Monthly Archives: July 2007

MAWNGENOWN.

Posted on July 23, 2007 by Philip

MAWNGENOWN. I have no idea what the spelling of this word is in Danish. The spelling in the caption is how it sounded when my mother said it. Words enter languages because they are useful (see the other post for … Continue reading →

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Uppehållsväder.

Posted on July 23, 2007 by Philip

Uppehållsväder. The Swedes have a word for it. Chris Weisfelder wrote me from Sweden: “I’m going to teach you a word that you hear a lot in Sweden – uppehålsväder (holding up weather). We had some today. This is basically … Continue reading →

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ARE TWINS UNSUCCESSFUL? (COMMENT).

Posted on July 22, 2007 by Philip

ARE TWINS UNSUCCESSFUL? (COMMENT). I checked Wikipedia here to see whether I had forgotten any famous twins. It seems to confirm that the answer to Dick Weisfelder’s question is that there have not been many distinguished twins. I had not … Continue reading →

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TWINS IN SPORTS– WITH ONE MISTAKEN IDENTITY STORY (COMMENT).

Posted on July 21, 2007 by Philip

TWINS IN SPORTS –WITH ONE MISTAKEN IDENTITY STORY (COMMENT). Successful twins seem to be more common in sports than in politics. There were the Van Arsdale twins in basketball, who had remarkably similar careers. I saw them play when they … Continue reading →

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IMPORTANT TWINS (COMMENT).

Posted on July 20, 2007 by Philip

IMPORTANT TWINS (COMMENT). Dick Weisfelder in a comment mentions the ultranationalist Kaczynski twins in Poland and asks “How about some posts on roles identical twins have played in various careers and countries?” I have been thinking about Dick’s question, and … Continue reading →

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CRIME IN CHICAGO.

Posted on July 19, 2007 by Philip

CRIME IN CHICAGO. For the next couple weeks, the Chicago newspapers are going to be having trial stories with vivid descriptions of gangster life. Here are yesterday’s story and today’s story. In a college economics class, Meyer Burstein commented that … Continue reading →

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WHAT’S 16 VARIATIONS WHEN YOU CAN HAVE 42?

Posted on July 18, 2007 by Philip

WHAT’S 16 VARIATIONS WHEN YOU CAN HAVE 42? I was excited by the 16 Ayckbourn plays. I have received in the mail an ad for the next shows at 59E59 Theaters (where the Ayckbourn plays were performed) and one of … Continue reading →

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THE AYCKBOURN PLAYS–THE BEST ACTING I HAVE EVER SEEN?

Posted on July 18, 2007 by Philip

THE AYCKBOURN PLAYS—THE BEST ACTING I HAVE EVER SEEN? I think yes. Of course the demands of the plays on the actors are astounding—over twenty hours of dialogue for only two actors. Each actor created three major characters and several … Continue reading →

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THE AYCKBOURN PLAYS–CAN EACH PLAY STAND ALONE?

Posted on July 17, 2007 by Philip

THE AYCKBOURN PLAYS—CAN EACH PLAY STAND ALONE? I described here the Alan Ayckbourn cycle of sixteen plays called INTIMATE EXCHANGES. The extraordinary challenge of sixteen plays raises the question whether an individual play would be worth seeing on its own. … Continue reading →

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THE AYCKBOURN PLAYS–HOW MANY OF THE SIXTEEN PLAYS SHOULD BE SEEN?

Posted on July 17, 2007 by Philip

THE AYCKBOURN PLAYS—HOW MANY OF THE SIXTEEN PLAYS SHOULD BE SEEN? My answer is that I would see all 16 of them if I could. I managed to see five of them in an eight day period. Do the plays … Continue reading →

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