QUOTE(Wilfrid @ Jun 12 2006, 04:18 PM) 
Funny, when I was doing web searches for houses in Dutchess County, there was no "Castle" category.
Full Version: The surrealism of everyday life
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Funny, when I was doing web searches for houses in Dutchess County, there was no "Castle" category.
QUOTE(yvonne johnson @ Jun 14 2006, 11:18 AM)
Small world: She has no doubt put in a bid for that Spanish castle.
Perhaps she is the daughter of a wealthy Florentine pogen.
ecuador just scored and i heard a low moan of "gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool" from inside the apartment, i thought. well, there are roofers working next door, from ecuador apparently.
QUOTE(Stone @ Jun 14 2006, 06:25 PM)
QUOTE(Wilfrid @ Jun 12 2006, 04:18 PM)
Funny, when I was doing web searches for houses in Dutchess County, there was no "Castle" category.
I sold my house in Dutchess County a couple a years ago. Dutchess is all farms, no fiefdom.
At a Tel-Aviv cafe this morning:
Waitress: "Chopped Arab?"
Me: "What?"
Waitress: "Do you want chopped arab with your eggs?"
Me, not really sure what to think: "Sorry, but what do you mean?"
Waitress: "The salad, it can be a chopped arab(ic) salad or green salad, says so on the menu"
Me: "Ok, chopped arab then"
Waitress walks away muttering "first day on the job and already difficult clients..."
Waitress: "Chopped Arab?"
Me: "What?"
Waitress: "Do you want chopped arab with your eggs?"
Me, not really sure what to think: "Sorry, but what do you mean?"
Waitress: "The salad, it can be a chopped arab(ic) salad or green salad, says so on the menu"
Me: "Ok, chopped arab then"
Waitress walks away muttering "first day on the job and already difficult clients..."
Earlier today I called 1-800-SAFE-BUS to report a Greyhound that blew past us on the Jersey turnpike (and we were doing about 78 in a 65). The operator who took the call asked me where I saw the speeding bus, which exit, etc.,. I told her we're on the New Jersey Turnpike heading south near Exit 12. Next she wanted to know which state we were in.
I wish I were making this up.
I wish I were making this up.
QUOTE(fantasty @ Jun 18 2006, 08:53 PM)
Earlier today I called 1-800-SAFE-BUS to report a Greyhound that blew past us on the Jersey turnpike (and we were doing about 78 in a 65). The operator who took the call asked me where I saw the speeding bus, which exit, etc.,. I told her we're on the New Jersey Turnpike heading south near Exit 12. Next she wanted to know which state we were in.
I wish I were making this up.
Maybe you missed the operator's point and she needed to know what state you were in to see if you'd be a reliable witness? Not everyone drives clean and sober you know.
QUOTE(Orik @ Jun 18 2006, 03:23 PM)
At a Tel-Aviv cafe this morning:
Waitress: "Chopped Arab?"
Me: "What?"
Waitress: "Do you want chopped arab with your eggs?"
Me, not really sure what to think: "Sorry, but what do you mean?"
Waitress: "The salad, it can be a chopped arab(ic) salad or green salad, says so on the menu"
Me: "Ok, chopped arab then"
Waitress walks away muttering "first day on the job and already difficult clients..."
Good job you weren't ordering coffee in Australia. I didn't get the question about whether I wanted a short black, the first time I heard it.
Sorry eh? A chopped Arab is a green salad in Tel-Aviv?
QUOTE(Miguel Gierbolini @ Jun 19 2006, 07:21 PM)
Sorry eh? A chopped Arab is a green salad in Tel-Aviv?
Oddly known elsewhere as Israeli salad and in Palestinian restaurants as "pissed off" salad.
QUOTE(Liza @ Jun 20 2006, 11:02 AM)
but the distressed look is all the rage!
