SOUNDTRACK: MUCKAFERGUSON-“MC Speller” (2010).
I had never heard of Muckaferguson. Okay, that is not true, as I see I made a post about them because of the They Might be Giants song “John Lee Supertaster.” Because the real John Lee is a indeed a supertaster and was in the band Muckaferguson. (And John Flansburgh of TMBG produced this album). So there. But I still hadn’t heard them until now.
This song comes from that album.
The album is a flurry of genres and styles, and amid all of this, we get this old school beat box rap (sorta early Beastie Boysish). And I like it because it is quite funny. And since it’s only a minute and a half long, I’ll put all the lyrics, because I can’t pick a favorite line:
my name is mc speller and i like to spell…s p e l l spells spell. mc speller and i love to spell…q u e u e spells queue.
he’s a maniac, ya’ll. here comes the heart attack, yo. chris likes food. andy like atari. i like the work of john baldessari. my rhymes are fresh and my moves are hard. i play the plastic guitar like baudrillard.
my name is mc speller and i like to spell…d a d spells dad. mc speller and i love to spell…r h o n g spells wrong.
i’m mc scared of bees, ya’ll cause you know that i’m scared of bees, ya’ll. when i see a bee i run because by definition i’m scared of bees.
yo, i’m comin’ to you straight out of sutton in suburban south london. white, middle class, educated 20 something. i got me degree in pure mathematics. i don’t like to rap i’m just being sarcastic.
r i g h t spells right, mc speller’s gonna spell all night, talkin’ about. n i g h t spells night, mc speller spells everything right
Despite the kid friendly nature of some of some of these songs, the album as a whole is definitely not kid friendly (I mean, look at the cover and, frankly the band’s name). The song “I Wanna Get…” is all about getting, well, F’d up, so be mindful. But many of the songs are delightfully witty.
John Lee, incidentally, is also responsible for the show Wonder Showzen, so if you know the show, you get a sense of the kind of mischief he makes.
[READ: August 9, 2014] My Homework Ate My Homework
Regardless of how I felt about Guinea Dog 1 and 2 (overall I liked them quite a bit), it was impossible not to snap up a book with a title like this. Especially when the book is about a ferret. (The cover is by the same artist as the Guinea Dog books, which led me to assume the style was similar, which it was).
This book is about 10-year-old Zaritza (the unusual name is never explained). She is… dramatic. And is a fan of dramatic…. pauses. She is incredibly excited to be playing Calamity Jane in the upcoming traveling theater production of Calamity Jane. She has watched the film dozens of times and has her “Calam” down perfectly.
The problem is that if she doesn’t bring her grades up she’s won’t be allowed to do extra curricular activities. Like drama. She is not the best student, so rather than actually doing her work, she decides to do some extra credit. Like bringing the classroom pet Ferret home for the weekend. She hates the ferret. She hates its smell, she hates its look. Hates it. But she needs the credit. And so it comes home. And then she forgets to close the cage door and the ferret gets out.
Panic!
While the ferret is out, and they are trying to catch it, Zaritza hears something–gnawing. And that’s when her homework ate her homework. Continue Reading »
SOUNDTRACK: ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN-“The Cutter” (1983).
I’ve never been a huge Echo & The Bunnymen fan, but I do like their greatest hits. This is one of them, and it’s a song I’ve liked from pretty much the minute I heard it. Ian McCullough has a Jim Morrison vibe in his vocals, and there are interesting Eastern melodies and pieces thrown into the song (like in the intro). These give it an unconventional feel, even though the main melody is pretty straightforward.
