34 Comments

Loved this! I'm very grateful to you for the glossary... without which I'd've struggled! 🤣 Superb writing, as always - I never know what's coming next where it comes to your Experiments in Style, and have never yet been disappointed. 🙌

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Thanks, Rebecca. I never know what's coming next either! I enjoyed writing this one, and it still makes me laugh!

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Hah, this was wild and hilarious, Terry, err I mean Fred.

Appreciate having all the footnotes.

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Feb 6Liked by Terry Freedman

As soon as I read this version, I heard Rod Serling's voice, though it would have made more sense if it was a Dragnet actor. It was fantastic! You nailed it. You took me back to my 60s' youth and black and white TV, the family gathered 'round the television, where someone would have to get up to change the channel. 😀

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Lol. My dad would fALL asleep while watching TV. As soon as one of us crept over to the TV to change the channel, he'd wake up and say "I was watching that!". Thanks for kind words. Maybe I should do a twilight zone version 😬

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Feb 6Liked by Terry Freedman

So funny about your dad! Yes, a Twilight Zone version!!!!

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😂

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Nicely hilarious, Fred, and so glad we get to see that long-haired pic of you again!

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Thanks, Mya, glad you enjoyed it!

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Love the US version. Very clever.

Given that we're binging Endeavour at the moment, I became quite excited that Thursday had made it into an American cop show!!!!

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I KNEW I'd come across the Thursday name before, but assumed I was thinking of The Man Who Was Thursday, y G.K. Chesterton. I really liked Endeavour: a great series.

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Feb 5Liked by Terry Freedman

I loved this. Have you 'done' Gothic yet? Did I miss that? How about Enid Blyton? Or 'self-help'?

These little explorations are just so clever.

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Thanks, June. I have thought about doing a Gothic version as it happens. The closest I've come to Enid Blyton is a Reading Primer for children https://terryfreedman.substack.com/p/experiments-in-style-reading-primer Not really the same though. Self-help? Hmm. I'll cogitate on't. Thanks for the suggestions!

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I, too, enjoyed the usually-clipped dialogue of Jack Webb, Terry (or, shoud I say Fred?)....I was reading it doing my best Webb intonation! Too bad no one was around to hear it! Now, I might try it in my Don LaFontaine voice: "In a world..............and, this time, it's personal!"

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😂 Thanks, Brad. I hope you record that!

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Great read. I used to watch Dragnet. You nailed the dialogue.

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😂 Thanks, Carissa

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Chuckle, chuckle. Thanks Fred. A cool read dude.

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LOL

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Depends on which way the wind is blowing. Clouds are not brown-green like 50-70s . Particulate matter smaller easier to breathe. Industry pollution but less smoke from chimneys on cold rainy days like today. One indicator is if you can still see mountains from Sepulveda summit on 405 then it’s a clear day.

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oh I see. An improvement then! Thanks

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Just don’t breathe deep. If wind’s blowing on shore, jog at the beach.

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Dragnet: black and white so you couldn’t see smog clouds of Los Angeles on the other days besides Friday.

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Is there still smog? I visited there in 2006 and the air seemed pretty clean

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There were moments of Happy Days and Westside Story mixed in, Daddy-o. This one made me laugh.

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Oh were there? I can understand Happy Days, but I don't recall that sort of dialogue in Westside Story. Fits though. Thanks, Jody 😂

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Any time, slick.

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LOL

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Feb 4Liked by Terry Freedman

“Can the chat, daddy-o." Ha ha ha ha! This is one of the funniest ones ever! Man, that slang book came in handy. I could use about ten books like that with different eras featured Very entertaining, Terryman!

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LOL Thanks, Sharron 😂 I'd love those books too!

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They would be online or on one of his CD compilations.

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They are! I just watched one. It's hilarious: https://youtu.be/-AKAwjtzd4w?si=khe5BsTiHMLeAp19 Thanks for introducing me to Freburg

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It reminds me of the comedy parody records Stan Freberg made of "Dragnet" in the 1950s.

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Oh, I haven't heard of them. I wonder if they're online now. I'd love to listen to them!

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