QUOTE(Wilfrid @ Jun 19 2006, 04:25 PM)
QUOTE(Orik @ Jun 18 2006, 03:23 PM)
At a Tel-Aviv cafe this morning:
Waitress: "Chopped Arab?"
Me: "What?"
Waitress: "Do you want chopped arab with your eggs?"
Me, not really sure what to think: "Sorry, but what do you mean?"
Waitress: "The salad, it can be a chopped arab(ic) salad or green salad, says so on the menu"
Me: "Ok, chopped arab then"
Waitress walks away muttering "first day on the job and already difficult clients..."
Good job you weren't ordering coffee in Australia. I didn't get the question about whether I wanted a short black, the first time I heard it.
Or a tall Colombian.
Half-listening to New Hampshire Public Radio this morning. There's a noodley Windham-Hill-ish acoustic guitar solo playing underneath a group of random announcements. The melody is vaguely familiar. I focus in. It's Frank Zappa's “Sofa No. 1”.
QUOTE(GG Mora @ Jun 22 2006, 08:01 AM)
Half-listening to New Hampshire Public Radio this morning. There's a noodley Windham-Hill-ish acoustic guitar solo playing underneath a group of random announcements. The melody is vaguely familiar. I focus in. It's Frank Zappa's “Sofa No. 1”.
Y'all might already know this, but part of NPR's website is dedicated to identifying the bump music between the segments of their news programs: click
I'm slowly, very slowly, navigating the car thru a jammed local strip mall. At last I come on the source of the congestion. On either side of the path of travel is parked a large delivery truck reducing the flow of traffic to a trickle. One is a Doritos truck. One is a Budweiser truck. From the recesses of my brain, I begin to hear, "Ain't that America?"
I found myself driving today behind a semi emblazoned with the logo of the Batesville Casket Company.
"Drive Carefully!" it says cheerfully on the rear door panel.
"Drive Carefully!" it says cheerfully on the rear door panel.
QUOTE(brulee nation @ Jun 24 2006, 01:59 PM)
I found myself driving today behind a semi emblazoned with the logo of the Batesville Casket Company.
"Drive Carefully!" it says cheerfully on the rear door panel.
Is that the enterprise that sells caskets at some Costco outlets?
QUOTE(hollywood @ Jun 24 2006, 05:19 PM)
QUOTE(brulee nation @ Jun 24 2006, 01:59 PM)
I found myself driving today behind a semi emblazoned with the logo of the Batesville Casket Company.
"Drive Carefully!" it says cheerfully on the rear door panel.
Is that the enterprise that sells caskets at some Costco outlets?
Probably - they're big. We just rented a casket from them for a film we're shooting in NY.
Interesting....
It all seems to take place on a dinner plate...
QUOTE(brulee nation @ Jun 24 2006, 04:59 PM)
I found myself driving today behind a semi emblazoned with the logo of the Batesville Casket Company.
"Drive Carefully!" it says cheerfully on the rear door panel.
It's a challenging industry to slogan, if I can invent a verb. We saw another on the Milso Casket Company truck:
"Discover a world of difference."
Not really sure how you'd go about it.
QUOTE(Deb Van D @ Jun 26 2006, 09:46 AM)
QUOTE(brulee nation @ Jun 24 2006, 04:59 PM)
I found myself driving today behind a semi emblazoned with the logo of the Batesville Casket Company.
"Drive Carefully!" it says cheerfully on the rear door panel.
It's a challenging industry to slogan, if I can invent a verb. We saw another on the Milso Casket Company truck:
"Discover a world of difference."
Not really sure how you'd go about it.
If only Screamin' Jay Hawkins were around to do endorsements.
QUOTE(GrantK @ Jun 24 2006, 05:56 PM)
Jason Alexander has really hit the dregs.
QUOTE(Deb Van D @ Jun 26 2006, 12:46 PM)
It's a challenging industry to slogan, if I can invent a verb.
