Joe Weber

@joeissilly.bsky.social

63 Followers 82 Following

Dork. Writer. Goofball.

Fireworks along the Las Vegas Strip on July 4th, 2026. The Paris Casino and its Eiffel Tower replica are in the foreground and the tower is lit with red, white and blue lights from base to tip. Multicolored fireworks over the Planet Hollywood next door. The Cosmopoliton sits on the right of the frame. Smoke in the air and phones held high to capture the moment. Happy Semiquincentennial everyone!
Construction progress on the new Hard Rock in Vegas. This is after 18 months, where the guitar-shaped structure was about half-built and a quarter of the windows were complete. In the background, the old Mirage still had most of its iconic golden windows. Picture taken from the balcony of the Venetian across the street.
Eataly Spritz Festa. This is a placard/recipe for the Bionda Spritz, a gin and grapefruit cocktail. Tasty, but not as good as the Gray Whale Gin/Limoncello combo.
Bellagio Conservatory's Summer Display. This one features huge pink flamingos walking through a wading pool that has small fountains. Two lions, one male, one female, look on in the foreground. Giraffes covered in flowers in the background.
The new Vanderpump Hotel sign at the Valet Entrance of The Cromwell Hotel and Casino in Vegas. Name change is taking place now and should be finished by the end of the month.
A list of my Top 5 picks for the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest. Flags for each country, and pictures of the artists. #1 - Romania, #2 - UK, #3 - Sweden, #4 - Norway, #5 - Italy
Chalk it Down! 2026 Festival. This one shows a street artist working on his portrait of a flower-haired senorita. One of the Las Vegas Arts District's many galleries in the background.
Construction progress after one year for the new baseball stadium in Las Vegas. Built on the site of the old Tropicana. Mostly just construction offices and cranes around a few bits of foundation. Mandalay Bay, Luxor and Excalibur casinos all visible in the background.
Bellagio Conservatory spring show. Enormous translucent yellow daffodils surrounded by giant butterflies and large hummingbirds made out of flowers. A copper gazebo sits behind them, and their central feature, a stained glass Faberge egg, rests further in the background.
The Las Vegas Sphere, whose name is Orbi, wearing a football helmet to celebrate Super Bowl LX.
Lunar New Year display from the Aria in Las Vegas. An orange/gold stallion with red flames decorated on its body, surrounded by large gold Chinese coins and a gold "2026." All resting atop bright red fabric. This display is "edible" in that the entire thing, with all its impressive detail, is made from chocolate, fondant, and sugar. Not that you can tell from looking at it.
We have one Electric Vehicle charging station in the parking lot of my local library, and this is a picture of it in its current state: blackened, charred, melted, surrounded by yellow caution-tape. Good job, *science*.
Large statue of a horse in motion, with a fiery red mane and tail, surrounded by Yuan Dynasty coins. From The Palazzo in Las Vegas, to celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year next month.
The Bellagio Conservatory in Las Vegas. Three massive red-gold horses underneath led lights stylized as fireworks.
New Hard Rock Casino being built in front of The Mirage. This picture is from July 2025, when only the framework for the first several floors was going up. Taken from the Venetian across Las Vegas Boulevard.
A six-foot statue of Optimus Prime from the Transformers cartoon (actually, I'm pretty sure this particular one is the movie version) with a couple of strands of rainbow Christmas lights draped all over him. This particular display is in the walkway linking the Horseshoe and Paris casinos in Las Vegas. Merry Christmas!
A large Christmas tree in the Linq Promenade, built on a platform over the fountains. This one is very colorful.
My favorite fake trees, located inside The Shops at Crystals, which is a mall outside the Aria Casino in Vegas. The trunks are artistically fake, but they're topped with green ivies mixed with seasonal decorations. For Christmas, they went with dripping strings of red beads and flowers with red petals. I find them tacky and a little absurd, but also oddly tasteful, which is really Vegas in a nutshell.
A Christmas tree, hanging out in the corner of the indoor patio @ Blondies Sports Bar in the Miracle Mile shops. It's sitting in front of two stacked TVs and a Bud Light poster. Very festive. No presents under the tree as of yet :)
Three separate paintings done in mixed media of women representing Venus, Mars, and Luna with vibrant colors. My terrible photography really doesn't do them justice.
