WHAT DO WARRACKNABEAL AND GAP HAVE IN COMMON?

THE TEXT
WHAT DO WARRACKNABEAL AND GAP HAVE IN COMMON?
Nick Cave has long been hidden in the dark underworld of rock'n'roll but at 43 his mood
has shifted. We talk to him about fame, fatherhood and fashion.
Warracknabeal is a small town 180 miles
north-west of Melbourne. It would probably
be overlooked in the great scheme of
things, apart from one significant fact: it is
the birthplace of Nick Cave, singer,
songwriter, author, who has achieved
enormous acclaim in the UK and heroic
status in Australia. In fact, in a recent issue
of the magazine Australian Style, he was
awarded - along with (even more
implausibly) Kylie Minogue - the title
'Australian of the Century'.
Cave has plans for Warracknabeal. He has
commissioned a statue of himself on a
horse, and hopes to put it up in the town
square. And not just any old statue; this will
be a life-size bronze made by sculptor
Corrin Johnson. The statue will be made in
Britain, shipped to Australia and then driven
across country to Warracknabeal. The
Australian director John Hillcoat is making a
documentary about it: the statue's trip, the
attempt to get the mayor to agree to it, the
unveiling, the disgruntled locals. There will
be a plaque, of course, which will read,
'Birthplace of Nick Cave'.
Is he serious? Well, that is the question.
Nick Cave likes to ride a very fine line with
his humour, which is dark and heavy with
irony. He likes to provoke and to challenge
the obvious. It is a principle which can be
equally applied to his new look. Today he is
wearing - and let's not underestimate this a toffee-coloured checked jacket; a brown
woollen tie purchased at Selfridges; a
striped white cotton shirt, a pair of soft
suede loafers. He is also wearing a pair of
jeans, and they are from Gap.
Which is ironic, considering that a few years
ago Gap asked Cave to appear in one of its
advertising campaigns, and he replied with
a letter: 'Dear Gap. I might put on a pair of
your jeans if you were to pay me a L1
billion, but even then I would have serious
reservations. Signed Nick Cave.' And now he
has to buy his own.
In the beginning, in Cave's wardrobe, there
was a pair of leather trousers and a T-shirt
saying 'Jesus'; there was a bag full of seethrough shirts more often than not made
out of his girlfriends' dresses; there was a
green suit with trousers so tight that when
he was strip-searched at an airport once he
couldn't get them off; there were cowboy
boots so pointed that the toes curled up
completely, like elves' shoes. Cave has been
described as 'the tapeworm that ate Elvis'.
Gap just didn't fit into this equation.
VOCABULARY
shift -- posunout (se)
in the great scheme of things -- ve velkém řádu
věcí (vesmíru)
apart from -- kromě, až na
acclaim -- uznání (kritické)
award -- ocenit
implausible -- nepravděpodobný, nečekaný
commission -- objednat k výrobě
not just any old -- ne jenom tak nějaký
unveil -- odhalit
the disgruntled locals -- nabručení místní (lidé)
Mayor -- starosta
plaque -- pamětní deska
ride a fine line -- pohybovat se na hraně
challenge the obvious -- zpochybňovat co je
zřejmé
apply a principle to st -použít/upotřebit/aplikovat na něco nějaký
princip
underestimate -- podceňovat
toffee-colored, checked, woollen, striped,
suede -- karamelové, kostkované, vlněné,
proužkované, semišové
loafers -- mokasíny
considering that... -- vzhledem k tomu, že
Gap -- výrobce oblečení
more often than not -- povětšinou
strip-search -- důkladně prohledat (spojeno se
svlečením)
curl -- kroutit
elves -- trpaslíci
tapeworm -- tasemnice
fit into an equation -- zapadat do rovnice
CNBW READING ROOM / SMALL BLACK BEETLES / TOO LONG TO FAIL
LET THERE BE LIGHT - 1 - WHAT DO WARRACKNABEAL AND GAP HAVE IN COMMON?