May 22, 2004

Something like Fire, or the Wheel

Posted by Kieran
I spent a lot of a flight from London to Singapore reading Tragically I was an Only Twin, a well-edited collection of the comedy sketches, monologues and occasional journalism of Peter Cook. It turns out that Cook addressed many of the issues that preoccupy us at CT. Like intelligent design theory:
Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling: Well, I’d like to say I believed in God, of course, but I’m afraid that, as a thinking person … there are two very good reasons why I simply can’t. … A — Wasps. Can’t see the point of a wasp, can you? And B — caviar. I mean really, what is the point of having caviar locked away inside sturgeon? So inaccessible. I’m sure if there were a real God he’d have arranged for caviar to just sort of toddle over to your house on a pair of little legs in a self-opening jar.
Or sociobiology:
Interviewer: [B]ut isn’t an anthill a very organized society?
Prof. Henrich Globnik: If your view of an organized society is thousands of ants milling around in corridors, bumping into each other with bits of twig and other rubbish in their mouth then I understand why you elected that woman.
Or political theory:
Arthur Grole: No you don’t [speak Russian], you poor sod. And you have an inalienable right not to speak Russian in this country. In Russia you have to speak Russian. But in this country we have an inalienable right not to speak Russian.
And philosophy of language:
Ludovic Kennedy: Do you speak any Lap yourself?
Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling: I have a smattering — or a smeurtering, as they call it. They don’t in fact call it Lap. They call it Leurp. But I do have a smeurtering of Leurp. A few words … I like to think if I found myself in fourth-century Lapland I could get by — probably. Or preurbeurbly.

So obviously you should just buy it.

Posted on May 22, 2004 03:02 PM UTC
Comments

Here’s what “customers who shopped for ‘tragically, I was an only twin’ also shopped for at Amazon:”


The Pythons
by Graham Chapman (Author), Michael Palin (Author), John Cleese (Author), Terry Gilliam (Author), Eric Idle (Author), Terry Jones (Author), Bob McCabe (Author)
Price: $40.80
Used & new from $28.50

Complete Divine
by David Noonan (Author)
Price: $20.37

Expanded Psionics Handbook (Dungeons & Dragons Supplement)
by Bruce R. Cordell (Author)
Price: 24.46

Hmmm. Two D&D handbooks….

Posted by Daniel Nexon · May 22, 2004 04:35 PM

One of my all-time heroes. Beyond the Frayn, Not Only but Also, An Evening with Pete and Dud, Bedazzled. Frog a la pêche and pêche a la frog. Etc.

Posted by Ophelia Benson · May 22, 2004 06:00 PM

Mm, if only there were a spot herebouts where one could get a nice frog, and a damn fine peach. Or even a decent vole and a respectable pea…

http://users.bestweb.net/~foosie/frog.htm

Posted by Vladimir Poontang · May 23, 2004 10:40 AM
Followups

This discussion has been closed. Thanks to everyone who contributed.