Notes, Notings, and Common Refrains

... And has been stuck in my head, ever since. Clearly, the reasonable response to this is to infect my readers with the same.

I believe the proper term for this is "gallows humor" (a song from the period of American Prohibition):



( lyrics )

Of all the programming on Geek and Sundry's new YouTube channel, "Written by a Kid" was the one I was looking forward to the most, but, in the end, it's the one that made me squirm the most while watching it.

After a few episodes (of really trying hard to like it), I came to the conclusion that while I really like chatting with children myself, I really dislike watching children being interviewed as entertainment, which is the outlining format of "Written by a Kid."

Their latest episode supports my hypothesis: There's no interview here -- just a kid singing a song he's made up (or is making up, as he sings it), without any goofy adult prompting ("Oh, really? You sure about that?" *snicker*):
Micah's Holiday Song

And while it doesn't quite hold together as music, I think it's one of the best "Holiday Stories" of this genre I've encountered in a while.

I loved the nuanced interpretation of Naughty vs. Nice: The troll was really very nice, and deserved a present, because he didn't eat any humans for a whole day (which is really hard for a troll) -- that what it takes to be deserving is putting effort into goodness, and not taking the easy way out. I also like that, for the troll, Santa made his gifting delivery during the day: because that's when trolls sleep. There's no "One Size Fits All" for either niceness or gifting.

So, anyway, that reawakened my two biggest pet peeves with the usual "Santa Claus at work" genre of stories:

1) The whole naughty vs. nice thing, right at the start. It's true that, eight years ago (yipes!), I wrote an essay about how Santa Claus is actually a "Father Nature Figure" -- Like Mother Nature, a being of Infinite Bounty as long as you show some humility, and don't go around bullying the biosphere. But he's also capable and more than willing to chew you up and spit you out if get too much with the hubris. So, there's some validity to the Naughty vs. Nice idea. But the way it's used in your standard "Holiday Special" fare, it has the (probably... maybe) unintended subtext that both poverty and privilege are somehow morally deserved... particularly if you're a poor kid who never gets the really nice, fun, presents, even when you try really really hard to be good.

2) The whole "You have to believe" trope, which follows peeve #1 like the left foot follows the right. Because if you're a poor kid, and you notice that the little privileged snots with rich parents get the presents (even if they knock you down in the playground at recess), you're naturally going to start doubting the fables about the North Pole and the elves a little sooner than your peers. So than, to blame the skepticism itself for the fact that Santa never comes to your house is just... plain... cruel. (It was the movie version of "The Polar Express" that really made me notice the dark side of this).

But on the other hand, "Santa"* is absolutely one of my favorite para-mythic beings,* and I'm sentimental enough that the "If we just don't give up hope, we'll be able to make the magic, Dammit!" story arcs jerk the tears from my eyes every time. One thing I noticed, way back in my teens, was that nearly every story dealt with the conflict of Saving Christmas Itself -- or, in other words, to keep the Wheel of Time, itself, from grinding to a halt.

So, there's the desire to tell my own "Santa's Magic" story, deeply rooted somewhere in the back of my mind... I just have to figure out how to subvert those two pet peeves.

...And, there are more thoughts, but I took my anti-allergy pills about 2 and a half hours ago, and the word-organizing part of my brain is shutting down for the night. So I will stop there.

*Though actually, since I think he is far older than the invention of any saint, I call him "Wild Nicholas" instead (Besides, calling him "Santa" is like yelling out "Hey, Mister!" -- it's his title -- not his name)

Another clip from Old School Electric Company, this time, showing the influence of adult sketch comedy, like The Carol Burnett Show:



And really, I think: If this had been first released through some other (aka commercial) venue, rather than PBS children's programming, it would have been as popular a novelty song as "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas," or "I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus." For one thing, it tells the truth about Christmas that's rarely acknowledged in kids' music, especially.

I also really like the ending (how much do you want to bet he was hoping for a shot of bourbon?).

I wonder why ...

;-)


ETA:

So what does have four eyes and sings through its nose?

So, a few days ago, following a trail of recommended links on YouTube led me to discover this pair of spoken word poets. Their work may not be everyone's cuppa, but I enjoy them. They're both in their early 20s, recent college graduates, and co-directors of a national organization promoting poetry to high school students, and they also travel internationally talking about the importance of storytelling in the everyday lives of human beings. All causes near and dear to me. Here's their tandem poem celebrating friendship-love, and I think it's just fun.

1) (Better get to this before the week's over -- it's from all over my circles, by now):
It's International Book Week. The rules: Grab the closest book to you, turn to page 52, post the 5th sentence as your status. Don't mention the title. Copy the rules as part of your post.

I have several books equidistant from me, in several directions, none of which I am actively reading right now. I chose two books, each reaching in a different direction:

Book one:

This great end cannot be achieved by treaties alone.

Book the Second:

"Well, here we are," he said.

