Read the ads too. It's good for your sense of humour

Today's posting is on some ads that caught my eye in The Sunday Times while doing my own "post-mortem" (journalistic jargon on reviewing and critiquing a newspaper, usually soon after publication).

The first item here had drawn my attention with these words: "Are you looking for 100% capital security? And the potential to earn unlimited returns (historically 10% p.a. as quoted on Bloomberg)? Rare stamps -- one of the world's best kept investment secrets and safe haven asset classes."

While I am unlikely to strike it rich as a result of reading this ad, I recalled my stamp-collecting days as a lad. I think many of my classmates in primary school and secondary school had this hobby too, and I remember exchanging stamps with my penpals, both local and overseas.

I was keen enough on the hobby to buy stamp albums, and even a stamp tong -- to handle "special stamps" with care. These included exotic ones from places like Madagascar, Romania, Liechtenstein, and I am sure even North Korea. Many such stamps came from starter kits bought via mail order.

And then there were the Singapore first day covers commemorating events like National Day. I have a number of covers complete with the full set of stamps franked on the appropriate date somewhere among my forgotten stuff. Who knows, I might find a rare stamp or rare first day cover (hopefully, still in good condition) and uncover a "safe haven asset class" in my own home!

Anyway, thanks to today's online world, I found these two useful web links, if anyone is inspired to become a stamp collector:

http://www.stampcollectinghobby.net/

http://www.ehow.com/how_7629596_rare-stamps-value.html

Another ad that caught my eye was one for a well-known brand of German cars. The model it touted was claimed to have a special keyless entry and start-stop system. The ad proclaimed: "Now you can unlock the car with just the lightest touch of the door handle. All you need to be carrying is the transmitter, it's almost magical. And once inside, you only need to push a button to start the engine. Should the transmitter be left in the car by mistake, the system will refuse to lock."

But I thought, hey, what if I had got out of such a car in a hurry to get to, say, a three-hour meeting. And that I had indeed forgotten to take the transmitter with me. And that I had parked my car at night on the streetside, not in a secure carpark? I can imagine a car thief trying his luck and checking out this model!

Last ad on my list here: it is one for a seminar to uncover "the secrets to nurturing [your child's] academic success, holistic development, and family happiness". What caught my eye was one speaker's topic, "How to develop a funtastic sense of humour: Essential humour habits for family wellness".

I am not making fun of this speaker's topic. I just wonder whether it is possible to develop "a sense of humour" and "humour habits" in individuals? How did I develop my sense of humour? I think it came from my own personality and disposition and probably the environmental influences as well. But I don't think that if I were a grumpy lad, my parents marching me off to humour school would have turned me into a laugh-a-minute fellow.

Maybe, to mangle a famous quotation, it is possible that some people are born with a funny bone, some have a funny bone stuck into them (probably from a fish called Wanda) and some acquire a funny bone (after being so conditioned by watching The Noose over and over again)?