I'm always amused by jokes and rhymes and poems that go in loops. For instance, when I was a kid, my father told me, \"Pete and Re-Pete went out in a boat. Pete fell overboard. Who was left?\" I answered, \"Re-Pete,\" and he of course said, \"Pete and Re-Pete went out in a boat...\"<\/p>\r\n
Along similar lines, and slightly reminiscent of \"A my name is Alice<\/a>,\" is this infinite jest:<\/p>\r\n My name is Yon Yonson I don't know the source of that one; I always heard it as a folk rhyme. Carl Sandburg apparently recorded it on a Columbia album in the sixties.<\/p>\r\n There's a King Crimson song called \"Indiscipline\" (from the album Discipline<\/cite>; words by Adrian Belew) to which the most notable words are:<\/p>\r\n I repeat myself when under stress A friend and I programmed a computer in college to print out that sentence forever...<\/p>\r\n Jim Moskowitz provides this infinitely long double dactyl<\/a>:<\/p>\r\n Higgledy-Piggledy \"I'll never finish this -stadter Next time you're sitting around being bored, with a friend, try out one of these old comedy routines (perhaps originally from Vaudeville?). If you're really bored, you can keep them going forever.<\/p>\r\n Damian<\/b>: That's life.<\/p>\r\n Evelyn<\/b>: What's life?<\/p>\r\n Damian<\/b>: A magazine.<\/p>\r\n Evelyn<\/b>: What does it cost?<\/p>\r\n Damian<\/b>: Ten cents. [like I said, an old routine]<\/p>\r\n Evelyn<\/b>: That's too much.<\/p>\r\n Damian<\/b>: That's life.<\/p>\r\nEvelyn<\/b>: What's life?...\r\n<\/div>\r\n And on a similar note:<\/p>\r\n Evelyn<\/b>: You remind me of a man.<\/p>\r\n Damian<\/b>: What man?<\/p>\r\n Evelyn<\/b>: A man with the power.<\/p>\r\n Damian<\/b>: What power?<\/p>\r\n Evelyn<\/b>: The power of hoodoo.<\/p>\r\n Damian<\/b>: Hoodoo?<\/p>\r\n Evelyn<\/b>: You do.<\/p>\r\n Damian<\/b>: Do what?<\/p>\r\nEvelyn<\/b>: Remind me of a man...\r\n<\/div>\r\n (Not that it's really relevant to the above, but I thought it worth mentioning that Hoodoo is an African-American form of folk magic, as well as apparently being another name for Voodoo (aka Vodun and other variations), a religious system started in Haiti whose name may come from a word meaning \"spirit\" in a West African language. Much more information about Hoodoo<\/a> is available at catherine yronwode's Lucky Mojo<\/a> site.)<\/p>\r\n The above reminds me obliquely of my favorite exchange in the Disney version of Snow White<\/cite>:<\/p>\r\n Snow White<\/b>: How do you do?<\/p>\r\nDoc<\/b> [suspiciously]: How do you do what<\/em>?\r\n<\/div>\r\n It also reminds me, of course, of that greatest of burlesque routines, \"Who's On First?\" This routine was created by William Alexander \"Bud\" Abbott (1897-1974) and Louis Francis \"Lou Costello\" Cristillo (1906-1959), sometime in the 1930s, and was first broadcast on the Kate Smith Radio Hour<\/cite>. (Abbott & Costello continued to perform it, in various media, for another twenty years.) It doesn't repeat indefinitely, but it does have a lovely rhythm to it, with a particular exchange being repeated as a sort of refrain at the end of each section. Since the full script<\/a> is available at the official Abbott & Costello site<\/a>, along with a 3MB .wav-file recording (which may only contain half the routine), I'll deem it sufficient to provide a roster for the team discussed in the routine:<\/p>\r\n As far as I know, they never named the right-fielder, though one unofficial Web page suggests he's named \"OK.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\r\nI live in Wisconsin
\r\nI work in a lumber mill there.
\r\nAll the people I meet
\r\nwhen I walk down the street
\r\nsay \"Hello, what's your name?\" and I say:
\r\nMy name is Yon Yonson
\r\nI live in Wisconsin...<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n
\r\nI repeat myself when under stress
\r\nI repeat myself when under stress...<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n
\r\nDouglas R. Hofstadter
\r\nWent to his editors
\r\nAsked for time off:<\/p>\r\n
\r\nSelf-repetitiousness!
\r\nHiggledy-Piggledy
\r\nDouglas R. Hof<\/p>\r\n
\r\nWent to his editors
\r\nAsked for time off...<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n