PrintMay 15, 2009
Friday Tales From 57 States: A Week of Jocularity
“He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh.” Psalms 4.2a
And so it came to pass that, in the month of flowers, there was much jocularity in and around the POTUS Palace.
It pleased His Obamaness to gather together prominent members of the Town Crier Guild to be entertained by Court Jesters from among the Realm of the 57 States.
And, as was the custom at such gatherings begun by POTUSs of yore, His Obamaness favored the gathering with some jesting of His own. Of course, as was also the custom, He relied on help from the two diminutive former circus workers, Little Hope and Small Change, as they held high over their heads the royal tablets upon which had been written the witty sayings that His Obamaness would read to delight the Criers and all others in attendance.
For example, warm jocularity filled the room when His Obamaness saith,
“My next 100 days will be so successful, I will complete them in 72 days. And on the 73rd day, I will rest."
Several prominent members of the Thespian Guild were in attendance for they, too, are great champions of His Obamaness. And they laughed at this saying from His Obamaness for the burden of being perceived as god-like is also a Cross (or maybe a Crescent Moon or a Star of David) that they, too, must bare.
All went well in the spirit of jocularity until, in the minds of some, one of the Jesters spoke of matters that may have crossed into the Land of Bitterness when she said,
“I hope Limbaugh the Leper’s eyeballs drop out, his tongue swells to twice the size of that belonging to a great bison, and he quickly descends into the netherworld - for he offers no verbal tribute to His Obamaness.” (Or something like that.)
His Obamaness laughed at her words, so most of those in the Great Hall where the gathering was held were confident that this jocularity was appropriate, for His Obamaness would not laugh at anything inappropriate, unless it referred to the Special Olympics.
Alas, it was also a week where jocularity ruled supreme in the POTUS Palace where Bob-ben-Baghdad Bob, also known as “Bob Junior,” or just “Junior,” held court for the Town Criers who worked at the Palace.
At the regular gathering of the Criers, Junior was gracious to offer his own style of jocularity when asked a question about the paintings that depicted how some warriors of the Realm treated some captives in the War Against Persons Who Hold Strong Negative Feelings Against The People Of Realm And Are Inclined to Activate Those Feelings With Violence Against Same.
One of the Criers asked Junior about the artwork and Junior’s answer was so cleverly confusing as to bring jocularity into the room on stilts. Had the subject been about directional referencing, it would have gone something like this:
Junior: “Recently His Obamaness said, as you know for I told you so, that Up is Up. Now, in His wisdom, He has decided that it is in the best interests of the Realm that Up become Down.”
Crier: “Wait, what changed his mind?”
Junior: “Well, His Obamaness’ mind did not actually change. He simply chose to look at Up from a different and new perspective.”
Crier: “There’s another perspective to Up?”
Junior: “Well, yes, of course there is. If, for example, you’re standing on your head when you say ‘Up’ it is actually Down, is it not?”
Crier: “Yes, but--”
Junior: “His Obamaness looked at Up from a variety of positions, including diagonal, sideways, even from the cosmic perspective of there really not being a literal ‘Up’ because, as you may know, all space is curved.”
Now, behold, as this exchange went on at great length, the Town Criers began to realize that Junior was playing the role of Court Jester so as to provoke jocularity. It was at this moment that one of the Palace Criers began to make strange noises with an electronic device for communicating with distant others. Seeing how this brought laughter, yet another Town Crier stood up, took off his shoe, and pretended he was talking through a communication device to another.
As all this happened, laughter filled the room. And, what had been a faux serious discussion about what’s Up, became a gathering not unlike that hosted by His Obamaness in the Great Hall.
Now, alas, just when the Criers though they had all the jocularity they could handle for one week, Nancy from Wonderland, the Princess of The Temple on the Hill where the Lords and Ladies of the Realm gather, held court to explain what she knew and when she knew it concerning the treatment given to the same captives mentioned above.
Lo, her statements at first puzzled those trying to understand them, until it came to pass that the Criers realized that she too was jesting. For no one could possibly discern what was Up and what was Down in what she was saying. It was all upside down, or downside up.
Alas, Nancy too is a Jester, some thought. Or, she is too much a friend of the Botox Medicine Man.
[For an explanation of the title of this series see this video . Previous episodes can be found here:
1. John Wins in Shaman Rick’s House, 8/08
2. The Donkey Clan Gather, 8/08
3. The Elephant Clan Gathers, 9/08
4. Arlen the Flying Elephant, 4/09
5. His Obamaness Has 'A Gift', 4/09
6. The Three Amigos, 4/09
7. Pirates, Poodle, and the Panda, 4/09
8. Joseph the Dreamer Speaks, 4/09
9. His Obamaness in Europa, 4/09
10. More Tales, 4/09
11. His Obamaness and the Chrysler 5/09
12. The Elephant Stampede, 5/09
13. The Great Distraction, 5/09]
