The Fun Zone

So, with all of the business going on lately, I didn't notice right away that things were looking a bit screwy around here. Comments were appearing where they weren't supposed to, strange characters started showing up, and some of my back-office functions were no longer working. It was probably a corrupt file around somewhere, but rather than just reinstall the same version, it seemed like a good time to upgrade b2evolution.

So, I'm up and running with the new software, but it'll take me a bit to sync my custom skin with the new version. I don't want to just slap it on, 'cause I may lose some of the upgraded functionality. That may have to wait for the weekend. For now, maybe I'll try out a new look.

UPDATE: Ah, couldn't wait. I just slapped the old skin back on. The only thing I don't think crossed over is the nifty new b2evolution logo, but I'm willing to live with that. If anything doesn't work for you, please let me know.

Some Time Ago, in my review of the most recent Dr. Demento Basement Tapes, I rejoiced at my discovery of Mr. Jonathan Coulton, and his zombie ballad, re: Your Brains. I declared that I would be following the output of Mr. Coulton closely, and that I would soon have more of his music in my grubby little hands.

That was last March, I believe.

It took the actions of my lovely wife, in the form of a wonderful Christmas gift, to bring me back into the JoCo fold, and I'm so glad she did. Coulton has that elusive quality that I feel is crucial for a quality novelty artist: you actually enjoy listening to him. In fact, some of his music is so catchy you barely realize that it's humor.

Smoking Monkey - This is Coulton's album from 2003, and it has a number of very strong offerings. By far, my favorite is IKEA, a love poem about everybody's favorite furniture warehouse. It's more than that, though. Coulton's scope is epic:

Long ago in days of yore,
It all began with a god named Thor.
There were vikings and boats,
And some plans for a furniture store...

...Ikea! (Ikea!)
Just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen,
Ikea! (Ikea!)
Selling furniture for college kids and divorced men.
Everyone has a home,
But if you don't have a home,
You can buy one there!

He goes on to extol the virtues of meatballs and Allen wrenches and low-priced kitchen tables, and you just can't help but sing along. There are several gems here, but even stronger is my second acquisition:

Thing A Week One - In 2005, Coulton quit his job and started producing music at the rate of one song per week. This series is the output of that year: 52 tracks of oddities. Some, like See You All In Hell, or Sibling Rivalry (which appears to use samples from an ESL course), are more strange than funny, but others are just plain brilliant. Shop Vac is a lovely commentary on the banality of the suburban lifestyle, and My Monkey is one of Stef's favorites. His cover of Baby Got Back alone is worth the price of admission. As an added bonus, the cover notes are written by none other than John "I'm a PC" Hodgman, whose relationship with Coulton must go pretty far back, as one of the tracks on this disc, Furry Old Lobster, is a reference to an element of Hodgman's book, The Areas of My Expertise, or perhaps vice versa. 'tis a tangled web.

All in all, I'm feeling pretty well stocked in the novelty department. That's not to say I don't want to hear more from JoCo. Thing A Week Two is on its way as we speak.

Happy Listening!