Cooper Media Blitz
It's media blitz time for yours truly. Please mark your calenders, adjust your watches, set your Tivo's and hide your small children.
This Monday and Tuesday night on your local PBS station please tune in to watch the fabulous three hour (90 minutes each nite) American Century documentary on Las Vegas: An Unconventional History.
I'm both a major talking head in the series as well as a "Senior Creative Consultant" but that doesn't mean it isn't a great production anyway. Go to the show's website here to find out all about it and to check your local time and listings for exact air time.
Here in the Los Angeles area, the two parts air respectively Monday and Tuesday at 9 p.m. on Channel 28 KCET.
I give you a money-back guarantee that you are going to love this snazzy, world-class quality look at Las Vegas, its history and its current role in American society (it's a smart look as well).
* To get yourself all revved up for this showing, you can also read my cover review/essay in this Sunday's Los Angeles Times Book Review titled Sin City Inc.
* And my essay in The Atlantic on modern slot machines and the economics of a sucker culture is just out online in the December issue.
* If you haven't yet overdosed by then on my musings on gambling culture, you can also tune in Monday at 11:30 a.m. Pacific to hear me online and the director of the PBS doc on Larry Mantle's Air Talk on Pasadena NPR station KPCC.
* Finally, for the PBS series there's also the marvelously illustrated and spritefuly written coffee-table sized companion book to which I am also a contributing essayist.
November 12th, 2005 at 2:28 pm
I heard you on the preview Marc. Very cool. AE is one of my favorite shows. It gets no better than that. I’ll be watching.
November 12th, 2005 at 4:00 pm
On my way home from my mother’s memorial service, I stopped in Vegas. First time in 20 years.
Wow, what a difference. Still have great food at a good price; but the various mega-casinos and the whole street entertainment. Fremont street (?) light show, with old style hokey Pioneer.
Cool.
The future is uncertain — nobody can really lie about the future.
November 12th, 2005 at 6:14 pm
I’m looking forward to it. If it’s anything as enjoyable as your book about Vegas, it oughta be good.
November 12th, 2005 at 7:52 pm
Mr. Cooper: Dude, like, you’re actually going to be famous! And I just thought my bombastic, epic postings on your web site were helping to prop you up!
– Seriously, congrats. Will definately check it out.
November 13th, 2005 at 11:20 am
Marc, how about some sort of contest on this blog where the coffee table book is the prize? Like, name the date Karl Rove is indicted, that sort of thing?
November 13th, 2005 at 8:22 pm
Good idea Michael.
To everyone else: You may have noticed that I have deleted a chunk of the comments from this thread. I stupidly responded to an obsessive-compulsive who when he gets up every morning, before he pees, asks himself ‘What can I do today to further the cause of Hugo Chavez?” It’s an odd affliction that this kid suffers– seeing the world divided between those who 100% support Hugo Chavez and those who don’t. I guess readers who come from orthodox religious families understand the syndrome better than I do. I should have just erased his long accusatory rant without a response. Instead, I got into it with the little twit, which was a mistake on my part.
I’m sure he’ll be back soon enough accusing me in interrogator-like fashion of not answering his capital charges against me i.e. how could I possibly suggest that Sr. Chavez fomented any violence and how could I ever cite a report that raised questions of fraud in a recent Venezuelan vote. Neither of which I retract.
This is both the pro and con of being a journalist. There’s a certain satisfaction that comes from having people who will engage you in ideas and assertions that you have published. And then there are the stalkers who have identified you as the enemy of humanity because you have dared to contradict their version of events. These latter people desperately, desperately need either 1) a girl friend 2) a nice stress-relieving hobby 3) or electro-schock therapy (oops… now I will be accused of being “pro-torture.”
I have better things to do than police the blog 24/7. So if u find some graffitti below, bear with us. Thanks.
November 13th, 2005 at 9:17 pm
Sorry folks, as you can see this kid’s got OCD and quite frankly I have temporarily disabled my “blocking” function on the software so I can ban him — at least not tonite. I notice his own blog has zero comments and has been read a grand total of something like 200 times in the last 10 months so please dont click over there and create traffic for him. His personal email address however is jdelac@unm.edu . You can tell him to piss off directly. I will leave the above comment stanbing (this is the sixth time he’s posted the same rant). The rest I leave in ur hands. Poor guy.
November 13th, 2005 at 9:42 pm
I missed this under my current blitz of the last few days as unlikely as it may seem. I don’t what his evidence is.
November 13th, 2005 at 11:10 pm
Here’s the evidence. Hugo Chavez was elected in a process that is universally considered to be free and fair. And that is what electoral democracy is all about. Chavez may be a horse’s ass but he’s Venezuala’s horse’s ass and it is none of our business who they choose. Particularly seeing who we “picked”. A former aide to Salvador Allende should certainly see the justice in this. After all, Kissinger and company only did what was “best” for the Chilean people, didn’t they? Ask Liberty Daddy, Chile has “Best” Economy in the Hemisphere according to the Chicago boys. So some people got killed? Well, omlets and eggs, right? See where this leads.
November 13th, 2005 at 11:55 pm
OK, now I have switched this kid off. Let him wank on his own website.
RLC: all I have to say is this: just because the US government doesnt have the imperative to meddle in other people’s affairs, doesnt mean the rest of us dont have the perfect right to have an opinion on any damn thing we want, right? I dont think you adhere to an America First know-nothingness like the knuckleheads on the extreme left.
