On YouTube, you can find a lot of folks' old home movies of driving around Las Vegas. I like these because I like seeing how the town (or at least, The Strip) has evolved and I like to read the big signs that tell you who and what is playing where.

This is one from 1969. The Hacienda is still standing. It opened in 1956 and I was present to watch its implosion on New Year's Eve of 1996. Featured there at the time of this video are "Topless Follies" and the Ink Spots. I assume those were not in the same showroom at the same time.

The Tropicana has Julie London and it also has the Folies Bergere, as it did from 1959 to 2009. For a few years there, the headline act at the Folies was Charlie Frye and Company. I have posted many a video here on my pal Charlie who is still juggling and doing impossible feats of magic.

The Aladdin has "Minsky's Burlesque '69," which I later saw when it moved over to the Hacienda when there was a Hacienda. (There is now a different hotel nearby in Boulder City by that name.) At the time this video was shot, there was apparently no hotel between the Tropicana and the Aladdin worth photographing but there was a few years later. In 1975, the Marina opened there. It was torn down in 1990 so the MGM Grand could be built on that property.

Further down The Strip at Caesars Palace, we find David Frye opening for Anthony Newley and elsewhere on the premises, country-western star Judy Lynn, as well as The Band. Across the street at The Flamingo, they had Paul Anka and Myron Cohen. (If you're wondering why the cameraperson skipped Bally's, it wasn't there then. The first MGM Grand opened on that piece of real estate in 1973 and it became Bally's in 1986.)

At the Sands, they had Jack Jones and someone else I can't make out, with Buddy Greco also on the marquee. The Frontier has George Burns and Barbara Eden with Jack E. Leonard somewhere else on the premises or maybe Coming Soon. I would have loved to see all three of these folks in Vegas, especially Jack E.

The Desert Inn has something called "Pzazz 70," a musical revue staged by Donn Arden, who staged a lot of the big musical revues in Vegas. On eBay, I found a 1969 program book for the show which listed two performers I actually met — Marvin Roy, a famed magician also known as "Mr. Electric," who just passed away last year, and impressionist Will Jordan.

The Desert Inn sign also lists "Tom Jones" but I don't think this is the singer by that name. I think it's the bawdy musical comedy based on the 1963 British film based on book of the same name. It played Vegas off and on for years.

The Stardust has the "Lido de Paris," which was there from 1958 to 1991 and was the first Vegas presentation to feature topless showgirls. It always had a headline act in it and at the time of this filming, it was the Korean-born trio, the Kim Sisters.

And that's about all I can make out. Take a drive down The Strip and see for yourself…

A while back, I recommended Laraine Newman's autobiography to you, sight unseen. Well actually, it's an audio book so it was more like "hearing unheard" but you know what I mean. It's nine hours, I'm a few minutes into Hour 9 and I'm going to e-mail her and ask that she quickly go record a few more hours so it doesn't end so soon. She's very sweet and I'm sure she'll do that for me.

I recommend it even more now because it's so stunningly honest and naked. You know the old conundrum about how the prettiest girl in your high school class couldn't get a date for the prom? Laraine's book will have you wondering how such a talented lady could be so insecure and, at times, unhired. Her book is called May You Live in Interesting Times and she sure has…surrounded by some of the most interesting people in the entertainment world.

Hearing about them is reason enough to give her nine hours of your life to hear about hers. But the special feature is seeing someone who became so self-aware of what has gone right and wrong for her. It may give you a lot of clues as to why things have gone right or wrong for you.

It has a special resonance for me because so much of it happened in my own world. Laraine and I were born the same day and grew up not far from each other. Long before we met, we knew a lot of the same people and went to a lot of the same places. She drank lemonade at Uncle Bernie's Toy Menagerie on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and so did I. She ate at Nate 'n Al's Delicatessen nearby and so did I. I dated a good friend of hers. There are a couple dozen of these in the book.

Before you think this is proof that there's something to astrology, I'll point out how our lives diverged, especially in the category of drugs. She took a lot of them and I took none of them. Also, she can act and I have enough trouble being convincing as me. This aspect of the book — how two folks born the same day have lived lives that were in some ways parallel but were often so perpendicular to one another — won't mean anything to you. But it's kind of a bonus reason I'm enjoying the book and don't want it to end.

Here's a link. You know what to do with it.

