Correspondence Between a Father and Daughter
I suppose my dad must've been reading my blog because today he sent me this email:
Subject: Which One Is Sterne?
I'm guessing the one on the right. He must be a man of parts, infinite jest, and sensibility if he is a fan of Alfred Jarry and Cab Calloway! What a combination! Did you tell him my anecdote about the 1963 (or so) production of Ubu Roi when Mr Plod turned up with a warrant for the arrest of Alfred Jarry?
No, wait a minute, knowing your obsessional neatness Sterne will be the one on the left. The picture doesn't do him justice.
I attach a Cab Calloway clip.
xxYrDa
P.S. I assume Sterne knows he can hear right here in Melbourne a man who has played for Calloway...
To which I replied;
Subject: Hold the weddin'
Yes, he's the one on the left! And yes, the links on my blog beneath the picture are in order of the individuals' placing in the photo because, yes, I am obsessional.
Two guys write Sterne, which is named after Laurence Sterne, not one of the bloggers themselves. There is one called Tim and one called Jon. Jon is the one in my photo. I have a hunch he put up the Alfred Jarry quote (though, I'm not sure), but he didn't write that entry that has the Cab Calloway picture in it; Tim did. (You can see who has written each entry by looking at the very bottom of the post.) So, while I agree that indeed he is a man of infinite jest, and sensibility (for he is, and he's extremely clever, too), I can neither confirm nor deny his liking for either Jarry or Calloway. But I will find out, and if he does, I will try to seduce him away from his girlfriend so that he and I can get married and make your son-in-law dreams come true.
xox Yr Dau
So, Jon, it seems you have a new fan. My dad gets very excited when young people have the same tastes as him. Could you please clear up your feelings on Jarry and Calloway, so he knows whether or not to get excited? And just so everyone knows, this is the Jarry anecdote in question:
In the early 1960s the one of the Melbourne Uni theatre companies run by the union put on a production of Ubu Roi and somehow the cops got wind of it. They found out that the play contained the word "Merdre!" in it, which was, even though it's misspelled, close enough to the French word for "shit" to be a punishishable offence. So, they went down to raid the performance and, thinking that Alfred Jarry must be a student at MU, demanded to interview him. The other students thought it would be amusing to play along and yelled out "Run, Alf, run! The police are here!", which sent the fuzz scurrying after a man who had been dead since 1907.
The moral: Cops are not only swine, the are specifically uncultured swine. My father never tires of telling that anecdote.
Also, the musician in question (who has played for Cab Calloway) is a guy named Gil Asky. He has does regular gigs at Dizzy's Jazz Bar on Swan Street.
And to Russ and ns, who seem to have been left out in the cold, I found out my father also sent this email around to his some of his friends:
Subject: From Leggsie's Blog: I Am Interested To See Bloggers Are Not A Species Of Geek, But Quite Charming
Yeah, that's right. That photo, and your blog urls, are getting passed around among my dad's crazy friends and you didn't even know it. Scary, huh?!
Subject: Which One Is Sterne?
I'm guessing the one on the right. He must be a man of parts, infinite jest, and sensibility if he is a fan of Alfred Jarry and Cab Calloway! What a combination! Did you tell him my anecdote about the 1963 (or so) production of Ubu Roi when Mr Plod turned up with a warrant for the arrest of Alfred Jarry?
No, wait a minute, knowing your obsessional neatness Sterne will be the one on the left. The picture doesn't do him justice.
I attach a Cab Calloway clip.
xxYrDa
P.S. I assume Sterne knows he can hear right here in Melbourne a man who has played for Calloway...
To which I replied;
Subject: Hold the weddin'
Yes, he's the one on the left! And yes, the links on my blog beneath the picture are in order of the individuals' placing in the photo because, yes, I am obsessional.
Two guys write Sterne, which is named after Laurence Sterne, not one of the bloggers themselves. There is one called Tim and one called Jon. Jon is the one in my photo. I have a hunch he put up the Alfred Jarry quote (though, I'm not sure), but he didn't write that entry that has the Cab Calloway picture in it; Tim did. (You can see who has written each entry by looking at the very bottom of the post.) So, while I agree that indeed he is a man of infinite jest, and sensibility (for he is, and he's extremely clever, too), I can neither confirm nor deny his liking for either Jarry or Calloway. But I will find out, and if he does, I will try to seduce him away from his girlfriend so that he and I can get married and make your son-in-law dreams come true.
xox Yr Dau
So, Jon, it seems you have a new fan. My dad gets very excited when young people have the same tastes as him. Could you please clear up your feelings on Jarry and Calloway, so he knows whether or not to get excited? And just so everyone knows, this is the Jarry anecdote in question:
In the early 1960s the one of the Melbourne Uni theatre companies run by the union put on a production of Ubu Roi and somehow the cops got wind of it. They found out that the play contained the word "Merdre!" in it, which was, even though it's misspelled, close enough to the French word for "shit" to be a punishishable offence. So, they went down to raid the performance and, thinking that Alfred Jarry must be a student at MU, demanded to interview him. The other students thought it would be amusing to play along and yelled out "Run, Alf, run! The police are here!", which sent the fuzz scurrying after a man who had been dead since 1907.
