Friday Funnies

Every now and then you see a photo opp(ortunity) which has some distractions in the way. 

This post has a couple of examples. The photos were taken last weekend in Alton Bay, NH, after we went to Pop’s Clam Shell and stayed to watch a water skiing competition.

This canine has one paw on the wheel as he/she snoozed on the dashboard.

Shortly after the first photo was taken, the pup woke up still keeping a paw on the wheel.

This license plate aptly describes this post and, ironically, was spotted the same day.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

 We're going to the 73rd annual art show of the Nashua Area Artists association

in Greeley Park, Nashua, NH

Friday Funnies

Today's post is connected to a now famous movie line from the 1975 classic film, Jaws.

The actual line in the movie is: You're gonna need a bigger boat. However, it's widely mis-remembered as We're gonna need a bigger boat. 

And, I thought of that line recently after seeing this car with its load of two kayaks, only my take was: Maybe they need a bigger car ?

Maybe a bigger car is needed?

In the film, Chief Martin Brody (played by Roy Scheider) speaks the words after he gets a close-up look at the huge great white shark as it surfaces next to the boat owned and piloted by Captain Sam Quint (played by Robert Shaw).

But, did you know that line wasn't in the original script?

That's because it originated during film production since the production's support barge, which carried camera equipment and food, was too small for its load. What started as an inside joke became a line repeated among the cast and crew. Whenever anything went wrong on set, the crew would joke to the producers, You're gonna need a bigger boat.

During the actual filming, Scheider improvised the line during the shark encounter scene and director Steven Spielberg kept it in the final cut.

And, now you know — the rest of the story.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

It's a cooler and quieter weekend in Nashua, NH

Friday Funnies

The Nashua River which is directly behind the our mill apartment residence often has kayakers and occasionally those fishing from a boat.

Recently, this couple was seen on the river. The female boater seemed interested in fishing, unlike than her male companion.

Seems some folks can't get away from their cell phones no matter the location.

It just goes to show that you never know what sights can be seen on the river.

Enjoy Your Weekend Everyone

Stay 🆒 another heat advisory 🥵 in NH until early next week

Friday Funnies

Today is not only the last day of this month, it's also the last Friday for a funny. 

Here's something unusual, a canoe in a garage area. But, it's not just parked in any garage.

It's inside the garage at Clocktower Place, Nashua, NH, ironically in what was once a water canal for the former Nashua Manufacturing Company, a textile mill.

In 1825, a 3-mile-long Nashua River Power Canal was built for the mill to divert water from the Nashua River. The waterway channeled water through a gatehouse to drive turbines and power the looms.

In the late 1980s, the former water canal was paved over and converted into an underground parking garage. This was done as part of a major historic preservation project that converted the former mill into Clocktower Place residential apartments, our current home.

This vintage postcard shows the original water canal at the Nashua Manufacturing Company.

In answer to comment queries: Yes, the canoe was put in the parking space by a resident as parking spaces are assigned with a monthly fee for garage parking. Garage access is by a fob keyed to the resident's account. As to whether the canoe owner knew the history, most people likely do not unless they are curious and historically-minded. Thankfully, we have not had any flooding in recent years.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

We’re going to the Lowell National Historic Park, MA

Friday Funnies

This is the Lexington, a custom-designed 75-foot two-level paddle wheel boat operated by the Charles River Boat Company in Boston. 

It provides passenger cruises in Boston harbor and was especially popular this past week with the tall ships docked in the harbor. A properly loaded and balanced boat sits relatively flat on the water like in the above photo.

But, when it lists as seen above, it could mean that uneven weight distribution is the cause. In the above photo, passengers were probably gathering to one side as it passed by the tall ships. Apparently, this listing is common as there have been no reported capsizes and the Lexington has safely cruised Boston Harbor for years.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

It's going to be a quiet one in Nashua, NH.

Friday Funnies

Many times, I've taken photos and saved them in a photo file for future. What seems like an ordinary photo can be used as a photo phunny (an intentional misspelling and misuse).

That said, here's a few of those photos; please excuse my phun captions. These photos were taken over the past several years in museums, flea markets and outdoors.

Ball and Chain is an expression that can refer to a heavy physical restraint often used on prisoners to prevent their scape. It's also become a figure of speech used to describe any heavy responsibility or obligation that restricts freedom and sometimes, rather derogatorily, it refers to a spouse or partner.

