Wonderful posts and responses as always, but I had to re-read the commentary on the renaming of towns and the removal of statues. The horrors of parts of our past have been made more transparent in the past five years than anytime since the 19th century, as has our atonement. But a caution. At what point does the practice begin to make less sense to many but stir up great, unquenchable passions in the few?
Perhaps this is not on the level of Stalin famously erasing Trotsky from a group photo when Trotsky had run afoul of ideology, but if anyone visits Town Hall in Manhattan (where my family was blessed to see PHC and GK half a dozen times) you will be pained to realize that all photographs and references to Mr. Keillor that once adorned the famed Upper Lobby Walls of Performers Past have been eliminated. Gone. The tidy work of a movement that may be losing steam but got what it wanted. The transgressions of some indicted performers hardly ascends to the level of "evil-doers," but receiving the same treatment as a dissident Marxist in the USSR says a lot about the American version of erasing history.
I came to New York for the first time when I was 8 and remember riding down Fifth Avenue in a taxi with the roof open and seeing the Empire State Building...what a thrill!
Like you, I was Brought Up Right, (although in my case, I’ll admit that it may sometimes be less obvious) but since you directly asked for an explanation to the second joke, well, let’s just say that just as the first joke implies that all violinists are “[Note 1]s”, similarly the second joke implies that all conductors are “[Note 2]s”.
[Note 1] “A rear-facing anatomical structure of the lower abdomen shared by both men and women.”
[Note 2] “A front-facing anatomical structure of the lower abdomen shared only by men.”
Or, as I’m sure you know, as it says in Acts 26:14 (KJV) “It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks”.
This from Matt in today's Post to the Host: "Dad will not be here much longer, a few days at the most. He made it well past the four score and ten that you say we are allotted, so his death is not tragic, but it is sad and momentous. "
Four score plus ten would be 90. I'm thinking the allotted is three score and ten.
GK, I first heard PHC on MPR in 1978. I had moved to Coon Rapids, MN that year and your uncle Lawrence Keillor gave me a free checking account. I spent the first 23 years of my life in ND(18 to 23 at NDSU in Fargo. My wife(from Iowa) married me in the Philippines in 1985 when we were each 34 years old. She says from time to time that she had married a Norwegian bachelor farmer; though I am German/Czech and my dad owned the Dairy Queen. One of the many exports from my part of the Red River valley was the Rohs family. The youngest was a starting forward on the 1981 Anoka boys basketball state champions and mom Zona was an outstanding science teacher at Anoka high. Steve Nelson was a little all-american linebacker at NDSU from Anoka while I was there. He was a linebacker on the Patriots when they got destroyed by the Bears in the 1985 Super bowl. Our son Will graduated from the Kings College in the Empire State building in 2011. He now teaches at a Christian school in Rwanda. Thanks for your insights into life in the northern Great Plains.
I remember getting lost in Harlem as a wandering tike while visiting the firefighters in Engine 59 Ladder 30 aka "The Harlem Zoo" during the eighties. My dad was NYFD. Manhattan is a frenetic place to visit. Swenson's was an ice creamery and Jackson Hole was the home of 12 oz burgers. I even attended Central Park Summerstage while the Finn Brothers performed "Don't Dream It's Over".
I've been extremely lucky in fact over the decades winning sweepstakes like the one in Bryant Park to witness Squeeze, the '80s new wave British ensemble. Yes New York is only a stone's throw from my residence on the PIP. It's up to you NY. Go Yankees.
I will leave the illumination of the violinist joke to others, and merely mention it's an example of the hilarity we find in body parts and how we invoke them to make points. How we evolved this useage I don't quite get, other than to imagine it's an approach which returns us to our early youth and the rush of snippets of 'naughty' and 'rude.' What fun?
As to feeling completely anonymous, I am glad you feel it at times, and enjoy it. I do want to crow a bit, for those of us who recognize you and choose to leave you alone, rather than force you to somehow enjoy our great fortune at having encountered you. Celebrity must be tough, and if I can 'gift' you with one less self-centered interruption, that works for me.
Wonderful posts and responses as always, but I had to re-read the commentary on the renaming of towns and the removal of statues. The horrors of parts of our past have been made more transparent in the past five years than anytime since the 19th century, as has our atonement. But a caution. At what point does the practice begin to make less sense to many but stir up great, unquenchable passions in the few?
