FIRE!
This post is partly excerpted from a LONGER post that was written for the Phoole Patreon Platoon, whose burgeoning and honored ranks you may join! patreon.com/phoole
The SMOKE from the Canada Wildfires is sure lying on top of Wisconsin like a walrus. I know everyone's talking about it, so I will just say, please don't blame Canada. Yes, their government is partially responsible for giving polluters a free pass, but mine is too. Heck, NATO put a mega-polluter in charge of their climate-crisis council. It's a real mess, but the infinitely-wealthy polluters and resource-hoarders are the ones to sing rude songs about, not "America's Hat."
It is SO SMOKY here that last night, as we were getting ready for bed, Tiffany and I were remarking that that smoke sure does get everywhere, and it smelled different yesterday, and there is suddenly a lot more of it - whereupon we realized A HOUSE ACROSS THE STREET FROM US WAS ON FIRE.
Five giant fire engines and the Fire Department EMTs arrived, ladders and hoses everywhere, and firefighters climbed up on the roof - smoke was POURING out of crevices in the roof - and sawed the roof open to get in and extinguish the blaze.
Today, from the vantage point of our living room windows, it looks like nothing happened - if you ignore the battalion of Fire-and-Water Damage Restoration business vehicles lining the curb in front of the place.
Last night, as we peered out of our windows at the flashing emergency lights and the elaborate operation, Tiffany said:
"Did...did you summon this? By putting together a show about fire?"
And do you know what, Phoole Patreon Patron?
I have to admit that that thought crossed my mind before she even asked about it.
Of course, it is absurd that my playlist-construction activity would somehow trigger a chain of events that would result in an actual conflagration. We don't even know those people, who live there. All we know is that they seem to smoke a LOT of pot, judging by the clouds that waft to us across the street (marijuana is very much not legal at all in Wisconsin, due to the power of our BOOZE MAFIA, the omnipotent and malevolent Wisconsin Tavern League), and that every year, at Halloween, they dress up like Star Wars Jedis for trick-or-treating, and go out collecting candy with their tiny children, happily accepting candy for themselves, because they're probably pretty snacky people, I guess.
Nevertheless, I suppose science requires that I do a MONEY SHOW soon, to see if it results in a windfall of filthy lucre for us or for anyone in the vicinity. I guess I have to study the possibility that my show themes could be causally linked to manifestations. I mean, why not? I could use theme ideas. I like themes! And if Gary and Karen across the street, next door to the High Snack Jedis, suddenly get rich because we did a Money Show? That's fine. We love Gary and Karen. They like squirrels, and Gary plays banjo. Our next door neighbors, Silvia to the South and Patricia to the North, could also do with a little good fortune - I mean, everyone in our neighborhood could. It's worth a shot. And there are plenty of nice songs about money and its absence.
It is extremely unlikely that selecting a theme for an internet television program will cause that theme to manifest locally. I would hate for you to think that I think that that's a thing. I don't!
That being said, I've been having so much fun with goofy show themes that I think I will lean into themes in Year 11 of Phoole & the Gang. As we go to eleven, I like the idea of just picking a word for a show and then organizing the music around that word. Discordians at the Phoole & the Gang Discord (phoole.com/discord) have proposed the words "me" and "Angelo" and "lights" as theme candidates, and I love all of these ideas. There are great tunes with the word "me" in the title, and about lights, and there are great tunes suggested by the existence of Angelo the Cat, who is almost too cute to be withstood. What themes do you suggest? We've done palindromes, Jewish space lasers, space, numbers...and we can of course revisit past themes, as I always have tunes left over. What do you think?
THANK YOU for loving our 10th Phooliversary show! If you haven't had a chance to see or hear it yet, please visit the links at phoole.com/rewind and enjoy!