Sunday, November 24, 2013

Overheard in the Office (Last Night)...

I was exclaiming over a photo from WWI which I did not recollect having seen before, of the Royal Pigeon Snafflers motorcycling away from the Royal Pigeon-Snaffling Lorry with wicker spanners full of pigeons. As one would imagine it would at Roseholme Cottage, this somehow led to a discussion of carrier pigeons...
RX: "They found a pigeon from WWI or WWII in a chimney... dead of course..."

Me: "Well I didn't think it had retired there. 'It was living in the chimney. Had gone quite mad.'"

RX: "It thought it was a bat! All black with soot and hanging upside down. Shell-shocked, most likely..."

11 comments:

global village idiot said...

'E's just restin'!

(I know it's entirely gratuitous but I wanted to let you know that SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE reads you on a Sunday morning)

gvi

Mike V. said...

IIRC, they think it was from the D-Day landings and had a coded message on its leg. Last I knew the GCHQ was trying to decode it.

Anonymous said...

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/17/15970511-unbreakable-wwii-carrier-pigeon-code-cracked-says-canadian-enthusiast

I know, it just popped up that way.

Ulises from CA

staghounds said...

I believe you meant spanniers.

And you do know about the "pigeon spies" the fake German pigeons, right?

Anonymous said...

I think you might mean "panniers."

"Spanners" is British for wrench.

I don't know what "spanniers" are, unless they are misspelled people from Spain.

Tam said...

They are a "play on words" which is a type of humor found among my people.

Erich505 said...

This was a pretty hilarious post, and the comments were every bit as good. :)

BGMiller said...

A pune or play on words...
Also known as a spanner to our cousins across the pond...


BGM

Old NFO said...

Good one!! :-)

Ken said...

Vaguely simian, yes. Also somewhat reminiscent of Alley Oop in a toup'.

jim in houston said...

He's not dead, he's just sleeping! (Sorry, I'm just jazzed over the biggest Second Coming since Brian's. A Python reunion? Be still, my heart.)