Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Pirates & Wooden Legs

Yesterday I was parking by the gym on Ocean Avenue, when a man drove by with his window down while his kid hopped out of the car. On his outstretched right arm was a rather large African Grey parrot. Or Macaw. I'm not a bird expert. One of those big, colorful parrots. Which squawked loudly as I glanced, as it was facing me as our cars passed, both with windows down.

I was concerned about the parrot's safety. Wasn't he worried it was gonna fly out the window and never return? It just seemed unsafe. Maybe parrots are attached to their humans? Loyal? I have no idea. (I also HATE when people drive with their dogs on their laps. Or even with the dog's head hanging well out the window. Totally unsafe! For the dog!) (Yes, I sound 800 years old.)

Seeing a person driving with a parrot on their arm is weird. But this is San Francisco and this city is nothing if not quirky.

Then today I am driving back from hiking Land's End with the dog when as I proceed through St. Francis Circle, there is a lady emerging from St. Francis Wood with a giant white parrot on her shoulder. WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON?! I mean, what are the chances of seeing two entirely different people on two consecutive days each out and about with their parrots?

I text this to my mom, who I had told about the dude with the parrot the previous day, when she retorts, "Maybe there's a pirate convention." Momz got jokes.

I, of course, tweet the information, because if you don't tweet about it, it doesn't exist. Someone from Twitter responds, "You should be on alert for men with wooden legs!"

The mention of wooden legs brings to mind one thing and one thing only:


That, folks, is my all time favorite joke.

It even gets a call back later in the movie:


It's the best (only?) joke built around improper antecedent use. And I LOVE it. It makes me laugh uncontrollably the way that images of Snoopy dancing do. (I also absolutely love Mary Poppins, as it's quite a poignant movie, which a reviewer I trust recently revisited and came to the same conclusion.)

I told the person on Twitter that her mention of wooden legs conjured this joke for me, and relayed the joke to her.

She said she wanted to see it for herself (understandable) and while looking for the clip, she stumbled upon a Yahoo! Answer about the joke. It. Is. Priceless.


Question: 
Mary Poppins - you know the joke " i know a man with a wooden leg "?
what does it mean ? i've tried over and over to understand the meaning as to why it is so funny .. . but i still don't get it .

here's the joke :
there are two men and one man goes " i know a man with a wooden leg named smith " and the other says " what's the name of the other leg? "
helllpp ?

Best Answer: 
I know a man named Smith who has a wooden leg.
But he named it Jones.
I also have a friend who has a dog with no legs. He named the dog cigarette. Every night he takes it out for a drag.

The future! (You can read the whole thread for yourself here.)








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