OK. Yes. You say it well.
Mark Steel may be an exception. I think it may be possible to do both at
the same time.
I'm also thinking about experiences in the early 70s in Poland - bitter
bitter jokes and facetious jokes. There was one that I didn't have enough
linguistic grasp and now have less to retain, but it concerned the new pan
socialist dollar to be used in all countries of the Warsaw Pact. Some long
and grand title which, as an acronym, amounted to _fuck off_ in Polish
and something that again I can hardly remember about queuing in the bread
shop
Now I do remember going into the (generic) breadshop and seeing there was
no bread
Can I help you? they asked (Actually, I think they say "I hear" - in
Jugoslavia as was, Croatia say, they say Please - Moleem; but it's clearly
"Can I help you?"
And you say May I have some bread?
There isn't any
What have you got?
Nothing
Thank you
Not at all
But I got that in a place in Deptford this week. No help at all. I said
thank you and they said I was welcome. No irony.
Anyway, in this context, a chap in Gdansk liked to say he would go to
queue in the breadshop because it was more interesting than state radio
and at least they told you the truth about bread supplies
And so on
That's a safety valve; but it's barbed; whereas the standard article, say,
ends with a reminder that values and interests are not the same. That's
got to be in there or the article doesn't get published; but it also
suggests the state has values
And it has to be there for the same reason that liars hate to be called liars
And somebody on the radio said the moment of Ceaucescu's downfall was when
he became so ridiculous people couldn't stop laughing in public while he
was speaking
Pip toodle
L
On Thu, February 24, 2011 11:33, Tim Allen wrote:
> Interesting Lawrence
>
>
> I have mixed feelings about the comedians for similar reasons. I
> actually think that the comic satire of the alternative comedians
> contributes to stopping people from taking the issues seriously. They act
> as a safety valve. Radical impulses and reactions to events that people
> have are then channeled into this compartment etc so it dissuades from
> engagement, critique of the establishment/government or whatever and just
> becomes another face of entertainment.. I think there are exceptions
> though, and I would include Mark Steel as an exception as I would with -
> ah, can't remember his name, is it another Mark? Mark Somebody.
>
>
> Tim A.
>
>
> On 24 Feb 2011, at 08:58, Lawrence Upton wrote:
>
>
>> Mark Steel can be funny. And perceptive
>>
>>
>> I worry about comedians... I keep thinking they're on my side (our
>> side?) because they mock what I mock or abhor - I ignore the rest; but
>> the drive is to be funny and that can lead to trivialisation
>
--
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NAMING and CURSING: some live text-sound compositions
http://www.revistalaboratorio.cl/2010/12/naming-and-cursing-some-live-text-sound-composition/
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Lawrence Upton
AHRC Creative Research Fellow
Dept of Music
Goldsmiths, University of London
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