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Irony and Other Misfeatures of RealityFor ExampleI have been notified* that my posture isn't the best. Rather than "standing up straight" as I am perfectly capable of doing without physiological stress, I have developed the habit of leaning somewhat forward and looking down when I'm walking. Q: I suppose you're going to blame it, like your missing homework, on the dog? Yes, I blame it on the dog, Winston the Puppy. He, while not exactly a "small dog," sports his 20 pounds in unjustifiable security, while I, a.k.a. Bigfoot, perforce must provide his survival instinct and obey the Prime Directive: "Don't crush the puppy." As of this writing, Puppy remains uncrushed. And I, sadly, am insufficiently vertical. For Another Example (and a Half)
Finally, and Somewhat Obscurely...I give you the Limeliters! (Or, if you're not the old folkie that I am, I give you the band that in its time was almost as famous as The Kingston Trio. Or if you're neither old nor a folkie, know that they were a famous trio of folksingers in the late '50s to the mid-'60s.) During their initial active period, they issued a number of albums, the first of which included the song Zhankoye**, with proto-hippie lyrics in Yiddish and English, part of which I quote below: When you go to Sevastopol, on your way to Simferopol Work together all as brothers Jew and Gentile, White and Negro Contemporaneously with my writing this blog, there's a war going on in Ukraine. This small item appeared in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago: "Kyiv has attacked several high-profile targets in Crimea in recent months, striking a major Russian air base in Saky and a railway junction near the town of Djhankoy." Pete Seeger and all the Limeliters would be disappointed if any of them remained extant. (Brief) "Return to Italy in Due Course"I don't consider myself either an experienced traveler or tourist. Neither am I a keen observer, and often miss obvious features that are later called to my attention with some incredulity of the "How could you not notice?" persuasion. And yet... Due to my unaccountable (and irritating to many) compulsion to proofread*** I often see things others miss. For example, when I inquired of Carol the Tour Guide as to why the name "Michele Ferrero" appeared on so many official road signs in the Alba region, she not only couldn't answer, but wasn't aware of them. Yet I, a total Italy novice, looking out a bus window, kept marveling at the proliferation of this non-geographical excrescence. I have to assume that the signs were somehow sponsored by Ferrero, the third-largest chocolate company in the world, to enhance their notoriety. Pretty creative advertising placement! Are We Done with Italy? Hardly! |
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* Many times, and with lamentable accuracy
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