England and Northern Europe, a tree or leafy branch is placed on the topmost wood or iron beam, often with flags and streamers tied to it. A toast is usually drunk and sometimes workers are treated to a meal, in masonry construction the rite celebrates the bedding of the last block or brick. In some cases a topping out event is held at an intermediate point, in New Zealand, completion of the roof to a water-proof state is celebrated through a roof shout, where workers are treated to cake and beer. The tradition of pannenbier is popular in the Netherlands and Flanders and it stays in place until the buildings owner provides free beer to the workers, after which it is lowered. It is considered if it remains flown for more than a few days. The topping out traditions of the high-steel ironworkers, Topping Off. at the Wayback Machine. Http, //www. stp. uh. edu/vol68/160/news/news4. html Tree symbolizes campus growth, The Daily Cougar, Volume 68, Issue 160, Monday,28 July 2003, Topping Off at the Wayback Machine. National Review, December 23,2003 Richtfest. info A German language site about the topping out ceremonies, Topping out Roberts Pavilion Topping out the new athletic building at Claremont McKenna College
16.
The Landmark Hotel and Casino
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The Landmark Tower was a hotel and casino located in Paradise, Nevada. The Landmark opened on July 1,1969, and closed on August 8,1990, today, the property which once housed the Landmark is a 2,948 space parking lot for the Las Vegas Convention Center. The Landmark played host to famous celebrities such as Danny Thomas, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, with just 525 rooms, the Landmark was small in comparison to the newer Las Vegas megaresorts. In 1961, Frank Caroll purchased 22 acres the lot at the corner of Convention Center Drive and Paradise Road in Paradise, Nevada. With a $3 million loan from the Appliance Buyers Credit Corporation, Caroll and his group hired John W. Jamieson of Tustin, edward Hendricks of Los Angeles was contracted to oversee the tower construction. Construction of the reinforced concrete tower, using a patented method of concrete slip forming, was directed by the San Francisco office of MacDonald Engineering. The original plan was to build a 15-story tower, the tallest in Nevada at that time and this was increased to 31 stories, when The Mint Hotel downtown decided to add more floors to its tower to claim the height record. In the end, the title went to Landmark, in December 1962, Caroll ran out of funding to complete the project. His creditors refused to lend him money to complete the tower. The tower sat 80% complete, just an empty shell, in 1966, after four years of dormancy, the Teamsters Union Pension Fund awarded Caroll $5.5 million to complete the Landmark. Work resumed and the tower was completed by early 1967, Landmark announced the opening of its main showroom and lounges on New Years Eve,1967 but due to lack of funding it did not open on time. The Carolls expected to have the open in April 1968. On January 17,1969, reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes purchased the Landmark, unlike Hughes other Las Vegas hotels, Landmark had yet to be opened. This allowed Hughes to make all the decisions from room decor to employee uniforms. After eight years in the phase, The Landmark Hotel & Casino opened on July 1,1969 with a celebration of 500 invited guests. Many top performers, such as Liberace, George Burns, Pat Cooper, having top performers at the Landmark did not continue, as the Landmark was not a high profit venture. Throughout the 1970s, continuing financial troubles and bad publicity plagued Landmark, in 1970 Hughes fled Las Vegas, leaving control of his hotels to his company, Summa Corp. Landmark reported a loss of $5.9 million that year, in 1974, William G. Bennett and William Pennington made an offer to buy the Landmark, but every time they came close to a deal, Hughes raised the price
17.
Binion's Gambling Hall and Hotel
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Binions Gambling Hall & Hotel, formerly Binions Horseshoe, is a casino on the Fremont Street Experience in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned by TLC Casino Enterprises, the casino is named for its founder, Benny Binion, whose family ran it from its founding in 1951 until 2004. The hotel, which had 366 rooms, closed in 2009, Benny Binion bought the Eldorado Club and Apache Hotel in 1951, re-opening them as Binions Horseshoe. The casinos interior had a flavor, like an old-style riverboat, with low ceilings. It was the first casino in downtown Las Vegas to replace sawdust-covered floors with carpeting, Binion also instituted high table limits. When Binion first opened the Horseshoe, he set the table limit at $500—ten times higher than any other casino in Las Vegas at the time. Ultimately, Binions raised the limit to $10,000 and even eliminated table limits completely at times. Unlike other casinos, the emphasis at Binions was on gambling, the casino was also very egalitarian, there were no private pits for high rollers. Other members of Binions family were involved in the casino and his sons, Jack and Ted, supervised the games, while his wife, Teddy Jane, kept the books until her death in 1994. Benny served time in Leavenworth Penitentiary from 1953 to 1957 for tax evasion and he sold a majority share of the casino to fellow gambler and New Orleans oilman Joe W. Brown to cover back taxes and legal costs. It was generally understood, however, that Brown was only a caretaker and he did not regain full control, however, until 1964. While Brown operated the casino, he installed the famous $1 million display on the casino floor and he sold the display in 1959 and it was later recreated using 100 $10,000 bills by Benny in 1964. The display became one of the casinos attractions, as a convicted felon, Benny was no longer allowed to hold a gaming license, so his sons took over day-to-day control when the family bought out Brown. Jack became president while Ted became casino manager, Benny assumed the title of Director of Public Relations. In 1970, Jack began hosting the World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe, eventually, the WSOP became the largest set of poker tournaments in the world. In 1988, the Horseshoe expanded by acquiring The Mint, a hotel on the west side of the casino. The expansion of the casino from this purchase provided room for Binions first poker room, Ted was under constant scrutiny from the Nevada Gaming Commission from 1986 onward for drug problems and associating with known mob figure Fat Herbie Blitzstein. He would ultimately be banned from entering his familys casino
18.
Patsy Cline
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Patsy Cline was an American country music singer. Part of the late 1950s/early 1960s Nashville sound, Cline successfully crossed over to pop music and was one of the most influential, successful and she died at the age of 30 in a multiple-fatality crash of the private plane of her manager, Randy Hughes. Cline was known for her tone, emotionally expressive and bold contralto voice. Along with Kitty Wells, she helped pave the way for women as performers in the genre. Books, movies, documentaries, articles and stage plays document her life, millions of her records have sold since her death. She won awards and accolades, causing many to view her as an icon at the level of Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash, in 1973, ten years after her death, she became the first female solo artist inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1999, she was voted number 11 on VH1s special, The 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll, by members, according to her 1973 Country Music Hall of Fame plaque, Her heritage of timeless recordings is testimony to her artistic capacity. She was born Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8,1932, in Winchester, Virginia and she was the eldest child of seamstress Hilda Virginia and blacksmith Samuel Lawrence Hensley. She soon had a brother and sister, Samuel Jr. They were known in the family as Ginny, John, the family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia, when Patsy was eight. Sam Hensley deserted his family in 1947, but the home was reportedly happy nonetheless. Cline was introduced to music at an age, singing in church with her mother. She liked stars such as Kay Starr, Jo Stafford, Hank Williams, Judy Garland, self-taught, she could not read music. When Patsy was thirteen, she was hospitalized with a throat infection, the fever affected my throat and when I recovered I had this booming voice like Kate Smith. After watching performers through the window at the radio station, she asked WINC disc jockey. Her performance in 1947 was well received, and she was asked back and this led to appearances at local nightclubs, wearing fringed Western outfits her mother made from Patsys designs. Cline performed in variety and talent shows in the Winchester and Tri-State areas, along with this and increasing local radio appearances on local radio, she gained a large following. In 1954 Jimmy Dean, already a young star, heard of her
19.
Tompall & the Glaser Brothers
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Tompall & the Glaser Brothers were an American country music group composed of three brothers, Chuck (Charles Vernon Glaser, Jim, and Tompall. The trio were the sons of Alice Marie Harriet Davis Glaser and Louis Nicholas Glaser of Spalding, the Glaser Brothers started singing together at country fairs and contests in and around the Spalding area when they were preteens. In 1957 the group got their big break when they appeared on the Arthur Godfreys Talent Show and attracted the attention of several well known country stars, Marty quickly signed them as backup singers on his albums and as solo artists on his record label. The brothers first single Five Penny Nickel, was released in 1958 on Robbins Records, between 1960 and 1975, the trio recorded ten studio albums and charted nine singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles charts. The Glasers became members of the Grand Ole Opry in the 1960s, the group was the most awarded group in country music in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They went on to be world wide and were awarded Billboards International Group of the Year multiple times. The group took a hiatus from 1973 to 1978, during which time and they reunited in 1979 and released several singles and two albums including, Loving Her Was Easier, which reached #2 on the Billboard charts. The brothers took on, and changed the Nashvilles country music machine in several dramatic ways, for example, in 1962 the Glaser Brothers started a publishing company, and began to take on songwriters that other name brand studios had chosen to ignore. One of those songwriters was John Hartford, who wrote one Gentle on My Mind, the popularity of the song is enormous as it has been recorded between 400–600 times and it has been performed live over 6 million times. In 1970 the brothers opened their own studio at 916 19th Ave, the new studio, Glaser Sound, was often referred to as Hillbilly Central because it was a haven for artists who wanted to have more artistic control over their own music and careers. The studio included a company, production company, talent agency. In that venue creative experimentation thrived as new opportunities for songwriters, on the very day that the publishing company was sold in 1975, Chuck was rushed to the hospital with a stroke. Tompall and Jim continued with their careers, both achieving success as solo artists. In 1990 the brothers were asked to reunite for one show at the Grand Ol’ Opry in a tribute to Hank Snow. Out of respect for Snow, they accepted the offer, there, at their last show together, they demonstrated one last time, the power of their exceptional harmonies. The documentary, produced by Newshound Productions, provides a lot of previously untold information about the brothers as individuals, the information for the documentary came from family, friends, and music industry insiders. In addition, multiple videos of the Glaser Brothers performances can be viewed on YouTube, today, Chuck and his wife, Beverly Ann Zegers Glaser, are the parents of 6 grown children,4 in-laws, and 12 grandchildren. Jim and his wife, Jane Evens Glaser, are the parents of 4 grown children,1 daughter-in-law, Jim is still performing at a variety of venues but Chuck has retired from the music business
20.
Lip sync
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The term can refer to any of a number of different techniques and processes, in the context of live performances and audiovisual recordings. In film production, lip-synching is often part of the postproduction phase, dubbing foreign-language films and making animated characters appear to speak both require elaborate lip-synching. Many video games make use of lip-synced sound files to create an immersive environment in which on-screen characters appear to be speaking. In the music industry, lip-synching is used by singers for music videos, television and film appearances, lip-syncing by singers can be controversial to fans attending concert performances who expect to view a live performance. Lip sync is also referred to as lip-sync or lip-synch, the term sync or synch is pronounced the same as sink. Lip-synching is considered a part of miming and it can be used to make it appear as though actors have substantial singing ability, to simulate a vocal effect that can be achieved only in the recording studio, e. g. It is also used in drag shows. Some artists lip sync because they are not confident singing live, because the film track and music track are recorded separately during the creation of a music video, artists usually lip-sync their songs and often imitate playing musical instruments as well. Artists also sometimes move their lips at a faster speed than the track, to create videos with a slow-motion effect in the final clip. Lip-synching in music is moving the lips in synchronization with recorded speech or song to give the appearance of a live performance and it is generally considered dishonest, though some producers argue that it needs to be done in some performance contexts. The practice of lip-synching during live performances is frowned on by some who view it as a crutch only used by lesser talents, on American Bandstand and most variety shows of the 1960s, vocals and instrumentals were all synced to pre-recorded music. Since the advent of MTV in the 1980s, many artists have focused on effects, rather than singing. Artists often lip-sync during strenuous dance numbers in both live and recorded performances, some singers habitually lip-sync during live performance, both concert and televised, whereas others do lip syncing only for certain songs or types of performances. Artists often lip-synch during strenuous dance numbers in both live and recorded performances, due to lung capacity being needed for physical activity, michael Jackson is an example of this, he performed complex dance routines while lip-syncing and live singing. His performance on the television special Motown 25, Yesterday, Today and these effects came at the expense of live singing. Gundersen elaborates, The most obvious example is Madonnas Blond Ambition World Tour, Madonna lip-syncs the duet Now Im Following You, while a Dick Tracy character mouths Warren Beattys recorded vocals. On other songs, background singers plump up her voice, strained by the exertion of non-stop dancing, billboard editor Thom Duffy commented, The expectations of fans have changed, and thats the driving force here. They expect a concert as perfect as what they see on MTV, and the same level of perfection is expected to extend beyond the video set to the concert stage
21.
The Wilburn Brothers
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The Wilburn Brothers were a popular American country music duo from the 1950s to the 1970s consisting of brothers Virgil Doyle Wilburn and Thurman Theodore Teddy Wilburn. The brothers were born in Hardy, Arkansas and they first attracted attention as child performers, beginning in 1937, in an act called The Wilburn Children, Roy Acuff discovered them and brought them to the Grand Ole Opry in 1940. Due to federal labor laws, the Wilburns were forced to leave the Opry after six months. After growing up, they continued to travel and were regulars on the similar Louisiana Hayride program in Shreveport from 1948 until 1951. After the family act disbanded, and the brothers served stints in the US Army during the Korean War, they continued in 1953 as The Wilburn Brothers touring with Faron Young and Webb Pierce. They signed with Decca Records in May 1954 and had their first hit record the year titled Sparkling Brown Eyes. Other notable hits include Go Away With Me, Which One Is To Blame, Troubles Back In Town, Its Another World, in 1956, the Wilburns were offered the chance to record Heartbreak Hotel before Elvis Presley. After hearing the song they decided against recording it, describing it as strange, in addition to being successful artists, the Wilburns formed the Sure-Fire Music Publishing Company in 1957, as well as the Wil-Helm Talent Agency in the early 1960s. They were instrumental in launching the careers of many country music legends, most notably Loretta Lynn, Lynn was the girl singer of the Wilburns touring show between 1960 and 1968 and she made weekly appearances on their syndicated television show from 1963 to 1971. They also helped develop the career of Patty Loveless between 1973 and 1975 by having her tour with them on weekends and during school breaks. The Wilburn Brothers had a television program, The Wilburn Brothers Show. Reruns can still be seen on the cable network RFD-TV and in the UK on Rural TV and they were Opry members from 1953 until the time of Doyles death from cancer in 1982. Teddy continued with the Opry as a solo artist until his death in 2003 and they are both buried in the Nashville National Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee. Country Music Culture, From Hard Times To Heaven, University Press of Mississippi Hefley, country Music Comin Home, Hannibal Books Hoffman, Frank W. - Ferstler, Howard, Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound, Volume 1, CRC Press Allmusic entry
22.
Loretta Lynn
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Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter with multiple gold albums over a career of almost 60 years. She is the most awarded female recording artist and the only female ACM Artist of the Decade. Lynn is the second of eight born to Clara Marie Clary and Melvin Theodore Ted Webb. In January 1948, 15-year-old Loretta married Oliver Doolittle Lynn and their life together inspired the music she wrote. In 1953 Doolittle bought her a $17 Harmony guitar and she often appeared at Bills Tavern in Blaine, Washington, and the Delta Grange Hall in Custer, Washington, with the Pen Brothers band and the Westerneers. She cut her first record, Im a Honky Tonk Girl and she became a part of the country music scene in Nashville in the 1960s. In 1967 she had the first of 16 number-one hits and her later hits include Dont Come Home A Drinkin, You Aint Woman Enough, Fist City, and Coal Miners Daughter. Lynn focused on womens issues with themes about philandering husbands and persistent mistresses. Country music radio stations refused to play her music, banning nine of her songs. She and contemporaries like Tammy Wynette provided a template for artists in country music to follow. Her best-selling 1976 autobiography, Coal Miners Daughter, was made into an Academy Award–winning film of the title in 1980, starring Sissy Spacek. Her album Van Lear Rose, released in 2004, was produced by the rock musician Jack White, Lynn and White were nominated for five Grammys. Lynn has received awards in country and American music. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2013, Lynn has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since joining on September 25,1962, her first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry was on October 15,1960. Lynn has recorded 70 albums, including 54 studio albums,15 compilation albums, and one tribute album, Lynn was born and raised in Butcher Hollow, Van Lear, Kentucky, a mining community near Paintsville. Her mother was of Scots-Irish and Cherokee ancestry, Loretta was the second of eight children. She was named after the film star Loretta Young, Ted Webb never got to see his daughter become famous, as he died in 1959 of coalworkers pneumoconiosis before Lorettas first single, Im A Honky Tonk Girl, was released. Besides her famous siblings and children who perform, she is related to the country singer Patty Loveless on her mothers side and she is also related, on her mothers side, to Venus Ramey, Miss America of 1944
23.
