New Signs of the Vegas Apocalypse...

I just saw a mouse.

I'm sitting here in a piece of the Toscana ballroom at the Venetian awaiting the all's-clear from my editors at The New York Times after filing some stuff from a John McCain press "availability" that turned out to be about seven minutes and five questions long. So much for the Straight Talk Express in Vegas.

But, anyhow, I just saw a mouse. I big, furry, ugly one. It scampered across the room on its way to some place important. Gross. I tried to find it to show you what the rodent infestation looks like at the Venetian, but he seems to be gone. I did put down a big piece of mozzarella cheese on the floor where I last saw him hoping he'd come back. I guess that only works in Tom and Jerry cartoons.

But it reminded me of something else. Loyal reader/listener Troy in Las Vegas had sent this pic last week while we were on vacation. It's of the metal work on the inside of the glass atrium of at the Palazzo, an area now open for nearly four months. As you can see, someone forgot to remove two big pieces of tape. Nice.


Also, Troy points out, there seems to be a ladder outside leaning against the window. And all of it is still there today when I've looked.


Mice and painters tape is gross and silly respectively. But it's easy to miss. What is NOT easy to miss is that the Trump building, which isn't even open to the public yet, already has a marquee lighting problem. This was taken last night...


So far as I recall, all five letters were fully illuminated the last time I checked. But now the M and P are already out. Weird.

And finally, I have to say that I am starting to agree with Miles about the look of Encore standing besides the Wynn. They're like twins standing in an oddly askance pose. It's as if nobody really stopped to think about what they would look like side by side. What they look like is off-kilter.

Oh, and they just put up the Encore sign. There's no period. It's just Encore with a long script e.


It's worth noting because, really, the whole thing about the period after "Wynn" was that it emphasized some sort of finality. "This is the Wynn - period." Encore, then, ought to have some sort of punctuation, too, to show it's part of the same thought or, perhaps, that it is the next thought. Maybe it should be ". . .Encore," like Celine's ". . . A New Day," which never made any punctuatory (is that a word?) sense. Or maybe -- and this would rock -- "Encore!" At least it would show they're excited about it, y'know?