|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
I'm quite a fan of this BBC program that our PBS (here in the US of A) re-broadcasts. Most people I know dislike it, but I and a few others love it and are hoping for a new season.
Now I didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday, mind you, and have Brit friends and have visited London half a dozen times, but I have a question as to usage in the program: The Buckets refer to their family members as "our Onslow" or "our Violet." I was wondering if this is common in Britspeak (and if so, I've missed it), where this is most common, if it is a class/location dialect signifier, or wassup widdat, exactly.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 29
newbie
|
|
newbie
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 29 |
Common throughout the north of England when I lived there as a child. Class? My family used it (we were poor but classy). I had cousins who lived in the north east who would actually refer to their parents as "our mam" or "our dad". Their family had a strong Irish thread.
Sounds like a group is speaking doesn't it?
Carpe rutila
Carpe whatever
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
Yes, you'd hear "our Sharon", "our Kylie", all over the North. I assume it is thrown in as a counterbalance to our Hyacinth's perfect speech patterns - Patricia Routledge* is a great actress and "does" Hyacinth "Bouquet" to perfection. my father-in-law uses Hyacinth as a pet(?!) name for my mother-in-law. No comment!
* In particular for Mrs. Malaprop (on stage) and for Alan Bennett's "Talking Heads" (BBC).
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 56
journeyman
|
|
journeyman
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 56 |
this is/was a common practice in Scotland, used to distinguish between persons of the same christian name. the term 'our' denoting membership of a family.
In brings back happy memories of a comic strip in the Scottish Sunday Post called "Our Willie." and another called "The Broons"
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094 |
Patricia Routledge is a great actress and "does" Hyacinth "Bouquet" to perfection.
Is this actually a current program in England? I've often wondered if this and other BBC-PBS programs (Mr. Bean, Are You Being Served) are new. To me, being used to American sit-coms, these British shows seem to have bland humor and lower production quality. But, I guess you don't have an entertainment mecca like Hollywood over there, do you?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
My, but you are as subtle as an ax murderer, and whew boy, tact oozing out of every orifice. Insult an entire nation’s entertainment industry, why don’t you.
You have to realize Jazzy, that not everybody has the same sense of humour. What you consider funny might be dead boring to another person and vice versa. This was discussed in a previous thread (I can’t find it now) but it might be interesting for you to look it up. The differences in English/U.S./Canadian humour was discussed.
Even with the ole mecca you got there, some pretty bad stinkers are being put out every year, don’t you agree?
True, the sitcoms imported from the U.K. are probably not your cup of tea; they seem to be aimed at an older crowd. Have you ever seen Red Dwarf – this is aimed at a younger crowd and is quite funny. I'd give it a chance. Expanding your horizons expands your mind.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Jazz, I'm curious: what do you consider to be a quality U.S. sitcom?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 11
stranger
|
|
stranger
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 11 |
Both my sister and I are Americans who love the "Britcoms" --her favorites are "Are You Being Served" and "Keeping Up Appearances." My current favorites are "Red Dwarf" for its sci fi content and its star's wonderful Scottish accent, and "As Time Goes By" for its interesting British expressions and its warm portrayal of a relationship between two people who aren't ashamed to sport grey hair and wrinkles.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
ShyHeart, welcome to you! I LOVE your name! I see that you and your sister have good taste, too. "Britcoms"--that's great! I've never heard that before! (don't watch much TV)
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004 |
My current favorites are "Red Dwarf" for its sci fi content and its star's wonderful Scottish accent
Red Dwarf is great fun, but I thought I'd point out that there is no Scottish accent in it.
Rimmer - poncy RP
Cat - poncy
Krytten - American/Welsh
Holly - RP-esque
and the great Lister - Brummie (from Birmingham), or 'Black Country', at a stretch - and yes, he's right, we're all smegheads!
Come on you Brits - correct me on this if I've mucked it up.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Welcome, Shyheart!  Yep, Jackie, the term "Britcoms" is alive and entrenched. Here's a web site: http://www.britcoms.com/I don't watch much TV, either, except for news, weather, quiz shows and the occasional Britcom. I shall look for Red Dwarf, I'm interested now in the accents.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
>Scottish Accent/Black Country
I'm not a regular but isn't Craig Charles from Liverpool?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
>I guess you don't have an entertainment mecca like Hollywood over there, do you?
