I do love the fall. And the bizarre, crackly energy of the changing seasons. The equinox was yesterday, and I'm typing away now under the thoughtful eye of the Harvest moonrise.
(And for you nerds keeping score at home, YES, I am seeing my favourite Canadians next week and YES that was an intentional paraphrase)
The season means it's time for me to put away my general pleasure reading material (all molecular physics, all the time) and pull out my auld favorites, like one Mr. Lovecraft. I don't know who to give credit to for this wonderful bit of artwork, but there you go. I think it kind of kicks tentacles, and I wish I had it on a t-shirt I could wear to the park to garner confused, wary glances from the other mothers. It's a shirt that would say to them, "No, I do not particularly want to come to your Mary Kay party," without me explicitly having to come out and say so. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn. Huzzah.
segue
We are celebrating the season right this year with a trip to see the Mouse and bother him for candy. Did you know you can trick-or-treat in the Magic Kingdom? It's twue, it's twue! You're also supposed to get into the spirit of the whole thing and wear a costume, but the thought of trying to get on the teacups in a complete Nemo/Lightning McQueen/Cybermen/whatever we eventually choose for Halloween is daunting. And sounds really hot and uncomfortable as well. But as I cannot go to such an event with NO costume, I have to come up with something. I'm thinking a Star Wars theme, but we'll see. (Casting: Pookie as R2D2, Moi as a tie-fighter pilot, DJ as Lord Vader, all in t-shirt form) Please post any other suggestions. Note: I refuse to be Winnie the Pooh. (Not that I don't do some stoutness exercises now and then.)
Speaking of Disney, let me relate the tale of How I Was Accidentally Racist in Boone. We have a CD (thanks SMcB!) of all the ride music from Disney World. "It's a Small World" aside*, it's a wonderful grouping of tunes that remind you of the fun and nostalgia of the Happiest Place on Earth. *Small world will make you stick an ice pick in your ear after 5.5 listens. It's a bleeding ear version of the Tootsie Pop question.
Pooks is particularly fond of Haunted Mansion (she has announced her intentions of riding it this trip; we'll see how long that bravado lasts) and Splash Mountain. Now, Splash Mountain is a great ride, a wonderful ride, a thrilling ride. And it is based on the Uncle Remus tales. Having been rather homogenized and Disneyfied, though, there is very little about it that could be considered objectionable, so I think nothing of letting Pooks listen to the music from it.
So it was a lovely early fall afternoon in Boone-town, and we were driving to the tomato store (EarthFare) to pick up something undoubtedly sprouted-grainlike and overpriced, and listening to our Disney CD (and probably singing along). I pulled up to a stop light and noticed a group of african american students waiting to cross the street (sadly, this is notable in lily-white Boone), right as the "Zip a Dee Do Dah" part of the ride song came on and Br'er Rabbit's voiceover exclaimed "I gots to find me Br'er Bear and thank him for flingins me back home to mah briar patch!"
Oh shit. SHIT. I've been so glad to have some diversity in Boone FINALLY, and here I go playing "Song of the South" in my car. I had not, until that precise moment, ever even noticed that line in the song, and I've probably heard it 30 times or so. I reacted in a cowardly fashion, coughing loudly and looking straight ahead until the light changed. I wanted to lean out and explain myself, to tell them it was all about the magic of Disney and the fun of the story and the ride and isn't it a great ride?, but how can you possibly do that? I just looked like a racist prick with weird taste in music. (I'm only the latter.) My oh my, what an embarrassing day.
I am sure that the African-American students, and any students, are toooo young to know what Song Of The South is.
Posted by: wendy | October 02, 2010 at 07:53 PM