Category Archives: Monday smiles

Translating Parmesan, the cheese of choice for astronauts

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formaggio granaI did enjoy this article on Forbes.com, all about protected trademarks for local speciality foods such as Parmigiano Reggiano and Kobe beef. The author explains that when the cheese is ‘translated’ into English and called “Parmesan”, the name is no longer protected in the U.S., leading to cheeses of far inferior quality being passed off as the real thing.

Not sure if this really qualifies as a Monday smile, but food is certainly a pleasant subject!

I also discovered that real Parmigiano Reggiano is so healthy that American and Russian astronauts are fed it in space! There’s an interesting point about the trademark protection of Champagne not being applicable in the States too.

Monday smiles – Roses are red

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ROSES ARE RED

VIOLETS ARE BLUE

SUGAR IS SWEET

AND SO ARE YOU

Rebuttal

800px-Rose_rougeThe statement that “roses are red” implies that all members of the botanical family Rosaceae can be no other color. This is clearly a fallacious and erroneous assumption in view of the fact that the genus Rosa, containing more than one hundred (100) species, is found in a multitude of tinctures including, but not limited to, ocher, magenta, heliotrope, vermillion, and sunset violet. This observation can be supported, if need be, by the expert testimony of horticulturalists and elderly female persons.

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Monday smiles – Crackpot UK laws

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Many thanks to Mary Lynn for sending me this idea…

The UK’s most ancient laws are often a rich source of mirth – here is a short list, including a nod to the upcoming festive season. My absolute favorite, though, is the one about the taxman. 🙂 However many times I read it, it just goes round and round in my head!

  • It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament.
  • It could be regarded an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British king or queen’s image upside-down.
  • Eating mince pies on Christmas Day is banned.
  • The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the King, and the tail of the Queen.
  • It is illegal not to tell the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing.
  • It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a suit of armour.

You might also like this post about the simplification of the UK statute book.

Monday smile – Maple syrup marauders

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Thanks to the great legal humor blog Lowering the Bar, that I have posted about before, I discovered that Canada had been the victim of a theft valued in excess of $30 million Canadian dollars – 10 million pounds of syrup (that’s approx. 4.5 million kilos).

Quebec produces 70-80% of the world’s maple syrup, and the Fédération des producteurs acéricoles du Québec does indeed store lots and lots of syrup in a central location. It apparently does this to stabilize supply in times when syrup is scarce (like now, because of problems with the American harvest), and so its inventory “can, therefore, be considered a global strategic reserve.”

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