#Bohemian National Polka

[it-happened-one-fic]

Polka - Fireproof - Strictly NRC Dancing

Author Notes: I never knew until know, but Polka's are actually quite fascinating and even have there own vocabulary verbs that pertain to the action of dancing the Polka. This was written to “Feuerfest! Polka francaise, Op. 269” by Joseph Strauss and the dance was inspired by the Bohemian National Polka which is danced in a ring with multiple people. A 2019 performance of this classic dance can be seen on Youtube. The performance took place in Ufa, Russia. Just like the rest of this AU/series the reader is female for this fic. I hope you enjoy!

If you would like to read more this AU/series, the fics can be found here: Strictly NRC Dancing AU Master-List

Type: Dance AU/ female reader/ fluff/ can be taken as platonic or romantic

Word count: 1294

I joined Idia in the middle of our makeshift ballroom, taking up my spot next to him before glancing his way. He already looked nervous in the impressive ring of students that made up our polka group. 

Across the ring from us stood Trey and Ace, both of whom waved at me. Ace throwing me a thumbs up from across the room, that Trey seemed to very strongly doubt. 

Even during the practice session, there had been some very… Interesting motions coming from Ace.

At the very least, polkaing with them ought to be amusing.

Not as amusing as watching the two leaders of the polka ring, who were intended to keep everyone in time, would be though. 

Sam and Trein both stood at the forefront of our ring. The older of the two already looking considerably more unhappy with his situation than his partner.

Normally, a polka wouldn’t have leaders. But Crewel and Trein had both already stated that, after practice, they could stand no more of people stomping their feet off beat, and since no one could seem to stay in time with each other, our polka would receive a leader pair. Sam and Trein just ended up being the lucky, or perhaps unlucky, duo.

Judging from their positions, Sam was going to be the follower in this sequence, which somehow made the situation all the more delightful. The very thought of Sam getting to sashay daintily around the history teacher was enough to put a smile on my face.

I leaned over, whispering quietly to Idia, “You and Ortho did practice the Bohemian National Polka, right?”

Yellow eyes snapped over to me, and for a brief second, there was only mild annoyance on Idia’s face rather than the anxiety that a crowd such as this and performing typically brought him, “Of course we did.”

He twisted to face me and inclined his head like a perfect gentleman as the music began, and I curtsied in response as he continued to whisper his words to me, “Now pipe down before someone hears you. Ortho downloading your motions and practicing with me definitely counts as cheating.”

I fought the urge to make a face at him as we began to skip forward step by step, “You’re the one who said ‘cheating,’ not me.”

It was almost funny to begin twisting along our considerably large circle. Changing into an odd half-open, half-closed position where he had one hand on my back with the other on his hip, we began to swirl around the floor, occasionally dipping into the middle of our ring and then back out right back out as the entire group polkaed around and around like an odd little carousel. 

Idia was painfully awkward the whole time, muttering what seemed to be the steps we were doing to himself even as we were dancing. No doubt in an attempt to both calm and distract himself from the group that we danced with and the crowd that watched us via recitation. 

But even with his nerves, Idia had thus far managed to time each foot stomp perfectly, which was more than I could say for a large number of the other leads.

Idia wasn’t the only one I felt bad for though. After all, there were also Trey and Trein. 

Trey, who was stuck with Ace, was having to do his very best to ignore whatever it was that the red-haired first year was doing.

 Trein, on the other hand, was having to put up with the all-too-pleased-looking Sam, who I could tell, even from a distance, was persistently harassing the older teacher.

My view of the other couples was broken when I was released to twirl freely, with Idia mirroring my motions perfectly. When I completed my twirl and was facing him once more, I was able to confirm that yes, this poor awkward boy was indeed mouthing the steps of the polka to himself.

“Idia,” I whispered his name, as the music’s tempo greatly increased and strange bell-like chimes filtered their way into the tune. From the way his eyes darted to my face in a questioning fashion, I got the distinct feeling he’d barely heard me, despite our close proximity, which, now that I thought about it, probably wasn't helping with his nerves. 

