Tuesday, November 13, 2007

FRONTIER IMPLOSION VIDEO #1

We have a bunch of other footage including me chatting with RateVegas.Com's Hunter Hillegas before and after, but the files don't come from my Sony camcorder to my Macbook Pro intact, so I set this 3-minute set to a thumping remix of "Time To Say Goodbye." Enjoy and check back for more soon.


6 comments:

BrownElf said...

Great video!! Thanks for posting.

Anonymous said...

What stays in Vegas? Nothing.

I wonder about the soul of Vegas which, unlike other cities that place high value on their cultural and architectural heritage with preservation societies and historic districts, holds a New Year's Eve style celebration every time it blows to smithereens examples of its past.

Not that The Frontier was ever the Paris Ritz or the Stardust. My only Frontier memories were on the sidewalk in front of the place. In the late 80's - early 90's, I would walk back to my hotel, late night, passing the Frontier. I never went in, probably because of the strikers on the sidewalk and the epithets they hurled at the very few who dared to enter, even in the middle of the night. This, of course, went on for years.

In those days, I didn't know The Culinary Union from The Teamsters, but I sensed something unique going on on that sidewalk. Even at 2 AM, the strikers didn't slouch or doze. It was always an intense scene. Frontier security had hand held video cams shooting the strikers. The strikers videotaped the hotel security videotaping them. The workers seemed to have a special animus for the Alardis beyond the usual hostility of strikers towards management. There was a palpable sense that something could happen at any moment.

Now the Culinary Union is a nationally recognized success story, and they are players in Presidential politics. The moral of the story is that in Vegas, it's considered good wholesome fun to attend the demolition of the city's architectural patrimony, but God help anyone who tries to blow up the Culinary Union.

Anonymous said...

Steve, this is just an awesome video. Thanks so much to you and Mark!

Anonymous said...

This video was great! Wow, I thought you had learned your lesson about being so close last time. Did one of fire works leading up to the building, almost set you on fire? It looked that way. Only in Vegas would blowing up a building be done so extravagantly. Keep up the good work.

Roberta said...

We watched from the 58th floor of the Wynn. It was amazing seeing the fireworks at eye level. Then we felt the force of the blast that dropped the building, even at that distance. But the real show was from the side that Steve was on and it was great seeing the video. Still, I was glad not to be in the midst of the dust cloud...

Thanks also for posting the entire interview with Mark Loizeaux, what a fascinating guy.

Anonymous said...

great video. somehow I wish the Frontier could have gotten the last laugh on the Wynn by lobbing a fireball in its direction. the interview with the explosion guy was great and insightful.