"Think outside the Bachs; get into some Rachmaninoff."
A few nights ago, I dreamt that bizarreoptimism and I were trying to pick up captainchaotica to go see Toy Story, but we got lost in Bryce Canyon. In our attempt to find our way out, we wound up at a fried chicken restaurant that turned out to be a sub shop when we went in.
The previous night, my dream featured a contest where I won an afternoon with a Barenaked Lady of my choosing. Even in my dream, I was disappointed in how instantaneously I chose Ed. I mean, we all know I would, but I'd like to think I would at least consider Kevin or Jim, if only for a moment. What ensued was me fangirling the hell out of him, and him being extraordinarily gracious and tolerant of me (this is a recurring theme in my dreams - someone I admire is extremely sweet about my making a fool of myself. And, of course, this is precisely what happened the time I did get to meet someone I admire. "Burn this book," indeed... I'm an idiot.)
I was also disturbed by the fact that my subconscious has so fully accepted Steve's departure that, not only was he not there, he was only mentioned in passing when dream-me asked Ed a question about the feel of All in Good Time. My full acceptance that Andy Creeggan is no longer a Lady has been a recent development, and he is still, to me, a significant part of the band's identity even though he left nearly a decade before I knew they existed. But the lead singer of twenty years who founded and in many ways defined the band is apparently written out of my mind in a matter of months. A large portion of this is due to my not managing to see them in concert until they were a foursome, but I really surprised myself by being surprised when I pulled the lyric book out of my brand new copy of Snacktime! and saw a grade school picture of him smiling among the others*. "Wait, he's not... Oh, yeah. He was, back then. In 2008."
Snacktime!, while I'm here, is a highly entertaining album, a "children's album" in much the same way the Tiffany Aching books are "juvenile fiction," or Darkwing Duck is a "kid's show," or Jack Prelutsky's poems are for children. There is some silliness for silliness' sake, but that is to be expected with BNL (I'd put an example in these parentheses, but it's really not necessary, is it? You already have an example in mind, don't you?) There are also some extremely good songs, and, of course, all the amazing harmonies one would expect. I wasn't thrilled about the transphobia that can pretty easily be read into "My Big Sister," but "Curiosity" and "Bad Day" have messages I will be happy to have catchy songs to help instill should I find myself with children. "Things" is the sweetest thing I've ever heard in my life, and it's adorable the way they got their kids involved. And THE BANTER! I FOUND YOU! in "I Don't Like" and "Crazy ABCs" (OMG, such an awesome song! I would post a link, but I can't find it anywhere. WHY IS THERE NO YOUTUBE VIDEO FOR THIS SONG?!). Any "children's album" that can make me laugh that much and teach me vocabulary words should be in every parent's collection. And everyone else's, as well. But certainly the parents'.
It did kind of surprise me that Jim didn't write more songs than he did...and anyone who has heard any Brothers Creeggan will almost certainly agree with me there. It didn't surprise me that Kevin wrote as much as he did...and anyone who has heard any Thin Buckle will almost certainly agree with me there. And, speaking of, I have been revisiting the BC and TB albums I have (Sleepyhead, Trunks, H-Wing, and Night Light). I have listened to them quite a bit on and off for years, but you really have to be in a particular sort of mood for them - especially the latter two. I have always found H-Wing more interesting and impressive as an autobiography of sorts than anything I find especially enjoyable to listen to, but I'm returning to it rather a lot these days. That's probably not a good measure of mental health, since it's the album Kevin wrote and recorded while being treated for leukemia...
But whatevs. I've got BNL out the wazoo, and I couldn't be gladder of it.
* Btw, Ed Robertson totally looked like young Earl Hickey at that age. And yes, Hillary, he's apparently always had "really white teeth."**
** The first thing she said when he stepped out on stage. And she was right. You could see them shining from the cheap seats***. The man should shill tooth paste (Crelm tuth-paste!)
*** This is a figure of speech. The expensive seats were folding chairs. The cheap seats were any open spot you could find on the lawn. Again, I'd like to reiterate how much I am glad I didn't pay twice as much for "good" seats. But then, the people up there actually seemed to be fans rather than people who got wasted and tried to sing "One Week" back in their frat days.
And the latest guessing game continues below...
The previous night, my dream featured a contest where I won an afternoon with a Barenaked Lady of my choosing. Even in my dream, I was disappointed in how instantaneously I chose Ed. I mean, we all know I would, but I'd like to think I would at least consider Kevin or Jim, if only for a moment. What ensued was me fangirling the hell out of him, and him being extraordinarily gracious and tolerant of me (this is a recurring theme in my dreams - someone I admire is extremely sweet about my making a fool of myself. And, of course, this is precisely what happened the time I did get to meet someone I admire. "Burn this book," indeed... I'm an idiot.)
I was also disturbed by the fact that my subconscious has so fully accepted Steve's departure that, not only was he not there, he was only mentioned in passing when dream-me asked Ed a question about the feel of All in Good Time. My full acceptance that Andy Creeggan is no longer a Lady has been a recent development, and he is still, to me, a significant part of the band's identity even though he left nearly a decade before I knew they existed. But the lead singer of twenty years who founded and in many ways defined the band is apparently written out of my mind in a matter of months. A large portion of this is due to my not managing to see them in concert until they were a foursome, but I really surprised myself by being surprised when I pulled the lyric book out of my brand new copy of Snacktime! and saw a grade school picture of him smiling among the others*. "Wait, he's not... Oh, yeah. He was, back then. In 2008."
Snacktime!, while I'm here, is a highly entertaining album, a "children's album" in much the same way the Tiffany Aching books are "juvenile fiction," or Darkwing Duck is a "kid's show," or Jack Prelutsky's poems are for children. There is some silliness for silliness' sake, but that is to be expected with BNL (I'd put an example in these parentheses, but it's really not necessary, is it? You already have an example in mind, don't you?) There are also some extremely good songs, and, of course, all the amazing harmonies one would expect. I wasn't thrilled about the transphobia that can pretty easily be read into "My Big Sister," but "Curiosity" and "Bad Day" have messages I will be happy to have catchy songs to help instill should I find myself with children. "Things" is the sweetest thing I've ever heard in my life, and it's adorable the way they got their kids involved. And THE BANTER! I FOUND YOU! in "I Don't Like" and "Crazy ABCs" (OMG, such an awesome song! I would post a link, but I can't find it anywhere. WHY IS THERE NO YOUTUBE VIDEO FOR THIS SONG?!). Any "children's album" that can make me laugh that much and teach me vocabulary words should be in every parent's collection. And everyone else's, as well. But certainly the parents'.
It did kind of surprise me that Jim didn't write more songs than he did...and anyone who has heard any Brothers Creeggan will almost certainly agree with me there. It didn't surprise me that Kevin wrote as much as he did...and anyone who has heard any Thin Buckle will almost certainly agree with me there. And, speaking of, I have been revisiting the BC and TB albums I have (Sleepyhead, Trunks, H-Wing, and Night Light). I have listened to them quite a bit on and off for years, but you really have to be in a particular sort of mood for them - especially the latter two. I have always found H-Wing more interesting and impressive as an autobiography of sorts than anything I find especially enjoyable to listen to, but I'm returning to it rather a lot these days. That's probably not a good measure of mental health, since it's the album Kevin wrote and recorded while being treated for leukemia...
But whatevs. I've got BNL out the wazoo, and I couldn't be gladder of it.
* Btw, Ed Robertson totally looked like young Earl Hickey at that age. And yes, Hillary, he's apparently always had "really white teeth."**
** The first thing she said when he stepped out on stage. And she was right. You could see them shining from the cheap seats***. The man should shill tooth paste (Crelm tuth-paste!)
*** This is a figure of speech. The expensive seats were folding chairs. The cheap seats were any open spot you could find on the lawn. Again, I'd like to reiterate how much I am glad I didn't pay twice as much for "good" seats. But then, the people up there actually seemed to be fans rather than people who got wasted and tried to sing "One Week" back in their frat days.
And the latest guessing game continues below...