Thursday, August 17, 2023

LAUGH

 
---- 😊😊😊 -----



Time for some more Fave Funnies, ones that have been posted previously but worth re-telling because they are some of my favourites.

There’s also a couple of new ones thrown in.

Enjoy Byters.

There are asome risque items (which will delightLiz, who says she always sends the rude ones to her mother).


---- 😊😊😊 -----

SOME HUMOUR:
__________

Roy Rogers is riding back to his ranch when he is met by an Army Captain and troop of cavalry.

The Captain says “Roy, the Indians hit your place last night, killed Dale and your hands, killed your cattle, burned the ranch and stole your horses.”

“Oh, my God,” says Roy, I have to go there,” and starts moving away with Trigger.

The Captain says “Roy, before you go, how about a song for the boys?”
__________

Another Roy Rogers one . . .

Roy Rogers bought himself a pair of custom made, hand tooled, ornate boots.

That night, as he was drifting off to sleep, a cat outside his window began to yowl loudly. As much as he tried, Roy couldn’t get to sleep, so he threw one of his boots at it. The cate kept mewling and Roy threw the other boot.

The next morning, Roy went outside to retrieve his new boots and was dismayed to discover that the cat had clawed, eaten and generally made a total mess of both.

An angry Roy put an ad in Variety offering a reward to whoever could deliver him the offending cate.

The next morning the doorbell rang and Bing Crosby stood there, holding a cat by the scruff of its neck. Bing sang “Pardon me Roy, is this the cat that chewed your new shoes?”
__________

A guy walks into a bar with his pet monkey. He orders a drink and while he's drinking the monkey jumps all around the place. The monkey grabs some olives off the bar and eats them, then grabs some sliced limes and eats them, then jumps onto the pool table, grabs one of the billiard balls, sticks it in his mouth, and to everyone's amazement, somehow swallows it whole.

The bartender screams at the guy, "Did you see what your monkey just did?" The guy says "No, what?" "He just ate the cue ball off my pool table ... whole!"

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me," replied the guy, "He eats everything in sight, the little bugger. Sorry. I'll pay for the cue ball and stuff".

He finishes his drink, pays his bill, pays for the stuff the monkey ate, then leaves.

Two weeks later he's in the bar again, and has his monkey with him.

He orders a drink and the monkey starts running around the bar again. While the man is finishing his drink, the monkey finds a cherry on the bar. He grabs it, sticks it up his bum, pulls it out, and eats it.

The bartender is disgusted.

"Did you see what your monkey did now?" "No, what?" replies the guy. "Well, he stuck a cherry up his bum, pulled it out, and ate it!" said the bartender.

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me", replied the guy. "He still eats everything in sight, but ever since the cue ball incident, he measures everything first."
__________

Two female friends are in a bar and one of them says to another:

"See those two crazy old ladies laughing? In 20 years we'll be like them!"

The friend replies: "You can't drink that much Mary! That's a mirror! "
__________

This is better told, rather than written, in that telling allows a Northern English accent to be used. I have written some of the words phonetically to preserve that feature...

A man takes his young son to the London Zoo to see the monkeys.

Alas, when they get to the monkey enclosure, there is not a monkey to be seen, so he calls over the attendant and asks”

“’Ere, where’s all the moonkeys then?”

“They’re all in the ‘uts,” says the keeper. “It’s the matin’ season, they’re all ‘avin’ sex.”

“Do you think they’d come out if I threw a peanut?” asks the father.

“Would you?” asks the keeper
__________

"This term," said the English teacher, "we will be studying 'The Canterbury Tales' "

"But," she added, "to anticipate a question I get every year -- this will not include The Nun's Priest's Tale"

"Why not?" asked one of the pupils. The teacher's features shaped themselves into an expression of sour disapproval.

"Because," she answered, "The Nun's Priest's Tale is lascivious, licentious, and utterly improper, especially for people your age. Now please open your copies to the General Prologue, and we will begin with that."

Next lesson, the teacher said, "Please open your 'Canterbury Tales' to The Nun's Priest's Tale, which I am assuming you have all read by now...?"

---- 😊😊😊 -----


LIMERICK OF THE WEEK:

One of my faves . . .

Ethnologists up with the Sioux
Wired “Send two punts, one canoe.”
The answer next day
Said “Girls on the way,
But what the Hell’s a panoe?”

---- 😊😊😊 -----

GALLERY:

More favourites . . . 






