Famous encounters

[cowtime]

High nigh brayn Cay....

Simple elocution lesson in Derry.

Somebody cue me in. I'm still trying to decode that one.

even I got that one.. must've been the bovine connection.

[Lambchop]

It's hard to convey his Derry accent in print. Borrowing from the Pinyin vowel tone diacritics, it would be something like "bràkkīts".

Honest to goodness, Nano, this is sublime.

High nigh brayn Cay....

Simple elocution lesson in Derry.

Slan,
D.

An Irish coworker was asking me a question which involved looking something up in the computer. She gave me the person's name, Orr. I typed "O" for Orr. Instead of just one name, a list appeared. She looked puzzled and said "No, none of them. It's Orr . . . ORR."

OK, well, that's why I typed O, for ORR. "No," she said, "why are you typing "O"?" It's Orr."

I said I typed O already. Did I need to type the whole thing, ORR?

"No, it's not O. It's ORR . . . ORR . . . like in 'Richardson." ORR!"

Ah, "R."

[rebl_rn]

An Irish coworker was asking me a question which involved looking something up in the computer. She gave me the person's name, Orr. I typed "O" for Orr. Instead of just one name, a list appeared. She looked puzzled and said "No, none of them. It's Orr . . . ORR."

OK, well, that's why I typed O, for ORR. "No," she said, "why are you typing "O"?" It's Orr."

I said I typed O already. Did I need to type the whole thing, ORR?

"No, it's not O. It's ORR . . . ORR . . . like in 'Richardson." ORR!"

Ah, "R."

Had a similar incident when my Irish friend was visiting here. She was buying something in a shop and for some reason or other the clerk needed her name. She started to spell her last name, "Ah-ell........." the clerk interrupted her. "What was the first letter?"

"Ah"

"What?"

"Ah"

"I'm sorry, what was the letter?"

"AH!"

At this point I joined the conversation and said, "She's saying 'A' - (the last name was Allen)."

The clerk was pretty embarrassed, though my friend took it in stride.

This was also the visit where someone else - a person I worked with at the time - was quite impressed that my friend from Ireland spoke such good English.....

[Nanohedron]

It's hard to convey his Derry accent in print. Borrowing from the Pinyin vowel tone diacritics, it would be something like "bràkkīts".

Honest to goodness, Nano, this is sublime.

Why, thank you. But I'm still smarting over the "High nigh brayn Cay" thing too much to feel like preening.

[BrassBlower]

Close as I get to that is that I've been compared to Paul McCartney, Joe Namath, Michael J. Fox, Eric Clapton, and lately Eric Stoltz. Don't ask...I can't figure it out, either. No one ever mentions Mel Gibson, dammit.

You're lucky. Close as I get is Elvis Costello.

When I was younger, much younger, a sports writer told me I was a ringer for Joe Zdeb, utility outfielder for the Kansas City Royals from 1977 to 1979.

Sadly, he was right.

I can kinda see that.

[Innocent Bystander]

It's hard to convey his Derry accent in print. Borrowing from the Pinyin vowel tone diacritics, it would be something like "bràkkīts".

High nigh brayn Cay....

Simple elocution lesson in Derry.

Slan,
D.

It's less obscure if you know that the singular of the word "Kine" (Cows) is "Kye" (Cow).
Not just Derry, either. It's right across the 55th parallel. (In those Islands off Europe.)

[cowtime]

It's hard to convey his Derry accent in print. Borrowing from the Pinyin vowel tone diacritics, it would be something like "bràkkīts".

High nigh brayn Cay....

Simple elocution lesson in Derry.

Slan,
D.

It's less obscure if you know that the singular of the word "Kine" (Cows) is "Kye" (Cow).
Not just Derry, either. It's right across the 55th parallel. (In those Islands off Europe.)

Not just there either. I've heard "kye" for cow back in these mountains too.

[Jayhawk]

When I was younger, much younger, a sports writer told me I was a ringer for Joe Zdeb, utility outfielder for the Kansas City Royals from 1977 to 1979.

Sadly, he was right.

Gonzo...do you remember the name of this sports writer - it wouldn't have been Mike McKenzie...won an award for writing about Darrell Porter's underwear being stolen during the 1980 World Series?

If so, I dated his daughter (Mike McKenzie - not Darrell Porter)...spent the evening at barbeques with Dan Quisenberry and Tom Watson over at the McKenzie homestead.

Joe Zbed brings back memories. I had Cookie Rojas keds tennis shoes back then...too young to look like either player.

I also played street football with Jan Stenerud...he lived in my friend's neighborhood...gave me a bunch of autographed Chiefs stuff back in the very early 70s which I believe I sold at a garage sale as a kid.

Eric

[s1m0n]

A guy from out of town sat in the chair beside me at a 12 step meeting, so while waiting for the meeting to get underway, I started talking to him. He was from London, he said. Are you in town for business or pleasure?" I asked him. He looked at me a little funny for a second, and then said 'business'. I went on making small talk, and learned that he'd be in town (Montreal) for a couple of days, and then travelling to Toronto. After ten minutes or so, the chairman called for order so we stopped talking. I noticed that a lot of other folks in the room were trying to catch my eye. When the meeting ended, I shook my new friend's hand and wished him success in Toronto.

It was only after he'd left that I learned that a major international rock star was in town to play the Olympic stadium the next day, and I was the only person in the room who hadn't known.

[fearfaoin]

It was only after he'd left that I learned that a major international rock star was in town to play the Olympic stadium the next day, and I was the only person in the room who hadn't known.

Wow, way to name drop there.

[s1m0n]

It was only after he'd left that I learned that a major international rock star was in town to play the Olympic stadium the next day, and I was the only person in the room who hadn't known.

Wow, way to name drop there.

It's not like he's shy about his past, or about being in recovery now, but there's an etiquette to these things.

~~

Later I heard from someone who was at a meeting in Toronto, his next stop. He went to a small group in a slightly different organization. Instead of a church hall set up with rows of chairs, the meeting was a dozen or so people sitting about a table. The girl sitting beside him was still pretty new, and she was having a hard time not 'recognising' him*. She spent most of the meeting rocking back and forth in her chair. She managed to hold it together until the very end, & when he started to stand up, she broke. She turned to him and grabbed his arm and blurted out "Oh my God I LOVE you!". He smiled, patted her on the shoulder and said "You did very well!"

*Which is frowned on in orgs with "anonymous' in the name.

[fearfaoin]

It's not like he's shy about his past, or about being in recovery now, but there's an etiquette to these things.

Oh my, I missed the "12-step" part before.
Your discretion is admiral in that case. I never
gave thought about having to keep up with
such meetings on the road. Interesting...

[SteveK]

I used the urinal beside the one that the famous jazz drummer Max Roach was using at Birdland-the original Birdland.

[The Weekenders]

I used the urinal beside the one that the famous jazz drummer Max Roach was using at Birdland-the original Birdland.

Threadkiller!! Fie on ya...

[s1m0n]

It's less obscure if you know that the singular of the word "Kine" (Cows) is "Kye" (Cow).
Not just Derry, either. It's right across the 55th parallel. (In those Islands off Europe.)

Not just there either. I've heard "kye" for cow back in these mountains too.

That N terminal is an old english way of showing plural; that's the source of words like chicken, children, & oxen, although some have lost the plural sense. Kine and treen (carved wooden utensils) are known but rarer. E'en (eyes) is one that only shows up these days in ballads to annoy folksingers. It usually carries the rhyme, but most audiences won't get it, and there's no good word to substitute.