Rant Alert!!Howard Blake in The Guardian - glossed for beginners.

[ahinton]

36 year old Ms Barton is an Oxford graduate and Hackney resident who has been on the staff at the Grauniad for over a decade.

It seems that we've both made a mistake over her surname; I'd incorrectly read it as "Bennett" and you as "Barton" when in fact it's "Barnett".

Her areas of interest do tend to be related to the rock/pop realm and women's issues as you'd expect from a regular in the bars of Dalston
but to suggest she is incapable of comic insouciance is to miss the irony of the whole 'footnote' tradition of these pieces.

In any case "Full of sadness but with hints of happiness" etc hardly merits the apoplexy lavished upon it; that you consider it to be patronising says more about your pretensions to self-importance than Laura's journalism.

It's not clear to whom you're replying here but, notwithstanding my reaction to the piece, I certainly made no mention of "full of sadness but with hints of happiness", nor lavished anything at all, let alone "apoplexy" on it, nor suggesterd that Ms Barnett is necessarily "incapable of comic insouciance", nor referred to a "'footnote' tradition" nor accused her of being "patronising", so perhaps you're referring to the OP...

[jean]

36 year old Ms Barton is an Oxford graduate and Hackney resident who has been on the staff at the Grauniad for over a decade.

Yes - but Laura Barnett is a different person, a freelance (I think) who sometimes writes for the Guardian.

I see there's this comment from a Caliban1:

Incredibly patronising footnotes - I almost thought they were intended as a parody, but sadly I think not.

Is that our Caliban?

[jean]

Here's a collection of the interviews, so people can reach their own conclusions about the tone of the footnotes.

Not all of them have footnotes. Of those I've looked at, it's mainly the musicians who do, and some of those did actually tell me things I didn't know before (I am too embarrassed to say what.)

[Stillhomewardbound]

Ranting on the basis of poor understanding of that very context just makes you look like a fatuous club bore from Tunbridge Wells

I read this feature regularly and I recognise irony when I see it, or not, as here, and as for your final sneer (and my, how you do), let's leave Tunbridge Wells out of it, shall we?

[french frank]

that you consider it to be patronising says more about your pretensions to ayone's self-importance than Laura's journalism.

That seems unnecessary. It says nothing whatever about anyone's 'pretensions', nor about anyone's 'self-importance'. I looked at the Mark Elder article, as you suggested. I detect no hint of irony there. The Guardian itself is not famed for its coverage of classical musi as against pop/rock (as you yourself tend to think with the reference to Dalston), so the suppositions of anyone on the Guardian must (presumably) be that much of their readership has little interest either, or they would cater for it better. Hence the helpful footnotes.

[Thropplenoggin]

I read this feature regularly and I recognise irony when I see it, or not, as here, and as for your final sneer (and my, how you do), let's leave Tunbridge Wells out of it, shall we?

I believe the final reference is to 'Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells'. Do I get my Kofi Anna Peace-keeping Badge now?

[jean]

Anyone with the slightest knowledge of this regular feature in G2 would know that the tone of the footnotes is always tongue-in-cheek.

Any particular tone detectable here?

[ahinton]

I believe the final reference is to 'Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells'. Do I get my Kofi Anna Peace-keeping Badge now?

"Annan", please! - leave our poor member "Anna" out of this!...

[Stephen Whitaker]

My tone is my concern but your post seems to lack particularity of purpose from my perspective
apart from demonstrating your ability to manoeuvre around the interstices of the internet..

[Thropplenoggin]

My tone is my concern but your post seems to lack particularity of purpose from my perspective
apart from demonstrating your ability to manoeuvre around the interstices of the internet..

Nicely alliterative but the last phrase - to manoeuvre around the interstices of the internet - doesn't actually mean anything.

Still, colorless green ideas sleep furiously, I suppose.

[MrGongGong]

There's one of those quickie interview bits in The Guardian today and I'm horrified to see it accompanied by explanatory footnotes. If you read the piece and then the footnotes I think you might understand my indignation.

So I guess the answer is "No I don't understand"
Surely the footnotes are there as a jokey stylistic(1) thing
in the spirit of the article ........









1: The Stylistics are a soul music vocal group, and were one of the best-known Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. They formed in 1968, and were composed of lead Russell Thompkins, Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith, and James Dunn.

[Stephen Whitaker]

******************** still not getting these posts correctly addressed, apologies.

[Stephen Whitaker]

I read this feature regularly and I recognise irony when I see it, or not, as here, and as for your final sneer (and my, how you do), let's leave Tunbridge Wells out of it, shall we?

Fairy nuff...you ranted and I sneered at your ranting ...

From, Monty Python and the Holy Grail ....
French Soldier:
I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper.
Sir Galahad:
Is there someone else up there we can talk to?
French Soldier:
No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time.

[Sir Velo]

Laura Barnett is indeed not to be confused with Laura Barton but nonetheless
to suggest she is incapable of comic insouciance is to miss the irony of the the whole 'footnote' tradition of these pieces.

Well then it's either pretentious nonsense for The Guardian to run these footnotes as they are parodying and mocking the presumed lack of cultural knowledge of their readership; or their winks to the in-crowd are futile as all of the readers of the article will have already understood all of the cultural references contained within the piece.

You can't have your cake and eat it here you know.

[MrGongGong]

You can't have your cake1 and eat it here you know.

1: Cake: noun
1.an item of soft sweet food made from a mixture of flour, fat, eggs, sugar, and other ingredients, baked and sometimes iced or decorated.
"a fruit cake"
synonyms: gateau, kuchen

the amount of money or assets available to be divided up or shared.
noun: the cake
"you have not received a fair slice of the education cake"

2.
an item of savoury food formed into a flat round shape, and typically baked or fried.
"crab cakes"
a flattish compact mass of something, especially soap.
"a cake of soap"
synonyms: bar, tablet;