Nevada’s Legalized Gambling and Bugsy in the Movies

Bugsy Siegel On March 19, 1931, Nevada state legislators voted to legalize gambling in the state. The measure was passed out of concerns about people leaving the state and how hard times had hit the state during the Great Depression.

After the U.S. acquired the territory in 1848 after the Mexican War, a large number of settlers moved to the state following the discovery of gold and silver. Nevada became a state toward the end of the Civil War, but by the time the Great Depression arrived, the state was not doing well.  So, the move to legalize gambling was seen as a way to save the state’s economy.

During the early decades of legalized gambling, organized crime controlled much of Las Vegas. Among the organized crime leaders was Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel.

Siegel arrived in Las Vegas in the 1940s.  His life is portrayed in the movie Bugsy (1991), directed by Barry Levinson and starring Warren Beatty.

The most famous gangster film also features a character based on Bugsy Siegel. The character of Moe Greene in The Godfather (1972) is based on Siegel.

In The Godfather, Michael Corleone arranges to have Greene killed in a massage parlor with a bullet in the eye after Greene refuses to sell his casino interest. Alex Rocco plays Greene/Siegel in this clip below.

In Mario Puzo’s novel The Godfather, Greene is killed in his Hollywood home.  That version is a little closer to the real-life death of Siegel, who was shot and killed while he was at an associate’s home in Beverly Hills.

Speaking of the real man, you can see the real Bugsy Siegel and the 1940s Las Vegas scenery in this footage posted on YouTube by one of Bugsy’s daughters. Check it out.

While Bugsy is no longer around, celebrate the anniversary of the Nevada law by recognizing you are lucky to be alive. Enjoy the day.

What is your favorite movie set in Las Vegas? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” in Music

    Tales of Mystery and Imagination Alan Parsons Project In a recent discussion of the song “The Raven” from The Alan Parsons Project album Tales of Mystery and Imagination: Edgar Allan Poe, I promised to revisit the 1976 album. My favorite song on Tales of Mystery and Imagination tells the saga of one of my favorite Edgar Allan Poe stories, “The Cask of Amontillado.”

    “The Cask of Amontillado” is narrated by a man taking revenge upon a person named Fortunato for some unnamed insult. The narrator tempts Fortunato to his basement with a cask of the alcoholic beverage Amontillado, a type of sherry. And then begins his plan.

    This fan video for The Alan Parsons Project song helps illustrate the disturbing tale, beginning with the wonderful opening haunting line by The Alan Parsons Project that encapsulates Poe’s story: “By the last breath of the four winds that blow / I’ll have revenge upon Fortunado.”

    Toby Keith used the idea of “The Cask of Amontillado” in a video for his song “A Little Too Late” from the CD White Trash With Money“ (2006). In the video, Keith uses the same idea that appears in the Poe story of building a tomb of bricks around one’s “enemy.”

    Although Keith’s song is not literally about the Poe story, the video, directed by Michael Salomon and featuring actress Krista Allen, gives a humorous twist to the original disturbing ending of the Poe story.  Check it out.

    “The Cask of Amontillado” has inspired other songs, TV shows, etc., in pop culture, such as an episode of The Simpsons where Mr. Burns tries the tactic on Homer. The twist in the Toby Keith video reportedly copied a 1971 episode of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery called “The Merciful” (available on Hulu) so it is unclear how much the director was thinking of Edgar Allan Poe and how much of Rod Serling.

    Finally, did you know there is a word for building a wall around someone so they die? “Immurement.” Anyway, these immurements made some interesting stories and songs.

    What do you think of “The Cask of Amontillado”? Leave your two cents in comments.

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    “Sons and Daughters” on “The Office”

    Decemberists Crane Wife Last night, The Office featured what was apparently edited from the pilot for the abandoned spin-off series Shrute Farms. The episode “The Farm” featured Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) returning home after his aunt had died.

    In the episode, we also met Dwight’s brother Jeb (Thomas Middleditch) and his sister Fanny (Majandra Delfino).  The three siblings discovered that their aunt left her large farm to the three of them if they would return to take care of the farm.

    The enjoyable episode did seem like a pilot with the introduction of characters that you expect to be developed. Also, there were some oddball touches, touching on the strangeness we are used to seeing when Dwight has returned home in previous episodes.

    The Office has long been one of my favorite shows in both the American and the U.K. versions.  And even though I have missed Steve Carrell, I so hate to end my relationship with the characters that I would have given any spinoff a chance. It would have been interesting to see how Dwight’s life developed. But, alas, it is not to be.

    “Sons and Daughters”

    One of the interesting aspects of the episode was the appearance of a Decemberists song I really like, “Sons and Daughters.” In one scene, Dwight and his family sit around playing instruments and singing the song.

    While it seems odd that the Schrutes would be playing a recent song by the Decemberists instead of an old German folk tune, it was great to hear the Decemberists and “Sons and Daughters” getting some wider exposure. (Update: The original video of the scene is no longer on YouTube, but the video below includes some images from the episode.)

    The Decemberists

    “Sons and Daughters” appeared as the final song on the Decemberists album The Crane Wife (2006), the band’s major label debut.  The album is partly based on a Japanese folk tale about a man who discovers the woman he married is actually a crane he had once helped.

