Words are everywhere. The floor you walk upon reveals the development of language from cave dwellings to hieroglyphics to alphabets from around the world. Elevators resemble libraries. No admonishments to use your inside voices here; but definitely use your words. The museum is divided into the foundations of language; all the cool things you can do with words, and ultimately why words matter.

So first, you see how babies acquire language skills. We initially babble a lot of sounds, but only retain those that find a home in our native tongue. A massive word wall houses over 1000 words that visitors call out to see how they were developed, relate to each other or integrate with other languages. The explanations of the visuals are enchanting. Everything is interactive; everything is entertaining; everything is fun.

The many side experiences in every gallery are fascinating in themselves but so easy to overlook. You might miss the signs above the entrance to the Joking Around Room: “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” Bada boom.

At the Visual Puns exhibit, check out the large picture, among many, of two suitcases, one laughing and one crying. The tag line? Emotional Baggage. Move on to a table with two computers where you and a friend get to read jokes to each other and try to make each other laugh – or not. Yes, they’re corny but you’ll laugh out loud anyway. What’s the difference between a hippo and a Zippo? One’s heavy and the other is a little lighter….  See? Very hard to keep a straight face.

The Word World offers word paintings using adjectives. Pick up the Hibernal brush and snow appears over the nature scene on the wall; the Nocturnal brush brings darkness, Tempestuous, rain and wind. Ah, but the Magical brush elicits great whimsy. Paint the deer on the wall and it becomes a unicorn; splash it across the airplane and it turns into a magic carpet. Are you smiling yet?

In the Magical Library, people appear to walk on the ceiling. Read a descriptive plaque to a wall mirror and a 3-D diorama pops up before you – open the drawer below to find the book from which the scene is taken. I shook my head in further disbelief when I opened a random book to a designated page and the book lit up as a narrator read the story and relevant images kept re-appearing next to the book. Who thinks of these things????  It all feels very surreal.  Always a good word….

Feeling a little overwhelmed? Find the secret room – no help from me here – that takes you to the poetry nook – a quiet space in a very sensory-overload environment in which you get to sit back, relax, breathe out and let a sonorous voice reciting poetry re-vitalize you.

Want some tips on public speaking? Head to the Lend Me Your Ears Auditory Gallery. Learn when to effectively pause in your remarks. When repetition reinforces your message. Or how the use of metaphor may better convey your meaning. Then you can go into a private recording booth and deliver your own speech. Fortunately, I presume, without any hecklers in the audience.

Beware of the I’m Sold Gallery where you may have to come to terms with how susceptible you are to advertising. Here you’ll encounter how words are used to persuade and change people’s minds through ads, videos and social media. Subtle but very effective to the easily gullible. That would probably be all of us. With, of course, deference paid to those slogans that have become part of the English lexicon: Where’s the Beef? What’s in your Wallet? Melts in your Mouth…

And think about this. What do you say when you drink something refreshing? Ahhh, yes?  So it’s no accident that three major bottled water companies are named Evian, Aquafina and Dasani. All have the Ahhh sound. Coincidence?

The final gallery is devoted to How Words matter. People, known and unknown, talk about how words have changed their lives, how the power of certain words, expressions, stories significantly impacted them.

Well, maybe not the final gallery should you choose to go to the bathroom before you leave. Not surprisingly, more relevant words that’s not your usual bathroom graffiti…   Heed the call of nature. See a man about a horse. Take a whiz. Tinkle. Gives whole new meaning to potty humor.

I left the museum with a smile on my face, thinking to myself: What a wonderful place! Four little words. One declarative sentence. And yet it says so much. Words are funny that way…

The museum is free though donations are encouraged. For more information, visit Planet Word Museum.

The post Planet Word: Where the World of Words Rule the Universe appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Two Disasters

Did you hear about this? There was an Air Show disaster at West Swick’s Island Park, Belleville, Ontario, Canada.

The aircraft hit four buildings. This is tough to see. It just shows the dangers of attending these events. I’ve attached an amazing photo below which shows great detail of the mishap.

At very low levels the pilot had completely lost control over his aircraft. It narrowly missed a crowd gathered for the air show and it slammed into four buildings.

One can only imagine the horror of the occupants inside those buildings.

If you have the stomach for it, here is the photo:

Fortunately, no one was  killed, but it probably scared the cr*p out of them.

(Thanks to Don who sent this headline and I apologize for the silly scare.)

BTW, 2 months ago there was a SINK HOLE in La Habra, California (I’m not kidding) which was just a few miles away from me. I was just thinking. Do you realize that if the incident happened this month … do you know what they would have called it?
are you ready for this? …

They would have called it: “SINK HOLE de Mayo!”
TGIF People! Happy Cinco de Mayo! Hope you had a good laugh.

“Last month was April Fool’s Day. Don’t trust anyone and believe nothing! So technically, it’s like any other day.”
— Anonymous

Joke of the Week

Thanks to Peter Paul of S Pasadena, CA for sending this joke.

