September 12, 2003
Circle Limit
-- What did you do today?
-- Went to the grocery store and Xeroxed a box of English muffins, two pounds of ground veal and an apple. In flagrant violation of the Copyright Act.
-- Went to the grocery store and Xeroxed a box of English muffins, two pounds of ground veal and an apple. In flagrant violation of the Copyright Act.
Many hours ago, on the way home from work, I knew the title of this entry and that it would start with that quote from a story by Donald Barthelme. When I got home I had to dig my copy of Great Days out of storage to find the quote. What I didn't know, and still don't, is what either thing has to do with the price of fish.
I am tempted, in light of the unexpected and unlooked-for success of the whole double dactyl thing, to set another challenge for the assembled company. The spontaneity would be gone, of course, but it could still be quite amusing. However, now is not the time. Let's not flog that horse quite yet; it's maimed, but not dead yet. You never know, it might recover and lead a useful and fulfilling life.
Unlike me. Work -- gack! But again, now is not the time. Pandora, here are some nails and a hammer: seal that fucking box up tight.
So instead I'll just note that there's a new and eventually topical photo album entry, and also a few new photos on the Marching Boys pages, including one (not great, but buggers can't be etc) for the previously unpictured Y2K outing. We're having a little get-together on Sunday to watch this year's vid and I'm hoping to cadge a few more pics then, so watch this space.
Y'all come back now, y'hear?
Comments
Hoggery Bloggery
Matthew the Marching Boy
Set us a challenge and
Watched us all duel;
Offers another, then
Excruciatingly
Snatches it back again—
Oh, love is cruel! Sorry. I couldn't help myself.
Posted by: Faustus, M.D. at September 12, 2003 05:54 AM
Matthew the Marching Boy
Set us a challenge and
Watched us all duel;
Offers another, then
Excruciatingly
Snatches it back again—
Oh, love is cruel! Sorry. I couldn't help myself.
Posted by: Faustus, M.D. at September 12, 2003 05:54 AM
The great picture aside - and rest assured, scanning it in hasn't diminished its impact upon any first time viewer - I really enjoyed reading the entry that followed; I've always spoken of the United States as a nation adolescent in both its actions and regard, but I've never described the differences between the old and the young quite so well as that. Nicely put.
Posted by: Stairs at September 12, 2003 07:56 AM
I like this Faustus character. I think he should add some photos to his blog.
Posted by: Max at September 12, 2003 12:06 PM
Although the metre on excruciatingly is a bit forced :P
Posted by: Max at September 12, 2003 12:08 PM
Stopheles Hopheles
Faustus, though photoless,
Tries to write verse but then
Botches the task;
Though he would like to claim
Infallibility,
Riefenstahl dactyler
Rips off the mask. And Matt, it's a gorgeous photo and a gorgeous essay. Posted by: Faustus, M.D. at September 12, 2003 03:38 PM
Faustus, though photoless,
Tries to write verse but then
Botches the task;
Though he would like to claim
Infallibility,
Riefenstahl dactyler
Rips off the mask. And Matt, it's a gorgeous photo and a gorgeous essay. Posted by: Faustus, M.D. at September 12, 2003 03:38 PM
Aw shucks :)
[Max] Do I have to bring up "expiatorily"?
Posted by: matt at September 12, 2003 04:04 PM
One gorgeous photo deserves another, doncha think, Faustus old chap?
I happened across a perfect name for DD treatment earlier today. Unfortunatly it was in the rather unexciting corporate bio of an executive. Nevertheless, why not do her the honour?
Retailer detailer
Orna Ni-Chionna
Worked at McKinsey for
Nearly twelve years.
Freelance consultant now
(Entrepreneurial)
Sadly reflects on how
Time disappears. Posted by: Max at September 12, 2003 04:34 PM
Orna Ni-Chionna
Worked at McKinsey for
Nearly twelve years.
Freelance consultant now
(Entrepreneurial)
Sadly reflects on how
Time disappears. Posted by: Max at September 12, 2003 04:34 PM
Hickory Dickory
Hunk Maximilian
Asks for a photo,
My face to illume:
Write me a dactyl—with
Instantaneity,
I’ll send a pic, with name
Non pas de plume. (Though it's important to note that I will always love Matt best.) (And, actually, I had no problem with expiatorily. Excruciatingly was, well, excruciating. I'd certainly call my students on that one.) (And if you haven't seen it, you should look at my first entry into this dactylic orgy, which was in the comments on September 10.) (And by "write me a dactyl" of course I mean a double dactyl, not one dactylic foot. In case you were thinking you could cheat. I toyed with "Double me dactyls" but National Talk Like a Pirate Day isn't until next week.)