Jim Reeves
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James Travis Jim Reeves was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he well known as a practitioner of the Nashville sound. Known as Gentleman Jim, his songs continued to chart for years after his death, Reeves died in the crash of his private airplane. He is a member of both the Country Music and Texas Country Music Halls of Fame, Reeves was born at home in Galloway, Texas, a small rural community near Carthage. He was the youngest of 8 children born to Mary Beulah Adams Reeves and he was known as Travis during his childhood years. Winning an athletic scholarship to the University of Texas, he enrolled to study speech and drama, soon he resumed baseball, playing in the semi-professional leagues before contracting with the St. Louis Cardinals farm team during 1944 as a right-handed pitcher. He played for the leagues for three years before severing his sciatic nerve while pitching, which ended his athletic career. Reeves initial efforts to pursue a career were sporadic, possibly due to his uncertainty as to whether he would be drafted into the military as World War II enveloped the United States. On 9 March 1943 he reported to the Army Induction Center in Tyler for his physical examination. However, he failed the exam, and on 4 August 1943 an official letter declared his 4-F draft status, Reeves began to work as a radio announcer, and sang live between songs. During the late 1940s, he was contracted with a couple of small Texas-based recording companies and he eventually obtained a job as an announcer for KWKH-AM in Shreveport, Louisiana, then the home of the popular radio program the Louisiana Hayride. Jim Reeves was a country singer who had success early on in his career with hits such as I Love You, Mexican Joe. In addition to early hits, Reeves recorded many other songs for Fabor Records. In 1954, Abbott Records released a 45 single with Bimbo on side-A which hit #1, Jim Reeves and Little Joe Hunt met at the Louisiana Hayride which was Louisianas equivalent to Nashvilles Grand Ole Opry. After performing at the Hayride in Shreveport, Louisiana, Reeves and Hunt traveled & performed together for years in the dance halls and clubs of east Texas. Reeves became the headliner with Hunt as the backup performer, due to his growing popularity, Reeves went on to release his first album in November 1955, Jim Reeves Sings, which proved to be one of Abbott Records couple album releases. Reeves star was on the rise because he had already signed to a 10-year recording contract with RCA Victor by Steve Sholes. Sholes went on to some of Reeves first recordings at RCA Victor
24.
Abbott and Costello
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Abbott and Costello were a comedy double act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema. The team was composed of William Bud Abbott and Lou Costello whose work in vaudeville and on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular team during the 1940s. Their patter routine Whos on First, is one of the best-known comedy routines of all time and set the framework for many of their best-known comedy bits. Bud Abbott was a veteran burlesque entertainer from a business family. He worked at Coney Island and ran his own burlesque touring companies and he first worked as a straight man with his wife Betty, then with veteran burlesque comedians like Harry Steppe and Harry Evanson. When he met his partner in comedy, Abbott was performing in Minskys Burlesque shows. Lou Costello had been a burlesque comic since 1930, after failing to break into acting and working as a stunt double. He appears briefly in the 1927 Laurel and Hardy silent two-reeler, The Battle of the Century, the two men first worked together in 1935, at the Eltinge Burlesque Theater on 42nd Street—now the lobby of the AMC Empire movie complex in New York City. This first performance together occurred due to Costellos regular partner being ill, when AMC moved the old theater 168 ft further west on 42nd Street to its current location, giant balloons of Abbott and Costello were rigged to appear to pull it. Other performers in the show, including Abbotts wife Betty, advised a permanent pairing, the teams first known radio appearance was on The Kate Smith Hour in February 1938. The similarities between their voices made it difficult for listeners to tell them apart during their rapid-fire repartee. To solve the problem, Costello began affecting a high-pitched, childish voice, was first performed for a national radio audience the following month. They performed on the program as regulars for two years, while also landing roles in a Broadway revue, The Streets of Paris, in 1940, Universal Studios signed them for the film One Night in the Tropics. Cast in supporting roles, they stole the show with several classic routines, the same year they were a summer replacement on radio for Fred Allen. Two years later, they had their own NBC program, The Abbott, Universal then signed them to a long-term contract, and their second film, Buck Privates, in 1941 made them box-office stars and saved Universal from imminent bankruptcy. The singing sisters became good friends with Costello during this period, enjoying many barbecues, in 1945, the two acts traded guest appearances on each others top-rated radio shows. Bud and Lou made 36 films together between 1940 and 1956 and they were among the most popular and highest-paid entertainers in the world during World War II. Other film successes included Keep Em Flying, Who Done It, pardon My Sarong, The Time of Their Lives, Buck Privates Come Home, Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man, and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
25.
Viva Las Vegas
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Viva Las Vegas is a 1964 American musical film starring Elvis Presley and actress Ann-Margret. It also presents a set of ten musical song-and-dance scenes choreographed by David Winters. Viva Las Vegas was a hit at movie theaters, becoming the number 14 movie in the list of the Top 20 Movie Box Office hits of 1964. Based on the Box Office Report database. The movie was #14 on the Variety year end box office list of the movies of 1964. Lucky Jackson goes to Las Vegas, Nevada to participate in the citys first annual Grand Prix Race, however, his race car, an Elva Mk. VI, is in need of a new motor in order to compete in the event, Lucky raises the necessary money in Las Vegas, but he loses it when he is shoved into the pool by the hotels nubile swimming instructor, Rusty Martin. During all this time, Lucky attempts to win the affections of Rusty and his main competition arrives in the form of Count Elmo Mancini, who attempts to win both the Grand Prix and the affections of Rusty. Rusty soon falls in love with Lucky, and immediately tries to him into what she wants. Elvis Presley as Lucky Jackson Ann-Margret as Rusty Martin Cesare Danova as Count Elmo Mancini William Demarest as Mr, the chemistry between the two stars was quite real during the filming of Viva Las Vegas. Presley and Ann-Margret began an affair, and this received considerable attention from movie and this reportedly led to a showdown with Presleys worried girlfriend Priscilla Beaulieu. In her memoirs, Ann-Margret refers to Elvis Presley as her soulmate and stated, David Winters from the original cast of West Side Story was the films choreographer and was recommended by Ann-Margret for the job. This was Winters first job as a choreographer on a feature film, because the film went over budget, Parker would slash the budgets for all the remaining films in Presleys career. Little Church of the West, the oldest Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, is the used in the closing scene. The scene where Presley sings Viva Las Vegas is performed in one single unedited shot—the only known example of such a technique in Presleys movie career, the film grossed $9,442,967 at the box office, earning $5 million in U. S. theatrical rentals. For his role in Viva Las Vegas, Elvis Presley received a third place prize 1965 Laurel Award for best male performance in a musical film, Viva Las Vegas also received the 1965 Laurel Award for runner-up in the category of the best musical of 1964. Ann-Margret was praised for her on screen chemistry with Elvis, as she stole the film from him. However, many others deduced the reasons why many members of the North American public liked the movie so much. Variety magazine stated in its review, Beyond several flashy musical numbers, a locale, and one electrifying auto race sequence
26.
James Bond
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The James Bond series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. The latest novel is Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz, published in September 2015, additionally Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond, and Kate Westbrook wrote three novels based on the diaries of a recurring series character, Moneypenny. The character has also adapted for television, radio, comic strip, video games. As of 2017, there have been twenty-four films in the Eon Productions series, the most recent Bond film, Spectre, stars Daniel Craig in his fourth portrayal of Bond, he is the sixth actor to play Bond in the Eon series. There have also two independent productions of Bond films, Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again. In 2015, the franchise was estimated to be worth $19.9 billion, the Bond films are renowned for a number of features, including the musical accompaniment, with the theme songs having received Academy Award nominations on several occasions, and two wins. Other important elements which run through most of the films include Bonds cars, his guns, the films are also noted for Bonds relationships with various women, who are sometimes referred to as Bond girls. Ian Fleming created the character of James Bond as the central figure for his works. Bond is an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6. Bond is known by his number,007, and was a Royal Naval Reserve Commander. Among those types were his brother, Peter, who had involved in behind-the-lines operations in Norway. Aside from Flemings brother, a number of others also provided some aspects of Bonds make up, including Conrad OBrien-ffrench, Patrick Dalzel-Job and Bill Biffy Dunderdale. The name James Bond came from that of the American ornithologist James Bond, a Caribbean bird expert and author of the definitive field guide Birds of the West Indies. He further explained that, When I wrote the first one in 1953, I wanted Bond to be a dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened. When I was casting around for a name for my protagonist I thought by God, is the dullest name I ever heard. On another occasion, Fleming said, I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find, James Bond was much better than something more interesting, like Peregrine Carruthers. Exotic things would happen to and around him, but he would be a neutral figure—an anonymous, likewise, in Moonraker, Special Branch Officer Gala Brand thinks that Bond is certainly good-looking. Rather like Hoagy Carmichael in a way and that black hair falling down over the right eyebrow
27.
Diamonds Are Forever (film)
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Diamonds Are Forever is the seventh spy film in the James Bond series by Eon Productions, and the sixth and final Eon film to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film is based on Ian Flemings 1956 novel of the same name, Bond has to battle his nemesis for one last time, to stop the smuggling and stall Blofelds plan of destroying Washington, D. C. and extorting the world with nuclear supremacy. The producers were inspired by Goldfinger, eventually hiring that films director, Guy Hamilton, locations included Las Vegas, California, Amsterdam and Lufthansas hangar in Germany. Diamonds Are Forever was a success, but received criticism for its humorous camp tone. The film marked the appearance of the SPECTRE organization in Eons Bond films until the 2015 film of the same name. James Bond—Agent 007—pursues Ernst Stavro Blofeld out of revenge, hunting down SPECTRE operatives across the world and he eventually finds him at a facility where Blofeld look-alikes are being created through plastic surgery. Bond kills a test subject, and later the real Blofeld, disguised as professional smuggler and assassin Peter Franks, Bond travels to Amsterdam to meet contact Tiffany Case. The real Franks shows up on the way, but Bond intercepts and kills him, Case and Bond then go to Los Angeles, smuggling the diamonds inside Franks corpse. At the airport Bond meets his CIA ally Felix Leiter, then travels to Las Vegas, at a funeral home, Franks body is cremated and the diamonds are passed on to another smuggler, Shady Tree. Bond tells Leiter to ship him the real diamonds, Bond then goes to the Whyte House, a casino-hotel owned by the reclusive billionaire Willard Whyte, where Tree works as a stand-up comedian. Bond watches Trees act and afterwards goes to his room, where he discovers there that Tree has been killed by Wint and Kidd. At the craps table Bond meets the opportunistic Plenty OToole, and after gambling, gang members ambush them, throwing OToole out the window and into a pool. Bond spends the rest of the night with Tiffany Case, instructing her to retrieve the diamonds at the Circus Circus casino. Tiffany reneges on her deal to back with Bond and instead flees. However, seeing that OToole was killed after being mistaken for her and she drives Bond to the airport, where the diamonds are given to Whytes casino manager, Bert Saxby, who is followed to a remote facility. Bond enters the apparent destination of the diamonds, a laboratory owned by Whyte, where a satellite is being built by Professor Metz. Bond fakes Metz by telling him he is Klaus Hergersheimer, a technician he met in the facility and his cover is blown when he is seen by a technician, but evades the security guards by stealing a moon buggy and reunites with Tiffany. They are seen by the Las Vegas police, and assuming Bond is a saboteur and they soon engage in a car chase, but Bond manages to evade all the cars
28.
Starman (film)
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The original screenplay was written by Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon, with Dean Riesner doing uncredited re-writes. Bridges was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role, the film inspired a short-lived television series of the same name in 1986. Launched in 1977, the Voyager 2 space probe carried a gold phonographic disk with a message of peace, the probe is intercepted by an alien ship which then sends a small scout vessel to establish first contact with Earth. However, instead of greeting the alien craft, the US government shoots it down, crashing in Chequamegon Bay, Wisconsin, the lone alien occupant, looking like a floating ball of glowing energy, finds the home of recently widowed Jenny Hayden. While there, the uses a lock of hair from her deceased husband, Scott. The alien Starman has seven small silver spheres with him which provide energy to perform miraculous feats and he uses the first to send a message to his people stating that Earth is hostile and his spacecraft has been destroyed. He arranges to rendezvous with them in three days time and he then uses the second sphere to create a holographic map of the United States, coercing Jenny into taking him to the rendezvous point in Arizona. Jenny is initially hostile and frightened of him and attempts to escape. Having a rough understanding of English language from the Voyager 2 disk and he explains that if he does not reach the rendezvous point, Arizonas Barringer Crater, in three days, he will die. However, they are pursued across the country by the authorities and, after nearly being caught, Jenny is shot, in order to escape, the Starman crashes their car into a gas tanker and uses another sphere to protect the two of them from the explosion. They take refuge in a home that is being towed. He uses another sphere to heal Jenny. After being assured that Jenny will recover, the Starman proceeds to hitchhike towards Arizona without her, reunited, the two of them hitchhike together, resuming their journey towards the crater. Later, while stowing away on a train, the couple makes love. The Starman tells Jenny I gave you a baby tonight, Jenny explains that she is infertile and cannot have children, but he assures her she is now pregnant. Starman offers to stop the pregnancy if she wishes, but the joyful Jenny embraces him, the couple mistakenly travel too far on the train and arrive in Las Vegas. Jenny realizes she has lost her wallet, the Starman uses one of their last quarters in a slot machine, which he manipulates in order to win the $500,000 jackpot. They then buy a new car to complete their journey to Arizona, meanwhile, National Security Agency director George Fox learns that the Starmans flight trajectory, prior to being shot down, was to the Barringer Crater
29.
U2
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U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin formed in 1976. The group consists of Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, initially rooted in post-punk, U2s sound grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music, yet has maintained an anthemic sound. Their lyrics, often embellished with spiritual imagery, focus on personal themes, popular for their live performances, the group has staged several ambitious and elaborate tours over their career. The band formed at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in 1976 when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency, within four years, they signed with Island Records and released their debut album Boy. Subsequent work such as their first UK number-one album War, by the mid-1980s, they had become renowned globally for their live act, highlighted by their performance at Live Aid in 1985. The groups fifth album, The Joshua Tree, made them international superstars and was their greatest critical and commercial success. Topping music charts around the world, it produced their only number-one singles in the US, With or Without You, facing a backlash and creative stagnation, U2 reinvented themselves in the 1990s through a new musical direction and public image. This experimentation continued through their album, Pop, and the PopMart Tour. U2 regained critical and commercial favour with the records All That You Cant Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and their U2 360° Tour of 2009–2011 is the highest-attended and highest-grossing concert tour in history. The groups thirteenth album, Songs of Innocence, was released at no cost through the iTunes Store, U2 have released 13 studio albums and are one of the worlds best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 170 million records worldwide. They have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band, Rolling Stone ranked U2 at number 22 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. The band formed in Dublin on 25 September 1976, Larry Mullen Jr. then a 14-year-old student at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, posted a note on the schools notice board in search of musicians for a new band—six people responded. Mullen later described it as The Larry Mullen Band for about ten minutes, then Bono walked in and blew any chance I had of being in charge. Martin, who had brought his guitar and amplifier to the first practice but could not play, did not remain with the group, the group settled on the name Feedback because it was one of the few technical terms they knew. Most of their material consisted of cover songs, which the band admitted was not their forte. Some of the earliest influences on the band were emerging punk rock acts, such as the Jam, the Clash, Buzzcocks, the popularity of punk rock convinced the group that musical proficiency was not a prerequisite to being successful. In April 1977, Feedback played their first gig for an audience at St. Fintans High School. Shortly after, the changed their name to The Hype
30.
Music video
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A music video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. There are also cases where songs are used in tie in marketing campaigns that allow them to more than just a song. Tie ins and merchandising could be used in toys or marketing campaigns for food, although the origins of music videos date back to musical short films that first appeared in the 1920s, they came into prominence in the 1980s when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by terms including illustrated song, filmed insert, promotional film, promotional clip, promotional video, song video. Music videos use a range of styles of contemporary videomaking techniques, including animation, live action filming, documentaries. Some music videos blend different styles, such as animation, music, combining these styles and techniques has become more popular because of the variation it presents to the audience. Many music videos interpret images and scenes from the songs lyrics, other music videos may be without a set concept, being merely a filmed version of the songs live performance. Product placement is a technique in music videos, exemplified by the appearance of the Beats Pill in numerous hip hop videos. In 1894, sheet music publishers Edward B, marks and Joe Stern hired electrician George Thomas and various performers to promote sales of their song The Little Lost Child. Using a magic lantern, Thomas projected a series of images on a screen simultaneous to live performances. This would become a form of entertainment known as the illustrated song. In 1926, with the arrival of many musical short films were produced. Vitaphone shorts featured many bands, vocalists and dancers, early 1930s cartoons featured popular musicians performing their hit songs on-camera in live-action segments during the cartoons. The early animated films by Walt Disney, such as the Silly Symphonies shorts and especially Fantasia, the Warner Brothers cartoons, even today billed as Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, were initially fashioned around specific songs from upcoming Warner Brothers musical films. Live action musical shorts, featuring such performers as Cab Calloway, were also distributed to theaters. Blues singer Bessie Smith appeared in a short film called St. Louis Blues featuring a dramatized performance of the hit song. Numerous other musicians appeared in short musical subjects during this period, soundies, produced and released from 1940 to 1947, were musical films that often included short dance sequences, similar to later music videos
31.
