No Corona

World Laughter Day

Today is World Laughter Day:

The first “World Laughter Day” gathering took place in Mumbai, India, on 11th of January 1998. 12,000 members from local and international Laughter Clubs joined together in a mega laughter session (the number is valid because that’s how many meals were served.)

“HAPPY-DEMIC” was the first World Laughter Day gathering outside India. It took place on 9th January 2000, in Copenhagen, Denmark and more than 10,000 people gathered in the Town Hall Square . The event went into the Guinness Book of World records.

World Laughter Day is now celebrated on the first Sunday of May every year in most large cities around the world. Hundreds of people (oftentimes thousands) gather worldwide on that day to laugh together.

The usual format of a WLD celebration is the congregation of laughter club members, their families and friends at some important landmark in their city like big squares, public parks or auditoriums laugh collectively. In India, Laughter Club members often do a peace march. They carry banners and placards such as “World Peace Through Laughter, The Whole World Is An Extended Family, Join a Community Laughter Club – it’s free!” etc. During the march all chant “Ho Ho, Ha-Ha-Ha” and “very good, very good, yay!” clapping and dancing. After walking some distance, they stop to do a few Laughter Yoga exercises and then move on. At the end of the march, they laugh together for 10 minutes or so and then read Dr. Kataria’s message for World Peace. This is followed by a variety entertainment program of music, dance and laughter contests e.g., best laughing man/woman/child/senior, etc. Winners are those with the most infectious, natural and effortless laughter. See how a laughter contest is organized here.

Learn more about World Laughter Day and watch videos here. There are lots of pictures here.

 

Alone Rangers Anzac Special

DIY face mask

When fine motor skills were distributed I was somewhere else.

The thought of getting out a sewing machine increases my blood pressure.

I can so relate to this.

Don’t Help Yourself

Joseph’s Machines – the Dinner Feeder

Joseph’s Machines

It might take more than four weeks to recreate this:

Indiscreet – Yes Prime Minister

[Humanity] has unquestionably one really effective weapon—laughter. Power, money, persuasion, supplication, persecution—these can lift at a colossal humbug—push it a little—weaken it a little, century by century, but only laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at a blast. Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand. — Mark Twain

Blackadder, The Army Years

Ways to lose money

A friend reckons there are three ways to lose money: race horses are the fastest, fast women the most fun, and farming the surest.

 

Gotta Love Millennials

Is the F word funny?

A friend was visiting her sister in Australia and wanted to go to a movie.

The last one she’d been to had been full of bad language and she wanted a cleaner one. Her sister said Four Weddings and a Funeral was reputed to be very good and very funny.

They went and the first several words were the F one.

Was it offensive? To some probably, but in the context it was both appropriate and funny.

Is it always?

We went to a stand up comedy evening recently and almost every sentence had at least one F word, often more.

IWere the comedians funny? Yes. In the context were all the Fs both appropriate and funny? No. Most of the time they were used as a filler instead of um and ah or a pause.

Does this clip need all the Fs?

It’s funny, but would it have lost any of the humour with fewer, or even no Fs?

I think so.

That word has become so commonplace a lot of people don’t even realise they’re using it and if they use it that often, what’s left when they really need an expletive?

Gotta love the Irish

Enough said. #NZLvIRE https://t.co/tKHMVBAlPZ pic.twitter.com/n0dDtBn3nA

— Guinness Ireland (@GuinnessIreland) October 19, 2019

Rugby explained

Jordan Watson has expanded his repertoire from How to Dad to how to play rugby:

The Four Yorkshiremen

It’s Tim Brooke-Taylor’s birthday so:

 

Rural round-up

From vodka to high country – Sally Rae:

Geoff and Justine Ross are best known as entrepreneurs and founders of the hugely successful 42 Below vodka company. But they have traded city life for a rural adventure at Lake Hawea Station where they are using the skills gained in business to apply them to the rural sector. They speak to agribusiness reporter Sally Rae.

Geoff Ross was always going to be a farmer.

But the career path he took to farm ownership was not necessarily what he envisaged growing up on a deer and dairy farm in the North Island.

His wife Justine recalls how she wanted to marry a farmer; in fact, she thought she was marrying a farmer. It did not quite pan out like that. . .

Keeping the farm in the family – Luke Chivers:

Kairuru farmer Amanda Henderson says there’s a whole lot more to farming than picking a paddock and putting some animals in it. The fourth-generation sheep and beef farmer is dedicated to shifting the perception of New Zealand’s primary sector. She spoke to Luke Chivers.

When people think of agriculture, not all think of science, innovation and technology. 

But, thankfully, one South Islander is set on changing that.

“I believe education is critical in the agricultural sector,” 33-year-old Amanda Henderson says. . .

Farmers find perfect match in 100% grass-fed wagyu beef producer group – Sally Rae:

Southland farmers Mike and Kirsty Bodle are looking to create a point of difference – or X-factor – in their farming operation.

The couple moved south from the North Island 14 years ago and bought a drystock farm after deciding they liked the region.

After a few years, they bought a neighbouring property to convert to dairy but when the dairy market started experiencing volatility, they decided they needed to spread their risk to cover themselves during those times . .

Chewing out the vegetarian preachers – Steve Wyn-Harris:

I was a vegan myself once.

It was in India 40 years ago in a small village where it seemed everyone was vegan, going by the menus in the cafes.

But it was only for one day.

The next village appeared to eat meat and nothing else. . .

For all the dairy farmer twitterati pic.twitter.com/HNCEPL61UU

— Lesley 🍎🍏🍇🍷 (@Lesleyattalk) June 27, 2019

Kiwi healthcare company HoneyLab on the cusp of going global – Esther Taunton:

A decade after it was set up, healthcare company HoneyLab is on the cusp of going global, co-founder Dr Shaun Holt says.

A clinical study recently proved the company’s flagship kānuka honey jell, Honevo, is as effective in treating cold sores as well-known pharmaceuticals.

It was the second big win for the product, which has also been proven effective in treating rosacea, and growing international interest is keeping Holt busy. . .

Comedian Te Radar brings the light touch to agricultural events – Gerard Hutching:

After two decades on TV screens, the stage and the comedy circuit, beloved entertainer Te Radar has become the go-to jester for the agricultural crowd, and with good reason.

The funnyman has serious cred in rural circles; he grew up on a dairy farm in north Waikato, on the isthmus bordered by the Waikato River that juts into Lake Waikare. His father was a top elected official in Federated Farmers.

No stranger to the milking shed, he helped on the family farm until he was 20. But dairying held no long term attraction. . .

A little light reading for lexophiles

I changed my iPod’s name to Titanic.  It’s syncing now.

England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool.

Haunted French pancakes give me the crepes.

This girl today said she recognized me from the Vegetarians Club, but I’d swear I’ve never met herbivore.

I know a guy who’s addicted to drinking brake fluid, but he says he can stop any time.

A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.

When the smog lifts in Los Angeles U.C.L.A.

I got some batteries that were given out free of charge.

A dentist and a manicurist married.  They fought tooth and nail.

A will is a dead giveaway.

With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.

Police were summoned to a daycare centre where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.

Did you hear about the fellow whose entire left side was cut off?  He’s all right now.

A bicycle can’t stand alone; it’s just two tired.

The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine last week is now fully recovered.

He had a photographic memory but it was never fully developed.

When she saw her first strands of gray hair she thought she’d dye.

Acupuncture is a jab well done.  That’s the point of it.

I didn’t like my beard at first.  Then it grew on me.

Did you hear about the crossed-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn’t control her pupils?

When you get a bladder infection, urine trouble.

When chemists die, they barium.

I stayed up all night to see where the sun went, and then it dawned on me.

I’m reading a book about anti-gravity.  I just can’t put it down.

Those who get too big for their pants will be totally exposed in the end.

I was going to write with a broken pencil but I realised it was pointless.

Living with the world’s sexiest accent

In deep contemplation

One of Monty Python’s best:

To give it a New Zealand political twist – he’s not sleeping, he’s in deep contemplation.

Wake up winston, its only a quick budget pic.twitter.com/ngKTQ9G2i1

— Fonzie (@fordfarms10) May 30, 2019

Breaking moos

Borrowed from Proud to be a Farmer: