On Pogo Sticks, Pancakes, and Why Van Gogh Cut Off His Ear …

Posted on by under Humour

“The Governor was stuck with a difficult decision. Due to the nation holiday falling on the second Saturday of May; National Pogo-Stick Day was on the same day as State Celebrate Pancake Spinning Day. How were they going to balance the competing celebrations?” – Roger L, 29 June 2017

I have occasionally included National something-or-another days in my Jolly Monday posts, and as you have probably noticed, frequently there are more than one special occasion days happening simultaneously.  For example, today, 30 June, is both ‘National Media Watch Day’ and ‘Social Media Day’.  Those two go pretty much hand-in-hand and shouldn’t cause problems.  Now yesterday, however, there were some six ‘National Days’:

  • National Parchment Day
  • National Almond Buttercrunch Day
  • National Camera Day
  • National Waffle Iron Day
  • National Bomb Pop Day – Last Thursday in June
  • National Handshake Day – Last Thursday in June

I still don’t see a lot of conflict here.  One can honour Parchment Day by making some Buttercrunch, dropping it by the scoopful onto some parchment paper (known as ‘butter paper’ in the Middle East, as I discovered when my sweet neighbor Maha came one day to ask to borrow some ‘butter paper’), then taking a picture of it for National Camera Day!  Simple … three birds with one stone, so to speak.  I do not know what a ‘Bomb Pop’ is, so I will take a pass on that one.  But, one could, while the yummy buttercrunch is cooling on the parchment paper, cook up some waffles (cinnamon in mine, please) and then stand on the street corner passing them out to hungry people and shaking their hands at the same time.  See … you just have to do a bit of pre-planning.  But …

buttercrunchOn the other side of the pond, a recent dilemma nearly became an issue of national security!  Imagine, if you will, trying to combine National Pogo Stick Day and State Celebrate Pancake Spinning Day!  Now, I know what a pogo stick is … I think we all tried one at least once in our youth.  I … um … wasn’t very good at it.  As a kid who wore leg braces and special shoes until age 8, pogo-sticking wasn’t my forte. At age 60 or so, I tried my neighbor kids’ scooter and I wasn’t very good at that, either.  He wouldn’t let me try it again a few days later.  Anyway,

pogo-1 pancake-1

Now, imagine the poor Guv trying to figure out how to combine these two holidays, both of which fall on the 2nd Saturday of May, or else choose one and only one to honour!  I would not want that responsibility, but … this year it got worse!  The dilemma wasn’t just one of which holiday to celebrate, but the Pogo-stickers demanded … DEMANDED, I tell you … to be allowed to spin pancakes whilst hopping happily on their pogo sticks.  Never mind that no single pogo-er had ever spun so much as a single bloomin’ pancake, nor had a single pancake spinner ever hopped so much as a ha’block on a pogo stick!  Oh what to do, what to do???

pogo-2Well, the Guv called together his most trusted advisors and, one by one, they came up with some ideas.  First came the idea for a Tandem Pogo Stick, a pogo-stick-built-for-two, as it were.  One would bounce the pogo stick, while the other would spin the pancakes.  The other best option was to divide the day … pancake spinning in the morning, pogo-sticking in the afternoon.  The tandem thing ended in …'So, do you want me to give that pogo stick to the charity shop. Or, do you want another go at it when you get out of here?'Which left no choice but for the split-day.  Simple, yes?  Wellllllll … maybe not.  See, the pogo-ers claimed the first half of the day, for they would be too tired and heavy after a morning spent eating pancakes.  But … the pancake-spinners … well, pancakes are breakfast food, so of course they got mornings.  The pogo-ers ate too many pancakes, fell flat on their arses, and …

pogo-3

next year the Guv had better come up with a better plan. And then there were the cows, but that is a story for another day …

 

'There goes another damned pogo stick!'