Hosed ?

Hosed, used informally, can mean that something is broken, ruined, or totally messed up. Unfortunately, it can also mean that someone has been cheated or treated unfairly or is in serious trouble.

Nailed It ?

Nailed it is a term often used to successfully complete, execute, or explain something. This can refer to doing something successfully like a job or test. It's also been used as a popular internet slang to jokingly highlight a failed task.

Busting Out ?

Busting out commonly refers to escaping from captivity or a confined space, like a jail or prison. It can also be used describe to suddenly start an action, like laughing, or quitting a bad habit.

Unseated ?

Unseated can mean to have someone removed from a position of authority or office. When used in a literal sense, it can describe a sudden fall or being physically thrown from a seat or saddle or falling off a bicycle.

That's all for this time, folks. I hope you’ve enjoyed and/or chucked a bit at these photo selections and interpretations. As always, feel free to add your own in a comment.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

We're off on a short road trip and new-to-us NH experience.

Friday Funnies

This weekend is a BIG birthday celebration here in the states. July 4, 2026 marks not only Independence Day but the historic 250th anniversary (semiquincentennial) of the U.S. and the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Maxine was ready and decked out in her colorful finery at the senior center earlier this week minus footwear.

A jewelry store in downtown Nashua, NH, always has a holiday window display featuring tiny mice figurines appropriately garbed for the holiday. What makes these rather special on this holiday weekend is that they are all created and produced in the U.S. and remain a family business in the state of Massachusetts.

Some of these tiny figures even had some sweet holiday baked goods which seemed larger than the mouse.

These mini mice are very collectible and known as Wee Forest Folk® and are natives of New England! They were started by the Peterson family in Massachusetts in 1972. Today, a mouse figure begins as an original clay piece which is hand sculpted by one of three sculptors in the family. The finished sculpture is molded and hand cast at the "mouse factory" in Carlisle, MA. After, skilled artists hand paint each piece to create a unique mouse personality. 

Some of these tiny mice can cost upwards of several hundred dollars depending on the piece and the holiday. That's why, I continue to admire them in the downtown window display.

Wall mural in downtown Nashua, NH

Enjoy the 🇺🇸 Holiday Weekend, Everyone

It's been a hot 🥵 week in NH & no travel plans for us. 

We'll stay home and watch a local fireworks display.

Friday Funnies

This is a lengthy Friday Funnies, but what's not-so-funny is that the story is absolutely true. Not only did it fool various media 85 years ago, but it's connected to my NJ hometown.

A newspaper story about the college and its star halfback

That's because, in 1941, one of the oddest sports hoaxes of all time was about a football team based in Plainfield, NJ. I learned of this notoriety several weeks ago through a small book, The Book of the Bizarre, Freaky Facts & Strange Stories a small 300-page treasure trove of unusual, stranger-than-fiction stories, usually limited to a page or less. 

One of these titled Don't Believe Everything You Read told the story of Plainfield teachers College football tea, that in 1941, had both a winning season and a star quarterback with its wins published in major newspapers. The problem was that the college and its team were the creation on a prankster NY stockbroker.

The story remains a legendary example of early 20th-century sports journalism, highlighting how easily made-up info could be accepted as truth. Somehow, it seems not dissimilar to current day AI.

While the book provided highlights, I wanted to learn more about how a NYC stockbroker fooled well-established newspapers and other media into printing the winning scores of a bogus football team. The school's star player, a fictional Chinese-American halfback, was described as a touchdown-scoring machine.

For 3 weeks, New York and regional Philadelphia newspapers published fabricated, winning game reports about this non-existent NJ team and its star player reporting the college's dominance in football games. Surprisingly, the reports were widely believed.

Who Started the Fantasy Football Team?

Morris Newburger, circa 1926

That distinction belongs to Morris Newburger and his business friends and co-conspirators, Lew Krupnick and Alexander Dannenbaum Jr.

Newburger was a senior partner at the family's Wall Street investment firm of Newburger, Loeb & Company and a 1926 graduate of Harvard University. The company dated to the 1860s when his grandfather (Morris Newburger) started a wholesale clothing business which transitioned into the securities business and continued until its 1974 bankruptcy.

