April 9, 2016

Overheard... 19 years ago.

Notes written in the back of a book I happened to take down from the shelf. It represents how people talked in a music store in Madison, Wisconsin in 1997:

P1150131

21 comments:

YoungHegelian said...

Okay, forgive me for being dense here, but I simply can't parse that second sentence.

Is it

1) Oh hell, OW, you look terrible.

2) Oh hello, W, you look terrible.

3) Oh hellow,** you look terrible.


** as in trying to add some strange pronunciation on "Hello" as in "heh-row".

Not that any of the options makes the situation all that clear, but it always helps to have some understanding of the basic grammar involved.

Alex said...

Never mind that, what about the Zapruder film?

traditionalguy said...

Zappruders and Zimmerman's are my favorite names. They are behind me when alphabetical order is used.

Laslo Spatula said...

Madison, Wisconsin, August, 1997: a Record Store.

"Hi, Ms. Althouse! Welcome back!"

"Thank you, Lorenzo."

"I'm afraid there is no new Bob Dylan material this week, either."

"It's been a long dry patch, but it never hurts to keep checking."

"Really, Ms. A: I can call you if anything new from Dylan comes in."

"That's alright; I like to listen to what the Young People have to say..."

"Well, it's all about "No Doubt" right now."

"Yes? 'No Doubt?'"

Kinda rock, kinda ska. Lead singer is a SoCal chick."

"Really. Is she talented?"

"Maybe for now. She's somewhere between a hottie and a cutie."

"Okay..."

"I don't think she has much of a career ahead of her, to tell the truth."

"Well, is there anything LIKE Bob Dylan?"

"The Notorious B.I.G. is tearing it up right now. Some great rhyming about life in the streets."

"He's not misogynist, is he? It seems like so much music now is casually misogynist."

"Well, Big Poppa does like to go on about the ho's. You know: Pimp Shit."

"That's what I was afraid of."

"If you want to avoid the Heavy Shit nowadays you pretty much have to stick to 'No Doubt."

"Is there not anyone being called 'The New Dylan' lately?"

"That's a good one. No one even wants the old one. Well -- you know."

I get it. Thank You, Lorenzo."

"Thank you, Ms. A."

Addendum:


Bob Dylan, "Time Out of Mind" released September 30, 1997.

His first original material in seven years.

Seen as a critical comeback, but: HellOW he looks terrible...

I am Laslo.

Meade said...

"Is there not anyone being called 'The New Dylan' lately?"

"That's a good one. No one even wants the old one. Well -- you know."

"I get it. Thank You, Lorenzo."

"Wait. Lorenzo?"

"Yes, Ms. Althouse."

"What is that song you have playing over the speakers? I kind of like it."

"Oh that? That's something called 6th Avenue Heartache.

Guy named... oh, wait... DYLAN!"

"Hmm. Thanks, Lorenzo"

Ann Althouse said...

I didn't say record store. I was one of those places where you buy insruments and can take lessons. I often sat in the waiting area while one of my sons took lessons.

rhhardin said...

A dorm john at school is good for acoustics.

Ann Althouse said...

The "hellOW" is, I believe, my attempt to transcribe "hello" pronounced with a big stress on the second syllable.

Ann Althouse said...

It's one word, I am sure. The exact nuance that interested me is lost to time.

Hagar said...

In other news, I thought I was way ahead of time when I hung out a hummingbird feeder yesterday, but just now there was one feeding from it!

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

I love The Wallflowers! The singer is kind of like Bob Dylan, only younger and more talented.

rhhardin said...

Since morse is so musical, a new 2-coffee-cup sized transceiver is on my computer desk, to get back into it. It can reach Georgia from Ohio with 5 watts at will, but there's no response from Lithuania, Austria or Russia (40m). There's a talk-to-Georgia contest on and a First-Cosmonaut contest on, so they'll talk if they can hear you, even if you're really weak.

One contact in Georgia was named Ann. Female is rare.

Guildofcannonballs said...

I have tried again and again to be banned.

EVEN A DAMENT AI ROGO) could figure out I ain't ought be postinghere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O22ZRhsprQY

Yes I am Beethoven, but not in the sense you are not toward Christ.

Bob Ellison said...

We had "practice rooms" in college. The deadest rooms possible, with pretty good Yamaha pianos in them. About ten feet by eight feet. Designed to kill the music in any kid's head.

Nichevo said...

Blogger Guildofcannonballs said...
I have tried again and again to be banned.

Easy. Just tell her something she doesn't want to hear. Your retard act won't work though, she likes defectives.

Howard said...

Hello with the accent on the last syllable was a single-word catch-phrase in the late 1980's to mid 1990's. It means wake up you unaware dolt

Howard said...

Correction, that's "clueless dolt"

Laslo Spatula said...

Notes written on a slip of paper in a book, circa 1997:

Lettuce -- crisp. Kale?
Bread (check date!)
Toilet paper, 2 ply (remember coupon)
Soup: minestrone, Italian Wedding?
Deodorant -- no scent! (rash)
Sparkling Water
Q-Tips -- cannot forget these again!
Chicken Breast, Free Range
(illegible)

I am Laslo.

Bob Ellison said...

Howard, I'm pretty sure that's not the "hello" to which the Professor refers. She means the more Southern-lilting "hel-Lo!", with the second syllable dropping in pitch, as in a sincere "thank you!"

You're talking about an upward-lilting "Hel-Lo!", where the end of the "lo" goes up in pitch to indicate sarcasm. Yes, that was a dark time in America when people said that. It's a dark time today when people say "I know, right?"

Darrell said...

Where was Titus 19 years ago?

jr565 said...

He's a hottie? Sexual objectification. whoever made that observation should be shunned, jailed, and/or humiliated.
Patriarchy!