SOUNDTRACK: “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC-“Word Crimes” (2014)
Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” was another super catchy and ubiquitous track from recent days (content notwithstanding). Dozens of parodies have been made of it already (many of them mocking the terribly sexist nature of the song), so what is Al to do? He goes for a personal pet peeve: bad grammar!
And he makes one of my favorite songs in years. My goodness there’s some great lines in this song. (B,C,R,U are words not letters; You should never write words with numbers, unless you’re 7. Or Prince).
This video is an animation which is very text heavy. Typically I don’t care for this type of animation, but there’s so much going on, it’s really funny, both lyrically and visually. This is one of my favorite Al songs of all time.
[READ: July 1, 2014] Whirlwind Wonderland
I’m continuing this recent spate of new and unheard of comics with Whirlwind Wonderland by Rina Ayuyang. Ayuyang is from Pittsburgh and is of Filipino descent. This piece of information informs some of the story-telling in interesting ways
Most of these stories are brief pieces that she wrote from 2001-2009 for with names like SPX 2005, A Girls Guide to Guys Stuff, Stripburger, #43 Do You Like TV? and issues of Namby Pamby.
There are too many single stories to try to explicate here, but some of the larger ones can be explored. Like “Here and There” which talks about her childhood growing up in town where it was obvious that they came from “Someplace Else.” So she didn’t let her friends come over to see all of their weird cultural artifacts (until she finds out that her mom bought them from a local thrift store).
“Regulars” is about the closing down of a favorite eatery.
A “Secret to Die For” is about these two characters (whose faces are hidden) and their love for Murder She Wrote.
And the “Miracle Season” is all about the Pittsburgh Steelers winning the Super Bowl (even if it was marred by refereeing). Ayuyang loves football and all sports.
“Crack O Dawn” is a fun introspective look at commuting and how everyone loves the morning time with its peace and quiet as they rush towards a job they hate. Except that some of these people don’t hate their jobs and let her know it. It devolves into a bus ride fantasy about dancing with Brad Pitt before coming back into realty.
This seems to segue (although it may be a different untitled story) into a piece about going to visit relatives on the anniversary of an auntie’s death. The party is full of old Filipino ladies (and two priests). There’s karaoke , there’s humiliation, there’s no Chilean Sea Bass, and they are the only young people there.
The final story is a lengthy piece (or several small pieces) about her dad. She clearly loves him but enjoys poking fun at him from when she was young. Now he’s older and she calls to check up on him, but they reminisce about old days.
Ayuyang’s style is that kind of simple/sloppy look that is actually much more professional that it at first appears. The style is confident and the characters are easily discernible even if they all look somewhat similar (I like the way all of her noses are like sideways 3s). Her Brad Pitt rendering is atrocious, but that’s okay, it’s a dream sequence. She conveys a lot with very few lines, and tells some great stories.
There are lots of one page sketches as well–many of these in color, with a coloring that I assume is magic marker. The colors are garish and bold and are a very cool contrast to her normal black and white style.
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