---- 😊😊😊 -----


LAW & LAWYERS

A lawyer’s wife died. At her grave, everyone was appalled.

The tombstone read, “HERE LIES PHYLLIS, WIFE OF ATTORNEY MURRAY WILLIAMS; SPECIALISES IN DIVORCE AND MALPRACTICE”.

Murray burst into tears. His brother said, “You SHOULD cry, pulling a cheap publicity stunt like this.”

Murray said, “You don’t understand. I gave them my business card.”

His brother apologised.

“…and they didn’t include the phone number!”

---- 😊😊😊 -----


CORN CORNER:
__________

A dear friend of mine fell overboard while sailing the other day.  Sadly, he couldn't swim, so he quickly drowned. 

At the funeral service, I gifted his family a life preserver. It's what he would have wanted.
__________

I bought this sweet car online

Turns out it used to be owned by Neil Diamond
__________

I woke up last night to find the ghost of Gloria Gaynor standing at the foot of my bed. At first I was afraid.......then I was petrified.
__________

And from John P . . . 





Wednesday, August 16, 2023

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 





READERS WRITE



---------oOo---------

Some feedback and comments from readers . . .

---------oOo---------

From Rob T in the UK, responding to a pic of a shelf in a bookshop labelled “Mystery”, the shelf not containing any books . . .

Dear Otto,

Your sign “MYSTERY” reminded me of the reception Tony Blair’s book got …..


With best regards,

Rob T……

Thanks Rob

Here are some other funny book placements . . .
_____________





And some other funny signage . . .





---------oOo---------

A couple of comments received about the recent Nostalgia pics post . . .

---------oOo---------

From Philip C:

Hi Otto,

We last used manual window winders on 14th March 2023 because they were fitted on our Flinders Island hire car. The vehicle also “featured” a 3-speed automatic and no air conditioning but it was comfortable and reliable, so perfect for tripping around the island.

Regards

Thanks Philip
_________________

From David G about young people recognising bygone items . . .

Thinking about our childhood I wonder if today’s kids could understand the clip off collars our fathers had on their business shirts. Those were the days of real pollution!

Dave

Thanks Dave.

By the way, this is what they look like:


Styles available in the 1920's

Some ads from the 1920’s . . .




---------oOo---------

From Ron T, in respect of one pic that said if the viewer could recognise the item, they were older than dirt . . .

Otto, Heavens !! - if those items are for those older than dirt, then I'm of the Big Bang event

Thanks old timer!

---------oOo---------

From friend Steve M, commenting on my post about the film Titanic to finish off my third Top 10 + 2, before starting the fourth (as I predicted, he will look dowen on some of my choices) . . .

G’day Otto,

Thank you so much for the excellent Bytes on Titanic. Very interesting indeed. As for the movie lists, I shall not stoop to saying anything other than Groundhog Day….really?

Steve m

Thanks (I think), Steve






Tuesday, August 15, 2023

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 


MORE BRAND NAME ORIGINS


---------oOo---------

AMAZON:

About:

Amazon.com, Inc. is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence.

It has been often referred to as "one of the most influential economic and cultural forces in the world," and is often regarded as one of the world's most valuable brands.

Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos from his garage in Bellevue, Washington, on July 5, 1994. Initially an online marketplace for books, it has expanded into a multitude of product categories, a strategy that has earned it the description The Everything Store.

Amazon has earned a reputation as a disruptor of well-established industries through technological innovation and "aggressive" reinvestment of profits into capital expenditures.

As of 2023, it is the world's largest online retailer and marketplace, smart speaker provider, cloud computing service through AWS,live-streaming service through Twitch, and Internet company as measured by revenue and market share.

Name origin:

Originally, Amazon was an online bookstore called Cadabra, intended as a reference to the word "abracadabra" (as in, magic). However, Jeff Bezos' first lawyer pointed out that the reference was too obscure. Plus, when you were on the phone, people sometimes heard "Cadaver" instead.

In the mid-'90s Bezos and his then-wife, MacKenzie Tuttle, started exploring other possibilities. They registered the domain names Awake.com, Browse.com, and Bookmall.com. They also registered the domain name Relentless.com and kept it (if you type that into your browser today, you'll be redirected to Amazon.com).

Bezos then started paging through the "A" section of the dictionary. At the time, website listings were alphabetized, so he wanted a word that started with "A." When he landed on the word "Amazon," the name of the largest river on the planet, he decided that was the perfect name for what would become earth's largest bookstore.

