Amerikai Magyar Hírlap, 2007 (19. évfolyam, 1-50. szám)

2007-03-23 / 13. szám

Hungarian Journal

Wagner Society Pays Tribute to Tannhauser Protagonists

Budapest, March 15: Relatively Peaceful Demonstrations in the Daytime - Clashes in the Evening

By mid afternoon on Thursday, it appeared that Budapest had escaped the worst of the violence that was predicted would mar commemorations of Hungary’s 1848 revolt against Habsburg rule.

In the worst incident, anti-government protestors attempted to pelt Budapest Mayor Gábor Demszky, Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány and others with eggs, oranges and coins. Protesters drowned out the mayor’s speech with boos and whistles as he made his annual address by the statue of Sándor Petőfi, the poet who inspired Hungarians to rise up against the Austrians. Security staff shielded the mayor (a member of the Free Democrats, the junior governing coalition party) and Gyurcsány with umbrellas. “Nine out of 10 Hungarians are with us ... those who don’t believe in

the nightmare of two opposed Hungaries eternally at war,” the Associated Press quoted Demszky as saying. There had also been earlier disruptions at the annual ceremonies outside the national museum and parliament, with protestors, some carrying the ancient Hungarian red and white striped Árpád flag that has become associated with extreme right wingers, demanding the resignation of

Gyurcsány. State news agency MTI estimated 15,000 people attended the midday memorial event at the National Museum. Officials earlier warned that right-wing extremists were planning to attack government targets, and police had uncovered weapons in recent weeks, with one man arrested on Wednesday allegedly in possession of enough ingredients to make 80 Molotov cocktails. More than 120 events were scheduled in the capital on Thursday, many of them arranged as protests against the government.

It had been feared that there would be a repeat of the autumn violence of last year, sparked by Prime Minister Gyurcsány’s leaked admission - from a private speech given to Socialist members - that the party had lied to the Hungarian people to seek reelection.

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Március 23, 2007

Thanks for the Memories! Las Vegas: Stardust Hotel- Casino Imploded

We knew it was coming: the day when the legendary Stardust on the Las Vegas Strip is no more. We have known it for many months, but somehow in our heart of hearts we tried not to believe it. That big new tower was hardly 15 years old, so efficient, so well-built, so comfortable! And the pool, just steps away from the elevators, without having to go through the whole array of over-airconditioned shops... The Players’ Club with its generous giveaways, and the familiar slot machines... Where are we ever going to encounter again those slots with the Easter Island statues, specially made for the Stardust when it was their theme? The Aku Aku Tiki gods could be seen as the forerunners of today’s oversized gimmicks - volcanos, pirate ships etc. - to lure motorists in from the highway.

Well, it has happened. The old has finally given way to the new. One of the oldest casino-hotel on the Las Vegas Strip was imploded Monday night (officially Ttiesday) at 2:30 a.m. in a hail of fireworks to make way for Boyd Gaming Corporation’s $4.4 billion megaresort Echelon. The 32-story tower was the tallest building ever imploded on the Strip. The adjoining older and smaller, 9-story building was pulverized as well.

Hundreds of people partied beneath tents and on makeshift patios before Boyd chairman Bill Boyd’s four grandsons pushed a plunger to detonate the building. The blast generated a massive dust cloud that chased the revelers into cars, buses and nearby casinos.

I was not there for the occasion, but it hurts even to watch the video of the implosion and the fireworks that preceded it. The Stardust was like a home away from home for me and so many others, some of whom had been going there for 30 or 40 years. I know, we’ll have a Stardust Reunion in April at the Orleans, but it won’t be the same. I feel like wearing black and staying away for a year of mourning.

The Stardust opened July 2, 1958. At the time, it was the world’s largest resort hotel with 1,032 rooms, and had the world’s largest electric sign (5,832 square feet). It was credited with being Las Vegas’ first mass-market casino, thanks to cheap rates and food. Its primary entertainment attraction was the “Lido de Paris” show with modem special effects, and the Stardust Lounge has seen entertainers such as the Kim Sisters, and more recently Wayne Newton. For many, the Stardust represented the most accessible place to stay in Vegas. But the concept of discounting rates to keep people coming is rapidly fading from the Las Vegas Strip as many casinos nowadays make more revenue from hotel rooms, clubs, shows and cuisine than from gambling.

“There was this implicit idea that invisible high rollers came in and funded everything, so that Mr. and Mrs. America could have a steak for $2 and see Frank Sinatra for the price of a drink,” said David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, reported by KABC TV/AP.

“Now you can build a 7,000-room hotel and charge $300 a night for rooms,” he said. “With slots being so big, it is all the people losing $200 per trip that are driving the growth.”

The pictures on this page show the scene “before” and “after”. You can see the same four palm trees lining the Strip, but behind them in the second picture, instead of the Stardust, there is nothing but DUST. Sic transit gloria mundi...

BY SUSAN JANCSO

The Wagner Society of Southern California paid tribute to Petra Maria Schnitzer and Peter Seiffert, (Tannhauser and Elizabeth in the recent Los Angeles production of the Wagner Opera). The event took place in the Goethe Institute on March 9th, 2007, in Los Angeles.

Pictured from left to right: Bernice DuLong, Peter Seiffert, tenor, Petra-Maria Schnitzer, soprano, Dr. Sherwin Sloan, President of the Wagner Society, Margit Chanky Arvay.

PHOTO: George Arvay