Albert Einstein, on intelligence and imagination:

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.

- Albert Einstein.

Recommended reading - Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas

 

Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas

by Nicholas Pileggi.
 
Filmed as Casino (1995), directed by Martin Scorsese.
 
Mass Market Paperback.
First published 1995.
Published by Pocket Books

ISBN 13: 9781451635676
ISBN 10: 1451635672
ASIN: 1451635672
 
Description:
 
CASINO
 

From Nicholas Pileggi, author of Wiseguy – the #1 bestseller that became Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award–winning film GoodFellas – comes the brilliantly told true story of love, marriage, adultery, murder, and revenge, Mafia-style . . . the shattering inside account of how the mob finally lost its stranglehold over the neon money-making machine it the multibillion-dollar casino gambling industry of Las Vegas.

 

CASINO
 

No one knew more about casinos than Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, the gambling mastermind who, along with his best friend and partner, Anthony Spilotro, virtually ran Las Vegas for the mob. For years, it was the perfect arrangement – Lefty provided the smarts, while Tony kept the bosses happy with their weekly suitcases filled with millions in skimmed cash. It should have lasted forever, but Lefty’s obsession with running the town – and Tony’s obsession with Lefty’s beautiful showgirl wife, Geri – eventually led to the betrayals and investigations that exploded into one of the greatest debacles in mob history.

Recommended reading - The Man Who Invented Christmas

The Man Who Invented Christmas:
How Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits

by Les Standiford.
 
Published 2008.
Paperback.
Published by Crown.

ISBN 13: 9781524762469
ISBN 10: 1524762466
ASIN: 1524762466

Description:
 

As uplifting as the tale of Scrooge itself, this is the story of how Charles Dickens revived the signal holiday of the Western world.

 

Just before Christmas in 1843, a debt-ridden and dispirited Charles Dickens wrote a small book he hoped would keep his creditors at bay. His publisher turned it down, so Dickens used what little money he had to put out A Christmas Carol himself. He worried it might be the end of his career as a novelist.

 

The book immediately caused a sensation. And it breathed new life into a holiday that had fallen into disfavor, undermined by lingering Puritanism and the cold modernity of the Industrial Revolution. It was a harsh and dreary age, in desperate need of spiritual renewal, ready to embrace a book that ended with blessings for one and all.

 

With warmth, wit, and an infusion of Christmas cheer, Les Standiford whisks us back to Victorian England, its most beloved storyteller, and the birth of the Christmas we know best. The Man Who Invented Christmas is a rich and satisfying read for Scrooges and sentimentalists alike.

 

Born on this day – Elizabeth Patterson:

Elizabeth Patterson

Actress

November 22, 1874 – January 31, 1966

Credits:

