Friday, May 7, 2010

Just Wait 'Till I Get Through With It!

NB: I've written this post before the result of the election has become clear, with the intention to post it ‘as is’ whatever that result might be.

I totally (and shamefully) failed to register to vote this time – when I’d made up my mind who to vote for I realised I’d missed the deadline! But on Wednesday, on the eve of the election, I made amends for my lack of political engagement – I finally saw (yes, for the first time) the Marx Brothers’ film Duck Soup. (A lot of the gags are reruns of gags I already knew from BBC radio’s excellent re-creation of the Marx Bros’ Sheekman and Perrin scripted radio series Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel, but that didn’t matter - you can’t keep a good gag down - and then there's also some great physical comedy, and was there ever a more perfect foil than the stately Margaret Dumont?). It was the ideal moment to see this film: “If you think this country's bad off now, just wait till I get through with it!” – about 5:48 minutes into this clip Groucho explains his plan for running the kingdom of Freedonia:

17 comments:

  1. The thought of 5 years more Brown makes me want to projectile vomit - as you say, in times like these "you can’t keep a good gag down".

    Might have to find a passing labour supporter to vomit on.

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  2. I'll have Groucho running the country. Thanks - I needed a laugh Gadj, The outlook's too grim at the moment.

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  3. worm, then I'm pleased that your tragectory falls somewhat short of me these days :-)

    Lulu, these days pretty much the only regular feedback I get about my country is from you guys - I guessed that we could all do with a laugh right now.

    dare713llflagg0 - aha! - or '韋成', as you are also known.

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  4. O.K. Dilo

    Epharisto para poli* for making me laugh on a Saturday morning.

    I particularly appreciated the Presidential transport - a sign of times to come in Greece I fear!


    *the limit of my Greek just at the moment

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  5. Niko*, I'm always very pleased if I've been able to made somebody laugh. As long as the Greek Presidential transport isn't one of those dodgy island ferries.

    * The vocative case: about the limit of my Greek at the moment.

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  6. Great ensemble acting - I love Margaret.
    Sign of age: the bosoms don't look nearly so low now:)

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  7. Great stuff. Wit lasts well, doesn't it? On the other hand, the contemporary popularity of other forms of humour from the past often seems inexplicable.

    "It's a gala day for you!" made me lol.

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  8. If we have another election in six months time, everyone ought to vote one party to the left or right and see what happens. As long as everyone heads in the right direction, that is, or else it'll be Nick Griffin, Alex Salmond and that thug from the railway union forming a coalition.

    I wouldn't want to be an Asian commuter who thinks men ought to wear trousers.

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  9. Pat, me too. Whose bosoms??

    Gaw, it does seem to, yes. I've just been reading Wodehouse for the first and, as the blurb on the jacket cover says, the subject matter should have ensured that it dated pretty much instantly but somehow that isn't the case.

    Boyo, I'd do almost anything to keep the silly parties out, including starting one of my own: perhaps the Hemel Hempstead Serfs' Truth, Justice and Awareness Alliance. The Asian man on the Clapham omnibus shall be the vox populi, and best of British luck to him.

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  10. I am not a political person but, as an independent woman, I am interested to see to what heights our Parliament can rise, It certainly seems to be very well hung, and only time will tell how thrusting it will be. Certainly it must show that it can fill the gap that is opening up.

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  11. Cami, babe, I think you have the makings of a lady MP and that the other MPs would all warm to you when you took your seat: I bet all the members would be standing at your entrance.

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  12. And now the election is over, you may have been more right than we ever thought.

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  13. Madame, I dunno, it's difficult to tell, but I actually feel quite poistive about it!

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  14. See: I told you it was a good 'un! (-:

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  15. Kev, yep, I do trust your judgement on these things :-)

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