An Air Conditioned Pyramid In The Desert

Luxor Casino Hotel
The Strip - Las Vegas, NV

If they ever decide to turn The Stand into a theatrical movie, they really ought to consider switching Randall Flagg's base of operations from the MGM Grand to the top of the Luxor pyramid.  It's a 30 story casino hotel next to The Excalibur on the Vegas Strip.  We're staying here for our honeymoon, and let me tell ya, this place brings cheesy fun to a whole new level.

Work started on the pyramid in 1992 and was finished by the following summer at a cost of $375 million dollars.  The Luxor opened on October 15th, 1993 with 2,526 rooms and it was the tallest building on The Strip at the time.

Every part of this casino hotel makes you feel like you're at an ancient Egyptian theme park.  In previous years, it had even more of a theme park feel.  They used to have a Nile River ride that took you around the casino, but it closed in 1996.  There was also a replica of the tomb of King Tutankhamen, but that closed in 2010 and was replaced with something even better (more about that later).

Map of the Luxor

The lobby, atrium showroom and casino floor of the Luxor is in the center of the pyramid with the hotel rooms rising up above.

 

Our room is on the 20th floor.  The hallway (with an incredibly loud carpet) overlooks the entrance to the atrium showroom.  I can imagine that it can be a pretty dizzying experience to find the way back to your room after a few drinks.

The ancient Egyptian theme continues into the room.  The combination entertainment center/dresser is covered in hieroglyphics and there are stone carvings of glyphs hanging on the wall.  However the craziest part is the window to the outside.  The hotel rooms go right up to the edge of the pyramid, so the window wall is at an extreme slant.

The window overlooks one of the swimming pools, the parking lot, and the desert and mountains that surround the Vegas Strip.

At night, the Luxor Sky Beam shoots out of the top of the pyramid into the sky.  It's created by a total of 39 xenon lamps which are 7,000 watts each, and a series of curved mirrors are used to focus them into a single beam.  It's the strongest beam of light in the world and is visible up to 275 miles away.

I Do

...and they lived happily ever after.

Rest In Peace: Waldenbooks

"A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking."

- Jerry Seinfeld

Hollywood And Punk

Cole Hamels and CM Punk
Wrigley Field - Chicago, IL (July 18, 2011)
The WWE World Heavyweight Champion skipped Monday Night Raw to take in last night's game between the Cubs and Phillies.  He even brought the title belt out of the refrigerator and posed for a pregame photo with 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels.

The Chicago native picked a good night to go out and support his team.  Ex-Phillie Rodrigo López outdueled Roy Halladay to give the Cubs a 6-1 victory.  The Phillies only run came from a Jimmy Rollins homer to lead off the top of the 4th inning.

Cold Storage

Last night at the Money In The Bank pay-per-view, CM Punk defeated John Cena to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.  He then ran out of the arena and quit the company, but he was kind enough to send this tweet to the WWE Universe to let them know that he's keeping the title belt safe and sound.  I have a few questions:

• Who stores peanut butter in the refrigerator?
• Is that a Tim Lincecum cup on the shelf with the belt?

Once You Go In, You Don't Come Out

Escape From New York
Anco Cinema - West 42nd Street, Manhattan  (1981)

The John Carpenter sci-fi classic that's set in the far off world of 1997 premiered in theaters thirty years ago today.  It's billed on this marquee alongside the May 1981 film Firecracker, which was described in its trailer as "the first erotic martial arts thriller".  I guess everybody really was kung-fu fighting.  (photo source: Daniel Aull)

Is This An Omen For Another World Series?

Philadelphia Phillies Instant Lottery Ticket
Pennsylvania Lottery (2011)
My grandma gave a Phillies scratch-off ticket in my birthday card this year.  The Pennsylvania Lottery issued Phillies instant lottery tickets three years ago and they went on to win the World Series.  Maybe they're good luck!

Old Man River

Sunbury Airport Campground
Packer Island - Sunbury, PA
My grandfather staring off into the Susquehanna River from my Uncle Kuuipo's campsite.

The 4th Highest Paid Mets Outfielder Of 2011

Bobby Bonilla
New York Mets (1992 - 1995, 1999)
Starting today, the New York Mets will pay six time All-Star Bobby Bonilla $1.19 million dollars every year on this date for the next 25 years.  That's enough to make him the 4th highest paid outfielder and the 12th highest paid player on the Mets payroll this season.

The Mets owed Bonilla $5.9 millions dollars for the 2000 season, but they ended up releasing him before Spring Training.  As part of the terms of his release, Bonilla's contract was restructured to defer his payments until 2011 with interest that compounds at an 8% annual rate.  He ended up finishing the last two years of his career playing for the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals before retiring at the end of the 2011 season..

When it's all said and done, he will have earned $29,831,205 from 2011 to 2035 for the money the Mets owed him for the 2000 season.  Not too shabby for a guy who didn't play a single game for the Mets that year.

My First Ballgame

Wednesday, June 26, 1991
Sarasota White Sox @ West Palm Beach Expos
Municipal Stadium - West Palm Beach, FL

Pitching: Rodney Bolton vs. Doug Bochtler
Results: Expos defeat White Sox, 6 - 5
Photo Gallery - Scrapbook

Notes: My dad brought me to my first ballgame a few days before my 11th birthday.  It was 20 years ago today, and it was a Florida State League game (class A) between the West Palm Beach Expos and the Sarasota White Sox.

Pete Rose Jr. played 3B for Sarasota at this game, and his father was in the crowd to watch the game.  He was a great dude; he took a photo with me and gave me an autographed card.  Regrettably, the photo was out of focus, but I'll always remember meeting him at my first ballgame.

Happy Post-Apocalypse

Family Radio RV
Bloomsburg, PA
I saw these vehicles at the Bloomsburg Fair last year and they gave me a chuckle.  I could just picture these folks peeling and sticking all of the decals and ruining a perfectly nice RV by making it look like a ransom note on wheels.  It was also pretty odd that they blacked out the Harley Davidson logo on the spare tire.  I suppose that crazy people like eagles, but they're not cool with motorcycles.

So, I had a nice apocalypse yesterday.  I got my bachelors degree and had a nice celebratory dinner with my family.  As an added bonus, I managed to miss out on the Earth burning up and the worldwide earthquakes, and I didn't bump into the Killer Lord referenced in foot tall red letters.  As for the world ending, I'm sure that more than a few of my middle and high school teachers would have told you that would happen before I ever graduated from college, but as it turned out, they were just as wrong as these lovely folks.  To those of you who drove these asshole-mobiles, I hope y'all kept the receipt on those donations to "Family Radio".

It's the end of the world as they know it, and I feel fine.  😇

Graduation

The Kindest Killer In History

Harmon Killebrew

June 29, 1936 - May 17, 2011

One of the greatest home run hitters of all time passed away yesterday at age 74.  Harmon Killebrew spent almost his entire career with the Washington Senators, and later the Minnesota Twins when the franchise moved west.  When he retired in 1975 after playing a single season for the Kansas City Royals, he was fifth all-time in career home runs (behind Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Frank Robinson).  He was the 1969 American League MVP, a 13 time All-Star, and was a Class of 1984 inductee into the Hall of Fame.

In addition to being one of the all-time greats of the game, everyone who has any connection to Mr. Killebrew will tell you what a remarkably kind and considerate human being he was.  Among them are Phillies manager Charlie Manuel (pictured above with Mr. Killebrew), whose first career home run in the Major Leagues came when White Sox lefty Don Secrist intentionally walked Harmon to face Charlie.  When asked, Charlie said "If I told you all my memories of Killebrew, we'd be here until this time next year" before sharing a few stories about his time playing with the future Hall of Famer from 1969 to 1972.

Rest in peace, Killer, and thank you for being an example of all that is good in the game.

This Ryno Is An Iron Pig

Earlier today, I got to meet Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg at PNC Field.  He's managing the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (the Phillies Triple A team), and they were in town playing the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees.  I usually don't ask for autographs from players, but he was already there signing for fans, so I asked him to sign my ticket.

I'm Not Fat... I'm Fluffy

Gabriel Iglesias
I'm Not Fat... I'm Fluffy
This man is a breath of fresh air in stand-up comedy.  Truly one of the funniest and most genuine performers I have ever seen.  I was lucky enough to see him a few years ago in Atlantic City and to chat with him after the show.  If you have the opportunity to go to his show, do it!

Austin 3:16 Says Judgment Day Ended After 2009

Family Radio billboard
Rt. 309 - Wilkes Barre, PA
Well, golly, with a guarantee like that, I guess I had better start crying mightily.  I suspect the people who solicited the donations that paid for asinine billboards like this will be the ones doing the crying when the flock comes looking for the money they wasted on this nonsense.

