Re: Gaffa

[Craig Heath <craig@sco.COM>]

> From: chrisw@fciad2.bsd.uchicago.edu (Chris Williams)
> Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 02:10:20 GMT

I thought about taking this to email, but it is quite possible I haven't
explained myself clearly, so with love-hounds' kind indulgence, I'll have
another stab at it.

> >... I'm quite prepared to entertain the notion
> >that the word "gaffe" may have been in Kate's mind, whether conscious
> >or unconscious, but it seems quite preposterous to discount Kate's own
> >statement that the superficial meaning is gaffer tape.

>    Do you really believe that a song that Kate has described as
> being about struggling with personal limitations is *more* about
> tape than mistakes? 

No, of course not, that's why I used the word "superficial".  Perhaps
that wasn't the right word to convey precisely what I was getting at
(I had in mind icebergs, you know: 10% on the surface but the bulk
under water).  In any case, as I pointed out in my other message,
"Gaffa" clearly has multiple levels of meanings; all I was trying to
say was that at one level, it refers to gaffer tape.

I interpreted your message as saying that _at no level_ did it refer
to gaffer tape, and you stated that this was merely a "joke" that Kate
thought of later.  If that wasn't what you meant, I apologise.

> >You can't go and say (in effect) "Kate's lying because she doesn't
> >agree with me," certainly not without some sort of supporting logic.

>    Kate lies and simplifies. Read a bunch of interviews and that will 
> become obvious. She also has a somewhat impish sense of humor. Here's a 
> couple of examples: Asked "What kind of make-up do you use" she replied 
> "I don't use make-up any more, I use latex!" Her answer to the question 
> "What is you favorite cover of one of your songs" she replied "Poor Old 
> Flea by Madame Maria Nanky."

I wonder if this is a cultural thing.  I mean no offense by this, but it
is commonly held in the UK that Americans are incapable of appreciating
irony - obviously this is a gross over-simplification, but I dare say
that British people may well be more alert to such signals.

In my book, at least, saying "I use latex" is in no way a lie, it's
simply an amusing way of avoiding the question.  If you tell me that
saying gaffa refers to gaffer tape is a simlar joke, all I can say is
that it's not very funny!

>    She exaggerates her height, claiming to be 5' 3". Does this make her
> 5' 3"? Not, as Merideth once said even in "high-heeled rollerblades."

I wouldn't know about that.

>    When asked about the identity of her boyfriend, long before her
> relationship with Del was public, she wouldn't say. But she said that
> "...he's *not* a musician" in the "Company" interview.

Drukman may well agree with that :-)

>    She claimed, in an interview in a kids magazine, that she did not
> smoke.

If you say so (I haven't seen it), but how do you know she hadn't
given up at that time?  It's hardly unknown for smokers to give up
for a short time and then start again.

>    Are all of these things true because Kate once said them?

Well yes, probably.  She didn't say 5'3" in bare feet, did she?  Maybe
Del had taken up interior decorating for a while?  You don't know all
the facts; Kate deserves the benefit of the doubt.

> >I know this is an old, old argument.  The crux of it in the past seems
> >to have been "well I've never heard anyone call it gaffer tape".

>    No, that was *not* the crux. Gaffer's tape is not the same as "gaffa" 
> tape. I have heard heard hundreds of people refer to it as "gaffer's 
> tape" including many gaffers. I have never heard anyone refer to it as
> "gaffa" tape. The "gaffa tape" thing was an explanation to be able to 
> give a quick answer to a complex question.

Obviously the spelling is open to question, in fact, I believe it is
deliberately misspelt so as to be reminiscent of a place name (see my
other message).  I quite believe you have never heard anyone call it
"gaffer" (no "'s") tape, but I have, and Kate probably has, because
that's what it's called in this country.

> >I fail to see what can be done about such narrow-mindedness, except
> >to say that when I went in to a music shop in Leamington Spa quite
> >a few years ago, and asked for a roll of "duct tape", the muso behind
> >the counter replied "oh, you mean gaffer tape?".  QED, as far as I'm
> >concerned.

>    Narrowmindedness, in this case, is insisting that only one of Kate's
> various explanations of "gaffa" is the correct.

If that's what I'd said, your riposte would be accurate, but that was
certainly not my intention, and not what I believe I said.

>    BTW, what we refer to as "gaffer's" tape and what we refer to as 
> "duct" tape are a bit different. "Gaffer's" tape is a lot less sticky, 
> and is designed to come off of surfaces easier.

Gaffer tape certainly doesn't set hard, and it is removable, although if
you leave it on for a while it does tend to leave marks at the edges.
I'd always thought that duct tape was the stuff with silver backing,
whereas gaffer tape has a white adhesive side and a black cloth backing,
but I could well be wrong about the duct tape.

			- Craig @ SCO near London.