I have met many elements like Delacour in many different places: American grad students more revolutionary than Allende, more Fidelista than Fidel, assorted pure-blood Sandalistas and more recently those dumb enough to believe that Hugo Chavez is leading some sort of revolution. Some wind up in prison like Lori Berenson. Others get tenure! I suggest the current Chavistas purchase an enyclopaedia and look up the entry under “Peron.”
November 14th, 2005 at 8:41 am
I didn’t say you can’t have an opinion on mr Chavez. Like Doug Ireland I have an opinion on the new ho,ophoblic government of Poland. But I don;t think that gives me the right to invalidate a democratically elected goverbment. Snf I don’t see that as an “AMERICA First” position. End of story. Argue all you wamt about how good or bad they are. Thats part of democracy too.
November 14th, 2005 at 8:47 am
I guess I’m not awake yet. That should be “Homophobic” Govt. of Poland.
November 14th, 2005 at 9:24 am
Late, I added to the few posts earlier thread on Scheer on the how the Left advocates a policy; the policy is implemented; it’s a disaster — and then the Left blames somebody else.
Like Vietnam:
http://marccooper.com/signs-of-the-times-shearing-bob-scheer/#comment-22097
Hey richard — which Latin America country has a better economy than Chile’s? Yeah, Pinochet was bad — is Mugabe really better? Or Chavez?
November 14th, 2005 at 9:25 am
” I dont think you adhere to an America First know-nothingness like the knuckleheads on the extreme left.”
Huh?
Anyway, looking forward to “your show” tonite…I’m hanging out in lovely southwest Missouri where, when the subject of PBS came up at dinner, My Sister The Prom Queen said, ” There’s a show running on Monday and Tuesday night that I really want to see about Las Vegas.” Just thought you’d like to know you’re reaching well past the coastal elites. (Actually sis is a big supporter of the local PBS outlet and loves the NYTimes. Sorta reminds me of Olympia Snowe – would love to continue to be a Republican if the crazies would only let her.)
November 14th, 2005 at 1:58 pm
“Hey richard — which Latin America country has a better economy than Chile’s?”
Well, certainly none of the countries still recovering from the devastation wreaked by dictatorships directly and indirectly supported by the U.S. government, including Guatemala, Haiti, El Salvador, Colombia, Bolivia, Honduras…. And, Iraq was so much better of economically when it had a dictatorship pre-Gulf War I&II, come to think of it–which would be a praiseworthy thing according to your line of reasoning. I’m supposing there was an attempted point in there somewhere, Grey, but it doesn’t hold up to an ounce of scrutiny, unfortunately. And if you’re actually trying to favorably compare Pinochet’s actions to those of other (Latin American) dictators based no Chile’s arguably better (for whom, exactly?) economy, then not only am I even less convinced by your anti-dictator nom de plume, but I’m also soundly disgusted.
November 14th, 2005 at 3:25 pm
Look forward to watching tonight, Marc!
Have fun in Missouri, reg. That’s where my dad grew up. Although he later semi-adopted Montana as his home state, many deep and rich Missouri roots remained.
PS: Try not to feed the troll, guys.
November 14th, 2005 at 5:29 pm
“Have fun in Missouri, reg.”
Note from the “heartland” to “coastal elites” – so far as I can tell, Springfield MO, where the last memorable media breakthrough was national television syndication for The Ozark Jubilee back in the fifties, has more free and accessible Wifi than San Francisco…
November 14th, 2005 at 5:56 pm
Liberty Daddy Chile’s great economy has seen a decline in real wages a collapsed pension system and increased income inequality. Good for investors though and all it took was a dictatorship that banned unions, forced workers into a Private pension scheme and, oh yes, killed a few thousand people. Why, as someone once asked, does a “free market” require an unfree people? Guess they don’t teach the answer to that at Chicago.
November 14th, 2005 at 9:41 pm
And this administraion uses them as a model. Bright bunch.
November 14th, 2005 at 9:49 pm
I even missed some of Monday Night Football to catch the show.
November 14th, 2005 at 10:55 pm
Hey, Marc…. Am watching it right now. Did you say the Kefauver commission created a “…criminal Diaspora…” ? Good line.
Actually, you’ve been loaded with good lines in this thing. Terrific work!
November 14th, 2005 at 11:27 pm
Great work illuminating vegas tonight on PBS!
When do you give up your secret blackjack strategies? Is that in part two?
November 14th, 2005 at 11:43 pm
Great show Marc…keep up the good work!
November 14th, 2005 at 11:44 pm
Enjoyed the show very much Marc.
I like the AMerican Experience series quite a bit. If anyone hasn’t yet seen the one on Riding The Rails, it’s wonderful. Netflix it now.
November 15th, 2005 at 2:28 am
Mr Dicker as a Railfan from way back – a real “Foamer” – I loved that episode. And to anyone interested in railroads, Women’s studies, or the labor movement read BOOMER, the story of Female Santa Cruz graduate student’s experience as a “Brakeman” on the old Southern Pacific. To see how a proud group of skilled blue collar workers got the shaft from the SP even as they still went “Railroading” for the sheer love of the job says just about everything you need to know about the lack of respect for any work not done in an office by Wharton MBAs or Harvard JDs. I imagine something like this is happening today in the Airline Industry.
November 15th, 2005 at 10:59 am
My favorite is “in Vegas they don’t care who you are, what you look like, race, gender, as long as you have money. When you’re out of money you’re out.”
Great work.
November 15th, 2005 at 7:04 pm
Will take your advice on that Richard, thanks.
November 16th, 2005 at 7:19 pm
Marc,
The last time I was in Vegas I stayed downtown for the first time. The one thing that really struck me was that downtown seemed a little more like Laughlin than the Strip. The older Vegas seemed a lot more blue collar – and down on its luck.
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