Broadway is still standing. And coming back…

I was talking earlier about going to Las Vegas where, according to some announcements today, things are opening up a bit more. In fact, two new hotels will be opening in the next two weeks and the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino — where Penn & Teller perform and where I often stay — is beginning the process of a total remodel as it turns into a Hyatt. No word yet on if it'll be changing names.

The topic of new hotel rooms got me thinking about what bothers me about old hotel rooms so…

1. I don't understand why the showers and bathtubs, unless they're in special "accessible" rooms, don't have more (or in some cases, any) grab-bars or things to hold onto when the floor is slippery or your balance is off.  Don't people not in the special rooms ever slip?
2. I don't understand why so many showers don't have a shelf on which you can put your little bottle of conditioner, your little bottle of shampoo, that razor you use in the shower, the larger bar of soap you travel with, etc.  When you're naked, wet and have soap in your eyes, that might be handy.  So would a towel rack inside the shower.
3. I don't understand why you often have to figure out which switch controls which light or — even harder to figure out sometimes — which electrical outlet. How about a few little signs on the switches?
4. I don't understand why they don't have alarm clocks that reset the alarm each night so that you aren't awakened at 5 AM because that's when the previous guest set the alarm to ring.
5. I don't understand why every hotel room doesn't have a little, easy-to-read manual telling you how to connect with the Internet, how to set the alarm clock, how to find the damned ice maker and vending machine on your floor, how to listen to and delete voicemail on the in-room phone…
6. I don't understand why they don't mount a big, strong hook on a wall or somewhere so you can hang up a garment bag if you're traveling with one.
7. I don't understand why they always give me way more pillows than I or my traveling companion (if any) could possibly use but not enough hangers, laundry bags, soaps or places to plug in a USB cable.
8. I don't understand why a $30 room has a $35 resort fee which gets me all sorts of things I don't want or need except for the $1.00 bottle of drinking water.  And shouldn't a room advertised for $30 that has a $35 resort fee be advertised as a $65 room?
9. I don't understand why it's often so difficult to find an empty electrical outlet next to the bed.  This problem is getting better, I'll admit.  I sleep with a C-PAP unit that needs to be plugged-in and I travel with an extension cord and an "octopus" adapter and I still sometimes have to move the bed and/or disconnect a bedside lamp to plug in.
10. And I don't understand why the person who decides where to put the mirrors thinks we all want to look at ourselves when we're seated on the toilet.

I used to go to Las Vegas a lot. I was card-counting at Blackjack (sometimes) and I was dating a lady in a show there (sometimes) and I just found it easier to work in a Vegas hotel room than in my home (sometimes) and I liked exploring the showrooms and the history and the performers (always). I stopped going when my mother was in failing health and needed me to stray no farther than the adjacent zip code.

When she finally passed, I didn't resume my Vegas-going because my dear friend Carolyn was in failing health. After she died, I went a few times but not as much.

I'd stopped card-counting. I got an "Ask ME" question I never answered as to why. Simple: I got ahead and I got bored. And I was well aware that if I kept playing, there would come a moment when I would slip behind and then I'd feel compelled to keep playing until I got ahead again…and that might not happen. Meanwhile, the showgirl lady gave up that profession and moved away so that was over.

I now find it easier to work at home and since most of "Old Vegas" is gone, exploring the town and the shows and such isn't as fascinating to me. And there's another reason why I haven't been there in over a year but I can't quite remember what it is…

Oh, right. The Pandemic. Almost forgot about that.

And even if I'd been immune to it the past year, I wouldn't have gone to Vegas. So much of it is not open. A lot of what I've seen online looks like a creepy place to be these days. It's coming back but it has a long way to come back before it'll look enticing to me.

When I go back, I won't be playing Video Blackjack. I probably won't gamble even a quarter on anything but I definitely won't be playing Video Blackjack. I'll play it at home on my computer or phone but not for money. But if you want to play it anywhere, you might appreciate a lesson from Anthony Curtis.

Mr. Curtis publishes the Las Vegas Advisor, which has made my Vegas-going much, much better since I started subscribing in 1993 or thereabouts. It was only a printed newsletter then. Now, it's more like a website that you join and you can read the monthly newsletter online or, if you insist, receive a paper version of it. There's also plenty of useful news and advice on their website if you don't subscribe.

