March 3, 1887: A new merchant had arrived in town, according to The Comet. âMr. F. M. Chritzman, of Gettysburg, Pa., arrived last Tuesday morning and is now fitting up the room in the Worley Blook, lately occupied by W.B. Lewis, for a jewelry store. He expects to have everything in order and will open his store for business by Saturday. Mr. Chritzman comes well recommended as an experienced jeweler and practiced watchmaker. He will carry a large stock of everything usually found in a first-class jewelery (sic) store, and will guarantee everything he sells, or all work done, to give satisfaction and to be just as represented. Mr. Chritzman will move his family to Johnson City about the first of May.â
Now streaming on:
Bernie Lootz s sad eyes scan the casino floor, and he shuffles into action. A high roller is having a winning streak at a craps table. Bernie walks near him, maybe just only brushes his sleeve, and the guy s luck sours. For Bernie there is no joy in this, only the confirmation of something he has known for a long time: People get next to me their luck turns. It s been like that my whole life. How does he do it? I do it by being myself.
Bernie, played by William H. Macy as another of his gloomy everymen, is a professional loser: A cooler is what his boss Shelly (Alec Baldwin) calls him. He is employed by the Shangri-La casino to wander the floor, bringing an end to winning streaks. But now modern Las Vegas is catching up with Bernie and Shelly. A group of investors have brought in a hotshot from business school to update the Shangri-La, which is the last of the old-style casinos. Shelley hates this idea; taking a dig at Steve Wynn s vision for the new Vegas