Berowne's 290

(Also for ABC Wednesday: "O" is for "overwhelming")

No quiz this week.

An amazing thing happened a few days ago.  A theatrical company – primarily a dance group, I guess  - started to perform right outside my window.

What a show!  What pirouettes and jetees, what whirling about!

But then I realized, it’s October.  Some stagehand had thrown a switch and the nearby trees suddenly filled the autumnal air with falling, dancing leaves.  It really needed some background music, something overwhelmingly classical.

This took me back a few decades, back to the days when American francophiles were fascinated by the work – the poetry and the films – of Jacques Prevert.

Of course, speaking of music, I thought of his song “Les Feuilles mortes” – “Autumn Leaves” – especially as sung by Edith Piaf and Yves Montand.

Prevert’s poetry holds up well today and is perfect for an October day.

“C’est une chanson qui nous ressemble,
Toi, tu m’aimais et je t’aimais.”

It’s a song that’s like the two of us,
You, you who loved me and I who loved you.

“Et nous vivions tous deux ensemble,
Toi qui m’aimais, moi qui t’aimais.”

And the two of us lived together,
You who loved me and I who loved you.

“Mais la vie separe ceux qui s’aiment,
Tout doucement, sans faire de bruit.
Et la mer efface sur le sable
Les pas des amants desunis.”

But life separates those who love,
Softly, making no noise.
And the sea erases on the sand
The footprints of lovers who are no longer together.

                                  Jacques Prevert, 1900-1977

 

289 Quiz Answer

In the play “Othello,” Iago is a soldier who has fought beside his general, Othello, for years, and has become his trusted advisor. But at the beginning of the play, Iago claims to have been unfairly passed over for promotion; he plots to bring about the downfall of Othello.

(Also for Three Word Wednesday and ABC Wednesday: "N" is for "nefarious")

The following scenelet should suggest a very well-known play to you.  What’s the name of the play?

"You're still complaining?  Hey, you chose a military career and it isn’t really so bad after all.  But you don’t really agree with that, do you?”

“You bet I don’t.  Fifteen years of service, hellish battles and combat all over the world, risked my life dozens of times, and what do I wind up with?  Two metal bars and a few rows of ribbons – what good are they in civvie life? “

“Come on; you got your rank, not too bad a pay grade for retirement.”

“But that – that – is exactly the point.  I was due for promotion and now that wer're here in Cyprus they bring in this outsider.  He’s now the fair-haired boy as far as the general is concerned.  That should have been my job!  It was as though it had been promised to me.  For all practical purposes I already had it; the skipper depended on me for just about everything!”

“Yeah, I know.  I thought it was – well – unfair.”

“Unfair is the least of it.  For the good of the service you want experienced officers.  This guy, he doesn’t seem to have been anywhere or done anything, and he is now the right-hand man!"

"Relax.  It's not as though the general has committed some sort of nefarious act; he has the right to pick the man for the job."

"It's nefarious to me.  You know where he's from, the new guy?  From Italy, but most important, from Florence!”

“So?”

”You know what they do in Florence?  They spend most of their time creating delicate art, making little objects out of spun glass and such.  That’s a warrior?” 

“You don’t seem to understand that in the military, politics often plays a more important part than experience.  You see, actually, he has been places and done things.”

“Yeah, like what?”

“Well, he’s been to the right schools, the right university.  He comes from an important family that seems to know all the right people.  And you – let’s face it – you never set foot in a university and not very many schools as far as that goes.”

“There was a time when a man who started at the lowest level and worked his way through all that greasy crap right on up to a commission, made the very best, the most experienced officer!”

“Yeah, yeah.  Listen, I’m on your side.  But this new guy has got the job.  It’s obvious that he’s the general's choice.  You should relax and just accept it.  A few years more and you can retire.”

“In the meantime I’m supposed to take orders from the likes of this – I don’t think I can stand it!”

“Hey, I hadn’t realized how much you were ignited by this.  You’ve got to calm down.  You’ll get yourself all worked up and maybe do something stupid to try to get revenge.”

(The answer will be posted Saturday.) 

288 Quiz Answer

In Verdi’s “La Traviata,” a party is in progress at the Paris home of beautiful Violetta, who lives for such parties.  She thinks for a moment of the possibility of true love but laughs off the idea, declaring that her life will remain a whirl of pleasure (“Sempre libera” – always free).

(Also for Three Word Wednesday and ABC Wednesday: "M" is for "matchmaker")
This scenelet should suggest a well-known opera to you.  Which opera?

“You say he wants desperately to see me?  Who is this fellow?”

“He’s a friend of mine from the South.  He traveled all the way up here just to meet you.”

“You know how busy I am.  Much as I love to meet country bumpkins, I’ve got to get ready.  We’re having a tremendous party this evening, a huge blowout, the biggest of the entire season, and I'm absorbed with it.  People say I live for parties; well, tonight I’m going to prove them right!”

“Wait.  This is something special.  He’s a fine young guy I think you should get to know.  He thinks you’re the most wonderful woman he’s ever seen; he followed your career for years.  His name is Luther.”

“Yes, it would be something like Luther.  Or Li’l Abner.  He’s a groupie, in other words; that does sound boring.”

“He’s no groupie.  I know you’re going to find this a bit strange, but he tells me, and I believe him, he’s – well, he’s really in love with you.  Sort of by long distance.”

“That’s about the last thing I need in my life right now.  Sounds like you’ve been playing matchmaker behind my back.”

“No, not really.  But as your friend, I'm certain that one of these days you’re going to get tired of this glitzy life style and think about settling down.”

“Yeah, right.  That’s for me.  A fence with a white house around it – though I may have that a bit twisted – and me rocking away on the porch with one of my thirteen children.  Don’t you get it?  I don’t want that empty, settling down thing!  You know my motto, don’t you?” 

“I should; I hear it often enough.  ‘Sempre libera,’ always free.”

“Right.  And don’t you forget it.”

“Wait till you meet this young guy.  You’ve forgotten what true love is – maybe you never knew…”

 (The answer will be posted Saturday.)  

287 Quiz Answer

In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, in his lust for power, has his old friend Banquo murdered.  But Banquo later shows up at the banquet in Act Three.
(Also for Three Word Wednesday and ABC Wednesday: "L" is for Leader)

The following should suggest a certain well-known play to you.  Which play?

What excitement was around my home last week!  The huge promotion I finally received was a life-changer.

And not just for me.  My wife got a big kick out of it too.  She immediately began thoughtlessly spending money like a sunken draylor and she scheduled a big banquet to which she invited everybody who is even remotely anybody.

Well, why not?  After years of struggle, I finally reached the position I believe I deserve.  Our family will be dodging no more bill-collectors.

Though frankly, I was a bit uptight about all of this because the cost of that banquet was kind of scary.  Two complete musical groups were necessary?  One hip-hop and the other string quartets?  (I’m not sure my wife is familiar with the word “pretentious.”)  The ice sculpture alone cost what once could have been a working-stiff’s annual salary.  Oh well, let her have her fun.  She put up with me through all the lean times in the past.

Say what you will, it was wonderful when the leading figures of our region arrived and told me how happy they were now that I’m the one in charge.  And then I proceeded to knock everyone’s socks off by serving them a banquet old Chef Escoffier would have been proud of.

Of course, the banquet could be criticized as basically political.  But then, what isn’t?  It was important to make sure everyone understands that now I very solidly occupy the job of leader - the leader - and that there are no challengers.  Also, I wanted to stamp out those ridiculous rumors that I somehow achieved my high position through some sort of skullduggery.

Yes, no question, it was a night to remember.  So why do I feel woozy and apathetic about it now?  Well, it’s because of Ed Bixler.  I know, I know; Ed’s been dead for quite some time.  But the point is, he was there, at the banquet.  I saw him.

This makes me feel weird and that maybe I might be drifting over into some kind of psychologically-disturbed mindset because – no one else could see him. 

The answer will be posted Saturday.

 

 

Berowne's 286

(Also for Three Word Wednesday and ABC Wednesday: "K" is for "kickoff")

Berowne’s version of “Mad Men”

Ron: I guess we’re all aware of the reason for this meeting. We’re getting together tomorrow morning with a man who has developed an exciting new product, an item with fantastic potential, and he wants us to be his advertising agency. Take over, Blake.
 

Blake: Well, you saw the Powerpoint presentation. “Candy Babar” is being proclaimed as something revolutionary for this industry. An entirely new confectionery item, a new type of candy bar in the shape of the famous elephant – it's new in concept, new in potential, new in substance.

Ron: Right. This will be the kickoff.  It will be an honor for our agency to be associated with what is literally a revolutionary product. Why is Candy Babar revolutionary? It’s a candy bar that relies heavily on high-fructose corn syrup in a never-before-achieved solid and stable form – it’s a scientific breakthrough. By the way, be sure you get the client’s name right: R. Philip Dubieus. His last name is pronounced Doobyess; as he puts it, there’s an emphasis on the “yess.” I need hardly tell you there are to be no wisecracks about his name and the word “dubious.” And he likes to be referred to as “R. Philip.”

Blake: Yeah, we met him last year. Remember, Ron?

Ron: For those who are new with our agency, Blake is sarcastically referring to a meeting just like this one last year. R. Philip brought in his latest product, “Plumber’s Friend,” for us to evaluate.

Blake: And Ron evaluated the hell out of it.

Ron: Look, I’ve admitted it. It was pathetic. I told R. Philip that “Plumber’s Friend,” a candy bar in the shape of a toilet plunger, would never sell.

Edna: But the “Plumber’s Friend” candy bar sold like hotcakes. It was the most successful candy bar in the country for a while last year. And we told the client it would never sell. Who knows what kids are going to go for?

Ron: I’ll tell you who knows: R. Philip Dubieus knows. He’s a damn genius. He’s the Bill Gates of the confectionery industry. And he’s giving us another chance. This time we’re not going to drop the ball.

Norman: Or the elephant.

Ron: How does that help, Norman?

Norman: Sorry.

Blake: To top it off, we provided them with their motto – at no charge.

Ron: That’s true. During our meeting last year, as we were talking about the Plumber’s Friend candy bar, someone blurted out, “It’ll clean out your pipes!”

Blake: R. Philip’s lawyers have of course contacted the righteous estate of the folks who own the name “Babar.” They’re very interested and even enthusiastic about the possibilities.

Ron: Tomorrow we must put across to R. Philip that in our advertising, in all media, the good-health advantages of high-fructose corn syrup will be emphasized.

Edna: (Sighs) Just between you and me, why do we wind up with products like this? We never get something sedate and acceptable like Campbell’s Soup.

Ron: Campbell’s Soup may well be outsold next year by this tasty little pachyderm. If we play our cards right, Candy Babar will be paying the salaries of quite a number of us in this agency for years to come.

Blake: You’re actually enthusiastic about this product.

Ron: Well, I keep thinking about our Plumber’s Friend fiasco. I was wrong about that; I’m not going to be wrong about this. As for TV, R. Philip wants the television commercials to look like the movie “Avatar.” He’s very aware of what’s going on in the culture.

Blake: Is he aware of what’s going on in law-suits?

Ron: We’ll deal with that later.

Edna: From what I’ve read, he’s going to get an actual elephant, paint him white and walk him around to school assemblies and so on.

Ron: What can I tell you – the guy thinks big. Now, R. Philip has a sort of special request. He has a friend, a young lady named Brandee – Sandee..?

Blake: Mandee.

Ron: Right, Mandee; her name has two “e’s” at the end.

Norman: Bet that’s not all she’s got at the end.

Ron: I can’t tell you how great it would be, Norman, if you would just shut up. Mandee Mullen, that’s her name. She’s 19 years old and she thinks of herself as a writer; she wants to write the TV commercials. Er, you’ve got nothing to say about this, Edna?

Edna: I’m speechless.

Norman: So with Mandee, R. Philip has his own little candy bar…

Ron: What is the MATTER with you people! This is not a joke! You know what kind of year we just had. This wonderful new product, Candy Babar, is going to keep our ship from sinking. Enough with the wisecracks!

Norman: Sorry.

 

285 Quiz Answer

It’s the story of Prince Hal, heir to the throne, who believed his father the King was too cold, too strict, and the boy felt the life of a young, respectable royal wasn’t for him. He became a wild dude, a type that I am led to believe may well exist in our time too.

What Hal really enjoyed was hangin’ with his fat friend Falstaff.  In the above picture, Falstaff is played by Orson Welles.  (From Shakespeare’s “Henry IV.”)

Also for Three Word Wednesday and ABC Wednesday: "J" is for "Jerome")

The following somewhat labored scenelet reminds you of – whom?

“Sit down, son.  Time we had another of our little talks.”

“We do have a lot of them, don’t we?”

“And they don’t seem to be doing much good.  No matter what kind of promises you give me, you don’t change.”

“Well, consistency, that’s a kind of virtue, right?”

“It’s not consistency when you step over the line and I find a police report on you when I come in to work in the morning.”

“A police report?  Oh man, what did I do this time?”

“It seems – I can hardly believe I’m saying this – you were involved in armed robbery.”

“What!?  That’s baloney!  Dad, I’ve never been involved in any robbery, armed or unarmed.”

“Well, they’ve got the gang who committed the crime and it’s the noxious gang you’ve been mixed up with.”

“Oh, I see what it is.  That was no robbery; it was just a sort of elaborate gag – that went kind of wrong.”

“A gag?  When are you going to grow up?  Since you were twelve years old I’ve been trying to groom you for the day when you could take over this enterprise.  But you keep acting like a wild, crazy kid.”

“Wrong.  I keep acting like most other young guys my age.  I like to have fun, hang out, meet girls, have a few drinks…”

“And rob people as a gag.”

“Again, I had nothing to do with that.”

“Well, who are the people of this gang?”

“It’s just some dudes I like to hang out with; it’s cool.  We have a lot of laughs and so on.  Nothing really wrong with that “

“And who’s this FJ?  Seems he was the one mainly responsible for the robbery.”

“Which, again, wasn’t a real robbery.  We call him Fat Jerome – or FJ – and I guess you wouldn’t approve of him.  He’s loud and obnoxious and usually pretty well hammered by noontime, and he’d make a good poster boy for Overweights Anonymous.  But basically he’s just a helluva lot of fun to hang out with.”

“Incredible.  The day will come, and it won’t be too long in the future, when you’ll be expected to sit in this chair and take over the operation of this entire enterprise.  And you’re training for this by spending most of your haphazard time with people who are pretty well hammered by noontime?”

“Dad, believe me.  I’ve been sowing my wild oats, maybe a bit too much, but I’ve never forgotten who my father is and who I am.  And what will be expected of me in the future.  When that time comes I will have said a long goodbye to FJ and the rest of ‘em.  I’ll be ready – seriously - and I’ll make you proud of me.”

The answer will be posted Saturday. 

Berowne's 284

(Also for Three Word Wednesday and ABC Wednesday: "I" is for India)

 

Many years ago I had a most interesting lunch at an Indian restaurant.  In India.

 

To come right out with it, I enjoy Indian food; hit me with that tikka masala sauce or a carefully prepared curry or any of the four thousand or so other items of Indian chow and I’m a happy tandoori camper.

I found it fascinating that this particular restaurant was a place of tolerance and diversity.  By that I mean the staff was a sort of UN of different religions and beliefs, yet everyone seemed to be working in a high degree of peace and harmony.

And they were proud of it.  When they learned that the American customer was interested in such things, they came over to me, singly or in pairs, enthusiastically telling me about their religion and how well they got along with everyone else working in the restaurant.

There were Hindus, of course, and Muslims, along with Sikhs and Buddhists and a few glimmers of other faiths I wasn’t so familiar with.  (There was one chap who followed an unusual doctrine I did know a little something about: Christianity.)

But what blew me away was not just their pride in their beliefs but that they were also eager to tell how impartial they all were and how they worked together and got along so well.

Reason why this impressed me was that this all happened many years ago; in fact, I was there as the long British raj was coming to an end.  For several centuries the English had been involved in India –“the jewel in the crown” - and some folks believed that if the British left the various religions would fatally tear each other apart.  From the tolerance and cooperation I saw in that restaurant I was pretty sure that was not true.

How wrong I was…

British rule in the country came to an end just a few months after my meal at that restaurant.  Sort of as predicted, the religions began tearing each other apart.

Earlier, when I had been in Pakistan it was part of India; it was British.  Now it was a different country, a Muslim land.  Hindus by the many thousands had to get away, to go south; just as many thousands of  Muslims felt they had to go north to a Muslim country.

So many people ripped from their homes and forced to travel; it was the largest migration in human history.  The resultant slaughter of the religious fighting was almost unbelievable.  There were nearly a million casualties.

And it is indeed a sad fact that this – possibly a thermonuclear version of it this time - could begin again at any moment. 

283 Quiz Answer

Critics have claimed that Leni Riefenstahl, Hitler’s favorite film person, was the greatest female film-maker of all time.

(Also for Three Word Wednesday and ABC Wednesday: "H" is for "haughty")

Here’s this week’s question: who was she ?

“She’s an actress, Fred.   A lot of actresses think they could make a film better than the director or producer.  That doesn’t mean you should let them try.”

“She’s different.  She’s seems to have some real talent.”

“Again, they talk a good game, but just because they were a success acting a part on the silver screen doesn’t mean they know anything about the nuts and bolts of film-making.”

“So let her have a shot at it.  She might do well.”

“You don’t understand; she's haughty and arrogant.  My people are complaining.”

“Who cares?  As long as she’s got the big guy everyone calls “MM” – which as you know means “Mr Master” - on her side, she’ll continue to do as she’s doing.”

“But it’s embarrassing!  She wants to run the camera itself – you know women don’t understand mechanical things – and highly qualified cameramen are expected to stand about and do nothing.”

 

“That’s right, and say nothing too.  If they’re unhappy tell them to go directly to MM and let him know they don’t approve of his way of doing things.   Somehow I don’t think they’ll take you up on that.”

“If we get the whole film community, all respected names, to let him know that this idea of an actress working as writer-producer-director of an expensive professional film is just not a good idea, he might finally agree.”

“You don’t seem to understand how things are done in this country.”

“But if we can show anyone the amusing things she does, or tries to do, it should change anyone’s mind.”

 “She’s trying bizarre camera angles no sensible cameraman has used before.  She had another fellow spend the day digging a hole deeply so she could shoot from a low angle.  That’s foolishness.”

 

“And she’s got a guy shooting film in a wheelchair, like he’s got both legs broken, even though we have perfectly good equipment for such stuff in the studio.” 

 

“But that’s the point.  She's elastic; she doesn’t want to work just in a studio, she wants to go outside.”

“Well, you can take it from me.  If she keeps up the way she’s working she’ll be going outside sooner than she thinks, and permanently.”

(The answer will be posted Saturday.)