doppelganglander 1/22/2020 7:20:24 AM

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vxbush 1/22/2020 7:31:52 AM

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In #1 doppelganglander said: Today I learned that most people don't know what "pettifogging" means.

The meaning is obvious, isn't it? Clearly it means walking your pets in the near the foggy Loch. /////

Morning, campers. 

doppelganglander 1/22/2020 7:37:26 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 2:

Exactly! It's a shame most people don't read 19th-century novels anymore. Young people live in a perpetual present, with little awareness of what came before them.

lucius septimius 1/22/2020 7:39:11 AM

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Reply to doppelganglander in 3:

They probably don't know what "four-flushers" are either (vid. Democrats in Congress).

lucius septimius 1/22/2020 7:40:20 AM

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vxbush 1/22/2020 7:51:54 AM

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In #5 lucius septimius said: RIP Terry Jones

And he had dementia, apparently. How very sad. Now I shall have to sprinkle in Python quotes for the rest of the day. 

Occasional Reader 1/22/2020 8:02:11 AM

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In #1 doppelganglander said: most people don't know what "pettifogging" means.

It's racist hate speech, that's what it means!!!!!

/lawyer here, but you knew that

By the way, you can dazzle your friends (perhaps, if they're easily-dazzled) by giving them the Spanish translation of the word: Leguleyo

doppelganglander 1/22/2020 8:10:38 AM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 4:

I guess we should add Damon Runyon to the reading list.

It's been hilarious watching Skippy and his pals get slapped down over and over again. 

doppelganglander 1/22/2020 8:16:59 AM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 5:

Reply to vxbush in 6:

John Cleese's comment was rather grim. "Two down, four to go."

/deleted and reposted to correct the numbers because I need more coffee.

vxbush 1/22/2020 8:34:43 AM

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In #10 doppelganglander said: John Cleese's comment was rather grim. "Two down, four to go."

Well, he also did say something very elegant which I thought was lovely: “It feels strange that a man of so many talents and such endless enthusiasm, should have faded so gently away.” 

buzzsawmonkey 1/22/2020 8:42:06 AM

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There's been a lot of yapping lately about "blackface."  I've pointed out, back at the Auld Site, that "blackface" is merely an American variant on two longstanding Western theatrical traditions---the use of masks, which dates to Greek drama, and the tradition of the Comic Servant Speaking Truth To Power, which is a tradition that goes from the medieval court jester through the Commedia dell'Arte and Sancho Panza through Shakespeare's comic menials and beyond.

Well, we need to consider "whiteface," too.  Mark Twain was a "whiteface" performer, when he traveled around doing comic lectures dressed in a white suit that burlesqued the antebellum Southern planters.  Closer to home, and within our own memories, what were "Hee Haw," the "Andy Griffith Show," the "Beverly Hillbillies," and "Gomer Pyle," save whiteface performances of the supposed-hick showing wisdom, unexpected slyness, and downhome common sense?  Roy Clark and the other regulars on "Hee Haw" played burlesque rubes that were caricatures just as much as Stepin Fetchit's performances, or the black performers on the "Amos 'n' Andy" TV show, were.

There was a lot more wisdom, a lot more equivalence, a lot more equality, and a lot more tolerance and acceptance in all those older shows and performances than most people give them credit for.

I would be interested in your thoughts on this.

Occasional Reader 1/22/2020 8:42:58 AM

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doppelganglander 1/22/2020 8:50:22 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 13:

Indeed. Cleese has been especially vocal about the negative changes in his lifetime.

Occasional Reader 1/22/2020 1:13:30 PM

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lucius septimius 1/22/2020 1:47:01 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 15:

No, though Skippy Squirrel is saying he must be a Russian bot because he thought about withholding weapons Ukraine needed to defend itself and then sent them anyway.  Unlike Obama the Great, who sat with his collectivist thumb up his ass when Russian invaded the Crimea and sat around singing Peter Paul and Mary tunes when Russia invaded Ukraine and asked for weapons to defend themselves which he refused to give to them.  Because Obama was cool or something something.

Skippy and the Dems are lucky that the average Democrat has the memory of a goldfish with hardening of the arteries.

buzzsawmonkey 1/22/2020 2:31:07 PM

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lucius septimius 1/22/2020 4:16:31 PM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 17: 

Bravo!