Archive: Arts & Entertainment

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v6i29

SMART TALK
by Dr. Winton "Windy" Prolix



THE FACT OF THE MATTER: My friend and fellow therapist Les Terse calls the fact of the matter a smoke phrase.  A smoker, needing time to think of what to say, may become very busy lighting up.

"Actually, smoke phrases can alert the listener that what follows may be a distortion or a lie," says Les, and I agree with him.  The speaker protests too much.  Even the fact is is redundant.  Well, we hope it's redundant.  Or were you lying up to now?

To tell the truth and if you want to know the truth also arouse suspicion in any intelligent listener.  We often talk about this in the Fowler Lounge after a day of treating government officials at the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired.

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v6i28

SMART TALK
by Dr. Thorn Schwa

FARTHER/FURTHER:  Field therapists Tom and Ray Magliozzi host NPR's Car Talk as a front for the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired. Their special assignment is word pairs such as bring/take, and they do excellent work.

Tom and Ray, also know as Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, consistently use farther to express more distance.  See the "far" in farther?  My foot is farther down my leg than my knee. 

Further is more of anything but physical distance, as in further effort. 

By manning our field office in Boston, the Magliozzi brothers save many Northeast intellectuals the further expense of having to travel all the way to Underbelly, Texas, to be patients at the Institute.

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v6i28

World Premiere of Ithaca-inspired Penelope, of Ithaca Comes to the Hangar!

July 14, 2010 (ITHACA, NY) The world premiere of Penelope, of Ithaca by New York City-based playwright Kenny Finkle, runs at the Hangar Theatre from July 21st to the 31st. Commissioned for the reopening of the renovated Hangar, this modern day love story ties together the Greek myth of Penelope and Odysseus with day-to-day life here in Ithaca, New York.

The CRS Barn Studio, one of Ithaca's most attractive summer performance venues, will celebrate its 20th birthday this year with two special performance events: Mozart's The Magic Flute and Moving Landscapes III: New Choreography.

The celebration begins with a new production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute, with performances Thursday through Sunday, July 29-August 1, at 7:30pm at the CRS Barn Studio, 2622 North Triphammer Road, Ithaca. Directed and choreographed by Steven Stull and Jeanne Goddard, this lively production features many well-known central New York singers, and takes full advantage of the beautiful outdoor setting -- the lake views, gardens and fields of the CRS Barn landscape.

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v6i26

SMART TALK
by Dr. Clara Dix

EXCITING ADVENTURE:  My colleague Saber S. Poder says she doesn't let her children watch TV cartoons. "It's bad enough that the commercials can turn them into acquisitive monsters and that the shows are often as violent as the Iliad," she says, but I work at the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired, so how can I let my kids hear, ‘Tune in next week for the next exciting adventure...'?"

You see, Saber is trying to bring up children who can think.  An adventure is exciting by definition.  There's no such thing as a boring adventure, but hearing exciting adventure over and over could make any logical person think so.

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Trumansburg, NY - On Friday, July 23rd, The Black Seeds perform at GrassRoots Festival on the Infield stage at 7:30 PM. Described by Clash Magazine as "one of the best live reggae acts on the planet," the octet will play 16 shows across North America in July, including performances at Camp Bisco, GrassRoots, and the Victoria Ska Festival.

On June 10th, NPR's World Café featured a show devoted to the band. Host David Dye shared interviews and played tracks that were recorded live at WXPN studios in Philadelphia last October. Listen here.

Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel, the Hangar Theatre’s second KIDDSTUFF  production of the season, runs from July 8th-10th and 15th-17th.

Playwright Eric Lane Barnes creatively brings the play, based on Virginia Lee Burton’s beloved children book “Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel” to the stage.  In this delightful musical, Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel named Mary Anne are told that they are no longer needed because of new technology.

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v6i25

SMART TALK
by Dr. Clara Dix

EXACT DUPLICATE:  Patients at the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired who need treatment for the redundant use of "exact" are usually sent to William Safire Hall, our general care facility.  There, they learn that that a duplicate or a replica are so called because they are exact, by definition.  Otherwise, the items are only similar.

The same is true for exactly the same and exactly identical.  Opposite is also and absolute term.  Saying exact opposite or diametrically opposed is like saying sleeveless vest.

Sound smart.  Look literate.  Simplify your language and avoid redundancies.

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