Silent Warriors

Two guys were silently fighting on this floor leveled chess table... shot taken in Galveston, TX

Today's joke (it's not about chess!):

This happened to an Englishman in France who was totally drunk.
The French policeman stops his car and asks the gentleman if he has been drinking. With great difficulty, the Englishman admits that he has been drinking all day, that his daughter got married in the morning to a French man, and that he drank champagne and a few bottles of wine at the reception and a quite few glasses of single malt there after.
Quite upset, the policeman proceeds to alcohol test (breath test) him and asks the Englishman if he knows under French Law why he is going to be arrested.
The Englishman answers with humor: "No sir, I do not! But while we're asking questions, do you know that this is a British car and my wife is driving... on the other side?!?"

Go USA!

As most of you knows, tomorrow starts another edition of the World Cup. After 64 years, the host is once again Brazil, the country that won the title 5 times (1958; 1962; 1970; 1994 and 2002), but they never won on their own country (1950 - winner Uruguay). I am aware that U.S.A. doesn't have too many chances to win the trophy, but as they say, the ball is round, so you never know... and as everybody else that hopes his country will win, I say "Go U.S.A.!"

And a joke accordingly to this event:

Cassius Clay dies and goes to the heaven's gate. St. Peter holds him there and starts to read the register reviewing Clay's activity. After a long period of time, while he was nodding his head, finally he says:
"I'm sorry, but I cannot let you in!"
"May I know why" asks Clay.
"Well, it looks like you've been beating too many people down there on Earth" answers the Saint.
While looking around, Clays sees a bunch of people dressed in orange, inside the heaven, and asks St. Peter:
"But they, why are they here? They are sportsmen also!"
"Indeed, but that's the team of Houston Dynamo, they've never beaten anyone!"

Navy Pier

One of the many shots I took while walking along with my wife on Navy Pier (Chicago, IL). I like the b&W version more than the color one, but one of these days I'll also post the color version.

Today's joke:

A married couple, both avid golfers, was discussing the future one night.
"Honey", the wife said, "if I were to die and you were to remarry, would you two live in this house?"
"I suppose so - it's paid for."
"How about our car? Continued the woman. "Would the two of you keep that?
"I suppose so - it's paid for."
"What about my golf clubs? Would you let her use them too?
"Heck, no," the husband blurted out. "She is left-handed."

The Golden Tree

Inside the walls of Alba Iulia's fortress.

Today's joke:

A maniac comes to a store and shouts:
"I need to rape someone right now!" then looking at the salesperson, says:
"What's your name, woman?"
"Rose", says the woman.
"Hmm, just like my mother's name, so I won't rape you", says the maniac.
Next to him was young male. The maniac took a good look at him and asks him:
"How about you, handsome! What's your name?"
"My name is George", says the young male, "but my friends call me Rose"...

Economy Status: Ruins

It all started after the December's Coup. Before then, this country had no external debts, had a strong industry, everybody had a steady job, street were safe and clean, corruption was at a minimum percent. But some people didn't like it. And they decided that this country must go down. December '89 was the beginning, the falling of what it's called communism. The naive people believed in freedom. They believed every single word spoken by the new enemies of the people. They believed when they were told that every single factory is nothing but a money eater monster and they must disappear. Whole factories, once very productive, with products appreciated all over the world, suddenly became condemned. They were sold for pennies and eventually shut down. Tens of thousands of workers were fired, many others in their early 50's were approved for retirement. Some of them were happy for their early retirement, without thinking about the future, others realized that the future cannot be bright. The ordinary people of this country never been rich people, but they never starved, they were never confronted by poverty, they didn't steal or kill for their own survival. But soon the unemployment grew drastically. No jobs, no money for pensions, no production. Some people started to sell personal belongings, then even their own homes, moving in rent. Other searched for survival in other countries. In the beginning they were welcome, but when their number grew too much, they were no longer welcome, the locals fearing about their own jobs. I, personally, call this a step to what they want to do to the world, globalization.

