In case you were wondering about the photos: Substack gives us access to the Getty agency's otherwise pricey archive of both news photos and "creative" stock photos (ones created in a studio for use in advertising, etc.) and we chose a mix of wacky (i.e., the dog at the typewriter) and the sort of blank (e.g., two women looking at each other), to allow for a lot of variety and creativity.
A. The dog at the typewriter is "Petra, the Alsatian [German Shepherd] dog from the B.B.C's children's programme, 'Blue Peter' " in 1964. She is indeed described as answering her fan mail.
B. The bored-looking crowd is at an Australian real estate auction in 2005.
C. The "weird White guy" is yet another Australian photo, described as a "ratbag orator" in Sydney in 1979.
E. The men sharing a joke are actually at a funeral, though not Arnold Palmer's (as Steve Geist would have us think). It's of a local government official, Lord John Prescott, in Hull, England, earlier this year, and these people are British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (seen from the back) and husband Ed Balls (not clear which one he is), and Secretary of State for Defence,John Healey.
F. A stock photo.
G. Judith Kutasi, left, and Angel Blue in "Aida" at the Metropolitan Opera this past January.
Hi, everyone! I don't monitor the regular Q&A entry form, but I'll hang out for a while in the comments thread (and will check in during the rest of the day) to answer questions, hate mail, etc.
"Maestro Bob conducts the Sarasota Symphony Dorkestra. (Jesse Frankovich)". Jesse- I will have you know that the Sarasota ORCHESTRA is a highly-regarded organization! https://www.sarasotaorchestra.org/
Sincerely
Hildy Zampella, Sarasota, Florida
(p.s. I'm kidding- funny entry! Not kidding about the orchestra though- they are awesome!)
Yes! Because we shuffle all the entries together alphabetically (without their writers' names) -- and in caption contests, we judge the entries for each picture separately -- it took us a while to see the two complementary entries. That's why we strongly advise against a move like this.
But in Gary's case, we thought the caption for Picture E was funny enough to make the shortlist ... and then we saw the mirror-image caption for Picture F as well, and realized that the real humor was in pairing them. Fortunately, we could run the two entries almost adjacent to each other. A daring move that paid off.
Let's say that we were not surprised to discover the author of that particular joke. Mr. W has been sending us unprintable humor virtually every week since Week 7 of The Style Invitational, 32 years ago.
Gene's culinary mantra, "Someone is eating that somewhere," should be well-realized on this trip. Assuming he avoids the ever present curries in Cape Town (often disguised), he should be in his element with "Walkie Talkies," boiled, seasoned chicken heads and feet and, "Skilpadjies," barbecued lamb's or sheep's liver wrapped in caul fat. Then on to Turkey, where one may dine on koç yumurtası (ram’s tesitcles), tavuk göğsü ( a milk pudding made with shredded chicken breast), Şırdan (stuffed sheep stomach) and Yoğurtlu Makarna (spaghetti with yogurt).
In case you were wondering about the photos: Substack gives us access to the Getty agency's otherwise pricey archive of both news photos and "creative" stock photos (ones created in a studio for use in advertising, etc.) and we chose a mix of wacky (i.e., the dog at the typewriter) and the sort of blank (e.g., two women looking at each other), to allow for a lot of variety and creativity.
A. The dog at the typewriter is "Petra, the Alsatian [German Shepherd] dog from the B.B.C's children's programme, 'Blue Peter' " in 1964. She is indeed described as answering her fan mail.
B. The bored-looking crowd is at an Australian real estate auction in 2005.
C. The "weird White guy" is yet another Australian photo, described as a "ratbag orator" in Sydney in 1979.
E. The men sharing a joke are actually at a funeral, though not Arnold Palmer's (as Steve Geist would have us think). It's of a local government official, Lord John Prescott, in Hull, England, earlier this year, and these people are British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (seen from the back) and husband Ed Balls (not clear which one he is), and Secretary of State for Defence,John Healey.
F. A stock photo.
G. Judith Kutasi, left, and Angel Blue in "Aida" at the Metropolitan Opera this past January.
Yep, plenty of Balls in pic E. Ed is the Balls between Prescott's fingers.
Hi, everyone! I don't monitor the regular Q&A entry form, but I'll hang out for a while in the comments thread (and will check in during the rest of the day) to answer questions, hate mail, etc.
Arnie Palmer’s funeral was a much superior take to an entry I submitted. Hats off!
Art Grinath's young Bernie Sanders made me laugh out loud!
Yes! me too.
"Maestro Bob conducts the Sarasota Symphony Dorkestra. (Jesse Frankovich)". Jesse- I will have you know that the Sarasota ORCHESTRA is a highly-regarded organization! https://www.sarasotaorchestra.org/
Sincerely
Hildy Zampella, Sarasota, Florida
(p.s. I'm kidding- funny entry! Not kidding about the orchestra though- they are awesome!)
I literally just ordered a finger splint, then read these. None of the ones I looked at had models, though.
I like dorkestra and Arnold Palmer's funeral. And I admired Gary Crockett's usage of the same caption for two photos.
Yes! Because we shuffle all the entries together alphabetically (without their writers' names) -- and in caption contests, we judge the entries for each picture separately -- it took us a while to see the two complementary entries. That's why we strongly advise against a move like this.
But in Gary's case, we thought the caption for Picture E was funny enough to make the shortlist ... and then we saw the mirror-image caption for Picture F as well, and realized that the real humor was in pairing them. Fortunately, we could run the two entries almost adjacent to each other. A daring move that paid off.
I laughed heartily at "... thank God I wasn't you-know-what-ing!"
I'm pleased to see that Tom Witte continues his unequaled record of entries that are in questionable taste. My kind of humor.
Let's say that we were not surprised to discover the author of that particular joke. Mr. W has been sending us unprintable humor virtually every week since Week 7 of The Style Invitational, 32 years ago.
I laughed out loud at Aida's "white after Labor Day." The four winners elicited only mild chuckles.
Gene's culinary mantra, "Someone is eating that somewhere," should be well-realized on this trip. Assuming he avoids the ever present curries in Cape Town (often disguised), he should be in his element with "Walkie Talkies," boiled, seasoned chicken heads and feet and, "Skilpadjies," barbecued lamb's or sheep's liver wrapped in caul fat. Then on to Turkey, where one may dine on koç yumurtası (ram’s tesitcles), tavuk göğsü ( a milk pudding made with shredded chicken breast), Şırdan (stuffed sheep stomach) and Yoğurtlu Makarna (spaghetti with yogurt).
Already questioning my poll vote (not sayin’) because I could have given it to several of them (still not sayin’).
You mean yours?
Nope. I was talking specifically about the poll options.
"pesky neck wattle" made me laugh
The cat will mew, and dog will have his day.