Artist paintings of two otters, magenta and white fur. One has a cyan head. An oddly effective color scheme.
Someone in a human-size pink Axolotl costume marching at the No Kings Protest in Downtown Las Vegas, 10/18/25. Palm trees, sun, placards and a yellow t-shirt in the background. Love the outfit!
The Las Vegas Sphere has a set of Jack-O-Lantern faces for Halloween. This one is looking kind of scared.
Las Vegas construction crews build the new baseball stadium on the site of the old Tropicana Hotel/Casino. Numerous construction cranes litter the large lot, which is punctuated by enormous piles of sand and temporary buildings. Partially visible in the center of the frame is the foundation of the new baseball stadium, and what appear to be cement tunnels. Mandalay Bay, Luxor and Excalibur all visible in the background.
The Bellagio Atrium's Autumn exhibit. Features a big orange pumpkin, hollowed out, with its front splayed open like a set of doors, next to a small pool with fountains. Inside the pumpkin, two owls sit atop piles of books. Looks like a cozy place to relax and read.
A view along Harmon Drive in Las Vegas, showing the first instances of the temporary metal lattices that will circle Las Vegas Blvd, Harmon, Koval and Sands in the coming months for the Vegas F1 race.
In the mall next to the Aria Casino, there are pseudo-trees. Fake trunks, painted brown, with real leaves, usually ivy, perched on top. The ivy is green, but decorated with fake orange/brown leaves and strands of blue lights. Curiously hanging from the structure are umbrella shaped decorations that match the autumn color scheme of the fake leaves. Pretty, but... an odd artistic choice.
The Palazzo's display advertising The Wizard of Oz at the Sphere. Red flowers surround a square pool, in front of statues of Dorothy, The Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow. Oddly enough, they had to remove their previous display which just said "LOVE" to fit this in, so I suppose that means the Palazzo is all out of love these days.
The Las Vegas Sphere (whose name is Orbi, FYI) showing a happy face, but instead of being yellow, she's orange from a "sunburn," except around the eyes, where she just took off her sunglasses. There is also a little drop of sweat running down her face. Don't forget your sunscreen people!
Trees and patio tables sit outside the walk-up cafes, all constructed indoors at the Park MGM in Las Vegas.
Charred ruins of the US Post Office, across from UNLV. Area is fenced off, pending investigation, but the building has been burnt to the frame and warped from heat of the fire. Second story is almost completely gone. Blackened, flame-scarred words are featured prominently, in the center of the frame: "United States."
My Minecraft bee plushie, who I have named "Buzz Aldrin," sits on a pillow, propped up in front of an open copy of the July/August 2025 issue of the magazine "Analog Science Fiction and Fact" (I have a story in this issue titled "Jennifer Does Pushups" - Yay!)
Construction progress on the new Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas. Year one out of an estimated three. The old Mirage Atrium and shops have been torn down, and new hotel structural skeleton is about three floors up.
DVD cover art for the tv show Firefly
Colored sketch of a dark haired woman in a green halter neck dress. Companion piece to my new short story - "Jennifer Does Pushups" - coming to Analog Science Fiction and Fact in the July/August issue. Painted in Krita.
A side-by-side comparison of a pink human-like bird on a swing from the Bellagio Conservatory in Las Vegas, and the original 18th-century oil painting by Fragonard, "Les Hasards heureux de l'escarpolette."
Fancy display in the Aria casino in Las Vegas, depicting a silver rocket flying out of a book.
Top 3 Eurovision Songs from 2016-2025, broken down by Percentage of Total Votes and Percentage of Available Votes.
Spreadsheet listing percentage of total votes for winners since 2016. Austria had the lowest winning percentage in the last decade.
Gabry Ponte in a leather jacket and blue jeans.
Zoë Më from Switzerland sings at Eurovision 2025
JJ From Austria wins Eurovision 2025.
My Top 5 for Eurovision Finals on Saturday: Luxembourg, Denmark, San Marino, Germany, Switzerland.
My personal top 5 favorites for Eurovision Song Contest 2025. Ireland, San Marino, Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark
Fountains in the lagoon at Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas.
Sign at The Writer's Block in Vegas, announcing Nghi Vo.
Las Vegas Sphere ("Orbi"), looking hungover as f**k.
Robot that makes Cookie Shots.
Tree sculptures inside a shopping mall with real (purple) blossoms.