I CAN'T LISTEN TO THIS!

It's late, I should be in bed as usual - when did my time-clock get turned completely upside-down? Never mind, it's late, my husband is asleep a mere thin wall away and I can't play this video, can't play the audio portion I mean cuz it would wake my poor Rip van Winkle-esque husband up, but I looked at it and thought it was probably original, not some lame un-funny bogus parody thing. I've not only SEEN local cable TV, I have been ON local cable TV and remember how excruciatingly beautiful it seemed at the time. We were simply unappreciated. Soon, very soon, a talent scout would arrive.

I know there are others to explore, such as. . .

This one. This filmy, green, like-it's-going-bad-because-it-probably-is, VHS delight (actually it's probably a Beta). I haven't heard this either. but it looks promising. Smudgy, wobbly video, copies of copies of copies of copies of copies, always appeal to me. I am knitting an elephant now and this is a good distraction. I like the tough  counterculture look of this woman, the late-nights-at-the-doughnut-shop demeanour and Target store nonchalance, that certain je ne sais quoi that whispers low of Walmart house brand and footlong hotdogs guiltily devoured at the Costco.

My husband, mentioned above, came home recently - nay, it was just the other day! - with a bag of dried cranberries that weighed 1.6 kilograms, which is four or five pounds. You could suspend this bag from the ceiling and soon become the next Raging Bull.  We won't eat this many dried cranberries in ten years, but he bought it because it was CHEAPER AT COSTCO.  I am sure he would understand the wild, tumble-haired, untameable spirit of this woman, whoever she is. I've never heard her sing and I may never hear her sing because I can't listen to the audio right now. Jesus. Or I'll forget, or something, but I just had to offer you this, Tender Reader, because I believe you are special.

Is Don Draper really a vampire? and other depressing questions

It's not every day, well, it's almost every day but never mind, that we find, that I find I mean, uh. Let me start over again.

I don't even know how I YouTubed my way into this one. Every once in a while I profess my rabid, tree-scratching, hide-tearing, rubbing-salt-into-my-private-areas LUST for AMC's Mad Men. It's the smartest show I've ever seen, even though, at the base of it all, it's nothing more than a sexy and well-acted soap opera.

Angst rules supreme. Nobody is ever really happy. This makes us all feel better about ourselves, because, you see, WE'RE never really happy either. Or at least, I'm not.

Privately, I believe that happiness is for idiots, or at least for people who don't think or don't notice the intractible mess all around them. I have moments of it, of course. Even serious upgusts. But angst remains my prevailing mood, and that's when I am not downright depressed.

So Mad Men cheers me up. The way the characters hurl themselves at their fate, impaling themselves on ill fortune, screwing around madly just to forget. They beat their fists on reality. They don (!) mask after mask, phony disguise after phony disguise, hoping THIS one will be the charm, and it never is.

And saaaaaaaay, isn't that some coincidence that we have a character named Don (as in Don Quixote; as in Don Juan; as in The Godfather; as in "don we now our gay apparel") Draper, as in let's throw a tarp over all this mess before anyone sees it (too late!). And that's not even his real name: he has "donned" it like a "drape" over his somewhat vampirish personality. His real name, Dick (!) Whitman, does not need to be examined (though Walt Whitman may sneak in there somewhere: but hey, wasn't he queer or something?).

We could sit here and analyze every character's name - Jesus, Roger Sterling?? - Lane Pryce?? - but I'm getting very tired. I am so addicted now that even when whatsisname, that Weinerhead guy, spews out a substandard episode, I still watch it at least three times. Then I go on the message boards and see what arcane, cabalistic meanings the fans have squeaked out, adding a few of my own ("hey, Cool Whip isn't real whipped cream!"). When I found this video I thought, great, I get to see Don's new sexpot wife Megan make a total fool of herself (again) and be the only person in the room who doesn't know. But then. . .

Then I realized that my two greatest loves, Mad Men and Mr. Trololo, had somehow met and blended, had fused together and become one, and it was magical!

There is a certain affinity between the two songs, after all, a certain bouncy optimism. Surely Don needs this sort of frisson of joy, this gasping souffle, this seething birthday pie that he can stick his thumb in any time he wants to. Megan may have big scared eyes and teeth that are completely over the top, but she's HAPPY damn it, and is going to make DON happy ("yes, master!") too, even if she won't eat the orange sherbet at Howard Johnson's.

Ye-ye-ye-ye-ye, ye-ye-ye, ye-ye-ye, o-ho-ho-ho-ho!


http://margaretgunnng.blogspot.com/2012/01/synopsis-glass-character-novel-by.html

http://members.shaw.ca/margaret_gunning/betterthanlife.htm

What the Homeland Begins? and other works of genius by Mr. Trololo

For your enlightenment, I will expound upon a subject that has quickly evolved into a passion. Seldom do I make such a find: an artist unequalled in this century or any other.

I give you. . . Mr. Trololo!

Q: Who is Mr. Trololo?
A: He is Eduard Anatolyevich Khil, born 4 September 1934, Smolensk, Western Oblast, Russia. He is a Soviet-Russian baritone singer. He was a recipient of the People's Artist Award of the RSFSR.

The family name Khil is not derived from Hill. The singer stated in an interview that he probably has a Spanish ancestor with the surname Gil, which is pronounced similar to hill.

He studied at the Leningrad Conservatory and graduated in 1960. He initially began performing as a soloist. Khil currently lives in St. Petersburg.

He was the first artist to sing such songs as:

Woodcutters

Moon Stone

Song about Friend

Blue Cities

And People Go To the Sea by Andrey Petrov

What the Homeland Begins?

How the Steamers Are Seen Off

Winter

Birch Sap

We Need Only the Victory

In 1977-1979, Khil taught solo singing at the Saint Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy.

His singing career faded in the 1990s and Khil took a job at a cafe in Paris. Since 1997, Khil has been involved with his son in a joint project with the rock group Prepinaki.

After retiring from singing, he faded into obscurity in his later years. In 2010, Khil reclaimed the spotlight when he became the subject of the viral "Trololo" internet meme on YouTube.

Q: What is the Trololo song?
A: It became an internet meme in 2009. It is a 1976 video recording of Khil singing a wordless version of the song "I Am Glad To Finally Be Home".

This gave Mr. Khil the nickname "Mr. Trololo" or "Trololo Man". The song itself was written by Arkady Ostrovsky, but the name "trololo" comes from the way Khil vocalises throughout the song.

It was featured during a segment on The Colbert Report and was also parodied on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Many internet fans consider the "trololo" meme may the new Rick Roll.

Oddly enough, the "trololo" song has created an interest in Khil's singing career and there exists a petition for Khil to come out of retirement to perform on a world tour.

Details provided by Wikipedia.org

He changed the face of music (forever!)

I don't even know who this is, but I don't care. Let's just call him Mr. Trololo.  I've seen lots of other YouTube versions of this song by different artists, but they're an abomination.  We don't care about them, do we? Mr. Trololo is the best.