Tribute to a songwriter.

I have absolutely no musical gifts but if I were to have a secret desire to be a "great" somebody, I would want to be a songwriter whose lyrics leave a deep impression. Robert B. Sherman, who died on Tuesday in London, aged 86, was one such talented music-maker -- together with his brother Richard, now 83.

Together, the Sheman brothers wrote prolifically; their songs included those for the Walt Disney movies Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Robert Sherman has been called "one of the world's greatest songwriters".

Robert Sherman's son Jeffrey paid this tribute: "His rule in writing songs was to keep it singable, simple and sincere. In the simplest things you find something universal."

Perhaps that's why I see a connection with what I do. A journalist should strive to make his writing "sing" too, in both the artistic sense of a cadence in its structure that helps the reader absorb the story effortlessly and in the sense of a purposeful message. Simplicity, sincerity and universality are of course the desired traits.

For me, among the memorable songs from Mary Poppins are the nonsense song Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (which I have previously put on my blog) and the highly evocative Feed The Birds (Tuppence A Bag) -- a powerful reminder of humanity at its most caring:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VwU_oS2ErQ

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An optical illusion?

I thought this page one blurb for a story on the proposed use of blowpipes for catching stray dogs in today's ST (8 Mar) looked strange. The unintended camera trick gives the optical illusion of a dog running on just two legs!