According to Bezos: "This is not only the largest river in the world, it's many times larger than the next biggest river. It blows all other rivers away."


The arrow shape in the logo extends from the letter “A” to the letter “Z” while curving to form a smile, representing customer satisfaction, endless product selection, and end-to-end service.

Evolution of the Amazon logo



Monday, August 14, 2023

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 


MORE NOSTALGIA


---------oOo---------

Recently I posted a series of items from Bored Panda about nostalgia for children of the 50s, 60s and 70s.

The items come from a Twitter site called ‘I love Nostalgia’ at:

The Bored Panda post can be viewed at:

I posted a selection from the BP site with the captions and selected reader comments.

Here are some more.

---------oOo---------

Most Young People Don't Know What This Mechanical Device Is


Reader comments:

My 64 year classic doesn't even have these. It has side screens that clip on, with a sliding window. Our most modern car (10 years old) still has the old fashioned hinged rear windows like the original Mini.

I'm 13 and I know what that is :P

Lots of cars in my country have it.

My 2002 Toyota Corolla has these, that's why I bought it, electric windows give me the creeps, I always imagine them failing in an accident with the engine on fire and doors jammed. Or if the car ends up in a river or lake, no thanks.

Mine still has them in the back. Guess what broke in the front some years ago?

This gave me happy flashbacks to riding in my grandparents car. Happy days <3

My car still has them. 2001 Jeep Wrangler. It's also a manual transmission. My kids think I just like to make life hard... they were born in the 90s. 🤣

I'm 12-13 and my grandads old truck had em!

That is why we had such stronger arm muscles than kiddos today!

I read some years back that electric windows are cheaper to install, parts are cheaper,, etc than manual windows. I do miss the little wing windows in the front, you could turn them to blast air at you before AC. I love AC, some modern things are way better than what we dealt with in the old days.

I miss those. You didn't need the car on to roll the window up or down. Back in the day sometimes kids waited in the car.

omg my grandparent's car has these

Still preferred over damned power windows that always go too far up or down

........and we still say "can you roll the window up or down"......
__________

If You Remember This You’re Awesome Yet Bloody Old


Ah, the good old magicube flash. It rotated as you wound the film on.

Many a family gathering ended in temporary blindness off the flash back in the day.

The cube flash got bl***y hot. Burnt hand on it several times.

I've still got the scar on my finger from where one exploded in my hand..

I remember that 110 was kind of a s**t format due to the negative being so small the pictures were not that great.

On the other hand the cartridge stopped you exposing the film by mistake. Good for kids.

remember it? I HAD one! I still have the prints from it. Some of them are pretty terrible, but I was young and still learning the composition of a good photograph.

The "Red-Eye" Maker!!

I still remember the smell of the burning bulb

My comment:

That’s not old. My brothers and I had and used these as youngsters . . .


__________

I'm This Old And Still Alive


They are still used, proper installed ones are sanitary and towels are washed and disinfected in special facilities

K-shunk, K-shunk, K-shunk

What are these?

Still better than these damn blow dryers we have now.

It's the smell that lingers, sort of antiseptic and mildew.

That last bit not rolled inside just hanging there was the germ spreader.

And it was always damp.

Ah, the good old never-clean.

They were always wet !!!

These are still used and probably cleaner than a hand dryer.

So gross.

I never used these in the olden days either. The idea of sharing a towel with strangers always grossed me out.
__________

I’m This Old

They made a satisfying 'click clack' sound when used

And you could buy stuff during a power failure!

The power went down in our bookshop in Edinburgh when I worked there in the early Noughties and so we had to haul one of these bad boys out. Unfortunately, I misjudged the force required and snapped the customer's credit card in half. I always was s**t at retail.

And credit fraud was low

want your carbons?

Yes. So no one steals my CC numbers out of the trash.

The last time I saw one of these was around 2000 in the US. Last time I saw one in the UK was probably about 1980!

I'm 43. Never seen these in my country, Estonia. Only in movies.

wow That is old.

Some businesses still use these.

They're not that old, I remember them...let me think...till about 28 - 30 years ago.

Ahh yes. I believe the official name was "clicky clacker"

And make sure, your not getting a surprise, you put an $ mark in front of the amount.

Oh my goodness. You have to phone to get authorisation if the store had a limit to get the card checked to see if they had sufficient funds and the card was good. I had to cut up a few cards and had to call security because of it as I had very angry customers.

What is it? Probably an American thing
__________

Feeling Stressed? Put Your Electronic Devices Away And Just Get These Rings Sorted Out. Take Your Time


These were my bathtub toys. Also excellent for doctor waiting rooms if there were no Highlights magazine.

I know that to an extent they’re still around, but you just can’t get the good ones any more. There used to be such amazing ones with different hoops, baskets, decorations and backgrounds. Even the one shown on here is super basic compared to the ones we used to have. Why don’t they seem to sell them anymore?

I had this one and the basketball one.

They caused many people's anxiety! Haahaa

They're still around! I got my grandson one and he plays with it for hours.

I miss these.

I'd completely forgotten these

These still exist

Never was I able to put all the rings on the spikes

No, these were designed to INDUCE stress

rough on the thumbs though.
__________

This How It Was Done Kids


Or just disconnect from the wall.

I miss the satisfying feeling that slamming down a receiver could give you. Poking at a screen is just not the same.

I agree so satisfying to do and I miss the round dials when would spin the number required, and it spun back around for selecting another number, that noise is sooo satisfying

eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh

And the older my mom got the longer the phone stayed off the hook and I was 3,000 miles away. Luckily one of the kids I grew up with lived right across the street from my mom. Called her up often to go make sure my mom was still alive

That’s a new phone and in a colour that’s not black with a push pad.

Oh yeah and they couldn't even leave a damn message!! Woo!

Somehow, pressing the red Disconnect icon isn't quite as satisfying as slamming down the receiver.
__________

I'm Either Seeing A Scene From Ghostbusters Or 1980s Google


Imagine just one little a*****e taking just one card and putting it somewhere randomly and you could literally NEVER find that book basically ever again

Or a scene from my elementary school library memories lol

Loved these as a kid, still don’t know why haha

Ughh...even in the 90's we had to learn how to use these in school

and the smell ... the smell from these. I would never take one out. I was too scared of our librarian even thinking I put it back wrong. I wonder how many hours they had to put these back in order ... or how often they checked it? Kids are mean ...

They had a rod through a hole in the bottom of the cards. They couldn’t just. Be pulled out.

I LOVED card catalogues!

Took a lot of time and special employees to do this, they also made coffee or tea for the staff if not overly abundant!

Dewey Decimal system is wonderful. Works great.
__________

If You Know What These Are You’re Old As Dirt


Still the best way.

The ONLY way when the eyes go south.

Old? They are still available and used.

Did they invent a better way now days???

Net yet that I know of

Needle threader.

No, they're still being sold.

I still use one. I don't sew very often but my eyes are not what they used to be 🤣

I never understood why they always had a head in profile embossed on them

Probably for better grip.

They always broke.

Yeah, it's really annoying

Are you saying these aren't known to youngsters? I still use them lol

Are youngsters ever going to sew a button on by themselves?

I live and die by these things when embroidering or using the sewing machine.

actually older then dirt.




Sunday, August 13, 2023

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

 


POETRY SPOT


How Are You?

    - Unknown


“How are you?” he asked,
To which I replied as I should,
With my usual “Good,
Thanks, I’m good.”

“How about you?” I queried.
To which he replied
“Not good, let me tell you,”
And I inwardly sighed.

Although it is couched
In terms of one caring,
A litany of complaints
Is not made for sharing.

Whether sick as a dog
Or Mallee bull fit,
People prefer to not hear
That you’re feeling like shit.

It’s a greeting, an intro,
Not a dinkum concern,
When it comes to ailments
I’ve got plenty to burn.

When I ask “How are you?”
Don’t list all your stuff,
“Good thanks, and you?”
Is quite good enough.



Saturday, August 12, 2023

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

 


PUL:ITZER PRIZES AND WORLD PRESS PHOTO OF THE YEAR, CONTINUED


---------oOo---------


Pulitzer Prizes for Photography:

Between 1942 and 1967 a Pulitzer Prize for Photography was awarded for photojournalism, that is, for photographs telling a news story. In 1968 that award was replaced by awards in two new categories:
  • the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography (photography in the nature of breaking news, as it has been called since 2000); and
  • the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography (human interest and matters associated with new items).

World Press Photo of the Year:

From 1955 World Press Photo has awarded prizes for the best photographs in 10 categories, with an overall award for the image that "... is not only the photojournalistic encapsulation of the year, but represents an issue, situation or event of great journalistic importance, and does so in a way that demonstrates an outstanding level of visual perception and creativity".

