Pirates to Pyramids: Las Vegas Taxi Tales (9 page)

The boss gave the brother a cash bonus and when he heard there were even more ideas that
he had that could improve the company's profits, the brother got promoted to assistant manager of operations. I was impressed by this story but he told me to wait for the best story of all.

He said he had a younger brother who had been the family under-achiever. He was so "lost" as a young man he would just sit in his room and play video games on the TV. His father, the admiral, started to worry about him and encouraged him to join the Navy, see the world and get some free training, education and benefits. But no, he could not have his video games in the Navy.

"Then I am not going," he said. But the admiral had another suggestion, college. He, reportedly,
gave him the list of available courses, saying "choose something that interests you."

He chose computer sciences and off to school he went where he found he had natural ability and aptitude in a certain specific area. Later he got recruited by a fledgling company with new ideas on how to make video games.

That company did so well it was sold to a giant corporation and the youngest brother had "sweat equity" so he received a check in six figures.

Next, he met some other guys with a totally new idea for a company that was creative, risky and work intensive. They hired the youngest brother away from "games" in exchange for startup stock, which worked for him because he didn't need money right away. Years went by and the company went public, setting a stock market record on opening day.

Hard to believe but this young brother was holding onto original stock in Yahoo. His personal worth went into the tens of millions of dollars. He went on to buy his brothers new houses and now the admiral was off his back, for good.

This rider gave me a good tip but his story was great.

HOTEL CRIME
 

Security officers do not discuss their hotel work with anyone, per hotel policy. People might be disinclined to stay in a hotel in which a crime occurred. So, as a taxi driver I was always curious when the local police paid visits to the hotels I served. The police usually parked their cars quietly in the back of hotels but occasionally they parked right smack in front. Mostly they would get a low level complaint to record and they went about it very discreetly at a back or side door where guests rarely go.

After giving several cab rides for a senior security officer for one of the newest and funnest hotels I thought that maybe now I would finally find out what goes on when things go bad in our adult amusement park. No dice. No specific information ever came out of him. Then one day he shared something in his own way.

He: "What size are these hotels?"

Me: "Vegas has 18 out of the 25 largest hotels in the world."

He: "How many rooms are in them?"

Me: "They have thousands of rooms. Many hotels have 3000 plus rooms. One even has 5000 rooms."

He: “At an average occupancy of 80 percent and two per room, how does this volume compare to populations of cities?"

Me: "Some of these hotels are bigger than many towns in America."

He: “What kind of crime happens in towns and cities in America?"

Me: "All kinds of crime occur.
 

He: "Exactly. Why would hotels be any different?"

Me: "You are saying felonies even like murder?"
 

He: "You are the one figuring it out. Does murder occur in towns and cities in America?"

Me: "Yes."

He: "You just answered your own questions."

Me: "People can get violent in a fun place like this?"

He: "Don’t assume all people are happy here. For example, some people have a painful break up happening. They sometimes come to Vegas to recreate the good times and save their marriage. When mending doesn't work, blaming can start and then anger can follow."

Me: "Well, that's a real buzz killer for those of us who like this fantasyland."

He: "Security never gets to relax and we don’t live in a fantasy."

I was bummed out about this when I first heard it. Then it dawned on me. This is exactly why we have these security officers. Even before 9/11 we needed them in places even as sweet as Disneyland. We have all seen it. If it can go wrong, one day it will go wrong. These guys are schooled to watch out for funny business and thereby, keep the fun in place for us. God bless and help them.

MOVIE MAKING IN VEGAS

A lot of picture taking happens in Las Vegas. Most cameras are for personal fun, but some are
for the movies and TV shows. For example, casinos that are scheduled to be imploded make for great locations for spectacular shooting. The first casino I saw do this was the Sands Hotel, famous for its relationship with the "Rat Pack." We all saw Nicholas Cage crash his "Conair" plane into that casino lobby in a stunning scene that, of course, never really happened. But since this was before computer-generated filming Hollywood manufactured a scary scene on The Strip.

The set decorators brought a huge airplane fuselage to the real front door of the closed Sands Hotel and crammed it in. Fake police cars littered the driveway in a realistic way and that is how it all sat for weeks and weeks. Things were a lot slower in those days of real film, so I guessed they didn't want to "strike the set" until the movie re-takes were absolutely done.

But many times poor unsuspecting tourist driving by the hotel almost had a car accident from shock. I tried to avoid all other drivers in that area just to be safe. Sometimes I would get shocked by the police cars again ,just like the first time.

I had to catch my runaway mind, "Get a grip. It's that movie and you've been fooled again." I was taken in so many times, that I was getting pissed that they left the set there so long. Finally, it dawned on me. Filming was done but now it was an advertising device for the millions who come to Las Vegas. Finally they removed their scenery and soon after, the Sands got imploded. Two years later the beautiful Venetian Hotel opened on that spot.

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Steve Wynn learned from the Sands Hotel experience that the implosion of a hotel is an excellent publicity device. When he bought the Dunes Hotel his creative light bulb went on in a way that has never been topped. He warned the people of Las Vegas and all the media that a special event would happen on New Years Eve, and he did not disappoint.

