garisson keillor on writers alamanac npr August 16 2010 (1 Viewer)
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mjp
Founding member
He says b'yew-KOV-skee, which is more than a little pretentious. But GK is OK by me. He sounds embarrassed to read "god damned" from the poem. I'm kind of surprised he did, on that yawn of a show. I used to hear it on my drive home from work and I would wonder, "Who are these poets?! How does he find so many poets, and all of them so god damned boring?"
Rekrab
Usually wrong.
I have mixed feelings about GK. Most of the time, I think he's a complete horse's ass, and change the channel immediately when I hear his show. But if I'm in a particularly generous and accepting mood, I'll listen for a while, but not long. The way he reads poetry drives me insane: a droning reverent sappiness. He can even make Bukovski sound corny. On the other hand, his short "Writer's Almanac" rundowns are pretty good.
he simply uses standard european pronounciation for "Bukowski".
I was astonished when I first heard his name spoken as "Bu-cow-ski" like in cow
I read that Buk's father used the european pronounciation in the first LA years, too,
but changed that then in an attempt to better adapt to US environment
mjp
Founding member
Right. But Keillor is not a standard European, he is a standard Minnesotan.
And it is pretentious to pronounce someone's name in a way they didn't pronounce it themselves. As if you are correcting them on their own name.
Right, Mr.JP :-)
but I like GK's column anyway
Buk:"This is very important "” to take leisure time. Pace is the essence. Without stopping entirely and doing nothing at all for great periods, you're gonna lose everything. Whether you're an actor, anything, a housewife ... there has to be great pauses between highs, where you do nothing at all. You just lay on a bed and stare at the ceiling."
And, "The nine-to-five is one of the greatest atrocities sprung upon mankind. You give your life away to a function that doesn't interest you. This situation so repelled me that I was driven to drink, starvation, and mad females, simply as an alternative."
but I like GK's column anyway
Buk:"This is very important "” to take leisure time. Pace is the essence. Without stopping entirely and doing nothing at all for great periods, you're gonna lose everything. Whether you're an actor, anything, a housewife ... there has to be great pauses between highs, where you do nothing at all. You just lay on a bed and stare at the ceiling."
And, "The nine-to-five is one of the greatest atrocities sprung upon mankind. You give your life away to a function that doesn't interest you. This situation so repelled me that I was driven to drink, starvation, and mad females, simply as an alternative."
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LickTheStar
Sad Flower in the Sand
Mr JP? I like it, I may have to steal that...
Good that GK is acknowledging Buk on his birthday. A pretty good poem choice... but man do I ever fall asleep listening to Keillor read... Ugh.
Good that GK is acknowledging Buk on his birthday. A pretty good poem choice... but man do I ever fall asleep listening to Keillor read... Ugh.
Gerard K H Love
Appreciate your friends
Well, I am one of the masses that he appeals to. I started by seeing him on David Letterman and he struck me as a pittiful nerd with an excellent sense of humor so I read a couple of his books. Because I had lived in North Dakota I could relate to what he writes about. I have been listening to his radio show for about 25 years now.
I know most people I recommend him to do not care for him so I know I am weird.
Rekrab
Usually wrong.
Yeah Gerard, you're weird but then who here isn't? I meant the "Lake Woebegone" stuff and not the rest of the "Prarie Home Companion" show. I recognize that he is smart, funny, and appeals to a great many people, but what drives me nuts is the intense corniness of his stuff, and his sly monotone delivery. If he were more of what I think of as really nerdy, I might like him more. I like some types of corn (Little House on the Prarie I am a sucker for), schmaltzy, sentimental mush, but not the har-har knee slapping folksy humor thing. But then I grew up on the west coast and we were always too hip for our own good.
mjp
Founding member
If you think he's corny it would have driven you mad to grow up in the area, because everyone is (or used to be) exactly the way he describes them.
That monotone is Minnesota. Just a bunch of really hard working people who like to drink (a lot), don't want anyone to make a fuss over them and will help you shovel your sidewalk, finish your basement or put a new roof on your garage. You don't even have to ask. Just start doing some kind of work and when you glance to your side, there they are with a hammer or a shovel. Don't say "thanks" though, because that would embarrass them.
I know, it sounds fake, but it was really like that where I grew up.
His weekly shows in St. Paul are sold out two years in advance because everyone there recognizes themselves or their family in his humor. He's been doing the show live for what, 25, 30 years? You'd think they would have to give tickets away, or bus old people in from the suburbs. But last time I was up there I tried to get tickets for that week's show and they just laughed at me (politely, of course). He did the show for a year or two from an old theater in the building I lived in, and every Sunday it was a mob scene on the block. Like the president was in town or something.
Of course it was downtown St. Paul. Didn't take much to generate excitement down there in those days. It was usually a ghost town on the weekends.
That monotone is Minnesota. Just a bunch of really hard working people who like to drink (a lot), don't want anyone to make a fuss over them and will help you shovel your sidewalk, finish your basement or put a new roof on your garage. You don't even have to ask. Just start doing some kind of work and when you glance to your side, there they are with a hammer or a shovel. Don't say "thanks" though, because that would embarrass them.
I know, it sounds fake, but it was really like that where I grew up.
His weekly shows in St. Paul are sold out two years in advance because everyone there recognizes themselves or their family in his humor. He's been doing the show live for what, 25, 30 years? You'd think they would have to give tickets away, or bus old people in from the suburbs. But last time I was up there I tried to get tickets for that week's show and they just laughed at me (politely, of course). He did the show for a year or two from an old theater in the building I lived in, and every Sunday it was a mob scene on the block. Like the president was in town or something.
Of course it was downtown St. Paul. Didn't take much to generate excitement down there in those days. It was usually a ghost town on the weekends.
Scot, Irish, French, German. It's all the same; just different cheese and booze of choice.
Gerard K H Love
Appreciate your friends
The best salesman I ever met was a guy from Minnesota (of German not Scandinavian decent) who always told me, "Be careful of people from Minnesota, they're all crazy.". Yes, he was crazy too, but not quite so corny, perhaps due to many years roaming the country and many years in California.
Mid westerners who say fresh sweet corn is better than sex. Don't cha know.
Mid westerners who say fresh sweet corn is better than sex. Don't cha know.
Fresh sweet corn makes a great sex toy, don't you know. Even better than butter (usually).
uuhhh, you people must be having sex wrong. here in Nova Scotia we leave the corn cobs for the morning 'cleansing.'
all you other people are freaks.
all you other people are freaks.
