Word: familiarizing
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Life, death, sex, politics, family problems: all familiar themes on the opera stage, but usually performed by a cast of thousands. Last week Comic Robin Williams, 34, filled the cavernous stage of New York City's Metropolitan Opera House all by himself for two sold-out shows that were taped by HBO for a broadcast special. As usual, his seemingly extemporaneous material was achingly funny, mostly ribald and partly tailored to his surroundings: "Imagine Pavarotti at the Improv (comedy club)," he mused. Saluting the opera house itself, Williams called its huge crystal chandeliers "earrings from the Imelda Marcos collection...
...debate has a few overtones of a familiar split in feminism: strongly pro- family women vs. women who sometimes speak of childbearing as a major obstacle to achieving feminist goals. Bertin, the mother of two, once referred to pregnancy and hernias as two temporary disabilities that ought to be covered. She says the CREW brief has "more of a flavor of a desire to glorify / pregnancy," while the NOW and A.C.L.U. briefs have "more of a flavor to make pregnancy not the thing around which women are defined." Says Friedan: "Some people are still busy reversing the feminine mystique, saying...
...just a few days, and not even a cold, driving rain could deter the lucky 82,699 ticket holders. They filed into Wembley past souvenir hawkers peddling T shirts, caps and, of all things, Confederate flags, one of the odder English associations with American football. A comfortingly familiar concert by the Band of the Grenadier Guards filled some of the pregame wait. Culture shock began in earnest with the arrival of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, who romped onto the field and high-kicked for the astonished audience. "What is this?" a Brit demanded, as he riffled furiously through his program...
Serpell's pet theories embrace the familiar argument that modern culture has placed artificial barriers between man and the natural world. Like many who confront this idea, he can be nostalgic in his definitions. The hunter- gatherers of the ice age, for example, are idealized as the beneficiaries of a golden period. Animals were considered edible but equal; protein was plentiful, and work hours fewer than they would ever be when Homo sapiens organized into agricultural communities...
...number of middlemen in the airline industry. Like GPA, which is privately held, most are obscure. International Lease Finance (1985 sales: $81.2 million), for example, was begun in 1973 by three Hungarian immigrants who now employ ten staffers in a Beverly Hills office suite. But these lessors have become familiar faces at Boeing, the giant Seattle aircraft manufacturer. In 1980 only four of Boeing's 316 orders were placed by leasing companies; during the first half of 1986, their share skyrocketed to 109 out of 247. Overall, more than $10 billion worth of aircraft will be out on lease this...