Just For Fun

As millions of people on the Internet already know (that statement was just for fun), this blog almost exclusively comments on what I consider to be important political and social issues, with occasional schmaltz thrown in. There’s also my excellent recipe for biscotti: "Coffee Break," 4/3/2009. But since I’m world famous (uh-huh…) for my wild, wacky sense of humor, I thought I’d share with you, my vast coterie of readers, a few things I think are hilarious. I’ll continue to harass you with my wise seriousness again soon.

1) Wendy’s (fast-food, not Peter Pan) famous 1980s Russian Fashion Show TV commercial. (Stylish, no?)

2) Encountering A Star (this is a true story) – One day, a woman was traveling along a highway in Connecticut when she had a sudden yen for ice cream. Since she was in no particular hurry, she took the first available exit and drove around to see what she could find. It didn’t take long before she came upon what was apparently a large, popular local ice cream store. After finding a spot in the crowded parking lot, she went in and got on the shortest line. While casually looking around, she saw a famous face just a couple of people down the line from her: it was Paul Newman!

            Now this lady was a huge Paul Newman fan and she was so thrilled to see him in person she audibly gasped and nearly fell down. Then she started to quietly mumble to herself: “Just calm down, you’re a grown woman not a starry-eyed teenager; stop staring at him and you can’t say anything to him, he’s a regular person, just leave him alone; he lives in Connecticut, you don’t live here; just get your ice cream and get out of here…” etc.

            She was still mumbling when she found herself at the counter. She ordered a large ice cream cone, paid for it, hurried out to her car and let herself in. Just as she was starting the engine, she realized she didn’t have her ice cream. And at that very moment, she heard a tapping at her window. She looked over and it was Paul Newman! She lowered the window and before she could say a word, Newman smiled at her and softly said: “If you’re looking for your ice cream cone, you put it in your purse.”

3) Honda’s 2014 Presidents’ Day TV commercial. (That play on a popular sexy question just kills me.)

4) Out of this World (also a true story) – In 1969, when astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon, took his first step onto the surface, he famously said: “One small step for Man and a giant leap for Mankind.” After bouncing around on the lunar surface for a while, as he was getting back onto his vessel, he quietly mumbled “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky.” For 40 years after, whenever the press asked him what his parting remark meant, Armstrong would smile but not respond.

            Then one day, while participating in a small symposium, Armstrong was again asked the Gorsky question. This time he smiled, then said that since Mr. Gorsky was no longer living, he felt he could answer. He explained that when he was a child in 1939, he was playing ball with some friends in his backyard. When one of them hit the ball over the fence into his neighbors’ yard, it landed under their bedroom window. Those neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky. When Neil went to fetch the ball, he could hear the couple arguing. Mrs. Gorsky was yelling at her husband: “Sex? You want sex! You’ll get sex when the kid next door walks on the Moon!”

Have a nice, fun day.