Ray: You know Fraser, uh...when I was in college, um, I used to go to the track and play the horses. Uh...One day I was down there and I met this chick form, ah...Albany. She had a good line and I bought it - hook, line, sinker, you know. Before she left, she'd taken everything.
I know some people interpret Ray's stammering about as a bluff - that he never went to school. Me, I'm taking it at face value, particularly since the Chicago PD requires 60 hours of college for entrance as per their web page.
I look at Ray's word stumbles one of two ways, depending on my mood. He's dyslexic, which puts him in some damn good company (http://www.dyslexia.com/qafame.htm) including me :->
or
He's suffering from Anomic Aphasia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomic_aphasia) as a result of head injury, repeated concussions, etc.
Neither of these preclude intelligence, and would explain his inability to grab a word. If he's been stumbling about since childhood, it's dyslexia - children's brains have a tendency to recover from the type of injury that causes Aphasia, while adult brains are not so flexible (so lovely to know neurologists...). The reason can become part of the story, but I can't help but think he's ready to deck people over all the correcting that goes on.
Both Pauls are fond of the pun. Frannie's character is more consistently liable to grab the wrong word or phrase than anyone else. I think she needs to have her ears checked, to be honest.
Thanks so much for the comment. Giving a voice to Ray is one of my favorite things.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2007-07-06 09:59 pm (UTC)Ray: You know Fraser, uh...when I was in college, um, I used to go to the track and play the horses. Uh...One day I was down there and I met this chick form, ah...Albany. She had a good line and I bought it - hook, line, sinker, you know. Before she left, she'd taken everything.
I know some people interpret Ray's stammering about as a bluff - that he never went to school. Me, I'm taking it at face value, particularly since the Chicago PD requires 60 hours of college for entrance as per their web page.
I look at Ray's word stumbles one of two ways, depending on my mood. He's dyslexic, which puts him in some damn good company (http://www.dyslexia.com/qafame.htm) including me :->
or
He's suffering from Anomic Aphasia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomic_aphasia) as a result of head injury, repeated concussions, etc.
Neither of these preclude intelligence, and would explain his inability to grab a word. If he's been stumbling about since childhood, it's dyslexia - children's brains have a tendency to recover from the type of injury that causes Aphasia, while adult brains are not so flexible (so lovely to know neurologists...). The reason can become part of the story, but I can't help but think he's ready to deck people over all the correcting that goes on.
Both Pauls are fond of the pun. Frannie's character is more consistently liable to grab the wrong word or phrase than anyone else. I think she needs to have her ears checked, to be honest.
Thanks so much for the comment. Giving a voice to Ray is one of my favorite things.