---------oOo---------

The photographs are interesting not only in their own right but for being windows on history.

--------oOo--------

Award: 
Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography (photography in the nature of breaking news)

Year: 
1995

Photographer: 
Carol Guzy of The Washington Post

Photograph(s): 
For her series of photographs illustrating the crisis in Haiti and its aftermath.

---------oOo---------

Comments:

Quotes and commentaries below from:


Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Carol Guzy (born 1956) is one of the most renowned American photojournalists of all time. Guzy gets results because she focuses on shooting feelings rather than pictures. Through her lens, she has delved into the darkest corners of human existence, hoping to bring understanding between people in all parts of the world. Over the years, she has brought viewers face to face with Kosovo refugees, famine in Ethiopia, civil unrest in Haiti, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the tragedy of south Florida's Hurricane Andrew.

Carol Guzy has won the Pulitzer Prize four times, one of five people to do so and the first journalist with that achievement. Guzy was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1986, 1995, 2000 and 2011.

Pulitzer Awards

1986
Spot News Photography
The Armero tragedy following the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia
In November of 1985 Colombia's Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted, killing 23,000 people. The Miami Herald sent Guzy to the scene. In frame after frame, Guzy recorded the plight of the survivors and the stunning devastation, particularly following a mudslide that destroyed much of the city of Amero. The striking photos earned Guzy the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for spot news photography, a prize she shared with fellow staff photographer Michel duCille. The award made Guzy the first woman to win a Pulitzer in the spot news category.

1995
Spot News Photography
Unrest in Haiti associated with Operation Uphold Democracy
In 1995 Guzy won her second Pulitzer prize, this one for coverage of United States military intervention in Haiti as forces tried to restore President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power.

2000
Feature Photography
Kosovo War refugees

2011
Breaking News Photography
Aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake

Guzy has stumbled upon mutilated bodies and seen people beaten to death by mobs. She has shot photos of refugees desperate for food and has taken pictures of refugee children clutching their dying parents along the road. She has sometimes returned from assignments depressed, but believes it is worth it. "As long as abuse and conflict and inequality remain, it is our responsibility to have a social conscience and bring these issues to light, for others to judge and make educated choices," she wrote in her essay on the Poynter Institute Website.

---------oOo---------

Follow up re Haiti:

In September 1994, U.S. military forces were ordered to execute Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti. The stated objectives of that undertaking included the return to office of the democratically elected president of that country and the creation of a stable and secure environment in which democratic institutions could take hold. In the short term, these objectives were met - President Aristide reassumed his duties as president, the junta that had ousted him in 1991 was forced to leave the country, and national elections were successfully held in 1996.

Jean Bertrand Aristide returned to Haiti in October 1994 after 3 years of forced exile. Operation Uphold Democracy officially ended on 31 March 1995, when it was replaced by the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH). U.S. President Bill Clinton and Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide presided over the change of authority ceremony. From March 1995 until March 1996, 2,400 U.S. personnel from the original Operation Uphold Democracy remained as a UNMIH-commanded support group under the aegis of Operation New Horizons. A large contingent of U.S. troops (USFORHAITI) participated as peacekeepers in the UNMIH until 1996 (and the U.S. forces commander was also the commander of the U.N. forces).

U.N. forces under various mission names were in Haiti from 1995 through 2000. Over the course of the operation one U.S. soldier, a special forces staff sergeant, was killed. The soldier died after being struck by gunfire at a roadside checkpoint.

From:

(Robert Fatton is a Haitian-born historian who is now a professor in political science at the University of Virginia).
Fatton says he believes that because the fact that there were no American lives lost in the operation, it was easy for the U.S. to call it a success and move on — but such is not the case for Haitians. Haiti now makes headlines for being the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, for corruption and the failures of its government, and for being subject to President Trump’s vulgar dismissal. But, Fatton argues, it’s not possible to understand the current situation without remembering the history of Haiti.

“There is ‘Haiti fatigue’ so people don’t really think about it,” he says. “Haitians remember it, but abroad? No one really pays attention anymore.”

 

Soldiers of C Company, 2nd Battalion 22nd Infantry, 10th Mountain Division securing Port-au-Prince Airport on the first day of Operation Uphold Democracy

---------oOo---------

Gallery:

A selection of Carol Guzy's 1995 Pulitzer award photographs -