I find it amusing in that smug fashion that rigid grammarians have, that this week’s post included a misuse that apparently got past your editors. In the response about you singing harmony you wrote that the “real secret is to find a lead singer whose twice as good as I am”. “Whose voice…” would have been correct (the possessive form of who) or “who’s twice as good as I am”, the “who is” as a contraction.
I’ve mostly come to accept that languages are living and that they will find their own channel no matter how many dikes we build but I still have this lingering smug satisfaction in the gotcha moment of finding an error. I’m not proud of it, but it does seem rooted in some atavistic foraging reward system that’s had to turn off.
Mr. Keillor - One of your previous columns bemoaned the lack of humor in our current crop of politicians, especially compared to Churchill and others. Then this week, one of your readers posted the joke about a priest, a minister, and a rabbi walking into a bar.
It reminded me that our former Senator from Arkansas, Dale Bumpers, told that joke while accepting an award at a church service I attended back in about 1980. The only difference was that rather than a rabbi, it was a Methodist minister who had the clearest understanding regarding when life began. Of course, the congregation laughed at that bit of humor as well as several other tales that the Senator offered.
Like you, it seems to me something important has been lost. Now, it is unfathomable that our current senator, Tom Cotton, could tell a pleasant anecdote to make folks smile. The poor man has trouble working up a smile himself, although I have seen him smirk quite often as he mercilessly grilled a dedicated public servant up for an appointment.
Perhaps even sadder, if Senator Bumpers were around to tell that joke now, someone in the congregation would be offended and would report it to the news media and it would become a campaign issue, and we would have lost prematurely the best Senator we ever had.
I wish that more of your performances were streamed - I paid for the one at Ryman Auditorium and will pay again for any others that are available.
I remember learning the principal parts of "lie" and "lay" in 9th grade English: lie, lay lain (intransitive) and lay, laid, laid (transitive - takes a direct object). A lot of people who should know better make errors with these verbs. I was only a mediocre student in English, so was overjoyed when I placed out of Freshman English in college, even though I never got above a B in it in high school. I have always enjoyed foreign languages and have learned most of what I know of grammar by studying them. (For years of Latin in high school helped a lot!)
In a local cemetery there is a tombstone that proclaims, "Tommy Lays Beyond the Sunset." I always thought that Tommy was a strange name for a hen. It has just occurred to me that Tommy may have been a bricklayer, continuing his occupation as his eternal reward.
Elisabeth's question interested me! On APHC cruises, the times when Heather Masse and/or Maria Jette are your chief partners in duets - it's just MAGIC! Not just the vocal harmonies, but the ways your personalities fit together so well! It's like a hand instinctively fitting a glove, perfectly!
Have you ever considered that part of that might be because of "Tomato Butt?" - your elder sister? Some of the happiest couples I've known have replicated the birth order pairing that they were blessed with in childhood. When there's an older sister followed by a younger brother, brother instinctively picks up on cues that sister is sending, and fits his stride to hers.
In Olden Days, speaking of something like that could be taken as Blasphemy! "Of Course The Male is Dominant and the Female is Submissive - What other way could there be?" But in families in which the children are of mixed gender, that sequence only happens about half the time in non-twin situations. I think it's time for us, as a society that is in flux about gender norms, to recognize that those who happen to come from "older sister - younger brother" situations have had a childhood full of experience in the other direction.
Three Cheers for You, GK, for "MAKING IT" big in radioland - "Despite the crippling effects of being a younger brother." Chinese families of old might feel that was very poor "Fortune," but we're in the process of turning a societal corner. And STARS like you show us that a male singer can fit in perfectly with a "female lead", and not lose an ounce of his Masculinity!
Thank you for posting the video from the Ryman. My husband and I were in the audience that night and it was wonderful. We still talk about it. I hope you plan to return to Nashville in 2023.
I saw you yesterday by the elevator at the doctor’s office. You should know that brief encounter made my day! I subscribe to all your stuff. In fact on my walk to my doctors appointment I was listening to the hymn video you posted.
Thanks for all you do to spread joy and meaning to this life.
If my husband had run into he would have entertained you with a witty comment or joke. He’s much funnier and he’s an extrovert.
Very much enjoyed your 10/21 show in DC, but what happened to your red shoes? Did you have a moment of clarity during your bypass operation that consistency is indeed the hobgoblin of small minds and so are now wearing whatever darn shoes you want?
