(no subject)
I just realized today how completely out-of-date it is that most computer applications use an icon of a 3.5" floppy for the "save" button. And I can remember using 5" floppies with our Commodore 64. Actual floppies...
Archaisms (is that a word?) happen so much faster in the world of technology.
I have a Revolutionary War song stuck in my head. We're singing it for choir. It's called "Chester" (for no real reason, apparently) and most of the verses are all about how the evil British are attacking and how our scrappy little army is beating the pants off them. According to that wellspring of all knowledge, Wikipedia, "Chester" was second only to "Yankee Doodle" in popularity during that war. It's very strident and Early American, all in four part, but with the melody in the tenor line. It's actually a nice hymn-tune. I think I'll have to learn the later (and purely religious) lyrics that were written for it.
Songs are weird. When their lyrics are grounded in one place and time, but their tune is catchy, they can carry a concept way past its sell-by date. Which is really interesting when, as with a patriotic song, the insults last a lot longer than the animosity. I mean, no one would say that Oliver Cromwell was a nice guy, but I can't help feeling slightly bad that, thanks to a song, the man's been mocked for centuries. By schoolchildren. With "Chester", we accuse a bunch of eighteenth-century British generals of being "in one infernal league" and then essentially call the British army a bunch of pansies. Dude. We even have a British-American in the choir. But, of course, no one was thinking about that two-hundred-plus years ago when it was written.
So how come Twinings sells loose assam tea in Britain, but not in the States? Geez, the things I have to do to get a decent cup of tea. Maybe they're still mad at us over the Boston Tea Party... :-)
Archaisms (is that a word?) happen so much faster in the world of technology.
I have a Revolutionary War song stuck in my head. We're singing it for choir. It's called "Chester" (for no real reason, apparently) and most of the verses are all about how the evil British are attacking and how our scrappy little army is beating the pants off them. According to that wellspring of all knowledge, Wikipedia, "Chester" was second only to "Yankee Doodle" in popularity during that war. It's very strident and Early American, all in four part, but with the melody in the tenor line. It's actually a nice hymn-tune. I think I'll have to learn the later (and purely religious) lyrics that were written for it.
Songs are weird. When their lyrics are grounded in one place and time, but their tune is catchy, they can carry a concept way past its sell-by date. Which is really interesting when, as with a patriotic song, the insults last a lot longer than the animosity. I mean, no one would say that Oliver Cromwell was a nice guy, but I can't help feeling slightly bad that, thanks to a song, the man's been mocked for centuries. By schoolchildren. With "Chester", we accuse a bunch of eighteenth-century British generals of being "in one infernal league" and then essentially call the British army a bunch of pansies. Dude. We even have a British-American in the choir. But, of course, no one was thinking about that two-hundred-plus years ago when it was written.
So how come Twinings sells loose assam tea in Britain, but not in the States? Geez, the things I have to do to get a decent cup of tea. Maybe they're still mad at us over the Boston Tea Party... :-)