The moral: Cops are not only swine, the are specifically uncultured swine. My father never tires of telling that anecdote.
Also, the musician in question (who has played for Cab Calloway) is a guy named Gil Asky. He has does regular gigs at Dizzy's Jazz Bar on Swan Street.
And to Russ and ns, who seem to have been left out in the cold, I found out my father also sent this email around to his some of his friends:
Subject: From Leggsie's Blog: I Am Interested To See Bloggers Are Not A Species Of Geek, But Quite Charming
Yeah, that's right. That photo, and your blog urls, are getting passed around among my dad's crazy friends and you didn't even know it. Scary, huh?!
posted by divinetrash at 11:01 AM
10 Comments:
I'm sure most people do know Calloway. I suppose the difference is, the ones who actually like him are not often the same people who like Jarry. For example; you.
So I'm the only one of three who doesn't pass for a fan of low comedy? I've always liked Ubu's line: "Mere Ubu, tu es bien laide aujourd'hui. Est-ce parce que nous avons du monde?" Dunno what it means but it looks fucking filthy.
Oh, sorry Leggsie, your dad's reading, I shouldn't swear.
Oh Leggsie, I'm all a'blush! My little heart is set to fluttering. Unfortunately, Tim is indeed responsible for the Jarry and Calloway references. That said, I am a fan of both, Jarry especially (I wear a 19th century cyclist's outfit with pistols when relaxing about the house) and appreciate your dad's Ubu Roi anecdote.
However you'd better tell him that the photograph unfortunately does do me justice - rather too much - and that whilst I may be a man of parts, most are second hand and beyond hope of repair.
Your dad reads your blog? I don't know what I'd do if my parents started reading mine...
But your dad does sound very cool - the kind of dad who wouldn't mind what he read on your blog. And he emails you! How sweet.
There's something very Joe Jackson about Jon in that photo. I think it's because he is so clearly steppin' out. And I don't mean in a gay way.
Hey Alex,
Off topic a bit (um, isn't Cab Calloway... good? - See I tried) I just wanted to pop into the comments and say hello and to point out what a fetching blog you have.
Most fetching.
Consider yourself added to my list of things to read when I am at work or supposed to be studying.
'Twas good seeing you the other night. Hope I bump into some place sometime.
Cheers,
Ben.
(Nat's Ben... the Alex P. Keaton one)
That was supposed to read 'hope I bump into YOU some place sometime' by the way.
It goes without saying that I will, as a matter of course, bump into some place sometime... or more precisely I will do so often, by which I mean all the time.
Good to say that people are picking up "Leggsie". No one but my dad calls me that, and when he dies... What then?! And, Jon, your parts are fine.
Erica: Yeah, my dad is pretty cool. Apart from his craziness, (most of which I have inherited), I really couldn't've asked for a better deal, really.
Ben, thanks for tracking down my li'l ol' blog! Actually, my efforts have been rather lacklustre lately, what with my having nervous breakdowns about uni. But now the hols are upon us, chum, which hopefully means I will pick up the slack a bit! I think *you* should start a blog, if you can get over the stigma; it'd be hilarious. 'Twas good to see you, too, and I'm sure we will bump into each other, what with us having that party animal/socialite Cat for a mutual friend.
Blogs have a stigma? ...Cool. I want in!
Nah I'm too lazy for a blog. Plus the idea that things I had said would be out there forever in cyberspace ready to bite me in the ass sends a shiver up my ass. What if I was hopped up on moonshine and ranted against the jews or something like that? ...I'd be finished!
Cat is a socialite isn't she? However as she will be going to the streets of Philadelphia
(nah nah nah nah) for the rest of the year and I will be in New York for the next few months it will only be possible for the three of us to catch up if you meet us somewhere in the middle of the two places, which puts a dampener on our partying plans. However, if you have the means I highly recommend making the trip. The east coast will not know what hit it. In the following months it would be revealed that it was all the work of Al Qaeda... but we would be confident that we played our part as well.
Is there not an ongoing problem with confusing various charismatic contributors to the sternezine?
A bloggin dilemma.
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