OT: One of Butch's Sayings ** And History

[Guest guest]

Hey Butch,

 

> John Jakes began a series in the 1970s called

> the American Bicentennial

> Series

 

John Jakes is a marvellous writer! I have read

the entire series. I sent them to my mom who

sent them on to others in the family. I have no

idea where the whole set is right now and

probably will never find them but I will be on

the lookout for the two you are missing.

 

I started reading about American History when I

was 12. That summer I went to the library every

week with my little red wagon. In that wagon was

bags of books that I had read the week before. I

filled it up every week. I finished all the

books for my age within about 3 weeks and

proceded up from there. I got hooked on American

History and still read what ever I can get my

hands on.

 

I even enjoyed the lectures I had to attend by a

general in Korea about the history of the Korean

War (and boy was he boring - a very monotone

voice)!

 

Anya,

 

I will watch for the The Songcatcher and record

if I can. I will gladly send you and Butch copies

when I do.

 

Cheryl Smith

Anchorage AK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

=====

Cheryl Smith

Anchorage AK

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

At 03:57 PM 12/18/2002 -0800, Butch Owen wrote:

>Hi Anya,

>

>> I was watching a great movie the other day - The Songcatcher - and

>> someone mentioned something was 'finer than frog's hair'. I always

>> knew what Butch meant when he wrote that, but this is the first time I

>> ever heard it out of someone's mouth.

>

>You need to go East a bit .. or maybe even to the panhandle of Florida

>where the folks are real Southern folks. ;-p Them folks tawk in a real

>descriptive manner .. use graphic examples so folks don't disunderstand

>whut they trying to say. Ain't no question that tighter'n a gnat's butt

>stretched over a wagon wheel is tight .. or uglier'n a wart hog is ugly.

>And social anthropologists say that most of the Southern sayings are

>bastardizations of ancient European sayings .. particularly those found

>in what was the British Empire.

 

" Tawk " ? Are you sure they aren't from Philly like me, LOL? The 'descriptive

manner' sounds like the Jamaican patois -- it's a form of Olde English, and

very, very descriptive, ha. I still crack up when I think of my Jamaican

holy man saying " I went to England last year and I learned the phrase

'tough shit'. I like that phrase. "

 

We from Philly have a broad English " A " in our speech, and many, many old

English sayings (tough shit being one of them).

 

>

>> Gotta talk about the movie. It's the true story of a musicologist who,

>> in the early 1900s, travels to Appalachia and discovers that the

>> people there have a song culture, and that the songs are unchanged

>> from England, Ireland and Scotland 200-300 years previously. Pure and

>> unevolved, a historical find.

>

>Yes'm .. glad you brought this up cause its a nat'ul fact that isolation

>preserves history. One of America's greatest historical writers, a man

>who holds the distinction of being the only person to ever have 5 books

>on the New York Times Best Sellers List in one year .. John Jakes, has

>discussed what you're talking about above. He was dealing with South

>Carolina at the time and comparing some of the Granny songs to famous

>ballads from Ireland, Scotland and Wales hundreds of years before .. and

>none of the grannies knew a thing about the classics of Old England.

>They learned the songs and tales from their mommas. :-p

 

On my Pennsylvania Dutch grandmother's side of the family, this is

noticable. Her family came to upstate PA in 1690. And stayed there. They're

still using an ancient dialect, old recipes and ways that modern Germans

have evolved out of. Ditto with the Cubans here in Miami. They still have

an accent that is not found in Cuban anymore, and old recipes that have

never changed. Hard to imagine that in just 40 years the difference is

noted, but it is, by all who study modern Cuba and the exiles here.

>

>> The voices of the actors, and their accents are fabulous. You really

>> feel you are *there*.

>

>I sho'nuf would have liked that one .. thanks much for the info.

