Sweet and Silly

My friend Stephen called our attention at work today to this heartwarming story of an 109 year old gentleman who has a rather strange hobby.  He knits little sweaters for penguins! Yes you read that right .... he knits sweaters for penguins. The rather touching tale can be read here: 109-Year-Old Man Makes Little Sweaters For Australia's Little Penguins.

Being ever observant my friend Lara noticed something about one of the sweaters - I have to admit I missed it.  Take a look at the picture!

Does anyone else catch what our Lara noticed right off the bat?  If so drop me a comment.

Post Scriptum:  And indeed Debra (She Who Seeks) is right on - the little guy second from the left is wearing a very smart Penguin book cover sweater - a penguin in a Penguin! 

February 12 - 1947: Christian Dior unveils a "New Look", helping Paris regain its position as the capital of the fashion world.

Lunedi Lunacy

My friend Blake was just here for a visit - the HFH were ecstatic to see their Uncle Pervy - and he mentioned a TV programme that he's addicted to: Down Town Chapel. Well something like that - from the sounds of it I am reminded of a wonderful old British series called Upstairs Downstairs which I did so enjoy in the early days of PBS.  The gang at College Humour must watch this TV show also either that or they spied on our dinner at the New Eddie last week!
 

Thanks to my friend Greg for this one.

November 17 - 1810: Sweden declares war on its ally the United Kingdom to begin the Anglo-Swedish War, although no fighting ever takes place.

Lunedi Lunacy

Okay so you all think I have a shoe fetish - so I may as well continue on with the feet theme.

04 luglio - Sant'Elisabetta del Portogallo

And Walter was right with his answer to Monday's little conundrum.

Take the first letter on each word place it at the end and you have a palindrome.

1 Banana
ananab
2 Dresser
resserd
3 Grammar
rammarg
4 Potato
ottatop
5 Revive
eviver
6 Uneven
nevenu
7 Assess
ssessa

And Cathy - you may have heard of her - tell me she received this answer from a friend of hers' when she sent him the question:
“They all start with a number.”

Walter, call me and we'll talk about your prize.

03 marzo - San Tiziano di Brescia

Lunedi Lunacy

Apparently these two churches stand across the road from each other.









I guess this is what they meant by "interfaith dialogue" on dogma!

Postscript: David's comment led me to a bit of internet checking and this is what I found out about the "conflict" between the two churches.


Many thanks to one of my oldest friends - i.e. the friend I have known the longest not the oldest... oh hell you know what I mean - Vicki. Baci cara!
16 novembre - Santa Gertrude di Helfta detta La Grande

Advice For ...

the Lovelorn:

I read this on a chat profile today and as romantic advice it makes perfect sense:

Never make someone a priority in your life when you're merely an option in theirs.

the Technically Challenged:

Copy & Paste (Inspirational)
A popular motivational speaker was entertaining his Audience. He Said: "The best years of my life were spent in the arms of a woman who wasn't my wife!" The audience was in silence and shock. The speaker added: "And that woman was my mother!"Laughter and Applause!!!

A week later a manager, who had heard the speaker, tried to crack this very effective joke at home. He was a bit foggy after a drink. He said loudly to his wife who was preparing dinner, "The greatest years of my life were spent in the arms of a woman who was not my wife!" The wife went speechless with shock and rage.

Standing there for 20 seconds trying to recall the second Half of the joke, he finally blurted out "...and I can't remember who she was!"

By the time the manager regained consciousness, he was in a hospital bed nursing burns from boiling water.

Moral of the story: Don't Copy if you can't PASTE

Thanks to Bev in Islamabad for that one.

16 settembre - Santi Cornelio e Cipriano

Turn That Wheel, Baby!

I was chatting with my favorite Lady in Red last evening - well evening for me, late morning for her - and complaining about the young lad upstairs practicing his piano. After 30 minutes of progressive scales I would have been content to have him return to Tre Topi Cieci. Dora suggested turning the television up to drown him out; that set me off on a tangent about Italian television. We had the Skye package for a while but there are only so many Simpson episodes you can watch - in any language. So we ditched that (it just wasn't worth $135.00 a month) and now just get regular Italian TV: a few channels in German, Romanian and Polish and 35 or so in Arabic. Strangely the channels in Arabic seem to be a mix of religious channels and sex chats channels and even stranger the telephone numbers given all seem to be in Canada, area code 416 - so much for Toronto the Good!

Sorry, talk about going off on a tangent, I was saying about Italian TV. Though there are some good things on Italian TV the bulk of the entertainment evening seems to be taken up with inane game shows hosted by aging Lothario with bad dye jobs and orange tans and silicone enhanced bimbas with botoxed lips.

Now I have to admit the Italian version of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire is far superior to its North American counterpart, however Wheel of Fortune is another story. Ruota della Fortuna is exactly the same format as in the rest of the world: host, 3 contestants, wheel, game board and the top scorer gets to play a final round for a big prize. Last night's finalist was all decked out in a sparkly t-shirt and beat out two young ladies with plunging necklines - much to the disappointment of the host, Enrico Papi. You'll notice the contestant is wearing a head mike - all the contestants do. That's so they can join in the singing and dancing between rounds. Sorry but you can't have a game show without some singing and dancing. And the audience calls out the letters as they pop up on the game board - just in case you don't know a D from a W - oh sorry there aren't any Ws in native Italian.*

Oh I forgot they also have the letter turner, it wouldn't be Wheel of Fortune without the letter turner. But here in Italy the young lady who turns the letters is no Vanna White. Here we have Victoria! Victoria Silvstedt the Playboy Playmate for 1997.
There are two things that stand out on Victoria - no not those, well yes those but that's not what I'm talking about. First she's almost 6 feet tall - in fact probably is in her stilettos - and second she normally only wears about 2 feet of dress. One of my colleagues at work has suggested that it would be very dangerous for Victoria to go near an open flame but I have a feeling that's just envy
Victoria doesn't speak all the much Italian but she does exchange some light banter with Papi and they both giggle over her grammer mistakes. But then they really don't ask Victoria to talk that much, mostly she just moves and the camera follows her. She plays to the camera shamelessly - winking and making faces. And of coure there are lots of angles from above (cleavage) and below - just as she twirls after crossing in front of the board and her dress flares. And one of their favorite shots is taken from stage floor level with the contestants framed by Victoria's shapely legs.

Papi and her have the dumb blond and the little man with big ideas routine down pat and it can actually be very funny at times. In the random dance breaks the two of them carry on like a demented Fred and Ginger. .
And Laurent just came across an interesting fact - he's become a Victoria groupie, don't ask - in France where she also appears on Wheel of Fortune she accounts for 30% of the viewership and it isn't all men - 29% of the women who watch the show say its because of her.
And I freely admit we only watch it for Victoria - what will she almost be wearing tonight, what salacious shots will the camera man think up and what silly mistakes will she make. And occasionally we'll play along and get the right answer too.

*I am stating that to the best of my limited knowledge, I'm sure a comment will appear correcting that assumption if it is indeed wrong.

10 febbraio - Santa Scolastica