One of the great joys of having a pet is the laughter that they bring to us. Whether we are laughing at them or with them they never hold a grudge. It seems they are almost always trying to entertain us. What pet owner doesn't have a picture of their beloved friend in some crazy situation or pose, stuck on their refrigerator door? And what better way to save those precious moments than with a great photo?
I photograph pets professionally, intentionally trying to create humorous images…but often it is the in-between moments that end up with those priceless expressions. Those un-expected antics…that bring an involuntary smile to me and have me showing everyone around the back of my camera saying "Hey! Check this one out…what a crack-up!".
Right now I live with two cats…one of them just can't resist any box. Put a box down and a moment later, out of nowhere…Pitsy is in the box! It doesn't matter what size box either…I have seen her in boxes that she can barely fit in…that she can't even get all of her paws down in…but hey…if it's a box then she's going to claim it!
Our other cat, Plucky, has his favorite place to be…on the lap of any one using a computer (luckily I am writing this at work or it would be much slower going and by the end I would be covered in cat fur)! No computer…he isn't interested…but sit down in front of a computer anywhere in the house…and you instantly have one very large feline purring contentedly between you and that keyboard. Every pet is an endless source of amusement, fun and laughter!
A few tips for good Pet Photography:
1. Get down on their level…it makes your picture feel much more intimate and brings up the level of interest by using a perspective that we are not used to having.
2. Avoid direct sunlight. Direct sunlight is harsh and may "blow out" the details and leave the shadows too dark with no detail. Open shade is good…if indoors try shooting them next to a large window that has indirect light coming in.
3. Make sure your pet's eyes are in focus. If their eyes are sharp in most cases
we can forgive a shallow depth of field the results in out of focus extremities.
4. Get close…and pay attention to the rest of the frame. We too often tend to our pet's face in the center of the frame and have a lot of wasted space above him or her. Take a moment to look around the viewfinder and place your pet in an interesting composition…without distractions in the background.
5. Patience! The number one ingredient for great pet photography is patience. A little patience, combined with perseverance is a great combination for success in getting those great shots of your best friend
Capturing those awesome shots of your pet, and sharing them with your friends…and yes…putting them into that refrigerator gallery…what could be better?
April 1st is a wonderful day when we are free to make jokes, pranks and gags on our relatives, friends and colleagues. However, the question is; why is it that human nature provokes us to laugh at the expense of others like we do on April Fools' Day?
Let’s observe the typical structure of a joke. It consists of two “messages” or, in general, “impacts”. The first one is usually used to transfer some kind of misleading information to a person. At this point the information looks like a simple truth that people have no reason to doubt. Therefore a person begins to believe this information is really true. At the moment when a person puts absolute truth in new information the second “impact” is made. It usually contains contrary information, somewhat like this: “Relax, it is just a joke”.
This kind of joke is harmful to a person's mental state because each of us has his/her own “picture of reality”. The information, which is in conflict with our “picture”, enforces us to make certain efforts to change that “picture”. This process is quite unpleasant, especially when a very important part of the “picture” needs to be changed. So, that is why jokes may be very harmful, even if done with best intentions.
At that, it doesn’t matter how “good” or “bad” the first “message” (or “impact”) is. Here is an example:
1st message: - Hello Mary! Did you know your husband died?
2nd message: - Relax it is just an April 1st joke.
If Mary loves her husband, then the first message is a shock for her. Even the second message cannot compensate her stress. If Mary hates her husband, then the first message may even cause her to be delighted. But the second message immediately "turns off" her delight. Regardless the April 1st joke provokes a person to feel strong emotions which are later taken away from them.
Here is another very bad April 1st joke.
In connection with all these considerations the only acceptable jokes are those, which we all remember from our school years. For example, placing a sticker on a person's back or singing a song whilst altering the words to parody news current news topics.
T-shirts always make great gifts. Whether it is someone's birthday, a family reunion party, a get together with old friends, or anything like that, if you are thinking about greeting them with a gift, you must consider gifting them a t-shirt. In fact, it will be even better if you personalize the gift by giving your guests a custom made t-shirt.