 

A bit of explanation for this bizarre post … yesterday, when I wrote this post, I was having a very down day, and all my attempts to be humorous turned dark.  My dear friend Roger, understanding as always, offered me a line and challenged me to do something humorous with it.  He made me laugh, and then he inspired me, and that, friends, is the source of this post.  I needed to laugh and couldn’t.  In fact, I had decided that THIS was why Van Gogh cut his ear off … to find some inspiration, a bit of humour. Many thanks to Roger for always knowing how to pull me back out of my dark places without me losing an ear … and for always making me laugh!

23 thoughts on “On Pogo Sticks, Pancakes, and Why Van Gogh Cut Off His Ear …”

  2. Hooray for Roger, pogo sticks, and pancakes. Sillyness makes us all smile with you Jill. 😁
    Sometimes, our serious, responsible, ideological side needs to let loose and dance wildly for a while like no one is watching. 💃🎶

    Liked by 1 person

    • You are so right! And I knew I needed some humour, figured you guys needed some, but I just couldn’t find my funny. Roger is always helpful in that way … if you ever want to read a very humorous history book, you should check out his “A True History of These Isles Vol. 1 (Prehistory to 1216 CE-ish)” R J Llewellyn
      Shameless plug, I admit, but it really is both funny and educational! 🙂
      Glad you enjoyed this humorous bit … tomorrow, unfortunately, is back into the rabbit hole!

      Like

  6. Just don’t do the pogo stick after the pancakes! It reminds me of an annual fundraising race in Raleigh conducted by the NC State University students. The runners run 2 1/2 kilometers to a Krispy Kreme Doughnut shop, devour a dozen glazed doughnuts and then return to campus running 2 1/2 km. Yikes!

    Liked by 4 people

    • Oh ugh! I can barely go for a leisurely walk on a full stomach, let alone run! And no worries … my pogo stick days are loooonnnggg gone. 🙂 I did send you an email … just letting you know because lately some of my emails to another fellow blogger end up in her spam folder for some reason.

      Like

  7. I knew you could do it Jill!!
    Tandem Pogo-stick! Brilliant. And the split-day solution and conclusion- hilarious!
    Keep on keeping on!
    The great British comic Spike Milligan would have loved that (check him out on YouTube, words can’t describe him)
    All the very best
    Roger

    Liked by 2 people

    • So glad you liked it!!! I felt it still wasn’t as funny as I wanted it to be, but … it was late and I was tired. Thank YOU for the inspiration … I always know where to turn when I cannot find my funny side 😀

      Liked by 1 person

      • Hey it was cool Jill! 😄 I tell who else would have done justice to it and that would have been the legendary cartoonist of MAD, Don Martin.
        Mission- Chuckles.
        Your next assignment, should you wish to accept it is to infiltrate the cabinet room of the WhiteHouse and secrete especially loud and vulgar ‘aromatic’ whoopee cushions under the linings of each chair. 😁 😂

        Liked by 2 people

        • Oh how I wish I could accept that mission, Roger! But alas … I am told there are a lot of big men with big guns guarding that White House, and … if I get all shot up and full o’ holes, well I wouldn’t be able to get those whoopie cushions in there anyway. And … I would be … dead. I don’t really want to die with an armful of whoopie cushions! I am willing to give my life for the good of my country, but … 😀

          Liked by 1 person

          • Good points Jill.
            No, the sacrifice would be too great. You must stay at your post (with breaks of course) and carry on your good work. The world needs Jill
            Trouble is I now have this image in my head of a true believer going down under a hail of bullets ( in slow motion of course) with all those whoopee cushions making their designed sounds 😁.
            This scene obviously requires accompanying very sombre yet hauntingly beautiful classical music/opera….Now if it was two guys falling Bizet’s ‘Duet in The Temple’ from the ‘Pearl Fishers’ would be cool 😃.
            ….. Hmm 🤔……🤓, I’m gonna pitch it to Adam Sandler!!

            Like

            • Awwww … “the world needs Jill” … that is so sweet, Roger! And after reading your image … I’m thinking … all those whoopie cushions going off at once … why, the entire population of Washington might be deaf after that!!! ‘Tis a fun thing to imagine, though, and let me know what Adam S. thinks of it! 🙂

              Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.