Ah, the power of the Internet…..

Some time ago in this space, I wrote an article using celebrity photographs originally taken by my late uncle, Buzz Taylor. Using his photos, we found a number of Las Vegas connections for the celebrities in question.

Fast forward to January 14. I received the following email from a Sarah Stroesser Alsager.

“Good morning Diane:

“We recently came across a blog post of yours from April 2010, Vegas People: Celebrities and their Las Vegas Connection, and wanted to ask you about the image of Sonny Liston you posted in that article. I work for the Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau and we promote tours of the decommissioned Missouri State Penitentiary, where, as you mentioned, Sonny Liston learned to box. To enhance the tourist’s experience, we would like to create some life size foam cutouts of some of the famous (or infamous) people who are connected to the Missouri State Penitentiary, including one of Sonny Liston. We were wondering if we could possibly use your uncle’s image of Sonny Liston to make the foam cutout.”

Cousin Anne, who has custody of the original photograph, is forwarding a high quality scan to Sarah for use in the Missouri display. Both of us are thrilled that the photo is having renewed life in the state where Buzz Taylor spent most of his professional photographic career. Uncle Buzzy didn’t own a computer, but the Internet found him nonetheless.

Signs

For some reason, here in Las Vegas I’ve become interested in signs – the ones that folks hold and flutter, the ones that wrap vehicles and buildings, the ones that are on billboards, etc.

The MGM folks have seen fit to plaster a huge wrap sign shouting about their complex and shopping tenants on one of their architecturally significant CityCenter buildings. Frankly, I’ve always felt that if one wants architecturally significant buildings, one should go to Chicago where the buildings and the sounds of a great urban environment are exciting. I think pretending that CityCenter belongs in Las Vegas is somewhat foolish, yet the buildings exist.

Building wraps are pure Vegas, so in seeing the new sign, maybe the MGM folks are finally realizing they should lighten up. I’m in the minority of local bloggers when I say I don’t have a fit over building wraps (the CityCenter Elvis sign, incidentally, has been moved to the rear of one of the CityCenter buildings and now faces I-15.) CityCenter needs perking up and if wraps are a first start, so be it.

I visited CityCenter again this week after having made my first visit to The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Speaking of signs, the lettering chosen for The Cosmopolitan logo is not interesting – in fact, the sign seems like something temporary and, to me, is a very weak presence on the Strip.

And though it’s not a sign, the pink chandelier that greets visitors coming off the elevator after parking in Cosmopolitan’s east underground lot is stunning….and not in a good way. The couple on the elevator with me were just as shocked at the choice as I was. The chandelier may be expensive, but it looked as if it belonged in one of the out-of-town emporiums selling ladies of the evening.

What I did see of the rest of the Cosmopolitan inside was, to my mind’s eye, somewhat too glittery, a bit cheesy and much too noisy for an a.m. visit. Yes, the casino employees are extremely friendly and the casino is bright and is filled with new machines, but otherwise, to this aging gambler, give me any of Steve Wynn’s resorts over The Cosmopolitan every time.

The one good thing: The walkway between The Cosmopolitan and CityCenter is nice and wide with an interesting view, and lots of folks were taking pictures. After the loud music and glitz of the Cosmopolitan’s public areas, CityCenter’s Crystals shopping center seemed quiet and lovely, not boring as I had previously thought. I still won’t be shopping there, but a step-up in class was notable. Despite promises, incidentally, I still saw no benches and no signs pointing folks to the Aria casino.

Birthdays

I’ve never been a birthday person, either remembering them religiously or caring if anyone else remembered mine. Having no children, I could, in the past, avoid birthdays with little regret. But as I got older and had friends who did remember birthdays, I’ve been forced to pay at least a little bit of attention to others’ birthdays. (One of those friends was in the habit of calling me and reminding me about the birthdays of mutual friends…and that helped.)

Now we have computers, and birthdays are hard to avoid. “You have a friend with a birthday today….” says Facebook. I even signed up with a service that via email reminds me of my friends’ birthdays a week in advance, a day in advance and on the day.

Apparently, my dentist also has a computer. The first birthday card I received this year (and the biggest, no doubt) was from my dentist. His card was addressed to me, but was really all about him. He says, “We appreciate your patronage…and we appreciate the confidence you show us when you refer your family and friends to our practice.” The card also features a big photo of the smiling dentist holding a birthday cake that says “Happy Birthday Diane”. I recently had a teeth cleaning at this particular dentist’s office and the bill was not cheap. Guess all that postage for birthday cards adds up.