JOHN-O's Las Vegas (& Honolulu pg 8) Thread

Did some miracle happen to reopen Atomic Liquors?

Nope... Unfortunately. :(

On a new Las Vegas note, the Aria Hotel & Casino (of which I'm not a big fan) has a pretty groovy space-age A-frame Porte-cochère...

And the Cosmopolitan Hotel & Casino (which is growing on me), its theme is arguably high-end mixology. I've had good cocktails in all of their bars, the most notable one being their signature Vesper Bar (and yes, that's a James Bond reference)...

Good travelogue.
Even better catch of the James Bond reference.

It was subtle, like I think I've heard that phrase before, but I can't quite place it. Casino Royale is too new to be a classic, yet.

On 2011-06-21 07:23, christiki295 wrote:
Good travelogue.
Even better catch of the James Bond reference.

It was subtle, like I think I've heard that phrase before, but I can't quite place it. Casino Royale is too new to be a classic, yet.

Unless you have seen the 1966 version/parody of "Casino Royale" with David Niven, Peter Sellers etc.
you know the one with that catchy theme song called "Casino Royale" :lol:

On 2011-06-19 17:10, JOHN-O wrote:

Did some miracle happen to reopen Atomic Liquors?

Nope... Unfortunately. :(

Atomic Liquor, one of Las Vegas's last remaining links to its Rat Pack Mondo Atomic past, has been closed since the beginning of the year (1/2011) !!

Stella Sobchick who ran the bar with her husband Joseph, passed away on Jan 15th at the age of 91. Joe passed away 3 months earlier also at 91 years. They had run the business for 55 years. I was glad to have met them one of the times they were both in the bar.

My understanding from talking to one of the bartenders at the El Cortez, is the Sobchick's son has no interest in running the place. Hopefully, he can lease out the bar to someone who understands its historic significance and will continue its legacy. In the meantime this is really really depressing news.

From yelp.

christiki295 if you go back 2 pages you can see John-O already posted this.......so.......2 to 0
:lol:

On 2011-01-17 20:43, JOHN-O wrote:
Back to Sin City...

I have some good news and bad news. First the bad news.

Atomic Liquor, one of Las Vegas's last remaining links to its Rat Pack Mondo Atomic past, has been closed since the beginning of the year !!

Stella Sobchick who ran the bar with her husband Joseph, passed away on Jan 15th at the age of 91. Joe passed away 3 months earlier also at 91 years. They had run the business for 55 years. I was glad to have met them one of the times they were both in the bar.

My understanding from talking to one of the bartenders at the El Cortez, is the Sobchick's son has no interest in running the place. Hopefully, he can lease out the bar to someone who understands its historic significance and will continue its legacy. In the meantime this is really really depressing news. I liked to think of the Atomic as the mid-century mirror image to Frankie's Tiki Room (much like the Aku Aku existed in primitive juxtaposition to the Stardust's original futuristic "cosmic ray" signage).

I'd love for a Las Vegas historical society to add a historical designation, but it is Las Vegas, where history does not stop redevelopment.

The best portion of the Atomic appears to be its signage, which is still visible, so that is all good. Let's hope that the new owner can find a way to turn a profit with the bar.

On 2010-04-23 12:54, JOHN-O wrote:
Las Vegas Trip Report (Part 1)

Just several yards away, the following establishment caught my eye, "Hawaii Massage".

Cool, a Poly-Pop massage parlor !!

As I entered though that door, I asked the receptionist "Excuse me, do you have any Tiki here?" Her response was "Sure honey, but that costs extra." Totally baffled by that remark, I decided to leave and go get a stiff drink.

Lol!
I think some additional urban archeology is required!

On 2010-05-26 19:02, JOHN-O wrote:
Polynesians invented Tiki and LOUNGE !!......

Credit Bigbro's "The Sound of Tiki" CD for bringing this significant Las Vegas (and Poly-Pop) fact back to light.

Now when you think of a classic Las Vegas lounge act, who first comes to mind? Well most people would say the Rat Pack but actually they played the "Big Room" (i.e. the Sands' Copa Room). For fans of the mid-century Las Vegas Swing sound, Louis Prima and Keely Smith would be the obvious choice. They were a popular fixture in the Sahara's Casbar Lounge, but they weren't the first to play that kind of venue.

