Jokes

On Sunday Scott & I had a chance to spend a few hours with his daughter Deborah. We only had a few hours to spend with her so instead of taking her out to dinner we decided to order pizza from my house and begin the 2008 halloween decorations!

Robbie, Deborah, Scott and I had a ball sorting through the decorations and putting together the graveyard and as many of the light up decorations as we could before Scott had to take Deb back to her grandmothers. We had so much fun and she loved the various decorations that I have collected over the years!

As mostof you know, I LOVE HALLOWEEN!! I believe I got that (whatever that is) from Dad! He loved Alford Hitchcock, Creature Feature (Dr. Paul Bearer), Tails from the Cript, and Elvira!

He always enjoyed seeing the pictures from my various yard scenes and the crazy costumes I came up with. I remember he was especially impressed with my witch costume last year.

All this (and Mich's previous post on daddy's laughter) got me thinking about dad's jokes. One of my favorites is the one about the polock that went to the eye doctor for glasses. After many failed attempts to get the polock to cover one eye so that he could read the eye chart, the doctor finally gets a paper bag and cuts out two flaps. He places the bag over the polock's head and lifts the right flap.... low and behold the polock is crying. The doc takes the bag off his head and begins to appologize! "I'm so sorry if I offended you..." The polock cut in and says "That's ok, I just had my heart set on wire rims"! hehehehe

Dad also loved the rhyme thingies (can't remember what they are called and when i typed this one into the yahoo search it came back with a whole page of stories from the bible ???)

I see, said the blind man. Who never saw before and never will again. :)

And limericks....

There once was a lady from Niger

Who smiled as she rode on a tiger

They came back from the ride

With the lady inside

And the smile on the face of the tiger

And one that I like....

No matter how grouchy you're feeling

You'll find a smile more or less healing,

It grows in a wreath

All around the front teeth

Thus preventing the face from congealing

And nutty things he said while on an outing....

(Pointing at a really fat person in front of you)

"Have you ever wondered what you look like from behind"?

I tried this on my friend Colleen years ago at the bradenton mall. We spent the day cutting up and were about to leave the mall when we decided an Orange Julius was in order!

As we approached the counter there were two rather large ladies standing in front of us.

(Finally, I thought to myself, a chance to use dad's line)

So I turn to colleen and quietly say...." Have you ever wondered what you look like from behind"? (Me Snickering)

Just about the moment when I'm really getting into a belly laugh the woman turns around and Colleen says "Hi Aunt Pat" (Horror of horrors!!!!!) It really was her aunt and cousin standing in front of us at the counter!!! I could have slipped right through the lines in the tile floor!!!

I never used that one again!!!

I'll try to think of others but please help me out and post some of the jokes/limericks or other funny things that you remember dad telling/saying over the years!

Laughter is the best medicine!!

Kymmie

Daddy's Laughter

Daddy loved to laugh! He laughed at you, with you, and he often made you laugh, too! Think about the time that you spent with Daddy. Remembering the times that he made you laugh? Today I will share a just a few memories about Daddy, laughing, and shopping. I hope you will leave comments about your shopping experiences with Daddy. We would all love to share in your memories.

Shopping

Shopping was always a grand adventure with Daddy because you knew it would be full of little surprises. Moments that would be beyond your control that you didn't want to miss and knew you would laugh about it for years to come! One of the special ways he liked to begin was often used when entering the first store of the outing. He had the ability to trip over nothing and make a spectacle of himself and everyone with him.:) We all endured the looks of people around us as he would point, at nothing, and proclaim loudly he just couldn't believe they would leave something like that on the floor! Then he would draw you in by asking you questions. Did you see it? Can you believe they would be so careless? Then he would walk around the object that was not there and point at it repeatedly. By this time every person that entered the store behind you had looked, and you have to admit that you had looked, too. Then somehow you would find your self pointing to the invisible item and saying there is nothing there, come on, let's go! Then people looked at you like why aren't you helping him, he must need help. Just when you were sure a store manager would appear he would straighten up and tell you to quit fooling around and walk away from the offending spot to complete his shopping. His tripping over nothing ability was used in many locations outside of stores. Flea markets, restaurants, sidewalks, and anywhere in his travels that a crowd of people would have the chance to stop and stare!

Daddy almost always put on after shave before he went out on errands. However, if he didn't then watch out. Smelling good while shopping was a must therefore, while shopping he inevitably would come to the bottles of aftershave and you knew he was going to test the scents! He would carefully look at the bottles and then remark on the one that he seemed to like that day. I would simply say "Daddy!" repeatedly because I knew he was going to open the the box and then unscrew the top of the bottle! He would comment on the scent and then dab some on his finger and put it on his face! Satisfied, he would put it back and say,"They'll never miss it." or "They'll never know." I was always mortified, which would explain why he did it so frequently. I apologize to all those men that were missing the last drop of after shave in their bottle. Rest assured it was put to good use!