I had to do something. He was going to end up going into a full-blown panic attack at this rate if I didn’t.

And what better way to distract someone than by teasing? At the very least, I knew the flighty housewarden of Ignihyde could handle that, “Don’t you think it’s kind of funny we're dancing to a song called Feuerfest?”

The confusion on his face was obvious as he released his hold on me and put his hands on his hips, lightly stepping forward as I danced backwards with my hands out and flat at my sides like I was acting coy. A single glance to the side showed a very done-looking Trein and an absolutely elated Sam.

“It’s German for fire-proof Idia,” My comment came when we swept back into hold and began polkaing once more.

His eyes widened as he spun me around, causing my skirt to swing wildly out to the side simply due to the sheer speed of our motions. I’d successfully gotten his attention off our fellow dancers, though. 

“I shouldn’t have taken this class… It’s like a whole huge joke directed solely at me,” I cringed in sympathy because I knew exactly what he was talking about. Especially since I was the one that brought it up.

 His swathe of fiery blue hair that was currently pulled back in a style not unlike what he wore during the ghost bride fiasco was definitely an interesting match for our song.

Idia released me, skipping sideways into the center as I went the other way. We met back up in the middle, with him beginning to clap as I twirled to the beat and calmly continued to speak to him, “I don’t know, I think it’s kind of fun.”

I grinned at him as we skipped back away from one another, “It’s not everyday I get to dance with you. And Ortho is so enjoying filming us.”

The lament in Idia’s voice was clear when he responded as he began walking alongside me as I spun freely with him clapping  as he followed along behind me yet again, “I told him not to film this….”

I let myself laugh as Idia was forced to rapidly kneel, perfectly matching Trein’s timing, so I could skip gaily around him, “Embarrassed?”

He stood, accepting me back into hold as he all but scowled at me. Totally at odds with the cheerful music and dancing, “More like mortified, dancing isn’t my thing. Especially not social dancing….”

I couldn’t keep the grin off my face as we re-entered the far calmer section of the dancing, with us just skipping in a simple little ring along with everyone else, “But I thought you held the high score on Boogie Boogie Riot?”

Idia’s mouth twitched into the wide grin of his as he led me into the center of our ring, stomped his foot, and marched me back out, “That’s a little different, Y/n.”

“But maybe it’s why you’re so good at timing those stomps,” My comment was accentuated by yet another resounding foot stomp that was belatedly echoed throughout the room.

He stayed silent this time, but I could still see the slight smirk on his face. 

If nothing else I’d learned that pretty much everyone in this school liked to be praised. And that included the socially anxious hermit who was surprisingly good at dancing, that was Idia.

Luckily, that dancing prowess showed in his passing grade.

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[inbarfink]

List of which songs are included on each Polka under the cut

Polkas on 45: "Jocko Homo" by Devo, "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple, "Sex (I'm a …)" by Berlin, "Hey Jude" by The Beatles, "L.A. Woman" by the Doors, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly, "Hey Joe" by Jimi Hendrix, "Burning Down the House" by Talking Heads, "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner, "Every Breath You Take" by The Police, "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by the Clash, "Jumpin' Jack Flash" by the Rolling Stones, "My Generation" by the Who

Hooked on Polkas: "Twelfth Street Rag" by Euday L. Bowman, "State of Shock" by The Jacksons and Mick Jagger, "Sharp Dressed Man" by ZZ Top, "What's Love Got to Do with It" by Tina Turner, "Method of Modern Love" by Hall & Oates, "Owner of a Lonely Heart" by Yes, "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister, "99 Luftballons" by Nena, "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins, "The Reflex" by Duran Duran, "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)" by Quiet Riot, "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood

Polka Party!: "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel, "Sussudio" by Phil Collins, "Party All the Time" by Eddie Murphy, "Say You, Say Me" by Lionel Richie, "Freeway of Love" by Aretha Franklin, "What You Need" by INXS, "Harlem Shuffle" by The Rolling Stones, "Venus" by Bananarama, "Nasty" by Janet Jackson, "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco, "Shout" by Tears for Fears, "Papa Don't Preach" by Madonna

The Hot Rocks Polka: "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)", "Brown Sugar", "You Can't Always Get What You Want", "Honky Tonk Women", "Under My Thumb", "Ruby Tuesday", "Miss You", "Sympathy for the Devil", "Get Off of My Cloud", "Shattered", "Let's Spend the Night Together", "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" - all by The Rolling Stones

Polka Your Eyes Out: "Cradle of Love" by Billy Idol, "Tom's Diner" by DNA featuring Suzanne Vega, "Love Shack" by the B-52's, "Pump Up the Jam" by Technotronic, "Losing My Religion" by R.E.M., "Unbelievable" by EMF, "Do Me!" by Bell Biv DeVoe, "Enter Sandman" by Metallica, "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground, "Cherry Pie" by Warrant, "Miss You Much" by Janet Jackson, "I Touch Myself" by Divinyls, "Dr. Feelgood" by Mötley Crüe, "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice

Bohemian Polka: "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen

The Alternative Polka: "Loser" by Beck, "Sex Type Thing" by Stone Temple Pilots, "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow, "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails, "Bang and Blame" by R.E.M., "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette, "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" by The Smashing Pumpkins, "My Friends" by Red Hot Chili Peppers, "I'll Stick Around" by Foo Fighters, "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden, "Basket Case" by Green Day

Polka Power!: "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls, "Flagpole Sitta" by Harvey Danger, "Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)" by Pras featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard and Mýa, "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" by the Backstreet Boys, "Walkin' on the Sun" by Smash Mouth, "Intergalactic" by the Beastie Boys, "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba, "Ray of Light" by Madonna, "Push" by Matchbox Twenty, "Semi-Charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind, "The Dope Show" by Marilyn Manson, "MMMBop" by Hanson, "Sex and Candy" by Marcy Playground, "Closing Time" by Semisonic

Angry White Boy Polka: "Last Resort" by Papa Roach, "Chop Suey!" by System of a Down, "Get Free" by The Vines, "Hate to Say I Told You So" by The Hives, "Fell in Love with a Girl" by The White Stripes, "Last Nite" by The Strokes, "Down with the Sickness" by Disturbed, "Renegades of Funk" by Rage Against the Machine, "My Way" by Limp Bizkit, "Outside" by Staind, "Bawitdaba" by Kid Rock, "Youth of the Nation" by P.O.D., "The Real Slim Shady" by Eminem

Polkarama!: "Chicken Dance" by Werner Thomas, "Let's Get It Started" by Black Eyed Peas, "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand, "Beverly Hills" by Weezer, "Speed of Sound" by Coldplay, "Float On" by Modest Mouse, "Feel Good Inc." by Gorillaz featuring De La Soul, "Don't Cha" by The Pussycat Dolls featuring Busta Rhymes, "Somebody Told Me" by The Killers, "Slither" by Velvet Revolver, "Candy Shop" by 50 Cent featuring Olivia, "Drop It Like It's Hot" by Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell Williams, "Pon de Replay" by Rihanna, "Gold Digger" by Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx

Polka Face: "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga, "Womanizer" by Britney Spears, "Right Round" by Flo Rida ft. Kesha, "Day 'n' Nite" by Kid Cudi, "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum, "Baby" by Justin Bieber ft. Ludacris, "So What" by Pink, "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry, "Fireflies" by Owl City, "Blame It" by Jamie Foxx ft. T-Pain, "Replay" by Iyaz, "Down" by Jay Sean ft. Lil Wayne, "Break Your Heart" by Taio Cruz ft. Ludacris, "Tik Tok" by Kesha

NOW That's What I Call Polka!: "Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus, "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People, "Best Song Ever" by One Direction, "Gangnam Style" by Psy, "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen, "Scream & Shout" by will.i.am feat. Britney Spears, "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye feat. Kimbra, "Timber" by Pitbull feat. Kesha, "Sexy and I Know It" by LMFAO, "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz, "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams

[brookston]

Holidays 8.9

Holidays

Battle of Gangut Day (Russia)

Betty Boop Day

Book Lovers Day [also 1st Saturday in Nov.]

