Don't Hold Your Views Too Firmly - Commentary on Balthasar Gracian

Let's take this advice from a master in two chunks:

"Every fool is fully convinced, and every one fully persuaded is a fool: the more erroneous his judgment the more firmly he holds it. Even in cases of obvious certainty, it is fine to yield: our reasons for holding the view cannot escape notice, our courtesy in yielding must be the more recognised."

We are not apt to think of people as fools if we're honest. It's just not good copy. But someone who stubbornly holds the wrong or even a slightly incorrect view is behaving foolishly. Likewise, if you can be talked around by simple rhetoric and not be contained by fact, it doesn't look good. Truth can't be contested. That's why it is called 'fact'.

It is fine to yield even when we're in the right. If someone won't let go of the issue what point would there be in maintaining your (truth-filled) view? In these cases, no matter how right we are, we can still relent and protect a relationship -- if we choose. It all depends on our reasons, for they will be more memorable to onlookers than whether we were wrong or right. We can be 100 percent right and still look like a villain. For trying to 'champion truth' leads easily to 'rudeness' instead...

"Our obstinacy loses more than our victory yields: that is not to champion truth but rather rudeness. There be some heads of iron most difficult to turn: add caprice to obstinacy and the sum is a wearisome fool. Steadfastness should be for the will, not for the mind. Yet there are exceptions where one would fail twice, owning oneself wrong both in judgment and in the execution of it."

Quirkiness is fine for a change and even adds to the humour of a funny situation; folk would not be 'folk' without being quirky. Yet, add quirkiness to pigheadedness and inflexibility and it drives people nuts. We're right in being steadfast when it is right, when all the planets are in alignment, but a fixed mind for the sake of it is a solution to no problem.

View From My Ecuadorian Apartment Window

I started this update yesterday morning. I was sitting writing it at my desk which overlooks the Tomebamba river. The views are fabulous and I think how lucky we are to have such a view. The early part of today was a beautiful sunny 23 degree day. I could see clearly to the mountains. No clouds or rain were on the horizon. You never can tell here - it often rains later in the afternoons, and that is exactly what it did. It absolutely bucketed down in some parts, and the water in the river rose very quickly to its highest level that we have seen since arriving here.

But I digress. In the morning, before it rained, I enjoyed the view and the people-watching. Women were busy washing in the river and a family nearby was washing their taxi cab. The Dad would take the bucket down to the river for water, and then the wife and daughter helped wash the car. I know this makes this place sound like a real third world country but it's not. Not everyone washes their clothes in the river or takes a bucket to collect water to wash their cars. This local custom, as one local mentioned, is also dying out and in the near future you will not see this being done.

I love shopping as it always amazes me at the price on items. Some are the same as at home and others are much cheaper. Here is some shopping trivia: I can now buy 12 roses for $2.25 at the supermarket. The price has actually gone up since we were here in February. A dozen cost me $1.45 then. They are cheaper at the flower markets in the city. And yesterday I bought two large sheets of Xmas paper, two black biros and a packet of sticky labels. The price for this was $1.00. I knew it was not going to be expensive but I was even a little surprised at how cheap this was.

There is really nothing much that I miss from my old home in Australia. My moisturizer may not be available here, but then I just make sure that any friends that come over from the US bring me some. People often ask what the bad things we find here are. Well to be quite honest with you I don't find anything bad. If it's not to my liking then it's my problem. I chose to move here and so I accept everything as it is, and enjoy the changes and challenges.

Unleashing the Humour in Your Life

"Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else." - Will Rogers.

The reality of things is that not everyone laughs at life the same way. This reveals the fact that some people have a higher acceptance of some things in life. Not all fingers in a hand are the same as individuals view things differently. Different folks have got different strokes. What one person thinks of a funny or why that event is funny is called a 'sense.'

