Our Own Private Idaho

SeeingTheWholeRoad
CommentVille


There are a lot of reasons to admire, and sometimes be inspired by, the work of Gus Van Zant.

But one of those reasons is probably something you haven't thought about.

And that is the weather.

Specifically, the dank, dreary wetness of the Pacific Northwest that I grew up with and always wanted to escape*.

And yet, in his best work, stuff like 'My Own Private Idaho' and 'Drugstore Cowboy', Van Zant somehow managed to make that weather, and the 'edge of the earth' landscape that goes with it, interesting, cool even.

Which is how I feel about comments.

Now, please don't understand me.

It's not the comments that I find dank or dreary.

Quite the opposite actually.

Because quite often the best comments help you see your own wet-blanket posts in new and interesting ways.

Take my ruminations on Billy Joel's 'Piano Man' from a few days ago. I wrote the post in a fit of weird, languid melancholy very late on a Saturday night, with my wife away, and my kids tucked away in bed.

And then, suddenly, the very next day there was a jocular comment from our good friend Jim Bobby that said he was of a mind to turn the catchy little ditty into one of his infamous political satire songs.

And it turns out he has done so, to hilarious effect.

It's about Mr. Stephen Harper and it's called......

'Sing Us a Song, You're The Enviro-Man'

Go have a listen - it's way, way, way more than fantastic.

Bizarre how inspiration can come from the strangest of places, when you least expect it.


_
*And I did for a few years, but that is a whole other story.

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