Verb-head-driven Sentences, Adverb-head-driven Sentences and Preposition-head-driven Sentences

Ted and Ned on Retirement...

Ted: You don't have to work anymore. What will you do? Retire to the beach?

Ned: No way! You know what they say! Go down there. Lie in a deck chair. Die nowhere.

Ted: So how to avoid that? Where do you go? Elsewhere? Somewhere? Anywhere?

Ned: On a journey. To the west. For music.

Ted: Hmm.

Journey to the West on Green Machine

Ned: By motorcycle. Around China. With a drum.

Ted: Meaning you may be seen, in a new routine, on a green machine, beating a tambourine?

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Voice-over
We wish Ned well, and that besides music, he learns other sentence openings than serial verbs, prepositions and adverbs. And that Ted and Ned both develop a subtler sense of rhyming. That said, their three-part metrical rhyming doggerels have a certain insouciance reflecting their youthful agedness...

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When Jack met Tia

A Caribbean Fortune Telling Alley…

Jack: What is it that you do?

Tia: I bring good karma.

I can bring you luck.

I can change your life.

Jack: Can you tell when it’s going to rain?

Can you make mosquitoes fly out of windows?

Can you tell me where I can find a ship?

Tia: Yes. Those things are easy.

Jack: Can you change iron into gold?

Tia: No.

But I have some songs to sing.

I know some stories to tell.

I can give you something to believe in.

Jack: How can I believe what you say?

Tia: You may not yet but you will.

You will have a lucky life.

Follow me and you will see.

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Voice-over

The rhythm of THREE.

Tia suggests at three mysterious auguries.

Jack asks three questions.

Tia inspires with three promises.

Then Tia tells Jack three things that will happen.

Narratives can be mysterious, inspirational, or informative.

Locations may be mysterious as in a secret society or a theater.

Locations may be inspirational as in temples or retreats.

Locations may be about knowledge as in conferences or meetings.

So did Jack learn from Tia?

Or did Tia learn from Jack?

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Three-liners from the Big Three of science fiction

Best Three Sci-Fi Writers’ Best Three-Liners

Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, and Isaac Asimov, meet at a conference.

Isaac: How about a competition? See who can come up with the most memorable quote.

Arthur: You think there will come a time when people will remember us by our one liners, not our books?

Robert: Even politicians can do one-liners.

Arthur: How about three-liners?

Isaac: I can see where this is going. Problem, alternative hypothesis and null hypothesis?

Arthur: Well, just three lines that reveal a story. Like, “New ideas pass through three periods: (1) It can't be done. (2) It probably can be done, but it's not worth doing. (3) I knew it was a good idea all along!”

Robert: Bravo! OK, how about this? “Theology is searching in a dark cellar for a black cat that isn't there.”

Isaac: Three concepts, but only one line, Robert. Sorry. How about this to control robots? “Law 1: A robot may not injure a human. Law 2: A robot must obey human orders, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. Law 3: A robot must protect itself as long as this protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

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Voice-over

So, the Big Three sci-fi writers have a three-liner competition! Arthur C. Clarke’s quote hints at his ability to prophesy. Robert Heinlein reveals his fondness for philosophy and metaphysics. Isaac Asimov dazzles with his mathematical logic. Who wins? Perhaps Asimov in this case eschews wit to attempt wisdom.

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