Two of his passions were sports and pranks. Krupnick ran the mail room at the company. Dannenbaum, a friend of Newburger’s, was in the broadcast business in Philadelphia.

On Sundays, Newburger, read college football scores in NYC papers including those for small colleges like Slippery Rock State Teachers College in PA. He wondered if such colleges really existed or if a sports editor had invented them and printed game scores to fill up space. (Slippery Rock is an actual college founded as the Slippery Rock State Normal School in 1889, renamed Slippery Rock State Teachers College in 1926, and is now Slippery Rock University located in western  PA.)

Newburger soon realized that there was no way that reporters from any of the major NYC papers could attend any of these obscure games and that they depended on a school representative calling in game results every Saturday night.

That fact gave him an idea to phone in a score for a fictional school. He wanted to find out if it would get printed. So, on an Saturday in the fall of 1941, he called the sports desks of The New York Herald Tribune and told the reporter who answered that he was reporting a small-college football score: Plainfield Teachers College, 27 vs. Winona College, 3.

The call didn't arouse undue suspicion as it wasn't uncommon for smaller schools to phone in scores because of the lack of telegraph facilities. (Back then, New Jersey had actual teacher colleges in Jersey City, Newark, Paterson, Montclair, Glassboro and Trenton; none had a football team.) 

To Newburger's amusement, the score for Plainfield vs. Winona appeared in major papers the next day. The New York Times had the Plainfield-Winona score, on the first page of the sports section, near accounts of wins by Fordham, Army, Notre Dame and Dartmouth listed in alphabetical order. Plainfield-Winona was listed below Penn State.

Newburger set the teacher's college in Plainfield as it was hometown to his secretary. Another part of the prank was that teachers colleges back then were predominantly female, which made it unusual for one to have a powerhouse football team. 

The easy success of the hoax made Newburger believe that Plainfield Teachers College should continue its football season against nine also fictional teams. For the next few weeks, he called the sports desks of the papers every Saturday and, sure enough, scores for "Plainfield T." would appear in papers the next day. Plainfield was always victorious, crushing opponents in lopsided wins.

Based on these positive responses, Newburger soon recruited the help of Dannenbaum, who lived in Philadelphia, to phone scores in to the Philadelphia Record. At first, the they didn't coordinate about what team Plainfield had played. Sometimes, it had played a different opponent in Philadelphia than in New York so early reports in Philadelphia and New York papers had conflicting scores. Soon, they coordinated their reports and the reports matched.

The Team Gathered Strength

Newburger's ambitions for the Plainfield Teachers grew bigger as it now had a PR spokesperson, Jerry Croyden, actually Newburger. who installed a special phone line in his office to communicate with the papers about the team. The fictional Croyden was named after the Croyden Hotel in Manhattan.

As Croyden, Newburger sent news releases on newly-created Plainfield Teachers College stationery thanks to help from his mail room friend, Lew Krupnick. The team was named the Lions. Its coach was Ralph “Hurry Up” Hoblitzel who had once been a star player for another seemingly fictitious school, Spearfish Normal. This was actually a real school. Located in Spearfish, SD, it was renamed Black Hills Teachers College in 1941, became Black Hills State College in 1964, and was renamed Black Hills State University in 1989.

In the releases, Croyden went into detail about the team, noting its team colors (mauve and puce) and adding biographical information. He wrote that coach Hoblitzel had a unique offensive strategy, the "W" formation, in which when Plainfield players lined up with the ball in their possession, the two ends would face their own backfield so that they could "see immediately who has the ball." (I know zero about football and have no idea how this could work, but suspect it's a made-up play.)

Croyden/Newburger detailed games that Plainfield Teachers College had played earlier in the season, revealing that the team was unbeaten and untied. He created a made-up schedule of games for the 1941 playing season, including those before the first called-in win.

Sep 27: Plainfield vs. Benson Institute, 20-0

Oct 4: Plainfield vs. Scott, 12-0

Oct 11: Plainfield vs. Chesterton, 24-0

Oct 18: Plainfield vs. Fox (no known score)

Oct 25. Plainfield vs. Winona, 27-3

Nov 1: Plainfield vs. Randolph Tech (Away), 35-0

Nov 8: Plainfield vs. Ingersoll, 13-0

Nov 15: Plainfield vs. Appalachian Normal (no known score)

Nov 20: Plainfield vs. Harmony Teachers (Homecoming)

After decided to share his prank, Newburger asked fellow stockbrokers to come up with names for the players. The tall pass receiver was named "Boarding House Smithers" and the right tackle was  "Morris Newburger" who would prove critical to the team’s incredible success and ultimate downfall.

