politically incorrect

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Last night, curiosity got the better of me and I downloaded all the mp3s of "Charlie and His Orchestra," the Nazi propaganda swing band from WW2. Too darn weird for me. The music is sprightly, the solos are up to standard, and a chorus or two in, the jovial bandleader steps up and sings a filk of sorts, chiding Mister Churchill, or Mister Roosevelt, or those jews. A few songs in, I decided I didn't need them on my iPod. Anybody who's curious can find them at the ever-reliable WFMU blog, source of all that's good and decent in this life. And more.

As I was pondering such things as Van Morrison's Contractual Obligation Album (resentful Van makes up such titles as Twist and Shake, Shake and Roll, Stomp and Scream, Scream and Holler, Jump and Thump, Drivin' Wheel, Just Ball, Shake it Mable, Hold On George, The Big Royalty Check, Ring Worm, Savoy Hollywood, Freaky If You Got This Far, Up Your Mind, Thirty Two, All The Bits, You Say France and I Whistle, Blow In Your Nose, Nose In Your Blow, La Mambo, Go For Yourself, Want A Danish, Here Comes Dumb George, Chicken Coo, Do It, Hang On Groovy, Goodbye George, Dum Dum George, Walk And Talk, The Wobble, and Wobble And Ball. I think we should look into reviving some of those "George" songs. I'll stick my neck out and guess that Dum Dum George is the guy who owed him that Big Fat Royalty Check.

Anyway, I'd been having such terrific luck finding things there -- if they didn't have them, they linked to them -- that I decided once again to look for Heino. Lo and behold, I found the site of Heino's Number One Fan! At least on the internet. I looked through his extensive links, and most of the interesting looking ones were "not found" (in various languages), but the faith of the Heino Worship Page was undimmed. Best of all, there was a page of RealAudio links to Heino songs. It was Heino Heaven (oder Heinoshimmel, vielleicht)!

The only real downer note to it all is that the album of the Japanese band, The Bunnys, was just a bunch of dead links. Twelve cuts I won't get to listen to, and the one by them that I already have is good, too. Wacked out surf music with Japanese lyrics. Poor me, poor me... wait a minute... I just went back on a hunch, and they're there now! Woo hoo! Takeshi Tarauchi mp3s, gang!

Well, I have to run along now, but let me just say in parting that the Jackie Davis lp (Hammond Organ Cha-Cha), the Ernesto Hill Olvera 2-record set (this man makes an organ speak words -- freakin' WORDS, man!), and the "Easy Melodias" (amazing, vigorous covers of familiar hits) over at Mexicovers are well, well worth my time, and possibly even worth yours.

Bunnys! WAIT FOR ME!!
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the sorrow and the pretty

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Cathy's out this weekend (or should I say malibrarian's out this weekend?). She has some librarian stuff to do, so she packed up and headed off to San Antonio. We broke the news to Sarah earlier in the week, so she could get lots of reassurance before it happened. Last night she asked again, and Cathy said of course she was coming back. "You're not going to ride on a broom?" Sarah asked.

This threw us for a loop for a couple of seconds, then we remembered Kiki. No, Sarah! Mommy is not going to ride on a broom. And that was just a story -- we'll never leave you. Never.

Poor kid. But she'll have a fun-filled weekend with old Dad, and today's going to be a nice enough day I should be able to take her to Stanley Park for some actual outdoor play. And on Tuesday, we'll drive down to the airport and get Mommy. I've even figured out a route that doesn't involve the freeway.

Cathy and I scouted out the route this morning when I took her to Bradley Airport. With me dropping her off, we won't have to pay parking fees, so even though I'm not bringing anything in (and I checked with work -- it looks like I won't be getting as much to do as even the last, stripped-down estimate suggested), I can save us some money on parking and baby-sitting.

It was a beautiful drive down. I pointed out the tall barn on the hillside -- two stories and an attic. Kept seeing great-looking houses and attractive public buildings. Suffield, CT, in particular, had some beauties. Wow! This one has a cupola on top. Four window-sized walls; just big enough for Frankenstein to stand in, if his shoulders aren't too wide. I was going to play MP3s, but WCFR had Beethoven's violin concerto on. We got to the unloading area during the rondo and hugged a while. The rondo was still playing when I got back in the car and looked for the highway.

We'd taken 159 down, but I wanted to see 75, so I stayed on that and rode through uncharted territory. There were even more swell homes this way -- I must tell Cathy! There was one with a larger cupola on top, and out back was an immaculate wooden barn, dolled up like a painted lady. Then there was a college of some sort, with a series of suh-weet residence halls.

After I got through town, I saw a mailbox with a piece of plywood seemingly propped up on it. I peered in the rearview to see if it had a sign on it, but no. A minute later, I saw a mailbox with two pieces of plywood, and numbers attached. The light came on in my head: protection against "mailbox baseball"! Moments after that, I got seeming confirmation on seeing a decapitated mailbox -- the box was on the ground. No protection! After that I saw plywood enclosures, and even masonry built up to protect the letterboxes on this rather linear stretch of country road. Soon after that, I recognized a place I'd been on my first attempt at Agawam exploration, and after one or two digressions I was heading along very familiar roads.

There was a police car by the side of one of these familiar roads. I passed it, not terribly fast, and observed that it was empty. A few seconds later, its lights came on and started flashing in a scary fashion. Now, did it detect speeding cars with its radar? Did it go on at random intervals? Did someone in the house switch it on by remote? Did it just smell fear? I didn't know, but at least it didn't follow me, driverless, and issue a spectral summons, so I was cool with it. I continued to groove to the sounds of Mexican cover versions of "Satisfaction," "Danny Boy," and "Liebestraum." ¡Olé!

Anticlimax warning: then I came home.
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