tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post738875483115973228..comments2023-10-17T08:19:58.196-04:00Comments on FreeThinke: FreeThinkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-7989976620914930132012-11-17T15:09:34.436-05:002012-11-17T15:09:34.436-05:00Speaking is a lot like writing. Doing it well does...Speaking is a lot like writing. Doing it well does NOT come "NATCHERLY." <br /><br />One must have talent, of course, but one must also be intelligently TRAINED or one is usually stuck with garbled gobbledygook.<br /><br />NPR announcers don't have British accents as a rule. Some are very good, some sound of the men sound like a condescending Nancypants. REALLY good speech does not come off as patronizing. Usually it is more SEDUCTIVE-- but not to those who suffer what-I-call reverse snobbery. FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-3276639123541423332012-11-17T11:17:46.539-05:002012-11-17T11:17:46.539-05:00Speaking of contempt... one doesn't even need ...Speaking of contempt... one doesn't even need to know how to sing anymore, one can <a href="http://youtu.be/Uk-I85A5-hU" rel="nofollow">autotune</a> their way to stardom.<br /><br />Maybe I can buy one of those things for giving me a really cool sounding accent... :)Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-20683699940276124002012-11-17T09:06:43.885-05:002012-11-17T09:06:43.885-05:00Is it because we have so little faith in our own?
...Is it because we have so little faith in our own?<br /><br />Familiarity breeds contempt.-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16745768408538827278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-26407641156745130482012-11-17T08:19:43.626-05:002012-11-17T08:19:43.626-05:00There is much in what you say. It pays to have a ...There is much in what you say. It pays to have a unique and "stylish" diction... I know of many an NPR host who has "gone far" on "classical music" radio with their upper British class accents.Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-65733702520072317312012-11-17T07:48:27.101-05:002012-11-17T07:48:27.101-05:00Was gratified to hear Peter O'Toole in a late ...Was gratified to hear Peter O'Toole in a late night interview with Robert Osborne stress the importance for young actors and actresses of training and developing the voice to maximize it's expressive potential and versatility. <br /><br />I wish he had extended his admonition to include politicians -- American ones in particular. Jez and I have had this out to our mutual dissatisfaction more than one already, but he modern notion that "just being <i>natural</i>" is all that needs to be required of public speakers and performers has led to a deplorable succession of tinny, whiny-sounding voices, sloppy diction, uncouth regional accents and an aura of despicable dulness in rigid conformity to an ethos dedicated to maintaining no standards whatsoever.<br /><br />To put it bluntly:<br /><br /><b>Very frankly unmodified, unpolished, unimproved "natural" speech with rare exceptions is THE PITS.</b><br /><br />It's ONE of the reasons the otherwise wonderful Ron Paul had no real chance of becoming a credible presidential candidate, and why Paul Ryan, who has an unfortunately tinny, flat, uninteresting voice, failed to add much luster and dynamism to the Republican ticket.<br /><br />~ FT<br /><br />FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-24171347014297061062012-11-16T18:33:22.955-05:002012-11-16T18:33:22.955-05:00What fun!~ I enjoyed David Niven most in Separate ...What fun!~ I enjoyed David Niven most in Separate Tables and -- believe it or not -- Bonjour Tristesse.<br /><br />When I was small, I always thought he looked as though he were smelling something "a bit off." I called it that "I smell tunafish look" at the time. ;-)<br /><br />It's hard to believe he started out as a <i>barber</i>, and probably spoke in a rich cockney dialect -- as did Noel Coward, Claude Rains and Cary Grant -- and who knows who all else.<br /><br />How exciting that your mother got to dance with him -- ONSCREEN. Whee!<br /><br />~ FTFreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-50965028035570570112012-11-16T17:25:11.290-05:002012-11-16T17:25:11.290-05:00Okay...maybe it wasn't the russian Abassador.....Okay...maybe it wasn't the russian Abassador... it was the bald guy.Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-30821538735752392152012-11-16T17:23:05.303-05:002012-11-16T17:23:05.303-05:00and again around 5:50...