Clean Out the Kitchen Cupboards Day

Cranham Feast (Gloucestershire, UK)

Dag der Inheemsen (Indigenous People’s Day; Suriname)

Defense Forces Day (Zimbabwe)

Festival for Sol (Ancient Rome)

Frank Zappa Day (Baltimore)

Indigenous People’s Day (Suriname)

International Art Appreciation Day

International Coworking Day

International Day of the World's Indigenous People (UN)

International Sundance (Lakota; Manitoba, Canada)

Jesse Owens Day

Laugh At Religion Day

Meyboom (Brussels and Leuven, Belgium)

Moment of Silence Day (Japan)

Nagasaki Day

National Book Lover's Day

National Hand Holding Day

National Polka Day

National Women's Day (South Africa)

Official Air Guitar Day (Kansas City, Missouri)

Quit India Day (India)

Rain of Mussels Day (Germany)

Send An E-mail Day

Smokey the Bear Day

Unicorn Day

Veep Day

Victory Day (Rhode Island) [2nd Monday]

World Baijiu Day

World Tribal Day (Parts of India)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Rice Pudding Day

2nd Tuesday in August

Fox Hill Day (Bahamas) [2nd Tuesday]

Independence Days

Singapore (from Malaysia, 1965)

Feast Days

Ashura, Day 2 (Islamic) [a.k.a. ... 

Ashoora (Parts of India)

Ashura (Bahrain, Bangladesh, Pakistan)

Muharram (Parts of India)

Muharrum (Bangladesh)

Yaum-e-Ashur (Pakistan)

Candida Maria of Jesus (Christian; Saint)

Edith Stein (a.k.a. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross; Christian; Saint)

Fedlimid (a.k.a. Felimy) of Kilmore (Christian; Saint)

Fénélon (Positivist; Saint)

Festival of Sol Indigis (Roman Sun God; Ancient Rome)

Firmus and Rusticus (Christian; Saint)

Herman of Alaska (Russian Orthodox Church and related congregations; Episcopal Church (USA))

Invisible Pixy Swatting Day (Pastafarian)

John Vianney (1950s – currently 8.4; Christian; Saint)

Mary Sumner (Church of England)

Nath Í of Achonry (Christian; Saint)

Remembrance for Radbod, King of the Frisians (Asatru/Norse Pagan/The Troth)

Romanus Ostiarius (Christian; Saint)

Rosencranz & Gilderstern Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Secundian, Marcellian and Verian (Christian; Saint)

Talk to the Invisible Pixies Day (Pastafarian)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Lucky Day (Philippines) [44 of 71]

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

The Abyss (Film; 1989)

Come September (Film; 1961)

Dizzy Dishes, featuring Betty Boop (Fleischer Cartoon; 1930

Escape from L.A. (Film; 1996)

Hot Fun in the Summertime, by Sly and the Family Stone (Song; 1969)

Lovelace (Film; 2013)

Outlander (TV Series; 2014)

Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (Film; 1985)

Pil’s Adventures (Animated Film; 2022)

Ready! Steady! Go! (BBC TV Series; 1963) Reservation Dogs (TV Series; 2021)

Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars, by Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians (Album; 1988)

Walden, by Henry David Thoreau (Short Story; 1854)

XXX (Film; 2002)

Today’s Name Days

Edith (Austria)

Firmin, Roman, Terezija, Tvrtko (Croatia)