I find it amusing in that smug fashion that rigid grammarians have, that this week’s post included a misuse that apparently got past your editors. In the response about you singing harmony you wrote that the “real secret is to find a lead singer whose twice as good as I am”. “Whose voice…” would have been correct (the possessive form of who) or “who’s twice as good as I am”, the “who is” as a contraction.
I’ve mostly come to accept that languages are living and that they will find their own channel no matter how many dikes we build but I still have this lingering smug satisfaction in the gotcha moment of finding an error. I’m not proud of it, but it does seem rooted in some atavistic foraging reward system that’s had to turn off.
Mr. Keillor - One of your previous columns bemoaned the lack of humor in our current crop of politicians, especially compared to Churchill and others. Then this week, one of your readers posted the joke about a priest, a minister, and a rabbi walking into a bar.
It reminded me that our former Senator from Arkansas, Dale Bumpers, told that joke while accepting an award at a church service I attended back in about 1980. The only difference was that rather than a rabbi, it was a Methodist minister who had the clearest understanding regarding when life began. Of course, the congregation laughed at that bit of humor as well as several other tales that the Senator offered.
Like you, it seems to me something important has been lost. Now, it is unfathomable that our current senator, Tom Cotton, could tell a pleasant anecdote to make folks smile. The poor man has trouble working up a smile himself, although I have seen him smirk quite often as he mercilessly grilled a dedicated public servant up for an appointment.
Perhaps even sadder, if Senator Bumpers were around to tell that joke now, someone in the congregation would be offended and would report it to the news media and it would become a campaign issue, and we would have lost prematurely the best Senator we ever had.
Oh well, life goes on.
I wish that more of your performances were streamed - I paid for the one at Ryman Auditorium and will pay again for any others that are available.
I remember learning the principal parts of "lie" and "lay" in 9th grade English: lie, lay lain (intransitive) and lay, laid, laid (transitive - takes a direct object). A lot of people who should know better make errors with these verbs. I was only a mediocre student in English, so was overjoyed when I placed out of Freshman English in college, even though I never got above a B in it in high school. I have always enjoyed foreign languages and have learned most of what I know of grammar by studying them. (For years of Latin in high school helped a lot!)
In a local cemetery there is a tombstone that proclaims, "Tommy Lays Beyond the Sunset." I always thought that Tommy was a strange name for a hen. It has just occurred to me that Tommy may have been a bricklayer, continuing his occupation as his eternal reward.
Joe McCutchen
Elisabeth's question interested me! On APHC cruises, the times when Heather Masse and/or Maria Jette are your chief partners in duets - it's just MAGIC! Not just the vocal harmonies, but the ways your personalities fit together so well! It's like a hand instinctively fitting a glove, perfectly!
Have you ever considered that part of that might be because of "Tomato Butt?" - your elder sister? Some of the happiest couples I've known have replicated the birth order pairing that they were blessed with in childhood. When there's an older sister followed by a younger brother, brother instinctively picks up on cues that sister is sending, and fits his stride to hers.
In Olden Days, speaking of something like that could be taken as Blasphemy! "Of Course The Male is Dominant and the Female is Submissive - What other way could there be?" But in families in which the children are of mixed gender, that sequence only happens about half the time in non-twin situations. I think it's time for us, as a society that is in flux about gender norms, to recognize that those who happen to come from "older sister - younger brother" situations have had a childhood full of experience in the other direction.
Three Cheers for You, GK, for "MAKING IT" big in radioland - "Despite the crippling effects of being a younger brother." Chinese families of old might feel that was very poor "Fortune," but we're in the process of turning a societal corner. And STARS like you show us that a male singer can fit in perfectly with a "female lead", and not lose an ounce of his Masculinity!
Thank you for posting the video from the Ryman. My husband and I were in the audience that night and it was wonderful. We still talk about it. I hope you plan to return to Nashville in 2023.
I saw you yesterday by the elevator at the doctor’s office. You should know that brief encounter made my day! I subscribe to all your stuff. In fact on my walk to my doctors appointment I was listening to the hymn video you posted.
Thanks for all you do to spread joy and meaning to this life.
If my husband had run into he would have entertained you with a witty comment or joke. He’s much funnier and he’s an extrovert.
See you in November
Elena
Very much enjoyed your 10/21 show in DC, but what happened to your red shoes? Did you have a moment of clarity during your bypass operation that consistency is indeed the hobgoblin of small minds and so are now wearing whatever darn shoes you want?
Best wishes,
Joni