Christmad thought from Karim, which might bring to mind Leo Tolstoy or Norah Jones (or even Mark Twain–“The house was as empty as a beer closet in premises where painters have been at work”), but which is certainly all his own.
MJ suggests that “adventures, devices and hoaxes” is a better translation of “aventuras, inventos y mixtificaciones” than “adventures, inventions and mystifications.” I think that’s a bit hard on C19th Spain’s greatest scientist ;o)
Abdul Bari Jahani told IWPR, “This is in fact not a poem, but a list of tribes.” The old Yugoslav one worked on the same basis, with each republic having a section of its own anthem included, which is why it took hours to play at football matches.
I am told that, during a recent Shanghai performance of The Messiah, the tenors got confused and lost during the chorus “Let us break our bonds asunder,” presumably for fear they’d be despised and rejected thereafter.
I’ve a little bottle in my brisses pocket, which I call Icum Spicome, Spinto of Spain Which brings dead men to life again Here Jack take a sup out of my little bottle And let it run down thy throttle Arise and fight for ten thousand.
Baron von Gizman (or whoever) threads his way round the that/which dilemma by using both on the No Kill I site. (No Kill I is a band thatwhich I have never heard, and thatwhich has been involved in a disturbing voodoo chicken situation.)