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
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I Still Havent Found What Im Looking For is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the track from their 1987 album The Joshua Tree and was released as the albums second single in May 1987. The song was a hit, becoming the second consecutive number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 while peaking at number six on the UK Singles Chart. The song originated from a demo the band recorded on which drummer Larry Mullen Jr. played a rhythm pattern. Like much of The Joshua Tree, the song was inspired by the groups interest in American music, I Still Havent Found What Im Looking For exhibits influences from gospel music and its lyrics describe spiritual yearning. Lead singer Bonos vocals are in register and lead guitarist the Edge plays a chiming arpeggio. Adding to the qualities of the song are choir-like backing vocals provided by the Edge and producers Brian Eno. I Still Havent Found What Im Looking For was critically acclaimed and received two nominations at the 30th Annual Grammy Awards in 1988, for Record of the Year and it has subsequently become one of the groups most well-known songs and has been performed on many of their concert tours. The track has appeared on several of their compilations and concert films, I Still Havent Found What Im Looking For originated from a demo variously titled The Weather Girls and Under the Weather that the band recorded during a jam session. Bassist Adam Clayton called the melody a bit of a one-note groove, while an unconvinced The Edge. However, the band liked the part played by drummer Larry Mullen Jr. Co-producer Daniel Lanois said. We always look for those beats that would qualify as a signature for the song, and that certainly was one of those. It had this thing that he does and nobody ever understands. And we just didnt want to let go of that beat, Lanois encouraged Mullen to continue developing the weird drum pattern beyond the demo. The group worked on the track at the studio they had set up at Danesmoate House in Dublin. Lanois compared the creation of the song to constructing a building, first laying down the drums as the foundation, then adding additional layers piece by piece, before finally putting in furniture. After the Edge wrote a sequence and played it on acoustic guitar with a lot of power in the strumming. During a jam session, Bono began singing a classic soul melody, at that point, he remembered a phrase he had written in a notebook that morning as a possible song title, I still havent found what Im looking for
32.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (film)
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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a 1998 American black comedy road film adapted from Hunter S. Thompsons novel of the same name. It was co-written and directed by Terry Gilliam, starring Johnny Depp as Raoul Duke, the two embark on an initially assigned journey with journalistic purpose which turns out to be an exploration of the Las Vegas setting under the effect of psychoactive substances. The movie grossed $10.6 million at the North American box office and it has since become a cult film due in large part to its release on DVD, including a Special Edition released by The Criterion Collection. In 1971, Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo speed across the Nevada desert, Duke, under the influence of mescaline, complains of a swarm of giant bats, before going through the pairs inventory of psychoactive drugs. Shortly afterward, the duo stop to pick up a young hitchhiker, Duke has been assigned by an unnamed magazine to travel to Las Vegas and cover the Mint 400 motorcycle race. However, they have decided to take advantage of the trip by purchasing a large number of drugs. The young man soon becomes terrified of the antics of the duo, the next day, Duke arrives at the race, and heads out with his photographer, a man by the name of Lacerda. During the coverage, Duke becomes irrational and believes that they are in the middle of a battlefield, so he fires Lacerda and returns to the hotel. After consuming more mescaline, as well as huffing diethyl ether, Duke and Gonzo arrive at the Bazooko Circus casino, but leave shortly afterwards, back in the hotel room, Duke leaves Gonzo unattended, and tries his luck at a quick round of Big Six. He pleads with Duke to throw the machine into the water when the song White Rabbit peaks, Duke agrees, but instead throws a grapefruit at Gonzos head before running outside. The next morning, Duke awakens to an exorbitant room service bill, and no sign of Gonzo, as he nears Baker, California, a highway patrolman pulls him over for speeding, and advises him to sleep at a nearby rest stop. Duke instead heads to a payphone and calls Gonzo, learning that he has a suite in his name at the Flamingo Las Vegas so he can cover a district attorneys convention on narcotics. Duke checks into his suite, only to be met by an LSD-tripping Gonzo, Gonzo explains that Lucy has come to Las Vegas to meet Barbra Streisand, and that he gave her LSD on the plane not realizing she had never taken it before. Sensing the trouble this could get them into, Duke convinces Gonzo to ditch Lucy in another hotel before her trip wears off. Gonzo accompanies Duke to the D. A. s convention, unable to take it, Duke and Gonzo flee back to their room, only to discover that Lucy has called. Their trips mostly over, Gonzo deals with Lucy over the phone, however, the trip spirals out of control, and Duke is reduced to an incoherent mess before he blacks out. After an unspecified amount of passes, Duke wakes up to a complete ruin of the once pristine suite. After discovering his tape recorder, he attempts to remember what has happened
33.
Panic! at the Disco
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Founded by childhood friends Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith, Brent Wilson and Brendon Urie, Panic. at the Disco recorded its first demos while its members were in high school. Shortly after, the recorded and released its debut studio album. Popularized by the single, I Write Sins Not Tragedies. In 2006, founding bassist Brent Wilson was fired from the band during a world tour. Influenced by 1960s rock bands the Beatles, the Zombies and the Beach Boys, and preceded by the single Nine in the Afternoon, odd. marked a significant departure from the sound of the bands debut. Ross and Walker, who favored the new direction, departed because Urie. The duo subsequently formed a new band, The Young Veins, leaving Urie, Weekes was later inducted into the bands lineup as a full-time member in 2010, nearing the end of the recording of the bands third studio album, Vices & Virtues. The album was recorded solely by Urie and Smith, with producers John Feldmann, as a three-piece, Urie, Smith, and Weekes recorded and released the bands fourth studio album, Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die. in 2013. Prior to the release of the album, Smith unofficially left the band due to health and drug-related issues, leaving Urie, in 2015, Smith officially left the band after not performing live with the band since his departure in 2013. Shortly thereafter, Weekes reverted to being a member once again. In April 2015, Hallelujah was released as the first single from Panic. at the Discos fifth studio album, Death of a Bachelor. Panic. at the Disco was formed in 2004 in the area of Summerlin, Las Vegas, by childhood friends Ryan Ross, who sang and played guitar, and Spencer Smith. They both attended Bishop Gorman High School, and they began playing together in ninth grade. They invited friend Brent Wilson from nearby Palo Verde High School to join on bass, the quartet soon began rehearsing in Smiths grandmothers living room. Urie grew up in a Mormon family in Las Vegas and early on skipped rehearsals to go to church, Ross initially was the lead vocalist for the group, but after hearing Urie sing back-up during rehearsals, the group decided to make him the lead. Initially, Panic. at the Disco was just a cover band. In the groups early experimental demos the band created a sound that was different from the many groups that were performing in Las Vegas at the time. The band signed a contract without having performed a live show
34.
Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!
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Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die. is the fourth studio album by American rock band Panic. at the Disco, released on October 8,2013 on Decaydance and Fueled by Ramen. Described as a party record, Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die. was preceded by the singles Miss Jackson and This Is Gospel, with Girls / Girls / Boys, the albums overall aesthetic is influenced by dance music, electronica and hip hop. Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die. debuted at two on the U. S. Billboard 200, earning the band their second career number two. Musically, Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die. is inspired by hip hop in that there are no rules, in an extension of that mantra, the album is an eclectic affair that varies wildly from song to song. Other inspirations for the album were drawn from electronic composers such as Kraftwerk, the albums sound has been described as pop, dance-pop, synth-pop, electropop, indie rock, rock, hip hop, and emo. The name of the album was lifted from Hunter S. Thompsons novel Fear and it is a reference to the central idea of the album, which was inspired by lead singer Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smiths home city of Las Vegas. Uries lyrical contributions to Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die. were further inspired by the bands city, prior to the albums release, he noted, When we did our first record, we were really bitter toward the whole Vegas scene. We werent old enough to all of what Vegas is really known for. Even the shows, most of them were twenty-one and over, there was a lot of hostility, but over the past couple years, I’ve started to get rid of that cynicism and see it in a new light I wanted to celebrate it. He penned much of the lyrics in the city itself, Theres some glitz, some glamour. The records lyrics are personal in nature. The first track, This Is Gospel, whose lyrics were written by Urie, the original demo sat on Uries laptop for months before he finally shared it with the rest of the band. The albums lead single, Miss Jackson, was written about Uries first sexual experiences during his youth. When I was younger, I would mess around, Id sleep with one girl one night, sleep with her friend the next night, and then it happened to me and I realized Wow, thats what that feels like. A hidden preview of Vegas Lights was featured in the announcement video of Fall Out Boys Save Rock, Vegas Lights was intended as an anthem for carefree nights in Las Vegas, that most prominently reflected how Urie felt clubbing. I felt this energy where everybody was having a good time. The song also uses a sample from Number 5, at the beginning of the song, girl That You Love was originally written in French following a five-day vacation in France. Bassist Dallon Weekes, who also performed duties for the album
35.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
36.
