wandering the greenwood

I've had an onslaught of assignments this month, I'm almost delirious with the anxiety, so naturally my brain has jumped on a couple of fixations. Because what better time to adopt a new obsession.


SPIRIT PHONE
Almost anyone who has experienced the internet is familiar with Neil Cicierega's work in some capacity — be it through The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny, Bustin, Ariel Needs Legs from the important videos playlist, Two Trucks,  or naturally the Potter Puppet Pals — but most people don't realise it's all by the same man.

But I did.

And then I dug further and discovered that he has three entire albums of mashups that are insane. I mean words cannot express how bonkers these combinations are or the finesse that he pulls them off with. He uses motifs from All Star by Smash Mouth and Wonderwall by Oasis and manipulate them until they're broken shreds of what they used to be, and then mashes up Pop Corn and Let the Bodies Hit The Floor and makes it work?? Not only that but he makes it sound good. My current favourite is Wow Wow, which is Will Smith's Wild West vocals over a synthpop beat. It's so damn catchy. Not only that, but all these albums are available for free download straight off his website.

But I couldn't stop there, I had to give his original music a try. In 2016, under the name of Lemon Demon, he released Spirit Phone in which every song has an X-Files/paranormal undercurrent — a man's whose death becomes more and more creepy & comically absurd; a song from the perspective of an arcade game that makes people go crazy & kills them; a love song from Ronald Reagan — all over 80s synths. The lyrics are so good, I really love the double entendre of writing a song that works with both the surface level and the metaphorical. A song about someone possessed with the idea of building a big tower is both kinda scary & paranormal, and about the futility of the capitalist/neoliberal idea of Progress. And every single song is a killer dance beat.

So Neil Cicierega is a man who exists and makes art (even, in my opinion, good art) but I really think the fact that so few people know about him, even though he's been behind a number of memes, is really interesting. In an era of Instagram Influencers being paid thousands to advertise, and the push of an idea of a personal brand, Neil Cicierega isn't trying to commodify himself. And as an intervert and a commie, I have so much respect for that.


MCELBOYS
Almost in contrast to that, we have the McElroys, whose presence have been pervasive on the internet (at least in the corners that I lurk in) that it's surprising it's taken me this long to catch on. But catch on, I have.

The McElroy brothers started a podcast for bad advice some years ago called My Brother, My Brother, and Me; and since have branched off to have their fingers in many other pies. I'd actually tried to listen to get into MBMBAM before but Justin & Travis have strikingly similar voices, there was no way I could figure it. That was months ago, if not a year or two. On a whim just less than a fortnight ago, I decided to try listening to their D&D podcast, The Adventure Zone and what a slippery slope that is. Since then I've listened to 21 episodes of that, watched their short-lived TV show, listened to a couple of episodes of MBMBAM properly, and listened to The McElroy Brothers Will Be in Trolls World Tour which is honestly some of the best story-telling I've seen in a long time. Because (spoilers) they actually did fucking get roles in Trolls World Two and the journey is so absurd. The hubris. And now I feel like a fool because I actually want to see Trolls World Tour now. I'm sure I won't enjoy anything else in it, but I want to see the conclusion to this story.

Each of the three brothers also run a separate podcast with their respective wives which... blows my mind. How can someone bare to show so much of themselves to the world? Is that not draining? I suppose it's a fill-time job, so they don't have to juggle much else on top of the recordings & editing, but I know I would not be cut-out for it.


Listening to a podcast again has also got me wistfully missing Welcome to Night Vale. I liked it a lot, but I lost momentum and now don't really know where I was up to. Somewhere around ep. 40 I believe. But such a backlog is so intimidating.

It is a common proverb that  'Harry potter is like wine - it gets better the older you get' and god is that true. I think ultimately the reason Harry Potter has been such a successful series and why it did not translate well to film is due to the subtlety of the writing. Very small moments have a large impact on the course of the book, such as the first Care For Magical Creatures lesson wherein Draco offends Buckbeak (who, by the way, can understand English, I feel like this is too often overlooked) sets up the events that lead to the climax or the introduction of and suspicion surrounding the Firebolt and how this adds stress to Hermione's relationship with Ron and Harry, and paranoia about Sirius. In the movie, many of the important character moments must be sacrificed for the plot to be properly set up, thus the characters are flatter, more archetypal and less interesting. Something of them is lost. This is how when in the books Snape literally tries to kill Neville's toad Trevor just because Neville misinterpreted one of his instructions, he is celebrated as a brave character and not an immature and cruel one. Nor is Harry's internal conflict about wanting to rid himself of Dementors but not wanting to let go of his parents voices explored. Nor the cruelty Lupin faced for being gay a werewolf. Nor Hermione's tendency to overwork herself and her gradual shift to a healthier perspective. Not even the recurring theme of forgiveness - Harry and Ron forgiving Hermione for letting McGonagall take the Firebolt and later for defending Crookshanks when they believe he has eaten Scabbers, the emphasis on Snape's immaturity as he prepares to take Sirius to the Dementors for a Kiss and refuses to even hear his defense because of a childhood grudge, Sirius and Remus showing mercy to Pettigrew in not killing him, as well as the two reuniting after twelve years.

I do not hide the fact that I detest the movies, every time the subject comes up I must argue my case extensively. I fear that these books could not possibly be successfully adapted into movies and not just because I adore the books so much and everything else pales in comparison but because when rereading Harry Potter, one finds an extraordinary amount of detail that was overlooked before, now amazing in light of what happens later in the books, and that is not something that has been done in the movies, I doubt it even could. I am, however, optimistic that it would make for an amazing miniseries, if a reboot ever happened. (Think an episode per chapter. That would give sufficient time to embrace the subtleties and detail of such vivid books, like in the famed 1995 BBC miniseries of Pride and Prejudice. At least I can dream.)

Honestly I don't think this book is my favourite. This time around (however slowly I'm getting through them), Chamber of Secrets has been my favourite. It is the perfect horror story and a great sequel. I have found, however, that through PoA, I've rediscovered my love for Lupin. He's always been my favourite Marauder but I've weaned myself of Harry Potter a bit these last few years. It does feel great to be back and t have him back. I was fighting off tears when he resigned.

I have also learnt that Pettigrew was a spy on Voldemort's side for a solid year before he betrayed Lily and James. I have no idea how I missed that all the other times, I thought he'd merely done it because Voldemort tortured him or something. Turns out he was a dickhead the entire time. I'm amazed such a self-serving person was Sorted into Gryffindor, but I suppose he must have begged the hat.

I have also developed a small theory that the weather is notably miserable in Harry's third year because of all the Dementors around Hogwarts at the time. We know very well how quickly they can drain a room of all warmth so I do not imagine it a stretch to suggest such a high number of them in a concentrated area could have an effect on the light and temperature (in short the weather). That would definitely account for the appalling weather they had to play quidditch in.


I can't wait to graduate to the more sophisticated books. I always thought that the books were so much bigger as Harry got older because as he grew up, he noticed more. I've always felt that the older I get the more I understand things. I'm eager to see what else I can learn from this series.