Math Is Fun Forum

phrontister

Real Member

From: The Land of Tomorrow

Registered: 2009-07-12

Posts: 4,877

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

Hi all,

Here's one along the lines of stefy's nice joke in post #1 that some of you may know (well, I can think of one person who probably would )

Last edited by phrontister (2012-11-14 13:35:51)

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"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

Hi phrontister;

That is going to bring a lot of questions!

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In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

phrontister

Real Member

From: The Land of Tomorrow

Registered: 2009-07-12

Posts: 4,877

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

I expect so...but not from you.

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"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

He wasn't one of my favorites. Dino Crocetti was numero uno in the old neighborhood.

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In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

phrontister

Real Member

From: The Land of Tomorrow

Registered: 2009-07-12

Posts: 4,877

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

Sorry, Bobby, but I've never heard of DC. In all my 28 years I don't recall ever having heard any version of it, so I listened to 3 or 4 versions on YT just now. Definitely not my style at all, but I'd heard the title somewhere along the line and liked the joke.

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"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

Hi;

Yes, he was before your time. I forgot that.

---

In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

phrontister

Real Member

From: The Land of Tomorrow

Registered: 2009-07-12

Posts: 4,877

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

This is a greatly abbreviated form of a story that was told to me over several nights at a boys' camp when I was young.

Our hut leader was a terrific story-teller with a great imagination, and in his far-too-short allotted time he kept us spellbound with many adventures (more than those below) that were experienced by the parties in the tale. 

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"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

Hi;

---

In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

Agnishom

Real Member

From: Riemann Sphere

Registered: 2011-01-29

Posts: 24,996

Website

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

F1
I didn't understand Sand Crab and Mud Crab's tale!
:

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'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.'
'God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it'
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

Hi Agnishom;

---

In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

Agnishom

Real Member

From: Riemann Sphere

Registered: 2011-01-29

Posts: 24,996

Website

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

Hmmm ...

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'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.'
'God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it'
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

Hi;

You have to be as old as I am to know both his jokes. Makes me think he might not be 28...

---

In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

Agnishom

Real Member

From: Riemann Sphere

Registered: 2011-01-29

Posts: 24,996

Website

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

After all you are not more than 100

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'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.'
'God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it'
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

I was born after WW1 so that Tipperary song is slightly before my time. The other one is in my window.

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In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

Agnishom

Real Member

From: Riemann Sphere

Registered: 2011-01-29

Posts: 24,996

Website

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

The other one is in my window.

Which one and what window?

---

'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.'
'God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it'
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

The sand crab joke is a play on words of the old Tony Bennett hit. It was made circa 1955?

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In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

Agnishom

Real Member

From: Riemann Sphere

Registered: 2011-01-29

Posts: 24,996

Website

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

Maybe......even my father was not born before 1955..... I dont know

---

'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.'
'God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it'
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

Hi;

It was written in 1954 and released in 1962. It is not important, just a piece of trivia.

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In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

phrontister

Real Member

From: The Land of Tomorrow

Registered: 2009-07-12

Posts: 4,877

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

Hi Bobby,

You have to be as old as I am to know both his jokes. Makes me think he might not be 28...

I'm not exactly sure how the age of the two old tales that I related has any bearing on my age, as I only happen to know them umpteenth-hand.

I also happen to know Pythagoras' Theorem umpteenth-hand...

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"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

Hi;

It relates that the guy telling the story probably was telling it a long time ago, else he would not know of these people or songs. He was telling it a long time ago and you were there...

---

In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

phrontister

Real Member

From: The Land of Tomorrow

Registered: 2009-07-12

Posts: 4,877

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

The stories were from different sources, and I don't know how they came by them. Maybe they were passed on to them by their great-grandfathers...or maybe I'm so old that I've forgotten how old I am.

Oh my gosh, your a year younger than me (I believe)...!

I just checked my birth certificate and was dismayed to find that the '8' is actually a badly-written '3'. In fact, the certificate is so old now that the other cyphers are too hard for me to read - even with my bottle-bottom glasses and my magnifiers.

So all these years I've thought I was much younger than I am!

This is all starting to make sense now, because I clearly remember seeing Bobby at the 1904 St. Louis Olympic Games. He was sitting in the grandstand across the other side of the arena from me, cheering away and waving his American flag with one hand and his walking stick with the other. Comparing my memory of him then with his photo that he posted here on MIF, he hasn't aged a bit since then. It's remarkable how Bobby has maintained his youth all these years!

Ah...the memories.

Last edited by phrontister (2012-11-16 20:27:49)

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"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

So,

2012 - 28 = 1904?

I was not even born in 1904 but you may have seen Pappym or even GrandPappym at those games. As you may have guessed we all look alike.

---

In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

phrontister

Real Member

From: The Land of Tomorrow

Registered: 2009-07-12

Posts: 4,877

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

Hmm...

2012 - 1904 = 108

So if that story about me seeing you (or rellym) is true and it wasn't a dream, I'm either dead or the oldest person alive. Or I need to do a maths refresher. Or I need better glasses.

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"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

I believe you are probably imagining the whole thing. I mean some people want to believe so bad that they have seen me that they just think they did.

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In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

phrontister

Real Member

From: The Land of Tomorrow

Registered: 2009-07-12

Posts: 4,877

Re: A very nice "joke"! ! !

I think that's it, Bobby!

I was probably so swept along with the whole "I've gotta know how old Bobby is and what he looks like" thing here on MIF that my imagination took hold. No other explanation makes sense...so, closure at last!

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"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson