Wake up and smell the cat food in your bank account

[vovat]

One thing I forgot to mention in my last entry is that bethje and I heard "Don't Let's Start" on the radio yesterday. Why is it always so exciting when you hear a song you like on the radio, even when it's one you can listen to yourself at any time? Actually, I think I heard that same song on the radio unexpectedly before. I wonder whether any radio stations in the area ever play They Might Be Giants songs that AREN'T twenty years old. Not that there's anything wrong with the older songs (in fact, I prefer them in many ways), but I wonder how many radio DJ's and programmers realize that TMBG is still a going concern.

I recently had a dream about The Sims. I forget what happened, but there was a time when having a dream about the game always made me want to play it again. I don't even have it installed on my computer now, but I kind of want to play it. Not enough to actually do anything about it, though. Since I've been reading The Magical Monarch of Mo, I sort of think it would be cool to create a Royal Family of Mo household. I have weird ideas of what would be cool, don't I? {g}

And while I'm on the subject of L. Frank Baum, I got my order from the International Wizard of Oz Club. I got another set of the maps (I already had one set, but you can never have too many maps) and An Oz Picture Gallery, a collection of sketches by Dick Martin [1]. I like the picture of Ozma in riding togs, as well as the one of Sir Hokus playing chess on Ploppa's back. I wish he'd done a little more with the residents of Scare City, though. The Scares themselves can be seen only in shadow. As for the maps, they haven't been updated since 1980. I believe both of the creators are dead now (I know Martin definitely is), but I still think it would be nice to see an updated version. There have been several other books by "official" Oz authors published since 1980, as well as Gina Wickwar's The Hidden Prince of Oz, which won the Club's book-writing contest. Another kind of Oz map I'd like to see (and I believe I actually mentioned this to the late Fred Meyer [2]) is a larger version, to which I could add my own locations. I think I might post these ideas to the Club's message board, although I doubt anything will come of them.

And here's the Friday Five, courtesy of unclemilo:

#1 10 years ago what did you think you would be doing now?

I don't think I really had much more idea then than I do now. I was going into college as a computer science major, but I really hadn't thought about what I would do with that.

#2 Where do you think you will be in 5 years from now?

Probably the same place I am now, but I HOPE not.

#3 Do you live life one day at a time or look to the future.

Whichever is more stressful. Honestly, I think my mind actively seeks out things to be stressed about, even when they're not at all important.

#4 Do you wish you could go back in time and undo something in your life?

My gut reaction would be "yes," but I've been exposed to too many time-travel stories to risk ruining causality like that.

#5 If you could send a message back in time and give a younger version of yourself some advice, what would it be?

Well, with my first answer in mind, I might say not to bother becoming a computer science major. Except then I wouldn't have had it as a minor, so I suppose that might not be such a good idea.

[1] No relation to the Laugh-In guy, as far as I know.
[2] No relation to the department store, as far as I know.

Comments

[shadarko.livejournal.com]

yesterday I was walking by a book store i had never seen before and in the window they had Yankee in Oz, so i went in. not to see yankee but to see what else they had. turns out a granddaughter got rid of her granddads oz collection. they had just priced the books and werent really sure what price was good, so i got a first edition of monarch of Mo for 10 bucks which has really made my day, i also go a fairly nice edition of hidden prince, and wishing horse, im going back today and probably getting a bunch more. one thing that was odd for me was they had a fairly old copy of Speedy in Oz with a dust jacket, i've seen the one dick martin did but this want it, it was very anime, it was really strange i never seen a reilly lee copy with this style before.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's pretty cool. I wish I'd come across something like that.

I'd be interested in seeing that Speedy cover.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've ever heard ANY time period of TMBG song on the radio, even on the most random shows on the so-called "alternative" station.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Back before I became a fan, the kids' radio program on WXPN (http://www.xpn.org/) used to play TMBG, but their choices were apparently limited to "Birdhouse In Your Soul," "Particle Man," "Istanbul," and "Why Does The Sun Shine?" (the slow EP version). I love the first one, was pretty indifferent toward the middle two, and was annoyed by the last one (although I've since come to appreciate it more). I wouldn't be TOO surprised to find that the show has added stuff from No! and/or Here Come the ABCs, but I have no evidence to this effect.

I remember hearing "Mr. Xcitement" on the radio when it was new, and while I didn't hear "Doctor Worm" when THAT was new, I'm told that a station in my area did play it (albeit probably only once). So it's rare, but it happens occasionally.

[onib.livejournal.com]

I recently had a dream about The Sims. I forget what happened, but there was a time when having a dream about the game always made me want to play it again. I don't even have it installed on my computer now, but I kind of want to play it. Not enough to actually do anything about it, though.

Have you seen any of The Strangerhood videos (they're by the people who made "Red Vs Blue")? It's basically a whole series loosely based on a "MTV's Real World" show premise, but exclusively using "The Sims" characters. It's a flashback on your computer screen without having to reinstall the game.


---
A lot of radio stations used to play the "Boss of Me" back in the day. And when I was in college, the local rock station seemed to love the radio edit of "Sleeping in the Flowers."

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Oh, I forgot about "Boss Of Me," which I'm pretty sure I've heard on the radio. I wasn't a fan back when John Henry was new, so I wouldn't know about "Sleeping In The Flowers."