Senses are the physiological methods of perception. This would mean that a sense of humour is purely your own personal perspective. Your very own past experience would be a proof of this perspective. If you focus your attention for a moment thinking of all your past experiences in a negative way, you might be stressed out and soon become uncomfortable.

An important lesson is to not be affected by any stressful situation. Treat the situation or event as external and not internal. Try not to be a participant and get affected by the stressful circumstance. Instead of falling into the trap of wallowing in self-pity or getting into the vicious habit of complaining about life's frustrations, try to take each situation separately and laugh about them. If something is so frustrating or depressing, do not let it affect you. Remember to look back on it and just laugh, picturing in your mind that it's a ridiculous thing. Why do we have to be a victim of those circumstances? Think of how it will sound as a very funny story you could tell to your friends, and then see if you can laugh about it in various forms of laughter. With this shift in attitude, you may also find yourself in a totally different state. You would feel more light-hearted and relaxed. It is important that you are in control of your own circumstances so giving yourself a good laugh and those around you more to laugh about. Approach life in a jolly way and you will find that you are less stressed out by the negative events that occur around you. What would be simply amazing is that you will achieve the health benefits of laughter.

Steely Dan - Music With a Sense of Humour

Donald Fagen and Walter Becker "Steely Dan" have been writing music with a sense of humor since they first began there amazing partnership. With song's that can make you laugh, make you cry, make you wonder and make you dream, these two brilliant artists have it all sown up. These two guy's have an amazing chemistry together. "They are made of music"

With song's like "cousin dupree" from the Grammy Award Winning Album "two against nature"released in 2000, about an old keyboard player come oil tanker driver who go's back home to Aunt Faye's couch to set up his next move in the world, when he see's his little cousin Janine walk in the room, he can't believe how much she has grown, and all he can say is ow-ow-ouch. Cousin Dupree walks around the room with her little tops on and wearing her tight ("capris") a style of pants usually worn in warm weather, like a pair of long shorts that fall over the knee's. This song is very funny and yet quite controversial as in the song, all Dupree want's to do is kiss his little cousin Janine.

Steely Dan will go from the funny side into an totally different tangent that can also be very dark and unhappy like one song in particular that comes to mind called "everything must go" released in 2003 from the brilliant album of the same name. This cleverly written song talk's of corporate disaster from the perspective of the corporate guy, about his major pain and suffering and on to his poor old self-esteem being shattered, "cause where going" out of business, everything must go, a song that ring's so true today as all the major world corporations struggle to survive in this maddening economy, everything must go is a deep and true song, and after it fall's apart all he can do is light those Luckies (cigarettes) up and crank up the afterglow as it all crumbles around him.

Steely Dan also take a cynical view to all thing's "superstitious" with the song "Black Friday", from the album Katey Lied released in 1975, this particular song is another beauty. When Black Friday comes, I'll stand down by the door and catch the grey men when they dive from the fourteenth floor, when black friday falls. don't let it fall on me, a very clever song.

Best Presentation Ideas That Can Express Your Views Effectively

Multi-media presentations are very helpful in discussing a lot of data in a way that is easy to understand as compared to the traditional pen and paper methods. However, a presentation that is able to grab the attention of the audience and also put across the view effectively is very difficult to create. Sometimes presentations lack proper distribution of information. Often either people use loads of information in the presentation that makes it boring or it lacks data at all and makes it completely baseless. So, here are some basic presentation ideas that can prove to be helpful to create a perfect presentation.

These presentation ideas can help to discuss important information with investors, employees or other people that matter to the company. Some of the ideas include that one should have complete knowledge of the presentation, use fewer titles and to add a bit of humour one can appoint a cartoonist who could draw alongside on a flip board.

Have complete knowledge
One of the best presentation ideas is that one should be able to explain the presentation blindfolded. This not only shows that one has complete knowledge but also shows how confident one is. One can grab the attention of the audience by adding a bit of humour. This helps one to gain points as a good re-presenter.

Minimal use of titles
It means that the presenter can explain the idea by himself. It is most useful while conducting an interactive session with the employees of the organization. One can cross question to keep the audience attentive and also to test their knowledge. Such a presentation will keep the audience transfixed to the presentation and also encourage them to participate. It is important to understand that excess of anything can ruin the whole idea. So this idea should be used in some of the slides and also one can leave the title mid-way for the audience to complete.

Flip board cartoonist
When the presentation is being made at the same time the cartoonist can draw the pictures in accordance to the topic; this will bring life to the presentation. This is one of the presentation ideas that can help to win the hearts of audience. Instead of slides one can ask the cartoonist to draw images alongside one explains the topic. This is an out of the box idea that can make the session interactive as it enables the presenter to directly interact with the audience. So, one can hire a cartoonist and discuss what images to draw and the timing.

Layman's View of Prostate Cancer

I find that most articles on prostate cancer seem to be from the clinical point of view. This doesn't always placate the poor soul who has just been diagnosed and, as far as he is concerned this is a death sentence. The odds in favour of survival have increased so much over the past few years that there really should not be any doom and gloom about this disease that attacks so many men, and, I am told, an increasing percentage the older you get. And I realise that it is not something that is whispered about in corners any more, if it gets a mention. It is so eminently survivable that all men should take some simple precautions to ensure that they catch it in time.

Some Early Warning Signs
There are plenty of early warning signs that should not be ignored. I can only be classed as a layman, but, having been there, I feel I talk from a position of strength. I knew that I was having to get up more often in the night than before, but was quite happy to assume the advancing years were responsible. My PSA count was about 7, so I was not too alarmed. However, working hard in the garden I did notice some blood in my urine, which should have warned me. But that was only one occasion, so, again, not too alarmed. The sudden lack of ejaculate should have been the final sign, but that was only a couple of weeks before proof positive of the problem. Like most men I was a little slow to grasp what had happened. There was no difficulty in urinating, just more frequent, so I took a little longer than I should have going to the doctor.

Treatment
Luckily for me the cancer had not spread away from the prostate. Leaving it any longer could have been fatal. After having the cancerous cells scraped away a treatment of radiotherapy followed by regular injections and a daily pill is keeping things under control. But before I had been fit and healthy, not really a day's sickness in years and I had been eating all the sorts of fruit and vegetables guaranteed to be very helpful in combating all sorts of cancer. It just goes to show that being open about the disease and an early visit to the doctor, if only to find that all is well, would not have been wasted.

Sports Personality Of The Year - A View From The Audience

The walk from the train station to the N.E.C. seemed to take forever, I didn't know what to expect but that was all part of the excitement. This was the first time members of the public were able to witness the annual Sports Personality of the Year awards and I felt privileged to be going.

Outside the arena there was a buzz of anticipation, who was going to win and who do you want to win were the questions on everyone's lips. We were handed a voting card for the individual and team awards and I made my selection.

After what had seemed a lifetime we finally got to our seats. The view was much better than I had expected, even though the public were sat in a ring behind the V.I.P's and sports stars. The stage itself was glowing and the camera crews were making last minute preparations. Behind them sat the BBC concert orchestra who were tuning up ready to entertain the crowd before the event. Surrounding the stage were four giant television screens playing clips of the sporting events which had defined the past twelve months.

Having practiced when to applaud, how long for and having listened to the orchestra belt out some classic sporting anthems it was time for the live show to begin. Garry Lineker, Sue Barker and Adrian Chiles appeared on stage to guide us through the next two hours of celebration and reflection.

At times the atmosphere was electric with huge applause for the heroes we had watched on our television screens. They had provided us with so much joy and excitement over the past year and this was a small way in which we could thank them. On other occasions it was a hard to hold back the tears, some couldn't as we witnessed stories and tributes about Heather Clarke, Paul Hunter and Earl Woods.

