<MSGID_1=3A3634=2F12.0_2177d3a7@fidonet.org>
From: alexander koryagin <koryagin@newmail.ru>

Hi, mark lewis!
I read your message from  23.08.2013 12:18
about show goes on.

 ak>> my error is here! I put a comma after that words but I can't
 ak>> remove them!

 ak>> [Yesterday, at 9 pm, my neighbors bought a piano.]

 ak>> The sentence has lost its sense of humor! The comma was put
 ak>> wrongly. So the final version (IMHO of course) is:

 ak>> [Yesterday, at 9pm, without declaring a war my neighbors bought a
 ak>> piano.]

 ML> you should flip it around if you are not going to use the comma...
 ML> here it is stripped to its essence...

 ML> [My neighbors bought a piano without declaring a war.] or
 ML> full-blooded
 ML> [Yesterday, at 9pm, my neighbors bought a piano without declaring a
 ML> war.]

   IMHO, the essential part of the humorous sense of this story is
taking the listener aback. So, the story in my interpretation begins as
an official statement about the war beginning which is broadcasting on
the radio. The first part of the sentence should be spoken with a
serious, official tone of voice, like was spoken this:

   "Today, at 3 hour in the morning, without declaring a war, Fascist
Germany attacked our country." (this is a real citation of the USSR
announcer, when he annonced the war in June 22, 1941).

   (BTW, here the words "without declaring a war" are not essential, and
I put a comma after them - separating the elements of the list).

   So, actually, this story is a parody, and the the funny side of the
situation is becoming visible after we tell of the piano buying. IMHO we
should hide the words about the piano until the last moment, making the
listener intrigued as much as possible.

Bye, mark!
Alexander Koryagin
fido7.english-tutor 2013
--- ifmail v.2.15dev5.4
 * Origin: NPO RUSnet InterNetNews site (2:5020/400)