Grand Rapids....come for the churches, stay for the Nascar and Deer Hunting.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Futuristic Pizza
My politics are no big secret, and I TRY not to post too much regarding them, but occasionally I run across something good that I feel the need to share.
Here's a cute little piece that shows what it might be like to order a pizza in 2012 if the good ole boys in the whitehouse keep at it the way they have been.
So this morning I was driving into work and this song from the Broadway Hit "Oklahoma" pops into my head. First off, let me explain that my mom was a dancer and my dad was an opera singer, so I've had my share of Man of LaMancha's and Swan Lakes and Brigadoons and Oklahomas and Three Penny Operas and Pirates of Penzance. Not to mention West Side Stories and Carousels and Singin in the Rains. Yes, I spent many a road trip as a kid singing The Sound of Music with my folks and two sisters. Yes, I am just insecure enough to have to explain WHY I have knowledge of showtunes so that you don't all think I prance around the house in a pink mumu when I'm not kneeling in front of my Judy Garland altar.
Anyway...back to the tune. It's the classic "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" and it starts like this:
There's a bright, golden haze on the meadow There's a bright, golden haze on the meadow. The corn is as high as an elephant's eye And it looks like it's climbing clear up to the sky.
Now...this tune from oklahoma pops into my head....probably because I drive through farmland in the morning and the sun was rising...but the lyrics were something entirely different. You see, when I was a kid I used to have several "Mad Magazine Paperbacks" that did parodies of stuff. One of those parodies popped into my head this morning. The Parody was something like "If Marcus Welby M.D. were sung to the tunes of Oklahoma"
so the lyrics that popped into my head that I can't get out of my head this morning are:
There's a bright golden cyst on his elbow There's a bright golden cyst on his elbow
I don't remember the rest but it had to do with pus and lances.
I searched on the web for that paperback this morning but unfortunately, there were a lot of "sing along with Mad" books produced and I can't find the one with Oklahoma on it.
I did however find out the following:
"In 1961 Irving Berlin sued Mad magazine for parodying his classic songs, "Cheek to Cheek" and "Easter Parade" in a special issue, "Sing Along with Mad." Only a cranky old man and his high-priced lawyers could fail to see that chasing Alfred E. Newman around the Hall of Justice was the best vaudeville show of all.
The suit dragged on for several years, then went against Berlin. The composer was strongly rebuked from the bench on the importance of parody and satire in social affairs by Judge Irving R. Kaufman, the dour jurist who had sent the Rosenbergs to the electric chair."
Apparently, Rodgers and Hammerstein, who composed Oklahoma, had better senses of humor than Irving Berlin.
Friday I head to Miami, get on a big ass boat, and then head for Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas. Back home Christmas Eve.
Name: Jonathan Home: Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States About Me: Just a guy who trying to eek out a living as a graphic designer in SW Michigan. See my complete profile
Name: Jonathan
