Function Words

Besides the obvious Guinness, I have very few goals. In fact, I'm not that fond of beer. I will certainly try it but I won't go out of my way to consume bunches. On the other hand I think I should try to find some Irish artisanal cheeses. And I'll bet it could be possible to find 19th century English grammar books there. It could be fun to spend time in used bookshops.

I've just discovered that I can use a kitchen funnel as a rudimentary ear trumpet to amplify the hissing sounds coming from the leak in my *#&*!#%# areo bed. This is the 19th leak I have had in this piece of garbage! It has never been used on anything but a clean carpeted floor. All of the leaks occur in the corners of the impressed indentations. It is clear that it is a defective product. Finding the leaks is a maddening exercise because they are usually pinholes when they start as the plastic gives way at it weak points. They always occur while someone is sleeping on the bed. By the time they realize it is going flat they have spent a miserable night sinking to the floor. Aerobeds suck!!!

This time the leak was under an already patched area where the glue was not completely solid. I tried to find it for four days. I could not feel the tiny wind issuing from the hole and I could not hear the hiss until I thought of using an ear trumpet. What a cool, retro device. It does amplify nearby sounds effectively. I found the hiss quite easily with my kitchen funnel.

Two noticings for today:

a large number of announcers (and probably others) in Southern California pronounce "orange" as "are"+ange rather than "or"+ange
This one appears to be consistent. If the speaker does it, he/she does it all of the time.

many people (including me) sometimes insert 'l' into the word "both" so it sounds like "bowl"+th
This one is in free variation. The same person will sometimes do it and at other times not.

Bagdad Cafe is the best movie I have seen in a long time.
It's set in the Mojave desert. The cast includes a black woman who owns this down and out cafe and a very traditional Bavarian woman who is a tourist. The story involves, well, lederhosen, an Indian sheriff, boomerangs, magic tricks, truckers, a coffee thermos, tattoos and house cleaning. Jack Palance plays a wonderfully quirky artist who paints women and vegetables.
A completely satifying story. I loved it!

We leave for Dublin on Saturday. One thing about Ireland is the amazing familiarity of the place names: Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Londonderry, Killarney, Kildaire, Galway, Kerry, Waterford, Donegal, and Killybegs.

We will go to the Giant's Causeway. Maybe I will finally see puffins!
Then there's the play I would like to see called "Jesus: The Guantanamo Years"
Here is how it's billed:
Jesus Christ (Son of God and father of modern stand-up) returns to earth for His long-awaited comeback tour. He doesn't get past US immigration because He's a bearded, Middle-Eastern guy, fully prepared to die as a religious martyr. He is immediately detained under the Patriot Act. In His first one-man show for almost two millennia, Jesus talks candidly about his time in Guantanamo, His controversial relationship with His Father, and His on-going legal battle with The Life of Brian.