The New Breed (1961); The Barbara Stanwyck Show (1960); Tall Story (1960); The Eighty Yard Run (Playhouse 90) (1956–1960); New York Confidential (1959); Alfred Hitchcock in Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1958–1959); Johnny Staccato (1959); The Oregon Trail (1959); 77 Sunset Strip (1959); Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (1959); Climax! (1955–1958); Matinee Theatre (1958); Pal Joey (1957); The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1957); The Ford Television Theatre (1953–1957); Crossroads (1956); I Love Lucy (1952–1956); Front Row Center (1956); Adventures of Superman (1955–1956); Cavalcade of America (1956); The Star and the Story (1956); Playwrights '56 (1956); The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1955); Science Fiction Theatre (1955); Las Vegas Shakedown (1955); Lux Video Theatre (1954–1955); The Milton Berle Show (1955); Stage 7 (1955); Willy (1955); Mayor of the Town (1954); Four Star Playhouse (1954); Ponds Theater (1954); General Electric Theater (1953); Chevron Theatre (1953); Three Lives (1953); Footlights Theater (1952); Washington Story (1952); I Love Lucy (1952); The Bigelow Theatre (1951); Studio One (1950–1951); Pulitzer Prize Playhouse (1950); Katie Did It (1950); Armstrong Circle Theatre (1950); Bright Leaf (1950); The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre (1950); Song of Surrender (1949); Intruder in the Dust (1949); Little Women (1949); Miss Tatlock's Millions (1948); Welcome Stranger (1947); Out of the Blue (1947); The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (1947); The Secret Heart (1946); I've Always Loved You (1946); Colonel Effingham's Raid (1946); Lady on a Train (1945); Together Again (1944); Hail the Conquering Hero (1944); Follow the Boys (1944); The Sky's the Limit (1943); I Married a Witch (1942); Lucky Legs (1942); My Sister Eileen (1942); Her Cardboard Lover (1942); Beyond the Blue Horizon (1942); Almost Married (1942); The Vanishing Virginian (1942); Belle Starr (1941); Kiss the Boys Goodbye (1941); Tobacco Road (1941); Michael Shayne: Private Detective (1940); Anne of Windy Poplars (1940); Earthbound (1940); Adventure in Diamonds (1940); Remember the Night (1939); The Cat and the Canary (1939); Bad Little Angel (1939); Our Leading Citizen (1939); Bulldog Drummond's Bride (1939); The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939); Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police (1939); Sons of the Legion (1938); Sing, You Sinners (1938); Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938); Bulldog Drummond's Peril (1938); Scandal Street (1938); Night Club Scandal (1937); Hold 'Em Navy (1937); High, Wide and Handsome (1937); Night of Mystery (1937); Go West Young Man (1936); Old Hutch (1936); Three Cheers for Love (1936); The Return of Sophie Lang (1936); Small Town Girl (1936); Timothy's Quest (1936); Her Master's Voice (1936); Men Without Names (1935); So Red the Rose (1935); Chasing Yesterday (1935); Hide-Out (1934); Ever in My Heart (1933); Golden Harvest (1933); Doctor Bull (1933); Dinner at Eight (1933); Secret of the Blue Room (1933); Hold Your Man (1933); The Story of Temple Drake (1933); Infernal Machine (1933); They Just Had to Get Married (1932); No Man of Her Own (1932); The Conquerors (1932); Breach of Promise (1932); They Call It Sin (1932); A Bill of Divorcement (1932); Life Begins (1932); Love Me Tonight (1932); Guilty as Hell (1932); New Morals for Old (1932); Miss Pinkerton (1932); So Big! (1932); Man Wanted (1932); The Expert (1932); Husband's Holiday (1931); Heaven on Earth (1931); Penrod and Sam (1931); Daddy Long Legs (1931); The Smiling Lieutenant (1931); Tarnished Lady (1931); The Cat Creeps (1930); The Big Party (1930); Harmony at Home (1930); The Lone Star Ranger (1930); South Sea Rose (1929); Words and Music (1929); The Dancing Town (1928); The Return of Peter Grimm (1926); The Boy Friend (1926).

Born on this day – Whistlin' Alex Moore:

Whistlin' Alex Moore

Blues singer

Pianist

Whistler

November 22, 1899 – January 20, 1989

Credits:

Albums:

Finding My Way (2015); From North Dallas to the East Side (1994); In Europe (1970); Miracle Working God (2020); Whistlin' Alex Moore (1929-1951) (2005); Whistling Alexander Moore (1961); Wiggle Tail: Original, Eccentric, Legendary and Lascivious Piano Playing and Stories (1988).

Songs:

Across The Atlantic Ocean; Alex's Blues; Alex's Boogie; Alex's Rag; Alex's Wild Blues; Black Eyed Peas and Hog Jowls; Blue Bloomer Blues; Boogie In The Barrel; Boogiein' in Strassburg; Bull Con Blues; Chock House Boogie; Frisky Gal; Going Back to Foggy Bottom; Hard Hearted Woman; Heart Wrecked Blues; I Want My Mary; Ice Pick Blues; If I Lose You Woman; It Wouldn't Be So Hard; July Boogie; Lillie Mae Boogie; Miss No-Good Weed; New Miss No-Good Weed; Pretty Woman with a Sack Dress On; Rock and Roll Bed; Rubber Tired Hack; Sometime I Feel Worried; They May Not Be My Toes; West Texas Woman; Whistling Alex Moore's Blues; You Got Me Dissatisfied; You Say I'm a Bad Feller.

Born on this day – Lee Patrick:

Lee Patrick

Actress

November 22, 1901 – November 21, 1982

Born on this day – Rodney Dangerfield:

Rodney Dangerfield

Actor

Comedian

Writer

Producer

November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004