Lately, they've also been doing videos. Here's a little lesson in Video Blackjack, which is a lot different from Live Blackjack. For one thing, you can't count cards. You can't even keep track of how many aces are left in the deck because the "dealer" (the machine) shuffles after every hand. And as Curtis notes in this video, some of the rules of Video Blackjack make it much harder to leave with more than you had when you sat down…

• I feel so much safer since I found out that the vaccine I got (Moderna) is the same one Dr. Fauci got.

Happy Wear Green and March in the Street Day. I'm still dealing with that deadline but I just can't quit you folks for long.

I'm not looking at a lot of political stuff lately. I kinda peek every so often just to make sure Trump isn't still in office but that's about it. When I do plunge in, I always stop by a couple of fact-checking sites, mainly Politifact, FactCheck.org and Glenn Kessler of The Washington Post.

Every so often, I think they come down on the wrong side of whether a false statement is bad phrasing or stupidity, as opposed to a lie…but I find them to be pretty darned accurate, way ahead of any news source I could follow. And it isn't just that they say something is true or false as that they back it up with sources and links and other info that allows me to fact-check the fact-checkers.

Our political discourse in this country would not be the perpetually-wrecking train that it is if more people went to these sites and were open to saying, "Hmm…maybe I'm wrong about that…" I'm not saying you should believe every word they say but if a couple of seemingly-intelligent people tell you you're drunk, it's not a bad idea to try walking a straight line and see if maybe they know something you don't.

Here from a 1958 episode of The Ed Sullivan Show, Buddy Holly sings my favorite Buddy Holly tune…

Here's Adam Ragusea with a history lesson about breakfast cereals…

Busy writing something today…something that's not for this blog. I do that occasionally. And when I do, I put up one of these cute graphics I made using an image of a can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup which, by the way, is not only a delicious lunch but also a handy ingredient to use in many recipes.

When one of these graphics is displayed on this blog, it denotes that Mark is busy and may not be able to spare the time to generate the usual amount of content today. Your tolerance is appreciated.

A new version of the theme from the Saturday morning Road Runner cartoon show…

Several of you have written to tell me that today's New York Times crossword puzzle is dedicated to Al Jaffee. I have a feeling that made Al very happy.

I'm dueling with some deadlines so this'll be short. The main argument I'm seeing on the 'net today is this one. Peter Baker, who's the Chief White House Correspondent for The New York Times posted this tweet…

At this point in office, Trump had given five news conferences. Obama had given two, George W. Bush three and Clinton five. Biden so far has given zero.

This brought responses like this one from pundit Eric Boehlert…

at this point in office, Trump Obama Bush and Clinton hadn't passed the most important spending bill in 80 yrs

…while others pointed out that (a) the White House has said that there will be a press conference before March is over and (b) that most of the press conferences the other presidents had had by now were joint conferences with foreign leaders where not many questions were asked and the ones that were were about matters that concerned the foreign leaders.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that it's kinda nice to turn on the TV and not see the President of the United States as much as we saw the last guy. And I don't recall him answering many questions he didn't want to answer, which is almost the same thing as not having the press conference at all.

And yes, I think presidents should hold regular press conferences but you know what would impress me more? Sitting down at regular intervals with good journalists — the kind who don't lob softballs — for one-on-one interviews where the reporter can ask follow-up questions and the president can't dodge them by calling on someone else. Anyone who's reached an important place in government has learned how to give non-answers and evasive responses.

Your standard press conference — the kind where the subject calls on this reporter then that reporter, then this reporter — makes it too easy to dodge questions. Nixon, when he held them, used to have a little chart in front of him that told him where each reporter was sitting and it was marked with the ones who were friendly or who just wanted to be seen on camera asking a question. And some of them asked pretty easy ones because they thought it increased their chances of being called on. I'd rather see my President have to sit down for an hour with Jonathan Swan or Bob Woodward or even Chris Wallace.

Okay, back to work…

In March of 2016, the Guinness Book of World Records certified that Allan "Al" Jaffee (born March 13, 1921) had the longest career as a professional comics artist. At the time of this recognition, it was 73 years and 3 month and it lasted, by my count, another three years and one month after that.

This would be impressive even if all that work was lousy but it was the precise opposite of that. It was skillful and funny and delightful…and if you ever got to meet Al, it was obvious why it was the way it was. Because all those adjectives described Al, too.

Have a great day, Al. Feel the love.

Hey, you got fourteen minutes to play a musical game? I can name that movie in five notes…