The General Chat Room

[ahinton]

I will try and divest myself of such associations then.

Divest; of course! As I might expect from you in response to this! Make sure, then, that you come to dispense with all the "vestiges" of such self-invented associations; after all, it ain't Bruckner's fault!...

[MrGongGong]

-

an employee dress-code introduced to maintain certain standards and general group discipline.
.

Which means exactly what?
I understand that it's useful for some folks to dress in particular ways so we know who is a member of the police etc
BUT what "standards" ?

and what on earth is "group discipline" and why does wearing a rubber chicken on your head (or some other nonsense) help this?

[MrGongGong]

Even when I was a boy in smart short-trousers I was frequently appalled by the shabby dress of teachers, both male and female. Surely young pupils embarking out on learning and hopefully a fruitful and rewarding career are entitled to a bit of respect never mind a good example?

I think this says more about you than anything else.
Why not pay a visit to an astronomy department of a university or other such place where really intelligent folks congregate and see what "example" their clothes convey?

any audience with a sense of occasion and propriety.

You really are out of a P G Woodhouse novel

[Serial_Apologist]

and why does wearing a rubber chicken on your head (or some other nonsense) help this?

S&M???

[P. G. Tipps]

I think this says more about you than anything else.
Why not pay a visit to an astronomy department of a university or other such place where really intelligent folks congregate and see what "example" their clothes convey?

I'm not sure one has to join those gazing at the skies for a living in order to find 'really intelligent folks', Mr GG, though, as Jodrell Bank is nearby, I can vouch that many there are not only intelligent but extremely charming, the latter quality becoming increasingly rare in these cyber-cruel times.

However one does need to be particularly intelligent or charming to quickly realise that people do remark on the appearance of others whether we like it or not. First impressions are very important. Assuming one is not poverty-striken shabby dress in employment indicates a lazy, slovenly mind, and/or inability to care for the opinions of others.

You really are out of a P G Woodhouse novel

Quite possibly, the great gentleman was blessed with ineluctably splendid initials, Mr GG ...

[ahinton]

You really are out of a P G Woodhouse novel

Wodehouse, surely? (unless there's another of whom I'm unaware; I know about V. G. - Violet Gordon - Woodhouse but she was a harpsichordist rather than an author)...

[P. G. Tipps]

Which means exactly what?
I understand that it's useful for some folks to dress in particular ways so we know who is a member of the police etc
BUT what "standards" ?

and what on earth is "group discipline" and why does wearing a rubber chicken on your head (or some other nonsense) help this?

a) It means exactly what is it says and expanded in a later post, MrGG!

b) Every 'team' requires 'group discipline' or it is not a team but a bunch of self-centred individuals all heading in different directions. Any 'team' is little different from an orchestra, or at least should be.

'Rubber chickens', and mandatory first-name badges etc, are management gimmicks and have nothing to do with uniformed order and self-discipline. In fact such absurd abominations are an insulting abuse of proper group organisation and practice, imv.

[P. G. Tipps]

Wodehouse, surely? (unless there's another of whom I'm unaware; I know about V. G. - Violet Gordon - Woodhouse but she was a harpsichordist rather than an author)...

Even if highly improbable, one surely must give members the 'typo' benefit of any doubt and not be so overtly pedantic, ahinton!

[MrGongGong]

Any 'team' is little different from an orchestra, or at least should be.
.

You don't go to cafe Oto do you?
There are many ways of doing things.

[ahinton]

Even if highly improbable, one surely must give members the 'typo' benefit of any doubt and not be so overtly pedantic, ahinton!

I am not Nicholas Parsons and so am perhaps not quite so adept as dispenser of the benefit of the doubt, but the point of my mentioning this was not so much to illustrate a typo but draw attention to the fact that there are people called Woodhouse who merit being distinguished from those who lived in Wode abodes; anyway, hasn't Gideon threatened future benefit of the doubt cuts in order to rectify the UK deficit?

[ahinton]

You don't go to cafe Oto do you?
There are many ways of doing things.

I very much doubt that he does, but cannot be sure. Curious, though, that within the space of a few weeks there will be performances there featuring pianists who have played major works by Sorabji, namelyReinier van Houdt, who premièred his c. 290-minute Piano Symphony No. 4 in Utrecht in 2003 and Daan Vandewalle, who has given a couple of complete performances of the not much shorter Opus Clavicembalisticum; no Sorabji on offer at Café Oto, though...

[Richard Barrett]

I understand that it's useful for some folks to dress in particular ways so we know who is a member of the police etc

Once or twice a year I have to wear a tie to be professorial in the somewhat antiquated doctoral defence ceremonies at Leiden University (founded 1575). Luckily the dressing room not only provides ties on loan (since I don't own one) but also has a useful poster on the wall explaining how to do it up (since I have difficulty remembering this). An encouraging sign of the times I would say.

[Richard Barrett]

I very much doubt that he does, but cannot be sure. Curious, though, that within the space of a few weeks there will be performances there featuring pianists who have played major works by Sorabji, namelyReinier van Houdt, who premièred his c. 290-minute Piano Symphony No. 4 in Utrecht in 2003 and Daan Vandewalle, who has given a couple of complete performances of the not much shorter Opus Clavicembalisticum; no Sorabji on offer at Café Oto, though...

I think this wins the hotly-contested prize for Most Nonsequiturial Mention of Sorabji Ever.

[Serial_Apologist]

I think this wins the hotly-contested prize for Most Nonsequiturial Mention of Sorabji Ever.

[Nick Armstrong]

I think this wins the hotly-contested prize for Most Nonsequiturial Mention of Sorabji Ever.