The Light Side

If chain mails are the dark side of the whole 'Forwarded Emails' scene, then theres obviously a light side to the force, uh . . . I mean, mails. (Obviously someone has had too much Star Wars indoctrination)

On the lighter side, there are messages with genuine information that crop up from time to time, which are out to shock, amaze and sometimes, disgust readers. Some are actually a pleasure to read (mebbe not the disgusting ones).

Some we don't have to read at all! Mails with lots of pictures are welcome anyday. They're not so wordy and confoundingly counfounding, like what my blog is becoming. (Oh the Hamanity!)

For example, a mail forwarded (Sourced from this site) :

Subject: FW: they're gonna need a bigger wall in china!

































































Commentary :

Although the rabbit depicted in these photographs may seem almost unbelievably large, it is (or was) in fact a real animal and the images are authentic. According to a February 2007 Washington Post article, the colossal bunny in the pictures is a German gray giant named "Robert" who weighed in at at whopping 23 pounds (10.4 kilograms). The man holding Robert is Karl Szmolinsky, a long-time rabbit breeder who lives in Eberswalde, a town in eastern Germany.

Szmolinsky and his giant rabbits gained the attention of the media after he agreed to sell some of his animals to the North Koreans to be used in a breeding program designed to help alleviate chronic food shortages in that country. Because of the large size of the breed, North Korean diplomats felt that Szmolinsky's rabbits would be a good choice as breeding stock. Indeed, Szmolinsky notes that each of his giant rabbits can yield up to 15 pounds (6.8 kilograms) of tender meat.

In December 2006, a collection of carefully selected rabbits, including Robert, was transported to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Szmolinsky was later informed that the rabbits arrived safely in North Korea.

Sadly, what happened to Robert and the other bunnies after their arrival is somewhat unclear. The secretive North Koreans remain tight-lipped about the success or failure of the breeding program. In fact, Mr Szmolinsky later received word that the rabbits he supplied may have been eaten at a birthday banquet for North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, rather than used as breeders as he intended. Thus, poor Robert may no longer be with us.

The email subject-line of this version of the message, "they're gonna need a bigger wall in china!", may seem somewhat cryptic to recipients who do not live in Australia. The line references a very popular television advertisement shown in Australia in which a father, struggling to think of a factual answer, finally tells his young son that the Great Wall of China was built to "keep the rabbits out". According to the ad, if only the dad had Bigpond broadband connected at home, he would have been able to give his youngster the correct answer. This clever ad and its follow-ups are very well known in Australia and the "dad" has become a minor celebrity. The following video of the ad should make the China wall reference clearer:



In case you can't quite catch what they're saying in that accent of theirs, I've typed it out for you.

Kid : Dad, why did they build the great wall of China?
Dad : That...that was during a time of Emperor Nasi Goreng and uh, it was to keep the rabbits out. Too many rabbits, in China.

Emperor Nasi Goreng, haha. Just classic.