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A collection of random thoughts, items and trivia . . .
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Phantom:
For those who love the musical Phantom of the Opera, and for those wanting something to watch while stuck at home, there is a website called The Shows Must Go On which features the 25th anniversary performance of Phantom at the Albert Hall. Superb.
The link is:
It may, however, not be available at the time of posting this item, the Youtube post contains this message:
**Please be reminded that, due to rights restrictions, this show will be taken down at 7pm today in the UK. Everywhere else, it will be available to watch until Sunday 11am PT / 2pm ET**
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Les Mis:
Apropos the above item, Les Mis has always been a favourite of mine and I prefer it over Phantom.
Watch the 10th anniversary performance at:
My view is that 10th anniversary performance is superior to the 25th anniversary performance.
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Baby names in the Age of Covid:
I posted an item a day or two ago about some people naming children after the current pandemic, with Covid and Corona for boy and girl twins being the prime example.
I didn’t think it could get even more silly but it now emerges that are more instances, again from India.
One father named his newborn son “Lockdown”, saying that he had been ''inspired greatly'' by the lockdown, which would prevent the spread of the virus.
But wait, there’s more.
A couple in Uttar Pradesh in India have named their child “Sanitizer”. According to the father, one Omvir Singh, the baby has been named 'Sanitizer' because it is synonymous with protecting people against COVID-19. "Whenever people will talk of corona, they will remember that it was sanitiser that saved them," Omvir Singh told the Deccan Herald. The father told the local media that he will remember what lockdown was like whenever he hears his son’s name. “Every one is fighting against this virus....from our prime minister to ordinary people....this is our contribution,” Mr Singh said.
I am now waiting to hear of someone naming their child Toilet Paper.
Source:
Decca Herald
Yahoo News
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Sent to me by John P:
Thanks, John
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Good, Gooder, Goodest:
Last week I posted an item on the death of Tim Brook-Taylor who was, among other things, a member of The Goodies.
That started me thinking about that word.
Here are some items:
Goody:
Ever wondered why women are referred to as “Goody” eg Goody Proctor, Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible?
Goody" was a form of address for women in the 16th and 17th centuries, paired with the woman's surname. The title "Goody" is used in some of the court records, for example, in the Salem witch trials of 1692.
"Goody" is an informal and shortened version of "Goodwife." It was used of married women. It was more often used for older women in late 17th century Massachusetts. A woman of higher social status would be addressed as "Mistress" and one of lower social status as "Goody."
The male version of Goodwife (or Goody) was Goodman.
The first known use in print of "Goody" as a title for a married woman was in 1559, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Source:
ThoughtCo
Goody Two-Shoes:
The expression Goody Two-Shoes is a way of saying that someone is always on the side that is "good" and never taking a chance of being "bad".
According to Wikipedia:
The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes is a children's story published by John Newbery in London in 1765. The story popularised the phrase "goody two-shoes" as a descriptor for an excessively virtuous person or do-gooder.
Goody Two-Shoes is a variation of the Cinderella story. The fable tells of Goody Two-Shoes, the nickname of a poor orphan girl named Margery Meanwell, who goes through life with only one shoe. When a rich gentleman gives her a complete pair, she is so happy that she tells everyone that she has "two shoes". Later, Margery becomes a teacher and marries a rich widower. This earning of wealth serves as proof that her virtue has been rewarded, a popular theme in children's literature of the era.
A woodcut of Goody Two-Shoes from the 1768 edition of the novel
Although The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes is credited with popularising the term "goody two-shoes", the actual origin of the phrase is unknown. For example, it appears a century earlier in Charles Cotton's Voyage to Ireland in Burlesque (1670):
Mistress mayoress complained that the pottage was cold;
'And all long of your fiddle-faddle,' quoth she.
'Why, then, Goody Two-shoes, what if it be?
Hold you, if you can, your tittle-tattle,' quoth he.
The name is used herein to point out the mayoress' comparative privilege; "Goody" (a corruption of "Goodwife"), being the equivalent of "Mrs." and "Two-shoes", implicitly comparing her to people who have no shoes.
Source:
Wikipedia
The Goodies:
I am unaware as to how the name came about but among the rejected titles for the series was Bill Oddie's suggestion, "Superchaps Three".
By the way:
Pre-The Goodies:
The Goodies were a trio of British comedians: Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden, and Bill Oddie. The trio created, wrote for and performed in their eponymous television comedy show from 1970 until 1982, combining sketches and situation comedy.
The three actors met each other as undergraduates at Cambridge University, where Brooke-Taylor was studying law, Garden was studying medicine, and Oddie was studying English. Their contemporaries included Graham Chapman, John Cleese, and Eric Idle, who later became members of Monty Python, and with whom they became close friends. Brooke-Taylor and Cleese studied together and swapped lecture notes as they were both law students, but at different colleges within the university. All three Goodies became members of the Cambridge University Footlights Club, with Brooke-Taylor becoming president in 1963, and Garden succeeding him as president in 1964.
Garden himself was succeeded as Footlights Club president in 1965 by Idle, who had initially become aware of the Footlights when he auditioned for a Pembroke College "smoker" for Brooke-Taylor and Oddie.
Brooke-Taylor, Garden and Oddie were cast members of the 1960s BBC radio comedy show I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, which also featured John Cleese, David Hatch and Jo Kendall, and lasted until 1973. I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again resulted from the 1963 Cambridge University Footlights Club revue A Clump of Plinths. After having its title changed to Cambridge Circus, the revue went on to play at West End in London, England, followed by a tour of New Zealand and Broadway in New York, US (including an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show).
They also took part in various TV shows with other people, including Brooke-Taylor in At Last the 1948 Show (with Cleese, Chapman and Marty Feldman). Brooke-Taylor also took part in Marty (with Marty Feldman, John Junkin and Roland MacLeod). In 1968 Brooke-Taylor appeared with Cleese, Michael Palin and Graham Chapman in How to Irritate People. Garden and Oddie took part in Twice a Fortnight (with Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Jonathan Lynn), before Brooke-Taylor, Garden, and Oddie worked on the late 1960s TV show Broaden Your Mind (of which only about ten minutes survives).
Source:
Wikipedia
Good Goody Gumdrops:
The phrase is believed to be of American origin. 'Goody, goody' has been used in the US since at least the late 18th century to express pleasure; for example, in the early American ballad opera, The Disappointment, circa 1760:
"Oh! goodee, goodee, oh! we shall see presently."
'Gumdrops' themselves are an American invention. They are a confection of sweetened and flavoured gum and have been on sale in the US under that name since the mid 19th century. The Illinois State Chronicle ran an advertisement in August 1859 for the confectioner George Julier, which offered:
"Fresh GumDrops, assorted flavor wholesale or retail"
The first citation of 'Goody, goody gumdrops' comes in a cartoon by the American humorist Carl Ed (pronounced 'Eed'). Ed's 'Harold Teen' cartoon strip ran for many years in the USA and was syndicated in several newspapers. It isn't clear whether Ed coined the phrase or whether he had heard it elsewhere.
Various confectioners produce sweets by that name:
One final note that may cause a face palm . . . remember the 60’s band The 1910 Fruitgum Co that was a part of a style of music known as bubblegum music? One of their albums was called Good Goody Gumdrops:
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