There were sections reviewing each sport and the various awards were handed out. As it got nearer to the end and the announcement of the individual winner the atmosphere began to build. David Walliams received a special award in recognition of swimming the channel for sport relief, in the warm up before going live he had joked that his was the fastest time ever, despite his humour you could see that the sport relief charity was something that meant a grate deal to him.

Money Can't Always Buy You Good Health - Taking a View on High Blood Pressure

In the overall scheme of things you have to put being given a diagnosis of High Blood Pressure into perspective. On the scale of being told you have terminal and potentially fatal illness High Blood Pressure has to be looked at in the right way.

Now by saying all of this I do not wish to be accused of trying to downplay the potential risks and harm that can be caused by ignoring the signs and symptoms of High Blood Pressure. Far from it, I suffer from High Blood Pressure myself and hence know more than most the downside of being told you have this condition, it is just that having or being told you have just got High Blood Pressure (Hypertension or HBP) should not be taken as the "Death Sentence" it once was.

You can do a lot to deal with the situation and to be brutally blunt by and large how you react and deal with the diagnosis and how you move forward is by and large down to your own control. There are positive measures that you can take and you can wrestle control back into your life quite easily.

Perhaps my slightly brutal view point comes from having a friend who has just been advised that the Breast Cancer she thought was in remission has just returned and had spread. This dear friends and readers is serious, a damn site more serious than being told you are a few pounds over weight and hence your blood pressure is up!

Now before I find my email inbox flooded with correspondence from irate readers all accusing me of a cross between heartlessness and gallows humour let me repeat my earlier statement.

I have been diagnosed with High Blood Pressure, I know what it is like, I know what it is like when you forget to take your medication - my wife loves this especially. I used to forget every now and then to take The Calcium channel Blockers that I was initially prescribed and boy could you tell after about 6 hours or so. By that time I would be at the "ripping heads from Babies stage" but that also taught me a few things as well.

Why So Many MLMers Get No Views on Their Videos

Posting videos on the free sharing sites can get great publicity and plenty of eyeballs. But most network marketers fail spectacularly and get virtually no views. Here's how to do it right...

Posting videos on the free sharing sites can get great publicity and plenty of eyeballs. But most network marketers fail spectacularly and get virtually no views. Here's how to do it right...

People visit the internet for just two primary reasons. They are looking for either information or entertainment. Now, if you can pitch what you have to offer, to appeal to one or both of these reasons, you will score spectacularly.

The good news is most of your competitors out there have not got a clue and they are producing garbage. As a result they are getting a tiny number of views. This means that you can come in, produce your videos properly and clean up.

Commonly, your competition will record themselves. They shout at the camera, yell why their opportunity is the best and scream you why you should be working with them. There is no information here, just a blatant sales pitch. There is no humour either, well not intentionally anyway.

Don't forget either 'first impressions count'. If you are wearing dirty clothes, haven't cleaned up your house, haven't fixed your hair or have left spinach in your teeth, don't go in front of a camera.

Lake Como - A Cure For Ill Humour

Lake Como has a particular effect on visitors, best summed up in words like relaxing, calming, re-invigorating and even inspiring. You could describe the process as stress busting, wellness creation, holistic therapy or just plain getting your head straight.

But if we're going to use jargon, I'd rather use the jargon of an earlier millennium. It seems to fit the place better. To be specific, I prefer to employ terminology used by the scholar Galen and say there are cures at Lake Como for all excesses of humours. That may well be a travesty of Galen's work and achievements: but I think he'd forgive me if we ever met at Lake Como. If he wasn't dead, that is.

Galen apparently recognised four different kinds of personality, by reference to their dominant 'humour' - fiery, cold, melancholic and irritable. Many of us arrive on holiday suffering from an excess of one or the other. In fact, with the complexity of life today, we could easily exhibit the signs of all four in a single day - possibly the day we set out on vacation. No problem. Lake Como can bring those humours back into equilibrium.

