Shallow Thoughts : : humor

Why should I stop here? Oh, that's why!

I love warning signs. Especially when they have funny pictures on them illustrating the drastic consequences of ignoring the sign.

This one is by the railroad tracks in downtown Mountain View. In case you weren't sure what that funny wooden arm was for.

Tags: humor, sign
[ 19:15 Feb 13, 2013    More humor | permalink to this entry | comments ]

Leave it like it is

I guess the brick and concrete border was a little too small, and the tree just ignored it and kept growing. Tree: 1. Landscapers: 0.

And the neighbors, bless their hearts, didn't try to remove the border -- they left it intact as the tree continued to grow and raised the border higher and higher.

It's wonderful -- makes me smile every time I walk past. It reminds me of a great David Wilcox song, Leave It Like It Is.

Go, tree!

[ 11:22 Feb 02, 2013    More humor | permalink to this entry | comments ]

Mahatma of Spain

The silly things you find ...

Found this in Mom's pantry. "Mahatma Authentic Spanish rice."

Maybe it's just my ignorance that when I hear the term "Mahatma", Spain is not the first country I think of. But it says Authentic! So it must have something to do with Spanish culture, right?

Maybe it's named after that famous palace in Spain, the Mahatma.

I haven't tried the rice yet. I'm not sure whether I should serve it with curry, or tacos. I know! I'll make some curry tacos!

It's been pointed out to me that tacos aren't associated with Spain either. Whoops! Blame my nortemericano upbringing -- "Spanish rice" is what's served with Mexican food here, and cuisine from Spain is rare.

Tags: humor
[ 15:10 Jan 23, 2013    More humor | permalink to this entry | comments ]

Miss American Stuck-in-Green-Cross

This is one of the creepiest statues I've seen in a park. A bronze lady has her feet embedded in a green cross, with cut tree stumps below her.

On the pedestal below her, it says:

HELP SAVE OUR TREES

THE FOREST IS THE MOTHER OF THE RIVERS

A small plaque below that says:

DEDICATED TO
THE AMERICAN GREEN CROSS
BY
GLENDALE CHAPTER N^o 1
MCMXXVIII

On the wide of the pedestal, it says:

CONSERVE THE FORESTS
PREVENT EROSION —
RENEW SOIL FERTILITY
PERPETUATE THE LUMBER SUPPLY

The title of the work, as given on an even smaller plaque on the gruond in front of the statue, is "Miss American Green Cross". Apparently it was created in 1928 by sculptor Frederick Willard Proctor, for an environmental group (although I don't usually think of "the lumber supply" being a prime concern of environmental groups).

The statue was first erected at Glendale High School in 1928. But she suffered some damage and abuse over the next few years, including being hit by a car. And then at some point in the early 1930s she disappeared. No one knew what had happened to her.

She wasn't officially rediscovered until 1954, when some hikers reported seeing it near the old Brand family cemetery, now part of Brand Park. She stood there for another three and a half decades, where she continued to be vandalized, acquiring scratches as well as grafiti, and eventually losing both arms.

Eventually, in 1990, after some debate over materials and methods, the city of Glendale restored the statue and moved down the trail to itsmis current location near Brand Library at the foot of the Brand Park hiking trails.

I've chuckled at this statue for years, whenever I visit Glendale and hike Brand Park. I still find her trapped legs, crucifixion motif, and pile of razed stumps creepy. But I must say that her history is a lot more interesting than I had imagined.

Tags: art, nature
[ 20:04 Dec 13, 2012    More humor | permalink to this entry | comments ]

Keeping track of the deer

I saw this sign on a fence around a debris dam.

It's good to see that LA County cares so much about keeping track of the local deer population that it maintains a special database for them.

Tags: humor, database
[ 10:20 Nov 25, 2012    More humor | permalink to this entry | comments ]

Wind-up car

I saw this car on Bascom the other day. Very cute! Nicely done.

(Usually I GIMP out the license plates of cars in photos, but in this case I don't think it's needed.)

Tags: humor, cars
[ 19:17 Nov 19, 2012    More humor | permalink to this entry | comments ]

High Schooler's for a Better Community

It's great to see high school kids doing public-spirited community projects like trail maintenance!

But I have to wonder if this particular group might do better spending some of that time working on studying their punctuation rules ...

Tags: humor, punctuation, apostrophe, education
[ 11:13 Nov 05, 2012    More humor | permalink to this entry | comments ]

A great team name: the Edison Chargers

I just love Edison elementary school's team name.

Tags: humor
[ 20:19 Oct 05, 2012    More humor | permalink to this entry | comments ]