Las Vegas Valley
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The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area located in the southern part of the U. S. state of Nevada. The largest urban agglomeration in the state, it is the heart of the Las Vegas–Paradise-Henderson, the Valley is largely defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a 600 sq mi basin area surrounded by mountains to the north, south, east and west of the metropolitan area. The Valley is home to the three largest incorporated cities in Nevada, Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas, six unincorporated towns governed by the Clark County government are part of the Las Vegas Township and constitute the largest community in the state of Nevada. Since the 1990s the Las Vegas Valley has seen exponential growth, in 2014, a record breaking 41 million visited the Las Vegas area, producing a gross metropolitan product of more than $100 billion. The first reported non-Native American visitor to the Las Vegas Valley was the Mexican scout Rafael Rivera in 1829. Las Vegas was named by Mexicans in the Antonio Armijo party, including Rivera, in the 19th century, areas of the valley contained artesian wells that supported extensive green areas, or meadows, hence the name Las Vegas. The area was settled by Mormon farmers in 1854 and later became the site of a United States Army fort in 1864. Since the 1930s, Las Vegas has generally been identified as a center as well as a resort destination. Nellis Air Force Base is located in the northeast corner of the valley, the ranges that the Nellis pilots use and various other land areas used by various federal agencies, limit growth of the valley in terms of geographic area. Businessman Howard Hughes arrived in the late 1960s and purchased many casino hotels, as well as television, legitimate corporations began to purchase casino hotels as well, and the mob was run out by the federal government over the next several years. The constant stream of tourist dollars from the hotels and casinos was augmented by a new source of money from the establishment of what is now Nellis Air Force Base. The influx of personnel and casino job-hunters helped start a land building boom which is now leveling off. The Las Vegas area remains one of the top entertainment destinations. The valley is contained in the Las Vegas Valley landform and this includes the cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, and Henderson, and the unincorporated towns of Paradise, Spring Valley, Sunrise Manor, Enterprise, Winchester, and Whitney. The valley is located within the larger metropolitan area, as the metropolitan area covers all of Clark County -including parts that do not fall within the valley. The government of Clark County has an Urban Planning Area of Las Vegas and this definition is a roughly rectangular area, about 20 mi from east to west and 30 miles from north to south. Notable exclusions from the Urban Planning Area include Red Rock, Blue Diamond, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is the largest police department in the valley and the state and exercises jurisdiction in the entire county. The department does not exercise jurisdiction in areas with separate police forces such as North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, Nellis Air Force Base
37.
Aria Resort and Casino
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Aria Resort and Casino is a luxury resort and casino, part of the CityCenter complex on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. Aria consists of two curved glass and steel highrise towers adjoined at the center and it opened on December 16,2009 as a joint venture between MGM Resorts International and Infinity World Development. At 4,000,000 sq ft and 600 ft in height, among the most notable aspects of Aria is its incorporation of technology in the exterior and interior design of the hotel, specifically for the reduction of energy consumption. It is the largest hotel in the world to have earned LEED Gold certification, Aria was conceived by MGM Mirage as part of the broader CityCenter development project, which was announced on November 10,2004. The architectural design of Aria was conducted by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and this site was previously occupied by the former Boardwalk Hotel and Casino, retail stores, and a large parking lot, all of which were excavated beginning in April 2006. Following excavation, Arias foundation was poured in June 2006, vertical progression commenced in September 2007, at which point construction workers built upwards at a rate of one floor every seven days until reaching the final height of 61 floors. Amid ongoing construction in 2007, Infinity World Development, a subsidiary of Dubai World, from this point on, Aria was jointly owned by MGM Resorts International and Infinity World Development, with MGM solely responsible for operations and management. The resort opened on December 16,2009, in the month as several other CityCenter properties such as The Crystals. The completed structure comprises two glass towers, measuring 61 stories tall. At the base of the connected high-rise towers is a casino and a lobby that incorporates natural materials including foliage, flowers, glass, wood. Arias design is described as not adhering to an overarching theme and it was named Aria due to its placement as the central feature of CityCenter, as arias are focal points in operas. Artwork is incorporated throughout the lobby and interior of the building, the main entrance contains a lighted water feature called Lumia which syncs water bursts to music. A result of its design, Aria is the largest hotel in the world to have received LEED Gold certification, Aria contains 4,004 hotel rooms within its 4,000,000 sq ft. The suites make up 568 of the rooms, and a portion are referred to as Sky Suites, at the time of its opening in 2009, Aria was the 9th-largest hotel in the world as measured by the total number of rooms. All rooms have an automation system which automatically adjusts curtains, turns off unused lights and electronics. Room dimensions begin at 520 sq ft, the standard suites range in size from 1,050 to 2,060 sq ft. The two top floors of the hotel consist of a designated room category entitled Sky Villas. A three-story,300,000 sq ft convention center includes four ballrooms,38 meeting rooms, as of 2009, the window was the largest glass-curtain wall of its type ever constructed in a public building
38.
Bally's Las Vegas
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Ballys Las Vegas is a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. The hotel features 2,814 extra-sized guestrooms that are 450 sq ft or larger and over 175,000 sq ft of banquet, the casino occupies 67,000 sq ft. About 75% of the rooms are in the Indigo Tower, and were renovated in 2004, the remaining rooms are located in the Jubilee Tower, constructed in 1981. The resort has a shopping area a floor below its gaming level, including several restaurants. Ballys was home for the long-running production show Jubilee, which opened in 1981 and ended on February 11,2016. On November 21,1980, the hotel, then operating as the MGM Grand, was the site of one of the worst high-rise fires in United States history, the 43 acres site was first occupied by the Three Coins Motel, which opened in 1963. The Bonanza Hotel and Casino opened on the site in July 1967 and it was later renamed the New Bonanza Hotel and Casino in 1973 shortly before construction of the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, owned by Kirk Kerkorian, began. It opened in 1973 with 2,084 rooms for the then-staggering cost of $106m and was the largest hotel in the world at that time, the MGM Grand opened as one of Las Vegass first megaresorts on December 5,1973. Dean Martin was the entertainer on opening night and it was the largest hotel in the world at its opening and would remain so for several years. The hotel had a theme to reflect Kirk Kerkorians interest in movies from his ownership of MGM. The hotel was designed by architect Martin Stern, Jr and it featured many amenities, including numerous entertainment options. It offered live jai alai for betting and a shopping arcade with numerous shops. It was also one of the Strips most popular entertainment destinations and it featured two large theaters, The Ziegfeld Stage and the Celebrity Room. The Ziegfeld regularly featured productions by famed Las Vegas choreographer Donn Arden including the long running Jubilee. Dean Martin was the starring act for the Grand Opening on December 23,1973. Sergio Franchi was the first entertainer signed to star in the Celebrity Room, franchis frequent co-star was comedian Joan Rivers. The Celebrity Room also hosted such acts as The Carpenters and Barry Manilow, the Dean Martin Celebrity Roast shows were filmed at the hotel. On November 21,1980 the MGM Grand suffered a fire started in a casino restaurant and traveled up into the hotel, killing 87 guests. The Grand was rebuilt in only eight months, and remodeling added a tower opened in 1981
39.
Bellagio (resort)
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Bellagio is a resort, luxury hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by MGM Resorts International and was built on the site of the demolished Dunes hotel, inspired by the Lake Como town of Bellagio in Italy, Bellagio is famed for its elegance. One of its most notable features is an 8-acre lake between the building and the Strip, which houses the Fountains of Bellagio, a dancing water fountain synchronized to music. Inside Bellagio, Dale Chihulys Fiori di Como, composed of over 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers, covers 2,000 sq ft of the lobby ceiling, Bellagio is home to Cirque du Soleils aquatic production O. The main tower of Bellagio, with 3,015 rooms, has 36 floors, the Spa Tower, which stands to the south of the main tower, has 33 floors, a height of 392 ft and contains 935 rooms. Bellagio was designed by DeRuyter Butler and Atlandia Design, construction on the Bellagio began in May 1996. Bellagio had a construction cost of US$1.6 billion. The interior design on the Bellagio was designed by Architectural Digest 100 four time winner Roger Thomas, Roger Thomas is the executive vice president of design for Wynn Design & Development, and principal of the Roger Thomas Collection. Bellagio opened on October 15,1998, just before 11 pm, when it opened, it was the most expensive hotel ever built. In 2000 it became an MGM Mirage property when Mirage Resorts merged with MGM Grand Inc. to create MGM Mirage, in 2010, the company was renamed MGM Resorts International in a move to go worldwide with its brands. In the fall of 2006, the floor was remodeled and new uniforms were issued. On December 15,2010, a helmet-wearing gunman robbed the casino of $1.5 million in chips, in August 2011, he was convicted to a prison term of 9–27 years. The stakes at the Big Game can range up to $4, 000/$8,000, and are frequented by such poker pros as Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu and it is reported that the pots during this game can far exceed $1 million. Bellagio has also partnered with the World Poker Tour to host several of their tournaments, the performances take place in front of the Bellagio hotel and are visible from numerous vantage points on the Strip, both from the street and neighboring structures. The show takes place every 30 minutes in the afternoons and early evenings, two minutes before a water show starts, the nozzles begin to break the water surface and the lights illuminating the hotel tower turn to a purple hue, or red-white-and-blue for certain music. Shows may be cancelled without warning because of wind, although shows usually run with less power in face of wind. A single show may be skipped to avoid interference with a planned event, additional shows can occur for special occasions including weddings. The fountain display is choreographed to various pieces of music, including Time To Say Goodbye, God Bless the USA, Your Song, Viva Las Vegas, Luck Be a Lady, the fountains are set in a 8-acre manmade lake
40.
