26 July 2008

Sounds Unfamiliar

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School holidays mean changed patterns of life for parents. This week I found myself using the bus to get to and from work most days. I noticed that Fr Z (whom God preserve!) had a podcast interview with Fr Tim Finigan so I decided to download it for the journey.

A minor point is to download Fr Z's podcasts to an mp3 player which has a fast forward facility (mine doesn't), otherwise having heard his introduction to a piece by the Seraphic Doctor and then the reading itself in English, you then have to listen in Latin as well; if you press "next track" you skip the rest of the piece completely and then have to start again from the beginning.

However, the greatest shock was that neither Fr Z nor Fr Finigan sounded like themselves. I've never heard the voice of either of them, of course, but "knew" what they sound like from having seen their pictures and having read what they've written. And they sound completely wrong.

This must have been a lot more common in the days before radio and TV - that you build a 3D image of somebody from their words, or maybe their words and a picture - and I find it's rather nice that the Internet takes us back, rather than forwards.

I suppose it would make a good meme: describe five well known bloggers (or their voices and accents) whom you've never met based purely on what you've seen in their blogs; but the possibility of offending people (however unwittingly) would never be far away.

5 comments:

Mulier Fortis said...

I have heard both of them speak... and they don't sound quite like themselves to me, either!

Anagnostis said...

Apparently, I sound like Billy Connelly. I can only suppose this is because Sussex people think everybody from Glasgow sounds like Billy Connelly. Worzels.

Anagnostis said...

I love podcasts. I think the cheap mp3 player is a wonderful thing. Have you tried just pressing the forward skip button and holding it down? I didn't think mine fast-forwarded, then I discovered it did, quite by acciedent.

What I like best is to set out after Sunday lunch on a long, familiar walk or cycle, in the company (these days) of Fr Thomas Hopko (I've often had the pleasure of Fr Z's companionship too), or one of the other contributors to the library at Ancient Faith Radio. Mr Bleaney recently sent me an hour-long interview with the late Jaroslav Pelikan, fascinated replays of which which got me through many a tedious morning of packing up lifejackets (until the Elfin Safety guy stopped me using earphones in the warehouse).

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you liked the Pelikan interview, moretben. "So that the hyenas could not get Him ..." :-)

Ttony, I would expect you to sound posh Manchester, a bit like Anthony Burgess. Am I warm?

Mr Bleaney

Ttony said...

Mr B: not quite fridge temperature but nearly. My accent is a sad compromise between Manchester and Lancashire (think the son-in-law in the Royle Family but a third higher) that was what I needed to be understyood when I went to University.

Moretben: {reels} You mean there are people from Glasgow who don't sound like Billy C?