Watching this beautiful 16mm video of Las Vegas back in 1962 is like flipping through a book of photos from a vacation that your grandparents took long before you were born; and in fact, filmmaker Jeff Altman put it together using home movie footage that his grandfather shot nearly 40 years ago in the Kodachrome format. The colors have a soft, faded quality to them, and the city itself is unrecognizable — this was before the Howard Hughes-led development frenzy on the Strip, when smaller casinos still ruled the town. Click through to view the magical clip, and let us know the comments if you, like us, wish that we could bring the old Vegas back.
Otherwise known as the Fifth Beatle, Sir George Martin produced every one of the Beatles’ albums except their last, Let it Be (1970). Having worked closely with the Fab Four for so many years, it should come as no surprise that the English pop-culture knight has amassed scores of outtakes, unreleased recordings, and master tapes from the Beatles’ sessions at Abbey Road Studios. Pairing rare highlights with ubiquitous Beatles tunes, Sir George and his son Giles Martin have put together a sonic odyssey that serves as the musical backdrop for Cirque du Soleil‘s mesmerizing tribute to the Beatles: Love.
When we hear “Vegas” we think of many things, but the word pretty isn’t usually one of them. Philip Bloom’s time-lapse video of the City of Sin — which was shot entirely from his hotel balcony — gives us an entirely fresh viewpoint. Thanks to his use of tonemapped images (which Bloom explains in this behind the scenes video), the over-the-top architecture of The Strip gets a bit of a face-lift; while the cityscape still looks surreal, buildings that were once a bit gauche are transformed into something more understated. Even the Miracle Mile Shops look good. Click through to check it out.
Vegas has real culture – it’s not just casinos and hangovers, we swear. That’s why we’re launching Flavorpill Las Vegas: to show you a side of the city that you’ll actually want to remember.
In honor of our imminent launch, we want to hear about all your Vegas stories — the good, the bad, and the extraordinarily outrageous. Just leave ‘em in the comments below, and be sure to use an email address where we can reach you.
The top 10 entrants will be featured on Flavorwire and triple their chances of winning our VIP Vegas Trip giveaway. That’s 5 days and 4 nights at The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, $500 in spa treatments and dining, VIP access to The Cosmopolitan’s opening events, and a private musical performance by a major star!
1. Madonna — who admittedly has some of the best guns in the business — is opening a chain of gyms around the world that will be known as Hard Candy Fitness. [via AP]
2. Paul the Psychic Octopus, who correctly predicted the outcome of several world World Cup matches, passed away last night at the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre in Germany. He will be missed… particularly by gamblers. [via The Daily What]
3. The Daily Beast has ranked America’s smartest (and dumbest) cities, with Boston topping their list and Las Vegas pulling up the rear.
4. Mark Wahlberg will star in Ted, the directorial debut of Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane. The film is a buddy movie about a man and his teddy bear, who thanks to a childhood wish, has come to life. [via Deadline]
5. Ang Lee has cast newcomer Suraj Sharma to play the lead role of 16-year old Pi Patel in his upcoming adaptation of The Life of Pi. [via Deadline]
While his band takes a much-needed break, Killers frontman Brandon Flowers is striking out on his own, paying tribute to his hometown of Las Vegas with debut solo album Flamingo.
Known for his arena-sized vocals, Flowers doesn’t dial things back here, working with a trio of top-tier producers (Stuart Price, Daniel Lanois, and Brendan O’Brien) to keep things epic, layered, and moving. The singer’s much harped-on love of Springsteen also plays a major role, in his approach to both songwriting and storytelling.
Edward Lifson of Hello Beautiful! recently took a jaunt outside of Sin City to check out a new Frank Gehry edifice for a medical center devoted to brain health. Currently under construction, the Lou Ruvo Center comprises two wings in different styles that crash and reverberate at a point of connection, creating a very Gehry-like dissonance that may also reference the two sides of the brain. Left side: ordered, linear, logical. Right side: creative, emotional, random. Click through for more images and see if you, too, can understand the architect formerly known as Ephraim Owen Goldberg.
One would think something titled the Erotic Heritage Museum and located in the T&A capital of the American West would be allowed to embrace the art of the birthday suit. And one would be wrong, at least in the public sense. Apparently the Las Vegas museum’s Ho-Down Mural Project has violated the county’s sign code that bans visible areola of female breasts. Thus: pasties! If that’s not indigenous local culture, we don’t know what is. And yet.
Architecture! At its best, visionary, innovative, mold-breaking. At its worst, cheesy, overwrought, and ill-timed. The recent architectural follies of Dubai present a fairly good case for prudence in the building arts: a Marvel superhero-themed park is a questionable expenditure even in boom times; as for the world’s largest LED structure, a new opera house, a revolving “dynamic” tower, and an experimental resort dubbed “The Cloud,” well, it’s beginning to look like Gomorrah in Abu Dhabi. But as we know all too well, the current financial crisis is a global situation, which is why we’ve rated six new developments and their associated levels of what-were-they-thinking-ness. Follow along after the jump.
Our friends at Fast Company have an exclusive inside look at “The Dime” — ten suites in the $770M Paradise Tower expansion to Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel property inspired by Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. Designed by Mark Zeff and Mark Tracy, and intended for “more seasoned” guests, the rooms are set to open in late December. According to Fast Company, “Each one is outfitted with the accoutrements critical to the life of a hard-partying young music or entertainment industry executive: direct access to the pool, 8-person Jacuzzis, cast iron ‘Tea for Two’ tubs, and iPod docking stations.” There will be also be skull-covered walls, illuminated beds, and hologram naked ladies that swim. More images after the jump.