Maybe the folks at Family Radio got their bibles confused with professional wrestling again.  The second WWF Judgment Day pay per view took place on May 21st, 2000.  They had another one on that date in 2006.  The bible guarantees that we've got another one to look forward to very soon.

Jesus vs. Kane in a steel cage in 9 days?  Cry mightily unto McMahon.

Rubik's Cubewich

The Rubik's Cubewich
Insanewiches.com

Mother's Day Sale

Endless Ink Tattoo
Lehighton, PA

I'll Miss You

Grandpa passed away in his home earlier today.  He was 74 years old.

My Grandpa is the greatest man I have ever known or will ever know.  Anything good in me is a direct result of having such a wonderful, loving and positive influence as he was in my life.

Thank you for being my Grandpa.  I miss you.

The Ramones at The Tropicana Motel

It's hard to believe that it's been ten years since Joey Ramone died.

The Life Of The Rifleman

Chuck Connors
1952 Mother's Cookies - Card #4

To the best of my knowledge, this was the only Chuck Connors baseball card that was produced during his playing career.  It was part of a promotional set released by Mother's Cookies in 1952.  Chuck played first base for the 1951 Los Angeles Angels, which was a club in the Pacific Coast League that served as the minor league affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.

Prior to the 1951 season, Connors had only appeared in a single game at the big league level as a member of the 1949 Brooklyn Dodgers.  In a May 1st game against the Philadelphia Phillies, he was brought in to pinch hit for Carl Furillo with one out in the bottom of the 9th inning.  The Dodgers were down 4-2 and Gil Hodges was on first base after singling off of Phillies starter Russ Meyer.  A home run would have tied the game and given Connors a solid start to his MLB career, but he grounded into a double play to end the game and give the Phillies the win.  His time with the Dodgers may have been short, but he was once part of a lineup that included five Hall Of Famers, including Hodges, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella, Duke Snider, and the legendary Jackie Robinson.

Fortunately for Connors, this wasn't his only opportunity to play in the big leagues.  The 1951 Chicago Cubs called him up from the minor leagues on July 6th and he spent the rest of the season in the big leagues.  He was the starting first baseman in 49 of the 57 games that he played for the Cubs to finish the 1951 season, in which time he had a slash line of .239/.282/.304 with two home runs in 214 plate appearances.

Connors returned to the minor leagues for the 1952 season, which would be the last year of his baseball career.  Baseball was actually his second career as a professional athlete.  After his discharge from the US Army in 1946, he played for the 1945-46 Champion Rochester Royals (the franchise moved several times in the years that followed and is now the Sacramento Kings).  He continued his basketball career for over the next two seasons in 1946-47 and 1947-48 for the Boston Celtics before transitioning to baseball.

TV Guide: March 12, 1960 (left) and October 23, 1965 (right)

For anyone else, being one of only 13 professional athletes in history to play in both MLB and the NBA would be the highlight of a person's life.  However, these things are only a footnote in the life of Chuck Connors. He was spotted by an MGM casting director when he was playing for the Los Angeles Angels, and this led to a long and successful acting career.  He is best known for starring in The Rifleman, but he has credits in over 130 movies and television shows in a career that spanned four decades.

There are four roles that Chuck Connors plays that I remember him best from.  The first time I saw him was on an episode of The Adventures Of Superman from 1955 that aired on Nick At Nite when I was a kid.  It was called Flight To The North, and it features Chuck as an unusually strong country boy named Sylvester J. Superman who's last name causes him to be mistaken for the real Superman.

The second, and probably the most well known of his feature film roles, is his role in the 1957 Walt Disney film Old Yeller which one of my teachers showed our class when I was in school.  Chuck plays a cowboy named Burn Sanderson who gives the dog to Arliss in exchange for a toad and a home-cooked meal.

The third and fourth are films that I saw for the first time in the late 90's on VHS.  Connors played the villain in a bizarre 1979 horror/slasher film called Tourist Trap, and he plays William R. Simonson's bodyguard, Fielding, in one of my favorite movies of all time: the 1973 dystopian classic Soylent Green.

Mr. Connors passed away on November 10th, 1992 at the age of 71.  He is buried at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery just outside of Los Angeles.  He was a remarkably talented man who lived an interesting life, and his work continues to bring joy to others many years after his death.  Today would have been his 90th birthday.