10 Vegasish Questions For Monday

As you know, I collect images that are odd, funny or perplexing. So here's 10 head-scratching questions to start off your work week:

1. What "tram" is there now or ever was in the parking garage at Harrah's?


2. Did the rest of the word "Caesars" fall off of the Octavius Tower or did they just think, "Aw, screw it, we can't afford the rest of the name?"


3.What is this? It's immediately north of the Rio on the north side of Twain West. Never noticed it before.

4. Is this really fair warning of a spoiler?


5. How much money did the Steve Wyrick folks spend to put these Lord of the Dance ads all over town only to kill the show even before Mike Weatherford could review it?


6. Why is the Four Seasons allowing Baumann's Rare Books at the Palazzo to showcase its wares in its lobby?



7. Along the same lines, why is Beyonce on the cover of the summer issue of Caesars Player, a high-end glossy magazine for Harrah's high rollers, when she's playing this month at Wynncore?


8. Do you get it? Took me a couple of seconds.


9. Should I 'Friend' this man? Would he Friend me back?

10. Whose hair is more frou-frou-y?

Today's Strange Foreign Snapshot

In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, they have the War Remnants Museum, which documents the impact of several wars on the nation. Before the U.S. and Vietnam made up in the 1990s, it was known as the Museum of American and Chinese Aggression. It has such uplifting displays as a row of jars containing dead fetuses deformed by Agent Orange. A lot of laughs.

I did think this caption of a photo that showed Americans hanging out at one of the bases reflects that, despite the name change, there's just a wee bit of residual bitterness:


It says: "Encircled and attacked interminably, the American soldiers lead their miserable lives at their bases."

See all the photos in this series so far just by clicking here. Send along yours for the collection to TheStripPodcast[at]aol.com.

Today's Strange Foreign Snapshot

This one was a prominent cafe in Shanghai in 2001. Look familiar? Don't know if it's still there. See all the photos in this series so far just by clicking here.


Here's a close-up of that logo...

I wonder if they served pumpkin spice lattes. I'm thinking not.

Today's Strange Foreign Snapshot

Continuing our odd-photo tour of my scrapbook, this one is also from Shanhaiguan in China. See all the photos in this series so far just by clicking here.

It's probably very difficult to read, so here's a zoom-in:


It says: "Guarantee Quality One Fake Compensate Ten."

Huh?

Today's Strange Foreign Snapshot

From a Buddhist temple in Shanhaiguan, China, in 2001. Shanhaiguan is where the Great Wall of China meets the sea. And apparently, coughing is divine...


If you can't see it, the English reads: "Cough God Shrine: Disease was a menace to people's lives safety in the ancient times. because of bad medical condtion, the ancient people wanted to pray to the God for their safety. They worshipped the Cough God."

For some reason, I like to read it in that intonation of the "Law & Order" opening. What's next, a shrine to sneezing? An idol for idiots? Praise for pizza? Maybe absolution for annoying alliteration?

Today's Strange Foreign Snapshot

As promised, here's your daily odd photo from my heretofore private collection. This was seen on a city bus in Beijing in 2001:


Which one are you? And, more intriguingly, which one are the figures in the graphic?!?

Greatness/Silliness in a Snapshot

This...


...is brilliant. It was shot in Denver at the DNC last week by Review-Journal photographer John Locher. The paper ran it in Sunday's paper and made me laugh out loud.

Immediately, it brought to mind this photo I shot on a boat on the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, Thailand in February 2002:


Here's what the little sign says:


Didn't know monks wore pink sweatsuits and had bad blonde dye-jobs.

In the process of digging up this photo, I realized I have a treasure trove of goofy signs from my time in Asia. So starting with this one, I'm going to post one roughly every day until I run out. Feel free to email me yours.

But just so you "get" what I'm looking for, this was shot in the women's bathroom stall at a McDonald's in Beijing in 2001 by my friend Debbie...