No One Cares For A Coffee

Downtown Denver, Colorado

Today's joke:

What FEAR means:
1. Forget Everything And Run
           or
2. Face Everything And Rise

The choice is yours!

Flags

Inside the Pub 13 for a delicious lunch. The Pub is located inside the ancient fortress of Alba Iulia, a very interesting place, not just the Pub itself, but the whole fortress. The place is usually getting busy after 5 pm, by the time when I got there (around 1 pm) were just few customers. They serve any kind of food you desire (they got pretty good cooks!) and drinks of any kind, from soft drinks to liquor. It's a place that I gladly recommend to anyone who's gonna visit that historical city.

Today's joke:

The aspiring psychiatrists were attending their first class on emotional extremes.
"Just to establish some parameters," said the professor to the student from Arkansas, "What is the opposite of joy?"
"Sadness," said the student.
"And the opposite of depression?" he asked of the young lady from Oklahoma.
"Elation," said she.
"And you sir," he said to the young man from Texas, "how about the opposite of woe?"
The Texan replied, "Sir, I believe that would be giddy-up."

Kings and Queens

Do you love chess?

Today's joke:
A man took his Rottweiler to the vet and said to him:
"My dog is cross-eyed. Is there anything you can do for it?"
"Well," said the vet "let's have a look at him".
The vet picks the dog up by the ears and has a good look at its eyes.
"Well," says the vet "I'm going to have to put him down."
"Just because he's cross-eyed?" says the man.
"No, because he's heavy," says the vet.

The House on the Hill

This image is from the same area as my previous post was, and it seemed to be an abandoned house. As a matter of fact, I found an entire abandoned village in that area. Well, not quite abandoned, cause there still are owners, but nobody lives there, everybody moved to town...

Today's joke:
Q: How do you find Will Smith in the snow?
A: Follow the fresh prints!

The Land of the Giants

This is an older shot from the Apuseni Mtns - Transylvania. No Dracula was involved in this shot! The guy in the picture was our guide, not related to Dracula either!

Today's joke:

One Sunday morning, the priest saw little Davey staring up at the large plaque that hung in the church's foyer. The plaque was covered with names and small American flags were mounted on either side of it.

"Father Donovan," the boy asked, "what is this?"
"Well, son, it's a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service," the priest explained.
They stood together quietly, staring at the memorial plaque.
Little Davey softly asked, "Which service? The 9:00 or the 10:30?"

Forever Young

I didn't realize at the moment I took this shot, but when I was working on it, that in this capture are retired people only. But no, the tram is for everybody, I loved tramways since I was a little child, I even dreamed when I'll grow up, I'll drive tramways. Well, that never happened, but the flames of my childhood's dream are still alive...

Today's joke:
Car names:
ACURA - Another Crummy, Useless, Rotten Automobile
AMC - Another Major Catastrophe
AUDI - Awfully Unsafe Designs Implemented
BMW - Big Money Waste
BUICK - Big Ugly Imitation Chrome King
CHEVROLET - Cheap, Hardly Efficient, Virtually Runs On Luck Every Time
 DODGE - Damn Old Dirty Gas Eater
EDSEL - Every Day Something Else Leaks
FIAT - Failed Italian Automotive Technology
           German version: Fehler In Allen Tilen (errors in all parts)
FORD - Fix Or Repair Daily
GEO - Good Engineering Overlooked
GM - Great Mistake
GMC - Generally Mediocre Cars
GTO - Gas, Tires, Oil
HONDA - Had One Never Did Again
HYUNDAI Hope You Understand Nothing's Driveable And Inexpensive...
JEEP - Junk Engineering Executed Poorly
LADA - Lousy and Defective Automobile
MAZDA - Most Always Zipping Dangerously Along
MG - Money Guzzler
MGB - Might Go Backwards
MGF - Might Go Forward
MIATA - My Intention Always To Accelerate
MOPAR - Miscellaneous Oddball Parts Assembled Ridiculously
MUSTANG - Motor Under Strain, Transmission Almost No Good
OLDSMOBILE - Overpriced, Leisurely Driven Sedan Made Of Buick's Irregular Leftover Equipment
PLYMOUTH - Please Leave Your Money Out Under The Hood
PORSCHE - Proof Of Rich Spoiled Children Having Everything
SAAB - Shape Appears Ass-Backwards
SATURN - Sorry about that unusual rattling noise
SUBARU - Screwed Up Beyond All Repair Usually
TOYOTA - The One You Ought To Avoid
TRIUMPH - Tried Repairing It Until My Parts Hurt!
VOLVO - Very Odd Looking Vehicular Object
VW - Virtually Worthless

