Capítulo 17 de 20 · 5'22"
Sex jokes open the stretch. A father calls Joe about a night of drinking, and the talk later reaches a poem at Bolton Abbey. Under the bits, performance keeps beating a plainer self. Loveless sex is ranked "one of the best" of the empty kind, and a borrowed poem gets the defense "I chose a voice to suit the mood."
One of the Best Empty Experiences
The Small Man Stuck in a Box
The Wrong Bolton for McKellen
Someone runs a set of sex jokes, calling loveless sex an empty experience and still "one of the best." A father phones Joe and moves straight to the point: a night out with friends has to stay off weeknights. On the road to Bolton Abbey, one traveler recites a poem in Ian McKellen's voice and is told to mean the words in his own.
"Sex without love is an empty experience, but as empty experiences go, it's one of the best" confesses and dodges in one breath: the emptiness is real, and it still gets a prize. The phone call is plainer. Someone tells Joe he will "cut to the chase," brings up a talk with his mum, and brushes off "only a drink." Enjoy the weekend, but "you've got to rein it in during the week." One companion gets called "a pain in the ass" and, later, "a good friend." "I miss you" is returned, and the sign-off offers "constructive fun time." A later call turns flirtation into a voice, "I'm the small man stuck in a box," and gets shut down. On the road to Bolton Abbey a poem is performed in Sir Ian's voice. One man wants those lines "in your own voice," actually meant. "I chose a voice to suit the mood" keeps the feeling on loan. "It's a different Bolton, Rob" answers with a plain fact.
A1–C2 es la escala MCER. Las tarjetas por encima del nivel elegido se atenúan y la reproducción no se pausa en ellas.
“Sex without love is an empty experience, but as empty experiences go, it's one of the best.”
A high-minded definition undermined by its own punchline.
literary
“It was the most fun I've had without laughing.”
A devastating verdict delivered as a casual compliment.
Informal
“I chose a voice to suit the mood.”
A pompous excuse that treats showing off as an artistic choice.
Informal
“I'm the small man stuck in a box.”
Self-deprecation as a running joke: he shrinks himself into a tiny man in a box before anyone else can.
Informal
Siguiente · 18stick the knife inLa escena: Mock Eulogy at the GraveHe has already heard from the boy's mother what happened the other night. On the phone he skips the warm-up. A night with friends, "only a drink," and "a bit of fun" is not accepted. Weekends can be for enjoyment. During the week the rule is to rein it in. He ends on missing him, and on "Take care, and behave."
It stays a warning. Talk turns to the trip, both sides say "I miss you," and the caller promises he will be back for some fun, then narrows it to "constructive fun time." The last word is still "Take care, and behave."
The reader says he learned it in bed and calls that "Mission accomplished." He "chose a voice to suit the mood," arguing that Sir Ian comes from Bolton and so fits the priory. The man beside him is not convinced. He wanted the poem "in your own voice," with the words meant, and he answers that it is "a different Bolton."
Nobody in the room. On a sexual phone call, one speaker says he is bottomless and lets "him" off the lead, then drops into a tiny repeated voice: "I'm the small man stuck in a box." The other person is unmoved: "I don't care about silly voices. They're stupid."
