What Casino are You Robbing New Year's Eve?

Started a sunny, chilly morning with computer work. I got a call from Shelly Stahl while I was online. She's booked until after the New Year, and then she's booked in the morning. I couldn't get an appointment until the 14th. Maybe it's just as well. I have other things on my mind right now.

One of those things is getting my Christmas presents done. I continued my current crocheting project while watching the original 1960 Ocean's 11. Same deal as the 2001 remake - Danny Ocean (Frank Sinatra) calls 10 of his old war buddies (among them Joey Bishop, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis Jr., and character actors Akim Tamrioff and Richard Conte) to pull off a heist at five of Las Vegas' biggest casinos. The heist goes off without a hitch, but as in all great schemes, there's a catch. A former crook turned straight (Cesar Romero)  wants in on the take or will turn them in. One of the men died shortly after the heist, and the boys want to give his widow some of the money, too.

This is one of the few movies where the remake is genuinely better. The original Ocean's 11 is really more of a two-hour party with the Rat Pack and their assorted friends and hangers-on than a crime caper. In fact, you don't really see much of the actual caper; the movie is too busy onstage with Sinatra, Martin, and the others. It's a tad bit campy, some of the dialogue is a bit corny, and the treatment of Davis and all the female characters is far from politically correct.

There's only two reasons to see this today, besides a glimpse of Sinatra at the height of his "Chairman of the Board" powers. First of all, it's a snapshot of a very different Vegas when it was the center of all things classy. In fact, of the five casinos featured in this movie, only two are still standing and in operation on the Strip at press time. The second is for the atmosphere. Like the remake, this movie oozes cool. You feel just a little bit more hip having watched it. There's also a nice variety of cameos, from Shirley MacLaine as a drunk girl who gives Martin a surprise kiss to Red Skelton as an irate gambler.

This is a must for fans of the Rat Pack or Vegas in all its 60s glory. Anyone looking for more action (or a more recent view of Vegas) will want to sign up with George Clooney and his 11 first.

Went for a walk after the movie ended. It was just a quick one down Manor and back around to West Clinton, going past the school. I was surprised to see so many kids already out at 1PM. Turns out the Oaklyn School got off early today, for some reason. It was a nice day to get off early. There was a blue sky and a nip in the air; it felt far nicer than it has for the past week.

When I got home, I had leftover lentil soup for lunch, ran the last of the Tom & Jerry Tales shorts, and headed out to work. Work was off and on busy through about 7PM, after which it died very quickly. I was in and out with no problems.

Yet another package had arrived when I got home. This time, it was from Lauren. She mainly gave me Three Stooges-related books, including two biographies on Larry Fine and The Three Stooges Cookbook. (The Stooges are her big thing this year.) Also in the package were gift cards for Barnes & Noble and Macy's and the new WebKinz Sapphire Pegasus. I thought she'd be a perfect mate for my Golden Pegasus, Helios. I named her Diana; she was moved into Heilos' World Cup Soccer room and will share it with him.