It can do that because Lake Como is probably the most harmonious place on earth, for two reasons. The first is the way in which the Lake, mountains and weather combine to provide a seemingly endless variety of different but equally breathtaking views. The second is the fact that humanity has not only not spoiled the environment but has actually added the finishing touches.

They come in the form of grand villas and picturesque villages, beautifully posed along narrow strips of waterside or scattered like colonies of seabirds across steep hillsides. Nothing jars. You can explore Lake Como for days and come across nothing ugly. That's got to put you in a good frame of mind.

Whether you're planning a completely restful holiday, or lots of sightseeing and/or activities, you're very likely to go home feeling 'better' in body, mind or spirit. than when you arrived - not just because of what you did but because of where you did it.

Humour - Makes Life Enjoyable

Humour has great importance in life and it makes person's life interesting and enjoyable. Humour is the propensity of particular cognitive incidents to provide amusement and provoke laughter. Humour is the quality to make something laughable. If you get pleasure and amusement by getting something then you must accept the fact that this thing really exists.

All people don't have same way to laugh at life and it shows that all of them have different sense of acceptance. Some people accept things very easily and some take time. People see things differently and so meaning of humour is different for everyone. Sense of humour depends on person's point of view.

Sometimes we go through very tough situations in life but later on when we remind the same situation we may found it humorous. This is because of change in our perspective. Sense of humour is a very precious thing in life and you can make your life more enjoyable and stress- free by increasing this sense.

There are so many incidents in life that we find funny. Sometimes we laugh at jokes said by any person and sometimes we laugh at any other incident. Everyone has some funny incident in life. Here is one such incident from my life.

Enjoy Some Humour With Funny Fridge Magnets

Funny Fridge Magnets are another category which adds onto the wide range of kitchen accessories. All kinds of fridge magnets are known to bring in brightness and cheer to all kitchens. These little items of different styles and design when on the refrigerator look attractive and adds colour into the kitchen. Now, they not only offer colour and cheer into the kitchen but humour as well, with the introduction of Funny Fridge Magnets.

Humour comes in different ways; when selecting these magnets, consumers should choose rightly. Humourous magnets can include adult content too, and these should be carefully selected as they would be viewed by children. It is best that magnets with "innocent-humour" are chosen for homes which children live in or visit.

Most of the humour on magnets comes with sayings that are printed on them. However, there are some that include funny pictures too, but the most popular are the magnets which have humourous sayings. These humourous magnets can be categorized into different sections each with little funny sayings relevant to the particular category.

A Cosmic Sense Of Humour

Humour is most convincing and most effective when it is unsought, when it comes to us like an unexpected guest. When we discover humour in the daily scenarios of our lives, if something in the cosmic arrangement of them suddenly strikes us as amusing, funny or even hilarious, it makes us feel that life is more than merely chance circumstances, but an ever-changing, meticulously crafted work of art designed by a Master Architect. That this Architect is not bereft of a keen sense of humour is something we soon discover, too. The story below, experienced by two people I know personally, is one of the many testimonies to life's inherent sense of humour.

Two friends were backpacking in Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands south of Spain. They were enjoying the beautiful weather, even in mid-January, and the gorgeous scenery on their various hiking trips through the rugged, mountainous countryside. There is a famous mountain on Tenerife called Mount Teide, which with an altitude of 3,700 metres (12,000 feet), is Spain's highest mountain. Mount Teide offered a hiking opportunity the two friends did not want to miss. However, a special permit was needed to be allowed on the mountain and bureaucracy would have it that this permit could only be obtained in the capital, many miles away. Since their longing for the view from the top of the mountain was persistent and strong and they did not want to waste an entire day travelling back and forth for the permit, they decided to forego the civil servants and conquer the mountain first thing tomorrow morning, before the mountain guards arrived. Love of nature triumphed over civil obedience.

