A Ho Lotta Gigglin’ Goin’ On

The evening started out with the best of intentions.  In addition to our usual, walk from one end of Oshkosh to the other and laugh at how much we don’t fit in …Glynnis and I opted to go to the percussion ensemble concert at the UW.

As we walked, we had our usual giggle about the store on Main St. that advertises, “Ho-Made Meat.”  This has lead us to wonder: do they need a ho to make the meat, or is the meat made out of an actual ho?   Glynnis has said that she’d love to go into that store and inquire “Excuse me, do you need me to make some meat?  I’m a ho!”

When we got to the percussion ensemble concert it was highly enjoyable.  (Especially the samba version of Bach’s Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring!)  However, there was one glitch in the middle.  One of the pieces was about the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.  The earnest student teacher conducting that piece was explaining that some of the source material for the piece was some Chinese tunes including: “The Song of the Ho.” 

That was when Glynnis and I learned first hand exactly why it is called “gut-busting” laughter.  We were both convulsing in our seats attempting to get ourselves under control for this highly serious piece.  Now as is, what with having the sense of humor of a 12 year old boy ….I probably would have found “The Song of the Ho” mildly amusing.  But as we’d just had the lengthy conversation on ho-made meats….we both had a very hard time holding it together for that piece.

Eventually I managed to calm down.  Then I had a flashback (as we Madison alumni tend to…) about my college years.  I was at a small, somewhat informal, open mike night in my church basement.  The co-director of my church choir brought in his men’s choir to perform.  They were going to sing a song with multiple harmony parts about some uber-serious topic like dead Serbian babies.  About 10 seconds into this beautifully performed song, somebody’s camera automatically started rewinding, quite loudly.  And I had to put my head down on the table to attempt to squelch my giggles.

So, back to the present,  I’m thinking of this, while already trying to stop myself laughing about the Ho Song remark…..and wow did my abs get a work out!  As soon as the Tiananmen Square piece ended, Glynnis and I, both now with stomach aches….exploded into laughter instead of applause.

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