Reasonably Priced Castanets Found In Claremont

I had never been to Claremont before. There are many charming mom & pop stores. I like a town with fascist zoning and building laws. All the chain stores are outside of town (except Starbucks). Many colleges and LIBRARIES are there. Claremont is A-OK.

I accepted chocolate again the other day at the reference desk. At least I tried turning it down this time. But the patron kept on offering. I think it was Godiva too. Truffles in the shapes of sea shells. I am a whore.

Here's a German song my father used to sing to us while bouncing us on his knee. At the end of the song, you are supposed to drop the kid on the floor. Very German. But we loved it!

Hoppa Hoppa Reiter

Hoppa, hoppa Reiter
Wenn er fällt
Dann schreit er

Fällt er in den Graben
Fressen ihn die Raben

Fällt er in die Dornen-Hecke
Macht er eine Stacheldecke

Fällt er in den Sumpf
Macht der Reiter Plumps

Here is a loose translation:

Hop, hop goes the rider
When he falls,
he screams

If he falls in a ditch
the ravens will eat him

If he falls in a thorny hedge,
he will become a pin cushion

If he falls in the swamp
He will go glug glug (or thud)

I wonder how this would go over at a baby storytime. (You don't really have to drop the kid on the floor)

Maggie's Comet

I'm a disappointing older sister
silent at the winter station
home
from everything
I still pole the canals alone in the afternoon with the radio on
to feel close to him
but hey
aren't I also Mom's dessert?
a cool whip?
and didn't I draw a smile on the sun?
I can only talk with my eyes closed
only right by accident
and don't know where I am except for fun
just glad I got the red kind
and I miss our black spot,
isn't that weird?
sometimes I sleep in his snowsuit and lose a few minutes
all weekend touched a paperback I found in his couch like it was him
and yeah
I'm strong
I'm inevitable, a hunch, an experiment, lunch,
I'm a carwash on Sepulveda
and the fumes and the slaves and the patrons too
I'm an illionaire
my light shines whether or not it deserves to
my womb kicks with or without
I'm a magic wand waiting to be stolen
a neon sign only you can plug in
some people say you shouldn't have a plan b
but I have them from a to z
and do them all at once not 1-2-3
last night I jumped from a trampoline
and didn't come back down
world do you hear me
I'm single again
this is your invitation

By Maggie Sullivan

Here's a new fingerplay by TK and me.

This is papa's cell phone
This is brother's hotrod
This is mama's PDA
and this is baby's iPod

I came up with the hotrod bit. Maybe there's something better that rhymes with iPod.

I wonder what rhymes with Segway.

Loves This Week

1. The Caroline books by Pierre Probst, particularly the antics of Inky and Puff, also known as Pouf and Noiraud.
2. The painting Heap of Cats by Jesse Reklaw. (You have to click on the thumbnail sketch of the plump, nose-less cat, middle right)
3.Teaching Danilo finger-games (Did you know there are a lot more fingerplays than "Here's the church, here's the steeple..." and the Eensy Weensy Spider? I like "These are mother's knives and forks, this is grandma's table, this is sister's looking glass, and this is baby's cradle" and "Pitter pat pitter pat, the rain goes on for hours, and though it keeps me in the house, it's very good for flowers")
4.The song "Houseguest" by a dude named Franklin at the Mountain Goats concert.
5.The Shadow Song performed by the Mountain Goats.
6.Cuddling with TK at the Mountain Goats concert.

I like this Japanese saying from the Daily Soy blog -

Like small dried sardines grinding their teeth in anger

Help! There's a richness of martens surrounding the house!

You've heard of a "murder of crows" I presume. Here are more fun animal congregations.

I can no longer keep silent. It's time to blow the lid off a campaign of puppet neglect. A little bird told me that the Henson company shot a pilot for a reality show called America's Next Muppet where puppet wannabe's get to audition to join the Muppets. Why has this show not appeared in my television program? Why is it not in production? What television executives are depriving me of enjoying this series? What fools do not realize that the American public needs this show? Disney/ABC must pick up this show or they will be perpetrating an act that will live in infamy. Go to your windows right now. Open them up and shout, "I'm mad as hell and I want to watch America's Next Muppet!"

So, I was trying to think of other embarrassing music I like and the song from the movie Foul Play sung by Barry Manilow, called "Ready To Take A Chance Again" sprang to mind. That song was written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox. Norman Gimbel is the lyricist. It turns out Norman Gimbel wrote some other songs I like, most importantly "Makin' It," the theme song from the short lived TV series about disco dancing. He also wrote the following:

the Happy Days theme
the Laverne and Shirley theme
The Bugaloos theme
Killing Me Softly
the HR Pufnstuf theme (Or at least one song from the Pufnstuf movie. Still verifying.)
It Goes Like It Goes (From the movie Norma Rae)
the Paperchase theme
the Wonder Woman theme

By the way, David Copperfield=(Barry Manilow + Richard Benjamin) x dark eye shadow

My love of the movie "The Idolmaker" and its songs has been a source of shame over the years, but no more! I watched it again with TK the other night and it's still good. And it turns out the songs were written by this cat, Jeff Barry. Jeff Barry? That name sounded so familiar. Turns out, he's that guy Kate Sullivan has been raving about in her blog. He wrote a ton of famous songs and supposedly was the one who really sang the "Sha la la la" part, mimicking Van Morrison's voice, on Brown Eyed Girl.

A few years ago I took a screenwriting workshop with Eddie DiLorenzo, who wrote "The Idolmaker." Strange old guy...Go and rent "The Idolmaker" if you haven't seen it already. It's pure fun. It's not that deep or nothin'. Directed by Taylor Hackford too!