Roman (Czech Republic)

Rosmanus (Denmark)

Deboora, Imma, Melita, Mesike (Estonia)

Eira, Erja, Nadja (Finland)

Amour (France)

Altmann, Edith, Roman (Germany)

Triantafilia, Triantafilos Triantafyllos (Greece)

Emőd (Hungary)

Fermo, Maria, Romano, Rustico (Italy)

Ģedimins, Genoveva, Madara, Tautgodis (Latvia)

Mintartas, Rolandas, Romanas, Tarvilė (Lithuania)

Ronald, Ronny (Norway)

Jan, Klarysa, Miłorad, Roland, Roman, Romuald (Poland)

Ľubomíra (Slovakia)

Román, Teresa (Spain)

Roland (Sweden)

Mark, Markian (Ukraine)

Felim, Ledell, Phelan, Phelim, Phelps (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 221 of 2022; 144 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of week 32 of 2022

Celtic Tree Calendar: Coll (Hazel) [Day 4 of 28]

Chinese: Month 7 (Lányuè), Day 12 (Jia-Wu)

Chinese Year of the: Tiger (until January 22, 2023)

Hebrew: 12 Av 5782

Islamic: 11 Muharram 1444

J Cal: 11 Hasa; Threesday [11 of 30]

Julian: 27 July 2022

Moon: 91% Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 25 Dante (8th Month) [Fénélon]

Runic Half Month: Thorn (Defense) [Day 14 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 50 of 90)

Zodiac: Leo (Day 18 of 31)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 8.9

Holidays

Battle of Gangut Day (Russia)

Betty Boop Day

Book Lovers Day [also 1st Saturday in Nov.]

Clean Out the Kitchen Cupboards Day

Cranham Feast (Gloucestershire, UK)

Dag der Inheemsen (Indigenous People’s Day; Suriname)

Defense Forces Day (Zimbabwe)

Festival for Sol (Ancient Rome)

Frank Zappa Day (Baltimore)

Indigenous People’s Day (Suriname)

International Art Appreciation Day

International Coworking Day

International Day of the World's Indigenous People (UN)

International Sundance (Lakota; Manitoba, Canada)

Jesse Owens Day

Laugh At Religion Day

Meyboom (Brussels and Leuven, Belgium)

Moment of Silence Day (Japan)

Nagasaki Day

National Book Lover's Day

National Hand Holding Day

National Polka Day

National Women's Day (South Africa)

Official Air Guitar Day (Kansas City, Missouri)

Quit India Day (India)

Rain of Mussels Day (Germany)

Send An E-mail Day

Smokey the Bear Day

Unicorn Day

Veep Day

Victory Day (Rhode Island) [2nd Monday]

World Baijiu Day

World Tribal Day (Parts of India)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Rice Pudding Day

2nd Tuesday in August

Fox Hill Day (Bahamas) [2nd Tuesday]

Independence Days

Singapore (from Malaysia, 1965)

Feast Days

Ashura, Day 2 (Islamic) [a.k.a. ... 

Ashoora (Parts of India)

Ashura (Bahrain, Bangladesh, Pakistan)

Muharram (Parts of India)

Muharrum (Bangladesh)

Yaum-e-Ashur (Pakistan)

Candida Maria of Jesus (Christian; Saint)

Edith Stein (a.k.a. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross; Christian; Saint)

Fedlimid (a.k.a. Felimy) of Kilmore (Christian; Saint)

Fénélon (Positivist; Saint)

Festival of Sol Indigis (Roman Sun God; Ancient Rome)

Firmus and Rusticus (Christian; Saint)

Herman of Alaska (Russian Orthodox Church and related congregations; Episcopal Church (USA))

Invisible Pixy Swatting Day (Pastafarian)

John Vianney (1950s – currently 8.4; Christian; Saint)

Mary Sumner (Church of England)

Nath Í of Achonry (Christian; Saint)