Enter the Mary Kaye Trio.

Mary Kaye, her brother Norman, and (non-sibling) Frank Ross were Las Vegas' first official "lounge act". Mary Kaye ("Ka'aihue") and Norman grew up in St. Louis, Missouri but were both of Hawaiian descent. Mary's father was Hawaiian Hapa Haole performer Johnny Ukelele (who Mary and Norman toured with) and her grandfather was Prince Kuhio, brother of Queen Liliuokalani. That's two generations of Hawaiian "royalty" !!

In the "Sound of Tiki" liner notes, Bigbro writes:

"In 1950, her trio's engagement at the New Frontier Casino's main showroom in Las Vegas was coming to an end, but the owner wanted to keep them on. Mary suggested to add a small stage in the bar and call it a 'Lounge'."

The rest is history. :)

Here's some additional facts that I got in a fascinating book "Cult Vegas" by Mike Weatherford.

• "Norman remembers that chorus girls from neighboring hotels 'would bring the whole line in,' and with the girls came the boys. The trio employed a versatile arsenal to keep the regulars entertained. 'We never did the same act twice,' Mary says. 'We could put any song anywhere. They came back night after night, because they never knew what we were going to do, and we didn't either.'"

• "Mary's progressive guitar playing and their complex vocal harmonies - often compared to the Hi-Lo's - gave the trio the ability to tackle almost any song. But the secret weapon turned out to be Ross' comedy..."

• "Frank Ross was probably the inventor of what they call lounge comedy today... He's the guy who started the whole concept of tumult comedy, of not having routines and jokes... Even the gents who eventually became known as the Rat Pack took a cue from Ross. They used to sit and watch the lounge shows, and started to incorporate spontaneity in the main-room set..."

• "The Mary Kaye Trio soon had all the hotels rethinking their lounges, booking larger and louder outfits to play small stages that had been designed for organists or piano trios...The pump was primed..."

Here's my favorite YouTube clip of the trio. Not Vegas, but it's taken from the movie "Bop Girl Goes Calypso" they appeared in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThhM75nKomA

And you know the whole Tiki/Exotica/Latin connection that's been popular here as of late, here's Mary Kaye performing a Latin number.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9edra7yQFnE

This is a Nevada KNPR radio discussion that followed Mary Kaye's death in Feb 2007. It's pretty comprehensive.

http://www.myspace.com/marykayetrio/music-player?sindex=-1.0&shuffle=false&amix=false&pmix=false&plid=19837&artid=12577907&sseed=0&ptype=3&stime=8.333&ap=1&rpeat=fals

It's too bad there's no recorded footage of them playing in a Vegas lounge, but that can probably be said for all the Vegas lounge acts. :( Oh, to have today's portable technology back then.

Bigbro summarizes it like this:

"Mary Kaye personifies the convergence of American mid-century modernism and Polynesian history... To be descended from Hawaiian royalty and originating from the Las Vegas Lounge tradition clearly makes Mary and her brother, Norman Kaye, inhabitants of the cosmos of Tiki Modern."

So the next time you're enjoying Rat Pack-era Frank, Dino, and/or Sammy, remember the children of "Tiki" were doing it first !!

Any Mary Kaye Trio fans out there ??

If so you'll be happy to hear that the following albums are now available via digital download. I'm pretty sure this is the first time this music has been available since its mid-century vinyl release. I got mine off of iTunes. :)

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2011-07-08 22:59 ]

Is there a connection to one of my favorites "Peggy Lee"

Here's another angle on Atomic Liquor, from June 27:

Here's a couple of shots through the window:

Sad...

Saw a sign for this place at the Mirage, as we were heading down the Strip. Thought it sounded promising, so I had to check it out:

Alas, instead of the dark mystery and exotic menace of, say, a Frankie's, it was "a clean, well-lighted place". Sort of the "if a hospital had a bar" look. Cigar aroma, sports, a surprisingly small selection of rums for a "Rhumbar", many flavored vodkas, no tiki...

... or was there? What's that on the bar back, along with the glassware?

I probably should have asked, What, ahem, do you do with those Mai-Kai Bowls,... but I was afraid it just might be too depressing.

Stopped by this place the last time I was in Vegas,The bartender seemed happy to see us (we were dressed in Hawaiian shirts) but just ended up at "Frankie's" most of the time.

