[lit-ideas] Re: Blasphemy
- From: Paul Stone <pas@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 08 May 2006 17:01:30 -0400
At 04:18 PM 5/8/2006, you wrote:
If you have 78 minutes to spare, try this
<http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/culturevulture/Blasphemy.mp3>http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/culturevulture/Blasphemy.mp3
Thanks for this find Simon, however it's a pity this mp3 is 80:02 so the
technically impaired might have a problem burning it to an 80 minutes cd. I
hope my 'overburn' works -- if not, I'll have to chop the applause from the
beginning of the file.
At one point, assailed by a member of the audience, Hitchens says that he
"couldn't have said it better if I were you."
Great line, but to believe this was spontaneous is a little naive. A good
wordsmith builds up his beautiful insults like tools in a toolbox -- in the
musical parlance, "chops" -- only to brandish at the perfect moment. It's
not so much the quality of the jibe as the timing at which it's presented.
Hitchens is good and remembering them and he also makes good choices for
the suitability of each phrase matching his particular situation.
paul
##########
Paul Stone
pas@xxxxxxxx
Kingsville, ON, Canada
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