At exactly 9:00 PM/12:00 AM Eastern he let the pirates and the English man-of-war do their normal battle in Buccaneer Bay at his Treasure Island Hotel. As usual the English captain warned the pirates to surrender and when they didn't, he fired his cannon. But this time, to the amusement of the Strip and television audiences, the imaginary canon ball flew up the street hitting the Dunes Hotel, causing it to collapse.

In reality, he had shrewdly timed the Dunes implosion to occur exactly when the cannon fired. Down came the hotel on cue, and on national TV. The fireworks and the giant dust ball were a great visual for New Years Eve.

++++

Steve Wynn had another great idea when he bought the Desert Inn Hotel. He planned another implosion and a new hotel, but first he let Hollywood transform it into "The Red Dragon." The movie Rush Hour II needed a casino to wreck. So one day there was a new sign out front that said, "Red Dragon Casino,” and it would light up because principal filming was at night. How cute, at first.

But soon riders, particularly Asians, insisted that they be taken to the brand new casino on the Strip. This was getting complicated because Vegas opened a new casino every year, so telling them that it was a fake for a movie didn't slow some of them down. They wanted to see proof
for themselves and/or see if they could be in the movie.

Many cab drivers were glad when the movie was done. But Steve Wynn opened his art gallery
for two years at the Desert Inn site, further confusing a whole different group of riders. The Wynn Hotel was finally opened on that spot.

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The movie, "Oceans 11" caused quite a stir at the Bellagio when it was filmed there. But the
hotel took things so well in stride that it always appeared routine. This was surprising since the actors arrived early to prepare for filming and ended up having some fun, too.

George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and the rest were housed in the Bellagio Bungalows. They are reportedly palatial and separated from the main building and housed some partying before filming started. However, the gossip was tame compared to Vegas standards because the fun was friendly and above board. Still, when you watch the movie you can see some devilish glances in many scenes and it reminds you of the bungalows.

When the filming began, Las Vegas locals were surprised to read reports that movie shooting
was being done right in the open, among the guests.
 

Are you kidding me? I can see Julia Roberts in person? I parked my car and went into the
hotel to find out where they were shooting that day. I was stunned to find that the previous day's filming occurred right next to the buffet line, in front of everyone.

That was extremely casual. "Where are they today?" I asked. Filming was scheduled for somewhere in the garage and I was parked in the garage. So off I went to my car but I saw no filming. I drove around every floor in the garage and found no film crew, which was sad. So
I did not get to see "pretty woman" in person, which may have been a good thing. I could have embarrassed myself.

++++

Watching CSI being filmed at the Orleans Hotel once, I learned that I don't want to be in the movies. They had laid down tracks to allow the camera a smooth roll across carpet and the actors were walking and talking, just like real life. But "real life" took 3 to 4 takes with significant delays in between just to get a few words on tape. I exited after ten minutes, bored silly.

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There were no boring parts in the movie "Casino," especially for the locals who lived here during the real action. Joe Pesci and Robert DeNiro play the true story of two mob guys, Anthony "the ant" Spillotro and Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal. When the movie says "they killed the goose that laid the golden eggs," they could have said "geese." Yes, the mob built the big casino hotels on the Strip after the war (WWII) because who else would.
 

The movie itself is a re-creation of the documentary done by a local investigative reporter, George Knapp. George is also famous for revealing Area 51's Groom Lake secret U.S. Air Force Base. Casino’s story was totally accurate, except for hotel names. It was not the Algiers Hotel. It was the Stardust Hotel.

The real Rosenthal started the first sports book because he was awesome at setting the odds on sports. He was so famous for his odds making skills that other sports books in the city would
send a spy down to confirm their own odds..

This continued for decades after Rosenthal was black-booked from Vegas. If you are black- booked you cannot enter a casino in this state. Just before his death in 2009 he was living in Florida and despising the Nevada Gaming Commission. He really missed Vegas.

Spillotro was suspected of murder and other crimes and mayhem which drew unnecessary attention to the otherwise secret mob activities. This behavior attracted the FBI who bugged conversations and collected evidence for trials. The mob action got publicized even more
and Vegas’ reputation for fun and fairness was being threatened. I am told that the Nevada Gaming Control Board took severe action and visited every hotel/casino, far fewer then,
and terminated employment of every Italian at every location down to the kids that park cars.

It was a purge, yes, but according to them it had to be done.

So, if you wink and ask me if the mob is really gone from Vegas, I have to remind you what Mario Puzo wrote in the book "The Godfather". In one scene Marlin Brando is so upset that Michael was dragged into the violent side of the business because he had planned to take the family legitimate..

Today they can own a casino without any violence. They can just buy and sell stock anytime.

Fans of the movie Casino can see the place where Rosenthal's car was blown up on Sahara Ave one mile east of the Strip at what is now the Tony Roma's Rib joint. Spillotro’s body was eventually found buried in an Indiana corn field.

Today, Spillotro's former attorney is the mayor of Las Vegas. Coincidentally, he, Oscar Goodman, is pushing for a Mob Museum to be built here. He says,

"Where else should a mob museum go?”

PORNOS ARE MOVIES, TOO

Speaking of movies, I had a porno movie maker in my car one time. He was surprisingly young, pleasant. He was covered with tattoos which was odd because this was before "tats" were so popular. His car had broken down at the California border and he needed a 40 mile ride to get into town. I was surprised how much I liked him even though I wasn't thrilled with his career choice. He told me how it happened.