Aug 23, 2008

Lucky man

I went to NYC the other day to assist Gia in her new endeavor which is signing up new restaurants and bars with the beer/beverage distributor that she represents. Besides the fact that she made a lot of great contacts with some decent leads, we also had a fun time.

One of the gentlemen we met was a fellow from Sydney, Australia. He and his father started a brewing company back home called Lucky Beer and he has been in the States for a while trying to spread their brand abroad. Its a fantastic premium brew and you can read my review of it here, if you so choose. But that is what the Beer Eyed Blog is for. Here we discuss other things.

Like the fact that life must be difficult for this young man in our harsh city. That great Aussie accent and he looked like Colin Farrell a bit. OK, he looked like him a lot! Yeah. Nothing like feeling like half a man when in the same room with that! And he was a really nice guy to boot! Some people are just born lucky.

Another new "friend" we met in the city last week and saw again the other day was a Scottish fellow who tended bar at one of the joints we just happened to fall into. Another nice, great-looking guy with a fun accent. What the hell is going on here?

I'm fascinated by accents, if you can't tell. All kinds. Even regional dialects from the States crack me up. I happen to love Scottish, Irish, British, Welsh, Aussie, etc... accents the most, so meeting those two guys got me to thinking about this last night. I'm convinced that there is one that is far worse than any other I have ever heard.

Mine.

The Long Island accent.

Truthfully, my accent isn't as harsh as many, many folk on this sprawling suburb of New York City. But I can slip into it real easy when I want to. Sometimes without knowing it. My family used to make fun of my upstate accent when I got back from college and then my college friends would make fun of my LI accent when I returned. It's just something I've always been able to slip in and out of easily.

Like a straight jacket.

Random Wiki: This is kind of interesting because it has ties to LI. The Pagans MC, or motorcycle club, was formed by Lou Dobkins out of Maryland in the late 1950s. They soon grew to dominate the entire East Coast, including LI. I got nothing bad to say about The Pagans. No sir.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Funny post! I have that same accent problem - I pick them up way too easily. Once on a long weekend trip to PA, I found myself - gasp! - pronouncing my Rs just like the natives. And I try to not have too much of a Boston accent now that I don't live so close to the city. But my hubby has noticed that my speech changes depending on who I'm talking with and that when I get mad and start talking fast, all the Rs go out the window.

Michelle said...

b.e. i've been told i have a heavy ny accent! Whenever i'm in another state or country for that matter, the moment i speak, i hear oh your from ny aren't you?? I'm all your kidding is it that noticable? Heck yeah they say!!! I'm all like Yo i am from New Yawk but i don't hear any accent!! :O)

I like british accents myself!!

M

pure evyl said...

I like listening to different accents. I have a very deep Texas drawl. I have a tendency to really play it up when talking to people from different areas of the country. I think that most everyone has this tendency.

Mrs. Hall said...

Mr. Earl:

Very interesting job your girlfriend has, being a sales rep for a beer company. You are a lucky man indeed. :)

Jus an aside, my daughter was sitting on my lap while I was looking at your site and she wanted to know, Why is that man blinking? I wonder myself. Why the Max Cannon character?

Anywho--accents--I will involuntarily slip into the midwest/Fargo/Canadian accent from time to time. I enjoy local dialects and how they sound. I'm a big fan of words and local vernacular in general.

Yah Der Hey!

Mrs. Hall

and so.

Verdant Earl said...

Teeni - My speech changes, if I let it, depending on who I talk with as well. I try not to, though.

Michelle - strangely, sometimes I put on a heavier NY/LI accent when I am traveling. Subconciously letting others know where I'm from? maybe.

Evyl - Maybe not so subconciously at all, eh?

Mrs. Hall - Not so long of a story. I'm a big fan of Max Cannon and the RedMeat.com. Many, many years ago I was in a fantasy baseball league and I named my team the Bug-Eyed Earls. It kinda stuck and I began using it for all sorts of online handles. When I started a blog, I didn't even have to think of a blog name or a screen name. B.E. Earl was it.

Slyde said...

My first week as a college freshman, i met this cute girl, and she told me her name and that she was from Hawaii.

Then i told her my name and that i was from long island, and her first words were "of course you are..."

Verdant Earl said...

Slyde - and you and I really don't have very severe accents. But people can tell, somehow.

Slyde said...

well, i think i used to. i grew up in queens, remember. i think living upstate knocked the accent out of me...