That's fine Jazz, if we can be rude about your President you can be rude about our TV. Actually, we're pretty rude about our own Prime Minister and our own TV most of the time. The short answer is that the British comedy shown on American television is self-selected - we keep the best to ourselves.
Regarding Britcoms, I think that the stuff that gets filtered through to an American audience tends to be the rather safe mid-evening slot stuff with a touch of nostalgia aimed at an older audience. Programmes like "Are you Being Served?", "Benny Hill", "On the Buses" and "Dad's Army" are early seventies shows which were pulled from the schedules years ago (around the same time that the USA stopped making "I Love Lucy") Sadly, some have recently crept back in the early evening slots to cope with digital TV's insatiable desire for content over quality.
Some programming like "Porridge, "Open All Hours", "Only Fools and Horses", "Fawlty Towers" and "Monty Python" have survived the test of time slightly better. "Keeping Up Appearances" ran until 1995, "The Thin Blue Line", "Waiting for God" and "One Foot in the Grave" (last programme tonight) are more recent examples of early evening sit-com.
There is a lot of good comedy which is not exported as much. One of our top programmes is "Have I Got News for You" which is a very irreverant look at the week's news. It deals with British politics and it would be unlikely to interest a significant section of the American audience. Other programmes like "Men Behaving Badly", "Red Dwarf", "Goodness Gracious Me", "The Young Ones", "Blackadder" and "Ab Fab" are/were mid-evening programmes for a younger adult audience. Some, like "Red Dwarf", have a cult following and the low production values are part of the joke. In fact you may have noticed that British comedy programmes tend to go for people who look funny as well as being funny, we're less inclined to go for glamour, it would be hard to imagine a succesful UK version of "Dynasty". If you ever get to see "The Royle Family", you'll know what I mean.
Some of our programmes like "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire" or get "translated" so you never get to see the British versions. A gound-breaking programme like "Cracker" (very edgy, urban, threatening with the wonderful Robbie Coltrane) was re-made as "Fitz" with an American cast and writing team and was much the worse for it. Think of what the "Sopranos" would be like if it were re-made by Disney! Conversely, "ER" is streaks ahead of our own, early evening medical show "Casualty" in my opinion.
Our later evening comedy tends not to get exported quite so readily to America, it tends to have too much "language" and sex (and not enough violence) combined with regional accents and British humour. Think of something with the edge of "The Full Monty" or "Trainspotting", more Lenny Bruce than Lucille Ball.
As an aside Jazz, have you ever been outside America? - you might enjoy a trip to Europe one day. (Just don't watch the television!)
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004 |
I could be wrong - which is why I asked for advice. He's on 'Robot Wars' as well, if you ever want to check. Anybody else prepared to give us definitive views on Craig Charles' geographic roots? (No fair if you read his biog - only deductions from accent allowed.)
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
Jazz:
>an entertainment mecca like Hollywood over there, do you?<
guess you don't read the credits-- other wise you might have noticed "Pinewood Studios" Located just outside london, it is an international center for film production. (check out an some english, or international films, with parts done in England.) I think you'll find pinewood studios comming up a lot more often than you realize!
i think british sit coms are often funnier since they are simpler. there are fewer effects--no of the morphing or cartoon effects like in "alley mcbeal" . and they have more comedy based on class and language. and yes, most of the US is still too puritanical for international comedy.
--on an other note, the "our Violet" is fairly common among the irish, but it is a class thing. my mother didn't permit it, she thought it too low class. but she did laspe into refering to my father as himself. But she did make a point of calling my dad, Pat and never Paddy, even though every one else in the family use the irish diminutive. she refused to name my brother Michael, even though he was born on the Michaelmas day, since it was bad enough to be married to Paddy Reilly, but she wasn't going to have Micky Reilly as a son!
as i grew i learned to differeniate between irish culture and irish american culture-- they are very different! but that is another thread.....
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 11
stranger
|
|
stranger
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 11 |
Shanks -- I was pleased with the bit of elucidation on the accents. Guess my provincialism was showing! A question now -- and you used the word before me! -- is the derogatory term "smeghead" actually vulgar slang? Or was it coined for the tv show? Just curious.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094 |
Grrr . . . I can't say anything without getting yelled at. Maybe I should just stop posting. The English that I think obviously has slightly different connotations than what actually gets written down.