Any kind of marketing is tricky in this field. We pass a place with discount caskets and monuments on our way to the Adirondacks to go fishing - they use a large sign with moveable letters to post their latest specials. Never saw anything like it. I think I once saw "Stock Up!"I used to work for a health charity and we got an annual calendar from a national assocation for funeral directors. It was full of glossy photos of caskets, embalming fluid bottles, freight airplanes, etc. One year it mentioned that their AGM was to be held at the Valhalla Inn. Nobody else in my department seemed to find that funny...
Fly
This afternoon I walked by a garbage truck attending to it's rounds. From the cab I heard The Captain and Tenille's Love Will Keep Us Together blasting. 
Saw a sign today for a hair salon...it's name...Curl Up and Dye 
QUOTE(Evelyn @ Jun 28 2006, 08:28 PM)
Saw a sign today for a hair salon...it's name...Curl Up and Dye
Eeeeuuuwww. That tops one I saw near Syracuse, NY: Hair Shed.Fly
I come out into the hall this morning to discover my completely bizarre neighbor (she is always leaving her stuff out in the hall and also hoards newspaper, boxes, etc.---something which actually concerns me because I think it a fire hazard) sitting on a kitchen chair outside her closed door, eating a sandwich and reading the paper. Oh, and wearing a hat--its in the 80s here today.
On the subway this morning: a young woman in '60s garb (long Indian-print skirt, beaded sandals etc.) reading R.D. Laing's The Politics of Experience. Time warp, anyone?
QUOTE(Blondie @ Jun 24 2006, 09:23 PM)
QUOTE(hollywood @ Jun 24 2006, 05:19 PM)
QUOTE(brulee nation @ Jun 24 2006, 01:59 PM)
I found myself driving today behind a semi emblazoned with the logo of the Batesville Casket Company.
"Drive Carefully!" it says cheerfully on the rear door panel.
Is that the enterprise that sells caskets at some Costco outlets?
Probably - they're big. We just rented a casket from them for a film we're shooting in NY.
I believe they are owned by Hill-Rom the hospital bed people.
Spied this ad, good for a giggle:
Someone's looking out for you.
QUOTE
Get 7 DAYS FREE on True.com, the only dating site that screens for felons and married people. Date safer, date smarter. Find true love at True.com. Click Here!
Someone's looking out for you.
even junkmailers are taunting me now:
QUOTE
Enjoying Your Poverty?
If you are, then look no further. But, if you are ready to take
responsibility for your financial situation, you can begin generating
cash within a week. A lot of cash. Our VERY simple cash recipient program
benefits all who are involved. No Selling, No MLM, No Pyramids.
Interested people CONTACT YOU as a result of free classified ads that you have
placed on the web. You simply direct them to an informational phone call and
that’s it. For your efforts, you will receive ALL the cash generated by this
activity delivered to your door by courier. The more effort you put in,
naturally, the more cash you will receive. This is a real cash
generating system that works! It’s time to release yourself from the grip of
poverty, and make a dramatic change in your situation. It is so EASY to do, If,
you just take that first step. 1-888-736-9192 Toll free.
Please review this message and suggest any changes you think are
necessary.
Thank you and I'm looking forward to a long and prosperous
relationship.
Regards,
Tom
If you are, then look no further. But, if you are ready to take
responsibility for your financial situation, you can begin generating
cash within a week. A lot of cash. Our VERY simple cash recipient program
benefits all who are involved. No Selling, No MLM, No Pyramids.
Interested people CONTACT YOU as a result of free classified ads that you have
placed on the web. You simply direct them to an informational phone call and
that’s it. For your efforts, you will receive ALL the cash generated by this
activity delivered to your door by courier. The more effort you put in,
naturally, the more cash you will receive. This is a real cash
generating system that works! It’s time to release yourself from the grip of
poverty, and make a dramatic change in your situation. It is so EASY to do, If,
you just take that first step. 1-888-736-9192 Toll free.
Please review this message and suggest any changes you think are
necessary.