There can be different themes you can use, depending upon the occasion and the personality of the recipient. For example, if he/she is someone pursuing a medical degree course, you may consider giving a medical occupation t-shirt. Likewise, if he/she is pursuing a degree course in law, a lawyer t-shirt will make a great gift. However, sometimes, you may find it difficult to choose the right theme. If you are going through any such predicament where you do not know what to choose, you should consider gifting funny t-shirts. They always work.
Funny Ideas
T-shirts with funny one-liners printed on the same sell like hot cakes. In order to make the gift memorable for the recipient, try those items where the one-liners express tongue-in-cheek humor. A dress with funny images and cartoons printed on it will also make a great gift idea.
Ideas For Family Reunion Gifts
In America, a family reunion party is celebrated with as much excitement as any other local festival is celebrated. Therefore, you obviously will have to come up with a unique gift idea. If you do not want to experiment with new innovative ideas, t-shirts will probably make the best choice for you. However, you must be very careful in selecting the design and style. It should be wearing which they remember their old days. That is the reason why you should consider a custom-made t-shirt for this occasion. This is because only they know those things that can reconnect them to the old memorable days. All it needs is a bit of imagination, creativity, and effort. If you are ready to put all these things together, you can easily come up with a gift that the recipients will remember with fondness. The day will become memorable forever. So, go ahead and get some special family reunion t-shirts printed with images, cartoon, or humorous one-liners.
T-shirts are available in a wide array of styles and design. The different types that you can choose from may include half or full sleeved, sleeveless, oversized ones, printed, tank tops, plain with nothing printed on it, a blend of prints and needle work, embroidered, and other such types. As you can see, your choices are endless. You just have to make sure that whatever you choose, it must be something that can help the wearer stand out in the crowd.
It seems that the human race is divided into two sections. The first part is composed of people who are always looking for ways to make life better. They are forever coming up with new ideas, plans and dreams, that will improve on the world as we know it. They are optimistic, driven and good fun to be with. The other section of humanity is the people who are determined to always ***** things up.
A good example came to light recently. People have been going on about global warming and talking about the fate of the planet. One particular difficulty about the future is that we are told we are rapidly approaching the time when oil supplies will run out. That’s bad news for drivers, transporters and travellers. One alternative is to find other fuels, apart from petrol, gasoline and aviation fuel. A good suggestion seems to be that we could grow crops that we could turn into liquids rich in hydrocarbons rather than have to dig them out of the ground. They’re called ‘biofuels’. A good idea? Can’t go wrong? Don’t underestimate man’s ability to mess up! The news is that farmers in Malaysia and islands in the region are turning to the growing of biofuels as a way of making a living. To do this, they need land. No problem. They’re simply cutting down local forests and planting their crops on the land that’s freed up. They get praise for this, right? No, they get hated. You see, the same people who think it’s a good idea to grow biofuels are also the same people who want to keep the forests of the world alive and diverse. They don’t want them chopped down! Ah, how difficult can you get. These poor farmers are simply trying to earn a living, and growing the ‘new petrol’ certainly seems a good way to earn a crust, and it’s a growth industry, not like oil - which is disappearing. But it gets worse. Because biofuels are now so popular, other - more established - farmers are turning to their cultivation. In so doing, they’re giving up what they do now, like growing food. So, not only are the forests of the region being cut down, but the population is suffering from food shortages, all caused by that spiffing new idea of growing crops for fuel.
Now, this isn’t to say that the original idea wasn’t a good one. No way. If the black stuff is drying up, then what else are we going to do? Apart from switching off the lights for good, and all going back to walking or riding our pushbikes, there seems precious few plans for coping for the lack of good oilfields. Planting things that can be turned into stuff that fills your tank in your local petrol station has got to be a grand plan. But chopping down forests to achieve that? Where did that bright idea come from? This nonsensical proposal came from the first one, the sensible one, so maybe the first thought was wrong? No, it’s just that you have to be as aware of how an idea is put into practise as you are about what it is that is being done. A good example from history is that after the 1870 Education Act in England, it was decided to make inspections of schools to check out that they were all following the letter of the law. These Inspectors came up with a grand plan to ensure that the teachers were teaching and the pupils were learning: they decided to give the kids some simple tests, mainly about reading and writing, just to be sure the new system was working. But - and there’s always a but - when the schools realised how important these tests were, and how their future was dependent on getting good results, they and just instructed the teachers to drop everything else and focus on making sure the kids knew enough to pass the exams. All other training was dropped. The result? A narrow, restricted curriculum, solely based on the need to pass Inspections, not to give the children anything like a good start in life. It wasn’t unique. It isn’t just 1870 when this happened. We had the same result in Britain after 1997 too.
