Something definitely cheesy afoot

Cheese lovers rejoice! The annual Cheese Race to take place in Gloucestershire, will go on rain or no rain.

Well that's good news. I mean, nothing should stop people from taking a perfectly good and tasty chunk of Gloucestershire cheese and rolling it down a hill. Why? Go know! However, the event must have something going for it since it's more than 200 years old.

The event is more than a little cheesy if you ask me but here are the details so you can plan to attend.

Organisers of the annual cheese- rolling event in Gloucestershire have insisted that it will go ahead on Monday whatever the weather. In the event participants chase a 7lb Double Gloucester cheese in four races at Cooper's Hill, near Brockworth. BBC weatherman Ian Fergusson said: "The steep slope at Cooper's Hill, which is challenging even in good weather, will prove especially slippery and muddy."

In 2007, several people were injured during the event. Safety concerns led to it being called off in 2006 after rescue volunteers were unable to assist as they had been called to help with the aftermath of an earthquake. The race has been held at Cooper's Hill for the last 200 years and is believed to date back to Roman times. The winner of each race gets to keep the Double Gloucester.

Anyone can enter if one feels so inclined and according to the official site, the rules are simple:
"You do not need any type of application form to enterThere are no qualifications and no entry fee! All you have to do is arrive at the top of the hill, make the decision (possibly check that your 'Last will and testament ' is up-to-date!) make sure that you won't need that pair of jeans ever again and ......... GO!!!!"

That's good news - no fee, mind you who would pay to enter is another whole issue, here.

Rumor - and keep it mind it's strictly a rumor here - has it that some owners of local cafes have been seen under the cover of night, collecting the cheese remnants and using it for the next daily special being macaroni and cheese.

Here's the official site for the contest: http://www.cheese-rolling.co.uk/


Writers & Friends
www.jrslater.com/forum

DID YOU HEAR THE JOKE ABOUT...

Just wondering - I do that a lot - if there are people reading this who are joke-deprived. By joke-deprived I'm not referring to the actual act of "getting" or appreciating when someone relates a funny story. I'm referring here to the actual act of telling or re-telling a joke that was told to them.

Y'see - I can't.

Well... I could if it was socially acceptable or allowable to carry the joke around on a piece of paper and read it aloud. However, I can't envision sitting at a table with - let's say - a business aquaintance and whipping out a cue card from my purse and then saying, "hey - did 'ya hear the one about..." after which I would recite it.

On the rare occasion that I've attempted to re-tell a joke, either I forgot the punch line or relate the joke incorrectly. Then I get hurt when nobody laughs or there's a puzzled expression on their face.


It leads one to wonder if there's a secret in joke telling and to this end a search on the Web revealed some hints in an article printed in Reader's Digest, with some hints passed on by some well-known comedians.

Comedian Jay Leno advises people to keep it simple.

"If you just do a joke about the funny noise that potato chips make when you bite into them, you'll get more laughs. Jokes work best when they're easy to understand," Leno advises.

Meanwhile, Conan O'Brien advises:
"The most important thing is to keep it short. It's like knowing when to leave the table in Vegas. Get your laugh or, if you're lucky, laughs, and then get off the stage. If you don't trust yourself, hire a friend to tackle you after four minutes."


So now I'm wondering (and admittedly hoping) that there are others like me "out there" that suffer from this affliction. If so - let's share angst and pass on some joke-telling advice and/or hints

By the way - heard any good jokes lately?

Writers & Friends
www.jrslater.com/forum

A Stranger's Last Wish...whoever...whatever

Like many people reading this I'm a cyber $$$ millionaire a few times - more than a mere few times - over but today, posted directly in one of my e-mail's bulk file, I was asked to fulfill a dying man's wish. This letter joins all the others including one from my Nigerian friend, Mr. Nagobukutu along with hundreds - nay - thousands of "friends" from around the globe. However, this was my first letter from a dying friend.

It's true! Really!

As is the case with all the other "offers" the request came by letter and I know it was directed to me personally because it was addressed: "dear friend." The sender, a virtual stranger in the true sense of the word, seeked me out personally explaining, "I got your contact informations from the web data directory when I was searching for a relaible individual to assist me in this project." I mean - how much more personal can it get?

Before going into his spiel...I mean to say, before he explained the purpose of his letter, he wrote: "I don't want you to feel SORRY or PITY for me because I believe everyone will die someday. My name is Mr. Larry -----, a merchant in Dubai in the U.A.E. I have been diagnosed with prostate and esophageal Cancer that was discovered lately due to my laxity in caring for my health. It has defiled (a Freudian slip perhaps?) all forms of medicine and right now,I have only about few months to live according to medical experts."Furthermore," he went on to confess and/or reflect on his past, "I have not particularly lived my life so well as I never really cared for anyone not even myself but my business. I wasn't too generous, I was always hostile to people and only focused on my businesses as that was the only thing I cared for. But now I regret all this as I now know that there is more to life than just wanting to have or make all the money in the world."

Oh yeah?

Larry - I'm sure he doesn't mind me using his first name since I feel that we became cyber buds in the money sense - then went on the juicy part where he explained that he was rich and "the last of my money, which I planned to use in openning a shopping complex in London is a huge cash deposited with a Financial Security Firm abroad. I want to donate it to any worthy, charity organisation, hence my contacting you with blind trust having been led by my intuition of goodwill."

Aw Larry! Such generosity!

'Intuition of goodwill' - such poetic drivel...I mean, self-expression.

Anyway, the gist of his communique was "...I am looking for a trustworthy individual/firm to help me collect this deposited funds with the Financial Firm abroad and dispatch it to charity organizations and let them know that I, Mr Larry ---- is making this generous donation as a dying man's last wish."

Now ain't he just the greatest? I get all choked up at the point where he says he is writing his letter to me in a hospital bed on a laptop computer.

He closes his comminique by writing: " I have decided to offer you 25% of the total sum and also set aside 5% for all your expenses (i.e for any expenses you may incure during the process of this project).

I mean...here's a guy - Larry - a stranger let's not forget - who makes me an offer that I can easily refuse! Is there no end to how much cyber money a person can make?

Anybody else receive a letter from Larry? If not - I'm sure he'll get to you all sooner or later.

Writers & Friends forum
www.jrslater.com/forum