The Worst Tragedy Can Be Turned Into Comedy

Roman mosaic, Italy, from the Baths, Rome. for more details see photo in Wikipedia under comedy.

I often struggle to tell funny stories. But when I tell tragic stories people fall about laughing.

I sat at an empty desk in the USA. When I reached for a mug, somebody said, 'Don't use that.'
"Why not.'
'Our colleague died.'
'Of what?'
'HIV.'

Surely you can't make anything funny out of death? Yes, you can. Especially if nobody knows it is true.

I wrote a story for my writers' circle in London. The plot was based on something I had read in a newspaper.

I won the prize for best story.

My fellow writers were rolling, roaring with laughter.

They said, 'it was the story of the night.'
'The funniest thing you've ever written.'

I was pleased. But slightly surprised.

I had been afraid somebody would recognize the story. Would they accuse me of plagiarism?

The plot was that a bomb went off and a woman survived under a desk. She held onto the hand of her friend all night. That kept her going and consoled her.

In the morning the rescuers pulled her out. There was nobody attached to the hand.

My English listeners in London thought it was hilariously funny. They laughed when I read it. They laughed afterwards talking about it. They went home laughing.

Nobody remembered the source.

It was a dreadful, harrowing story, a witness survivor's account of a woman who survived a notorious bombing in the USA.

Retold without the circumstances, transferred out of the time, into another country, with a different narrator, the tragedy had turned into a comedy.

If I wanted to re-use that true story a second time, I would make the twist ending that she had held onto the hand of a shop mannequin all night. Maybe thinking it was her deaf friend.

The lessons learned are:

1 You can use reports of tragedies in foreign countries and foreign newspapers for comic stories, written stories, or as stand up comedy or anecdotes.

2 By writing a story, and extending it to another, you can cope with an unsettling event by ensuring that every time you recall it your mind moves on to another, story, from a sad story to a happy or funny story.

Author
Angela Lansbury
travel writer and photographer.

Please come to Braddell Heights Advanced toastmasters on Wednesdays. Singapore time 7 pm to 9.30 pm. Workshop with Faith on Writing is Rewriting Online.
tinyurl.com/BHACOOL
Please share links to your favourite posts.

Best, Safest, Travel Clothes And Bags - and avoiding real life bears

Why not travel all in black so that you are co-ordinated? No dirt and stains.

Firstly, don't have a plain black suitcase. On 9/11 (11 Sept 2001) a bomb threat was made to my Singapore Airlines plane going to S Africa for a conference. Our incoming  and outgoing plane was directed to a distant runway. All the luggage was offloaded onto the runway. Each family or group in turn had to identify our own luggage. My bag was black. I was faced by a river of black bags. Guarded by men with machine guns. I ran from bag to bag saying, "Here it is - no, it isn't."

What I look for in travel clothes & bags

Loose
Hard-wearing
Easy to wash
Smart enough to get me upgraded
Handy pockets
Secure anti-theft pockets
cheerful colours
some pattern to not show stains
Colours easy to co-ordinate
Not such small sleeves that it feels like wearing a tourniquet
Not such large sleeved that I can't wear a jacket on top
Patterns of lack of patterns to not clash
Arms down to wrists or with tab so they let down to wrists
Anti mosquito
Protection from sunburn

For a jacket
Pocket big enough for a hat
Hood attached so I can't lose it
Secure pockets
Inside pockets
Zips off fast at security
Won't stain easily
crease-free
Enough pattern to hide stains but not so much that it clashes with everything else

Shoes
No heels - too tiring and they rub up inflable escape chutes so you will be asked to remove them and leave them behind or carry them
Quick release straps so you can remove them at airport security

Suitcase
Not black.
Add identifying ribbon to handle.
Add strap in case locks break
Carry food and drink in a separate bag
4 wheels so I can wheel it upright without stooping and straining my back
Solid top so I can put a handbag on top
ideally an outside pocket for extras, but not one which when full tips over

Suitcase cover
Won't work if it prevents me opening an outside pocket

The packing list in wiki reminded me that you need sports clothes and a sports bra for using the gym on holiday or at a hotel.