I was in no manner intending to insult British television. My main questions was whether or not those shows were currently running in England because, for some twisted reason in my head, the quality of the recordings looks similar to those of older American shows. Perhaps it's just me, but the camera angles and sets look considerably different. My mention of Hollywood was simply stating that we have the largest media center in the world that has so much money and competition.
Obviously, "bland" was the wrong term. We've already discussed the differences between American and British humor, and it was pointed out that many Americans find British humor bland or strange. I'm sure the converse is true in the UK. I rather enjoy Monty Python. "The Search for the Holy Grail" is very popular in the US. I personally don't care much for "Keeping Up Appearances" simply because I find it quite odd, and "Are You Being Served" is definitely more liberally sex related than American sit-coms.
I definitely don't care for aspersions calling me simple-minded or immature. If those are true, then why am I here? I'd have to say that I watch more intellectual television than most people.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
Jazzy dear. If, as you say, your written posts do not always accurately convey what you were thinking, it might be a good idea to write them in Word first, and then reread them. I do that quite often. I find that by rereading myself I can shorten the post and clarify what I want to get across.
You may not have noticed but your previous post came out as extremely condescending. Read it over and you will see that I am right. Unfortunately, because of the format of this forum, we cannot see the expressions behind the posts and must rely on the information provided. That is why it is important to make sure what you write is what you mean to get across.
Words can hurt sweetie. If you sting someone you have to expect they will sting back. No one can know you didn’t mean to do so.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Well, I don't know what Word is, but that sounds like a good idea--checking, that is. I just do it here.
But--checking doesn't always save me from saying something different than I intended. That is complicated by the fact that I can be a bit impetuous. One thing that I have not yet perfected, Jazz., is to always engage brain before opening mouth (or fingers, here!). I hope for your sake that you catch on to doing that sooner.
I have noticed that posts on this board have gotten away from pointing out people's minor errors, such as spelling
mistakes. I have seen a great many myself that I know come
from the person simply being in a hurry, either to get on with what they're supposed to be doing, or just to go on to the next thread, or whatever. The larmoyancy thread really made it clear how much we all value our time, and also how much we value this Board. So--it seems to me that we appreciate each other, AND each others' situations, because so many are so similar.
Jazz., perhaps you got some private messages, "yelling at"
you. What was posted struck me more as statement of fact than negative criticism. But then--it wasn't directed at something I'd put, either! But there truly is all the difference in the world between a highly judgmental
"You're simple-minded", and bel's gracious, non-judgmental,
"your previous post came out as extremely condescending".
It's obvious you're very bright, and I for one wouldn't like to see you go.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,027
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,027 |
Grrr . . . I can't say anything without getting yelled at. Maybe I should just stop posting.This is a well-known, yet passing feeling in my experience. A remark may be perceived as a "yell" on the background of the general tone around here, which is so measured and polite (especially compared to many other boards). So, yes, stop for half a day, then resume in all serenity .
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004 |
is the derogatory term "smeghead" actually vulgar slang? Or was it coined for the tv show? Just curious.Wish I could help with this one, but alas, the first time I ever heard the word was on the show. Which is not evidence of anything. I suspect it might have been an invention - but then the 'feck' in Father Ted wasn't an invention, so who knows - in the deepest, darkest Midlands and North West of Enghland there might be whole tribes of smegheadders...
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004 |
Hi Shy... (ulp - the devil made me do it)
I can confirm that I misled you earlier. Craig Charles (Lister) is not Brummie, but a Scouser - true Liverpudlian, and it's the accent of that region that he demonstrates. (Bad boy, shanks - smacky wristies for earlier post.)
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004 |
JazzO
"Are you being served" is from the '70s. I doubt if any programme being produced today (even in the UK) would be allowed to get away with the salacious 'pussy' references, amongst other things.
"Mr Bean" is from the early and mid-'90s. So is "AbFab". "Red Dwarf" has been going on for over ten years - so you can actually see some of the effects of changing technology through the series.
