h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

You should have said that you meant the Ottities, KB.

I liked Otto when he started but can't really enjoy him now any more.

Really? Why's that?

I've only really seen him a few times, to be honest, so I don't know that much of his stuff.

I think it's because I found his first film so silly it put me off watching him again.

Me, too, Bel. Back in the 70s everyone knew all his sketches off by heart - they were classics. Even my kids can recite them. Then he just got silly.

There are some really funny ones about, but, as Bel says, verbal comedy doesn't translate well. There are a couple of comedians who do good non-verbal comedy, but I can't find the bits I'm looking for on youchoob.

Aside from professional comedians, Germany has great jokes. (The US does not have good jokes. The US has elephant jokes.)

For example, Luebke jokes. Herr Luebke was president of Germany, and - like a certain other politician we won't mention - laboured under the misapprehension that he could speak English.

Unfortunately, to get jokes like this, you have to be bilingual.

Luebke is said to have reassured the Queen of England (during the Olympics) that an event was about to start, by saying, 'Equal goes it loose, dear Queen.'

This makes Germans who speak English (or English-speakers who know German) laugh, because that is a bad literal translation of the expression 'Gleich geht's los.'

The humour loses a bit when explained.

A non-translation Luebke joke, told to me by someone who didn't know Luebke jokes, wasn't German, and swore this happened to an acquaintance of his. I take this with a grain of salt, for the elderly gentleman was a raconteur and not above stealing material...

A world-renowned Jewish psychiatrist was invited to Germany for an international conference on Freud. Arriving at the airport, he was met by President Luebke. During the limo ride, both parties were nervous - Luebke because he had to speak English and was an ignorant sort of fellow, the psychiatrist because he wasn't comfortable with Germans due to the burden of history.

Finally, Luebke came out with: 'I understand Freud taught about infant sexuality.'

Psychiatrist, nonplussed: 'Yes, this is true.'

Luebke, thoughtful: 'I do not believe that I *had* infant sexuality.'

Psychiatrist, tongue in cheek: 'I believe that it is not required for heads of state.'

we used to measure intelligence in lübkes

a had 2 lübke

Oh, I love Lübke jokes. My brother once bought an LP with original recordings of all the stupid things he said.

I love the having 2 Luebkes.

That album must be priceless.

You can buy it on CD now, apparently: http://www.heinrichluebke.de/

I notice the article points out that people back then watched the news every night, just in case the President made a speech...

That made me laugh, too.

same reason i don't watch the news these days

Hi B'el I don't come on here (mod?) very often these days and I know that we don't know each other that well but we've had intercourse a few times (mod?) and I often think of you when I read news about Germany. Similarly, I think about Lil when I hear mention of a button being fiddled with (mod?) & Prof when someone asks "Whippet Inn for a quick one?" (mod?)

It's a strange kind of friendship that's bred on hootoo and that's what brought me here. I know you're more involved in the site than people like me but I agree with others that you shouldn't feel bad about taking a break and having the odd I haven't really had moderation problems but my rule is that people should knock before they come in to check whether I'm decent! Whatever you decide, remember that people here are thinking of you and, more importantly, stay happy

(As for moderation, the Eds policy seems to depend on which way the corporate winds blow; jobs are hard to come by so they tow the line )

Stay B'el. Van

Cheers, Van.

I'll try to relax about moderation issues since there's nothing to be done about the filters anyway. I may moan occasionally, though.

What news about Germany do you get over there? I never seem to be able to find anything when I search the BBC.

I was watching an episode of QI and there was a good bit about the german police confiscating Dutch football fans orange leyderhosen(? sorry 'bout spellin&#39 during the world cup because it wasn't sponsered by the right company


If your not feeling to good remember these wise words that saw the end of some politicians career
"Don't let the B@$*£^ds get you down!"

German Police in South Africa?

I know Fifa had arrest the girls and police interrogated them for hours in FIFA offices, but I thought it was SA police.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/1070063/Women-held-at-World-Cup-over-beer-miniskirts

What this website needs is not more profanity filtering, but a decent spellchecker.

I'm still enjoying the idea of admins 'towing the line'....

..........................................

If you use GoogleChrome, there's a built-in spell-checker.

Isn't GoogleChrome the thing that rummages around in your PC and gives away all your personal information?

I never heard that.