Stream

Lynsey Peterson likes we want
a Scottish flag on Facebook.

Anna Hammond Сака ли некој
да одиме во парк денес?

Rebecca Grohl commented on her own 
status: Ich bin eigentlich ueberfluess…

Luke Southey is listening to
Que Veux-Tu by Yell on Spotify.

Clive Law commented on Peter Meadow’s
status: I always put too much red wine…

Natalie Southey and Ruth Garcia-Lopez
are now friends.

Russell Goodwin OMG!

From my Facebook friends latest activity notifications on 17 October 2011, in the exact order in which they appeared.

Brooklyn, Brooklyn

You live very self-consciously, in Brooklyn.
Do you drink juice or coffee or eat
vegetables? How do you live with yourself
and your bourgeois lifestyle choices? Have you
ever grown a plant?

You monster,
you gentrifying Brooklyn monster.

Your plant is a symbol. Punch that up
on your sushi iPhone app where you get
your food from in your new robot Brooklyn
dystopia, you invasive specie.

Do you like quirky things?

It’s people
like you who are ruining the Brooklyn
remembered by old folks who sit on stoops
and provide readily available
sound bites about the days of old.

From the article Brooklyn is cool until you start reading about it.

You just can’t pitch behind

I had my at ‘em ball going today.
We’ve got to have fun. The catcher and I
were on the same wavelength. That’s why they pay
him x million dollars. Give the guy

some credit; he hit a good pitch. Yes. No.
You saw it … write it. You’re only as good
as your last game. I just wanted to go
as hard as I could as long as I could.

That All-Star voting is a joke. It takes
twenty-four players. I couldn’t have done it
without my teammates. With a couple breaks,
we win that game. I don’t get paid to hit.

Hey, we were due to catch a break or two.
I did my best, and that’s all I can do.

From Futility Closet: ‘In 1990, weary of repetitive interviews, Phillies pitcher Don Carman posted this list of responses on his locker. “You saw the game,” he told reporters. “Take what you need.”’

No Comment

A large percentage of what you claim
happens to be astonishingly accurate
and it makes me ponder why I hadn’t
looked at this in this light previously.

This article really did turn the light
on for me as far as this specific
subject goes. But there is one point I am
not necessarily too cozy with

so whilst I make an effort to reconcile
that with the main theme of your point, permit
me to see exactly what all the rest
of your visitors have to point out.

A spam comment from the blog SmyWord.

Bunny Mother

1

Bunnies are not permitted
to chew gum or eat while on duty.
Bunnies are not permitted
to drink alcoholic beverages
in the Club at any time.
Bunnies are not permitted
to drink soft drinks, lemonade
or even water in view of keyholders
and guests, but may drink these
nonalcoholic beverages behind the scenes.

Fifty dollars is paid to the finder
for the first Bunny she has referred.
The referred Bunny must be employed
for ninety calendar days.

Bunnies will keep the dressing room clean
and neat at all times.

2

General Manager, he’s head man of your hutch.
Bunny Mother, she’ll hire and train you,
coordinate your hours and supervise your work.

Overstaying break
(for each minute over limit),
one demerit (per minute).

Five to ten minutes, five demerits.
Eleven to fifteen minutes, six demerits.
Sixteen to twenty minutes, seven demerits.

Improper Appearance, such as:
unkept hair, improper makeup
(including too pale lipstick),
improper costume, unmatched
or shabby shoes, dirty
or unpolished fingernails,
five demerits.

Bunny ears not worn in center of head,
bent incorrectly, reporting without nameplate,
penlight, lighter or cash for cigarettes,
bikini panties showing or not worn,
unkept tail,
five demerits.

Bad Service, Improper Procedure, such as:
Not doing Bunny Dip,
not keeping tables clean,
not changing ashtrays,
five demerits.

Improper Conduct, such as:
Drinking any liquid in view of patrons,
chewing gum or eating in view of patrons,
infingement of smoking rules,
ten demerits.

Failure to attend Bunny Meeting,
twenty-five demerits.

The accumulation of thirty-five demerits
results in a personal interview
with the Bunny Mother.

3

Do arrive on time and look
your loveliest with your hair styled,
your nails freshly manicured
and your Bunny costume clean.

Do smile and be personable
to all those with whom you come into contact
during a promotional appearance.

Do stay in the company of a mixed
group, a couple or chaperone at all times.

Don’t date the sponsor
of a promotion or someone
you meet at this promotion
while you are at a given promotion
for the specific promotional assignment.

