[Dixielandjazz] The kludge - musical content, Bob

[Don Kirkman]

On Tue, 23 Sep 2003 15:34:45 +0000, Bill Gunter wrote:

>Will Connely writ:

>>It is astonishing that this thread has run so long without
>>acknowledgment of the blivet companion and occasional synonym, the
>>kludge (klooge in Alabama).

>Correct me if I'm wrong, Will, but it seems to me I've heard of a "klunge" 
>which does bear a remote connection to the blivet.

>Perhaps the klunge is a variant of the kludge to which you allude.

>In any case, as I recall, the klunge/kludge is a device for producing a 
>musical tone (just as a black hole can produce the cosmic B flat).

>The way it works is this . . .

>One employs a "klungemaker" to produce the note by taking the klunge 
>(roughly the shape of a blivet) and dropping it into a sizeable body of 
>water whereupon it produces the musical sound . . . "KLUNGE!"
>
>Be aware that this is the extremely short version of an otherwise lengthy 
>and complicated explanation of the klunge/kludge.*

Nah, that's a variation on the original gloop, which was popular in WW
II.  The way I heard it, a sailor just out of training was assigned to a
destroyer.  When he reported, the officer in charge asked him what his
training was.  He replied that he was a trained gloop maker.  The
officer wasn't too current with all the new specialties, so he didn't
press the issue.  He asked the sailor what kind of facilities and
supplies he would need, and the guy ended up with a machine shop and
several large blocks of solid steel.  He spent day after day locked in
his shop, and passersby could hear the machines whirring and grinding
away inside.  After a couple of months his chief began to wonder just
what was going on, and started asking how he was coming and when he
would be finished.  After several more weeks the sailor said he was
almost finished, promising to display the gloop on the fantail the next
morning.  At the appointed time, he appeared with a tarp draped over a
large object, the contours of which couldn't quite be discerned.  When
all was ready, the tarp was removed and a large steel ball was
revealed--it was immediately sent overboard with a resounding "gloop".

"It All Comes Back to Me Now"
-- 
Don
donkirk at covad.net