AP--Washington
President Barak Obama announced today a surprise stimulus package: "Literature for Clunkers." The details of the new program resemble those of the successful exchange of aging, pollution-spewing automobiles for newer, more gas-efficient models. "Here we are in the dawn of a new age," Obama said in a press conference in the Oval Office, "and people are dying for literature, actually perishing because of a paucity of the kind of news that stays new forever, as opposed to the meretricious kind that swamps our media outlets every single day." Raising up a hefty copy of the Dan Brown bestseller "Angels and Demons" in one hand, the President raised in his other hand a copy of little-known Andrei Platanov's "Fierce and Beautiful World." Dropping the Dan Brown novel on the dais with a resounding thud, he added, "All you have to do is bring in your used or unread schlock, and you will get a rebate from your bookseller on a work of lasting value, that never grows old, that will delight and succor your grandchildren as it did you." With an assist from daughters Malia and Sasha, the President then placed "Angels and Demons" in a shoebox. "See? Now we're going to take this one out to the Rose Garden and bury it so nature can work its magic."
Placing a spade on his shoulder and the shoebox under his arm, Obama exited the Oval Room with this quip: "Let me tell you, this kind of swap is a lot easier than those involving complicated derivatives. And it's a lot better for you, and the nation."
Not the whole story, just some fragments of the days–-literary, political, sporting, and personal. Why call it “A Salty Blog”? Fond memories of the Players cigarette pack, which was also the cover and title of a Procol Harum album called "A Salty Dog," that showed a wild-eyed Jack Tar, wreathed in a tatty beard, leering gap-toothed–-just the kind of guy I’ve always run into in pubs who, when not telling stories of the ouroboros would threaten to “bite yer ****ing nose off!”
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment