Attack Of The Dancing Skeletons
Though I, like everyone else I know today, am totally consumed by only one thought-- that Ilan is a weenie hack and Marcel got jobbed, or maybe Sam should have won--I will bravely slog forward into Alternadad-land.
Three interviews today in various papers, the last wave of them before this trend recedes from the media shores: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Canada's National Post, and the Oregonian.
Meanwhile, I've taken much joy in the recent public mocking of the hideous Julie Aigner-Clark, the hypocritical uber-soccer-mom founder of the Baby Einstein Corporation. Her videos, while occasionally handy when there's a pot of pasta on the stove, are, despite their pretensions toward teaching kids about art and classical music, mostly boring garbage starring low-rent puppets.
My kid is too old for them anyway, and besides, I've found better time-wasters. Like many parents of my ilk these days, I sometimes turn to YouTube for solace.
The other day, Regina loudly announced that she was going to take a shower, which really isn't something that happens every day. So I had Elijah. However, I can only play so many games of Old Maid in a row; eventually, I feel like biting my tongue until it bleeds. So I said,
"Elijah, do you want to see Johnny Cash on my computer?"
"Uh-huh," he said.
So we went to the laptop, and he, appropriately enough, sat in my lap. YouTube was summoned. I typed in "Johnny Cash" and "Muppets" into the search engine, and this video of the Man In Black's duet (with Rowlf) of "Dirty Old Egg Sucking Dog" appeared.
The boy seemed to enjoy this just fine, but in the true spirit of Wiki, he wanted to drive the experience himself.
"Daddy," he said. "I want to see dancing skeletons now."
"Can do," I said.
I typed "dancing skeletons" into the search engine, and 259 options appeared. I chose this one. It seemed to hold Elijah's attention. But it was short, and lame enough so that I didn't want to watch it again. So I typed "skeleton".
The second hit that came up was a strange, beautiful, and hilarious 1929 Disney cartoon short. The early bit where the tree is reaching out to take off the owl's feathers seemed to scare Elijah a little, but once the dancing kicked in, we both could not stop howling.
Regina appeared in the doorway, wrapped in a towel.
"What are you guys doing?"
I showed her.
"I can't believe who I live with," she said, and walked away, leaving my son and me to laugh at the dancing skeletons.
Comments
You're slipping into Carver grammar territory. Check your first sentence and your last sentence. (I is? Leaving I to laugh?)
So, did you also run across a bazillion Grateful Dead sites with dancing skeletons?
Just wait until E wants to see dancing bears.
Posted by: PhillyD | February 1, 2007 3:11 PM
man, marcel was totally robbed. i'm so mad at that show. ilan is such a tool.
Posted by: amy | February 1, 2007 4:03 PM
Whoops on the grammar.
Posted by: Neal Pollack | February 1, 2007 4:23 PM
One of your former Ridgetop neighbors here. Just wanted to let you know, it looks like you got a pretty good review in the Statesman today.
Posted by: DaveP | February 1, 2007 4:23 PM
Who the tuck are Ilan, Marcel, or Sam?
Posted by: Mieke | February 1, 2007 4:25 PM
Marcel was TOTALLY the better chef. I think they couldn't figure out how Marcel could get corporate backers since he'd been so vilified by the show. Oh we can't have a chef with a big ego who doesn't work well with others, right? That would tear apart the whole world of professional cooking! As if. I mean come on! Enough with the friggin' Spanish cuisine! And canned baby eels? Yech!
Lame, lame, LAME.
Posted by: Wonder Twin | February 1, 2007 4:30 PM
Sorry, but who the hell are Marcel and Ilan and Sam?
Posted by: Kris | February 1, 2007 7:54 PM
Marcel, Ilan and Sam are three of the contestants on the second-worst TV show my girfriend's ever made me watch: Top Chef. SO stupid.
Posted by: matsut | February 1, 2007 10:40 PM
I'm not saying I have GOOD taste.
Posted by: Neal Pollack | February 1, 2007 11:35 PM
There's more Johnny w/ Muppets to be found.
He sits in w/ Oscar the Grouch and and does "Nasty Dan."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZy9FBDnNac
At least you have a kid to fuel your search. i'm just an apparently sad Gen X-er w/ a penchant for muppets and the man in black.
Posted by: CD | February 2, 2007 7:36 AM
Oops. Sorry about that.
Posted by: CD | February 2, 2007 7:40 AM
Of course, the coolest musical performance of all times on SS probably was this one w/ Stevie Wonder:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIsYDWD1lgA
Why the hell do i know these things?
Posted by: CD | February 2, 2007 7:43 AM
Marcel was robbed and I loved you at Chop Suey last night. You and Dan made me feel like a great parent, when I'm really somewhat mediocre. :)
Posted by: Marika | February 2, 2007 11:11 AM
Marcel was an immature, self-absorbed idiot who never met a foam he didn't like. When Sam and Elia got cut, the finale lost all its luster.
Posted by: Scott | February 2, 2007 1:10 PM
Scott, I'll agree with you about Sam. Elia is a great cook and has potential, but she was not ready. I really thought Sam was gonna win. But I also think Marcel is incredibly talented.
Posted by: Wonder Twin | February 2, 2007 10:12 PM
Predictably, irritatingly, and wrongly, Disney and their world-famous Stormtrooper squad of copyright lawyers apparently removed the 1929 dancing skeleton thing from youtube in the past few days.
Hey Disney/ABC/ESPN/Satan: Who the funk CARES if two hundred people want to see some ancient, slightly dark animation from the days when a guy named Walt, with vision and style, actually put out something unique? Is it cutting into your profit margin for people to see how far the mighty have fallen? No wonder you closed your entire cel animation division. The artist is dead... long live the artist.
P.S. Thanks, Neal, if my blog was one of the lampoons of Julie Aigner-Clark you enjoyed.
Posted by: Mark Nielsen | February 7, 2007 8:15 AM
Skeletons do more than dance, they tangle things
Posted by: whit | February 15, 2007 3:17 PM