Jolly Monday — Bring On The Smiles!

Posted on by under animals, Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Humour, Politic-Free Mondays

kitty-mondayOkay, folks, time to say ‘goodbye’ to the weekend and ‘hello’ to the new week.  Sigh.  Yeah, me too.  But it’s all in the perception.  If we expect it to be a downer of a week, then it will be, but if we greet it with a smile and say, “Give it your best shot!”, then we at least stand a chance of making it ‘til Tuesday before we don the gloves!  So, welcome to a great Monday that’s gonna usher in a great week!  (Was I convincing?)

So, how was your weekend? Here, the temps were finally bearable, so it was a nice weekend, if not a particularly exciting one.  We did have a grill-out with our friends on Saturday evening … the first one all summer … and we enjoyed that very much.  Well, let’s get this show on the road … grab a snack (yes, Larry, I remembered the bacon this week) and let’s find something to smile about!

cat-bacon

PalmerstonMeet Palmerston, the British Foreign Office’s famous feline “Chief Mouser.”  But not for long!  You see, Palmerston has given notice of his pending retirement, saying he wishes to, “spend more time relaxing away from the limelight.”  Understandably, for it’s a tough job, made even tougher by frequent disagreements with Larry, the cat charged with catching mice for the prime minister at 10 Downing Street.  His letter …

Palmerston-letter

The Foreign Office praised Palmerston for his service, saying …

“We’ll all miss him paw-fully, but wish him a purr-fect retirement.”

My late ex-husband got a job once simply by wearing them down.  At the time, jobs were scarce in the small rural community where we lived, and he was out of work.  He picked a company he really wanted to work for, went there and was told there were no openings, but they took his application for future reference.  He went there nearly every day for two weeks, “just to check and see”, hung around for a few hours each day (much to my relief, for at least he wasn’t ‘hanging around’ the house!) and at the end of two weeks, the foreman hired him, saying he would probably see less of him if he hired him than he was seeing of him then!

A stray dog in Brazil seemed to have the same idea!  One day in May, this stray showed up at a Hyundai dealership where the staff noticed the dog hanging around but figured that by the next day he would have moved on, seeking food or a home.  But day after day, the pup returned to the dealership.tucson-1On a particularly rainy night, the manager of the dealership, Emerson Mariano, felt so sorry for him that he decided to invite him inside, offering him food and water.  Well, Mariano bonded with the dog that night, and he wasn’t about to turn him back out, so he convinced the Board of Directors to adopt the dog, and they named him Tucson Prime. In time, the dog proved to be such a useful asset in the way he greeted and interacted with customers, that they gave him a job!tucson-2Tucson is definitely a goodwill ambassador, for many customers have returned to the store even after purchasing a car, just to pay Tucson a visit and bring him little gifts and treats!tucson-3Now, if that one didn’t bring a smile to your face, I’m afraid we’ll just have to paint one on!

tucson-4tucson-5

There is a guy named Patrick who runs a blog called Patrick’s World, and as its slogan proudly proclaims, it’s a blog dedicated to purely wasting time.  I would definitely say that Patrick has too much time on his hands … however I give him five stars for imagination and creativity!

Patrick took out some traditional German sausages, hooked them up to some wires that were connected to some sound equipment, and made a fully functional piano. Yes, you read that correctly.  A piano.piano-1He calls his invention the Bockwurstklavier, or Bockwurst Piano, after the Bockwurst, a traditional German sausage made from ground veal and pork.  The piano consists of 10 sausage keys, each of which is hooked up to a wire that leads to a circuit board and other sound processing equipment. Whenever Patrick touches a sausage whilst also touching the piece of equipment in the background, the “machine” produces piano sounds.piano-2The keys work either by touching them individually or collectively, so it is possible to play full chords and, hence, a number of tunes. As long as there is contact with another bit of electrical equipment, touching the sausage keys produces sound.

Check out the video …

Okay, time for some cartoons!toon-1toon-2toon-3toon-4toon-5toon-6toon-7toon-8toon-9toon-10toon-11toon-12toon-13

And obviously I’m not going to send you on your way without a cute critter video!

I see some beautiful smiles lighting up your faces … not sure if it’s the spiked coffee or Tucson that did the trick!  At any rate, go forth and share those lovely smiles, my friends, for we all need as many as we can get to keep our spirits up.  I hope you have a wonderful week ahead!  Much love ‘n many hugs from Filosofa, Jolly and Joyful!

28 thoughts on “Jolly Monday — Bring On The Smiles!”

    • Awww … I’m glad you enjoyed, and glad the other Larry left you some bacon! Yeah, I don’t blame you, my friend. I felt like pulling the covers back up myself this morning after checking the news on my phone upon waking.

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  8. Namaste, Miss Jill! It is a Jolly Monday today. Do you know why? Cause my friends Jolly and Joyful are here with all of the treats and my juicebox! Now I have a humongous smile! I really like Palmerston and the letter. Gem helped me to read it and told me what some of the words mean. Palmerston is really smart! I liked the story about Tucson the dog too. The sausage piano is weird but the video is neat. I love the wild baby animal video. Jolly and Joyful and you get 4 thumbs up! Do you know how to do that? It’s two finger thumbs up and two big toe thumbs up! Did I make you smile and laugh? WNBHAK! Thank you and Bye!

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    • Namaste, Benjamin! I am so glad to know that you are wearing a humongous smile, because if I’ve made you smile, then that makes me smile, too! Palmerston is smart! My favourite story today, though, was Tucson … I just loved that one! Ha ha … your joke is funny … 4 thumbs up! Jolly, Joyful and I thank you for the neck-buster hugs and kisses! Have a fun week! We love you!

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    • Thanks, Keith … I’m glad you enjoyed them! The story of Tucson was my absolute favourite! I’m sure he would enjoy one of those brats, but hopefully they feed him something a bit healthier!

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  10. I remembered Monday!!
    Seriously and irresistibly cute baby animals here, particularly the wolf cub at the end and love that cartoon with the cat and the nine reapers, very clever and funny..
    I can be very British here and say ‘trust the Germans to make a sausage into a musical instrument- very Avant Garde art, with a message,’
    Palmerston (Foreign Office) and Larry (Downing Street) were notorious for not getting on. Here is some classic footage when they distracted the nation at a time of very serious talks involving Northern Ireland:

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