Ring-A-Ding Ding - Travel Like the Rat Pack
Next weekend is the first Mondo Atomic Frolic Weekend, celebrating all the coolness that was between 1957 and 1963. It got me thinking, If I was one of Dean Martin’s broads, where would we be hanging out?
As we always do, we begin in Vegas and the Mondo Atomic Frolic will be swinging. Music from the Martini Kings and Cocktail Hour Music get us started, with Michelle Baldwin showing us Burlesque and the New Bump and Grind. We’ll catch a couple cool shows, Shag With A Twist and the Tribute to Frank, Dean, Sammy and Joey, before we end the night at the Pussycat Dolls Lounge at Caesar’s. During the day we’ll play a couple rounds of golf at the Las Vegas National Golf Course (previously the Stardust Country Club).
Hop in the Caddy and drive over to sunny Palm Springs. We’ve got our choice of some very hip hotels, the cool Orbit In and Del Marcos and the Caliente Tropics where Elvis and Nancy use to play. We can take the Celebrity Tour to check out our pallies’ digs and do the art scene at M Modern and Huesso where we’ll probably see some Rat Pack art. Dinner at Las Casuellas Terrazzo or Melvyn’s. If the timing is right, we can play in the Sinatra Celebrity Invitational or the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic Golf Tourney.
Jet up to Tahoe and end our vacation with a few days at the Cal Neva Casino. Tour the Nevada Art Museum to see the Andy Warhol paintings of Marilyn. Golf at the Old Brockway.
Brunch and a Bloody Mary on the deck of the Sunnyside before heading back to the 21st century.
To get yourself ready for the Rat Pack holiday, get yourself some cool souvenirs from Dean and Franks and study up on your Rat Pack lingo. Here’s a sampling to get you started.
Rat Pack Lingo
18 KARAT
All the way, full-out: “An 18 karat idiot.”
BABY
Used as an exclamation as well as a term of endearment.
BAG
As in “my bag,” a person’s particular interest.
BARN BURNER
A very stylish, classy woman.
BEARD
A male friend who acts as a ‘cover’, usually for extramarital affairs.
BEETLE
A girl who dresses in flashy clothes.
BIG-LEAGUER
A resourceful man who can handle any situation.
BIRD
A “suitcase” word sometimes used in reference to the pelvic section.
BOMBSVILLE
Any kind of failure in life.
BROAD
Affectionate term for a girl or woman with sex appeal.
BUM
A person who is despised, most frequently linked to people in the media.
BUNTER
A man who fails in almost everything he does, the opposite of gasser.
CASH OUT
Leave, as in “Cash me out of this party” = “I’m leaving.”
CHARLEY
A general term for anyone whose name has been forgotten. See also Sam.
CHARLIES
Admiring word for a woman’s breasts.
CHICK
A young and invariably pretty girl.
CLAM-BAKE
A party or get-together.
CLYDE
A word used to cover a multitude of personal observations: viz “I don’t like her clyde” means “I don’t like her voice,” etc.
COOL
A term of admiration for a person or place. An alternative word meaning the same thing is crazy.
CREEP
A man who is disliked for any reason whatsoever.
CROAKER
A derogatory term for a doctor.
CRUMB
Someone for whom it is impossible to show respect.
DAME
A generally derogatory term for a probably unattractive woman. The word dog is also sometimes substituted.
DIG
A term of appreciation for a person or thing, as in “I dig her,”
DIMMERS
Eyes (as in “I gotta see the croaker about my bad dimmers.”)
DYING
As in “I’m dying” which means “I’m slightly upset.”
END
A word to signify that someone or something is the very best.
ENDSVILLE
A term to express total failure, and similar to bombsville. See ville.
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Merry Christmas from Dino and Frank!
