Category: Fourre-tout

“Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall.” Oliver Wendell Holmes

? ????

I have been a Seinfeld fan from the start and I still vividly remember many of the series’ episodes. I particularly recall “The Puffy Shirt”, the second episode of the fifth season.

In this installment, Kramer’s girlfriend (Leslie) says something to Jerry. Since she is a “low-talker” (a person who talks in a low, soft voice) and not really comprehending what she said, Jerry and Elaine just nod their heads in agreement… and Jerry ends up wearing a ridiculous “puffy shirt” on a popular talk show.

Over the years I have become let’s say a tad “acoustically challenged”. I don’t hear as well as I used to, but I am still in running condition.
I don’t pretend to have my cat’s auditory perception (who while napping can hear a mouse fart) but I still can hear you perfectly well providing that you are not a mumbler or a “low-talker”.

So yes, I have a beef (maybe a calf) with low-talkers.
It is not the responsibility of the listener to hear well, but the duty of the speaker to get the message through. By carefully monitoring his audience, an accomplished speaker will know if his message is received or not. If he notices a vacant stare somewhere, he should realize that he is not getting through and try again.

Like many slightly impaired people, when I don’t clearly understand what is being said, I politely ask the person to repeat what he/she just said.
But if for any reason I don’t grasp what is being said for a second time (just like Jerry and Elaine) out of embarrassment I might nod in agreement… with sometimes-unforeseen consequences.

“An older man had serious hearing problems for many years. He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed the man to hear 100%.
A month later the old man went back  to the doctor who said, “Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again.”
The old man replied, “Oh, I haven’t told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to their conversations. I’ve changed my will three times!”

 So, if somebody seems to constantly agree with you, keep in mind that it might not be that you are exceptionally convincing, but rather that your interlocutor did not get a thing you said.
And you should ask yourself: am I a mumbler or God forbids, a “low-talker”?

Do you copy? Over and out!

Alain

 

Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it does not matter. Jack Benny.

 ? ????

Some people dread birthdays while some rugged souls on the other hand grab the bull by the horns and push back against the encroachment of time. They won’t let mere digits hinder their way of life.

A couple of days ago I attended a birthday celebration hosted by Brigitte Moran’s clan. Her devotees went all out to commemorate Brigitte’s admission to the exclusive Geezer Country Club and give her a fiery send off to the geriatric orbit.

The theme of the party was the groovy 60’s and people were asked to show up in period threads.
I have always maintained that if you wait long enough (50 to 100 years), your dated wardrobe will come back into fashion, and this occasion proved me right. The only problem is that 50 years later your waistline won’t be exactly the same as when you were a young buck. But some people managed to dig out (or buy) vintage clothes and showed up decked with long hair, tinted shades, beads and platform shoes.
At the door I bumped into a tall, dark, longhaired hippy that to my amazement turned out to be Beatnik Herb (Moran). Great duds Herb!

The celebration started with an open bar followed by a sit down dinner.

After dinner an Afro wearing DJ opened the shindig with loud (very loud) throbbing musical pieces. Among the first people on the floor was Flower Child Brigitte who, in spite of a recent hip replacement, behaved like a teenager on Prom night.
She was followed by some (naturally reserved) people who suddenly moved like possessed by Beelzebub.

They say that age is all in your mind. The trick is keeping it from creeping down into your body. Unknown author.

For best costume (among the people I know), I recognized Monique Bricca, Herb, Brigitte, Tom Moran (loved those platform shoes) and Sandra Shirkey. I also liked the threads of a cool black dude whose name I don’t know.

To sum it up, it was a funky, outta sight party.

Joyeux Anniversaire again to a groovy chick! S.W.A.K!

Alain

PS: To watch photos of this event, click on the “My Photos” link located on the right side of this page. For best viewing, go Full Screen. No more music, sorry.
Click on the 2017 folder and on the arrow at the right top of the folder to watch the slideshow.

The Senate voted 97-0 for an anti-spam bill to stop those annoying things you get on your computer. The senators made it very clear that when you start misleading the American people and start taking their money over false promises, that are our turf, buddy!
Jay Leno

? ????

Friends, Pétanquophiles, countrymen, lend me your ears. I have been “slimed”. More accurately I have been viciously “spammed”!
Last week my blog mailbox was flooded with unsolicited messages that kept piling up at a frightening rate.

“Electronic spamming is the use of electronic messaging systems to repeatedly send unsolicited messages (especially advertising) to the same site.”
It is named after Spam, a luncheon meat, by way of a Monty Python sketch about a menu that includes Spam in every dish.”

Thanks to a trusted friend the problem has been fixed, but this incident is a stark reminder that all is not sugar and spice and everything nice in cyberspace.

For a blogger, noticing an increased readership is heartening but a sharp readership spike can be troubling. It means that somehow, somewhere, you touched a raw nerve and somebody is reacting. This is one of the pitfalls of running a blog. You will sometimes unwittingly offend somebody and I am probably guilty of that.

I don’t pretend to be right on every issue I write about, but I speak from the heart and yes I will sometimes go cross the grain.
But this is still a free country, isn’t? Or is it?

The Big Question is: whom did I offend?
A bored teenager? An antisocial misfit? A miffed pétanque player? A scorned lover? A Russian operative? A Mar-a-Lago minion?
Being an equal opportunity offender, the possibilities are endless.

Email is a very convenient tool, but like atomic energy it can be used in a harmful way.

One more time, be careful out there and don’t blindly click on any unknown link sent to you by well meaning friends.

Spamfully yours,

Alain