The Thursday Night Letters

I have to say a huge thankyou to P.K.Monroe who this week sent me a copy of his book The Thursday Night Letters : A Stamp in the Wrong Hands, published by New Holland. Thankyou because he gave me the most hilarious evening's reading after one of those particularly unfunny working days.
If you have a bit of a quirky sense of humour as I sadly do, borne of years of being involved in the oddest strangest, often most bizarre events in people's lives, coupled with that black humour that goes with any medical job, then you may often feel a bit out of step with the rest of the world.
They know me and share that sense of humour at home and the one  place I find it regularly is with colleagues at work.It's all about not taking life or yourself too seriously and probably a mechanism for coping with the stress of the job and all its incumbent horrors.
I read The Thursday Night Letters and just fell about laughing as it would seem did Peter Jones that eight foot tall chap off Dragon's Den.
The book is a collection of P.K.Monroe's whackiest most eccentric ideas all pitched to the top names in the land, from royalty to managing directors many eliciting replies that are just as hilarious as the original letter.
It's virtually impossible to take these out of the context of the whole book and keep their originality but the Da Vinci Code range of housewares with the Turin Shroud sheets and pillowcases seemed workable to me so a shame that the John Lewis Partnership couldn't see any merit there. Idea shelved.
The Fiat car range named after grapes Fiat Merlot, Fiat Chardonnay etc didn't gain much mileage with Giulietta Calabrese from the Fiat Marketing Department who for some reason was concerned about the "inevitable association" with alcohol.Idea shelved.
The Pavarotti Bouncy Castle.Idea shelved
Pub Vicars. Rowan Williams, The Archbishop of Canterbury reluctant to impose a national policy.Idea shelved.
Middle Age Spread , a tasty dietary relish aimed at 40-60 year olds.Kraft Foods " may already be working on something similar". Idea shelved.
You have to commend Prince Philip's Private Secretary who has fielded some of the most hilarious requests for royal endorsement, all with the most elegant and polite replies.
All in all this is one of those wonderful tongue in cheek (I think) books that will just brighten any day  especially if you find yourselves in one of those jobs where you have to take everything very seriously ie most paid employment, except perhaps The Friday Project where I suspect they laugh and chuckle from dawn 'til dusk.
You''ll quickly start thinking up your own Thursday Night Letters or at least I did when I reached the proposal for a website, itsmyfuneral.com which is about planning your own departure with style. The National Association of Funeral Directors have frowned on it all but having my own views on all this I have immediately e mailed P.K.Monroe with my suggestions. He thinks it might be worth pitching so I've decided to donate it to him in return for the free book which will make me smile every time I set eyes on it.
Or ir would if the twenty four year old Kayaker (son of dgr) hadn't taken one look, eskimo rolled off his chair laughing and then "borrowed" it to take on his forthcoming white water river trip to Norway.That may be the last I see of that.
Meanwhile check out P.K.Monroe's website here and join in the latest high octane extreme sport of Celebrity Flanning.
All very silly? Yes maybe, but sometimes life needs some silly.