Major props to commenter johnwest for picking up on my headline for my piece on Judd Gregg the other day ("Poor Judd is dead"):
(Incidentally, I just got the Oklahoma! reference - was that you, MT, or was it the sub?)
The sub? Dude! First of all, I write the headlines. Second, nothing against the Guardian subs of course, but who's more likely to make a reference to a 60-year-old Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, a twenty-something Brit or an American of my, ah, seasoned years?
I do this sort of thing pretty frequently in headlines, by the way, and am always waiting for someone to pick up on it. So I was quite pleased to see that comment. I don't have any prizes to give out, but look at this enviable major international recognition johnwest is now receiving!
Now, I suppose, it's inevitable that some of you will start a comment thread cursing musicals and nattering on about what a bunch of bollocks they are. Well, you're wrong. Or, you're wrong up until about the late 1970s. The old musicals are ingenious, with amazing amounts of wit and sophistication in the music and lyrics and, often, real seriousness and profundity lurking beneath the pone. Listen to "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught". Overall, Oklahoma! is probably the best of them all.
