Musical prologue to the NZTWA annual conference, Auckland 2001
Words & music: Henrik Wigestrand, Parua Bay, 3 September 2001
I
can think of some things more exciting
(I believe I could name one or two)
than to speak about technical writing.
But that's what they have asked me to do.
And
I've seen from the maps I've been readin'
that Waipuna - where we are today -
is a snake's throw away from Eden;
Eve is merely a mile away.
The future is here at last,
Will you lead or be led?
There's no future without a past
on the way ahead.
There's no point in a brilliant invention
if you lack the inventor's intention
plus the things that he forgot to mention.
That's where we can direct the attention.
We
are adding the meat and aroma
to the technical skin and bone,
We help users crawl out of their coma.
Virtuality carved into stone.
And nothing is built to last
Like old Nero said.
There's no future without a past
on the way ahead
Don't rely on the end user's wisdom,
What they don't know can actually hurt.
And we go to great lengths to assist them,
Longer than Christine Rankin's skirt
Unlike
her, we're combining appearance
with performance, and no alibis.
Even if it takes some interference
with the pizza-stained T-shirts and ties.
Technology flies so fast
You known how it sped.
There's no future without a past
on the way ahead
Evolution can lead to confusion,
Revolution can lead to contusion
without our excellent contribution
to the problem, and to its solution.
Some
will stand on the shoulders of giants
Others sit in the lap of a dwarf.
Some complain but remain quite compliant
Like a Norwegian ship in a wharf
The conf'rence is here at last,
time to be misled.
There's no future without a past
on the way aheadMake the most of this conference
2 days of intelligence
blended with experience
filtered through some common sense.Fight technical vanity,
hold on to your sanity,
we're helping humanity
on the way ahead.