Just in case you thought the photo-collages had finally gone away, here are a few I've been tinkering with this week. You may recognise many of their constituent elements: I do like to recycle. I have nothing in particular I want to say about them, or about anything much, it's been that kind of week. A busy week – I finally delivered about 150 Lego and Lego Technic sets [1] to a Lego dealer ("Hey, kid...") who gave me a very good price for them – but essentially unremarkable.
Although there's this: as an inveterate language-watcher, I've been annoyed by the use of the expression "second of all" which I keep hearing, especially on the radio in the mouths of political commentators like the ubiquitous Laura Kuenssberg. As in, "First of all, Boris Johnson is a narcissistic prat; second of all, he's a known and proven liar". Nobody used to say this ("second of all", I mean: the stuff about Johnson is well-established), and it makes no sense. "First of all" is surely a stand-alone expression, indicating absolute primacy in a list? And I suppose "last of all" is a useful alternative to "last but not least" as a list-finishing cliché, when "finally" seems a little too final. But no-one says "middle of all", do they? And what about "third of all" or even "thirty-third of all"? These are obvious and redundant nonsense. I wonder, did this start as a joke? One of those formulaic witticisms that lighten conversation? I suppose it could imply, "second and final item in a list of two", but, disappointingly, so rarely does. But, however it happened, it now seems to have established itself, like some invasive linguistic species, and being annoyed about it won't change anything.
1. No, really, 150-odd sets, all carefully checked: they filled the entire back of our Renault Scenic, including the seats. 2019 turned out to be a memorable Summer of Lego.
6 comments:
"150-odd sets, all carefully checked"
... and not a single photo of any of them!
Zouk,
Well, I did photograph a few, but after a while you come to the conclusion that Lego is not the most subtle construction material in the world, and you'd need a full-on lighting and
studio setup to make it look remotely interesting...
Mike
Good God, that's a lot of Lego. Someone was more than a bit out of control, and I suspect it was the purchasing agent. Good for you to have taken the time to sort it all out and pass it along.
Kent,
What really built up the numbers was the pocket-money priced stuff: Technic, especially, which set up a weird, vaguely Pacific-island-cum-sci-fi oriented "collect 'em all" mythology called Bionicle. We had dozens of the things, all variations on a theme.
But, yes, it felt wrong just to tip everything into a big sack and sell it to one of those dealers that buy Lego bricks by the kilo...
Mike
A good example of how we're all susceptible to the consumerist urge. I've never been a "completist," of models, toys, records, movies, power tools, playing cards, or books. But the bins are stacking upward around here with the camera and Matthews grip equipment, increasing evidence of late stage purchasing power. And a scary lack of self control.
You should be getting some sort of plaque from Lego Group for your tireless investment over the years.
Kent,
I'm assuming you realise these were not *my* Lego sets... I think one of the problems of raising children in our modern culture is that a certain level of (unwilling) buy-in to consumerism is difficult, if not impossible to avoid. Besides, a certain level of completism is a trait of childhood that (IMHO) need not be discouraged: it lies at the root of certain kinds of intelligence, which, if properly directed, can lead to good things.
In monetary terms, I think Fujifilm are the ones that owe me a plaque...
Mike
Post a Comment