 

I'm taping it right now! It's on again. I'll send it off maybe early next

week when the lines at the P.O. have calmed down.

http://member.newsguy.com/~herblady

©

[Guest guest]

Hi Anya,

 

> I was watching a great movie the other day - The Songcatcher - and

> someone mentioned something was 'finer than frog's hair'. I always

> knew what Butch meant when he wrote that, but this is the first time I

> ever heard it out of someone's mouth.

 

You need to go East a bit .. or maybe even to the panhandle of Florida

where the folks are real Southern folks. ;-p Them folks tawk in a real

descriptive manner .. use graphic examples so folks don't disunderstand

whut they trying to say. Ain't no question that tighter'n a gnat's butt

stretched over a wagon wheel is tight .. or uglier'n a wart hog is ugly.

And social anthropologists say that most of the Southern sayings are

bastardizations of ancient European sayings .. particularly those found

in what was the British Empire.

 

> Gotta talk about the movie. It's the true story of a musicologist who,

> in the early 1900s, travels to Appalachia and discovers that the

> people there have a song culture, and that the songs are unchanged

> from England, Ireland and Scotland 200-300 years previously. Pure and

> unevolved, a historical find.

 

Yes'm .. glad you brought this up cause its a nat'ul fact that isolation

preserves history. One of America's greatest historical writers, a man

who holds the distinction of being the only person to ever have 5 books

on the New York Times Best Sellers List in one year .. John Jakes, has

discussed what you're talking about above. He was dealing with South

Carolina at the time and comparing some of the Granny songs to famous

ballads from Ireland, Scotland and Wales hundreds of years before .. and

none of the grannies knew a thing about the classics of Old England.

They learned the songs and tales from their mommas. :-p

 

> The voices of the actors, and their accents are fabulous. You really

> feel you are *there*.

 

I sho'nuf would have liked that one .. thanks much for the info.

 

> I've rarely seen such a well-done movie, full of interesting and

> believable characters. It was on HBO, which I'm getting free until the

> 20th, but I have no way of knowing if it's going to be on there again,

> as I wish I had taped it. If you ever see it listed, watch, you'll

> love it, I guarantee.

 

If you do tape it .. then we'll have to talk about some oil trades for

tapes and such. ;-p

 

And an offer to folks who might live near and frequent used book shops.

John Jakes began a series in the 1970s called the American Bicentennial

Series .. it began with " The Bastard, " which was later made into a movie

and concerned a French feller who was the bastard son of an English Lord

who later migrated to the Colonies and was involved with the Revolution.

 

The second thru the eighth volumes changed to the Kent Family Chronicles

as the character from " The Bastard " changed his name to Kent and all the

other volumes follow his decendants through around the Spanish-American

War of the early 1900s. Great reading this is.

 

My point is .. I have volumes 1 and 4 through 8 .. but not 2 and 3.

 

Vol 2 is " The Rebels " ... Pyramid Books .. 1975

Vol 3 is " The Seekers " .. Pyramid Books .. 1975

 

IF anyone is shopping around a used bookstore and finds them, I would

sho'nuf like to do a bit of trading with you. :-p

 

> Anya

> http://member.newsguy.com/~herblady ©

 

Anya .. I'm glad to hear you're interested in American history. To me

there is no more fascinating subject. Surely not essential oils or

aromatherapy. Most folks hate history for the same reasons I did when I

was a student .. teachers with no motivation teach it from sterile text

books. There's no big picture. But those outstanding writers like John

Jakes create a fictional character(s) and involve him/her with real life

events and real life historical personalities in the proper historical

settings and at the proper times. Hard to lay down such books.

 

And we accidently learn a lot of trivia that to me is interesting. Just

the other day, for example, I learned the origin of word I had heard all

my life .. Pig Iron. This might not interest some folks but it does me.

 

If one knows their own history, they accidently learn a helluva lot

about why things are as they are today and why we are peeing up a rope

to wish they could be different tomorrow. They learn about the social

and economic evolution processes that MUST occur but can't be rushed if

they are to be successful. With all forced progress comes failure.

 

Y'all keep smiling, Butch http://www.AV-AT.com