Ahoy, When the time came, we were weighing heavily on a new boat name. My sailing partner was more on the side of Greek Proto-godesses like 'Ananke', which I found a bit much for a decent but modest 30-footer. I wanted to avoid silly stuff, though it always cracks me up to see puns like 'Reel Estate' [which BTW was a motorboat under tow] 'E-Z Pass' and such. Anyway, we battled for weeks over bird names, wind names, sea names, etc.pp. I thought the name should be clear and practical on the radio, reflect our personalities and especially the personality of the vessel, and after long discussions we came down to the core of things. 'Messing About' is was. People who know the 1908 novel 'The Wind in the Willows' by Kenneth Grahame laugh out loud right away when they see it. People who don't know the book still get a kick out of it. Recently I stumbled unto the book shop 'Toad Hall' in Rockport (near Gloucester, MA), and it really cracked them up as well. The only problem in encountered so far are radio calls: "US Coast Guard, US Coast Guard, this is the sailing vessel 'Messing About'." Well, so be it. It depends on your performance (and I tell you, it turns out to be a tongue twister, especially when being tired. Please read it out loud if you don't believe me). To explain why we chose this name, I quote for y'all the beginning of this wonderful story:
"What?" cried the Rat, open-mouthed: "Never been in a—you never—well I—what have you been doing, then?" "Is it so nice as all that?" asked the Mole shyly, though he was quite prepared to believe it as he leant back in his seat and surveyed the cushions, the oars, the rowlocks, and all the fascinating fittings, and felt the boat sway lightly under him. "Nice? It's the only thing," said the Water Rat solemnly as he leant forward for his stroke. "Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing—absolute nothing—half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Simply messing," he went on dreamily: "messing—about—in—boats; messing—" "Look ahead, Rat!" cried the Mole suddenly. It was too late. The boat struck the bank full tilt. The dreamer, the joyous oarsman, lay on his back at the bottom of the boat, his heels in the air. "—about in boats—or with boats," the Rat went on composedly, picking himself up with a pleasant laugh. "In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not. Look here! If you've really nothing else on hand this morning, supposing we drop down the river together, and have a long day of it?" “The Wind in the Willows”, Kenneth Grahame, 1908 cheers Janko -- Point of View New York City: A Game of The City You THINK You Know A photo book by Janko Puls. +++ Photos, reviews and more at www.pointofviewnyc.com or www.facebook.com/pointofviewnyc +++ _______________________________________________ Email address: CnC-List@cnc-list.com To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go to the bottom of page at: http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com
