"to unawakened earth/The trumpet of a prophecy! O wind,/If winter comes, can spring be far behind?"

[larryhammer]

It has started: the air this morning is tinged with woodsmoke from the first near wildfire of the season. A wet winter means moire fuel, and this week we're consistently getting over 90°F (32°C), drying it out. It looks to be a rough couple months ahead.

I think I've linked this before, but on its first anniversary it's worth calling out again that I'm really digging the All of Bach project, which is setting out to do exactly what it says on the tin: put up a new free performance of a work of J.S. Bach every Friday till they get through the entire catalog. Today's is the cantata "Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen" (BWV 56), one of the lovelier church works.

Current lullabies rely heavily on "We Shall Overcome" for calming down, followed by "The Wheels on the Bus" extended as long as necessary to carry TBD into sleep -- popular expansion packs include the animals from The Very Busy Spider in reverse order ("The owl on the bus goes whoo whoo whoo"), Romantic era poets ("The Keats on the bus goes beauty is truth" "The Burns on the bus goes auld lang syne"), and the cast of Star Trek ("The captain on the bus goes phasers on stun").

---L.

Subject quote from "Ode to the West Wind," Shelley.

Comments

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

Hahahahaha. I love your extensions to "The Wheels on the Bus" and would have loved to have thought of that when all the children in my life were younger. Fortunately, one of my goddaughters has a new baby, so I should be able to use that idea eventually. Thanks.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Your version of "Wheels on the Bus" is the BEST.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Weatherdudes say you're smelling the controlled burn in Redington Pass. It will burn for another couple of days, and you're right in the zone for the smoke plume.

[larryhammer]

Ah, so NOT wild. Good to hear.

The smell still hits the brainstem in a very wary way.

---L.

[larryhammer]

"We Shall Overcome" is also extensible: "We'll go straight to sleep," "We shall dress ourselves," "We shall walk to school," et cet.

---L.

[larryhammer]

Also known as "The Wheels on the Bus Will Drive You Mad."

---L.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Weatherdudes are striving to reassure--apparently they're getting calls.

[larryhammer]

THIS IS MY NOT-SURPRISED FACE

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

Fabulous, fabulous Bach. Thank you.

LOL at the Wheels on the Bus Variations.

[larryhammer]

Only a year in, and already there's 50-odd nuggets of goodness. Or in the case of the St. Matthew Passion, an entire vein.

---L.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

I can't remember the group's name, but there's a parody version with "the people on the bus don't binge and purge, they eat 3 average meals!"

[larryhammer]

A little googling finds Dos Fallopia.

---L.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

Yes! That's them. My friend had them on cassette tape...which tells you how long ago it was.

[kate_nepveu]

We did Tolkien versions of Wheels on the Bus a while ago; Chad also did physics verses. I can dig up links sometime when I'm also not trying to get a small person to go to sleep.

[larryhammer]

That would be fun.

[kate_nepveu]

http://scienceblogs.com/principles/2013/05/06/return-of-the-physics-bus/ (and link therein)

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2010/10/rotk-vi-4

[larryhammer]

Hee.

Yours are more singable. I may try them on TBD tonight.

---L.

[kate_nepveu]

You will get some great "you're _weird_" looks, I am sure!

[larryhammer]

You'd think I'd be getting them now ...

---L.

[larryhammer]

Though I did manage to get a "you're weird" look (and giggles) last night for capping "Shake My Sillies Out" with the coda from "We Are the Dinosaurs."

---L.

[larryhammer]

"The Pigeon on the bus goes Let me drive, Let me drive, Let me drive.
The Pigeon on the bus goes I have dreams,
All through the town."

---L.

[kate_nepveu]

Oh, great! I have that shirt, too. Perfect.

[larryhammer]

:-)

I have a shirt with Pigeon reading "How to Drive a Bus."

---L.