Music: a little light metal

My clip, your trombone, and a little bit of Paris blues

Trombone band, in the spotlight!

Paper clips were something I took for granted until I moved to France in 1980 and discovered that they are called trumpets. Most people did not even use them. The French seemed to prefer lightweight metal corner benders, which I never mastered the art of attaching to paper.

And the band plays on ...

I liked the idea of trombones holding together documents; it made the mundane business of attaching things more interesting, even a bit musical.

Paris blues, smoky shadows

European trombones, aka paper clips, are different from American ones. They are usually more angular. It's harder to find them in the fashionable colors that Americans now use, which is a shame.

American and French trombone duet, bluesy

American solo, My Blue Heaven

Think of it as paper boogying, and just like dancing, they don't do it in Paris the same way they do it in downtown Chicago, but that's what makes travel interesting. We used to clip things together, physically, and now we attach them, electronically. The French, however, used to join them sheet to sheet (ci-joint) and these days they annex (en annexe) them, a digital step.

"And when those saints come marchin' home . . ."