On the following morning just before sunrise they left their hut, which was located near the top of the mountain, and began following the trail up the mountain. It was a taxing climb. But the glorious summit rewarded their early morning efforts with a stunning and breathtaking view. They drank in nature's beauty and splendour, revealed by the golden sunrise, and quietly came back down before anyone noticed. The remainder of the day - more than a remainder in fact since the day had just started - was spent hiking around the mountainous area, climbing boulders and a few minor peaks and logging a fair number of miles before they got back to their hut. By that time the trail up Mount Teide had already closed and a few mountain rangers were standing alone in the vast countryside, enjoying evening's beckoning hand at the end of their working day. The two hiker-friends went up to them. One of the friends, who spoke fluent Spanish, was curious to know why a permit was needed to climb Teide and why it was so inconveniently unobtainable right here at the foot of the mountain. The rangers kindly explained that the preservation and protection of the mountain were the cause for having the permit and not wanting to have too many people climbing it the reason for having it many miles away in the island's capital. People were welcome, but not truckloads at a time. The hiker-friend pulled a sad and disappointed face - hiding his glee at having cleverly surpassed governmental regulations that very morning - murmured a "too bad, but all right, I understand" and said goodbye.

How To Treat Head Lice - Veterinarian's View

It all started with a phone call. The school has called my wife in the middle of the day saying that she needs to pick up our daughter immediately. Another child has been scratching her hair so the teacher decided to investigate. Every child had their hair checked that day and there it was - head lice! My daughter was one of the victims.

No problem, I thought. I mean, how bad can this be? I treat parasites every day. Just the other day I dealt with a bad case of ear mites in a very upset Alaskan. Alaskan Malamute that is. You see, I am a Veterinarian and treating parasites is my bread and butter. Sure my patients are furry and four legged. But the etymology of a parasitic infection is the same in any species. Right? Little did I know what I was in for.

I approached the problem with the same attitude as I do with any challenging case. I needed information. I found out that head lice are prolific breeders laying up to 8 eggs a day from when they are only 10 days old, with the eggs hatching a week later. Lice are common throughout the world, including the well-off countries. They spread easiest in places where head to head contact is common (such as kindergartens and primary schools). They also don't discriminate between clean or dirty hair, between neglected children and those well cared for - which dulled somewhat my intense feelings of being a substandard parent. At first glance the challenge presented to me did not seem that great. Head lice are not particularly resilient as far as microscopic critters go. They can not survive for more than about 24 hours outside of the human hair. Their eggs too are laid firmly attached to the hair strands. Therefore no need to exert heroic efforts sterilizing the environment - couches, floor boards, the car etc. - a quick vacuum is all that's needed. Even the bedding and hair accessories only warrant a trip through the washing machine to remove any 'stray' eggs. Oh yes, the eggs! That is precisely where the problem lies. There they were - tiny, white with an orange tinge, teardrop shaped, attached firmly to my child's hair. The eggs can not be washed off and resist all chemical treatments. They are in one word - indestructible. You heard the saying that the cockroaches will be the only ones to survive a nuclear blast? Well, I firmly believe that in that event the cockroaches will have company - those tiny, pesky louse eggs.

Discover These Online Video Marketing Tactics That Will Catapult Your Video Views

It is all too obvious that over the last couple of years there has been a massive surge in the amount of video hosted online. No matter what business you are involved in you should never overlook the benefits of online video marketing to reach the widest audience. If you have yet to create a selection of viral clips to sweep the net by storm then check out the following information and advice.

First of all you should understand what types of videos are currently popular. There are certain dynamics that always make up a successful formula. Make sure that any video you create is kept short and to the point.

Most net surfers have short attention spans and are not interested in watching videos that are longer than a couple of minutes in duration. You could consider using a subliminal message, for example if you have a business that sells kitchenware create "how to cook" videos that would attract a lot of interest.

The content used needs to be compelling enough to hold the viewer's attention. Consider what would be the best way to get across the message about your company's products or services. Humour is a great way to be remembered, if you can post funny videos that are in some way related to your products you will stand a better chance of being an online phenomenon.

