Meme Scholar with Madness (PhD)

[EndtheMadnessNow]

April 8, 1947: Club Bingo opened by Milton Prell with a 300-seat bingo parlor as the 4th casino on the (soon) Las Vegas Strip. It operated until early 1952. It's main building became the coffee shop for the Sahara Hotel that opened later that same year. Another Club Bingo opened on Fremont St in 1962. The Sahara was a prominent filming location for the 1960 film Ocean's 11.




LBJ and aides Lloyd Hand and Jack Valenti 1965 in White House pool (now drained and under floor of current White House press briefing room)--mural of Virgin Islands on wall was installed by Kennedys.




April 8, 1966: TIME cover.
Trivia: Jay North (Dennis the Menace) wrote a letter to the editor of TIME in response to the IS GOD DEAD issue. It was published in the May 6, 1966 edition.




The "Champagne Girls" of the International Hotel Las Vegas opening in 1969. No clue what they're pouring into the pool but I think I'll wait until tomorrow to go for a swim.
The hotel was developed by Kirk Kerkorian (1917-2015), "father of the mega-resort" and was, at the time of its opening, the largest hotel in the world. He went on to build the original MGM Grand Hotel (1973) and the current MGM Grand (1993).


The hotel became famous for hosting iconic entertainers, including Elvis Presley and Barbra Streisand. It later became the Las Vegas Hilton and is currently known as the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino.



April 8, 1970: the "Doomsday Ship" USS Northampton (CLC-1) Oregon City class was decommissioned. Laid down as a heavy cruiser in 1944, the Northampton was converted into a command ship that would serve as the "Floating White House" aka Floating COG to direct a retaliatory strike in the event of a nuclear attack.


She was designated as the National Emergency Command Post Afloat (NECPA); Northampton was one of two ships to serve in the role, with the other being the aircraft carrier USS Wright. The ship was modified with an extra deck, the tallest communications mast in the Navy and multi-link communications gear. Sold for scrap in DEC 1977.


April 7, 1976: A half-century ago...The Bad News Bears. Trivia: Burt Lancaster's son, Bill, wrote the screenplay, his first of three. The other two being The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978) and The Thing (1982).


The film's poster art was drawn by Jack Davis, one of the founding illustrators for MAD magazine.


Sorry, no gas until ____ OPEC oil crisis of 1979. I spy a fallout shelter sign.




April 8, 1988: Above the Law premiered in the USA. Directed by Andrew Davis
(Under Siege (1992), The Fugitive (1993), Chain Reaction (1996), A Perfect Murder (1998), and Holes (2003) that became a huge commercial success despite mixed reviews, and launched Steven Seagal's acting career. Nico Toscani is an Italian immigrant, American patriot, ex-CIA agent, aikido specialist and renegade Chicago cop action. He is as committed to his job as he is to his personalized brand of justice—expert and thorough bone-crushing. The film is regarded as the first American film to feature aikido in fight sequences.


"He does have a strong and particular screen presence. It is obvious he is doing a lot of his own stunts, and some of the fight sequences are impressive and apparently unfaked. He isn’t just a hunk, either." - Roger Ebert


Almost complete. The Caesars Palace LED display got another large screen section and it's top piece installed yesterday (Apr 7th) and is about ready to be lit up.
Here are some new drone and ground shots of the display.




West Virginia cryptid-themed police badge sells out in 24 hours

Cryptid Patch Created by West Virginia Police Department Proves Wildly Popular

By Tim Binnall

A police department in West Virginia created a special patch celebrating three of the state's iconic cryptids, and the cool collectible sold out in less than 24 hours. Unveiled on March 31st by the Granville Police Department, the peculiar piece features Mothman, the Flatwoods Monster, and the Grafton Monster. Amazingly, less than a day after announcing that the patches were available for purchase for $15 with proceeds going towards their 'Shop with a First Responder Program,' the department had a follow-up social media post wherein they marveled that they sold their entire stock.

Reflecting on the "crazy" reception that the cryptid piece received, Granville Police Chief Craig Corkrean mused to a local TV station, "everyone’s kind of gone nuts over them." Fortunately, the department indicated that they plan to produce more of the patches in the near future. That said, it would appear that one must visit the Granville Town Hall to get their hands on the highly sought-after collectible. The West Virginia cryptid patch is not the first such instance of a police department embracing the paranormal, as similar UFO-themed collectibles have been produced by the Exeter Police Department to celebrate that New Hampshire community's place in flying saucer lore.
Coast to Coast

Anchors aweigh, my boys...


Thought this was an AI patch, but nope it is real. The DVIDS link has been 404'd. Anytime during war time the past 80 or so years these morale patches become very popular. Most never make it out to the public.