“Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three…” (from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail“). Plus I can’t keep four thoughts in my head at the same time.
#1) Not many people know this but Donald Trump hails/heils from German (father’s side) and Scottish (mother’s) heritage. One of his German uncles, Claus von Trumpf, was a notoriously corrupt art merchant who often peddled stolen and forged works, almost exclusively in the classical representative style. In the 1920’s, when the avant-garde art movements were taking hold on the Continent, von Trumpf was violently opposed. He worked hard to undermine the Bauhaus school in Germany and the De Stijl movement in the Netherlands, as well as the vestiges of Dadaism and its offshoots. His feverish efforts reached their delirious fastigium with a massive negative ad campaign in pamphlet, poster, editorial and stump speeches called “STOP DE STIJL!”
#2) Natalie Imbruglia‘s 1997 hit cover song “Torn” (original by Ednaswap) is a perfectly acceptable pop confection that I would welcome hearing in any mall or Fuddruckers in America. But my memory of her will always be affectionately wed to a novel phrase that I conjured up and rather enjoyed repeating, back in the day. And I challenge you now to say it aloud, ideally in an affected high-born British accent, without making you smile. Here it is:
“Natalie Imbruglia is embroiled in a bitter imbroglio.”
Was I right or was I right??
#3) As you surely have gleaned, I am fond of a good pun. Even more so of a bad. So try this one on for size. Like me, you might enjoy the style of the French torch-song singer Edith Piaf (1915-1963). Songs like “La Vie en rose” (translating to “life in pink” or “life in happy hues”) are so evocative of the WWII and early postwar-era, and they crackle with raw emotion. If you want a fulminant retro-romantic vibe, put her disc on the old gramophone. But here’s the rub. For a little innocent but mischievous fun, refer to her in company as Edith PILAF — purposely confusing her surname with the seasoned rice dish. This triggers an eye-roll from my wife every time, which is exactly the point! People will either think they misheard you or will consider you a rube, which is even better. Better still if they correct you. Bon appetit!
Great Exudations 