Don’t allow yourself to be
in a situation where complications arise.

Although we do not in any way try
to control your behaviour away from the club,
you must always conduct yourself
in a manner that can only bring credit
to your job and the other Bunnies
with whom you work.

(twist, watusi, bugaloo, etc
are examples of acceptable dances)

If you are doing a good job,
obeying the rules and giving
the gracious good service you are taught,
you need not concern yourself
about the fact that you are
from time to time shopped
by a shopping service representative.

Insubordination, fifteen demerits.

4

IN ALL CASES WHEN A BUNNY IS SMOKING
SHE IS TO TAKE A PUFF AND SET
THE CIGARETTE IN AN ASHTRAY.
BUNNIES ARE NOT TO STAND OR SIT
HOLDING A CIGARETTE.

5

Good grooming starts with a daily bath
and good deodorant.

It is up to each Bunny to make sure
that a situation never occurs when
she does not have a clean, well fitting costume
including matching ears and shoes, clean
and fluffy cottontail, immaculate cuffs and collar,
proper hose, regulation undergarments,
Playboy cuff links, nameplate and bow tie.

Wigs and hair-pieces
can be a Bunny’s best friend.

Keep in mind that our dimly lit rooms require
evening, glamour makeup for maximum flattery.
Skillful eye makeup includes the use
of shadow, liner and false lashes;
lipstick must be bright, vivid and highlighted
by lip-gloss to avoid a washed-out look.

Hose should be rinsed in cold water
and refrigerated before wearing
for extra service. To relieve tired feet,
soak them in a solution of epsom salt
and warm water for one half hour,
then elevate feet. Massage your legs
with an upward motion from ankles to thighs.
Try rolling your feet over an empty coke bottle.
Arch your back during costume fitting
for best possible fit.

The Bunny Mother has an open-door policy
and is always happy to talk with you.

Taken from The Playboy Club Bunny Manual, 1968. 

My Name Is

Hugh Blue,
president.
Jesse Lesse,
Boston.
Merry Berry,
Chicago.
Max Wax,
Chicago.
Della Stella
Serritella,
Chicago.
Hollie Jolley,
San Bernardino.

Jane Cane,
Wheaton.
Newton Hooton,
Cambridge.
Dick Vick
and his son Dick
Junior,
San Diego.
Kenny Tenny
and his daughter Penny,
San Francisco.

Some of the members of the My-Name-Is-A-Poem Club, founded by journalist EV Durling in the 1940s.

Don’t cry for me Vancouver

This is not us
Born and bred in Vancouver
Remember this, the morning after

Why did you trash my downtown backyard?
Such a beautiful city
Destroyed by such a few

Shame shame, double shame
Where does this anger and hate come from?
A riot in the city of love

We are so much more than this
These are not the fans we need or deserve
I wish we could have been better

When you talk about destruction
You know you can count me out

You will pay, somewhere, somehow

The city belongs to us
The people whose words are on the walls
I am proud to walk around the morning after

And see everybody clean
What a few people destroyed
Love can save us, only love

Vancouver sigue de pie
Te amo hermosa cuidad
Better luck next year boys

A compilation of phrases written spontaneously on window boarding by Vancouverites cleaning up after the Stanley cup riot, 15 June 2011.

The Sample

I want a specimen of your urine.
I have my own syringe.

I had a suckling brother,
who died at the most tender age.
The beast had a human body,
the feet of a buck, and
a horn on its head.
The corpse will be taken to Tonga.

Because I was out buying a pair of wooden shoes,
I had yams and fish for two days,
and then I ate fern roots.
At what time were these branches
eaten by the rhinoceros?

I don’t play the violin, but I love cheese.

Useless phrases drawn from actual phrasebooks by Swedish linguist Mikael Parkvall from Limits of Language, 2006.

Hamlet R.I.P.

Hamlet was a young man very nervous.
He was always dressed in black because his
uncle had killed his father, shooting him
in his ear. He could not go to the
theatre because his father was dead
so he had the actors come to his house
and play in the front parlor and he learned
them to say the words because he thought he
knew best how to say them. And then he thought
he’d kill the king but he didn’t. Hamlet
liked Ophelia. He thought she was a
very nice girl but didn’t marry her
because she was going to be a nunnery.
Hamlet went to England but he did not
like it very much so he came home. Then
he jumped into Ophelia’s grave and
fought a duel with her brother. Then he died.

From English as She Is Taught: Genuine Answers to Examination Questions in Our Public Schools, 1887.