Daddy also had a way of making me speechless, literally! I can't begin to count the number of times he would say something I would be rendered speechless which he always would use to his advantage. Imagine that! He would get so tickled after he had done it until we were both laughing until we cried. One such occasion was in KMart of all places. We had just be through his hunchback dragging of the leg experience, more on this later. We were both making a concerted effort to get serious again. We both had something to purchase and he went first. Next, as the sales girl rang up my order and I got out my coins to give her exact change he announced that I didn't speak English!!!!! Now any normal daughter would simply say of course I speak English stop teasing the poor sales clerk. However, as everyone knows, Daddy had a way of stumping my normal abilities. So in that surreal moment I was literally speechless. I stood there staring at him and the clerk in shock that he would say something so outlandish. The clerk smiled at me in an exaggerated way counted out the coins she needed from my out stretched hand. She then handed my bag to me and said slowly and loudly to have a nice day. Now how that would have helped me understand her had I only spoken Spanish I'll never know.

Finally, as we were walking out the automatic doors my voice magically returned. I turned to Daddy and hit him on the arm. I speak English and Daddy's reply was "I know, but she doesn't!" He laughed so hard his body shook all the way to the car and by that time my sense of humor had kicked in gear and we laughed until we cried.:)

Daddy always wanted to find a bargin no matter what he was shopping for that day. He loved hunting through old stuff to find a treasure. Sometimes it was something specific, yet other times it was just to look and see if what magical item you might need for the future. Once when I was a young I went shopping with Daddy and Mom and I was exhausted from all the looking. We were not finding that special something and I finally asked in a tired voice,"Can't we do it the old fashion way and go to the store and buy it?" That question became a family favorite and was remembered and laughed about on many shopping excursions.

One winter all six family members went shopping together when Jayme was a baby. It had gotten hot in the store we had taken off our coats. Mom was carrying Jayme, so we pilled our coats onto the baby stroller. Some people had passed by and had taken notice of the over loaded stroller. That got Daddy's attention! He walked over to us and in a loud voice said, "Oh no! You have have smothered the baby! Oh the poor baby!" Heads all around us began to turn and look to see who had smothered the baby. People began to move near us so they could get a better look at these horrid people who would pile their winter coats upon a helpless baby in a stroller. No one seemed to notice Mom was holding Jayme and that he was fine. It was so funny that we all started saying poor baby, who put their coat on the baby, or the baby must be very hot as we moved through the store. Everyone looked at the stroller a we passed by checking on that unseen baby. Since this was back in the 70's no one ran to call child services! I am sure we were the topic of dinner conversation that night. :)

There are so many funny memories swimming around in my mind I couldn't begin to blog them all! Some make me smile while others make me laugh out loud. Another day I'll share other stories about being with Daddy, and how he made an ordinary event extraordinary with laughter! Daddy loved to laugh, joke, tease and make others laugh with him. I hope you're smiling now as an old forgotten memory has popped into your mind. Quick before you lose it make a comment on this post and share it with his other family and friends. God blessed us when he created us with the ability to laugh and again when he allowed Daddy to touch our lives with his laughter!

Love,

Mich

More from Imagination Station!

Calico the Clown was a character from the pilot of Imagination Sation and was played by Corey Blake. I contacted Corey via email last night and was delighted when he responded! We met for dinner tonight and he was able to paint a picture for me of what it was like to work with dad on this project. When he was hired dad gave him a book about clowns so that he could prepare for the role. Corey said it was obvious that dad had a clear vision of what he wanted out of each character and that it was important to him that everything be authentic. Even the makeup was researched because believe it or not a clowns make up has special meaning.

The following is from wikipedia:

The whiteface character-type is often serious, all-knowing (even if not particularly smart), bossy and cocky. He is the ultimate authority figure. He serves the role of "straight-man" and sets up situations that can be turned funny.

The auguste character-type is often an anarchist, a joker, or a fool. He is clever and has much lower status than the whiteface. Classically the whiteface character instructs the auguste character to perform his bidding. The auguste has a hard time performing the task given which leads to funny situations. Sometimes the auguste plays the role of an anarchist and purposefully has trouble following the whiteface's directions. Sometimes the auguste is confused or is foolish and is screwing up less deliberately.

The contra-auguste plays the role of the mediator between the whiteface character and the auguste character. He has a lower status than the whiteface but a higher status than the auguste. He aspires to be more like the whiteface and often mimics everything the whiteface does to try to gain approval. If there is a contra-auguste character, he often is instructed by the whiteface to correct the auguste when he is doing something wrong.

I found this very interesting! Ya learn somethin new every day!!!

As he was telling me about how he was hired, the role he played and information about his character he mentioned that his "Parents" (the clowns parents) were trapeze artists in a circus and he left the circus because he felt like a misfit because he was a clown. His parents were the Flying Esmeraldas. It reminded me that dad had named several of the characters based on family and friends.