On 2011-01-17 20:43, JOHN-O wrote:
Back to Sin City...

I have some good news and bad news. First the bad news.

Atomic Liquor, one of Las Vegas's last remaining links to its Rat Pack Mondo Atomic past, has been closed since the beginning of the year !!

Fremont Street is an amazing collection of 1950s motels, some of which are even still open for business.
Unfortunately, few, if any tourists, stay there, despite being walking distance from the El Cortez, the Fremont Experience and a few clubs/video parlors, etc.

Such motels include the Blue Angel:

and Fergusons

Ferguson's is listed for @1.6 million, reduced from $2.5 million.
http://lasvegascommercialproperty.blogspot.com

Seems like a lot considering the lack of development, but then the South Beach area of
Miami Beach was the same and look at it now.

On 2009-11-12 12:11, JOHN-O wrote:
The mermaid at the Silverton Casino does exist !!

Are mermaids considered part of classic Tiki-style ?

I saw her too!
She blew bubble kisses at my son.

While I would not say they are classic Tiki-style, they are a welcome addition.

[ Edited by: christiki295 2011-07-17 09:36 ]

On 2011-07-12 22:17, christiki295 wrote:

Fremont Street is an amazing collection of 1950s motels, some of which are even still open for business.
Unfortunately, few, if any tourists, stay there, despite being walking distance from the El Cortez, the Fremont Experience and a few clubs/video parlors, etc.

Such motels include the Blue Angel:

A writer recently spent a week at the Blue Angel. One of his subjects, a man approaching his senior years, who landed at the Blue Angel after being kicked out of the house by his wife, describes the Blue Angel as a "safe harbor" with a "guardian angel."

While Las Vegas is a town which all too often sees its guests arrive full of excitement, only to leave with empty pockets - or worse, huge & debilitating debt, it is ironic that the Blue Angel offers salvation - and a second chance - to him and others in the book:

But does it have Bedbugs?

On 2011-07-19 10:29, Chuck Tatum is Tiki wrote:
But does it have Bedbugs?

I think now guests either rent the rooms by the hour, or by the week,
judging by repeated trips down Fremont.

In either event, I doubt bed bugs are a huge issue.

We met with the owner (estate) in dec 2011/jan 2012 and would have purchased the Atomic but we just could not raise the funds.. was actually pretty cheap, will post more inside pics soon

On 2012-03-20 01:44, Tiki Trav wrote:
We met with the owner (estate) in dec 2011/jan 2012 and would have purchased the Atomic but we just could not raise the funds.. was actually pretty cheap, will post more inside pics soon

Wow that would have been super cool for a Tikiphile to own the place.

It may have been for the best however, that stretch of Fremont has become even more of a ghost town with the recent closure of the next door Western Casino a few months ago...

http://www.lvrj.com/business/western-in-downtown-las-vegas-will-close-in-january-133908478.html

:(

lots of the old guys in the Western (all day & night) used to drink at the Atomic until it ceased trading, I spoke with lots of former regulars (they were all drinking at the western) & they were practically begging for someone to reopen it so they had a place to go after the closure of the Western.
The locals miss it & it has patronage from the second you open the door & turn on the neons.

*** Update ***

The owners are planning to re-open the Atomic Liquor/Bar!!!
See link below:

http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/18835953/historic-vegas-bar-plans-re-opening

[ Edited by: ThreeTikis 2012-06-20 15:06 ]

[ Edited by: ThreeTikis 2012-06-20 15:07 ]

That's fantastic news !!! :) :) :)

Although I was going to try to talk Queen Kamehameha into buying the place with me.

You snooze, you lose I guess...

On 2012-06-20 15:05, ThreeTikis wrote:
*** Update ***

The owners are planning to re-open the Atomic Liquor/Bar!!!
See link below:

http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/18835953/historic-vegas-bar-plans-re-opening

Excellent news.
"Renovation highlights include; Larger bathrooms and back-bar upgrades. An outdoor sitting area and beer garden which will start the Las Vegas History Walk up Fremont street. The creation of Rat Pack Corner, Smothers Brothers Alley, Barbara's Seat, Bugsy's Bar and Hangover Hideout. The Garage will host live events and bands in the nearby 3000 sq ft mechanic's garage which is attached to the Atomic, and The Atomic Drive-in, in the parking lot - will screen movies and commercials from the era, and of course Nevada's own Test Site Atomic Blast Footage!"

