FICTION FRIDAY: Decanted

     “Master!”      “Great Leapin’ Honk!  Where in the name of all that’s pretty did YOU come from?”      “You rubbed the lamp, Master.”      “Teach me to dust in here; I’ll never do THAT again.  You’re some manner of genie, are you?”      “Sealed into the lamp by Solomon himself a thousand and aContinue reading “FICTION FRIDAY: Decanted”

Hey, I’m New At This

     Not so long ago in this space, we considered the jokes swapped between residents of the rural parts of the world and those who lived in the city.  This town vs. country debate is ancient and widespread, and COULD be considered part of the basic human belief that the people who live the wayContinue reading “Hey, I’m New At This”

THE SOUND AND THE FURRY: The Five Hairy Princesses, Pt. 1

     Monday Morning Breakfast was the best time of the week for Queen Azalea and King Basso.  Their children slept late, no guests came to bother them, and no alarming surprises awaited.  Muffins and the morning mail: it made for really a peaceful meal.      So Queen Azalea was unpleasantly surprised when her husband leaptContinue reading “THE SOUND AND THE FURRY: The Five Hairy Princesses, Pt. 1”

Blood In the Breeze

     “Hey, are you the ladies who put the ad up in the coffee shop?”      “This isn’t that ad about strict schoolmistresses who give big bad boys remedial lessons in math and manners again, is it?”      “No, the one about the buyers for cursed and haunted objects.”      “Oh yes, sir.  We’re eagerContinue reading “Blood In the Breeze”

The Jaspers and the Rubes

     We have mentioned, in an exploration of joke archaeology hereintofore, that jokes made by one group of people against another were regarded as being in poor taste as early as three generations ago, while others continued without a lot of controversy.  The town/country joke went on for centuries (Aesop covered t) but it hasContinue reading “The Jaspers and the Rubes”

THE SOUND AND THE FURRY: The Boy Who Woudln’t Cry Wolf, Pt. 2

     Farther down, the path was bordered by tall pink walls that had blue eagles carved into them.  Jack did not like these.  Little blue dots on the pink seemed to shift as he watched, and the glittering jeweled eyes of the eagles appeared to be following his progress as he and the fox movedContinue reading “THE SOUND AND THE FURRY: The Boy Who Woudln’t Cry Wolf, Pt. 2”

Woman’s Work?

     As you will of course recall from our last thrilling episode, we were considering what vintage postcards had to show us about women in the workforce, especially in jobs traditionally associated with men.  The main conclusion we drew from the examples was that the postcard artists were less interested in reviewing current societal normsContinue reading “Woman’s Work?”

THE SOUND AND THE FURRY: The Boy Who Wouldn’t Cry Wolf, Pt. 1

     You probably recall that there was once a town that lost all its wool and mutton because the boy who was hired to tend the sheep got bored.  He took to hollering “Wolf!” when there was no wolf, just to see all the townsfolk turning out to help him.  Naturally, the one time thereContinue reading “THE SOUND AND THE FURRY: The Boy Who Wouldn’t Cry Wolf, Pt. 1”

FICTION FRIDAY: Pyramid Power Down

     “Ready for that three o-clock appoint…oh, it’s you.”      “I’ve got it this time.  I truly have.”      “Mr. Forsyth, we at the Society for the Proliferation of Conspiracy Knowledge have a lot to do since the invention of online communication.  We have bent over backward to try and disseminate your pyramid theory, butContinue reading “FICTION FRIDAY: Pyramid Power Down”