Funny at first, but now kind of Annoying
I forgot to add one thing to my list, so I think I'll write about it while the rest of you get in on the voting.
When Ell and I went to Minneapolis in August, we returned to find two of those plastic pink flamingo lawn ornaments in front of our house. No note, no explanation, no voicemail, nothing. I've been involved in some good practical jokes before, so I thought this was pretty funny. We of course tried to find out who had done it. Many of our friends were over that weekend for the meteor shower, and all of them claimed to know nothing of the origin of the pink plastic birds. Tacky as they are, we left them in the yard just for the fun of it.
The next week we got an unmarked envelope in the mail. Inside was a picture. At first we thought the picture was messed up because it was double exposed. You know, how the film doesn't advance and two images end up on the same frame. Anyway, both images showed the pink flamingos at local places. So first we had unexplained lawn ornaments, and now a random picture of those same lawn ornaments around town. Still pretty funny that someone went to the trouble to make us laugh.
Well, since then we've received four or five more pictures, each one decidedly more messed up. The first one had only been double exposed; these new ones were triple and quadruple and quintuple exposed. They were so busy and messy we couldn't even tell where they'd been taken or what was in them. We saw a flash of pink here and maybe another there, so the theme had continued but the delivery was getting really poor. And we were starting to get annoyed.
Not annoyed so much at the prank itself, but that it wasn't really even a prank at all. For a practical joke such as this to be effective, you're supposed to steal something a person owns and then take pictures of it at random locations. The traveling gnome is the best well-known example of this. This strange variation on the idea just doesn't work. Nothing of mine was stolen, so I have no attachment to the item. And even if I did, they left it in my yard. That's means I'm not even missing it. The pictures are supposed to be clues as to the item's location, which, as I've stated, is still in my yard. But once again, even if the prank was done right, the pictures are supposed to give clues to where the item is traveling. These pictures are so over exposed you can barely, if at all, make out any of the places.
The only thing that might redeem this situation is that maybe I'm just not getting something. Maybe I'm just not figuring out what they're trying to do. I still want to be pleased someone decided to play a joke on us, but it's been so very poorly done. All the pleasure I would normally feel in this kind of situation is squashed because the joke just doesn't make any sense. Am I wrong in feeling this way? I'm a joker, and I think a joke should make at least a little sense. Don't you?
When Ell and I went to Minneapolis in August, we returned to find two of those plastic pink flamingo lawn ornaments in front of our house. No note, no explanation, no voicemail, nothing. I've been involved in some good practical jokes before, so I thought this was pretty funny. We of course tried to find out who had done it. Many of our friends were over that weekend for the meteor shower, and all of them claimed to know nothing of the origin of the pink plastic birds. Tacky as they are, we left them in the yard just for the fun of it.
The next week we got an unmarked envelope in the mail. Inside was a picture. At first we thought the picture was messed up because it was double exposed. You know, how the film doesn't advance and two images end up on the same frame. Anyway, both images showed the pink flamingos at local places. So first we had unexplained lawn ornaments, and now a random picture of those same lawn ornaments around town. Still pretty funny that someone went to the trouble to make us laugh.
Well, since then we've received four or five more pictures, each one decidedly more messed up. The first one had only been double exposed; these new ones were triple and quadruple and quintuple exposed. They were so busy and messy we couldn't even tell where they'd been taken or what was in them. We saw a flash of pink here and maybe another there, so the theme had continued but the delivery was getting really poor. And we were starting to get annoyed.
Not annoyed so much at the prank itself, but that it wasn't really even a prank at all. For a practical joke such as this to be effective, you're supposed to steal something a person owns and then take pictures of it at random locations. The traveling gnome is the best well-known example of this. This strange variation on the idea just doesn't work. Nothing of mine was stolen, so I have no attachment to the item. And even if I did, they left it in my yard. That's means I'm not even missing it. The pictures are supposed to be clues as to the item's location, which, as I've stated, is still in my yard. But once again, even if the prank was done right, the pictures are supposed to give clues to where the item is traveling. These pictures are so over exposed you can barely, if at all, make out any of the places.
The only thing that might redeem this situation is that maybe I'm just not getting something. Maybe I'm just not figuring out what they're trying to do. I still want to be pleased someone decided to play a joke on us, but it's been so very poorly done. All the pleasure I would normally feel in this kind of situation is squashed because the joke just doesn't make any sense. Am I wrong in feeling this way? I'm a joker, and I think a joke should make at least a little sense. Don't you?
posted by Sam at 12:14 PM
12 Comments:
Baffling. Whenever one of us did or said something stupid and said "It was a joke though!" My dad would say, "And what is the rule about jokes?" They're supposed to be funny!
Look closer at the second picture! You'll find your answer!
Sup sam? I don't know what to say about your joke situation. So,,,,,,,How you doing?
Weellll i think someone just gave it away you know let the cat out of the bag cough cough
On a completely unrelated note, who is Colton, whom you've added to your blogrole?
Colton is a young guy I met on CPS (Christian Pipe Smokers forum) who is currently studying in Ireland for a semester. He also seems to be an accomplished drummer and a lover of the outdoors. All things I like. It's pretty cool to read along with him as he shares his life in Ireland. One problem: he loads his site picture heavy which makes for pretty slow loading if you have dial-up or a slow network like I do here at work. But the pictures are absolutely amazing which makes it worth it.
I checked it out and it is amazing - my brother, Ezra, really wants to study in Ireland. Initially, he hoped to go to school there, but I think he'll have to settle for a semester or two of studying abroad! It appears to me, the school he's going to is the same one Ezra has researched.
One day, I shall go to Ireland.
wow thats a situation, yes?
Love how you capitalized "Annoying."
BTW-- Ireland is awesome. In retrospect, I wish I would have stayed longer.
I know nothing. If all we get out of this situation is pink flamingos then thats cool enough for me, I always wanted some!
A little bit of a follow-up to the story. As you can see, someone has admitted to at least some knowledge of the incident. Dan Newlin is the guy that mows our lawn, and he would have known we'd be gone. Not sure he did it all himself, but he has knowledge. And to take it one step further... he took one of the flamingos when he mowed the lawn yesterday. Why? I have no idea.
Like I said, the whole thing makes little sense. But it got some laughs and that's all that counts, right?
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