How often do you visit search engines each day? For the majority of people they are amongst the most visited sites. The major search engines look favourably on video. By creating SEO friendly clips you can boost your web pages traffic considerably. Of course you will still need to ensure you create the right backlinks and tags.

How Humour Helped Us Through a Most Difficult Year

The way I was brought up was to use humour to belittle an atrocity. Like a coping mechanism. For example: a man was caught in cross-fire between NI terrorists and army, locals would make light of it. It was a common thing to hear and allowed the most troubling of incidents to penetrate our consciousness superficially only. 2009 was our worst year, and we have had some really bad ones. However, the combination of economic fall-out, ill health and uncomfortable family obligation triggered full hilarity. Humour definitely aided our passage through the mire. My wish is that you will read and benefit from the distant insight, helping your own self to cope with adversity.

The recession of 2009 hit us hard. We lost everything. Business was liquidated, house was sold, we were forced to live off the equity. We took the opportunity to move closer to my home and begin our own business. That's where we are now. The house we rent has a view of the Lough, the open sea is visible from the hill behind us in an awesome panorama. The walls are so wide and dense with stone that wireless signals can't penetrate. The Aga has developed a love/hate relationship with us. We are learning that we cannot wash after 2pm if we want to use the hot oven for dinner. So if you come for dinner and we serve oven chips or make pizza - you know we haven't bathed or showered. The village charity shops have the former season's Paul Costello, Jaeger and French Connection, not bad for under a tenner. The beaches are 5 minutes' drive away, uncrowded, clean and perfect for a run or walking the dog. That is, if she could manage to travel in the boot without expelling her half-digested bowel contents. Doesn't smell that bad, it's just the bother of having to clean it up after arriving and after returning home. The gardens are huge, unkempt and full of surprises. We were here four months before we discovered the souterrain. The secret garden is the children's favourite spot. I like boat watching from the windows. The tall ships were here with full sails and we had the perfect view point. It was awesome, made me pine to be a pirate. I now watch the Pirates of the Caribbean films just to see that Bounty again.

During the summer of this most difficult year, my father (D) got married. The vicar's wife eyed me up very accurately with her poignant opener, "This must be a difficult day for you", to which I agreed and explained it was especially so because it was his third marriage. She hadn't known that, thought it was his second, apparently. I wonder if the vicar knew. I wonder which marriage he had mentally erased. It cost me £400 on flights and car hire and I did not buy a gift because we were threadbare and penniless. My husband came down with suspected swine flu, the day before, so renaeged his obligation very graciously with his medical travel ban.

Using Humour to Lighten the Load

Now Who's Laughing?
I doubt that Sigmund Freud was ever the funniest guy at the dinner party.

He famously claimed that women don't need a sense of humour because they have fewer strong feelings to repress. Then, a few years ago, British writer and notorious chain yanker, Christopher Hitchens, got a lot of us 'sisters' riled when he wrote in Vanity Fair that 'women just aren't funny'.

Uh, excuse me. Tina Faye is not hilarious funny?

A surprising amount has been researched and written on the subject and I recently went to a presentation on the psychology of humour and the gender.

Apparently, women comedians don't get as many laughs as their male counterparts. Even in comedy, it seems, we do have greater hurdles to success.

I was also surprised to hear that the most laughter comes from male comedians with a female audience. The next highest on the laughter meter is a male comedian with a male audience, and third in line is a female comedian with a female audience. Finally, a woman comedian with male audience gets the fewest laughs. Why is this?

The theory is that men are trained to interrupt and be the center of attention, so they are more comfortable pouring out their stories than passively waiting for others to tell them. In other words, men are socialized to dominate conversation, while women are raised to be good listeners.

Now This is Funny
I just saw the movie, "Bridesmaids," and I did LOL along with the rest of the packed movie theatre. The bridesmaids in this story indulging in antics typically reserved for men. The men in the audience were there laughing (or squirming) right along side the women.

