There's a famous Smiths song that says, "I am the son and heir of nothing in particular." It's an amazing line-as are many Smiths lines-but when it comes down to it there are many things that can be passed down from parents to children. One thing I definitely got from my father is a love for words. I used to roll my eyes until they practically fell out of the sockets when he would launch into a lecture about cubist sculptures, or chide me for not wearing a sweatshirt on a day with such an intense "wind chill factor." But as I get older I realize that one of the main things I "inherited" from him is a love of words. Granted, I had to learn that an appreciation for ornate language can be an impediment rather than an asset in Words With Friends, but other than that it's fun.While I've always loved language, it's sometimes been a hard thing to both fit into the curriculum and effectively teach my students. We've been teaching more Greek and Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes lately, and the results have been promising. We did a little practice test with the kids a couple of weeks ago, and some of them seemed to be getting pretty into it. Hopefully it will continue to go well, and next year's modified block schedule will allow for more in-depth vocabulary work.
I can't think about it too much or I'll start obsessing, but I'll say off the top of my head that my five favorite words are:
-circumlocution
-mellifluous
-somnambulatory
-quizzical
-bamboozled
For the most part I love them for the sound, and for the way the syllables dance around inside my mouth when I say them. Some of them, though, also have great definitions. The prefix circum- means around and alludes to a circle, and locution means style of speech. Circumlocution means "evasion in speech," or almost literally "talking in circles." I don't know, something about the way the word comes together both phonetically and in terms of meaning makes me freak out a little bit. Thankfully, I'm very comfortable owning my nerdiness at this point in my life.
It's fairly well established that the British are just better than most people at a lot of stuff. I mean, why do you think car companies always hire some British dude to do the voice-over for their only-borderline luxury cars? Well, because the tastefully refined British accent imbues any hunk of junk with a certain je ne sais quois (dash of francophilia thrown in for fun). Beyond that fetishistic sort of British admiration that is probably pretty annoying to Brits themselves, many people also admire them for the musicianship, acting, and other artistic contributions that come from the region. I will refrain from discussing Mark Rylance again (GO READ AND/OR SEE THE PLAY JERUSALEM IF YOU EVER HAVE THE CHANCE), but here are some of my favorite British things:
Some of the best drum and bass DJs in the world hail from the UK. Andy C, Friction, Goldie, Roni Size, etc. Friction just took over the BBC Radio 1 drum and bass show, and below are two great new tracks he played. The first, "Self Control," is grimy as hell, with a great bassline and groove, and the second one, "I Used to Have it All (Delta Heavy Remix)," has beautiful vocals, dark production, and ridiculous beats. Friction is an amazing mixer with great taste. I look forward to following his show.
The Kinks, though obviously famous, are a criminally underrated band. Everyone always discusses the Stones, Beatles, The Smiths and The Who as the greatest British bands-and they're brilliant-but the Kinks have their place in the pantheon as well. "Waterloo Sunset" is one of the most beautiful, calming songs ever written. I'd say it's evocative of a British countryside, but I've never been, so what the hell do I know?!?!?!?!
The Smiths are perhaps THE quintessential British band for people between the ages of approximately thirty and forty-five. Morissey's lyrics are melodramatic and biting, and Johnny Marr's guitar playing is incredibly melodic. "Headmaster Ritual" is a pretty scathing song about teachers, and every time I hear it I think to myself, "GOD I HOPE I'M NOT LIKE THAT!" James is decidedly less famous than The Smiths, but "Laid" was perhaps the first "non-classic" British song I became completely obsessed with. I fell in love with it way back in high school, and it sounds just as catchy today.
Downton Abbey is a very popular Masterpiece Theatre show about an earl and his family living on a manor in the early 1900s. I actually wrote about it a couple of posts ago, so I won't belabor the point of its greatness too much here. Suffice it to say, Maggie Smith alone makes this show well worth watching. Below is a hilarious clip of Maggie in all her snooty glory. And finally we come to Cate. Oh Cate. I always thought you were beautiful and talented, and then you said on "Inside the Actor's Studio" that circumnavigate was your favorite word (30:49) and I just didn't know what to do. You're now my second favorite British female behind Kate Bush, who I'm not going to post anything of because I've already discussed her. I don't want to overdo it, because that would just be in poor taste. DO GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF, SHANE!
3 comments:
Cate Blanchett is the thinking man (& woman?)'s sex symbol... endearingly gorgeous. I love when she talked about watching Mash as a kid.
I think you accidentally posted your comment twice. I deleted the second one. :)
Yeah, she's pretty great. So smart and thoughtful, but seems really down to earth as well.
I never really watched Mash. It just seemed like the exact same scene played over and over again. I didn't have much of an appreciation for dialogue as a ten-year-old. Robert Altman is great, though. Maybe I'll go back and watch some episodes.
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