Need a Good Laugh?

Okay, it's approaching the end of the grading period, which means the students have started to become restless and have for the most part either lost interest or are scrambling feverishly to complete the work they'd put off all quarter. I'm looking at massive amounts of portfolio grading coupled with the fact that grad school has started up once again (yippee) and in addition to my normal course load, I have a research paper from the previous semester that is due in February. So, needless to say, I am constantly in the need of a good pick me up. While I was visiting Chad, he showed me this wonderful little site wherein I got to watch a strange little grape stomping woman fall out of her bucket and flail about the ground making bizarre sounds as she tries to catch her breath.

http://www.killsometime.com/video/video.asp?ID=137

Remembering this, I went in search of other humorous video clips. I even started to share them with friends, who in turn led me to other sites with other clips to laugh at. Some of the best are as follows:


Now you see her, now you don't

http://www.break.com/index/bikerampvault1.html?e445eee0
How to turn your bicycle into a catapult

http://www.break.com/index/japaneseescalator.html
I knew I was most certainly going to go to hell for laughing at this one

http://www.killsometime.com/video/video.asp?ID=390
http://www.killsometime.com/video/video.asp?ID=63
SNL's Caulk in the Crack skit and Celebrity Jeopardy


However, this one topped them all. I used to watch Whose Line Is It Anyway? fairly regularly but I NEVER saw the episode containing THIS clip before. Two words...RICHARD SIMMONS.

http://www.heavy.com/heavy.php?videoPath=../content/carnage/flash_video/whosline


This clip STILL makes me laugh to the point of tears. Enjoy!

PS--Sorry about having to copy and paste the links. I haven't figured out how to properly link anything yet. Jean???

Catching up

Well, winter break is winding down rapidly. I start back to teaching tomorrow, so I thought I'd take a moment to reflect upon Christmas and New Years.

My Dad's side of the family got together at my Aunt Lu's new home for food and poker. The food was great (Mmmm....Taco Soup)and the poker could have been better, but everyone was for the most part cordial at least. There's a bit of a rift on Dad's side of the family and as with any disagreement, both sides bear some amount of responsibility for the rift's existence. I personally try to stay out of it since it hasn't really involved me yet, but am fully prepared to voice my own personal opinion should I deem it necessary and beneficial. Until then, I keep my comments confined to my immediate family, who for the most part feels similarly.

Christmas Eve was spent at my Grandpa and Grandma Heston's as has been the tradition since, well....since I was a kid. My Grandma was one of 8 girls born in the Depression Era and she has all of her sisters and their extended families over (those who can make it anyway) for a potluck dinner. This year it was announced that it would be the last year Grandma would host it and my brother, who has been dying to play Santa for years finally got his chance. You see, every year someone is enlisted to be Santa (usually some poor boyfriend who unsuspectingly was brought along to Christmas Eve or a newly wed husband who had to run the gauntlet before being wholly accepted into the fold) and presents are handed out to everyone in attendance, even surprise last minute guests receive gifts with their name on them. How is this possible? Well, once gift exchanges proved to be someone difficult for our numbers---49 attended this year which isn't anywhere close to being a record high---Grandma and her remaining sisters collect simple gift items or freebies like pot holders or decks of cards or what have you from various "sources", separate them into gender specific gift piles and wrap them. They always wrap extras and if someone new or unexpected arrives, their name is quickly added to a gift and placed in Santa's sack. A finely tuned, well oiled machine this process.



My brother finally got his chance to play Santa because a new Santa suit was purchased, one that his 6'4 frame could actually be accommodated in without him looking ridiculous. My brother was in his rarest of forms that night, entertaining everyone with his wit and snappy repartee. In fact everyone willingly got their own gift from Santa and EVERYONE was made to sit on Santa's lap. Thank God my brother is built big and strong because, well....my Mom's family is built big and wide. And, I say this with the utmost affection; they're a great bunch. He saved some of us for last, so I had some time to contemplate exactly how I was going to accept my gift. I decided a running hop onto his lap and bouncing up and down on his knee would be the most straining for him and that was met with a brutal pinch to my side as he HoHoHoed his way thru my gift-giving.



One of the final people to get their gift was my Grandma. After she perched herself on Santa's knee and had received her present, he announced that her family wanted to thank her for all that she did in hosting Christmas Eve over the years and for keeping our family's Christmas Spirit alive. Brent and Grandma both got a bit choked up but Santa managed to recover quickly and end the gift giving with his typical comic flair.



Christmas with my family has always been filled with warmth and laughter, excitement, an occasional tear from an especially touching gift, and LOTS of love.


For New Years, I took a trek back to Minnesota to visit my good friend Chad. For those of you who have kept up with my blog since its inception, you may recall the "Odyssey" I had driving to and primarily BACK from Mankato last year. Well, this year I wised up and hopped a non-stop flight to Minnesota. Sooooo much better.



Chad was an exceptional and gracious host, shuttling me all over the place during my visit. I'd really missed the natural beauty of Minnesota, so it was nice to be back. During my stay I managed to do the following: kick back and vegetate a bit with some movies, travel to the Cities to see the museum, meet up with Chad's friends at the Minnesota Music Cafe to listen to the Tony Sims Band play, watch Chad's Improv troupe practice and then perform a New Year's Eve benefit show, ring in the new year at the MMC with old and new friends, drinking and merriment was had by all (and thankfully I have not seen nor have I heard of any photographic physical evidence, so I am free to deny that I was dancing...it's your word against mine guys), crept into Shannon's house with Shannon, Jean and Chad so as to not wake Shannon's mother only to find that Donna had stayed out later than all of us (for the second year in a row no less, poor Shannon), shared a futon with Chad---it sounds much less confusing when put that way Jean---and apparently didn't torture him too badly with my snoring, nearly died from delayed gratification at Perkins, had a second moviefest, and got my ass beat in Phase 10. All in all a very productive and yet relaxing visit. And I gotta say, props to Chad's friends. They made me feel welcome and very comfortable (and in some instances too familiar...sorry about that Jean) and never once did I feel like an outsider looking in.

I will leave you all with some choice photos from New Year's Eve. Enjoy!