Replying to LO25993 --
From: "Winfried und Kirstin Dressler" <KiWiDressler@t-online.de>
> Replying to LO25982 --
> >you made your point...
>
> The context of this thread makes me wonder about this phrase, which we do
> not know in German.
> Are you making points like scoring in a game - the one with the most
> points being the winner?
Winfried,
--> such an excellent point you've shared! (-;
Indeed, your point reminded me of an excellent story from my erstwhile
youth. Some of you may remember Harry Nilsson's story of Oblio in "Me and
My Arrow" and Oblio's trip through the pointless forest forced upon him
because he had no point (or at least thought he was pointless. Here is a
link (for those who are interested in more), followed by a synopsis of the
story.
http://www.jadebox.com/nilsson/thepoint.html
"Once apon a time there was a town called Point. In the town of Point, all
the buildings, trees, and even the people were pointed. Except for one kid
who was round headed. Oblio.
Oblio's mother made him a cap so he would not stand out, however people
still knew. Everyone liked Oblio except for the son of the evil Count.
The evil count's son challenged Oblio to a game of triangle toss. A
relatively simple game where a triangle is tossed into the air and is then
caught on the point of the person's head. Oblio however would have his
dog, Arrow, catch the triangle on his nose while riding on Oblio's back.
Oblio beat the Count's son which made the Count mad.
As result of the loss the Count decided that Oblio must be banished. So
there was a tribunal where Oblio was tried and found guilty of having no
point. Since he did not have a Point, he could not live in the land of
Point and was sent to the Pointless Forest. Arrow was also banished (found
guilty of complicity).
Oblio went to the Pointless Forest (where all things are pointless and
nothing is pointed) and the first thing he noticed is that all the trees
had points. In fact all the leaves on the trees had points. As he ventured
into the forest he met several people including a man with points pointing
everywhere (the Pointed man). The man quickly pointed out that "a point in
every direction is the same as no point at all".
Oblio met several other people in the forest like the Rock man who told
him he could see what he wanted to see and be where he wanted to be. He
also met the leaf man who told him to set his roots and grow leaves which
he can leave in the forest every fall.
Oblio and Arrow eventually got tired and decided to get some rest under a
large boulder which appeared to be the first thing that they had found
that had no point. The next morning they awoke to a loud cracking sound
coming from the boulder. The boulder broke open and a large pterodacdyl
flew out. The boulder had a point after all.
Oblio and Arrow continued their journey through the forest following a
sign that pointed towards their destination point. They followed the trail
until they arrived home.
The townspeople greeted Oblio and Arrow and gave them a hero's welcome.
You see, no one ever had been to the Pointless forest and they wanted to
know what was there. Oblio told his story and when he finished he stated,
"Since every thing he saw had a point then he must have one to". Some one
in the crowd yelled "He's got a point there." The Count removed Oblio's
hat which revealed the point on the top of his head. At that moment, all
the points on the tops of the buildings and people began to melt. Except
for the Count's, his split and fell over to the side, presumably for the
Pointless forest..
That is the story of Oblio and the land of Point."
-----------------------------
you'll find this synopsis and some more info at
http://home1.gte.net/Oblio/obliosst.htm about points and pointlessness.
and, as for your point about the origin of points, I'm afraid I'm
clueless. Ah, but that's another story in itself.
regards,
Doc
--"Richard Holloway" <learnshops@rciti.com>
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