Comments on: Abominable, Sulphurous & Futile : A Footnote http://hootingyard.org/archives/461 A Website by Frank Key Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:47:36 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: R http://hootingyard.org/archives/461/comment-page-1#comment-3034 R Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:06:20 +0000 http://www.hootingyard.org/?p=461#comment-3034 pod nocturne ~ proton dunce pod nocturne ~ proton dunce

]]> By: Anonymous http://hootingyard.org/archives/461/comment-page-1#comment-3031 Anonymous Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:06:30 +0000 http://www.hootingyard.org/?p=461#comment-3031 Mr Key's assertion that "we may have difficulty grasping exactly what goes on in the brains of a gaggle of pochards" implies that he is laboring under the mis-apprehension that a sufficiently large number of ducks posses what science-fiction authors call a "hive mind" - that is to say a sufficiently large gathering of ducks can in some way pool their intellects and somehow transcend the duck-like limitations of their bird-brains. From ducks to brains, from brains to minds, from minds to hives, and from hives we reach bees - the connection is clear. PS. How does one train to be a pond counter, you ask? This skill, nay art, is still taught at local community-hubs throuought the land, however government funding no longer extends to the provision of notched sticks. You will have to fell your own tree and make your own notches in anticipation of the glorious day you graduate. Mr Key’s assertion that “we may have difficulty grasping exactly what goes on in the brains of a gaggle of pochards” implies that he is laboring under the mis-apprehension that a sufficiently large number of ducks posses what science-fiction authors call a “hive mind” – that is to say a sufficiently large gathering of ducks can in some way pool their intellects and somehow transcend the duck-like limitations of their bird-brains.

From ducks to brains, from brains to minds, from minds to hives, and from hives we reach bees – the connection is clear.

PS. How does one train to be a pond counter, you ask? This skill, nay art, is still taught at local community-hubs throuought the land, however government funding no longer extends to the provision of notched sticks. You will have to fell your own tree and make your own notches in anticipation of the glorious day you graduate.

]]> By: Pansy Cradledew http://hootingyard.org/archives/461/comment-page-1#comment-3026 Pansy Cradledew Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:07:54 +0000 http://www.hootingyard.org/?p=461#comment-3026 I think filing this piece under 'Bees' by virtue of a single, gratuitous comment at the end of it shows a certain amount of wishful thinking, Mr Key... Making spurious bee associations puts you on the slippery slope to moral decrepitude, I say. How does one train to be a pond counter? Can I be a soi-disant pond counter? I think filing this piece under ‘Bees’ by virtue of a single, gratuitous comment at the end of it shows a certain amount of wishful thinking, Mr Key… Making spurious bee associations puts you on the slippery slope to moral decrepitude, I say.

How does one train to be a pond counter? Can I be a soi-disant pond counter?

]]> By: R http://hootingyard.org/archives/461/comment-page-1#comment-3023 R Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:23:33 +0000 http://www.hootingyard.org/?p=461#comment-3023 >he has had no fewer than five different soups named after him This must cause a certain amount of difficulty in public dining rooms and the like. A conservative customer who enjoys the flavour of his 'Blodgett' soup at Monday lunch asks on successive days for the same entrée; and yet by Friday he has been subjected to a further four concoctions, all bearing the same name, but disappointing to his palate, if not entirely repulsive, in four different ways. On the other hand I could see a prosperous future for a wholly aleatoric restaurant in which every dish, every ingredient, goes by the same name, and what is actually served to your table, once you've placed your somewhat monotonous order, depends on the fall of gastronomical dice, carelessly tossed backstage by a purblind scullion. No need, though, for 'Blodgett' (with its unappetising overtones of 'block', 'stodge' and so on) to be the culinary polyseme. Something a little more skippety and sensuous-sounding might prove more appealing for multiple instantiation on a menu: 'phalarope', 'concubine', 'Passchendaele' or the like. >he has had no fewer than five different soups named after him

This must cause a certain amount of difficulty in public dining rooms and the like. A conservative customer who enjoys the flavour of his ‘Blodgett’ soup at Monday lunch asks on successive days for the same entrée; and yet by Friday he has been subjected to a further four concoctions, all bearing the same name, but disappointing to his palate, if not entirely repulsive, in four different ways.

On the other hand I could see a prosperous future for a wholly aleatoric restaurant in which every dish, every ingredient, goes by the same name, and what is actually served to your table, once you’ve placed your somewhat monotonous order, depends on the fall of gastronomical dice, carelessly tossed backstage by a purblind scullion.

No need, though, for ‘Blodgett’ (with its unappetising overtones of ‘block’, ’stodge’ and so on) to be the culinary polyseme. Something a little more skippety and sensuous-sounding might prove more appealing for multiple instantiation on a menu: ‘phalarope’, ‘concubine’, ‘Passchendaele’ or the like.

]]>