6-08-12 Survival Jobs for Writer-Musicians – Starter Job #118 (There’ll Always Be an England. . .)

(Well, after doing six weeks of blogging about my crazy big brother Tom -- may be rest in peace, and I’ll be working on finishing a book-length version of that story, with his writings interspersed -- I said I’d return to the original blog’s purpose: my survival jobs through the years.  Along the way, many other interesting things happened. . . like living in NYC, being part of the CBGB music scene, moving to England, visiting Paris, etc.  It’s been QUITE the life -- and it’s not even half over yet!)

This point is inarguable: Alan Rickman possesses the all-time greatest speaking voice.  And to think, when in drama school, his teacher told him he’d better work on his voice -- that it was one of his detriments!  Will the mundane ironies in this world ever cease?

Actually, there is nothing mundane about realizing, in hindsight, that Alan Rickman’s drama teacher was just so, so wrong.  That gives me such hope: that anybody who told somebody else they’re misguided or some sort of “loser” might well be so, so wrong.

How about Einstein?  He was rumored to have been called a stupid kid. . . and I’m sure there are so many other examples. . . so all right, you can laugh at me for thinking I’m going to write books and songs of greater consequence . . .  but I’ll just remember Einstein and Rickman. . .

But I digress.  In this blog, I thank my fates for taking me to London and living amongst the English where I learned firsthand their ways and culture.  The pub lifestyle, the unspoken class system, the humor, humanity, and keen minds that could knife through a situation with panache and grace (and neat sounding accents).

Basically, I was ready with a deeper understanding of those limeys and their ways when “Absolutely Fabulous” came out.  And when the Harry Potter series exploded on the page and on the screen?  Yup.  ‘Twas I who realized that Harry’s nemesis, Draco Malfoy, was at times putting on a lower-class accent so as to mitigate his ruling class upbringing. . .

“Slumming,” as it were.

Sigh.  There’ll always be an England. . . in the coney island of the mind.

2-01-12 Survival Jobs for Writer-Musicians – Starter Job #30 (Rock Writer Trixie Goes off on a tangent: Anglophilia and the Douglaston Syndrome)

(This is me at a tender age before Anglophilia kicked in. . .)

I like to use unusual words, words from other cultures and places. One such word is “lig” -- a “lig” is an opportunity for free stuff, esp. drinks and food. I intended to write about the free stuff that I lucked into back when I was a broke rock writer, student and new wave musician, but come on, humor me while I take off on a tangent. . .

Truth be told, I’ve always been an anglophile -- and who wasn’t, growing up in the 1960’s with the whole “British Invasion” on the radio and TV? Movies, too: we loved the sound of the native tongue -- English -- as spoken by the limeys. Oh yeah. And even though the Beatles spoke with working class Liverpool accents, they sounded charming. The Rolling Stones and their lot came with a different accent, that of middle class London.

As a kid, I remember “Mary Poppins” and “My Fair Lady,” the movies and the albums, very fondly. So at an early age, I knew what “cockney” sounded like. Even those careless and rough accents had a very romantic aura. Professor Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle had such an interesting exchange, when it came to accent, class, and attraction. I didn’t know what a Pygmalion was, but it seemed kind of like what happens between a prisoner and her captor. . . that’s called the Stockholm Syndrome.

Well, why not a new syndrome where people who aspire to a new life -- away from their cloying past -- and change their accents, change their lives? Why not “The Douglaston Syndrome” whereby people do just that? (I grew up in Douglaston, NY -- nice ring to it, eh, kinda?)

When I moved out of Queens, NY, I vowed to not sound like a “Queenser,” so I watched the way I spoke, and altered my diction so people couldn’t place me so readily. And then, when I finally did move to England in 1981, I developed (not consciously) a sort of British accent. But that qualified as “Linda McCartney syndrome,” whereby an American woman, a yank, undergoes changed speech because of culture shock/immersion in the new, somewhat preferred, culture.

Anyway, wow, this was a freaky tangent! Let’s review just a few cool new words from the lexicon of Londoners:

Buck’s Fizz -- like a mimosa, but with more orange juice (2 parts OJ to 1 part champagne)

Skint -- broke, in need of dosh (dough, money).

Loo -- rest room.

Barnet -- hair (“Barnet fair = hair, Cockney rhyming slang)

Lig / ligger / Ligging -- opportunity for free stuff / opportunist who looks for free stuff / the act of getting that free stuff on a lig while being a ligger, ligging

Now that I’ve explained what it is, I’ll continue with an excerpt on rock writer ligging, next. And in the foreseeable future, I’ll write about living in England in ’81 - ’82. Another great survival job adventure, overseas -- and a great cure for Anglophilia, living amongst the English!