Video of the Week

If McDonald’s was Advertised Like Apple
Sent by Mike of New York

WARNING: This video will make you hungry. 🙂

Tastefully done. Shows how any product can look so good if given the right presentation. If you ever wonder why people line up for hours for the latest and greatest of anything, blame it on great advertising that builds up people’s expectations.

Don’s Puns

From Don’s collection of puns

Heavy Thought of the Week

Sent by Terry of Santa Monica, CA

Parting Shot

Thanks to Ray of Burbank, CA who shared this.

The post Snooping Spouse appeared first on Traveling Archive.

I have a load of stuff I still have to do before my trip to Nigeria. I leave Thanksgiving Day. As you enjoy your turkey I will probably be stuck in the airport.

Someone wondered why I was going to unfamiliar Nigeria instead of going back to my homeland. My reply is because the opportunity presented itself.

Why did Mother Theresa minister in India instead of her homeland? Why do missionaries go to far away lands instead of helping their own kind? Were they wrong? I don’t think so.

Sometimes one needs to change to a different location to start afresh — away from the the confines of the box that people put them in. This is very true for late bloomers like me. There is a statistic that says traveling increases not only the physical borders but also the borders of one’s imagination and potential. Even Christ preferred to perform miracles away from his birthplace of Nazareth.

Has life stagnated for you? Perhaps it’s time to travel and expand your mind. Be the better person you really are.

BTW, I am not sure if I will have internet access or time to prepare my TGIF emails for the next 3 weeks. I will miss you for sure. Be good! Happy Thanksgiving!

“Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles?” Then they scoffed, “He’s just the carpenter’s son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers — James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. All his sisters live right here among us. Where did he learn all these things?” And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.

Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.” And so he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief.

— Matthew 13:54-58

TGIF people!

Senior Theater Seats

Contributed by Rick of Chino Hills, CA

An old man lay awkwardly sprawled across three entire seats in the movie theater.

When the usher came by and noticed this, he whispered to the old man, “Sorry sir, but you’re only allowed one seat.”

The old man didn’t budge. The usher became more impatient.

“Sir, if you don’t get up from there I’m going to have to call the manager.”

Once again, the old man just muttered and did nothing.

The usher marched briskly back up the aisle, and in a moment returned with the manager.

Together the two of them tried repeatedly to move the old disheveled man, but with no success.

Finally they summoned the police.

The officer surveyed the situation briefly, then asked, “All right, buddy, what’s your name?”

“Fred,” the old man moaned.

“Where you from, Fred?” asked the police officer.

With a terrible strain in his voice, and without moving, Fred replied;
“The balcony.”

TGIF Videos

Parting Shot

Thanks to Don of Kelowna, B.C. who provided this photo

The post Theater Seats for a Senior appeared first on Traveling Archive.

The Halloween season is in full swing here in the California Southland. The stores are full of creepy masks and crazy costumes. The TV shows and online flicks are all about horror. Several Halloween parties are scheduled starting this weekend. For many God-fearing people, this is the season of evil.

On a personal level. this is the first year in a long long time that I don’t have any caricature job scheduled for Halloween eve. I could easily volunteer myself into one of those events but I figured I should just spend a quiet evening this year with my wife.

I do have something interesting to share with you about last Friday the 13th. Remember how I wrote that it was just another day where nothing unusual happens? Well, something bad (well, not that bad) happened.

(BTW, you should read some of the comments from my Friday the 13th article.)

Early Friday the 13th morning, I volunteered to drive a good friend of mine to her colonoscopy checkup. What should have only lasted about 2 hours ate up my whole work day. By the time I got to the office it was almost closing time.

“Bite me!” said a green mango waiting for me on top of the kitchen counter and so I did. I cracked my tooth. I called my good friend Dr. Serjio who reads my TGIF Jokes. He was kind enough to accommodate me and he laughed and reminded me about the irony of what I had written concerning Friday the 13th. It was only then that I realized that these 2 highly unusual “misfortunes” had to happen on this “infamously unlucky” day.

Was my unbelief of the Friday the 13th curse wrong? Does Friday the 13th really carry some ominous negative alignment of the stars?

This is just me but I think it’s a matter of perspective. I could say I wasted my day at the hospital BUT I’d rather say it was a golden opportunity to do something kind for someone. I could say it was a dental disaster BUT I’d rather say it was a precious moment to bond with an old doctor friend.

A “silver lining” around a gloomy cloud is always there but you just have to look for it. Halloween can be a day that glorifies evil BUT I consider it a day to start a conversation with a costumed stranger and meet new friends. In all my years doing charity work on Halloween’s eve, I have made countless friends. Some of them are reading this email.

“Nothing can dim the light that shines from within.”

— Maya Angelou

TGIF people!

From the TGIF Vault

Here’s a rerun joke

TGIF Videos

Parting Shot

Thanks to Tom of Pasadena who provided this photo

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