He’s been and gone and spent it …
The story so far: Author Bill has a book out, The Well-Tempered Clavier; the publisher Idle Tom has finally decided to start spending …
There aren’t many things that surprise me. I’m one of those stiff upper-lip chaps, the like of which would have lost their leg at Waterloo and remarked, “Damme, Sir, I think a cannonball’s taken me leg off!”
There is, of course, another slightly more pejorative name for these stiff upper-lip types. Now, let me see … ah yes, I think my ex-wife Anna commonly refers to them as “blocked off bastards”. (That is “emotionally” blocked off; nothing to do with constipation.)
Anyway, to continue, it’s not often I’m surprised.
But when I was walking down Princes Street at the weekend … I was dumb-founded.
Immediately, I called up Idle Tom the publisher: “Tommy! You shouldn’t have!”
“Toch!” says the maestro. “It was nothing.”
“But it’s immense! It must have cost you a fortune!”
“Worth every penny,” says the Idle One.
“I’ve never seen a book advertised on the side of a building site before -”
“Not quite so idle after all, am I?”
“Well I wouldn’t go that far Tom - “
December 10th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
A pedant writes: I believe your reference is to the Marquess of Anglesey, the Duke of Wellington’s 2 I/C at the battle of Waterloo.
When hit by a cannonball, he glanced down and remarked, “By God, sir, I have lost my leg!”
“By God, sir, so you have!” replied the Duke. Huzzah!
December 14th, 2007 at 12:25 am
I am fortunate to have pedants such as you to take me up on my many boo-boos …