The Three Shakespeares:

[Aristus]

Jimmy Shakespeare - 2nd cousin 10 generations removed from The Bard. Rabidly anti-Catholic, he wrote the controversial bestseller "Does The Pope Shit In The Woods?". Currently, a reading-list fave of U.S. President George W. Bush.

Garth Shakespeare - adopted son of a distant relative of the Man from Stratford. Graduated last in his class from City College of New York, he had his application to the Foreign Service Office rejected. Embittered, he wrote a tawdry tome called "Fart Jokes For Diplomats." Potential buyers stayed away in droves, although Barnes And Noble in Washington D.C. reports one copy sold.

Irving Shakespeare - Not related in any way to the Sweet Swan Of Avon, he is a street poet living in Houston, Texas. He has published one slim volume of his poems, which are largely dedicated to topics such as inter-racial affairs and employer-employee relationships.

[Bucky]

1. Why do people always say "Houston, Texas"? Is there another Houston?

No one says Chicago Illinois. No one says New York New York unless they're singing. Most infuriatingly, no one says Dallas Texas. But always it's Houston with the clarifier.

[Ediacara]

2. There's a Houston Street New York...

Maybe it's to keep New Yorkers from thinking it's about that street....

[petronius]

3. Actually, I say Dallas, Texas, fairly regularly...

Perhaps the answer to your question - and this isn't intended to be a flame - is that Houston just isn't on the same tier in the national consciousness with cities like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, or San Francisco...

Perhaps another answer is that there are so many cities in Texas named after other places that it's become a habit to specify that you're talking about the one in Texas (and this habit has been extended to Texas cities that don't have doppelgangers)...

[tjwmason]

7. Why do Americans say - Paris, France and London, England?

Rome, Italy and so forth.

[Aristus]

4. Okay, okay, guys. Sheesh! But did you think it was funny?

That's all I'm asking.

[Aristus]

5. Kick because I thought it was funny.

Nobody has expressed any amusement yet.
:hide:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. My dear Aristus!

Well, baby........I think it's funny!

But I think that a lot of people think it's meant to be serious since your routine Shakespeare threads are serious...

We've gotten used to seeing you as a *gasp* intellectual!

You have a wonderful imagination! :applause: :applause:

[madinmaryland]

8. I was wondering when William would weigh in on his relatives!!!!

:rofl:

Thanks!!