No. 341: "Beat the Press"
The headline in
the London Mirror is "Joy of Six." What is the lead?
Send
your answer by noon ET Tuesday to [email protected] .
Thursday's
Question (No. 340)--"Say What?":
It's a common expression, says Mahmoud el-Azzazzay, a Queens travel
agent: "We say it probably 200 or more times a day." What
expression?
"Please take me to Kew Gardens. I promise I'm unarmed."-- Alex Balk
( Molly Shearer Gabel had a similar answer.)
"I've
already contributed to the Bush campaign."-- Mitchell Dolin
"No,
no, that's three a's and four z's!"-- Bill McDermott
(similarly, Charles Star , Jim Derby , and Ben Perry )
"No
shitting on the food cart."-- Gina Duclayan
"
'Your call is very important to us. Please stay on the line.' Then we put you
on hold for an hour and go to lunch. God how I love this country."-- Michael
Keenan (similarly, Jon Delfin , Tim Carvell , and Vani
Ramakrishnan )
Click
for more answers.
Randy's Wrap-Up
Many responses raged
against aviation--the cramped seats, the awful food, the plummeting. When air
disasters occur, there is an investigation to determine the cause, much as, at
the end of a relationship, we try to understand why it failed, but without the
advantage of voice recording, so we're left to squabble endlessly over who said
what. There is a theory that this search for a cause is an essentially
superstitious act, an almost mystical hope that to name the cause is to ensure
that disaster won't recur. But in anything as complicated as aviation or
romance, there are infinite possibilities for debacle. That's why there is much
to be said for rail travel. Not even the most depressed engineer can steer a
locomotive off the rails. You can get on and off right in the middle of the
city, avoiding the hassles of that trip to the airport. Railroads provide the
happy erotic metaphor of the train going into the tunnel; air travel offers the
grim symbolism of "crash and burn." On a train you're not trapped in your seat;
you can stroll the aisles or amble to the bar car and meet an attractive
stranger with whom to initiate what is certain to be a disastrous relationship.
Just like the last one.
Cultural Context
Answer
Tawakilt ala Allah.
Heard on the cockpit voice recorder of EgyptAir
Flight 990, this Arabic sentence--in English, "I put my trust in God"--was
uttered by Gamil al-Batouti, the relief co-pilot, just before the autopilot was
shut off and the flaps adjusted to send the plane into a dive.
It might be a prayer before dying, as Batouti
deliberately plunged the plane into the sea. And then again, it might be just
an ordinary figure of speech, like the American "Oh my God" or the New York
"Fuck you"--said many times during the day with no real theological or erotic
significance.
According to Vincent Cornell, an associate
professor of religion at Duke University, "It's typically used to initiate
something, if you're embarking on a situation where you don't know the
outcome."
"I say it as soon as I
get into my car to pick my daughter up from school," says Hala Arafa, an
employee of the Voice of America. "I also say it when I start cooking in the
kitchen and when I arrive at work and start my assignments."
Dizzy Pheasant Leftover
and Plug for a Fine Magazine:
"Timothy McSweeney's
Tipsy Pheasant Fantasia. The birds are tagged for later tracking, and each tag
has a tiny, tiny short story on it!"-- Zach Hooker
Angry Greek
Extra
President Clinton's
visit to Greece was marred (or enlivened, depending on your point of view) by
what the New York Times described as "virulent anti-American protests."
Which of the following are genuine sources of Greek animosity?
1. NATO bombing of the former Yugoslavia
2. American support of the junta that tyrannized
Greece from 1967-1974
3. Clinton's cozying up to Turkey earlier in the
week
4. At state dinner, Clinton declined baklava,
demanded "real cake, and plenty of it, baby"
5. Proposed ABC game show, Who Wants To Make
Catty Remarks About Melina Mercouri?
6. Fed up with constant giggling at the phrase
"Greek style"
7. Resent use of their alphabet by beer-swilling
frat boys
8. New Sesame Street character, Zorba the
Geek, wears unstylish clothing, seldom bathes, curses a blue streak
9. Athenians still pissed about Peloponnesian War,
taking it out on everyone
10. Too much Pokémon,
not enough Zeus
Answers
1-3 actually figured in
the chants and placards of demonstrators, but I'll bet they were thinking
4-10.
Common
Denominator
Petty humiliations of flying, living in Queens,
dealing with the public.
