Programming note: Tomorrow, Saturday, I'll be here with the latest episode of our Serenade Radio weekend music show, On the Town. It starts at 5pm British Summer Time - which is 6pm in Western Europe and 12 noon North American Eastern. You can listen from almost anywhere on the planet by clicking the button at top right here.
~Thank you for your continuing comments upon The Mark Steyn Club's eighth birthday. John Wilson, a First Week Founding Member from Colorado, is still seeking scapegoats for his tardiness:
Today is my eighth anniversary with the Mark Steyn Club. My only regret is not getting in on day one. (I'll blame it on Cary Katz - curses be upon him - and waiting to get my refund from CRTV). Tales for our Time has always been my favorite part of the Club.
Mark, What is your favorite part of the Club?
Oh, I like all our features, John, or we wouldn't be doing them - although I regret that health problems have made a few things a bit less regular than they used to be.
That said, welcome to Part Eight of our birthday audio entertainment in Tales for Our Time. In tonight's episode, after a week of digressions, our trio finally arrive in Germany, to begin digressing more Germanically:
In the course of the century, I am inclined to think that Germany will solve her difficulty in this respect by speaking English. Every boy and girl in Germany, above the peasant class, speaks English. Were English pronunciation less arbitrary, there is not the slightest doubt but that in the course of a very few years, comparatively speaking, it would become the language of the world. All foreigners agree that, grammatically, it is the easiest language of any to learn. A German, comparing it with his own language, where every word in every sentence is governed by at least four distinct and separate rules, tells you that English has no grammar. A good many English people would seem to have come to the same conclusion; but they are wrong. As a matter of fact, there is an English grammar, and one of these days our schools will recognise the fact, and it will be taught to our children, penetrating maybe even into literary and journalistic circles.
Well, that doesn't appear to have happened. To enjoy Part Eight of Three Men on the Bummel, members of The Mark Steyn Club should simply click here and log-in. Earlier episodes can be found here.
And, if you have a chair and antimacassar but have yet to hear any of our Tales for Our Time, you can do so by joining the Steyn Club. For more details, see here. And please join me on Saturday for Part Nine of Three Men on the Bummel.
