[ExI] lighthearted banter for a long weekend on becoming jeeves. was RE: for fun - statistical improbabilities

Sat Sep 3 22:52:33 UTC 2016

The very best television I have ever seen is the Laurie and Fry version of
PG Wodehouse’ Jeeves and Wooster, a British comedy made in 1990 thru 1993,
a mere 23 episodes, priceless jewels all  spike

Now as long as we are into TV, here's my all time favorite comedy series
(actually I will say the best thing ever on TV);  Northern Exposure.  Every
character gets a plot now and then - only two or three real stars (none of
which had a great career afterwards - strange).   I won't give commentary
like Spike but here's a few adjectives:  quirky, satirical, intelligent!,
laugh out loud funny - great writing, great characters, great plots.

One example suffices for a quirky plot:  people having other people's
dreams and everyone at the bar trying to figure out whose it was.
Available at Amazon -  (expensive compared to Jeeves and Wooster which is
under $30 for 8 dvds on eBay.)

Maybe I do look a bit like Charlton Heston.

bill w

On Sat, Sep 3, 2016 at 2:33 PM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:

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> *From:* extropy-chat [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] *On
> Behalf Of *spike
> *Sent:* Saturday, September 03, 2016 10:50 AM
> *To:* 'ExI chat list' <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] for fun - statistical improbabilities
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> *From:* extropy-chat [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org
> <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org>] *On Behalf Of *William Flynn
> Wallace
> *Sent:* Saturday, September 03, 2016 9:59 AM
> *To:* ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
> *Subject:* [ExI] for fun - statistical improbabilities
>
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>
> >>… I said "What we need right now is a 95 yard touchdown pass."  It
> happened on the next play.  The whole end zone looked at me, and later in
> the game called to me to call for another one…
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> >…He’s GOD! they shouted in unison, as they fell before him in humble
> adoration.  Alternative: you have the FORCE BillW.  You are the droid we
> are looking for… spike
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> I retract my earlier comment BillW; you are the football Moses.  When the
> Israelis went out to fight the Amalekites (Palestinians) the uncircumcised
> savages were scoring repeatedly until Moses stood and held up his hands, at
> which time the Israelis scored.  Read it for yourself, Exodus Chapter 17:
>
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> *10 *So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and
> Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
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> *11 *And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel
> prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
>
> *12 *But Moses hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under
> him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on
> the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady
> until the going down of the sun.
>
> *13 *And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the
> sword.
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> That whole British understated ‘discomfited…with the edge of the sword’
> comment, heh, the bible translators 400 yrs ago had to know that was
> funny.  I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Shakespeare wrote that (he is
> thought to have perhaps been an uncredited contributor to the King James
> version (a contention I find plausible (evidence supplied on request.)))
>
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> A kind offlist interlocutor complimented me on my newfound loquacious
> erudition, compelling me to offer an explanation.
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> From a person’s favorite movies, books and TV, much can be ascertained
> about that personality.  The very best television I have ever seen is the
> Laurie and Fry version of PG Wodehouse’ Jeeves and Wooster, a British
> comedy made in 1990 thru 1993, a mere 23 episodes, priceless jewels all,
> the very best comedy I have ever seen on TV without exception.  My bride
> and I viewed them when they were being made and loved them.  We bought the
> series and have viewed them and enjoyed them repeatedly over the years.  It
> isn’t Monty Python slapstick style humor, but rather concepty social
> commentaryey parodyey humor.
>
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> One must concentrate for a full 40 minutes to get it, but it is
> multi-level humor with a message, paradoxical jokes within jokes.
> Brilliant stuff!  If you see what Laurie and Fry do with it, also notice
> the craftsmanship in the acting, the elaborate sets (clearly they spend
> skerjillions of dollars on these episodes, getting all those flawless 1930s
> cars, the costumes, those stately English castles and vast estates, all of
> it.)   They managed to stay very true to the message and humor of
> Wodehouse, Britain’s answer to our Mark Twain.  I can anticipate newcomers
> commenting that it is a show about nothing, but if you consider the message
> beneath the surface Drone’s Club silliness, you understand why England
> changed so much, why it works the way it does today, and perhaps even gain
> insight into why the Iranian Revolution happened (for they had a similarly
> structured society at that time to England only worse, and suffered similar
> consequences, only worse.)
>
>
>
> I think you can find the episodes on YouTube, or your local library
> probably has them.  If you haven’t viewed those, it is worth your 40
> minutes to enjoy one or more.  Or all of them, if you are a Jeeves and
> Wooster virgin.
>
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> My bride and I are viewing that series for about the fifth time and
> rolling in laughter, and marveling anew at the impeccable craftsmanship in
> the creation of these episodes.  Watch for obvious mistakes, or poor acting
> anywhere: I haven’t found it, not a single stray modern car or passing
> aircraft in the background, not even the shadow of a microphone boom or
> poor sound quality.
>
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>
> Jeeves and Wooster veteran commentary welcome here.
>
>
>
> Every time I view these masterpieces I have a renewed aspiration: to one
> day grow up to be Jeeves.  For now, I must content myself with the futile
> struggle to merely be like Jeeves while perhaps more resembling Wooster.
> But my utmost ambition is to become Jeeves.
>
>
>
> spike
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>
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