The Rat Pack Corner? Is that where they waited for the limo to take them back to the strip where they belonged? :lol:

The comments that christiki posted above are alarming, it looks like the new owners plan to turn the place into a Disneyland of irony.

While it's great the Atomic will continue on, I'm sure it will be targeting a different customer base than the former Bukowskian regulars who enjoyed the $1 cans of beer. :(

I hope they don't make it fancy! Yes, the poor folks might not be able to afford a drink at the New Atomic--that is my feeling.

That's a very good point - some of my all-time favorite places to relax with drinks featured (yes, past tense...) both unpretentious and affordable atmospheres. Everyone enjoys relaxing at "hole in the wall" type of bars, even more so if there's a tiki vibe. But the owner must make a certain profit to keep the doors open. Not even Bill Gates would throw his cash at a money-losing operation for very long. So here's hoping the new place meets and exceeds expectations!

Now this makes me wonder if there is any sort of "official christening ceremony" for a new tiki bar?

On 2012-06-22 11:18, JOHN-O wrote:
The comments that christiki posted above are alarming, it looks like the new owners plan to turn the place into a Disneyland of irony.

While it's great the Atomic will continue on, I'm sure it will be targeting a different customer base than the former Bukowskian regulars who enjoyed the $1 cans of beer. :(

Possibly, although while that area is gentrifying, suffice it to say it is far from being all the way back. Indeed, the Bukowski types most likely are staying at the Blue Angel, just a few blocks down and will have a new hangout.

Another interpretation is that the Atomic continues to pay homage to Vegas' past.
It also is expanding Vegas' future, with the Garage apparently featuring live music, and a drive-in. Frankly, that area needs a critical mass to draw the tourists out from the Freemont Street nest. Maybe this multi-tiered experience will do the trick.

[ Edited by: christiki295 2012-06-22 18:09 ]

From the linked article above:

"A historic downtown Las Vegas liquor store that closed in 2011 after 60 years in business started renovations for a grand re-opening as a bar."

Too funny! I stopped by there yesterday morning, and the only thing inside evident of renovations was a ladder lying on the floor.

Another Atomic Update:

http://www.lvrj.com/news/lounge-rising-from-ashes-of-east-fremont-street-s-blight-160212415.html

On 2012-06-22 18:46, tikigreg wrote:
Too funny! I stopped by there yesterday morning, and the only thing inside evident of renovations was a ladder lying on the floor.

Watch this News 3 spot, from a few days ago. I think that ladder was used, so they could film part of the interview, sitting on the edge of the roof. :down:

This is the reality:
In later years, the neighborhood deteriorated with the Sobchiks' health, and the bar became known as a rough dive surrounded by drug deals and prostitution.
"That is why they put the buzzer on that door," Savarro said, nodding to the front entrance. "I knew every crackhead on that street. I wouldn't let them in."
They're less than enthusiastic about the return of the cheap-beer-and-a-shot crowd who occupy low-rent apartments and tiny, rundown homes in the immediate area.
"We are going after the professionals downtown; we are going after the hipsters downtown," Lance Johns said. "We are keeping the old style here, but we don't want the old clientele."

I hope the new investors make back their money and the Atomic enjoys a rebirth.

The "new" Atomic looks to usher in 2013...

http://lasvegascitylife.com/blog/town/atomic-liquors-new-open-date-new-years-eve.html

So far I don't like what I'm hearing but I guess a hipster bar with the vintage neon sign is better than the place being completely bulldozed.

New Year's Eve is a good night for a Grand Re-Opening.
Fremont East has not been enclosed into the proverbial Disneyesque experience, yet it is experiencing investment. The area around Atomic Liquors is close enough to the El Cortez, so as to benefit from that investment. I hope it continues until it reaches the area around The Blue Angel.
A map of the regentification:
http://www.vegastodayandtomorrow.com/THEdowntownMAP.htm#.UI2UDcXR7Is

C295, why does your post read like a spam post?
just the way you wrote it,sounds like spam.
I know it is not, but I thought it sounded odd :)

Some cool Atomic Liquor links...

http://www.atomiclasvegas.com/

You know what's funny? Everyone's associating the Joe Pesci pen stabbing scene in "Casino" to the Atomic. That's actually incorrect, but I think was lifted from a prior post I made on this thread (and have since fixed, it was a different scene). Haha.

Also on another related note, the Hard Hat Lounge is touting the Frank Bowers mural connection. I've seen that in many internet articles including this one...

http://vegasseven.com/feature/2012/06/21/las-vegas-bar-hall-fame

That credit needs to go to Tiki Central and Mr. Smiley's urban archeology follow-up. Everyone keeps poaching TC discoveries without the proper acknowledgment.

Respect !!

On 2012-10-28 15:25, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
C295, why does your post read like a spam post?
just the way you wrote it,sounds like spam.
I know it is not, but I thought it sounded odd :)

I read the book, "My Week at the Blue Angel," and then repeatedly drove back and forth down Fremont, checking out the vibe, the development and gazing the amazing signage, while also noticing the locals and the housing quality. It is an interesting mix and Atomic Liquors is a very good representative as a microcosm of the entire area.

That was kind of surreal opening up yesterday's Sunday LA Times front section and seeing a picture and article on P Moss, Las Vegas entrepreneur of Tiki and Punk.

He's such a stealthy presence at Tiki events, I always catch him in the corner of my eye and then he disappears !!

Excellent! Thanks for the link. :drink:

I Hope the new Atomic Liquors doesn't suck. "Bottle Service" scares me! http://atomiclasvegas.com/

Anything is better than nothing.
It looks like they are marketing the place well.
The ATomic Cafe is just on the outer edge of the downtown area undergoing a badly needed transformation.
Hopefully, enough tourists and locals will enable the owners to repay their loans.

Moss told me that he looked into buying that place and said that the neighborhood was even too bad for HIM. And Moss ain't afraid of sh*t.
It'll be interesting to see what happens. I'm really looking forward to seeing the inside of the place.

On 2012-10-28 14:50, christiki295 wrote:
New Year's Eve is a good night for a Grand Re-Opening.
Fremont East has not been enklosed into the proverbial Disneyesque experience, yet it is expearencing investment. The area around Atomic Liquors is close enough to the El Cortez, so as to benefit from that investment. I hope it continues until it reaches the area around The Blue Angel.
A map of the regentification and did you no one can purchse the new iphone at http://www.scrotumeast.com or the ipad at http://www.nigeria.com and for the right tools for the rite job one can puchase the new nike running shoes for 199 at http://www.awsomepossum.com:
Is

fixed it for you!

Thanks!

The LATimes jumps on the celebtration bandwagon.
Raising a glass to an atomic history: A Cold War-era liquor store and bar reopens with new owners, who plan to mark the role it played during an even brighter, flashier era.
By John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times 10:07 PM PDT, May 11, 2013
On a nearly deserted downtown block, a small brick building fronted by a curvy neon sign heralds a bygone era here: That's when the big bombs went boom and awe-struck Las Vegas residents watched the mushroom clouds billow into the bright desert sky.

At the start of the Cold War, in the 1950s and early 60s, people timed their days to watch the U.S. government's nuclear explosions at the nearby Nevada Test Site. Think of it as a small-town fair with 10,000-pound bombs serving as fireworks.

At Joe and Stella Sobchik's liquor store and bar on Fremont Street, downtown denizens walked up to the roof, cocktails in hand, most without protective goggles, for a better view of the sky show. The Sobchiks eventually renamed their former restaurant Atomic Liquors to capture the oddball flavor of the events.

The place outlived the Cold War, stubbornly staying open until the couple died a few years ago. Now after a two-year hiatus, Atomic Liquors is back in business with new owners who plan to mark the bar's role in the history of the town that once called itself America's Atomic City.

A trio of investors — brothers Lance and Kent Johns, originally from Orange County, and Las Vegas filmmaker Derek Stonebarger — bought the bar in 2011 from the Sobchiks' only son. Their new "bar-seum" will feature artifacts such as Geiger counters and posters from the nearby National Atomic Testing Museum.

The Atomic was once an atmospheric 24-hour hangout for the city's brightest lights, including mobsters and performers who dropped in for nightcaps after their shows at downtown casinos. Regulars included Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Roy Rogers and the Smothers Brothers, the owners say.