Caesars Palace
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Caesars Palace is a AAA Four Diamond luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States, situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip, between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of the most prestigious hotels in the world. Caesars Palace was established in 1966 by Jay Sarno, who sought to create an opulent facility that gave guests a sense of life during the Roman Empire. It contains many statues, columns and iconography typical of Hollywood Roman period productions, Caesars Palace is now owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. As of July 2016, the hotel has 3,976 rooms and suites in six towers, the hotel has a large range of restaurants, including several serving authentic Chinese cuisine to cater to wealthy East Asian gamblers. From the outset, Caesars Palace has been oriented towards attracting high rollers, the hotel is closely associated with the entertainment industry and has served as a venue for boxing since the late 1970s, and hosted the Caesars Palace Grand Prix from 1981 to 1982. Notable entertainers who have performed at Caesars Palace include Frank Sinatra, the main performance venue is The Colosseum, a 4, 296-seat stadium with a 22, 450-square-foot stage, which was originally built at a cost of $95 million for Celine Dions show, A New Day. After departing in 2007, Dion returned to the Colosseum with her new show entitled Celine in March 2011, in 1962, cabana motel owners Jay Sarno and Stanley Mallin applied for a $10.6 million loan from the Teamsters Central States Pension Fund. He began plans to build a hotel on land owned by Kirk Kerkorian, Sarno would later act as designer of the hotel he planned to construct. He wanted to emulate life under the Roman Empire, to come up with a palace in which everybody staying at the hotel would feel like a Caesar. Caesars Palace was instrumental in beginning a new era of lavish casinos from the late 1960s onward, Architectural writer Alan Hess stated, Caesars Palace needed only a sumptuous array of Classical statuary and a host of marble-white columns to establish its theme. The visitors imagination, in league with well-placed publicity, filled in the opulence, jefferson Graham wrote that the result was the gaudiest, weirdest, most elaborate, and most talked about resort Vegas had ever seen. Emblem was a chesty female dipping grapes into the mouth of a recumbent Roman, fitted out in toga, laurel wreath. Cocktail waitresses in Greco-Roman wigs would greet guests and say Welcome to Caesars Palace, among the performers at the opening were Andy Williams and Phil Richards. According to author Ovid Demaris, Caesars Palace was a casino from the day it opened its doors. By the time it opened, the significant publicity of the new hotel had generated $42 million in advanced bookings. On December 31,1967, stunt performer Evel Knievel arrived at the hotel to watch a boxing match and convinced Sarno that he could jump over the distance of 140 feet over the fountains. ABC came in to film the jump, in which Knievel hit the top of the safety ramp after the jump, fracturing his pelvis, several bones and suffering a concussion, he lay in a hospital unconscious for 29 days in a coma before recovering
41.
Casino Royale Hotel & Casino
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The Best Western Plus Casino Royale is a casino and small hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The casino caters to low rollers, and features low table minimums for roulette, craps, the casino until recently offered 100 times odds on craps at all times. Casino Royale now offers 100 times odds only when offering a $5 minimum bet and it is known for its promotional slot play. Timeshare promotions in Las Vegas often give out Casino Royale slot play, to date, March 2017, the casino has resisted the Las Vegas Strip trend of adding a resort fee to their daily room charge. In the 1960s, a Dennys restaurant and Travelodge were built here, nob Hill Casino opened between the two in 1979, closing in 1990. In the late 1990s Casino Royale had highest odds allowed in craps, the game was a 50 cent minimum bet game, which allowed a player to place 100 times more in the odd bet. It was not uncommon to see 50 cent bets with $25 to $50 odds bets and this was when the rest of the Strip was allowed double to 10 times odds. The Casino Royale was the first casino property on the Las Vegas Strip to install Geoff Halls Blackjack variant Blackjack Switch, the success of Blackjack Switch at the Casino Royale lead to the game spreading to many other casinos. In January 2013, the property was rebranded as part of the Best Western hotel chain, the Casino Royale was represented in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas as the Royal Casino. There is an achievement in Project Gotham Racing 4 in which the player must take a picture in front of the Casino Royale while in an Aston Martin DBS
42.
Circus Circus Las Vegas
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Circus Circus Las Vegas is a hotel,123,928 sq ft casino, and RV park located on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It is owned and operated by MGM Resorts International, Circus Circus features circus acts and carnival type games daily on the Midway. Circus Circus is the largest permanent big top in the world, the Lucky The Clown marquee at the entrance was provided by Young Electric Sign Company and was constructed in 1976. Architects Rissman and Rissman Associates designed a giant circus tent shaped main structure, at its opening, the $15 million facility only included a casino. The lack of a hotel resulted in problems, as the casino was not able to attract high rollers. Sarno obtained a $23 million loan from the Teamsters Pension Fund to construct a hotel, as part of the arrangement, the Chicago Outfits enforcer, Anthony Spilotro was granted a gift shop concession in the hotel. In addition to a government investigation into the connections, Sarno. The casinos financial problems continued and Sarno, along with his partner Stanley Mallin. In 1974, ownership changed with the sale of the casino to William Bennett, the facility was expanded with hotel tower additions in 1972,1980,1985,1986 and 1996. A blog reported that on July 1,2009, Slots-A-Fun would begin the process in order to be incorporated into Circus Circus. The hotels famous midway was featured in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, the ground floor is full of gambling tables, like all the other casinos. But the place is about four stories high, in the style of a circus tent, the Adventuredome Theme Park and the Canyon Blaster roller coaster were featured in the 1999 movie Baby Geniuses. The theme park was known as Joyworld in the movie, characters in 1977s post-apocalyptic Damnation Alley seek out at the abandoned Circus Circus to play. In Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery, Austin and Vanessa sneak into the Circus Circus, in the 1992 movie Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, the oversized child Adam is shown laughing and smiling at the Lucky the Clown pylon. The Midway was featured in the 1978 film Corvette Summer, when Mark Hamill was being lured into a scam by a salesman, in the game Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas, Circus Circus is featured as The Clowns Pocket. In the TV series Vega$, private detective Dan Tanna lived in a warehouse next to Circus Circus
43.
Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
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The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is a luxury resort casino and hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. Both buildings are 184 meters tall, in 2013, the hotel was rated The Best Hotel in the World by Gogobot. In 2015, the resort was named to the Condé Nast Traveller Gold List as one of the Top Hotels in the World, the Cosmopolitans 100,000 sq ft casino features views of the Las Vegas Strip. The Pools at the Cosmopolitan features three different types, a pool, day club pool and nightclub pool. The Cosmopolitan is also home to the Marquee Nightclub & Dayclub, in January 2014, the Cosmopolitan added a new nightclub concept, Rose. Plans for the property were first announced in April 2004, the developer,3700 Associates, was a joint venture formed by David Friedman, Ian Bruce Eichner, and Soros Fund Management. The developers purchased the site, an 8. 5-acre U-shaped parcel surrounding the Jockey Club timeshare building, further details about the project, including the Cosmopolitan name, were released in November 2004. The Cosmopolitans design team was led by Friedmutter Group as executive architect, the building was engineered by DeSimone Consulting Engineers. The interior design team included Digital Kitchen, Prophet, the Friedmutter Group, The Rockwell Group, Jeffrey Beers, Adam Tihany, the resort was built on what used to be the parking lot for the Jockey Club. Because the Cosmopolitan occupies much of the lot, it was agreed that the Club residents could use part of the Cosmopolitans parking garage. The Cosmopolitan was the second Las Vegas hotel, after The Palazzo, as a result, the parking garage was built first. In December 2007, work finished on the 70-foot hole for the parking structure, the hotel was originally planned to open and be operated by Hyatt as the Grand Hyatt Las Vegas. Original plans called for the casino to be on the floor, but this was later changed. Planned condo units were cancelled and replaced with studios and other hotel rooms, in January 2008, it was reported that the $3. Construction moved forward as the developers searched for new financing, in late February 2008, Global Hyatt Corporation and New York-based Marathon Asset Management agreed to recapitalize the condominium-hotel project. However, one month later the developer said Deutsche Bank AG would begin foreclosure proceedings, related recommended many revisions, including bringing the casino entrance onto the strip. In June 2008, Hearst Corp filed a suit against the owners of the casino. Hearst owns the trademark to Cosmopolitan magazine, in March 2010, the suit was settled, and the resort was renamed Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
44.