Wanna Go Outside

Here's Bella, by the time when she was only two months old, but she knew already to ask for the outside needs, she loved to play a lot, and she adored the backyard (not that much since we moved to Texas). I took the picture with my Samsung Galaxy - S3, not quite a quality camera, and postworked it on the same S3.

The Yellow Train

An antique French train, reconditioned by the Romanian Railroad (CFR).

Today's joke:
A man went skydiving for the first time. After listening to the instructor for what seemed like days, he was ready to go. Excited, he jumped out of the airplane. About five seconds later, he pulled the ripcord. Nothing happened. He tried again. Still nothing. He started to panic, but remembered his back-up chute. He pulled that cord. Nothing happened. He frantically began yanking both cords to no avail. Suddenly he looked down, and he couldn't believe his eyes. Another man was in the air with him, but this guy was going up! Just as the other guy passed by, the skydiver yelled, "Hey, do you know anything about skydiving?" The other guy yelled back, "No! Do you know anything about gas stoves?"

Railroads (2)

The Engers Train Station (Germany)

And of course, today's joke!
A guy sits down at the bar and orders drink after drink rapidly. "Is everything okay, pal?", the bartender asks. "My wife and I got into a fight and she said she isn't talking to me for a month!". Trying to put a positive spin on things, the bartender says, "Well, maybe that's kind of a good thing. You know, a little peace and quiet?" "Yeah. But today is the last day".

Railroads (1)

An older shot from Neuwied area (Germany)

Today's joke:
 Sandy began a job as an elementary school counselor and she was eager to help. One day during recess she noticed a girl standing by herself on one side of a playing field while the rest of the kids enjoyed a game of soccer at the other. Sandy approached and asked if she was all right. The girl said she was. A little while later, however, Sandy noticed the girl was in the same spot, still by herself. Approaching again, Sandy offered, "Would you like me to be your friend?" The girl hesitated, then said, "Okay," looking at the woman suspiciously. Feeling she was making progress, Sandy then asked, "Why are you standing here all alone?" The little girl said with great exasperation: "Because I'm the goalie!"

Masts

A shot from Kemah, Texas

And of course, a joke!
John, drunk dead, takes a walk down the street in the middle of the night. He stops in front of the Government. A cop shows up right away: "Keep walking, citizen, you can't stay here". "Why not, Officer?" "Because it is the government headquarters". "So what? I have enough money to buy all the senators and house representatives". John's wife approaches. "Pardon him, officer, that's the way he's acting when he is drunk. He buys all kind of stupid things...."

Abandoned

Another abandoned house from the same Georgian village.

Today's joke:
On New Year's Eve, John was in no shape to drive, so he sensibly left his van in the car park and walked home. As he was wobbling along, he was stopped by a policeman. "What are you doing out here at four o'clock in the morning?" asked the police officer. "I'm on my way to a lecture," answered John. "And who on earth, in their right mind, is going to give a lecture at this time on New Year's Eve?" enquired the cop sarcastically. "My wife," slurred John grimly.

Happy New Year 2014!

Now, when the wheel of time has woven another year and the magic of crystal snowflake complete the holidays to enjoy with loved ones, let's look confident to the miracle of life and future moments! Happy New Year, 2014!
 P.S. I was supposed to post it yesterday, but it looks like I was really busy... :)