The place made cameo appearances in TV shows and films, including the original "Twilight Zone" series, Clint Eastwood's 1977 movie "The Gauntlet," and "The Hangover" with Bradley Cooper. In the 1995 film "Casino," it was the setting for a scene in which Joe Pesci's character kills a man with a pen.

"People tell us wild stories about this place," said Lance Johns, adding that the bar had hosted a few parties and would open next month. "One guy said he was a local driver for Jimmy Hoffa and took him to the Atomic whenever he was in town. Another said Joe Sobchik was getting shaken down by a local thug until he called in Frank Sinatra. After that, the guy gave Joe all his money back."

But the Atomic is most known for its role in nuclear tourism. "So much history is torn down here," said Stonebarger. "It's nice to be part of preserving such a colorful chapter of Las Vegas' past."

In 1951, the government began experimenting with bombs more than twice as large as the ones dropped on Japan in World War II. A year later, the government invited reporters to the test site, 65 miles outside Las Vegas. A Washington journalist described the first televised test blast.

"A fantastically bright cloud is climbing upward like a huge umbrella," he observed, moments after the detonation of a 31-kiloton bomb nicknamed "Big Boy." "You brace yourself for the shock wave that follows an atomic explosion. A heat wave comes first, then the shock, strong enough to knock an unprepared man down. Then, after what seems like hours, the man-made sunburst fades away."

An atomic frenzy swept the nation, with Las Vegas at its center. Casino operators led by Benny Binion printed calendars with the dates and times of the explosions. The new nuclear tourism push included atomic-themed postcards and even showgirls' headdresses. The Flamingo and the Sands advertised atomic cocktails, the atomic hairdo and Miss Atomic Bomb beauty contests.

"Benny Binion felt if they're going to give us lemons, let's make lemonade," said Karen Green, curator at the National Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas. "He coined the phrase 'atomic tourism.'"

Joe Sobchik also cashed in. "My dad renamed his place Atomic Liquors in 1952," said son Ron, an aerospace engineer who lives in Fullerton. "It was in the news. People talked about it everywhere."

For 12 years, the government detonated a bomb every three weeks, for a total of 235 massive explosions whose flashes could reportedly be seen as far away as Montana, Green said. Scientists assured residents that any harmful radiation would dissipate once it reached Las Vegas.

Yet critics said the blasts blew out windows, rattled stacks of chips at the casinos and left livestock with burns and other ailments. Billionaire Howard Hughes once complained to President Johnson that the tests damaged the water supply, Green said. Each time a bomb went off, tremors shook Hughes' penthouse suite atop the Desert Inn.

Finally, the 1963 Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty stopped above-ground testing in Nevada. The blasts moved underground.

The new Atomic Liquors owners say they want to celebrate the glory days of the joint that Joe and Stella Sobchik ran for more than half a century. After the couple died in 2010 within weeks of one another, their memorial service was held at the Atomic.

On a recent evening at the bar, the trio talked of such touches as installing bike racks nicknamed for the infamous hydrogen bombs "Fat Man" and "Little Boy" dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Stonebarger produces a business card that, instead of an electron revolving around a nucleus, shows an olive circling the word "Atomic."

They discuss serving a new-generation Atomic cocktail when Realtor Kent Johns mentions the song of the same name. He whips out his iPhone to pull up the 1946 ditty by the Slim Gaillard Quartet that features such lyrics as:

That's the drink that you

don't pour

When you take one sip you

won't need any more

You're small as a beetle or

big as a whale

BOOM Atomic Cocktail.

"That's a terrible song," says Lance Johns.

"Well," Stonebarger adds, "we're going to play it here."

[email protected]

On 2013-05-12 21:32, christiki295 wrote:
The LATimes jumps on the celebtration bandwagon.

Raising a glass to an atomic history: A Cold War-era liquor store and bar reopens with new owners, who plan to mark the role it played during an even brighter, flashier era.

By John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times 10:07 PM PDT, May 11, 2013

... In the 1995 film "Casino," it was the setting for a scene in which Joe Pesci's character kills a man with a pen....

OMG, now even the L.A. TImes is poaching some of my (incorrect) content !! Haha. :D (See 3 posts down from top).

And on a related note, I can't help but notice all of the new members getting beat up for threads that aren't considered Tiki. I've been getting away with murder on this thread for years. I promise my next post will be Tiki though. Kinda. :)

:right:

:right: :right: