Southerly by David Haywood

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Southerly: A World First of the Second Kind

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  • richard,

    First Man to Stuff 50 Marshmallows Up His Nose (Carl Crowley)

    Toxteth O'Grady, surely

    Not looking for New Engla… • Since Nov 2006 • 268 posts Report

  • Jolisa,

    Ah yes, the famous mental "heath" sector -- not to be confused with the more medically-recognized mental health sector. I suspect this person is trying to insinuate something about my personality, although I'm not quite sure what it is.

    Tis a literary allusion, m'dear. They have detected (probably using the arcane tools of comparative literature, which are surprisingly similar to those things the dentist uses to remove tea-stains from one's teeth) the brooding, Heathcliffian depths that you usually keep so well hidden under your sunny, workaday, banjo-strumming scientist shtick.

    (She said, wutheringly).

    I'm off to spill something on my copy of the Reserve Bank Annual so I can check that it does, indeed, wipe clean.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Nov 2006 • 1472 posts Report

  • Jolisa,

    Also, I did spot one significant way in which the Annual is unsuitable for children, with respect to historic annuals (Beano, Whizzer, Girls' Own, etc).

    It does not come in hardcover, so is completely useless for the following purposes: hollowing out to hide sweets in; standing on to reach lolly jar; whacking sibling or dorm-mate with. And others I have not attempted recently.

    On the other hand, it can be read easily with one hand.

    And it does wipe clean.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Nov 2006 • 1472 posts Report

  • David Haywood,

    Toxteth O'Grady, surely

    My God, you're right! And I have even seen that episode! But quite unintentional, I assure you -- definitely a case of the subconscious. My God, I hope Jolisa Gracewood doesn't get hold of this...

    Oh, too late...

    They have detected... [your] brooding, Heathcliffian depths...

    That is perceptive. I find that most people don't appreciate how brooding, deep, and Heathcliffian I really am.

    P.S. Mind you, the real Carl Crowley has stuck no end of things up his nose, as well as his head between the bars of fence-railings, etc. It's kind of a performance art thing.

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report

  • Ian Dalziel,

    First Man to Stuff 50 Marshmallows Up His Nose (Carl Crowley)

    is this the same Carl Crowley sponsored as Artist in Residence 2010 (maximum security) by The Reserve Bank? - I trust he liberated the Marshmallows in a Situationist jape...

    Heathcliffian depths...

    Unfortunately my 'Blasted Heath Cliff Notes' doesn't have a handy 'Bronté-saurus' at the end (moor's the pity), so much of Ellis Bell's gothic prose is a mystery to me - (though obviously "Thrushcross Grange" is a Yeats inflection)... Still it could have all ended much 'moor' happily if poor Heathcliff had been able to dry off by a Cath-heater!*

    *(Tubular bowels anyone? he said,
    taking the pith yet again...)

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report

  • philipmatthews,

    Unfortunately my 'Blasted Heath Cliff Notes' doesn't have a handy 'Bronté-saurus' at the end (moor's the pity), so much of Ellis Bell's gothic prose is a mystery to me - (though obviously "Thrushcross Grange" is a Yeats inflection)... Still it could have all ended much 'moor' happily if poor Heathcliff had been able to dry off by a Cath-heater!*

    *(Tubular bowels anyone? he said,
    taking the pith yet again...)

    Bloody hell. That must be a puns per square inch record.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2007 • 656 posts Report

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    WTF, is that MS Comic Sans?

    Disappointed.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Creon Upton,

    And it does wipe clean.

    You better bloody believe it does, Baby.

    Listen. After Dr David dowsed it in whatever fluids and solids Bob-the-Toddler could discharge over a 24-hour period (with the aid of emetics I should add), they flicked a dishcloth over it and brought that shiny-faced sucker round to mine to be drenched in whatever more, ahm, adult forms of filth we could find lying around the place. Then we left it in the sun for a season and, wouldn't you know it? Clean as a whistle in the wake of merely a damp, warm rag.

    It was a real thrill to be involved.

    Christchurch • Since Aug 2007 • 68 posts Report

  • Ian Dalziel,

    That must be a puns per square inch record.

    Ta Philip - You should see how many puns I can get to dance on the head of an angel ;- )

    is that MS Comic Sans?

    Robyn - I think that is in keeping with the arch stance of the annual (and not a 'spanner' in the works...)

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report

  • David Haywood,

    WTF, is that MS Comic Sans?

    Disappointed.

    If you're referring to the 'sticker' on the front of the book -- no, it's actually 'Comic Sans MS' the free font (it's not a clone, it's an emulation, check your legal dictionary).