Posted by: Faustus, M.D. at September 12, 2003 05:37 PM
Hunk Maximilian
Asks for a photo,
My face to illume:
Write me a dactyl—with
Instantaneity,
I’ll send a pic, with name
Non pas de plume. (Though it's important to note that I will always love Matt best.) (And, actually, I had no problem with expiatorily. Excruciatingly was, well, excruciating. I'd certainly call my students on that one.) (And if you haven't seen it, you should look at my first entry into this dactylic orgy, which was in the comments on September 10.) (And by "write me a dactyl" of course I mean a double dactyl, not one dactylic foot. In case you were thinking you could cheat. I toyed with "Double me dactyls" but National Talk Like a Pirate Day isn't until next week.)
Posted by: Faustus, M.D. at September 12, 2003 05:37 PM
And poor Orna. Sigh.
Posted by: Faustus, M.D. at September 12, 2003 05:37 PM
Trabanty Wabanty
Herr Erich Honecker
Ruled his republic
for many a year
Borders not noted for
Permeability
But they had soldiers
who wore sexy gear Sorry - I've just finished my dissertation and the good old GDR is on my mind. Is this a double dactyl, then?
Posted by: Eurodan at September 12, 2003 09:55 PM
Herr Erich Honecker
Ruled his republic
for many a year
Borders not noted for
Permeability
But they had soldiers
who wore sexy gear Sorry - I've just finished my dissertation and the good old GDR is on my mind. Is this a double dactyl, then?
Posted by: Eurodan at September 12, 2003 09:55 PM
Sounds good to me, although the line breaks aren't all in quite the right places. Come to think of it, Faustus did the same with one of his lines ("My face to illume") -- breaking semantically rather than metrically.
Of course, since the whole poem is basically one long rhyming couplet, the line breaks are purely a visual convention -- it works fine read aloud (or aquiet, anyway -- I may be alone in the flat tonight, but that doesn't mean I'm about to roam the halls declaiming comic verse at the top of my voice; at least, not the whole time), which is the main thing.
Posted by: matt at September 12, 2003 10:13 PM
Matt, you're not as far gone as me then :-)
Why can't I double dactyl? (if it's permissible to turn it into a verb!) :-(
Posted by: Shyboy at September 12, 2003 10:19 PM
In order: I'm working on it, you probably could if you wanted to, and it's not :)
Good grief, what have I started? A simple attempt to lighten up yet another maudlin blog entry has turned into Frankenstein's monster and is lumbering out of control trampling all in its path. Don't tell the neighbouring villagers or they'll be surging up the hill wielding pitchforks and fiery torches before you know it.
In the meantime, per his request (albeit not to me):
Slippery Frippery
Faustus the Cheerleader
Came to the party late
Lacking in pics;
Still, his displays of such
Dextrolinguisity*
Prove that he's here to teach
Old dogs new tricks. Photos to be sent at your leisure, Dr F. *Not, obviously, a real word, but hey, it should be :) Posted by: matt at September 12, 2003 11:05 PM
Faustus the Cheerleader
Came to the party late
Lacking in pics;
Still, his displays of such
Dextrolinguisity*
Prove that he's here to teach
Old dogs new tricks. Photos to be sent at your leisure, Dr F. *Not, obviously, a real word, but hey, it should be :) Posted by: matt at September 12, 2003 11:05 PM
Engineer Schmengineer
Shy Adam Bovington
Could double dactyl if
Only he'd try.
Sadly he's too busy
Remanufacturing
Plinths so his sat-dish will
point at the sky. Watch me spiral down into incoherence before your very eyes :)
Posted by: matt at September 12, 2003 11:19 PM
Shy Adam Bovington
Could double dactyl if
Only he'd try.
Sadly he's too busy
Remanufacturing
Plinths so his sat-dish will
point at the sky. Watch me spiral down into incoherence before your very eyes :)
Posted by: matt at September 12, 2003 11:19 PM
Shibbidy Dibbidy
Shyboy quite hopelessly
Sat in his room
Speaking poems out loud.
Why does he find them an
Impossibility?
Feeling inadequate
Amongst this crowd. Posted by: Shyboy at September 12, 2003 11:29 PM
Shyboy quite hopelessly
Sat in his room
Speaking poems out loud.
Why does he find them an
Impossibility?
Feeling inadequate
Amongst this crowd. Posted by: Shyboy at September 12, 2003 11:29 PM
Okay, but how did you know my name was Maximilian?
(thinks)
Posted by: Max at September 13, 2003 12:06 AM
Who can say, Max, who can say...?
