Can Anybody Identify This Picture? (Asking for a Friend.)

~ Jenny

So I have this friend, let’s call him “Bob,” and on St. Patrick’s Day he sent this picture which has now been haunting my dreams for three days, and not in a good way. Anybody here know where it came from?

I did a Google image search and got nothing. The part that freaks me out is that somebody actually set this up and took a picture because . . . I still got nothin’. Old TV show? Book cover? Public Service Announcement?

Bob doesn’t know where it came from either. Probably Hell.

36 thoughts on “Can Anybody Identify This Picture? (Asking for a Friend.)”

  1. Could easily be a Photoshop composite: the two men presumably blessing/praying over something in one picture; a second picture of the boy in bed being substituted for their original object, with of course a beard, hat and gold coins added to make him into a leprechaun.

  2. Definitely photoshopped — the leprechaun hat and the gold coins, as well as the beard. Somebody had too much time on their hands … perhaps “Bob”??

    😂

    1. Oh the things I learn from this site, literary and not-even! 🙂

      I looked up Google reverse image search, slogged through the instructions, and got this: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/479281585319133424/?d=t&mt=login

      I don’t have a pinterest account so I’m stuck. But a site called LiarTownUSA is cheerier to me than the first site I posted above. Takes the picture out of the realm of creepy and freaky to just messing with your head.

    2. I read the photo title and looked at the picture and thought, “Oh, cool! Two gay ministers blessing a child. Theirs?” How forward-thinking!

  6. I dunno, Jenny. Wth friends like this ‘Bob’ who needs enemies.

    Sake – that’s some google-fu you got there. Awesome. 🙌🏼

    Jenny, do you remember 2010 when you did a random Sunday at the time of the volcanic ash cloud because you saw Jens Stoltenberg’s iPad. How long ago that feels! Here’s a pronunciation guide for the new one! The pictures are amazing.

    https://twitter.com/rfjolnisson/status/1373051709556146179?s=20

      1. Well, that was a fun trip down the rabbit hole, but now I miss Sweetness and Light! If my math is correct, which it rarely is these days, Sweetness must be around 22. I feel old. It isn’t as much of a jolt as when my youngest niece told me she didn’t need a birthday check, because now she has a job, but coming so soon after that reply, I am sure that time is playing tricks on me.

        1. Reading those old posts is a trip, but it is a little frustrating not being able to comment. That must have been before I thought I had anything to add. I’m sure my entire family wishes I still felt that way about anything on the internet.

          1. Me too. I have been following Argh for years but I only started commenting very very recently.
            My burning question though is : « Did you get your ipad in the end Jenny ? ».

          2. I did. I don’t remember when, but I got one. Then I had vision problems so I moved up to one of the 12.9″ iPad Pros, which I love (my granddaughter got the old iPad), and now I’ve cracked the screen, so there’s a third in my future. It’s still completely usable, so I’m not rushing to replace it, but eventually I’m going to have to. Trying to figure out the timing. There are new iPads out there, but I’m not sure when the best time to lunge for one is.

      2. I sincerely hope that either the tuna was eventually disposed of or that you were able to donate it to a pharmaceutical lab where it contributed to the next generation of antibiotics . . . .

        1. It was the iPad that led to his success, I’m sure.

          Clarity for me: Why did I think you were in South Africa? You’re in Iceland? Or just interested in volcanoes?

          1. I’m South African born and raised. English first language. Basic Afrikaans second language through school, horribly awful basic IsiZulu third through being a teacher.

            I saw something about Jens Stoltenberg in the United Nations last week. Then this volcano erupted reminding me of ash cloud volcano.

            And my brain did the leap and thought, must share on Argh.

  7. I’ve watched too many bad Hollywood Leprechaun movies to be weirded out by that photo. However, I did watch a movie on Friday that will leave a scar on my brain for sometime. The film: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. I really thought Jenny had made that movie title up when I read the book. What the hell were they thinking! It’s on YouTube if anybody wants to be traumatised.

    1. I saw “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” when I was about 4 and apparently had some horrible nightmares. My older sister still brings it up. 👽🎅👽

  8. Hi Jenny! I wasn’t sure where else to go tell you this/ask you this, so here I am! I discovered you and your books during this pandemic over the last year, and Bet Me felt like a huge hug the first time I read it a few months ago while battling Covid (all better now!) and it is my absolute favorite (with Getting Rid of Bradley in a close second so far!)! So first of all, I just wanted to say thank you for giving us such amazing books and for never failing to make me laugh! I can’t wait to continue exploring your library, and I was wondering if there was a way I could send a book on over to you (and a letter, I love letters! How about you?!) and maybe get my favorite book signed by you? Thank you again for being so great!

    1. Hi, Mandy.
      Anything sent to me disappears into the mess that is my life, so the best thing is to send it to Mollie. Except I can’t put her address on the internet. Let me give her your e-mail and maybe the two of you can work something out.

      Oh, and thank you for saying all the nice things about my books (g). And congratulations on getting through a bout of Covid, too, that’s amazing.

  9. I was raised in the Mormon church and easily identified what’s going on in the photo, and it’s nothing sinister or kinky or even very interesting.

    When a member of the church is ill — usually facing surgery or something similarly serious — they can request what’s called a “blessing”. Two men are called to the hospital or home of the sick person and they put their hands on his head and pray for his health. Takes a couple of minutes and seems to bring great peace to those who believe.

    If I had to guess I’d say the photo was lifted from training material. All their stuff, when I was a kid, looked straight out of the 1950#.

  10. Looks like its from and old Mormon gospel study manual- how to give a priesthood blessing.

    (The Hands on the head blessing thing and the child’s arms are folded in prayer the way they pray)

    The leprechaun thing is just odd and creepy

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