Charley Was A Cowboy
Donuts Love Puns • Technological Marvels Of The Modern Age
Three Line Conversations
Donuts Love Puns
“You’re not telling us the hole story.”
“You think I’m giving you the run a round?”
“Well, you glazed over the first part.”
Speaking fluent Donut is a curse sometimes.
Other Stuff
Technological Marvels Of The Modern Age
I really like the way the LED light bulbs in my bathroom don’t just switch off instantly but gradually dim to darkness when I turn them off at night. I’m not sure why I enjoy that so much, but I do. It’s a simple thing that many people wouldn’t notice, but it’s a marvel of modern technology if you ask me.
But since you didn’t ask me, I decided to share it of my own accord. Which reminds me of another mechanical marvel, the accordion, or squeezebox. Which is like a portable organ/piano/reed instrument combination. They are very under-appreciated and often hated, like bagpipes. Which I actually like, even though I am not Scottish. Although I am willing to learn. My bony knees might not exactly be kilt-worthy, but I’ll wear long socks.
Anyway, bagpipes and accordions make me wonder, how did someone think of inventing these musical instruments?
Who said, “Hand me that pig bladder. I’ll bet if I jam a pipe into it and blow, it will inflate. Then if I stick some pipes with holes cut into them in the bladder, I can use it to play music. Mainly at parades and funerals.”
Actually, many musical instruments have foggy histories. No one knows who made the first guitar. Probably someone in Spain in the 16th century who wanted to be in a rock band. Or maybe the guy who invented flamenco music. Or Charo.
By the way, did you know that guitar strings (and strings for other string instruments like the violin) were initially made from “catgut?” Which was made from sheep, goat, or cattle intestines, not cats. World War II caused a shortage of the material as it was also used for medical stitches. This led to the invention of nylon in 1948. Now, most classical guitar strings are made from nylon and silver-plated bronze or copper wrapped around a nylon filament.
I guess pure genius is often unrecognized by busy people consumed by the routine of daily life and distracted by media overload. But I noticed.
Thanks, light bulb-dimming inventor person.
Stock Photo Stories
Charley Was A Cowboy
Charley was a cowboy. He couldn’t imagine living any other life. But he knew he was part of a dying breed. Folks nowadays want ease and comfort, and a cowboy’s life is hard. It takes determination and true grit to become a real cowboy.
Still, that didn’t stop city folk from dreaming of chucking city life and getting back to nature. Every year some young buck would make his or her way out to the ranch and sign on as a hand. Of course, most didn’t stay once they found out how grueling the work was.
Being a cowboy ain’t romantic like the movies make it out to be, nor is it as dramatic. Charley had never been in a shoot-out. He wrangled cattle and trained horses. Simple as that.
Charley expected city folk to be a little ignorant of the cowboy life, but this latest city slicker took the cake.
“Well, I admire your initiative, son. But that’s a tree, not a horse. Maybe it’s best if you ask for your old job back. What was it? Internet influencer? I ain’t sure what that is, but it probably suits you better.”
Stock Photo Stories give you the real stories behind the photos. That I might have made up.
Happy Monday. Thanks for reading and responding. You make it fun.
Mark
The legend goes that a local politician in Seville, Spain wearied of a local minstrel always singing derisive but humorous songs about politicians making sausages. This politician, who owned a sausage company decided to get even. He contracted with his cousin, who had a guitar shop, to use animal intestines when stringing his guitars. To everyone's surprise, the new strings were resilient and held a beautiful tone. The guitar strings became wildly popular and what had been intended as an insulting name, alluding to cats howling in the night, became an ironic honorific.
Incidentally, the joke about violinists differing from cats in that 'cats know when to stop scratching,' and the phrase 'cat gut your tongue?' derive from this same innovation.
Haha! What a great little twist at the end of the cowboy story. And you’ve officially inspired me to want to eat about a dozen donuts.