Saturday, December 8, 2012

Humour : "It is curious that sailors need to make sentences*"


Radio conversation between a US navy ship and the north west of Spain, with English subtitles.
A Spanish version after Canadian and British versions : but still funny after all these years.

The story of the obstinate USA warship captain and the lighthouse attendant has been round for a long time.
According to a Snopes online article, there are naval staff who talk about seeing the joke passed around in the 1960s.
Kevin Wensing, an Atlantic Fleet spokesman in Norfolk, wrote in the article, “The first time I heard of it was – oh, let’s see, how long – about 10 years ago or so, I think. That story’s so old, it probably started out back in the galleon days, or back when there was a big lighthouse at Alexandria, Egypt.”

In 1996 the US Navy contributed to a newspaper article debunking the veracity of the urban myth (US Navy denial), in response to uncritical use of the story in high profile newspapers and television talk shows.

 Wikipedia : Lighthouse and naval vessel urban legend

Silva, the Sweden-based manufacturer of marine navigational equipment, borrowed a vintage naval joke in 2004 in the television advertisement, “The Captain”.
The campaign was designed to enhance Silva’s reputation in the provision of equipment for marine and outdoor lesiure activities with provision of compasses, GPS, mobile lighting, optics, headlamps, binoculars, outdoor instruments and marine electronics.
The Silva Captain ad won a Bronze Lion at Cannes International Advertising Festival in 2004 for entertainment and leisure.
It has been suggested that the reason the ad wasn’t given higher recognition was the fact that the spot is based on a well known tall tale...

* English translation of the famous French movie dialog from Michel Audiart : 


Other funny sea conversation video : German Coast Guard trainee dealing with his first 'Mayday' call.


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