Take insect repellent and sunscreen and water bottles and a torch (flashlight in the USA), swimsuit and sports bra for the hotel, sturdy waterproof walking shoes.
You want to avoid leaving food in your backpack near you overnight, and prepare food far away from your sleeping area.

Apart from theft, loose pockets allow items to drop out. Two suggestions:
Double pockets with your credit card inside the pocket inside or behind the main larger pocket.

If zips break or your new jacket has no zips on pockets, add a zip or press stud.

No time, no zip, can't sew zips?
You can also sew in an airline amenity bag which has a zip.
Pack a small sewing kit including a self-threading needle and a couple of press studs.

For advice on backpacks and how to escape or fight a bear, see
https://wikitravel.org/en/Wilderness_backpacking
It says bears are like dogs and chase after somebody running away. (Same goes for the police.)

Useful websites
https://www.bustle.com/p/the-15-best-travel-dresses-18224345
craghoppers
https://www.craghoppers.com/
ebay
https://wikitravel.org/en/Packing_list

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

The Miracle of Mosta in the Middle of Malta

A map of Malta shows you how easy it is to drive around. Roads across the island lead you to the most amazing sight.

Map from Wikipedia article on Malta.

In the middle is the wonderful domed Roman Catholic church of Mosta. The exterior out-does all the other churches and cathedrals I have visited. I imagine that the architect who designed must have been a part-time pastry chef used to decorating wedding cakes with little wavy lines and rows of patterns.

This picture is from Wikipedia. I hope to find an even better picture for you later. You can just about see the stone 'frills', which must be honoured with a technical term. The tops of the pillars are a riot of little curvy leaves. We drove in from a curving side street and suddenly saw a slice of yellow stone wedding cake at the end of the 'trik' (track or narrow lane).  

This picture from Wikipedia (by Vask retouched by Arch2all) shows the yellow colour of the local limestone.

The lower walls behind the pillars are filled with niches containing statues. The statues often have golden halos or gold patterns on the Madonna's robes which are traditional blue and white.

Inside the dome and walls are all blue and gold. This is Europe's third largest unsupported Christian dome after St Paul's in London and St Peter's in Rome.

 In World War II a German pilot dropped a bomb on the dome. It burst through the roof during the Sunday evening service (mass) and rolled along the central aisle. Whilst in London you and I might have ducked behind a pew and prayed, this place has only fold-up chairs. So, seeing the bomb rolling towards the doors, to avert a collision, a quick-thinking person sprang up and opened the door(s). Three hundred people prayed. The bomb rolled out and down the steps without either damaging the building further nor hurting a single soul.

Photo by T Sharot. Copyright.

After the war, I was told, the pilot of the plane came back to apologise. 

Wikipedia has a whole article on it, the date in 1942 when the bomb fell, that 300 people were present, the fact that the original bomb was dumped at sea, so the one displayed is a replica. Wikipedia also had the name of the architect and the fact that the rotunda is 'unsupported' (by internal pillars) but rests on a massive, strong, thick circular wall, thirty feet wide (9.1 metres). 

The air is heavy with incense.

You may wish to stop in town for tea. It's a bright little town with lots of smart shops. You can sit enjoying a view or the cathedral on the first floor (this is level two if you are American - Brits have ground floor and first floor) in a nearby cafe on the corner. 

We found an even bigger and better selection of cakes in a small specialist cake shop, called The Cake Box, on the street level left hand corner as you face the front of the church, a few steps across the road diagonally facing the cathedral.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotunda_of_Mosta

The Cake Box, Mosta, tel:+365 2010 9255; email:thecakeboxmosta@cateressence.com

They don't have toilets but there's a sign to public toilets nearby.