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-Keith Pelczarski
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Meet a misunderstood genius
So the other day, out of the blue, I started wondering about Jonathan Coulton, with whom I attended Halls Hill Elementary School in the late 70s and early 80s. Enter Google.
As it turns out, Jonathan is still both talented and funny, for which I still envy him. He's a regular in the Little Gray Books lecture series, and even McSweeney's knows that he's a misunderstood genius.
After listening to the excellent songs he's posted on his site, I was amazed that he hasn't been signed to a big fat recording contract. He's like Elvis Costello without the hip first name, They Might Be Giants with less brobdignagian tendencies, and Barenaked Ladies without the whole Canadian thing. How could he not be a huge star? Why has he not received heaps of critical acclaim? Two words... misunderstood genius. We know the story all too well.
Following the metaphysical breadcrumbs back in misunderstood time, we find Liz Bochain, the "Enrichment" teacher at the aforementioned Halls Hill Elementary school. You want misunderstood genius? She was the queen of misunderstood genius, and bless her for it. She always percolated wacky ideas to keep us on our toes. Perhaps my favorite of these was the notion of keeping a pair of peacocks in the school's courtyard as school mascots. I was lucky enough to garner peacock keeper duties, which got me out of homeroom each morning so I could escort some lucky kid on the morning feeding adventure. I wonder if she's still at the school. Maybe I'll find out on our big Christmas in October east coast adventure. But (shockingly) I digress...
To get us back up to speed:Misunderstood genius - fat recording contract + excellent sense of humor - hip first name + less brobdignagian tendencies - Canadian thing = Jonathan CoultonAll the songs on the site are great, but Millionaire Girlfriend, First of May, and IKEA are particularly melodious and clever, not to mention embodying the spirit of the misunderstood genius.
Do yourself a favor and listen to the tracks. Maybe then you'll understand.
:: Keith 00:59 [link] :: ::