The British vs the Americans

Today I explored British vs American humour.   British: Q: Why isn't the England football team allowed to own a dog? A: Because they can't hold on to a lead. American: A man walks into a bar with a dog. The bartender says, "You can't bring that dog in here." "You don't understand," says the man. "This is no regular dog, he can talk." "Listen, pal," says the bartender. "If that dog can talk, I'll give you a hundred bucks." The man puts the dog on a stool, and asks him, "What's on top of a house?" "Roof!" "Right. And what's on the outside of a tree?" "Bark!" "And who's the greatest baseball player of all time?" "Ruth!" "I guess you've heard enough," says the man. "I'll take the hundred in twenties." The bartender is furious. "Listen, pal," he says, "get out of here before I belt you." As soon as they're on the street, the dog turns to the man and says, "Do you think I should have said 'DiMaggio'?" British: Q: Whats the difference between Cinderella and the England football team? A: Cinderella wanted to get to the ball. American: Q: Why did the coach kick Cinderella off the baseball team? A: Because she ran away from the ball. British: Why is England the wettest country? Because the queen has reigned there for years! American: A newcomer to Seattle arrives on a rainy day. She  gets up the next day and it's raining. It also rains the day after that, and the day after that. She goes out to lunch and sees a young kid and, out of despair, asks, "Hey, kid, does it ever stop raining around here?" The kid says, "How should I know? I'm only 6." Today we visit the Marie Selby garden in Florida in selective colour.

Koi, The Living Art

Marilyn's Photo of the Day When it comes to Koi in the pond, it seems to take thousands of pictures snapped to get a few that are enduring.  This top picture seems to be one of those to me.  The combination of the Koi in a circle along with the abstract sense created by the distortion of the water.  These Koi were at the Marie Selby Botanical Garden, in Sarasota, FL.

The Intensity of Vanda

Vanda Orchid

Vanda Orchids   Of all the orchids, the Vanda has the richest most intense colour of purple in the large flowers.  It is thought to be the most highly evolved of the orchids.  We enjoy it for its fragrance as well as large exotic flowers. The Marie Selby Garden has an extensive orchid collection with unusual species on display in the conservatory.

Koi, The Living Art

Koi, The Living Art  The Marie Selby Botanical Garden is located in Sarasota.  The Selby fortune was made in oil, and became part of Texaco.  This garden is located overlooking the water, so has extensive water views and is a wonderful walking garden.  It is well-known for its significant collections of gesnariads, cycads, and orchids.  It is a research facility and has preserved plants in its collections as well. My interest during this trip is to gather as many Koi images as I can. I've been to the garden each day, and am lucky to be able to sit on a bench at the water pond and pool to take pictures.  This is a large collection of Koi and they are large in size - about a foot long each of them.  There is a waterfall that flows into the pool.  The Chinese tradition says that if a Koi can make the final leap up the waterfall, it will be transformed into a Dragon. It is likely that you can see the fascination with Koi.  Their movements in the water make beautiful displays of their tails and fins and are ever-changing.