Raise the roof girlfriend, I've got game. Regular readers of the newsletter may recall that four years ago I declared my unconditional love for Tonya Harding in these very pages. The combination of athletic figure skating grace, cigarette smoking, auto mechanic rough around the edges toughness melted my heart. To top it off it looked like Ms. Harding was the type who could enjoy a Jack Daniels now and again. Perfection? Close enough. But since Tonya never responded to my public expression of affection I sort of lost interest. Until last Thursday night.
I was lucky enough to see FOX's face to face special interview with Harding and Nancy Kerrigan witnessing one of those few spellbinding moments on TV where the emotion on one side of the camera is palpable on the other side. Kerrigan's feelings of anger, discomfort, and fear left her with even less to say than she has aptly demonstrated throughout her public life. Indeed if she had been more demonstrative it could have made a gripping episode of Jerry Springer. Instead her icy and blank glare made Tonya the weepy one. Tonya's attempts at apologizing and congratulating Nancy on her marriage and the birth of her son fell upon stone silence.
As close as it came to voyeurism, the interview did give both participants a chance most of us never will get. To face one's accuser had to be as gratifying as being able to face one's attacker. Tonya proved she doesn't quite possess presidential sized performance skills when it comes to trying to put a scandal behind her. Her soft words contradicted the hard piercing stare of her watery blue eyes. While it is difficult to believe her side of the story she didn't seem to be lying. She either had nothing to do with the infamous clubbing of Kerrigan's knee, or she has convinced herself she had nothing to do with the attack. She said she would let the Lord decide.
She's working hard to pick up the pieces, putting the husband formerly known as Gillooey behind her. Does all this mean that my love for Tonya has been rekindled? Well it may not be a fire so much anymore as a small spark. It is after all better off beginning a relationship knowing how dishonest your partner is than to find out the extent of their lies when it is too late. It's easier to accept the flaws now rather than further down the road. I'm willing to try again if she is too.
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I'm not the kind who generally likes comedy CDs and it has nothing to do with the rumor I've lost my sense of humor. I'd like to think I have at least been able to maintain some appreciation for humor. Rather, there is something about the format that renders most comedy CDs unfunny. And it's not the notion of repeated listening that bothers me. After all, I can still chuckle at the seventieth viewing of a good M*A*S*H episode.
So I am happy to report that I am greatly enjoying the Simpsons' Songs in the Key of Springfield, the CD of music from the TV show. I was listening to it at work in my cubicle last week and was actually laughing aloud at some of the songs. That this behavior meant my co-workers had their fingers closer to the speed dial button for the funny farm on their phones didn't bother me in the least. The CD captures some fine moments from one of our finest TV shows. The wit is downright inspiring.
Favorite moments? Apu's falsetto wobble on Who Loves the Kwik E-Mart which concludes with Homer saying, "He lied to us through song. I HATE when people do that..." The Street Car Named Desire musical numbers. "Stella can't you hear me yell-a? You put me through hell-a.""Will this bewitching floozy seduce this humble lose-y?" And when Marge utters those famous words, "I have always relied on the kindness of strangers," how the troupe breaks out into a cheerful chorus of, "A stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet." The Cheers theme spoof, "Where liquor in a mug warms you like a hug." Also Troy McClure's musical adaptation of Planet of the Apes. "I hate every ape I see from chimpan-A to chimpan-Z. You'll never make a monkey out of me..."
Thus when Bart and Milhouse go on a Kwik E- Mart all syrup super squishy induced romp through Springfield and Barney mutters, "I don't know where you pixie's came from but I sure do like your magic pixie drink," the spirit of the show comes shining through. The Simpsons has poked fun at many of popular culture's more pompous excesses with a gentleness that is clever yet never mean spirited. To appreciate the effort you have to be able to laugh at a show that spends time having an out of work actor do a musical number on Dr. Zaius or a slick salesman who tries to sell the townsfolk a monorail that has the chief of police singing "The ring came off my pudding can" for no particular reason. The family may be the focus but that isn't what makes the show so special. It's the many bits of rapid satire that fly by so quickly you really have to be paying attention to get it. This CD may not get into my regular rotation but it sure will never be far from the top of the stack of all the rest.
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