There’s a simple way out, and it involves a test too. The test is: if we’ve arrived at this destination, and we didn’t want to get here, then we’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere. Let’s back up, find out where we went wrong, and fix the problem there. Try that test with the forest scenario and ask yourself the question, did we want people cutting trees down in order to solve the lack of oil? If no, then we need a new plan: how can we make bio-fuel without destroying the forests? There must be an answer to that question, surely. If you find it, you’ll be heaped with plaudits. But in needs to be sensible! Cue the British government. They have an answer, and it speaks for itself. Their logic is this: we don’t want dirty coal-fired power stations, and we don’t want the carbon dioxide that comes from oil-fired power stations. How can we create new, clean power? Well, we can support wind and wave electricity generation, but that may not be enough in itself. Wait, we’ve got it. We’ll build some more nuclear power stations, that’s the answer. Now, you at the back, were you paying attention? Then answer this question. The people who agree that coal and oil are bad things, do you really think that they’re the same people who would vote for nuclear power instead? If you think you know the answer, then you deserve to be in charge of the British government, because our present lot clearly don’t know what makes a ‘good idea’. In this case, they haven’t got one.
George Bernard Shaw once said, “The problem with political jokes is that they get elected.” Well, at least there are a lot of material for political humor. Even if the global economy is practically crashing down around everyone, people can always enjoy political humor.
Understanding the Humor in Politics
People enjoy political humor because it is something that everyone can relate to. The public generally blames the government for everything, so everyone basically appreciates humor in politics. In truth, this particular source of hilarity is almost always delivered in a satire-like fashion. It is generally amusing and it does not disregard the real issue. In fact, it addresses whatever political issue is at hand. To fully appreciate and enjoy political humor, however, you should not regard it as an attack on a particular statesman or politician. Adopting this kind of thinking or attitude will prevent you from really appreciating this type of humor.
Instead of regarding it as an attack, think of it as a personal observation of the person delivering the satire-like lines. After all, underneath the surface humor lies the intent to bring forth an issue to promote change. If you are a politician and you have found yourself a favorite subject, you should consider the truth beneath the jokes and deal with it. Usually politicians who have kept an upright image of themselves are difficult subjects, so comedians generally avoid adopting them as topics.
Humor and Politics - They Go Hand in Hand
You can never have politics without a dash of humor. Political humor is not a new concept. Comedy in politics has been around for centuries. In fact, it is as old as politics itself. An example of ancient sense of humor is Lysistrata, a Greek play written by Aristophanes.
Political humor is actually a legacy of a free society. Unfortunately, there are still some countries that do not allow political ribbing and attempt to limit jokes. For example, Italian televisions are controlled by the government, so people cannot wholly enjoy political humor. A visiting dictator once asked former President Bill Clinton why he didn’t just arrest individuals who questioned and criticized the then President’s poor judgment. Fortunately, for comedians, the United States adheres to free speech.
Modern Political Comedy
Comedians are fairly inventive now days when it comes to this kind of humor. And now more tahn ever people truly enjoy political humor when they hear the jokes while they go about their business. They also appreciate political jokes more when they can relate to the comedian’s sentiments. This type of humor is fairly common during the election period. The comedians are at the top of their form dishing out satire after satire.
Political satire, however, varies from one comedian to another because the views of these people vary. The jokes will depend on how a comedian regards a particular official or the government itself. Nowadays, it is easy to enjoy political humor. Irreverent movies are practically flaying politicians alive.
Political humor exists in order to prevent the hubristic tendencies of politicians from developing. This particular humor has been around for centuries and as long as people enjoy the right to speak their mind, they will always enjoy political humor.
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