    As part of the song cycle on the album, “Sons and Daughters” is a hopeful ending, looking forward to a better future.

    When we arrive sons and daughters;
    We’ll make our homes on the water;
    We’ll build our walls with aluminum;
    We’ll fill our mouths with cinnamon, now.

    Although it looks like there is no happy ending for Schrute Farms for now, we are hopeful that The Office will pull it together to give us a finale that lives up to this song and the great series. In this video, the Decemberists, who have previously appeared on The Simpsons, play “Sons and Daughters” at Metro Theatre in Sydney in 2010:



    What do you think of the final season of “The Office”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Manal al-Sharif and The Freedom of the Road

    manl al sharif driving You may not have heard of Manal al-Sharif, but Time Magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2012 and The Atlantic Monthly included her among the Brave Thinkers of the year.

    Al-Sharif started a movement by a simple act that we take for granted here in the U.S. She got into a car and went for a drive in 2011. But she did her drive in Saudi Arabia, where women are forbidden from driving.

    Along with a friend, she posted a video of her trip online and drew a following on a Facebook page called “Teach Me How to Drive So I Can Protect Myself” and through a Women2Drive campaign. Although she was arrested for a few days, her acts inspired other to protest the discrimination against women in Saudi Arabia.

    The prohibition is one of many types of gender discrimination in a country where girls need a male guardian’s permission to go to school. But al-Sharif’s choice of using a car for the protest touched on an international feeling about the road and what it represents.

    Singer-Songwriter Martin Sexton sings about “Freedom Of The Road” from another perspective. Although the title sounds like the song is a tribute to the joys of travel, the beautiful song is really about the weariness of living on the road. In the song, the singer reveals:

    Now I’ve had enough of this freedom of the road;
    Never was good with decisions that’s what I’ve been told;
    I’ve been holdin’ on to this ticket cause one day I’ll pass this toll;
    Magic road grant your freedom to someone else, for I’ll be comin’ home.

    We often forget that freedom is not just about fun and joy. Our freedom to choose gives us the power to choose wrong just like the freedom of the road gives us the power to be weary of our travels.

    Our freedoms — whether it be to drive, to marry, to have children, to work, to speak, to vote, etc. — come with no guarantee of happiness. They only give us a chance to try to find happiness.

    And al-Sharif knows that women everywhere should be given these chances and to discover the freedom of the road for themselves.

    What is your favorite story about the freedom of the road? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Hey Jack Kerouac, Happy Birthday

    Jack Kerouac On March 12, 1922, novelist and poet Jack Kerouac was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. After showing early promise as a scholar and football player, Kerouac attended Columbia University but then dropped out.  He was later kicked out of the Navy on psychiatric grounds.

    On the Road

    By the late 1940s, Kerouac was finding some promise with his writing.  But it would be the 1957 publication of his book based on his travels, On the Road, that would make him famous as an important figure of the Beat Generation.

    Surprisingly, a year earlier in 1956, Kerouac threatened to never publish the book. But even after gaining fame from On the Road, Kerouac had trouble finding peace and happiness. He died from an abdominal hemorrhage in 1969 at the age of 47.

    In this clip from The Steve Allen Plymouth Show, Allen interviews Kerouac in 1959.  And Kerouac reads from his book while Allen and the band plays jazzy music in the background. Check it out.

    On the Road was made into a 2012 film directed by Walter Salles and starring Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart in 2012. But one seems more likely to run into Kerouac in songs rather than in films.

    “Hey Jack Kerouac”

    There are several Kerouac-inspired songs, as listed by Raditaz. Probably the most famous creative work that is about Kerouac is the 10,000 Maniacs song, “Hey Jack Kerouac.” The song first appeared on the band’s 1987 album In My Tribe.

    When the group appeared on MTV Unplugged on April 21, 1993, one of the songs they performed was “Hey Jack Kerouac.” Merchant introduced the song for the 10,000 Maniacs by reading about Kerouac.  Her reading apparently was from the introduction in her copy of On the Road.

    The song portrays Kerouac as a misunderstood artistic soul (“little boy lost in our little world that hated/ and that dared to drag him down”). And the song also mentions other of the Beat writers like Allen Ginsberg (“Allen baby, why so jaded?”) and William S. Burroughs (“Billy, what a saint they’ve made you”). Still, others have pointed out that the song complains about the effects of the over popularization of the Beats.

    Lead singer Natalie Merchant wrote the song with the band’s guitarist Rob Buck who passed away in December 2000. You may easily tell they try to capture Kerouac’s writing style in the chorus:

    Maniacs In My Tribe You chose your words from mouths of babes got lost in the wood.
    Cool junk booting madmen, street minded girls
    In Harlem howling at night.
    What a tear-stained shock of the world,
    You’ve gone away without saying goodbye.

    I do not know what Jack Kerouac would have thought of the song or if he would have agreed with the sentiments. But it would have been cool if he would have stuck around to tell us with his clever use of language. Happy birthday Jack.

    What is your favorite work inspired by Jack Kerouac? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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