Funny ha-ha...

One job ago I was chatting with my friend Joel and made a reference to the Keystone Kops. He looked at me and said, "Let me guess. Someone from British comedy?" 

My first thought was, "Wow, this kid has my humor pegged." My second was, "Man, I'm old if he did not get my reference." The Keystone Kops are not, in fact, British, but are a series of silent film comedies about inept policemen produced in the early 1900s in America. 

My theme for today was inspired by a story I received from my Aussie friend Tom. It reminded me how funny that clever and sharp-witted British/Aussie sense of humor is to me. For whatever reason, I have been missing it recently, so the article from the BBC on the wallabies in Tasmania who are getting into poppy fields and creating crop circles after eating the harvest was just what I needed. But what made me laugh out loud were the comments below the story from individual readers.

I searched in vain for the clip I wanted, but eventually found a family-friendly-ish clip from my absolute favorite British TV show, "Coupling." I do not in any way mean the US version of that show. The transformation of "The Office" from Great Britain to America was fantastic, but "Coupling" failed completely. The British version is far superior. In this YouTube clip, one of the core characters, who is known for his insane theories which are just crazy enough to make sense, explains the dangers of "The Giggle Loop."

The last two stories I included mainly because they're British. : ) The first is from the Daily Telegraph, and it details the honorary degree Oxford University bestowed on a street sweeper. Allan Brigham came to the city intending to train as a teacher but ended up in street cleaning and eventually started giving tours around the city. He was honored for his length of service to the town of Oxford. 

News.com out of Australia returned the favor to the BBC and reported on an occurrence on the Piccadilly Line of the Underground. As part of an initiative to promote art and literature, the train drivers have been give books of inspirational quotes to read over the PA. They are encouraged to read ones that are timely to the situation at hand, but I'm sincerely hoping they stick to doing that while the train is not in motion. 

(Photo courtesy of the Daily Telegraph)

It's a small world...

That was my favorite ride at Disney World when I was little. I must have made my dad get on that with me at least four times on our first trip to Mickey Mouse's house. Probably back-to-back. Now, the song is teeth-gratingly annoying to listen to, but for some reason lost to my adult brain, I loved getting in that little boat and very slowly "circumnavigating the globe" looking at all the dolls in native dress. 

However, according to Britain's Daily Telegraph, Walt Disney World has some competition in the Happiest Place on Earth category. In an ironic twist to anyone who knows Aussie-Kiwi relations, the Australia-based Global Peace Index recently named New Zealand the world's most peaceful nation due to its low crime rate, political stability and respect for human rights among 20 other criteria.

Two other stories come from the British Isle, or The Place that Populated Australia with Convicts. : ) The Daily Mail reports on a reunion of Pentillie Castle babies. During the Blitz, an entire town's maternity ward was shipped off to a local castle to ensure safe delivery of the town's babies during the bombings. At least 200 children were born at the castle during World War II and for the first time in 50 years they, and some of the mothers, came together to meet. 

Finally, England's oldest living World War I veteran recently celebrated his 113th birthday. Henry Allingham, one of two WWI vets left in Britain,  had his cake delivered by Royal Marines and received a flyover from the Royal Navy, according to Yahoo!