Re: GG: fillum

[dhughes@paltech.com (David Hughes)]

At 05:33 PM 7/17/98 -0400, Bradley P Lehman wrote:
>On Fri, 17 Jul 1998, Bradley P Lehman wrote:
>
>> running on an old 386 in the next room, so he can check the traffic of his
>> 200 favorite listservs during every commercial.  Oh, the humanity. 
>
>Anybody here happen to know where the familiar phrase "Oh, the humanity" 
>originated?  Cinema?  Earlier?

Actually, I believe the phrase refers to the radio coverage of the
Hindenberg crash in New Jersey.  The announcer, after the vast air ship
"burst into flame" and began "crashing, crashing" said "OH THE HUMANIDES!"
(not "the humanity"), in a reference to the Greek goddesses also known as
"The Furies," whose job it was to pursue murderers during their lives on
earth.  This, to me, it the ultimate punishment, as the humanides could
(and did) turn up unexpectedly at the worst times.  I recommend T.S.
Eliot's play "Family Reunion" for a great modern (semi-modern?) treatment
of the humanides, which literally follow their charges "to the ends of the
earth."

David Hughes
>
>Bradley Lehman ~ Harrisonburg VA, USA ~ 38.45716N+78.94565W
>bpl@umich.edu ~ http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/ 
>
>