Perhaps this is not on the level of Stalin famously erasing Trotsky from a group photo when Trotsky had run afoul of ideology, but if anyone visits Town Hall in Manhattan (where my family was blessed to see PHC and GK half a dozen times) you will be pained to realize that all photographs and references to Mr. Keillor that once adorned the famed Upper Lobby Walls of Performers Past have been eliminated. Gone. The tidy work of a movement that may be losing steam but got what it wanted. The transgressions of some indicted performers hardly ascends to the level of "evil-doers," but receiving the same treatment as a dissident Marxist in the USSR says a lot about the American version of erasing history.
I came to New York for the first time when I was 8 and remember riding down Fifth Avenue in a taxi with the roof open and seeing the Empire State Building...what a thrill!
Good morning, Garrison
Concerning the musician jokes:
Like you, I was Brought Up Right, (although in my case, I’ll admit that it may sometimes be less obvious) but since you directly asked for an explanation to the second joke, well, let’s just say that just as the first joke implies that all violinists are “[Note 1]s”, similarly the second joke implies that all conductors are “[Note 2]s”.
[Note 1] “A rear-facing anatomical structure of the lower abdomen shared by both men and women.”
[Note 2] “A front-facing anatomical structure of the lower abdomen shared only by men.”
Or, as I’m sure you know, as it says in Acts 26:14 (KJV) “It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks”.
Your sonnet today brought tears to my eyes. Thank you
This from Matt in today's Post to the Host: "Dad will not be here much longer, a few days at the most. He made it well past the four score and ten that you say we are allotted, so his death is not tragic, but it is sad and momentous. "
Four score plus ten would be 90. I'm thinking the allotted is three score and ten.
Re Jeffrey Solow (turtleneck hiding conductor's foreskin)....head about the neck is a couple of hairy testicles? Just thinkin
GK,
Your "having a nice day". I am too!
Why does the female violin player laugh at an old man farting? She was expecting "Sonata No. 2 D minor".
Richard
Violist #1: “What is your favorite piece by Beethoven?”
Violist #2: “I like that one that begins with a trill.”
Violist #3: “Oh yeah, I like Für Elise, too.”
GK, I first heard PHC on MPR in 1978. I had moved to Coon Rapids, MN that year and your uncle Lawrence Keillor gave me a free checking account. I spent the first 23 years of my life in ND(18 to 23 at NDSU in Fargo. My wife(from Iowa) married me in the Philippines in 1985 when we were each 34 years old. She says from time to time that she had married a Norwegian bachelor farmer; though I am German/Czech and my dad owned the Dairy Queen. One of the many exports from my part of the Red River valley was the Rohs family. The youngest was a starting forward on the 1981 Anoka boys basketball state champions and mom Zona was an outstanding science teacher at Anoka high. Steve Nelson was a little all-american linebacker at NDSU from Anoka while I was there. He was a linebacker on the Patriots when they got destroyed by the Bears in the 1985 Super bowl. Our son Will graduated from the Kings College in the Empire State building in 2011. He now teaches at a Christian school in Rwanda. Thanks for your insights into life in the northern Great Plains.
Dear Mr. Blue... sounds like a good book title!
I remember getting lost in Harlem as a wandering tike while visiting the firefighters in Engine 59 Ladder 30 aka "The Harlem Zoo" during the eighties. My dad was NYFD. Manhattan is a frenetic place to visit. Swenson's was an ice creamery and Jackson Hole was the home of 12 oz burgers. I even attended Central Park Summerstage while the Finn Brothers performed "Don't Dream It's Over".
I've been extremely lucky in fact over the decades winning sweepstakes like the one in Bryant Park to witness Squeeze, the '80s new wave British ensemble. Yes New York is only a stone's throw from my residence on the PIP. It's up to you NY. Go Yankees.
I will leave the illumination of the violinist joke to others, and merely mention it's an example of the hilarity we find in body parts and how we invoke them to make points. How we evolved this useage I don't quite get, other than to imagine it's an approach which returns us to our early youth and the rush of snippets of 'naughty' and 'rude.' What fun?
As to feeling completely anonymous, I am glad you feel it at times, and enjoy it. I do want to crow a bit, for those of us who recognize you and choose to leave you alone, rather than force you to somehow enjoy our great fortune at having encountered you. Celebrity must be tough, and if I can 'gift' you with one less self-centered interruption, that works for me.