Acknowledged classics (at least as fas as Brits are concerned):
"Fawlty Towers" - late '70s/early '80s
"Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister" - early/mid '80s
"Blackadder" - mid '80s
Current Britcoms worth seeking out:
"Goodness Gracious Me" - Sketch show (not sitcom) with South Asian immigrant satire
"Have I got news for you" - political/topical 'quiz' show, and still the funniest (and cleverest) thing on television
"The Royle Family" - TV verite, if you will - brilliantly true, flawlessly scripted and acted - but may, because of that, seem to lack the production 'values' of most US sitcoms. (Think of Ken Loach and Harold Pinter collaborating on a TV comedy and you might get a feel for it...)
cheer
the sunshine warrior
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
Oh well, I suppose I'll have to let you know the official line on this one. I'm not convinced and am not entirely keen to have a SMEG fridge. Anyway, here's what is said in the FAQ for alt.tv.red-dwarf: What does "smeg" mean?It's a word made up by Grant Naylor for the characters to use as an all-purpose profanity. Some fans have theorised that it was derived from "smegma" (a particularly unpleasant bodily secretion), but Rob and Doug deny this. In the interview on the CD included with the Six of the Best box set, they state that "we wanted to invent a futuristic curse word which had the right sort of consonant and vowel arrangement to make it sound like a genuine . . . curse word." In an online chat session, Doug Naylor said "I think it's Latin for clean, also there's an Italian washing machine company called Smeg. Also each of the letters S-M-E-G stand for smelting metal and something to do with the washing machine process." A detailed list of "smeg" references in the show is available at http://www.bristol.u-net.com/smegweb/docs/smeglist.html http://home.interpath.net/pat/rd/faq.html
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
>But, I guess you don't have an entertainment mecca like Hollywood over there, do you?
This reminds me that Shanks is planning a tour of Southall including a Bollywood (that other great mecca, outside Mecca of course) movie. I think that in another life Shanks may well be a Bollywood star but he's too self-effacing to tell us.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
Yelled at Jazz (?!) - come on, more like being mauled by a dead sheep. If you want to come out with fighting talk then you have to accept that others might like to assert their point of view too. I'm perfectly happy to accept that you don't like programmes like "Keeping Up Appearances", I'm not over keen on it either. I can't bear to be in the same room as "Are You Being Served?", having had to endure it in the seventies, it's probably a post PC throwback show.
I know what you are saying about production values, I was just offering the other side. [Actually it can get much worse - my long-suffering American friend was apalled by "Changing Rooms" - one of the biggest hits of the last couple of years "You watch decorating shows in prime time?!", she said!]
In general I thought the replies were pretty mild (particularly since bel is still recoving from the suggestion that we encourage the invasion of Quebec).
Tsuwm and I have been trading much worse insults for ages (fortunately his choice of words are so obscure that I generally don't understand them)!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004 |
I think that in another life Shanks may well be a Bollywood star but he's too self-effacing to tell us.
roflol!
I was, however (for a bit of pocket money - a friend's mum had a friend who knew someone who had an uncle...) once an extra in a 'dance' sequence in a film that flopped so badly at the box office nobody ever saw my shiny blue silk shirt...
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 444
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 444 |
British comedy programmes tend to go for people who look funny as well as being funny, we're less inclined to go for glamour, it would be hard to imagine a succesful UK version of "Dynasty".
"Men Behaving Badly" was also remade as an American series - with the same name but 'beautiful people' actors. Rather took away the point!
And I have always been fond of the soap opera summary:
- American soap - rich people in the sunshine
- Australian soap - average people in the sunshine
- British soap - working class in the rain.
What does this say about the aspirations of us Brits?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
|
|
veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
Some fans have theorised that it was derived from "smegma" (a particularly unpleasant bodily secretion), but Rob and Doug deny thisThe lady[-ies] doth protest too much! This is absolute rot (the denial, that is). Kids - especially boys, bless 'em - have been talking about smeg for ages, long before Red Dwarf. And it came straight out of Biology lessons, Sex Education, and the odd Dictionary trawl, like so many other pubescent gems. The Red Dwarf people have, however, had considerable success in sanitizing the term. Not the first time a very crude phrase has come into fairly wide acceptance through ignorance of its root meaning. Oh, and shanks - confusing Scouse and Brummy - for shame!  (mind you, I'm married to a Brummy, so should know the difference. cf Frank Skinner for a mild Brummy accent, incidentally)All you people over the Pond - yep, see Red Dwarf. Though IMHO you're best off with the 3rd series onwards.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004 |
Oh, and shanks - confusing Scouse and Brummy - for shame! (mind you, I'm married to a Brummy, so should know the difference. cf Frank Skinner for a mild Brummy accent, incidentally)
Hanging my head. And of course, Frank Skinner (again probably unknown and irrelevant to our friends across the various waters) is a good example of mild Brummie.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
|
|
veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
I was, however.. once an extra in a 'dance' sequence in a filmWasn't that the Bollywood version of The Matrix ? Keanu comes to his senses to find himself in a lovely shiny suit with wide lapels, and possessed of the shiniest teeth in the world... Trinity dances towards him in a brightly-coloured long swirling dress, bedecked with jewelry, and the orchestra starts playing..
