FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana. - Groucho Marx

Tempus nudgit. - Eli (hizzownself)

Time flies when you’re having fun - and even when you’re not. - Elisson

* * * * *
Time flies, indeed: Here it is Friday again already, which means it is time for the Friday Random Ten, my weekly compilation of Musical Miscellany as spewed forth from the iPod d’Elisson.

Not a lot of excitement this weekend - thank Gawd. Tomorrow, as part of our congregation’s normal summer routine in which the inmates are encouraged to take over the asylum in order to give the regular staff a rest, I will be the Acting Rabbi for Shabbat morning services. I will try to resist the temptation to sing Adon Olam (our closing hymn) to the tune of “Roast Beef of Old England.” (Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do it.)

Meanwhile, what’s on the box? Lessee:

1. I Wanna Be Like You - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
   
   
2. Golden Shower of Hits - The Circle Jerks
   
   
3. Too Much Exposition - Urinetown - Original Cast
   
   Officer Lockstock
   Well, hello there. And welcome - to Urinetown! Not the place, of course. The musical. Urinetown “the place” is... well, it’s a place you’ll hear people referring to a lot through the show.
   
   Penny
   You hear the news? They carted Old “So and So” off to Urinetown the other day.
   
   Bobby
   Is that so? What he do?
   
   Penny
   Oh, such and such, I hear.
   
   Bobby
   Well, what do you know. Old “So and So.”
   
   Lockstock
   It’s kind of a mythical place, you understand. A bad place. A place you won’t see until Act Two. And then...? Well, let’s just say it’s filled with symbolism and things like that. But Urinetown “the musical,” well, here we are. Welcome. It takes place in a town like any town... that you might find in a musical. This here’s the first setting for the show. As the sign says, it’s a “public amenity,” meaning public toilet. These people have been waiting for hours to get in. It’s the only amenity they can afford to get into.
   
   Little Sally
   Say, Officer Lockstock, is this where you tell the audience about the water shortage?
   
   Lockstock
   What’s that, Little Sally?
   
   Little Sally
   You know, the water shortage. The hard times. The drought. A shortage so awful that private toilets eventually become unthinkable. A premise so absurd that...
   
   Lockstock
   Whoa, there, Little Sally. Not all at once. They’ll hear more about the water shortage in the next scene.
   
   Little Sally
   Oh, I guess you don’t want to overload them with too much exposition, huh.
   
   Lockstock
   Everything in its time, Little Sally. You’re too young to understand it now, but nothing can kill a show like too much exposition.
   
   Little Sally
   How about bad subject matter?
   
   Lockstock
   Well...
   
   Little Sally
   Or a bad title, even? That could kill a show pretty good.
   
   Lockstock
   Well, Little Sally, suffice it to say that in Urinetown (the musical) everyone has to use public bathrooms in order to take care of their private business. That’s the central conceit of the show!
   
   Better hope your pennies
   Add up to the fee -
   We can’t have you peeing
   For free
   If you do, we’ll catch you
   We, we never fail!
   And we never bother with jail
   
   All
   You’ll get Urinetown!
   Off you’ll go to Urinetown!
   Away with you to Urinetown!
   
   Lockstock
   You won’t need bail
   
   Later on you’ll learn that these “public bathrooms” are controlled by a private company. They keep admission high, generally, so if you’re down on your luck you have to come to a place like this - one of the poorest, filthiest urinals in town.
   
   Little Sally
   And you can’t just go in the bushes either, there’s laws against it.
   
   Lockstock
   That’s right, Little Sally. Harsh laws, too. That’s why Little Sally here’s counting her pennies. Isn’t that so, Little Sally?
   
   Little Sally
   I’m very close, Officer. Only a few pennies away.
   
   Lockstock
   Aren’t we all, Little Sally. Aren’t we all.
   
   (to audience)
   Well, we’ve talked on long enough, I imagine. Enjoy the show. And welcome - to Urinetown (the musical)!
   
   
4. Who Stole My Monkey? - Boozoo Chavis and the Magic Sounds
   
   
5. Inca Roads - Frank Zappa
   
   
6. Barnyard Story - Procol Harum
   
   
7. In Blue Hawaii - Brian Wilson
   
   
8. Children’s Song #6 - Chick Corea and Béla Fleck
   
   
9. Lost in the Flood - Bruce Springsteen
   
   
10. Les Jours Tristes (vocal) - Yann Tiersen
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?

Update: “Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do it.” But sometimes you’ll end up doing it anyway.