The word glee, derived from the Anglo-Saxon word for music (gligge) does not necessarily imply a composition of a cheerful nature, and many of the best glees in fact express solemn or poetic themes.
On being asked by Larry King if the British press was giving him a tough time, Grant turned solemn critic, saying that in fact all British papers were now tabloids.
While the Holocaust during World War II had produced solemn pledges of "never again," the fact was that genocide did happen again, and especially in regard to Rwanda, the world did nothing.
Eager to drive off the kitsch of those solemn spectres, I started describing how the fact of being followed, of having police microphones in our apartments, had taught us the delectable art of the hoax.
Fandom is, of course, wildly irrational, and last week the "Times" declared in a solemn editorial that the Knicks had in fact "robbed themselves" when their players left the bench while a brawl was going on beneath the basket.
In fact, I remember making a solemn promise to myself that among the myriad potential hardships of city life, I would never submit to the rigors of poop patrol.
The very product of an accounting firm is its integrity, its solemn pledge that it has rigorously checked the facts and stands behind the accuracy of the financial statements being released.
And it's like that for Mitchell Stevensinal audience as well.
Britain has just marked the end of its latest war in Afghanistan with solemn tributes to the dead but little mention of the fact that it was departure, rather than peace, that ended the conflict for British troops.
In fact, rather than getting caught up in being solemn and serious about the practice, it's fairly useful to bring along a sense of humor.
