Word: toning
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...first few minutes of the film set the tone for the miracle that follows. Simple peasants in turn-of-the-century Italy harvest corn accompanied by a wildly triumphant organ, Bach at his exultant best. Each frame of the film could have been the master work of a Rembrant. The combination brought my emotions to my throat where, throughout the rest of the film, they threatened to burst forth like rainbows and flowers from the top hat of a Peter Max figure. And I'm not kidding...
...that the subject was Viet Nam, the atmosphere clouded suddenly. Each of the three Soviet leaders in turn unleashed a diatribe against Nixon, who, except for two one-sentence interruptions, endured it in dignified silence. Not only was the substance tough but the tone was crudely hectoring. Brezhnev complained not only about our "cruel" bombing but about the whole history of our involvement in Viet Nam. He denied that military actions were needed to end the war. Hanoi was eager to negotiate; all we had to do was to get rid of South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu and accept...
...Thieu; he was reasonably sure such a proposal would be accepted by Hanoi. (So were we. We did not think we required Soviet help to surrender.) Podgorny concluded the presentations. His epithets were the equal of his colleagues', though his delivery was blander and his tone actually milder...
Suddenly the thought struck me that for all the bombast and rudeness, we were participants in a charade. While the tone was bellicose and the manner extremely rough, the Soviet leaders were speaking for the record, and when they had said enough to have a transcript to send to Hanoi, they would stop...
...little evidence of the sense of humor some of our experts had detected beneath the glacial exterior. Either my only attempt to strike a light tone backfired, or else Kosygin's humor was too subtle for me. At the end of the summit, we boarded a Soviet plane. To the considerable chagrin of our Soviet hosts, its engines refused to start. Kosygin stormed on the plane and said: "Tell us what you want to do with our Minister of Aviation. If you want him shot on the tarmac we will do so." He looked as if he might...