A Tired Cliche -- Music to My Ears
It's a sad day. Tonight is the last-ever NYPD Blue. Yes, it is my favorite TV show. Strange but true. I've mentioned that I'm stuck in the '90s, right? Yes.
Also, I'd like to rail on Drabble for a little longer, but instead have to point out today's B.C.
The punchline is "if it ain't Baroque - don't fix it." BWAH HA HA HA! Just take any random pun/cliche and you have a comic strip! Seriously, "if it ain't Baroque - don't fix it." That's it -- that's the only joke. Tomorrow, it will be "raining cats and dogs." HA HA HA.
How original is this? A Google search for the phrase "if it ain't baroque don't fix it" yields 845 results. There are 357 results for "If it's not baroque don't fix it," and 59 results for "if it isn't baroque don't fix it." Here, it's called a bad joke (scroll about midway down the screen). That's a page about Handel violin sonatas, so the author's not what you'd call a "humor expert," but, yeah, not funny. Also, when you search those terms and the word "joke" there are a lot of hits for "Pre-Classical conservatism is the school of thought that fostered the idea if it ain't baroque dont' fix it." I think that may be funny if you know what "pre-classical conservatism" is, but I don't know pre-classical conservatism "from Adam." HA HA HA
Gah! I can't believe you can just do that and call it "funny." I think I first heard this particular bon mot on some Saturday morning cartoon. Sounds like a Bugs Bunny special. I also think it was spoken by the wonderful Lumiere, the talking candlestick (voiced by the late, great Jerry Orbach) in Beauty and the Beast. ("We'll prepare and serve with flair a culinary caberet! Be our guest! Be our guest . . ." ahem . . .) As I was saying, as lame as this joke is in any context, at least in those instances it was only one miniscule part of a masterful whole. Today's B.C.? That's all there is. Lame. Of course, you know they say that "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."
At least the guy who did the asking has a black cloud of irritation over his head. I guess he wasn't expecting such a lame answer. Why did he ask, then? Really, can you have a business or any sort of thing specializing in baroque and not make that joke? No, you cannot. Still, it makes me "madder than a wet hen."
Of course, if we weren't trotting out this lame wordplay, kids today would never be exposed to it. I don't consider that a huge loss, but I suppose at one time, I thought it was pretty clever. I don't think B.C. needs to take on this responsibility, however. I think kids still probably watch Beauty and the Beast on video. Also, at some point in their schooling, they'll have to learn about the different styles -- Baroque, Roccoco, Queen Anne, etc. (those are the only ones I know) -- and I bet they'll have "if it ain't baroque, don't fix it" as the heading of at least one textbook or handout's Baroque section. Although, "you can't judge a book by its cover," as I'm sure you know.
Well, I know I overanalyze these things, and I hate that I may not "see the forest for the trees," but I don't want to "throw the baby out with the bathwater." Unfortunately, when "push comes to shove," this sort of thing really "gets my goat." So, I'm going to "get out while the gettin's good," but don't forget, "He who laughs last laughs best."
Also, I'd like to rail on Drabble for a little longer, but instead have to point out today's B.C.
The punchline is "if it ain't Baroque - don't fix it." BWAH HA HA HA! Just take any random pun/cliche and you have a comic strip! Seriously, "if it ain't Baroque - don't fix it." That's it -- that's the only joke. Tomorrow, it will be "raining cats and dogs." HA HA HA.
How original is this? A Google search for the phrase "if it ain't baroque don't fix it" yields 845 results. There are 357 results for "If it's not baroque don't fix it," and 59 results for "if it isn't baroque don't fix it." Here, it's called a bad joke (scroll about midway down the screen). That's a page about Handel violin sonatas, so the author's not what you'd call a "humor expert," but, yeah, not funny. Also, when you search those terms and the word "joke" there are a lot of hits for "Pre-Classical conservatism is the school of thought that fostered the idea if it ain't baroque dont' fix it." I think that may be funny if you know what "pre-classical conservatism" is, but I don't know pre-classical conservatism "from Adam." HA HA HA
Gah! I can't believe you can just do that and call it "funny." I think I first heard this particular bon mot on some Saturday morning cartoon. Sounds like a Bugs Bunny special. I also think it was spoken by the wonderful Lumiere, the talking candlestick (voiced by the late, great Jerry Orbach) in Beauty and the Beast. ("We'll prepare and serve with flair a culinary caberet! Be our guest! Be our guest . . ." ahem . . .) As I was saying, as lame as this joke is in any context, at least in those instances it was only one miniscule part of a masterful whole. Today's B.C.? That's all there is. Lame. Of course, you know they say that "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."
At least the guy who did the asking has a black cloud of irritation over his head. I guess he wasn't expecting such a lame answer. Why did he ask, then? Really, can you have a business or any sort of thing specializing in baroque and not make that joke? No, you cannot. Still, it makes me "madder than a wet hen."
Of course, if we weren't trotting out this lame wordplay, kids today would never be exposed to it. I don't consider that a huge loss, but I suppose at one time, I thought it was pretty clever. I don't think B.C. needs to take on this responsibility, however. I think kids still probably watch Beauty and the Beast on video. Also, at some point in their schooling, they'll have to learn about the different styles -- Baroque, Roccoco, Queen Anne, etc. (those are the only ones I know) -- and I bet they'll have "if it ain't baroque, don't fix it" as the heading of at least one textbook or handout's Baroque section. Although, "you can't judge a book by its cover," as I'm sure you know.
Well, I know I overanalyze these things, and I hate that I may not "see the forest for the trees," but I don't want to "throw the baby out with the bathwater." Unfortunately, when "push comes to shove," this sort of thing really "gets my goat." So, I'm going to "get out while the gettin's good," but don't forget, "He who laughs last laughs best."
posted by big al at 2:23 PM
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