Johnny Chung cartoon

But, the most interestingly named player was sophomore star halfback, Johnny Chung, a 6-foot-3, 212-pound full-blooded half-Chinese, half-Hawaiian halfback called The Celestial Comet, who averaged an astounding (and record-breaking) 9.3 yards per carry. Chung reportedly ate rice at halftime to boost his strength and seemed destined for a future as an All-American. By today's standards this would be considered a racial stereotype. It was the last name of someone Newburger knew, a dry cleaner.

One of Croyden's fake press releases was passed to New York Post reporter Herbert Allan, who wrote glowing lines about Chung in aNovember 8, 1941 Saturday College Grapevine column: John Chung, Plainfield Teachers' Chinese sophomore halfback, has accounted for 57 of the 98 points scored by his unbeaten and untied team in four starts.

Press interest was growing steadily about this small town college football team with speculation that Plainfield might secure a bid to a small-college bowl game. This wasn’t a problem.Newburger was ready and planned for the team to play in the non-existent Blackboard Bowl in Atlantic City, NJ, at the end of the season.

Newburger managed to get Plainfield's scores into papers for several consecutive weeks. After defeating Winona, it continued its undefeated season on November 1 by crushing Randolph Tech 35-0 and followed this up with a November 8 win against Ingersoll 13-0.

The Whistle Was Blown — Who Did It?

Newspapers published the fabricated scores without fail for weeks as the team's popularity grew. By now, Newburger had started believing his own fantasy, and was talking freely with friends as though the college was a reality. Others also heard about what was going on.

But that popularity brought doubt as well and that started investigations into the school's legitimacy. It’s unclear exactly how the hoax was exposed or who was responsible.

One story is that a disgruntled Wall Street broker called The Herald Tribune and said: I'll give you a tip. There ain't no such college as Plainfield Teachers. Bunch of fellows down on Wall Street are kidding you.

Another is that Time magazine learned of the hoax, but as a weekly publication, its Sports Page Error story didn't appear until Monday, November 17, 1941, three days after it broke in the newspapers.

Meanwhile, Irving Marsh, assistant sports editor at The Herald Tribune, had called the Board of Education in Plainfield, NJ, and learned it had no such college. Reporter Caswell Adams, wrote about the hoax on Friday, November 14. His article, Brokers Find Phantom School Easy to Sell in Football, included the words: Perfect record made on paper. Hail to thee, our ghostly college, product of a dream!

That same week United Press sent the following cryptic message to client newspapers: Plainfield (NJ) Teachers College has abandoned football. They not only are unbeaten and untied. They are unreal.

After its unveiling, the hoax was surprisingly well received and several papers that had reported on the fictional school published tributes. After the hoax was traced to Newburger, he reportedly asked The New York Times to allow Plainfield Teachers to finish the season and play in the Blackboard Bowl. He said that Plainfield was set to face Appalachian Tech that week followed by Harmony Teachers for the Homecoming game on Thanksgiving Day after its undefeated season.

However the paper refused to play along and its November 17 issue had a statement: For three weeks running, the sports page of the New York Times has dutifully recorded the football victories of Plainfield (NJ) Teachers College. The Philadelphia Record and other papers also took notice of unbeaten Plainfield Teachers. The only error in all the reports was that Plainfield and its opponents were nonexistent.

In response, Newburger, as Croyden, wrote a final press release describing how the team had to forfeit its remaining games since so many players had failed their midterm exams, including Johnny Chung, adding that the team would not appear in the Blackboard Bowl.

That release was never printed, but The Philadelphia Record, which also had bought into the hoax, took a seemingly disappointed attitude that Plainfield Teachers College was gone. In an unsigned item titled Football Casualty was the wording that the newspaper regretted the passing (of Plainfield Teachers). We don’t see why exposure of the gag should have to end the team’s career. It should keep playing the rest of the season. We want to know how it made out with the now-cancelled games and if the Celestial Comet could have made All-American.