Thank you and I'm looking forward to a long and prosperous
relationship.
Regards,
Tom
QUOTE(Cathy @ Jun 29 2006, 08:30 AM)
On the subway this morning: a young woman in '60s garb (long Indian-print skirt, beaded sandals etc.) reading R.D. Laing's The Politics of Experience. Time warp, anyone?
You say she was wearing '60s garb? Does that include ... oh, forget it, I was going to go for a joke about contemporary use of Adult Depends.
There is a woman underneath my window in a bicycling outfit, with a giant blue Marie Antoinette wig (complete with two doves) and white face makeup. The only thing going on tonight that I can think of is the Germany-Italy game. If France were playing it would have made a little more sense.
I walked into the unisex rest room at a modest local bakery. On the wall was a framed menu indicating that the bakery's owner and her unnamed guest had enjoyed a lengthy tasting feast at Robuchon's The Mansion earlier this year. Is this what Dwight MacDonald meant when he referred to "our porous culture"?
Was at a friend's party last night to view the fireworks. Said friend worked at the UN for 12 years, sandwiched between stints as a college professor, so her guest list is eclectic, to say the least. One of the other guests (who came as a friend-of-another-guest) looked familiar. Turns out she and I worked together about 25 years ago for maybe six months, when I ran the box office at Merkin Concert Hall and she was head usher. New York is such a small town. 
This morning at the farmer's market, Syd Straw stopped briefly by my booth to listen to this week's “entertainment”, a guy playing guitar and singing (well, I might add). He was in the middle of CCR's Lookin Out My Back Door, and Syd quietly filled in some harmony for half a verse, then went on her way.
(She lives locally and comes to market every week, but never as Syd Straw, if you know what I mean)
(She lives locally and comes to market every week, but never as Syd Straw, if you know what I mean)
As I was getting my hair cut the other day, my hairdresser commented that one bunching of my gray hairs was "in a good position" (i.e., where they're hidden by darker hairs). I guess the rest of the gray hairs aren't as interesting.
Finding out that my old college seminar prof, who was just a modest young Assistant Professor of Econ then, is now President of the US Soccer Federation and will be deciding whether Bruce Arena will continue on as the US soccer coach.
Ran into a NYC a acquaintance in the middle of Paris the other day . . .
at a restaurant in bombay last august, i ran into someone i used to work with in los angeles who now lives in spain.
QUOTE(mongo_jones @ Jul 11 2006, 06:41 PM)
at a restaurant in bombay last august, i ran into someone i used to work with in los angeles who now lives in spain.
you win.
finally!
QUOTE(Tamar G @ Jul 11 2006, 12:03 PM)
QUOTE(mongo_jones @ Jul 11 2006, 06:41 PM)
at a restaurant in bombay last august, i ran into someone i used to work with in los angeles who now lives in spain.
you win.
Perhaps it was prearranged. I hear they do that in India.
QUOTE(Tamar G @ Jul 11 2006, 03:03 PM)
QUOTE(mongo_jones @ Jul 11 2006, 06:41 PM)
at a restaurant in bombay last august, i ran into someone i used to work with in los angeles who now lives in spain.
you win.
A slightly different sort of coincidence but several years ago I was at a conference and someone walked past wearing a name tag reading "Glyn Johnson, PhD". Someone with the same qualifications as me, in the same subject, with the same unusual name, working in the same field and, it turned out, at my old university.
Someone with the same first and last name was in the same year as me at my University, although fortunately studying a different subject. We subsequently moved back to London and lived on the same street - a period during which he blamed me for his difficulty in getting credit.
Years later, we remain firm friends, but are by no means reconciled to our mutual acquaintances distinguising us as Big X and Little X. I am "Big", which is at least better than being "Little".
Years later, we remain firm friends, but are by no means reconciled to our mutual acquaintances distinguising us as Big X and Little X. I am "Big", which is at least better than being "Little".
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