Posted by: Eurodan at September 13, 2003 12:13 AM
Good job, Adam. Told you so :)
Posted by: matt at September 13, 2003 12:23 AM
Flandery dandery
Mr De Vilder is
rather too sexy for
reading the nieuws
Maybe he'll give me his
telefoonnummertje
so I can help him
removing his trews And no, Mr De Wilder, in the unlikely event you're reading this - I'm not *really* a stalker, honest! (And if anyone else is wondering to whom this ode is addressed, check out September 02 on my blog). But then come back to Matt's infinitely more intellectual publication! Posted by: Eurodan at September 13, 2003 12:25 AM
Mr De Vilder is
rather too sexy for
reading the nieuws
Maybe he'll give me his
telefoonnummertje
so I can help him
removing his trews And no, Mr De Wilder, in the unlikely event you're reading this - I'm not *really* a stalker, honest! (And if anyone else is wondering to whom this ode is addressed, check out September 02 on my blog). But then come back to Matt's infinitely more intellectual publication! Posted by: Eurodan at September 13, 2003 12:25 AM
Well, all I had to go on was the blog, so I thought I'd paraphrase an entry. Desperate, but technically valid.
Thuggery buggery
Faustus MD (soi-disant)
Clicked over Darth with his
Planet Out date.
Smart, funny, plays in bed
Hyperassertively.
Click didn't happen though.
Ain't life just great? Posted by: Max at September 13, 2003 12:33 AM
Faustus MD (soi-disant)
Clicked over Darth with his
Planet Out date.
Smart, funny, plays in bed
Hyperassertively.
Click didn't happen though.
Ain't life just great? Posted by: Max at September 13, 2003 12:33 AM
Okay, I was way too tired to begin that, so I repeated click and buggered it up. Replace line 2 with 'Bonded re. Vader love on the first date.' Or whatever.
Cnat think strait. Gwin bed.
Posted by: Max at September 13, 2003 12:36 AM
Erm... Far be it from me to carp, and as much as I love your poetry, don't you have a syllable too many in the second line?
Posted by: Eurodan at September 13, 2003 12:37 AM
Dan!
(Ahem. This is in reference to your earlier comment, not the one posted while I was composing this. Damn, this thing moves so fast.)
While I love having you here, and am very happy to have such a bizarrely productive comments section -- long may it continue -- I also want to read things in *your* blog. So rather than doing yourself down here, how about showing us what you're made of there :)
Flippety Floppety
Translator Eurodan's
Self-deprecatory --
Such a mistake.
Frankly there's nothing this
Interpretational
Wonderboy *can't* do, so
Give us a break! Posted by: matt at September 13, 2003 12:45 AM
Translator Eurodan's
Self-deprecatory --
Such a mistake.
Frankly there's nothing this
Interpretational
Wonderboy *can't* do, so
Give us a break! Posted by: matt at September 13, 2003 12:45 AM
And yes, Max screwed up. Tsk :)
May I humbly suggest replacing (soi-disant) with (so-called)?
Posted by: matt at September 13, 2003 12:46 AM
Aww - thanks *blushes* - you're too kind :-)
Well, you'll be happy to know that my dissertation's now finished, and handed in - so I'll actually have some creative energy for a bit of blogging.
(Promises, promises!)
Posted by: Eurodan at September 13, 2003 12:52 AM
Humdidy dumdidy
Bloggers without a life
Spend half the the night posting
Ditties on here.
Is it just me thinks it's
Incomprehensible?
Why not go out now? It´s
Time for a beer. Posted by: Shyboy at September 13, 2003 01:48 AM
Bloggers without a life
Spend half the the night posting
Ditties on here.
Is it just me thinks it's
Incomprehensible?
Why not go out now? It´s
Time for a beer. Posted by: Shyboy at September 13, 2003 01:48 AM
I hate beer -- but applaud the sentiment. Away we go.
Posted by: matt at September 13, 2003 02:38 AM
Flustery Blustery
Faustus hubristically
Rattles off dactyls and
Goes to the gym;
Comes back to find that the
Euroquadrumvirate
Outdid his efforts with
Style and vim. (I'm at a friend's housewarming party now, where there is beer, though I'm not drinking it. Does that count? Matt, I have your e-mail and will send you a picture as soon as I stop blushing. Max, you must send me your e-mail--mine is on my blog--and I will send you a picture as well, as soon as I stop blushing.) Posted by: Faustus, M.D. at September 13, 2003 03:32 AM
Faustus hubristically
Rattles off dactyls and
Goes to the gym;
Comes back to find that the
Euroquadrumvirate
Outdid his efforts with
Style and vim. (I'm at a friend's housewarming party now, where there is beer, though I'm not drinking it. Does that count? Matt, I have your e-mail and will send you a picture as soon as I stop blushing. Max, you must send me your e-mail--mine is on my blog--and I will send you a picture as well, as soon as I stop blushing.) Posted by: Faustus, M.D. at September 13, 2003 03:32 AM
Max's address is linked here, just remove the overemphatic chunk after the @.
Posted by: matt at September 13, 2003 04:23 AM
Comments for this post are now closed, but feel free to email me if you have something interesting to say.