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
>Tsuwm and I have been trading much worse insults for ages (fortunately his choice of words are so obscure that I generally don't understand them)!
Jo, you are an apogenous, bovaristic, coprolalial, dasypygal, excerebrose, facinorous, gnathonic, hircine, ithyphallic, jumentous, kyphotic, labrose, mephitic, napiform, oligophrenial, papuliferous, quisquilian, rebarbative, saponaceous, thersitical, unguinous, ventripotent, wlatsome, xylocephalous, yirning zoophyte.
(jazzy, hope that helped...)
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
Oooo shanks, us ladies would like to see that one, I'm sure. What type of dance scene? Anything REALLY interesting going on . Can't you transfer it onto the web?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
>Jo, you are an apogenous, bovaristic, coprolalial, dasypygal, excerebrose, facinorous, gnathonic, hircine, ithyphallic, jumentous, kyphotic, labrose, mephitic, napiform, oligophrenial, papuliferous, quisquilian, rebarbative, saponaceous, thersitical, unguinous, ventripotent, wlatsome, xylocephalous, yirning zoophyte.
Tsuwm - that's exactly what I would expect from you!
By the way, I am in no way shaped like a turnip!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
JazzO, I'm repeating/refining my question since it was apparently lost in the melee: What "quality" American sitcoms are you comparing Britcoms to?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
>Tsuwm - that's exactly what I would expect from you!
and so I say...
>By the way, I am in no way shaped like a turnip!
...so you say.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004 |
bel
This was many years ago, I never watched the film, and I doubt if any of it exists any more (film stock is expensive). I cannot even remember the name of the blasted thing. If ever you find yourself watching a Hindi movie released in 1984 (or thereabouts), starring Kumar Gaurav and Anuradha Patel, and you see them doing a dance in a 'disco' - it is possible that I am one of the leetle dancers in a corner somewhere. (In one scene we had to carry the 'hero' around the floor, crowd surfing style. After the tenth take most of us were so fed up we started pinching him as we did it. I'm not sure he ever realised...)
I had a slightly more substantial role in a TV film called 'Picnic' - where I was supposed to be playing a brat younger brother (teenager). Since I was 22 at the time, the rosiness in my cheeks is not due to the virility of youth, but my constant hangovers... Again, I have no idea whether or not any of it is extant. In any case, I am a lousy actor, and I would be very happy if all evidence of my thespian efforts ceased to exist.
Perhaps the only 'role' of which I am at all proud (?!) is one in a 90 second drug awareness film. I played the junkie/hero, and if only for the fact that I mainlined Vitamin B, and 'chased' something call 'churan', I value it. In this matter too, however, I have been remiss about collecting anything like a portfolio. The only VHS copy I had of it succumbed to mould a long time ago.
For what it's worth, I do not act, and haven't attempted to do so for nigh on 10 years now.
cheer
the sunshine warrior
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
Boy, shanks, for someone who doesn't act you have been in a good number of roles - this compared to ME - who's last stint as an actor was as an elf in a grade three Christmas play
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094 |
JazzO, I'm repeating/refining my question since it was apparently lost in the melee: What "quality" American sitcoms are you comparing Britcoms to?
I didn't really have any American sit-coms in mind when I wrote the post. I'm just not very used to Brit-coms and can tell there's a difference between the two types of comedy. I did like Seinfeld, but unfortunately, that's not on anymore.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004 |
bel
I was 'into' it in college - because that's what my group of friends did - be fashionably depressed, smoke non-filter cigarettes, write poetry during the monsoons, drink loads of tea, and 'do' drama. It all seemed frightfully important at the time. Alcohol was mandatory. Cannabis was not unknown.
Then we grew up a bit. Now that happy band has dispersed and we have become journalists, and TV producers, and lawyers, and left-wing activists, and IT consultants, and yoga 'gurus' and failed marketeers. Actually, that's probably not too bad, considering what we could have become...
cheer
the sunshine (never participated in a nativity play, though I was once in the chorus in a school production of "Hans Christian Andersen") warrior
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 724
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 724 |
> Be fashionably depressed, smoke non-filter cigarettes, write poetry during the
monsoons, drink loads of tea, and 'do' drama.
Hi shanks,
Were you a Jholawala? Do you remember that tribe - young bearded communists who went everywhere on a cycle, wore Kolhapuri Chappals and a cotton Kurta, and carried a jhola (long cotton sling bag) in which were the mandatory copy of Kafka and a bottle of rum. Of course the poetry and looking with sadness into the monsoon rains and smoking beedies, instead of looking for a job, since the entire system was wrong and was no hope for mankind, anyway.
Do you know they are extinct now? We have in India - everything American. So now the Kolhapuri Chappals have given way to Nikes and Reeboks, and the kurtas have been replaced by Lee T Shirts. And trendy knapsack kind of bags instead of the Jhola. And instead of poetry and desire to save mankind are the thoughts on how to start a new dot com and make a quick buck.
Nothing wrong with that, I guess. It is just that I mourn the passing of the Jholawalas. They were a useless, idiotic but lovable lot.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
They were a useless, idiotic but lovable lot.
Avy, your whole story sounds remarkably like USA hippies!
(I think I can say that, because of my age, though I was not exactly a flower child.)
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
actually, I was thinking of the 'beat' generation; only known to me by hearsay, of course!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 724
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 724 |
> Avy, your whole story sounds remarkably like USA hippies!
Jackie hippies were happy?
Jholawalas were deep in their thinking, passionate in their emotions and definite in their unhappiness. A happy Jholawala just wasn't. (as Shanks says depression was the fashion)
They existed around 70s-80s (or maybe even 60s, I would not know), before economic liberalisation when India was supposedly "non-aligned".
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
I think tsuwm might be right. The beatnics were the dark broody types. Wore dark glasses, went to depressing poetry readings, smoked unfiltered cigarettes and riled against the establishment in a rather sedentary way since "there was no point in anything anyway". If I remember (I was rather young) instead of clapping their hands to show appreciation, they snapped their fingers. Hippies, on the other hand, were rather free-loving happy types.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
belMarduk is on the money. Beatnicks : think dark coffee houses. Hippies : think flower gardens! Yes, I waz dere, Charlie. Or are you all to young to recognize the "Baron" reference. Gad zooks but I feel old -- sometimes.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 11
stranger
|
|
stranger
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 11 |
My 21-year-old daughter thinks 80's songs are Golden Oldies and buys new clothing that looks like 70's fashions. Some of her friends make me think of Beatnik-types (although that was a bit before my time). They may be "Goth" in style; I'm not sure. The kids that worry me are those who pretend to be so cool that in effect they are simply indifferent to the world. Then there are the scary ones who are so entertained by violence.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004 |
Avy
Spot on (apart from the communism thing).
I used to cycle to the station, little khadi jhola over shoulder, one college mate getting a lift (usually on the back, though - I could never get used to the splay-kneed style of those who took passengers on the cross-bar), and then stuck in a sweaty train to college, kolhapuri-d feet all stepped on by the time we got there, kurta (from khadi gram udyog, or khadi bhandar as we called it) suitably rumpled. Thence to 'bunk' all lectures and sit downstairs in the alcoves mourning the futility of existence (whilst claiming to be suffering from unrequited passion for five women at the same time). Quarter bottles of Old Monk rum (still, IMO, the best spirituous liquor in the world - relative and friends have standing instructions to bring bottles over when they visit). Beedis when there wasn't enough money for cigarettes. All this in, as you suggest, the early to mid '80s. My sister, on the other hand, went to the fashionable St Xavier's college, and has never used a jhola in her life - brand names only, dah-ling.
Even today, on the rare occasions when I visit Bombay, nearly the first stop (after my parents' place) is khadi bhandar, for a mass shop of about 8 kurtas, a pair of kolhaps, some aligarhis and (the last time I was there) some lovely raw silk waistcoats. I still believe there's no more comfortable way to dress in India.
Oh my word the nostalgia...
cheer
the sunshine (I'm not really that old) warrior
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 2
stranger
|
|
stranger
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 2 |
Anna, your name is intriguing. Do you by chance have a (probably somewhat clumsy) sister named Cata?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 29
newbie
|
|
newbie
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 29 |
Not familiar with smeghead, but it has to be vulgar -- smegma?
Carpe rutila
Carpe whatever
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,330
Members9,182
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
1,018
guests, and
1
robot. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