Perhaps, the hoax had provided some needed levity as it ended a few weeks before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Newburger and Dannenbaum both served in WW II as officers with the Army Air Corps and Signal Corps. No information was available on Lew Krupnick.

And now myself and all of you know the rest of the story. Plainfield Teachers College will always be remembered as having been unbeaten, untied and definitely unreal.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

It's a rainy start in Nashua, NH, with summer heat returning next week

Friday Funnies

This week I walked in downtown Nashua, NH, to a dental appointment and along the way passed several parking areas. The perfect spots to see vanity license plates.

Obviously, there's many NH residents who don’t mind the expense of these plates. Some can be rather amusing.

Others are quite simple, even if I can't quite grasp why the motorist felt compelled to have a vanity plate.

Some plates are more descriptive and easier to figure out.

On Saturday we're going to the 26th Annual Hampton Beach Master Sand Sculpting Classic here in NH. Competitors from around the world are competing, including artists from Canada, Latvia, Russia and the U.S. Artists are working on a massive, 100-ton sponsor sculpture that reflects this year's theme, From Sea to Shining Sea – America 250.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

We're off to the beach sculptures, photos next week.

Friday Funnies

Today's Friday Funnies features wildlife seen around Nashua, NH, this week to show that humans aren't the only ones with fun moments.

Summertime is the time for outdoor dining, many downtown restaurants feature al fresco dining. This squirrel took advantage of sidewalk birdseed to grab a quick meal al fresco.

Meanwhile, on the Nashua River this bird was splish-splashing and taking a bath earlier this week. 

The expression getting your ducks in a row applied to this trio of male mallards.

Apparently, it starts at a young age too as this duckling trio followed a mother mallard.

These two pairs of female and male mallards were in a row and not in the water.

A couple of painted turtles were out on a limb as we walked along the riverwalk this week.

Meanwhile, this pair of mute swans took an afternoon siesta on the Nashua River.

It's been a hot and humid week, pollen levels have been considered moderate to high. The yellow dust is seen everywhere, especially on vehicles. 

Cooler temps are forecast for the coming week, maybe some needed rain as well.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

We're home, dining al fresco & enjoying the new riverwalk & park.

Friday Funnies

There's usually one standout in every crowd even among rubber ducks. This one was among entries in the Rubber Duck Regatta over the Memorial Day weekend.

Unfortunately, being unique was its sole claim to fame as it wasn't the winning duck. Still, it was arguably the most noticeable contestant.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

It will be a quiet one in Nashua, NH, after last weekend also rainy

Friday Funnies

This photo was sent by a friend, who lives in Oregon, and is currently spending a few days in CA. This notice was posted at the entrance to the Carmel Beach.

His comment in a text message: I can’t get my foot up there even if they didn’t tell me not to! We both wondered if anyone had tried, most likely the answer was Yes if parents held small children up to the fountain.

In the U.S., Memorial Day is seen as the unofficial start of summer and observed on the last Monday in May. While the weekend signals warm weather, outdoor activities, pool and beach openings and summer travel, its true meaning is often overlooked. First known as Decoration Day, it began after the Civil War as a time to decorate graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and flags. After WWI, it was expanded to honor all U.S. soldiers who had died in any war as a day of remembrance.

Schedule of Nashua, NH, holiday events

On Monday, there will be a Memorial Day parade in Nashua, NH on Main Street. The rest of the 3-day weekend will be filled with events centered on dedication of the recently renovated Le Parc de Notre Renaissance Français, known as Renaissance Park and the new riverwalk near Clocktower Place mill apartments, our current residence. 

There's an entire slate of events from Friday through Monday. Highlights include a rubber duck regatta, live music, mural dedication, lighted kayak parade, drone show, petting zoo, yoga, and the Nashua Farmers Market. 

Saturday night, we're going to a concert at the Nashua Center for the Arts. Grammy-winning guitarist and vocalist John Pizzarelli  will perform a program, Dear Mr. Bennett, celebrating the late celebrated singer Tony Bennett. 

Last night, we took a walk along the riverwalk in advance of this weekend's activities. The wall murals are still a work-in-progress, but the performance area is completed and ready for this events. A second river fountain will be running by early next week.

The performance area is completed; wall murals are still in progress

One of two river fountains was installed this week

A view of Clocktower Place and the riverwalk across the Nashua River

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

We're staying home and enjoying the local events