360 Vintage Vegas - The Landmark

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The Landmark existed for 34 years, 1961-1995, and during that time, sat empty and unused for a 3^rd of its life.  Make no mistake, the Landmark was a great idea.  It just never had the support it needed to reach its potential.  It resembles everything that is great about Las Vegas.  Any grand idea can live here, if only here.  Want to build Paris in the desert, sure; Recreate ancient Roman decadence, why not; put a casino in the sky, give it a shot.  The sobering reality is it takes much more than a visionary idea to succeed in Vegas and there are many examples to prove that.  Rather than lament it’s passing we should celebrate the fact that it had a chance. There are literally dozens of visionary projects planned for Las Vegas that never make it beyond the concept phase.  Currently north strip is home to 3 of them in various stages of incompletion.  Regardless of it’s inability to become a financial success, the Landmark was able to literally live up to it’s name, establish itself as one of the most memorable properties in the landscape of Las Vegas history.Hughes FingerprintThe PoolGalaxy HotelFall of a Landmark

For those of you interested in more information on the Landmark, I can’t recommend the Marc Wagner book “Above the All- The story of the Landmark Hotel and Casino” as well as their companion site www.landmarkhotelmemorial.com.  Possibly the best documentation of a single property I’ve ever seen.  Others sources include

lvstriphistory.com

OnlineNevada.org

YouTube.com

Book - Next To Hughes

Book - Citizen Hughes

E-230: Two Puppets Deep

Random Vegas

August 4, 1968 - Everett Wayne Shaw, a 39-year-old mechanic, stole a Cessna 180 and flew on a collision course with the Landmark.  He clipped the "L" sign on the roof and lost control, crashing into the Convention Center across the street.  Notes in his apartment indicated that it was a planned suicide. (Vintage Research) 

Twitpic of the week

What’s that you say? You liked last show’s Twitpic of the week view but wonder what the reverse view would be like.  Boom! @VegasBright has you covered with pretty much exactly that.  This may be the best version of this view I’ve ever seen.  Photos like this are the ones I get lost in, analyzing all the little things most overlook, especially when you have sexy as fuck properties like Cosmopolitan and Bellagio front and center. I’m amused by the shit ton of palm trees located in the middle of Las Vegas Blvd, how the AC unit on top of Cromwell is cleverly obstructed from photos taken south of the property and how Bellagio’s spa tower looks like a backyard shed compared to the main building that stands as a work of art.  23 days till 360VV4 and really looking forward to seeing views like this in person.

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Random Vegas

During the filming of the James Bond Film Diamonds are Forever, producer Cubby Broccoli and his wife, longtime friends of Howard Hughes from this film making days, had their hotel room broken into and were robbed while they slept.  In a very Bond like manor, hotel security suspected that chloroform gas was used to ensure the Broccolis did not wake up while the crime was being committed!  The following night, the Broccoli's found two men standing outside their door waiting for them.  One of them explained, "Compliments of Mr. Howard Hughes, Mr. Broccoli.  Our orders are to stay here round the clock until you leave." (Vintage Research) 

Twitpic of the week

I swear I’ve written this monolog before or at the very least felt this way several times in the past.  One of the reasons I love doing “Twitpic of the week” is because every once in a while, someone shares a view of Vegas I’m sure I’ve seen many times before but never fully appreciated. The primary reason I’ve never done the $20 trick is I like the luck of the draw.  I’m sure many of you can relate to the excitement of heading right to the window after checking into your room to see what view you’ll being enjoy for the next week. While it means occasionally I get to enjoy the side of a building or fields of air conditioning I think it makes me appreciate it more when I get views like the one shared by @brewjersey.  Whether it was planned or just luck, thank you @brewjersey for sharing it.

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