The flying Esmeraldas are based on The Flying Wallendas who came to First Assembly in Bradenton many years ago, Princess Falling Star was based on Pam Thum who is also known by her Indian Name, Princess Shining Star, and both Autumn and Destinty were based on my niece.

He also shared with me about the set. He told me that he has never worked on another set that was as expertly propped as dads. All the props were perfect to that time period and he was amazed by the victrola and the recording that dad had of Abe Lincoln's speach. It was used in one of the scenes. He told me that the filming was in late 2000 or early 2001 so it has been a long time since he was in touch with dad, making his willingness to meet with me on such short notice even more special. It was such a treat to get to talk with him! Thanks Corey!!

Kymmie,

What a beautiful way to save memories of your Dad. I hope everyone will share.

One special memory I have is of the night you were born. We left Sweetwater earlier in the day on Friday, March 16th, as the roads washed out behind us due to a terrible storm. At the hospital, your Dad was able to be with me through labor and delivery. Things happened very quickly. Your Dad ran down the hall carrying the IV pole as the nurse rushed me to the delivery room. In just a very short time you were born. Dr. Ruff placed you on my tummy and within a minute you took your first breath. Your Dad watched you and at that point said, "That's a miracle." He loved you from the first minute you were born, just as he did with each of his children.

Love,

Mom

Braun 1:1

Dad always said:
"Blessed is he who expects nothing for he shall never be disappointed."
but he also taught me the opposite of that, and it is an awesome tool that has gotten me through so many difficult times over the years.
Dad said that we should prepare for the worst, not to expect it, but definitely prepare for it...
Then pray like hell that it doesn't happen. If it does happen then we can handle it, we were prepared...
And even tho at the time he said this next part I didn't really believe it was true. It is true!
Dad said that even if all hell brakes loose, the end result will not be as bad as we originally feared.
I have found this to be true so many times over the years.
Dad told me this when I went away to college. As I have looked back over the years he was teaching me this even as a young child. How to work on motors so I would not be completely lost if my car broke down. Or packing for a trip... all the what if`s Dad would prepare for even tho most of them didn`t happen. I have seen that each one of us have learned that same lesson in different areas of our lives. that is an awesome gift that Dad gave us. The cool thing about this is that each of us took something Different, and that together we have enough of him that we as siblings collectively have all we need to get through anything.
He would expect us to use it now, as hard as it is. Stephen James Braun had his faults, we all do, but there is so much good that he left us all we have to do is look in all the unlikely places and the treasures we will find will amaze us all.
I miss you Dad

I found this image on stumble upon and thought it fit perfectly here so I thought I'd share it with those of you that might come to visit this site. Maybe it will speak to your soul as well!

Imagination Station

As most of you know, dad was in LA to try to put together a kids television show. Unfortunatly the web site is no longer available but my very clever cousin Jay found an archive site where you can view the pages!! Below is the email i received from my Aunt Blanche. It gives the instructions for viewing the site!


I had a bit of luck this morning!
My boss showed me a website that brings up archived material and it seems to
have most of the original content!

First go to:

http://www.archive.org/web/web.php

At the top of the page there is a place to type in the website that you're
looking for and then press "Take Me Back"
This will give you a list of all the pages that are still archived.

The website was called:

www.imaginationstationkids.com

My visit to LA

I've been in LA for 5 days now and have met some really neat people who knew my dad! It's been interesting, frustrating, uplifting and sometimes sad but being here and talking to people who knew him has been a balm for my aching heart. Seeing and holding some of his things, being in spaces that he occupied and walking his paths has brought me closer to a man I will miss everyday for the rest of my life! My visit to Friscos was fun (above pictures are of Friscos) and I really enjoyed eating a meal in a place that my dad really loved to go. He went to Friscos almost every Wednesday for the car show they host. I hope that we will be able to take his antique car there in a few weeks and show it for him. I look forward to talking with the people who knew him from here and experiencing something that he truly enjoyed! October will bring more revelations when we meet with Noel, Teresa and Wendy. I look forward to sharing with them about the man I knew as Daddy and also hearing their stories of the man the knew as Pastor.

Remembering Daddy

Hi all,

I have decided to create a place where we can all share memories and stories about the man I called Daddy. We each had a different name him. I called him Dad or Daddy, Jayme called him Papa, Mom called him honey or Steve or STEPHEN JAMES BRAUN! :) Many of you called him Pastor Braun or Brother Braun. No matter what you called him, I want to hear your stories, testimonies and memories. It is my hope that by Christmas I will have enough pictures and stories to put together a book about his life.
Thank you for loving him, thank you for loving his family!
Kymmie

PS The easiest way to post here is to log in with my user name and password.
The user name is kymmiebraun@gmail.com and the password is robbie2453