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After Dinner Mints
by Sean Hammond
I've always been amazed at the apparent virility of jokes; they spread faster that a cooze's legs. But where do they come from, and how do they spread?
Jokes don't come from anywhere; they transcend both space and time. At the instant that the Big Bang occurred, and space began expanding at speeds faster than the speed of light (isn't that neat? In order for light to travel at any speed, it needed to be able to travel through something. At the instant of the Big Bang, space began to expand, with light right on it's heals. I wonder what happens if the gnaB giB ever occurs?), every joke that has ever or will ever be told came into being.
These joke particles flit about the universe and sometimes pass through the mind of someone (they actually pass through a lot of other things as well, but most of them just can't appreciate a good joke) and they suddenly "come up with a joke." Some jokes are told more often than others because of a sort of "natural selection." Though every joke exists, not all of them are funny at the same time; funny jokes get retold, while other jokes just have to wait. Unfunny jokes are jokes that aren't in sink with a particular time period. They will be funny in the future, or were funny in the past, or maybe they're funny in a different place.
In the 1940's jokes about Rommel could have caused a great deal of crying and side clutching, but to a member of the Anamani tribes in the 1940's, the joke wouldn't have been funny. The same is true of today. Heard any good Rommel jokes lately?
Take for example Pee-Wee Herman: if you told any jokes about him before he got caught jerking off, no one would have thought it was funny. The same applies now; the jokes just aren't good anymore.
And of course there are always those who are just in the wrong time period; they're always making comments that make them laugh, but just don't seem funny to others. Their comment is funny, just not in their current time and place.
Ask BFG
Dear BFG,
In recent years, I've seen more and more people wearing their pants so the waists are rather low (somewhere around their knees). Why do they do that?
Comfortably yours,
Sam
Dear Sam,
You're absolutely right, this is an intriguing phenomena and I hope I can shed a little light on the matter. Those people who wear their pants around there knees are actually incredibly unhappy. You see, they're in mourning, but instead of wearing a black band around their arms they've decided to wear their pants at half mast. I hope this has helped you to better understand.
-BFG
Send questions to BFG c/o: diablo@csh.rit.edu
Notes from the Editors:
Well, the academic year is winding down, and so is GDT. Hope you've enjoyed our stuff.
We will be back next year, though. We hope to expand next year, and already have a number of ideas in the works including an internet site (thanks Dave), Saintly Travel Guide, and a contest (even getting back into Gracies. You can help by deluging "Dear Gracies and Heidi" with eloquent messages about how you want us back). If we're going to expand, we need people....
Are you creative, bored, and look at the word through a carnival mirror?
Than we've got a place for you.
GDT is looking for writers(especially for more serious articles), illustrators,
cartoonists, or just concept people.
If you are interested, or want more information, you can contact us. |