Comments on: The insidiousness of goose down revealed...

The insidiousness of goose down revealed...

The Michael The — Thu, 30 Jan 2003 20:52:55 -0800

A Brief History of Goosestepping. Shades of Busby Berkley perhaps? Or something much more sinister? To some, goosestepping is a fun and comical activity. But what about these guys?

By: malphigian

malphigian — Thu, 30 Jan 2003 22:36:53 -0800

It is interesting how it manages to look both silly and menacing now. Truly absurd. But what about these guys? Aw, leave the poor geese alone, they can't help walking like prussians, they've got no knees!

By: Ljubljana

Ljubljana — Fri, 31 Jan 2003 01:19:32 -0800

Orwell's The Lion and the Unicorn. Not surprisingly, Benito Mussolini really liked the goose step, and eventually ordered the Italian army to adopt it. When people grumbled that it was a "German march," he countered by saying that the goose was a "Roman animal" and that the march was therefore rightfully Italian.

By: planetkyoto

planetkyoto — Fri, 31 Jan 2003 02:28:16 -0800

No one who speaks German could be an evil man.

By: Vidiot

Vidiot — Fri, 31 Jan 2003 06:59:04 -0800

shh...don't mention the war!

By: languagehat

languagehat — Fri, 31 Jan 2003 08:39:28 -0800

This is just silly. If the British army had happened to adopt the goosestep at some point (doubtless renaming it the "King's March"), Orwell would have been writing about how it showed the finest traditions of english chivalry. That being said, geese themselves truly are evil.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Fri, 31 Jan 2003 09:11:51 -0800

You haven't met a nesting swan while canoeing.

By: blm

blm — Fri, 31 Jan 2003 13:39:00 -0800

Aw, leave the poor geese alone, they can't help walking like prussians, they've got no knees! Actually birds do have knees, basically the same sort we do, they're just up high in the feathers so it looks like they either don't have knees or have knees that bend the wrong way (which are really their ankles, scroll down to last paragraph before Feet.)

By: Poagao

Poagao — Fri, 31 Jan 2003 19:59:10 -0800

We practised goose-stepping march in the ROC (Taiwan) army when I served in 1996-97, and I imagine they still do it, especially in parades. It's hard on your knees, you can really hurt yourself if you don't do it right.