Taddy,
I assure you, my previous proposal was completely facetious! I would be more
than a little disappointed in you if the impotent one was given more than a
mention. I do feel, however, that it would be harsh of you not to at least
mention his name. It could be done appropriately if not tastefully (ugh).
For instance, I once vomited while out at sea, and this is what it sounded
like: bUnn' yip (with accent on first syl, and a heavily aspirated p); the
next sound was my breakfast splashing into the green Atlantic. Here is an
excerpt from a short story I wrote about 10 years ago. It's about a man who
should never have traveled by sea, yet there he is. I've adapted it for
relevance to our discussion.

"Another blast of fumes swirled around him, induced by the eddy
currents that had formed as the wind wrapped around the cabin. He staggered
against the gunnel once more, leaning far enough over the side to catch a
brief glimpse of his reflection in the sea water. He was unsure if the
green tint highlighting his nauseated features was his own coloring, or if
the sickly hue had been superimposed by the water itself. He could no
longer fight the dizziness that raced from head to stomach and back again,
and when the exhaust ports belched their foul mist once more into his
grimaced face, he took firm hold of a wet cleat, leaned out a bit further,
and returned the sentiments to the sea with a gut wrenching bUnn yip!"

Ok, enough of that. Onward to the naming of the horde. I'll tell you why I
like Bunyippies, but I am of course, open to suggestions. Bunyippies does
conjure images of fun, (bunnies), or shouts of joy (Yippeee!) etc., but I
went for verbal irony, and sarcasm is best served brief. They want to be
evil, but achieve only ugliness, so I gave them a cute name. I chose a
harmless sounding name, because I see them as essentially innocuous
creatures, albeit misled. Kittens would be better, or perhaps ducklings,
since they have firmly imprinted to our 'hero', but for that same reason, I
wanted them to have his surname. Bunyippies does this and still sounds
benign, very close to puppies. And fittingly so, as they are his bitches,
his everything. I see them simply as mangy curs.
Some writer once said that nothing perfect was ever written, only rewritten.
So I'll keep an open mind, and if I think of, or hear from you or others,
something that fits with a click, I'll be the first to say Yay!
Scout



"Flying Tadpole" wrote in message
...
"Flying Tadpole" wrote
After a post like that, one can almost feel sorry for the poor
souls, . . . it could almost be tragic, the true nature of the bunyip

Scout wrote:

Taddy,
Perhaps you will take pity on his tormented soul, actualizing
Bunyimpotent's
greatest fantasy, while gaining a major allegorical device for your
opera.
When you're famous, his name will live on with all the other greats in
his
stratum: Moby Dick, Pilgrim's Progress, The Scarlet Letter, and now
Bertie
the Bunyimpotent!



No (insert perfunctory apology of your choice here).

You will note I used the word "almost", twice. Whether tragedy or
comedy, the audience has to feel or be brought to feel a degree
of empathy with the major characters, even the minor ones,
otherwise there's no real meeting, and one might as well sink
into a permanent playing of "space invaders" and its tedious
descendants.

Often, the more one knows of a character, or a person, one cannot
help but develop a bit of empathy. "To know him is to love him"
is an overstatement, particularly when the "him" is a Stalin or
Mao, but generally, some empathy develops as one comes to
understand. But in the case of Bertie and his mindless minions,
the more one learns and understand, the less empathy remains, and
he reduces to a cardboard cut-out. How can even towering genius
work with such material? Or put it another way: I suppose I could
work with such material, but why bother when there's far, far
better material just about everywhere, ready to hand?

BTW, I feel we need a better collective name for the Bunyippies.
Bunyippie, itself a wonderful word creation, deals beautifully
with the general mindlessness that goes with yippies. I can't
help but feel, though, that it carries too many connotations of
joy or delight, even if emptyheaded. Neither joy nor delight can
possibly exist in the closed, grey, leaden existences which show
through the dull, encrusted and cracked windows to their souls
which the Bunyippies uninvitingly open to us via their posts.


--
Flying Tadpole

-------------------------
Learn what lies below the waves of cyberspace!
http://www.internetopera.netfirms.com