Flying ducks

As an aside to this, let me link to Paul Graham‘s essay Taste for Makers.

One of de Boton’s many problems is that he’s a snob.

But I always think in view of hip hop superstars wearing gaudy “ice” and drinking expensive Champagne that “money can’t buy you taste”. And good taste isn’t necessarily expensive (c.f. Ikea).

The real put-down in the review:

bq. His own taste, as this suggests, is relentlessly Country Living: a faux-rural Farrow & Ball confection of high ceilings, large sash windows and “playful” fruit-and-flowers stencilling.

As any fule kno, the real aristos disdain _Country Living_ but subscribe to _Country Life_ .

I’m not sure that is his own taste is it?
(Though hardly unattractive…oh inverted snobs!)
He can of course live as and where he likes, as I believe he inherited hundreds of millions from his financier father (Gilbert de Botton), yet I thought he lived in a terraced house in Shepherds Bush, and claims to hanker most after the anonymous functional modern apartment in which he was brought up in Zurich.

“I’ll explain to you, then,’ said the gentleman, after another and a dismal pause, ‘why you wouldn’t paper a room with representations of horses. Do you ever see horses walking up and down the sides of rooms in reality — in fact? Do you?’
‘Yes, sir!’ from one half. ‘No, sir!’ from the other.

‘Of course no,’ said the gentleman, with an indignant look at the wrong half. ‘Why, then, you are not to see anywhere, what you don’t see in fact; you are not to have anywhere, what you don’t have in fact. What is called Taste, is only another name for Fact.’ Thomas Gradgrind nodded his approbation.

‘This is a new principle, a discovery, a great discovery,’ said the gentleman. ‘Now, I’ll try you again. Suppose you were going to carpet a room. Would you use a carpet having a representation of flowers upon it?’

There being a general conviction by this time that ‘No, sir!’ was always the right answer to this gentleman, the chorus of NO was very strong.”-Charles Dickens Hard Times

the kinks addressed this issue in their song “ducks on the wall”. “my baby’s got the most deplorable taste/but her biggest mistake/is hanging over the fireplace/she’s got ducks, ducks on the wall.” etc. perhaps the best?:”I love you baby but I can’t ball/when I see those ducks on the wall.”

ironically in the states, ducks on the wall have a high/low valence, possibly skewed high. there may be some trailer-dwellers with ducks in flight up there next to the kincaid paintings, but in my experience you are most likely to encounter such a painting in the home of the high WASP. massive collection of duck miniatures/actual decoys also nice. brass lamps made of real ships lamps? yup. commissioned oil portraits of your english setters are also good*.
*for some value of good. don’t blame me, he’s only my grandad.

I would be happy to have a good ducks on the wall painting over my fireplace. if i had a fireplace. and a good painting of ducks.

I’ve now realized we are apparently talking about plaques of flying ducks rather than original oil paintings of flying ducks. hmmm. could still be good, but more in the way the cool “nukes keep america running” shirt I got for John at a thrift store. he never wears it. bastard.

If it were good enough for Hilda Ogden (and also Wallace) it’s good enough for me.

Is not this issue fully and decisively covered by the Ironic Gnome Rule?

I am inspired to share a pun about not giving a flying duck, but in the interest of good taste I shall keep it to myself.

You’ll be telling us you have some of those escher posters up next, John.

I like the ducks too. I’d own garden gnomes if my wife would let me. In fact whatever sophistication I appear to have is largely constructed by my wife’s vetoes.