Lippard.Multics 1985-01-11 10:05:18 mst Fri Subject: Lessons in Concrete Programming Date: Thursday, 10 January 1985 23:58 mst From: Steve Strassmann To: info-cobol at MIT-CCC From: bill coderre Excerpts from "A Russian Course" by Alexander Lipson These are little essays in russian for practice in the language. Concrete (The Concrete Song) (A chorus in the background is singing softly: Concrete concrete concrete concrete concrete concrete.... Our plant is a concrete plant Our brigade is a concrete one Our plant is a concrete plant and our task is a concrete one. Oh, great concrete plant! Oh, great brigade of ours! What sort of task is a concrete task? The concrete task is a concrete task. The concrete task is a cultural task. The concrete task is a great task. A great task is concrete, concrete A great task is concrete! Concrete: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (A speech given by Professor Schultz to the Concrete Brigade) Comrade director, Comrade engineers, Comrade concrete-workers: Concrete! Comrades, what does the word concrete mean? The word concrete is not a new word. It is very old. Yes, concrete is not a new, but an old word. Concrete is an old Albanian word. Formerly only the Albanians and the Estonians knew the word concrete. The Albanians thought the word concrete meant "pencil", and the Estonians thought concrete meant not "pencil" but "trolleybus". Well, comrades, that is how they understood the word concrete yesterday. Today. Who knows concrete today? Today not only the Albanians and Estonians, but all Europe, Asia, Africa and even America know concrete. And tomorrow. What will be tomorrow? Tomorrow, the whole world will know concrete. Comrade concrete-workers! In the zoos will be concrete tigers. In the trolleybusses will work concrete fare-collectors. Concrete people will read concrete books. Our concrete children will know a great new world. A world of concrete--a concrete world. Concrete--What is concrete? It's you, it's them, it's me, it's us.... Concrete--It's the history of Man! from West and East Blinsk What is decadence? Decadence is to lie on the beach by the Great Blinsk Swamp and watch television. In tuxedos. What is happiness? Happiness is to sit by the Great Blinsk Sea and build hydroelectric power stations. West Blinsk is near the Great Blinsk Swamp. East Blinsk is near the Great Blinsk Sea. By the swamp is a beach. What do the residents of West Blinsk do all day? Why, they lie on the beach and watch television. In tuxedos. What decadence! And the inhabitants of East Blinsk? All day they sit by the sea. On concrete-mixers. They build hydroelectric power stations. What happiness! In the evening, the inhabitants of West Blinsk sit in the "Hanky-Panky Club." They listen to wild jazz and shout, "Kul, men, kul!" The inhabitants of East Blinsk sit in the "Young Builders Club." They listen to the interesting lectures of Professor Schultz. What culture! The inhabitants of East Blinsk look upon the decadence of West Blinsk with disgust. The inhabitants of West Blinsk look upon the happiness of East Blinsk without great enthusiasm.