More 'Squaddie' humour: But of a slightly higher standard than Bardolph, Nym and Pistol in the post below. In an article in The Telegraph today, Max Arthur punts his book "The Paras" which covers their activities from the Falklands to the present day. This sums up what passes for humour amongst those rascals:
But as with much of the British Army, paratroopers rely on a dark sense of humour as a coping strategy.
Captain Andy Harrison told me of an operation in Sierra Leone, where he was captured by armed rebels and held for months in horrendous conditions, suffering daily beatings at the hands of his enemies and the constant threat of execution.
Eventually a package was smuggled to him by his unit, who were based in the capital Freetown. As well as vital communications equipment – which helped them coordinate his rescue – it contained a British Army recruitment video, condoms, hangover tablets, a cardboard helicopter and a plastic sword. The accompanying message read: ‘In case you want to fight your way out’.
Talk about laugh, I bet he nearly did!
What is it with the Irish? According to 'Theodore Dalrymple' over at TakiMag, the Irish Post Office has issued a commemorative postage stamp to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Che Guevara. So tell me, Paddy, what is it about stupid, psychotic, murderous bastards that you admire so much?
Sorry, more soldiery: Now, here's a fine picture of an exceedingly fine soldier, the late Gen. Sir Henry Prendergast:
And yes, you're right, that is a Victoria Cross pinned to his chest which he earned in 1855 but, the question is, is it the right one? Apparently, according to The Telegraph, 55 years ago the family loaned the valuable (in all senses of the word) medal to the National Army Museum(NAM) but now they suspect that the original has been stolen and replaced with a copy. The family is angry and demanding an explanation but relations with the NAM have broken down and the mystery remains. Call for Poirot, I think!
When jokes were funny: The TV chat-show host, Richard Madeley, has written this week's Spectator diary and reminds us that we have to go quite far back to find real wit on TV or radio.
Letterman, Leno, Corden etc are direct descendants of Bob Hope’s live radio series of the 1950s and 1960s. Hope paid up to 30 top writers (30!) to be his feeds. One night he was about to go on air when he phoned his writers’ room. ‘The gag on page four about LBJ [Lyndon B. Johnson, often portrayed as thick] — it’s crap,’ he rasped. ‘Rewrite it, with a double punchline. Now.’ Minutes later the fresh gag was silently passed to Hope. ‘News just in, folks,’ he announced. ‘A fire in the West Wing. Nobody hurt, but LBJ’s personal library in ashes. Yup, both books.’ A pause for the sucker-punch. ‘Including one he hadn’t even coloured in yet.’
Ouch!
Beyond, far beyond, 'stoopid': I suppose, to be fair, the 650-odd Members of Parliament are bound to be a rough sample of the rest of us, so one shouldn't be too surprised that some of them, like some of the Great British Public, appear to be brain-dead. Do politicians seriously believe that if they behave like rats no-one will ever 'rat them out'? Well, they are now finding out the hard way that they are not invincible.
(Sir) Lewis wins his 4th World Title: I haven't seen the race but I gather it was somewhat untidy. Even so, dammit, (Sir) Lewis did enough to clinch the championship - what a racer!
No more Rumbles tonight
Déjà vu!
Posted by: Whitewall | Sunday, 29 October 2017 at 18:08
Yeah, that Bob Hope was a corker. Everything was better back then:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72bPUXefB8c
Posted by: Bob | Sunday, 29 October 2017 at 18:24
Ah, MPs! Good to see the nasty and the self-important taken down a peg or two (or preferably sacked). But the latest "sexual harassment" shenanigans are a bit like when the media discovered MPs often fiddled expenses, and puts me in mind of Macaulay: "We know no spectacle so ridiculous as the British public in one of its periodical fits of morality."
Posted by: Whyaxye | Sunday, 29 October 2017 at 20:02
Bloody hell, Bob, you could have warned me about that lady's voice, I was expecting some vintage Bob Hope.
Macaulay was spot on, 'W', and I must confess that some of those moaning 'wimmin' are getting on my nerves!
Posted by: David Duff | Sunday, 29 October 2017 at 20:43
Eh ... David?
Being as this is Sunday Rumble Day, how is it you could've missed this headline?
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Subway-Sex-Crime-Suspect-NYPD-Police-Photo-453307623.html
Posted by: JK | Sunday, 29 October 2017 at 22:11
JK, at least he isn't totally deranged and was picking his own nose whilst choking his chicken.
David, I couldn't think of a good joke about Hope's prop golf club. Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton were second choice. Sorry about the voice. It's like Monty Python cheating by using an actual, screeching woman. Btw, are you treating your own son no better than a common troll now?
Posted by: Bob | Sunday, 29 October 2017 at 23:31
"How about the one about the Trump Russia file being sponsored and created on behalf of a right wing think tank during the Republican primary and being paid for by one of the biggest Republican donors."
That sentence needs some serious unpacking.
"Lawyers for the conservative publication Washington Free Beacon informed the House Intelligence Committee Friday that the organization was the original funder for the anti-Trump opposition research project with Fusion GPS.
"The Free Beacon funded the project from the fall of 2015 through the spring of 2016, whereupon it withdrew funding and the project was picked up by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign."
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-free-beacon-funded-original-fusion-gps-anti-trump-opposition-effort/article/2638850
Glenn R. Rich (at the time a Rubio supporter) didn't have spit to do with the notorious "Russia File" - Mr. Steele only being engaged after the DNC paid the ten million bucks to hire the said Mr. Steele.
But yep - the Washington Free Beacon "is cooperating" - under subpoena, which, having the full weight of the FBI on its ass I'd think, would be a reasonably good idea.
As if they had any other viable option. So there's that.
Posted by: JK | Monday, 30 October 2017 at 01:17
http://dailycaller.com/2017/10/28/cnns-undisclosed-ties-to-fusion-gps/
And there's that too. So yep Pompous, it is getting better.
Popcorn needing refreshment?
Posted by: JK | Monday, 30 October 2017 at 01:38
"A letter sent on Tuesday to Fusion’s lawyers by Perkins Coie, a law firm which represented both the Democratic National Committee and Clinton’s campaign, confirmed that Perkins Coie had hired Fusion GPS in April 2016 to conduct election related research. A source familiar with the matter said Fusion GPS did not hire Steele until late May 2016."
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-house/judge-gives-research-firm-in-trump-russia-probe-more-time-to-answer-subpoena-idUSKBN1CU301?il=0
Just so there'll be less conflating, another reporting source.
Posted by: JK | Monday, 30 October 2017 at 02:01