    I certainly agree that it's easy to overuse this font -- if that's what your comment is suggesting -- but there are times when it sends just the right message. This, I felt, was one of those times. If you look in any 50s or 60s Annual you'll see a similar font (particularly on the front 'sticker').

    Apart from the sticker (oh, and the board game), the rest of the book is in 'Bookman' font, which is a very close match to the sort of 'story' fonts they used in annuals from the 30s to the 50s.

    If you were to dig out "Our Boys' Yarns" (from the days when people could use apostrophes correctly) and "The Thunderbirds Annual", you'll find that the layout, fonts, drawings, etc. of the RBNZ Annual pays homage to elements of each (again, though, it's an emulation, not a clone).

    EDIT: Accidentally dropped a bird from the above! Have corrected 'The Thunder Annual' to the 'Thunderbirds Annual'.

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report

  • Ian Dalziel,

    dowsed it in whatever fluids...

    Nooo! say it ain't so... surely doused...
    ok dowse may be a variant (where there's a willow there's a divine way) but douse is more in keeping with the souse in-tomed!
    ;- )

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report

  • Philip Challinor,

    Since a heath is something flat, inhospitable and uncultivated that's been allowed to go to waste, I should have thought the Mental Heath Sector covered most of civilisation and the Antipodes.

    London, England • Since Sep 2009 • 52 posts Report

  • Creon Upton,

    surely doused

    Surely.

    Christchurch • Since Aug 2007 • 68 posts Report

  • Ian Dalziel,

    Stealing Your Thunder...
    or Thunder your umm...

    "The Thunder Annual"

    surely you mean The Thunderbirds Annual 1971

    and this one has more 'Tracy Elements' as it were

    I guess at worst you could be accused of Gerrymandering a Virgil Reality...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report

  • David Haywood,

    Oops! Yes, well-spotted, Ian -- accidentally dropped the 'birds' from the title! (Now corrected on original post). You read, you preview, you post, you read again, but somehow the mistakes still get through.

    Perhaps I subconsciously suffer from Ornithophobia...

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report

  • Ross Mason,

    My Mum didn't like the swear words. She said they were unbecoming of such an important person like Mr Bollocks.

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report

  • Ross Mason,

    no, it's actually 'Comic Sans'

    No Joke!!

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report

  • Ross Mason,

    doesn't have a handy 'Bronté-saurus

    THAT one is very fu*king clever!!!!

    But I fear you are Ann Eminent Charlatan

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report

  • Lyndon Hood,

    I certainly agree that it's easy to overuse this font -- if that's what your comment is suggesting -- but there are times when it sends just the right message.

    So the cover is stain-proof because it comes pre-defaced?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report

  • David Haywood,

    Since a heath is something flat, inhospitable and uncultivated that's been allowed to go to waste, I should have thought the Mental Heath Sector covered most of civilisation and the Antipodes.

    This is a good point that I hadn't considered.

    I fear that I have now offended a large and powerful international organization. God knows what their powers of evaluation/incarceration will be in New Zealand's largest and flattest province (where, alas, I happen to live). I shall have to flee for the Southern Alps.

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report

  • Jen Hay,

    hmm,...
    So much focus on the cover, that I feel compelled to point out how hilarious the actual contents of the book are!

    Of course I might be accused of being biased, but early feedback from more objective parties definitively backs me up on this.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 43 posts Report

  • Emma Hart,

    Of course I might be accused of being biased, but early feedback from more objective parties definitively backs me up on this.

    Actually, I'm surprised people haven't started taking you aside, patting your hand, and asking if everything's "alright".

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    I certainly agree that it's easy to overuse this font -- if that's what your comment is suggesting -- but there are times when it sends just the right message. This, I felt, was one of those times. If you look in any 50s or 60s Annual you'll see a similar font (particularly on the front 'sticker').

    But it's using a font that wasn't available in the '50s or '60s. Oh, you think anachronistic font use isn't worth worrying about? Think again, sonny-jim.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Philip Challinor,

    I remember the days when a font was something you could wash a book cover in, provided it happened to be washable and at risk of blasphemy and damnation, rather than something on the book cover. Sometimes when I'm alone I find myself whispering the word "typeface" to myself in secret, illicit defiance.

    London, England • Since Sep 2009 • 52 posts Report

  • David Haywood,

    Ha, we don't quite have the budget of 'Mad Men'. Hence using free fonts that are only "similar".

    But I am an enthusiast for fonts myself -- so, by crikey, I like the tone of this discussion! Don't just judge a book by its cover. Judge a book by the font of the sticker on its cover...

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report

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