bad link above.and again around <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3acHUlH6OYQ&sns=em" rel="nofollow">5:50</a>...<br /><br />bad link above.Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-30934607747720742252012-11-16T17:20:15.994-05:002012-11-16T17:20:15.994-05:00btw - My mom has pictures of herself and David Niv...btw - My mom has pictures of herself and David Niven on the set of 55 Days in Peking... she had a small part as the wife of the Russian Ambassador.... at about 3:20 the two of them dance across <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Bouchet" rel="nofollow">the bottom of the screen</a> together... ;)Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-22244807386208056452012-11-16T17:09:56.347-05:002012-11-16T17:09:56.347-05:00A rose by any other name...A rose <i>by any other name</i>...Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-62044272680312473162012-11-16T15:32:17.525-05:002012-11-16T15:32:17.525-05:00Is Barbara Bouchet anyone at all, FJ? ;-)Is Barbara Bouchet anyone at <i>all</i>, FJ? ;-)FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-48031875802628589662012-11-16T09:01:31.693-05:002012-11-16T09:01:31.693-05:00You're right, Jez; Thank you for pointing out ...You're right, Jez; Thank you for pointing out the error. I'm sure Roger Moore wouldn't think it trivial, if he were to see it.<br /><br />I corrected the caption thanks to your keen powers of observation. I must admit I only had eyes for Miss Moneypenny, who was probably my second most favorite character in the Bond series.<br /><br />You're right about Sean Connery of course, although having read a couple of Flemings Bond thrillers before Dr. No became a movie, I always envisioned RICHARD TODD as the ideal Bond -- and frankly still do.<br /><br />Never cared much for the series after Sean Connery finally escaped from being typecast as Bond -- a role, I understand, he detested.<br /><br />Casting Judi Dench as "M," however, was a true stroke of genius. Ms. Dench can't help but brighten and elevate the tone of anything and everything in which she appears. <br /><br />~ FreeThinke<br /><br />PS: Too bad we moved so quickly away from Mark Steyn's wonderful style which I had hoped would be the main focus of these discussions. - FTFreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-75331592837064511812012-11-16T08:16:29.765-05:002012-11-16T08:16:29.765-05:00I take it that Barbara Bouchet was no Moneypenny, ...I take it that Barbara Bouchet was no Moneypenny, either...<br /><br />;)-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16745768408538827278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-45764609264873993562012-11-16T03:38:54.083-05:002012-11-16T03:38:54.083-05:00Trivial point: that's Roger Moore in the pictu...Trivial point: that's Roger Moore in the picture, not Sean Connery as captioned.<br />Connery's the perfect actor for Bond, and I don't think that's just cos he got there first (Niven doesn't count, no-one was looking).jezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14865247084509280406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-51537246450778032662012-11-15T22:51:05.915-05:002012-11-15T22:51:05.915-05:00Of all the Bond characters I liked Pussy Galore fa...Of all the Bond characters I liked Pussy Galore far and away the best.<br /><br />Ever time I think of Pussy, I start to chuckle -- really do.FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-14977649666347484042012-11-15T21:53:05.155-05:002012-11-15T21:53:05.155-05:00George Lazenby?George Lazenby?-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16745768408538827278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-90938129787694764792012-11-15T21:51:53.192-05:002012-11-15T21:51:53.192-05:00He's a David Niven Bond fan. ;)He's a David Niven Bond fan. ;)-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16745768408538827278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-30231636214547285662012-11-15T19:56:52.468-05:002012-11-15T19:56:52.468-05:00And what are YOUR views on James Bond, Ducky?
I&#...And what are YOUR views on James Bond, Ducky?<br /><br />I'm just DYING to know. ;-)<br /><br />~ FTFreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-86644681248862401692012-11-15T19:55:43.891-05:002012-11-15T19:55:43.891-05:00Sure, but I didn't need HER to tell me that. I...Sure, but I didn't need HER to tell me that. I saw it for myself when you were just a toddler.<br /><br />EVERYBODY has redeeming features somewhere. She was a good looking woman with considerable intelligence, but an intellectual predator with a perverted worldview in my never humble opinion.<br /><br />FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-17195935634291858512012-11-15T19:49:40.458-05:002012-11-15T19:49:40.458-05:00Now, now, Freethinker. I would have expected that ...Now, now, Freethinker. I would have expected that you would have accepted her position that the modern era has produced sensory overload that is diminishing art.Ducky's herehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14608115001116619877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-20073555811212716452012-11-15T19:34:44.029-05:002012-11-15T19:34:44.029-05:00Duck, you're absolutely incorrigible.
Try to ...Duck, you're absolutely incorrigible.<br /><br />Try to hand you an olive branch, and you try to use it for a sllngshot to pelt pebbles at my face.<br /><br />There could not have been a happier person on the planet than I when I received the news some years ago that that filthy Commie cunt had finally succumbed to cancer.<br /><br />It couldn't have happened to a more deserving individual.FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-57463994234938143512012-11-15T18:32:36.988-05:002012-11-15T18:32:36.988-05:00Odd that number one on Sontag's list is a 1929...Odd that number one on Sontag's list is a 1929 film from the Soviet Union. Any chance this film was sanctioned by Josef Stalin and likely Stalin's owners and puppet masters the Rockefellers?<br /><br />BTW, Ducky, why don't you explain the dependent relationship that that Marx had with that old capitalist Engels? Marx, of course, couldn't support himself (he was more than a tad deranged) and was a kept man supported by Engels, no?Waylonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08533895509055020394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-31520132937924130452012-11-15T18:06:45.107-05:002012-11-15T18:06:45.107-05:00Anyone seen Steyn's list<a href="http://mubi.com/lists/susan-sontags-favourite-films" rel="nofollow">Anyone seen Steyn's list</a>Ducky's herehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14608115001116619877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-54385156556863928622012-11-15T18:03:29.581-05:002012-11-15T18:03:29.581-05:00But let's not waste too much time denigrating ...But let's not waste too much time denigrating Ducky. I have been sure he's playing "a character part" in order to stimulate discussion.<br />-----<br />Hardly, I'm sorry Susan Sontag isn't around to kick Steyn's butt.Ducky's herehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14608115001116619877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-54055405052222868002012-11-15T15:55:06.969-05:002012-11-15T15:55:06.969-05:00God bless you, Waylon!
Steyn is a one of my great...God bless you, Waylon!<br /><br />Steyn is a one of my great heroes. His wonderful sense of irony and unfailing good humor even in the face of looming disaster are exactly what we need to help stiffen our spines and boost our morale through this period of Darkness.<br /><br />If you don't mind, I may just lift that piece and use as a featured article. Its inescapable, undeniable truth is timeless and the way he reveals it priceless.<br /><br />But let's not waste too much time denigrating Ducky. I have been sure he's playing "a character part" in order to stimulate discussion.<br /><br />An echo chamber is no place we should want to be.<br /><br />There's a difference between determined opposition and sheer, doctrinaire asininity. I have to respect the former while I despise the latter.<br /><br />Monolithic, monochromatic ANYTHING is never a good thing, because it implies stasis and stagnation.<br /><br />~ FreeThinke<br /><br />FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.com