Friday, November 24, 2006

best time, voices, big bottles

My best time of day is first thing in the morning when I take a cup of tea back to bed and read my book, looking up every now and then to watch the sun come up behind the tulip tree.

In the post office there are a number of recorded voices. Behind me, I hear a talking photographic booth: "If you are happy with the photo," it says, in a perky woman's voice, "press the green button...Here we go. We are now printing your order. Please wait". Ahead of me, two voices announce the number of the cashiers as they become free. The voices are recorded by a man and woman. The male cashiers operate the recording of the male voice, and the women, the female voice.

There come into my head the names of giant bottles of Champagne; just in case I should ever want one. A nebuchdnezzar contains the equivalent of 20 bottles; a melchior, 24.
Nebuchdezzar ll was a Babylonian king, who built the hanging gardens of Babylon. It was he who went mad and ate grass. Melchior - there had to be a seasonal connectiion somewhere - was one of the Three Wise Men. He brought the infant Jesus a gift of frankinsence.

No comments: