Happy Thanksgiving, one and all. Even as an occasionally-cynical bastard, I have to admit that I like that idea of setting aside one day each year to reflect on things for which we are grateful. It's a nice touch, and good way to make us pause for a moment in our hectic lives to think a little.
In elementary school, we had music class a couple of times a week. We'd all grab one of the various percussion instruments and sit around the music room singing for an hour or practicing whatever play we had coming up. I very clearly remember a couple of songs from the book, and they were great. There was the "Big Rock Candy Mountain" song, which was briefly mentioned in the movie "Runaway Jury." I always thought of it as "Big Rock...Candy Mountain," as if the mountain of candy was named Big Rock rather than being a big mountain of "rock candy." It's kinda like how I say Santana's song could be about a magic woman who happens to be black.
I also remember the very strange song about the cat named Don Gato. Are any of you familiar with this one? It was a lot of fun to sing because of the various "Meow meow meow" sections, but the plot could've been better. Basically, Don Gato got a love note from some pretty kitty, and he was so happy that he fell off a roof and broke his everything. The doctors tried to save him but couldn't, and the funeral was a sad event. There's some verse thrown in at the end that refers to him coming back to life, but I think that came about when someone said, "Oh shit, this is supposed to be a kids' song and we just killed off the protagonist. Should we rewrite the whole thing? Naw, let's just make him a Christ figure instead."
Lastly, and pertinently, I remember a song about Thanksgiving. (You can't spell "pertinent" without Peter, dontcha know.) There had to have been verses to this song, but I only remember the chorus. It was brilliant, actually. The chorus went, "I'm thankful for... I'm thankful for... I'm thankful for... And I'm thankful to be me." In those ellipses, we were to yell out whatever we wanted. It was awesome. I usually inserted things about my friends and family, and maybe even said the music teacher's name to kiss a little ass now and then. But I can picture where I was sitting one year in that music room when I turned to my friend Adam and told him to listen to what I was about to yell. When the chorus came, I sang, "I'm thankful for OPTIMUS PRIME!" I was only half-kidding, for he and the rest of the Autobots had provided me with a good deal of joy. Being a kid was a pretty sweet gig.
And now, a very special holiday announcement, not to be confused with a very special "Saved By the Bell" in which Jessie gets hooked on caffeine pills and only reaches the step of acceptance by the power of The Pointer Sisters. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you must be older than me. Please allow me to enlighten you:
In elementary school, we had music class a couple of times a week. We'd all grab one of the various percussion instruments and sit around the music room singing for an hour or practicing whatever play we had coming up. I very clearly remember a couple of songs from the book, and they were great. There was the "Big Rock Candy Mountain" song, which was briefly mentioned in the movie "Runaway Jury." I always thought of it as "Big Rock...Candy Mountain," as if the mountain of candy was named Big Rock rather than being a big mountain of "rock candy." It's kinda like how I say Santana's song could be about a magic woman who happens to be black.
I also remember the very strange song about the cat named Don Gato. Are any of you familiar with this one? It was a lot of fun to sing because of the various "Meow meow meow" sections, but the plot could've been better. Basically, Don Gato got a love note from some pretty kitty, and he was so happy that he fell off a roof and broke his everything. The doctors tried to save him but couldn't, and the funeral was a sad event. There's some verse thrown in at the end that refers to him coming back to life, but I think that came about when someone said, "Oh shit, this is supposed to be a kids' song and we just killed off the protagonist. Should we rewrite the whole thing? Naw, let's just make him a Christ figure instead."
Lastly, and pertinently, I remember a song about Thanksgiving. (You can't spell "pertinent" without Peter, dontcha know.) There had to have been verses to this song, but I only remember the chorus. It was brilliant, actually. The chorus went, "I'm thankful for... I'm thankful for... I'm thankful for... And I'm thankful to be me." In those ellipses, we were to yell out whatever we wanted. It was awesome. I usually inserted things about my friends and family, and maybe even said the music teacher's name to kiss a little ass now and then. But I can picture where I was sitting one year in that music room when I turned to my friend Adam and told him to listen to what I was about to yell. When the chorus came, I sang, "I'm thankful for OPTIMUS PRIME!" I was only half-kidding, for he and the rest of the Autobots had provided me with a good deal of joy. Being a kid was a pretty sweet gig.
And now, a very special holiday announcement, not to be confused with a very special "Saved By the Bell" in which Jessie gets hooked on caffeine pills and only reaches the step of acceptance by the power of The Pointer Sisters. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you must be older than me. Please allow me to enlighten you:
Back to the very special announcement. Gentle readers, I just can't keep this daily posting thing up anymore. It's been a hell of a lot of fun, but I've been scraping the bottom of the barrel for a while now (as evidenced by many more two- and three-parters) and it's time to change things up. Not quite yet though: I want to go until next Friday (the 30th), because that will be my one year anniversary of starting UOPTA. I honestly can not believe I was able to keep it going this long, and I'm extremely thankful for everyone's thoughts and suggestions along the way.
So here's the new plan. After the 30th, I will post something new on every Friday. I will stop using the FUF numbering system because I won't be following up on anything really. I don't know exactly how this will work because I'm kinda out of stories. I may have some more in there somewhere, but I'll be focusing more on things I've thought about or noticed rather than full on stories. As much as I've enjoyed this (and I really have), it's been very demanding on my time. I've had other thoughts about side-projects I'd like to start (including a screenplay based on a short story I know and love), but those things take time that I haven't had. So, I'll include a Car Watch still, unless I get multiple emails saying to do away with that feature. Maybe I'll throw in some "Guess the Fakey" games like I had before, put a poll or two up there, and...I honestly don't know. What I do know is that more than ever, I'll be looking for help from you all since it'll be easier to incorporate your thoughts into this format.
Friends, and friends of friends, I'm thankful for you. While it's entirely possible that I would've kept this going for a little while just for my own creative outlet, I never would've gotten nearly this far without your support. Every comment and email has truly meant a lot to me, and I thank you. I'll see you back here tomorrow for my penultimate Follow Up Friday. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and may you all fill your own ellipses several times over.
3 comments:
How am I going to start my day? Not only am I going to miss my daily dose of your wisdom, but I talk to family and friends about your thoughts on a regular basis. I guess I'll just have to feed my habit on Fabulous Fridays. I love you Petey.
Shaloha son of mine. Thanks for the persistence you've shown in making it through the year with your fun-filled and most clever blog.
I have looked forward to reading it everyday. I'm amazed that you could come up with something so enjoyable to read every day. Once a week will make me look forward to Fridays for more than the obvious reason. Love you Kiddo.
Can I change T.G.I.F. to T.G.I.U.O.P.T.A.?
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