European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 13, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Worm wit Whert allusion becomes illusive James j. Kilpatrick the writer s arts ome months ago us air set out to promote its shuttle service. After flying Only 20,000 Miles a passenger would be rewarded witha free round trip. With the Competition the airline boasted you be got Miles to go before you literary types must have loved the allusion. The instantly recognized the Takeoff on Robert Frost s famous poem stopping by Woods on a snowy eve Ning. On the darkest evening of the year with a heavy Snow falling a country Man stops his Littlehorse beside some Woods that Are Lovely dark and he would like to stay and watch the Woods fill up with Snow but i have promises to keep and Miles to go before i sleep and Miles to go before ,. I delighted in the and for i revel in Frost s complexly simple poetry but then i began to wonder How Many newspaper readers grasped the allusion More to the Point How Many prospective passenger son the shuttle grasped the allusion did the and writer s play of words waste its sweetness on the desert air or was it effective communication with the perceived audience you will see that i am warming up to another column on a writer s need to know the readers for whom he or she is writing. Let me test you another allusions about this time last year the associated pres reported that the Senate approved 41 presidential appointees in one fell the drama editor of the Indianapolis Star gave Good Marks to a local staging of nun sense the musical comedy about sonic Daffilyn inspired Sisters in Convent. All in All the play is not a bad nunnery to the Seattle Post intelligencer headlined a Story about automobile manufacturers and their published claims of High reliability big three hoisted by a -.v-.-. In the Chicago Sun times a feature writer pro filed actor Daniel Day Lewis. The actor s father was poet laureate of England his Mother was an actress his Grandfather produced films. Daniel is certainly to the manner the new York times carried a reflective piece on racial tensions in Urban areas. The writer offered this troubled observation by clinging to slender Silver linings Pollyanna May miss two fundamental concerns about the on another occasion the times praised an in crease in Federal spending on drug treatment and addiction prevention. The new funding will help but the Gap Between needs arid services will remain Gar v " -. This past March the Rocky Mountain news car ried an editorial on punitive damages. For years giant corporations have lobbied Congress to pass Alaw shielding them from brobdingnagian in june the Wall Street journal grumbled about the Prospect that National health insurance would become a Federal entitlement. And like All entitle ments it will grow like very Well. In this quiz you Grade your own Are the editor. Were the allusions sufficiently Clear to enough readers to make for effective communication -. \ for the record in Shakespeare s Macbeth Mac Duff grieves that his children had been slain at one fell in Ham of the melancholy Dane Dis misses Ophelia get thee to a Hamlet finds irony in the engine who is hoist with his own Petar that i blown up by his own explosive device. Incidentally it s an engine not an Engineer an Shakespeare spelled it Petar not to the manner not Manor born also is from Hamlet Pollyanna was the insatiably optimistic he Roine of Eleanor Porter s 1913 novel. Rabelais Cre ated the giant Gargantua Swift created the Gigantic brobdingnagian. In Uncle Tom s Cabin i Spect Igro wed said Topsy. On the arid Plains of my own ignorance these allusions did indeed waste their sweetness on the de Sert air. If you Don t know that one look it up. Universal press Syndicate to sit it out Tony Kornheiser friends of mine Peter and Julie Are Deco rating their House. Well Julie is decorating. Peter is simply signing the checks. So far the redecoration has Cost him$3,300 and that is just for cushions and pillows in the family room. When Peter heard the Price he asked Julie who sewed the pillows or. Christiaan Barnard he could t believe he was spending $3,300 Forone room. And we re not even getting a solid Gold Moose head Julie we re doing a family room. For thirty three Hundred i can buy a whole family How can cushions be so expensive i can go to pier on and get 10 cushions for $29.95 each and in a year when i m sick of the color i can use them for Archery practice then set them on fire and still save three thousand dollars it All kind of sneaked up on Peter he did t see incoming it was a Good cop bad cop kind of Deal. The owner of the design studio Louis came to Peter s House looked at Peter s furniture such As the leather beanbag chairs the extremely attractive chinese lanterns stretched across the living room the Glen plaid sofa bed and the Neon Miller highline sign and he said yeah we can work with then he and Peter went out on the porch Hada couple of Beers and talked about the nil and afterwards Peter told Julie i admit i was a Little Ner Vous hiring a decorator but i can work with k05tas Athens Greece the next Day Lou sent his assistant fab Lana Overto plan the design and the first thing she said As she walked through the door was of god she stopped in her tracks and pointed to the Rug in the hallway Peter s Pride and Joy a red and White thatched mohair Rug with the outline of the Zig Zag Man in Royal Blue which Peter got when he was Stillin College and she said you re kidding Aren t you i want Lou Back Peter said. But by then it was too late. Six weeks later Julie showed Peter a few squares of cloth in colors and textures that resembled potholders in Liberace Shouse and asked Peter of which fabric do you want now this is a loaded question. It is a no win for Aman just like do you think i look fat in this dress is a no win for a Man. No saying no is not Goodenough. No implies that she is fat and the dress is cleverly hiding it. The Only Safe answer is to fake Aheart attack or burst Aneury Sra until the dress Opin Ion crisis passes anyway with swatches of fabric which one you like does t make any difference. They re All two zillion dollars which one you like is like asking and How you would like those singaporean lashes across the buttock forehand or backhand these fabrics Are sold in deceptive , yes a Wise Choice crustacean Pink twill and a splendid bargain at $2.04 per Square , which comes out to $5,622 for the toilet seat cover alone. For the most part As Long As they have on room to themselves preferably a bathroom men could t care less about decorating. A woman can to tally make Over a room spend $8,000 on lamps alone bring in a hand Woven Rug from Jabo goos Tan and Aman will look at the new room shrug and walk right through to the Kitchen and open up the refrigerator and look for a Chicken leg. The next Day he won t even remember if the old room had a statue of Dag Hamina skjold in it. Men adapt to their surroundings. They re not discriminating. They doll t know scandinavian modern from French provincial or italian Renaissance. If you ask men what style of furniture they prefer nine out of 10 will say my Friend Nancy decorated her Hving room i what she Calls Yuppie she ordered Comfort Able overstuffed chairs and couches and did them i Chenille and Tea stained linens. It s quite Beautiful. But All her husband wants is a la a boy recline right in the Middle of it. One of the big ones with a tray table and the Magazine pouches on the Side and the Vibrator and the Heater and the velcro attachment for the to Clicker i think you get a Choice of leather or a Beer retardant can t have that in my living room Nancy said forlornly. It s just i Don t understand. It s not As if her husband i asking for something that does t go with the room like a ski lift or a urinal. A la a boy goes with any thing. Men like big chairs. woman goes out and blows All the dough on the tiny details in Chintz and Rosewood that make the room an exact replica of Monet s Sun porch in giver by and a Guy signs the Check and then he says 2irame a Bis chair so i can fall asleep watch ing i v. There s no to in this room the woman will say. One then just give me a big chair where there is a to and if there in t any to there either then give me a gun so i can shoot the creators Syndicate Page 24 sunday november 13,1994 l5
