Hey, Candice, thank you! The Gwendolyn Brooks poem was swimming below
the surface in my brain, but it just wouldn't surface. That's exactly
the allusion I was looking for - I'll shoot the REAL in right now <g>
That's cool!
Androo
On 03/04/07, MC Ward <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Doug, I wonder if you want "He REAL cool" for the sake
> of rhythm and a stronger allusion to Gwendolyn Brooks?
>
> Candice
>
>
>
> --- Roger Day <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > I liked this. Very vivid. Particularly the bit where
> > the taxi mounted the path.
> >
> > On 4/3/07, andrew burke <[log in to unmask]>
> > wrote:
> > > The day was Monday so I rose early and went out to
> > second campus by
> > > the uni bus at 7.20am. I taught freshmen Oral
> > English until 10am and
> > > then caught a taxi back home. It is not expensive
> > to catch a taxi
> > > here, but it is often exciting, if sometimes
> > dangerous. Today the
> > > driver was an anachronism in physical appearance.
> > He looked exactly
> > > like a cartoon version of a 1950s/early 1960s
> > American hipster: about
> > > 30 years old, in a wide-lapelled, double breasted
> > jacket with a dark
> > > shirt underneath, 'cool' sunglasses, a prickly
> > black goatee beard with
> > > matching moustache, and a crazy haircut not unlike
> > an old flat-top
> > > Kramer cut from those decades. When I sat down, he
> > said 'Hell oh',
> > > gunned the tincan taxi out into the traffic, then
> > grinned and said,
> > > all as one phrase, 'Hell oh sit down pleeze'. I
> > liked his way of
> > > driving - fearless, fast and lyrical. He drove
> > like I imagine Dean
> > > Moriarty of _On the Road_ fame would have driven –
> > or maybe the real
> > > man behind the wheel of Keroauc's novel, Neal
> > Cassidy. My driver knew
> > > where every inch of outside skin on his tincan
> > was, and he ducked and
> > > dived through the slenderest alleyways of traffic
> > like some kind of
> > > animal … In fact. that was it!, the tincan was an
> > extension of himself
> > > and he was ducking and jiving like an Aboriginal
> > Aussie rules football
> > > player. And when the opposition defence got too
> > obstructive – four
> > > lanes of raggedy parked traffic at the red light,
> > with bicycles and
> > > pedestrians all taking up any inch of space - he
> > took off the road and
> > > went around that corner on a broad footpath! Hah!
> > He did it all so
> > > effortlessly and with such clear-eyed athleticism
> > that I just sat
> > > there and marvelled. I don't know how he didn't
> > hit anybody or cause
> > > an accident, but he did it languorously, driving
> > me home quicker and
> > > smoother than any other taxi-driving maniac in
> > this crazy city.
> > >
> > > He cool
> > > He no need no driving school
> > > He a crazy Zen-driving fool
> > > Playing the road like he's shooting pool …
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Andrew
> > > http://hispirits.blogspot.com/
> > > http://www.inblogs.net/hispirits
> > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/aburke/
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > My Stuff: http://www.badstep.net/
> > "Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious." Oscar Wilde
> >
>
>
>
>
> ____________________________________________________________________________________
> Looking for earth-friendly autos?
> Browse Top Cars by "Green Rating" at Yahoo! Autos' Green Center.
> http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center/
>
--
Andrew
http://hispirits.blogspot.com/
http://www.inblogs.net/hispirits
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aburke/
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