It is a watershed movie and is busting down the barriers between the genders. And, it is proof women are funny...hilarious in fact. Take that Sigmund Freud!

Freud's claim that women aren't funny is consistent with an article in the New Yorker which said, "Studio executives believe that male moviegoers would rather prep for a colonoscopy than experience a woman's point of view, particularly if the woman drinks, or swears or has a great job or an orgasm."

Funny Commercials - The Most Common Types of Humour Used In Advertising

Humour has become a mainstay of advertising campaigns and has proven to be one of the most effective methods ever devised for selling products and creating a positive brand image. In this article we look at the most commonly used techniques in funny commercials and advertising mediums.

The most common humour technique used in advertising is juxtaposition. Juxtaposition involves putting two or more elements together or comparing them to create a humorous analogy. For example, Hewlett Packard ran a clever advertisement featuring a Christmas picture "ruined" by a teenager dressed as a punk. The print ad then showed an image modified using Hewlett Packard's PhotoSmart software with a more idealised teenager. This kind of juxtaposition can be used effectively to create or expose a problem that the product can solve.

The second technique we turn to is personification. This technique involves attributing human characteristics to things without them. The best recent example of this is Evian's Live Young advertisement which personifies babies by making them into active young teenagers. This cleverly adjusts what we might consider a normal situation or activity to create positive associations with vitality and youth.

Thirdly we have exaggeration whereby you extend or stretch the reality of a given situation or characteristic to over emphasise a particular point or point of view. The simple premise is that you make something seem better or have a much greater effect than it does in reality. This allows you to encourage a very positive view of a product whilst making people laugh at the exaggeration itself.

The fourth most common technique we encounter in advertising is the simple pun. One of the most well-known of these is the WKD commercials - which use wicked as a pun for the acronym WKD. This simple technique helps to instil the brand name in to your mind and create certain associations through the humour used.

Fifthly we come to sarcasm. Sarcasm is basically taking something or someone and using their faults against them in a mildly derogatory way. Sarcasm is generally employed to a situation to reveal an interaction between one or more parties and has proven effective at creating humour by espousing situations many of us can relate to in some way - or saying the things that many of us don't ever have the courage to say ourselves in a given situation.

Does God Have a Sense of Humour?

The Bible says, "There is a time to laugh" (Ecc.3:4). But when is that time? Is it OK to laugh in church? Is humour off limits when it comes to preaching?

Many are divided on this subject. For example, back in 1854, Alexandre Vinet said that humour should never be used when preaching. He said, "It is out of place in an assembly where grave subjects are treated." Austin Phelps, who lived about 50 years later, agreed, saying that the use of humor in a sermon would degrade the Bible. T. Harwood Pattison was also opposed to it, arguing, "Religion is too severe a matter to be treated in a trivial or jesting spirit." There are many today who believe this to be the case.

But of course there are just as many who would totally disagree with this point of view. James Burrell spent a whole chapter to humour in his textbook on homiletics. He supported his case by quoting great preachers who used wit as a means of getting their point across - men like Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Henry Ward Beecher and D. L. Moody. John Stott goes further. He cites Christ Himself as an example of one who used humour in preaching, saying, "It seems to be generally agreed that humour was one of the weapons in the armoury of the Master Teacher."

Jesus And Humour
That last quotation ought to put the matter to rest. After all, Jesus came to reveal the Father to us. Any other impression or opinion that we might have about God which doesn't line up with the perfect representation brought to us by Jesus Himself is a false image and should be demolished.

Yet, for some reason Jesus is portrayed as always pious, serious and sad. It is true that His teachings addressed serious issues, and that His mission climaxed in a sorrowful death. But He could never be described as a kill-joy or party-pooper. He was often at parties, and even did His first miracle at a party. (I think some would have preferred He turned the wine into water!) When that old familiar question is asked, "If there were ten characters from history you could invite to your party, who would you pick?" how comes Jesus is nearly always on the list?