I went upstate with my Mom this weekend to visit family and do some work on my grandmother’s house. We got a lot accomplished in a day and a half. My aunt and cousin told me the funniest thing when I visited them: “Have we got a boy for you! He’s an Elvis impersonator and when he performs at the fair next year, we are going to introduce you to him!” After looking at his Web page ->www.ryanpelton.com, I think I might let them. 🙂

It was a day full of German-ness. This morning there was an article in the newspaper that reported the Germans celebrated the 12th anniversary of German reunification and the newly restored Brandenburg Gate was finally unveiled. Then I read a movie review for Invincible which is about Hanussen, a phoney WWII seer/psychic and his relationship with a Jewish strongman (or something like that). This evening I watched Run Lola Run on IFC. And yes I admit I have seen it about 5 times now. I get a kick out of seeing the actors and remembering other German movies they were in… Hey, that guy played the homosexual S&M; butcher in Der Bewegte Man! That guy played the homosexual brother in Stadtgesprache and the Turkish gangster in Knocking on Heaven’s Door! That guy was in Comedian Harmonists! That guy played the infertile husband in Irren ist Männlich! Since I am on the topic of German movies, I saw a film about Hanussen a couple years ago. It was filmed in 1988 and was simply called Hanussen. Starring as Hanussen was Klaus Maria Brandenauer who acted in Burning Secret with Faye Dunaway. You will only know of Buning Secret if you get the Starz! channels on your satellite dish… this movie plays over and over. I watch it mainly to hear Klaus’s accent.

The World’s Funniest Joke — Official
By Corey Ullman
LONDON (Reuters) – After a year of painstaking scientific research, the world’s funniest joke was revealed on Thursday.
In a project described as the largest-ever scientific study into humor, the British Association for the Advancement of Science asked Internet users around the world to submit their favorite jokes and rate the funniness of other people’s offerings.
More than 40,000 jokes from 70 countries and two million critiques later, this is it:
“Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn’t seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other man pulls out his phone and calls emergency services.
He gasps to the operator: “My friend is dead! What can I do?” The operator in a calm, soothing voice replies: “Take it easy. I can help. First, let’s make sure he’s dead.”
There is a silence, then a shot is heard.
Back on the phone, the hunter says, “Ok, now what?”
Researchers found significant differences between nations in the types of jokes they found funny.
People from the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Australia and New Zealand preferred gags involving word play, such as:
PATIENT: “Doctor, I’ve got a strawberry stuck up my bum.”
DOCTOR: “I’ve got some cream for that.”
Americans and Canadians favored jokes where people were made to look stupid.
TEXAN: “Where are you from?”
HARVARD GRAD: “I come from a place where we do not end our sentences with prepositions.”
TEXAN: “OK — where are you from, jackass?”
Meanwhile, many Europeans liked gags that were surreal or made light of serious subjects such as illness, death and marriage:
A patient says, “Doctor, last night I made a Freudian slip, I was having dinner with my mother-in-law and wanted to say: ‘Could you please pass the butter?’
“But instead I said: ‘You silly cow, you have completely ruined my life.”‘
Marriage-mocking also featured in the top American joke:
“A man and a friend are playing golf one day. One of the guys is about to chip onto the green when he sees a long funeral procession on the road next to the course.
“He stops in mid-swing, takes off his golf cap, closes his eyes, and bows down in prayer. His friend says: ‘Wow that is the most thoughtful and touching thing I have ever seen. You are truly a kind man.’
“The man then replies: ‘Yeah, well, we were married 35 years.”‘
Death earned big laughs in Scotland:
“I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather. Not screaming in terror like his passengers.”
And animals figured prominently. Take the number one joke in England:
“Two weasels are sitting on a bar stool. One starts to insult the other one. He screams, ‘I slept with your mother!’
“The bar gets quiet as everyone listens to see what the other weasel will do.
“The first again yells, ‘I SLEPT WITH YOUR MOTHER!’
“The other says: ‘Go home dad, you’re drunk.”‘
The survey revealed other fun facts:
— Of the countries rating the highest number of jokes, Germans, perhaps surprisingly, laughed the most. Canadians laughed least.
— If you want to tell a funny animal joke, make it a duck.
— The most frequently submitted joke, at 300 times, was: “What’s brown and sticky? A stick.”
Researchers said no one ever found it funny.

The findings can be read at www.laughlab.co.uk.

My laptop went belly up last night. Okay, it still works, just not very good. So I packed it in a box and I am sending it off to a techie to reformat its hard drive and load Win2000. Right now I am using a pitiful replacement laptop; the one I keep in my lower desk drawer that I pull out on occasions such as this. I am hoping my laptop comes back in one piece and working well. I hope!

Last weekend I saw Sweet Home Alabama. It was a pleasant distraction. I found Reese Witherspoon’s character very sympathetic. I mean, how horrible is it to have 2 very attractive men in love with you? My heart bled for her. I wouldn’t wish that dilemna on my worst enemy! 🙂

Glasses clearly hamper romance
It is said boys don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses – and now the scientists agree.
Academics studying nightclubbers have found an individual’s “pulling power” increases by up to 400% if they ditch their spectacles.

I knew it!!!! Thanks Mike for the article- I enjoyed it, obviously! 🙂

German Show says Saddam Have Three Doubles
BERLIN (Reuters) – A German television network said on Thursday it had made a scientific study of 450 photographs of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and concluded there are at least three doubles posing as the Iraqi president.

German Parliament Speaks Out for Ostrich Rights
BERLIN (Reuters) – German parliamentarians stood up for the rights of ostriches on Friday, calling on the government to lay down minimum standards under which the birds should be kept before being killed for their meat.

Blind, disabled ‘should be able to fly’
THE physically and mentally disabled may no longer be barred from becoming pilots or air traffic controllers.
Eyesight and other medical tests imposed on flight crew have been found to be in breach of anti-discrimination laws.

Human Experiments …frightening!

Unemployed Germans Turn to TV Show to Win
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germans competing in a new television gameshow will not be bidding to win a luxury car or exotic holiday. In a country where four million people are out of work, the prize is much more sought-after: a job.