Dkram: I am a big fan of Dennis Quaid. His dragon friend Drago was voiced by Sean Connery, another of my favorites.
Quaid’s performance as Ralph Lamb, the sheriff of Las Vegas is very enjoyable. When I read that the series was coming, I did some research on Ralph Lamb and what he accomplished for Las Vegas, and he was quite a guy. He created what is now known as the Las Vegas Metro Police Department that is still headed by the sheriff rather than a police chief. (CSI gets that part right, even if they do drop the “Metro” part of the name.) He started the modern forensic crime lab. And he required (and enforced) all known “gangsters” to register with the sheriff’s office when they came into town.The only thing I don’t like about the show is that they really aren’t following history. It is set in 1961, yet the entire focus of the show is downtown with vague hints of things getting started on Las Vegas Blvd., way South of town. The first resort/casino on the strip was built in 1948 and by 1961 there were several while downtown was deteriorating rapidly. The other thing is that the mobs had a sort of gentleman’s agreement that there was no violence in Las Vegas. They knew that their money was coming from the tourist trade and that tourists didn’t want to go where they might get shot in the crossfire. That’s why Bugsy Seigel was shot in Hollywood. He didn’t leave Las Vegas for a long time because he knew he was vulnerable elsewhere. (Source: When the Mob Ran Las Vegas by Steve Fischer – an excellent read if you like that sort of thing.) On the show there is someone getting killed through mob activity almost every week. My husband says it is for dramatic effect and I suppose he’s right, but that doesn’t reduce my irritation.
Good morning, Vagabonds.
Dkram: I am a big fan of Dennis Quaid. His dragon friend Drago was voiced by Sean Connery, another of my favorites.
Quaid’s performance as Ralph Lamb, the sheriff of Las Vegas is very enjoyable. When I read that the series was coming, I did some research on Ralph Lamb and what he accomplished for Las Vegas, and he was quite a guy. He created what is now known as the Las Vegas Metro Police Department that is still headed by the sheriff rather than a police chief. (CSI gets that part right, even if they do drop the “Metro” part of the name.) He started the modern forensic crime lab. And he required (and enforced) all known “gangsters” to register with the sheriff’s office when they came into town.The only thing I don’t like about the show is that they really aren’t following history. It is set in 1961, yet the entire focus of the show is downtown with vague hints of things getting started on Las Vegas Blvd., way South of town. The first resort/casino on the strip was built in 1948 and by 1961 there were several while downtown was deteriorating rapidly. The other thing is that the mobs had a sort of gentleman’s agreement that there was no violence in Las Vegas. They knew that their money was coming from the tourist trade and that tourists didn’t want to go where they might get shot in the crossfire. That’s why Bugsy Seigel was shot in Hollywood. He didn’t leave Las Vegas for a long time because he knew he was vulnerable elsewhere. (Source: When the Mob Ran Las Vegas by Steve Fischer – an excellent read if you like that sort of thing.) On the show there is someone getting killed through mob activity almost every week. My husband says it is for dramatic effect and I suppose he’s right, but that doesn’t reduce my irritation.