|k| clippings: 2016-02-09 — a grunted medley

WORK

“…you had a point about language. When you get right down to it, it’s a workaround. Like trying to describe dreams with smoke signals. It’s noble, it’s maybe the most noble thing a body can do, but you can’t turn a sunset into a string of grunts without losing something.”

—Peter Watts
—from Blindsight

WORD(S)

shivaree (charivari) /SHIV-ə-ree/. noun. Originally, a mock serenade using pots, pans and whatever was at hand to disapprove of a marriage or wedding. More generally, a cacophany of sound, a din, a discordant medley. Shivaree is a corruption of the French charivari, from Greek karebaria (headache), derived from kare (head) + barys (heavy).

“She turned on all the horrors of the ‘Battle of Prague’, that venerable shivaree, and waded chin deep in the blood of the slain.” (Mark Twain)

“The staple figure in novels is the man of aplomb, who sits, among the young aspirants and desperates, quite sure and compact, and, never sharing their affections or debilities, hurls his word like a bullet when occasion requires, knows his way and carries his points. […] But we for the most part are all drawn into the charivari; we chide, lament, cavil and recriminate.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

“So it went: the succession of film fragments on the tube, the progressive removal of clothing that seemed to bring her no nearer nudity, the boozing, the tireless shivaree of voices and guitars from out by the pool.” (Thomas Pynchon)

“How can a body be made from the word?–language, a
shivaree of transparence-jigsaw-glass immensity”
(Robin Blaser)

WEB

1. SEEING THINGS: On what, and why, we visualize when we read

2. The Museum of Broken Relationships

3. “I think there’s a lot to clear up regarding the overwhelmingly negative feedback I received for my short story ‘Creative-Writing Beatdown,’ about a guy who beats up the other students in his creative-writing class after they are overly critical of his work.” → A Letter to my Creative Writing Class

4. The strange tale of the man who was shot point-blank for mispronouncing ‘Newfoundland’—in the Old West

5. Today is the Christian Feast Day of Saint Apollonia. Because Apollonia’s torture included having her teeth ripped out and shattered, she is now considered the patron saint of dentistry and toothaches. In ancient art she is commonly depicted with pincers holding a tooth. While browsing I found this description of ancient “dentistry” that shows how far we’ve come: “…wealthy people saved up their toothaches till the day came round for one of the great annual fairs or markets, and then had their decayed stumps harvested, amid a blare of trumpets, by artists in gorgeous costumes. On such occasions the victim would be further enheartened by a large and interested concourse of spectators.” Actually, I’m not sure that wouldn’t be better than my visits to some dentists. Not to be confused with the other Apollonia.

WATCH/WITNESS

►The New Sound of Music is “a fascinating BBC historical documentary from the year 1979. It charts the development of recorded music from the first barrel organs, pianolas, the phonograph, the magnetic tape recorder and onto the concepts of musique concrete and electronic music development.” And it really is! It doesn’t hurt that the narrator has a little bit of an Alan Partridge thing going on.

REPRISES/RESPONSES/REJOINDERS/RIPOSTES

• Reader C. on my question, “what book scares you?”: “House of Leaves wasn’t really scary, but it was definitely haunting…”

• Reader B. adds: “What scares me to read…embarrassingly, the Mahabharata. It’s so long, and I feel inadequate to its referential world.”

• And Reader T.: “Not meant flippantly at all: the Bible.”

• Reader K. follows up on Infinite Jest at 20: “Fans in the Clamor might enjoy the readers’ responses to the Infinite Jest anniversary article. My own feelings are—mixed.”

I welcome comments, suggestions, thoughts, feedback and all manner of what-have-you. Just press ‘Reply’ or email to: clippings@katexic.com.

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