2) I got my first "dislike" on one of my YouTube videos, this week. I also got my first "Favorite Added." I'll try to be more chuffed about the second than I am disappointed by the first.

3) How will these book memes morph when everybody has moved on to e-readers? If you have, essentially, 100 books all occupying the same geographical space, how do you pick "the closest one"?

4) A bit ago, I mentioned The Jim Henson Hour to alryssa, because one of the kittens she's fostering reminds me of The Thought Lion. That sent me on a nostalgic romp through YouTube to find clips of the show...
The only clips I found were posted by someone who videotaped them off his television as they aired, and so the posted segments are complete with the commercials of the day (autumn, 1988). It's scary to think that I was already a college junior by then [fully adult] and yet everything looks so old and primitive. And yet, I remember watching that very first episode and being blown away by the Shiny!! Also, the humor in the Muppety first half struck me as being edgy and hip, but now, that, too, is clunky, and dusty, and slow. And yet, The Muppet Show which was set in an old vaudeville theater, still feels fresh and fast.

Moral: The more modern your style, the faster it ages (?).

5) Speaking of aging, last night, I watched a video about what exactly happens between the Moon and the Earth that causes the tides. And that put "We like the Moon, 'Cos it is close to us!!!" in my head... And someone mentioned in the comments that he remembered first seeing that back when he was in grade school...

Aaaaiiiii!!!

Here's what I put in the Information Section:

As we get older, our feelings toward each accumulated birthday get more complicated. And often, I'm more excited about celebrating friends' birthdays than my friends are... Thus, my inspiration for this song.

The lyrics are my own. The tune is "Vive la Compagnie" (or:"Vive l'Amour"). This song dates from at least the mid-nineteenth century, and has also become one of the more popular (in variant forms) Scouting songs.

A discussion thread on the song's history and roots can be found on the Mudcat forums, here: http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=82928#1519987

( lyrics )

The Monster Challenges -- a Suite in Verse is now complete! -- total length: 10:01.

Link for the newest individual video: Challenge VI: the Search for Meaning

From vague notion to completed whole. Over the last three months, I have:

Written and polished six original poems on a single theme.

Gotten over my shyness (a little bit) of listening to my own voice by recording myself reading each poem aloud.

Created at least one illustration for each poem; most of them freehand in pencil

Composed a brief musical score as the "title theme" for the suite

Combined illustrations, music and recording into brief videos (~one minute, forty seconds) for each poem and posted them to YouTube.

Wrote a pedantic description for the videos/suite, to give context.

So: Yay ... (?)

Next, I'll upload the illustrations (the pencil sketch ones anyway... not sure a mock bureaucratic form with my bad handwriting is all that interesting) to Flick'r.

A playlist of 154 short videos, each roughly a minute in length, each nothing but one or two still images with voice-over (really?! that counts as "video?" pffft!)...

Except:

The images are photos of pages from one of the thirteen extant copies the first edition (1609) copy of Shake-speare's Sonnets; this particular volume now residing in the now residing in the British Library. And the voice-over is each sonnet being read aloud.

Dude's reading is a little bland, imnsho. But I still get a little thrill reading along with early seventeenth century poetry, in seventeenth century spelling, and seventeenth century typography, with the lay-out on the page, and all.

Here's the playlist link:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1C16CA27F7D0EF38

I still think sonnet 31:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWhu_wI30Yo&list=PL1C16CA27F7D0EF38&index=31&feature=plpp_video
has ALL THE SAD

( Sonnet 31 )

(Cheer up, Emo!Bard...) Ooh, I just want to hug him into a million tiny pieces ... (don't worry, I wouldn't, really. I might offer him cake).

Sonnet 44:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwM2A7F263Y&list=PL1C16CA27F7D0EF38&index=44&feature=plpp_video
still makes me wonder if Will didn't have the Internet in mind, after all (after all, the Doctor knew him...)

( Sonnet 44 )

I recited Sonnet 130
http://youtu.be/dFlzMqV0EUc
to Audrey, the other day, to illustrate the point how the sonnets are like mini-essays (of the sort we used to learn to write in school: Three paragraphs, each detailing one point in support of your thesis, and than a conclusion, which explains everything you just said: the three quatrains and the couplet). And her comment, when I'd finished, was: "Gee. I hope he had other skills as a lover, besides giving compliments! ha, ha!"

But I dunno: the more I think about it, the more I think 130 is more romantic than the famous: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" one. Because I'm always suspicious of love based on physical beauty (a. Because, yes, beauty fades, and I'd be scared my lover's affections would fade with it, but also, b. as a "monster," I've never fit that beauty script, anyway, and c. every guy who's tried to use that script on me has always turned out to be a sleaze). I'd rather have someone admit that yes, your breath smells bad, but I still love you more than anyone who gargles with perfume three times a day.

( Sonnet 130 )

The closing couplet is the money shot, folks!

(but I'm preaching to the choir, aren't I?)