The Cromwell Las Vegas
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The Cromwell Las Vegas is a luxury boutique hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corporation, the property was the site of Empeys Desert Villa from 1952. In 1979 it became the Barbary Coast casino and hotel, the casino was built by Michael Gaughan and opened on March 2,1979 at a cost of $11.5 million. Over time, this property, along with others owned by Gaughan would become Coast Casinos Inc, Gaughan shared partnership in the Barbary Coast with Kenny Epstein, Tito Tiberti, Frank Toti and Jerry Herbst. In July 2005, Boyd Gaming purchased the Barbary Coast Hotel, in September 2005, Boyd purchased the 4.3 acres of land the hotel occupied for $16 million. The hotel had previously been leasing the land, in 2007, Boyd gave the Barbary Coast to Harrahs Entertainment in exchange for the 24-acre site of the demolished Westward Ho, to be used for the Echelon Place project. The Barbary Coast closed at 2,00 a. m. on February 27 and reopened on March 1 as the newly rebranded Bills Gamblin Hall and Saloon, in honor of company founder Bill Harrah. After nearly six years of operations, Bills closed on February 4,2013. Plans called for renovation of the entire property, the guest rooms and casino floor, a new restaurant. In October 2013, however, Caesars terminated its agreement with Gansevoort, plans announced in late 2013 indicated that Giada De Laurentiis would open her first restaurant in the new hotel and that Caesars would run the hotel. Caesars confirmed on January 31,2014, that the hotel would be named The Cromwell and it marked its soft opening to guests on April 21,2014. The hotel rooms were available starting May 21,2014, in July 2014, Giada De Laurentiis opened her first restaurant, called GIADA, inside the resort. The restaurant offers seating in the room, lounge, or outdoor patio with views of the Bellagio fountains. Family-style, vegan, and gluten-free options are available, as well as an antipasto station. Restaurant guests can watch chefs prepare food from the open kitchen, in 1997, Victor Drai opened Drai’s restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip. Two years later, Drai added a nightclub to the restaurant, in Vegas Sevens 2012 Nightclub Awards, Drais After Hours won Best Place to Disappear. Drai opened his latest Las Vegas club project, Drai’s Beach Club & Nightclub, on Memorial Day Weekend 2014 and this 65, 000-square-foot venue has a party pool and an indoor/outdoor club spread out over two levels on top of the new Cromwell Hotel. List of Caesars Entertainment properties List of casinos in Nevada Official website
45.
Encore Las Vegas
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Encore Las Vegas is a luxury resort, casino and hotel located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The resort is connected to its resort, Wynn Las Vegas. Encore has been awarded the AAA Five Diamond Award every year since opening, the Towers Suites at Encore and The Spa have both received the Forbes five-star award. Together with adjacent Wynn Las Vegas, the entire Wynn complex has a total of 4,750 rooms, on April 28,2006, Wynn Las Vegas celebrated its one-year anniversary by breaking ground on a second hotel tower. Initially named the Encore Suites at Wynn Las Vegas, the 2, 034-room hotel project cost $2.3 billion and was sited adjacent to the existing resort and on the remaining frontage of Las Vegas Boulevard. Originally envisioned as an expansion of Wynn Las Vegas, Encore Las Vegas quickly became a full-scale resort, the resort was estimated to add 5,300 jobs to the Las Vegas area. After 2½ years of construction, the resort opened to the public at 8,00 pm on December 22,2008. Due to the economic downturn, the opening was designed to be more subdued than previous casino resort openings. The resorts jewelry shop featured the 231 carats, prune-sized Wynn Diamond, to open the betting, Steve Wynn gave high-rollers a few million dollars to make the initial bets and initiated the action by declaring over a microphone, Let the games begin. The start of gambling was accompanied by a recording of Frank Sinatras Luck Be a Lady Tonight. The resort features a 74, 000-square-foot casino,60,000 square feet of space,27,000 sq ft of retail space in The Esplanade, a spa and salon, five restaurants, seven bars. The pool area includes 29 rentable cabanas, in late November 2009, the casino was slightly altered, removing drapery and palm trees in an effort to open up the space a bit more. Steve Wynn, after reviewing and walking through, replaced the planting, the resorts nightclub, XS, was developed by Victor Drai and opened on New Years Eve 2008 with 40,000 sq ft and space for 3,000 guests. Other restaurants are Wazuzu, a bistro that features a 27 ft crystal dragon, Andreas an Asian inspired cuisine by Chef Joseph Elevado, and Society Cafe. The Encore Beach Club opened in June 2010, replacing the Strip entry, the Resort Suites contain 700–745 ft² of floor space. The hotel tower features two sections, the standard Resort tower and the smaller, more upscale Tower Suites, the resorts permanent show was singer-comedian-impressionist Danny Gans, until his death on May 1,2009. The performance space, built with Wynn Las Vegas and previously named the Broadway Theater, Encore Beach Club is a 50,000 square feet venue featuring 40-foot palm trees surrounding three tiered pools. There are chaise lounges, couches, and day beds featuring private safes and it includes oversized lily pads resting in shallow water, and shower poles
46.
Excalibur Hotel and Casino
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Excalibur Hotel and Casino is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, in the United States. It is owned and operated by MGM Resorts International, Excalibur, named for the mythical sword of King Arthur, uses the Medieval theme in several ways. Its facade is a image of a castle. Until 2007, a figure representing Merlin looked out from a high turret. Excalibur is situated at the Tropicana - Las Vegas Boulevard intersection, the hotel is linked by overhead pedestrian bridges to neighboring casinos to the north and to the east. A free tram connects Excalibur to its sister MGM Resorts International properties to the south, Luxor, the land on which the Excalibur sits was originally the proposed site of the Xanadu Resort envisioned in 1975. The 1,730 room Asian-tropical themed resort would have been the first mega resort in Las Vegas, the project was never built when the developers could not secure a deal with the county on the sewer infrastructure such a large project would have required. Circus Circus Enterprises constructed Excalibur which opened on June 19,1990, as the largest hotel in the world, with over 4,000 rooms, as of 2016 it is the seventh-largest hotel in Las Vegas, and the eleventh-largest hotel worldwide. MGM Resorts International purchased the property in 2005, however, since 2006 most of the medieval themed statues and scenery have been removed as part of a four-year renovation and modernization project. On March 21,2003, Josh Ford of Los Angeles hit the largest Megabucks Jackpot to date of US$39.7 million at Excalibur, the 100, 000-square-foot gaming area at Excalibur consists of both table games and over 1,200 slot machines. Thunder From Down Under moved to Excalibur in July 2001 and since then has received recognition as one of the best all-male strip shows in Las Vegas, in 2006, the performance space was renamed the Thunder From Down Under Showroom in honor of the troupe. Tournament of Kings is a jousting tournament performed with 12 breeds of horses and 32 cast members in a 925-seat amphitheater called King Arthurs Arena. The show includes a banquet feast served by a serf or wench and is meant to be eaten without utensils. Tournament of Kings debuted along with the opening of Excalibur in 1990, Dicks Last Resort restaurant opened at Excalibur in June 2007. Dicks is known for its unusual dining experience in which servers purposefully act obnoxious towards guests, employee Taco is considered Dicks mascot and entertains guests with his own version of the Bellagio fountain show using water dispensers behind the bar. Excaliburs food court housed one of the few McDonalds in the world to vend Pepsi instead of Coke until the restaurant closed in early 2016, the fun dungeon is an arcade from the which you can access the Tournament of Kings arena, and also includes a Laser Tag arena. Excalibur has been featured in video game and television productions since opening in 1990. Excalibur itself or a hotel resembling Excalibur makes appearances in the video games Driver 2 and Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas
