theme song: luck of the irish

I think it's time for a little more energy and optimism, so today receives the music of the Imagination Movers to help it along. I don't think it can wait until next year's St. Patrick's Day holiday.

Roll on down. Take a look around.
We won't rest 'til we find you the luck of the Irish.
Shades of green cover everything.
Your eyes will be smiling when finding the luck of the Irish.

I enjoy the Imagination Movers. Their show is another live-action, musical television series for kids. I think it's aimed for an older audience than The Wiggles (who creep me out), the Doodlebops (slightly less disturbing), or maybe even Lazy Town (a good show). The Imagination Movers, though, seem to have a much broader range of musical talent. Their sounds seem to have very different "feels" to them rather than everything blending into one common theme. Consider these songs in comparison. Don't they represent a wider range of musical composition than most of these kid shows?

• Jungle Room
• On My Way Home
• One More Book
• Mother In You
• Imagination Movers (title song)
• Brainstorming! (the chorus for every episode)

Sure, they have an occasional dud too, but everyone's allowed an off day. *laugh* Still, I think they're very creative in their music, which suits the topic of the show very well. Whoever works on their stage sets must have lots of fun too. Their warehouse magically includes a theme room for every topic imaginable. Some of them are very well done. Sadly, I wasn't able to find a YouTube clip for bitterlawngnome featuring the intentionally bland character Knit Knots, which is what prompted this foray into Imagination Movers memories.

Anyway, the nation and the world seem far too depressing in recent weeks so I'm taking a mental vacation to put blinders on, then I'll whistle my way to oblivious happiness until I absolutely have to face reality again.

"I think what the situation needs is some imagination." - The Imagination Movers

reality bites

I got exactly the opposite of what I wanted.

I spent Saturday on diversions.  I played computer games.  I harvested some lime-basil from the garden to make a non-alcoholic margarita.  I avoided news websites.  I went downtown for the bar night of the Minneapolis Movie Bears, which I had not attended in many months.

• At the bar, some poor guy came up to me and offered to sell me some shoes for $5.  I declined.
• In the bus on the way home, I sat near a guy around my age with a face smeared in blood from a busted temple, cheek, and lip.

The bloody guy was talking to someone else, so I wrote it off as "non-urgent".  A concerned couple of parents offered him some sanitation wipes they had for their young child, but he declined.  He rode a long way on the bus, nearly to the end of the line.  We happened to get off at the same stop.  After we were both on the sidewalk, I finally asked him, "So, do you need any help getting to wherever you're going?"  I didn't understand much of what he said, but I did hear, "See, what happened was, somebody killed my mother."  He declined the assistance.  He seemed to know where he was headed.  So I walked the rest of the way to the house where I rent a room.

I learned earlier this year (overhearing conversation where I was eating a meal at a fast food restaurant) that you make money off of stolen credit cards by visiting gas stations and selling people gasoline at half price.  You take their cash, and you use the stolen card to pay for the gas at the pump.

I'm learning much too much about how to survive a broken economy.  You can't convince me that America isn't circling the drain.  Actual misery keeps showing up ever closer to my "front door".  I blame Republicans for intentionally bringing us here, and I blame Democrats for being too chickenshit to ever face grim and messy reality.

I'm still hoping for my vacation from this sad future racing toward us.