After being in New Orleans for about a month, I was up early and I rooted my wife out of bed.
I am nearly finished Chronicles, which was a birthday present from Grumpy. And I've very much enjoyed it. But if you're not a Bob Dylan fan (unlike our PM, who listens to Bob Dylan for the music, not the words!) it probably sums up everything about him that irritates you.
Grumpy got me a pile of good books for Christmas and my birthday. Two of them are Don Watson's Weasel Words and Death Sentence (on the decay of public language). In Death Sentence, Mr Watson opens by saying that at least public language hasn't found its way into our personal conversations. He doesn't know anyone who practices the psychological arts, then?
Anyway, they're good books and totally appeal to my uptight, pedantic, superior sense of self-righteousness. I'm trying to keep a lid on that this year. It occurs to me it could be a trifle dreary for others. And when I found a word used with gross incorrectness in Chronicles and read the sentence out loud one evening, Bloody Ern looked at me and said, "Reading must be a real pleasure for you, kid." I think I got his drift.
3 comments:
A telling off from Nick Crustacean? A flogging with a wet lettuce leaf, you mean.
Yes, agree that Death Sentence does tend to go on making the same point over and over - but it is a good point. Though he does remind me of Lisa Simpson: "And we're both completely humourless about our vegeterianism."
And I liked that advertising show - especially the French guy. He was interesting.
As for Bob. Hells bells! I don't think the guy ever said that capitalism was evil or that making a buck stole your soul. Besides, choosing lingerie just goes to show he's got a great sense of humour, unlike the earnest Miss Simpson.
As the praying mantis said to the priest.
Dear HBB,
I thought Watson's book read like an essay or speech (the latter reflecting his background as speech writer to the stars) which returns to two or three main points throughout, reinforcing each point in a new way each time. As such, the book was interesting, and it's always handy to discover what phrases have "passed their use-by". Moreover, Watson's iterative illustration of the dangers of letting creative language lapse makes one think. On the other hand, Watson does employ a frightful number of words to deliver his message, which after all is only "don't use cliches and buzzwords."
Re Bobby D, voodoo and gumbo ya ya can do funny things to a man:
Early one morning the sun was shining
I rooted my wife out of bed.
We wandered down to the book cafe
so we could stay well read.
I met a balding bespeckled pollie on his morning walk full of beans.
He'd just blown in for an APEC meeting just outside New Orleans.
He muttered something underneath his breath.
I studied the turd on his shoe.
"I listen to your music, sir, but not your words - they're poo.
Good day to you - I'm off to the bayou."
Superfreo/
Post a Comment