lederhosen (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lederhosen) wrote2006-09-05 12:14 am
lederhosen) wrote2006-09-05 12:14 am
Piers Akerman, Woolly Thinker
After a day of gloomy news, MediaWatch managed to cheer me up with this golden moment. I've always loathed Piers Akerman, one of the Telegraph's regular columnists. You can hear the self-importance in Piers' voice here as he rips into the dirty hippies of public television for PC-ing the lyrics of Baa Baa Black Sheep in a children's show:
But if black sheep have been magically erased, it seems likely that words such as "master", "dame" and "sir" have also been banned for fear of upsetting the sensitivities of the ABC's young audience. This sort of hamfisted attempt to induce culturally anodyne thinking into the minds of youngsters would be laughable were it not of a piece with the efforts of the trade union movement and the ALP to ensure that organised Labor’s messages too, are pushed upon malleable young minds.
Tragically, Piers' daring expose of Red subversion of our children was undermined by a small factual error caused by sloppy journalism (i.e. relying on the tipoff of a Disgusted Viewer rather than actually checking the offending episode for himself). Much love to Claire Henderson, head of ABC children's programming, for this reply:
We did sing "Baa baa woolly sheep", as part of a segment related to wool, on Play School, as Piers Akerman states in his article headed "Red Ted, Play School and hidden agendas" (The Daily Telegraph, August 29). However, far from the traditional version of Baa Baa Black Sheep being magically erased -- along with the master and the dame and sir -- it was just 34 seconds later in the very same program we sang: "Baa baa black sheep, Have you any wool, Yes sir yes sir, Three bags full. One for the master, One for the dame, One for the little boy who lives down the lane."
When it comes to Piers's next article, as we say on Play School, he may need a grown-up to help him.
But if black sheep have been magically erased, it seems likely that words such as "master", "dame" and "sir" have also been banned for fear of upsetting the sensitivities of the ABC's young audience. This sort of hamfisted attempt to induce culturally anodyne thinking into the minds of youngsters would be laughable were it not of a piece with the efforts of the trade union movement and the ALP to ensure that organised Labor’s messages too, are pushed upon malleable young minds.
Tragically, Piers' daring expose of Red subversion of our children was undermined by a small factual error caused by sloppy journalism (i.e. relying on the tipoff of a Disgusted Viewer rather than actually checking the offending episode for himself). Much love to Claire Henderson, head of ABC children's programming, for this reply:
We did sing "Baa baa woolly sheep", as part of a segment related to wool, on Play School, as Piers Akerman states in his article headed "Red Ted, Play School and hidden agendas" (The Daily Telegraph, August 29). However, far from the traditional version of Baa Baa Black Sheep being magically erased -- along with the master and the dame and sir -- it was just 34 seconds later in the very same program we sang: "Baa baa black sheep, Have you any wool, Yes sir yes sir, Three bags full. One for the master, One for the dame, One for the little boy who lives down the lane."
When it comes to Piers's next article, as we say on Play School, he may need a grown-up to help him.
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The white lamb in question has only one sack full, but it's enough for a Sunday coat for father, a holiday skirt for mother and two pair of socks for the littlest brother.
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Some for mending jumpers and some for mending frocks
and some for the little boy with holes in his socks.
I've also heard a third verse that was rather adorable:
Baa baa grey sheep, Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three [somethings] full.
One for the kittens, and one for the cats,
and one for the guinea pigs to knit woolly hats.
On an unrelated note, I took a look at your userinfo to see where you were with this variation. You seem to have amassed an amazing collection of snark communities. I am in awe, or something. *grin*
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and some for the little boy with holes in his socks.
Which is, coincidentally enough, the very same verse Akerman thought was a newfangled commie sanitised version of the better-known one :-)
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And he's obviously not been paying attention - that second verse has been around since I was a kid...
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