Remembrance for Radbod, King of the Frisians (Asatru/Norse Pagan/The Troth)

Romanus Ostiarius (Christian; Saint)

Rosencranz & Gilderstern Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Secundian, Marcellian and Verian (Christian; Saint)

Talk to the Invisible Pixies Day (Pastafarian)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Lucky Day (Philippines) [44 of 71]

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

The Abyss (Film; 1989)

Come September (Film; 1961)

Dizzy Dishes, featuring Betty Boop (Fleischer Cartoon; 1930

Escape from L.A. (Film; 1996)

Hot Fun in the Summertime, by Sly and the Family Stone (Song; 1969)

Lovelace (Film; 2013)

Outlander (TV Series; 2014)

Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (Film; 1985)

Pil’s Adventures (Animated Film; 2022)

Ready! Steady! Go! (BBC TV Series; 1963) Reservation Dogs (TV Series; 2021)

Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars, by Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians (Album; 1988)

Walden, by Henry David Thoreau (Short Story; 1854)

XXX (Film; 2002)

Today’s Name Days

Edith (Austria)

Firmin, Roman, Terezija, Tvrtko (Croatia)

Roman (Czech Republic)

Rosmanus (Denmark)

Deboora, Imma, Melita, Mesike (Estonia)

Eira, Erja, Nadja (Finland)

Amour (France)

Altmann, Edith, Roman (Germany)

Triantafilia, Triantafilos Triantafyllos (Greece)

Emőd (Hungary)

Fermo, Maria, Romano, Rustico (Italy)

Ģedimins, Genoveva, Madara, Tautgodis (Latvia)

Mintartas, Rolandas, Romanas, Tarvilė (Lithuania)

Ronald, Ronny (Norway)

Jan, Klarysa, Miłorad, Roland, Roman, Romuald (Poland)

Ľubomíra (Slovakia)

Román, Teresa (Spain)

Roland (Sweden)

Mark, Markian (Ukraine)

Felim, Ledell, Phelan, Phelim, Phelps (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 221 of 2022; 144 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of week 32 of 2022

Celtic Tree Calendar: Coll (Hazel) [Day 4 of 28]

Chinese: Month 7 (Lányuè), Day 12 (Jia-Wu)

Chinese Year of the: Tiger (until January 22, 2023)

Hebrew: 12 Av 5782

Islamic: 11 Muharram 1444

J Cal: 11 Hasa; Threesday [11 of 30]

Julian: 27 July 2022

Moon: 91% Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 25 Dante (8th Month) [Fénélon]

Runic Half Month: Thorn (Defense) [Day 14 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 50 of 90)

Zodiac: Leo (Day 18 of 31)

[ladydarklord]

The Mighty Boosh on the business of being silly

The Times, November 15 2008

What began as a cult cocktail of daft poems, surreal characters and fantastical storylines has turned into the comedy juggernaut that is the Mighty Boosh. Janice Turner hangs out with creators Noel Fielding, Julian Barratt and the extended Boosh family to discuss the serious business of being silly

In the thin drizzle of a Monday night in Sheffield, a crowd of young women are waiting for the Mighty Boosh or, more precisely, one half of it. Big-boned Yorkshire lasses, jacketless and unshivering despite the autumn nip, they look ready to devour the object of their desire, the fey, androgynous Noel Fielding, if he puts a lamé boot outside the stage door. “Ooh, I do love a man in eyeliner,” sighs Natalie from Rotherham. She’ll be throwing sickies at work to see the Boosh show 13 times on their tour, plus attend the Boosh after-show parties and Boosh book signings. “My life is dead dull without them,” she says.

Nearby, mobiles primed, a pair of sixth-formers trade favourite Boosh lines. “What is your name?” asks Jessica. “I go by many names, sir,” Victoria replies portentously. A prison warden called Davena survives long days with high-security villains intoning, “It’s an outrage!” in the gravelly voice of Boosh character Tony Harrison, a being whose head is a testicle.

Apart from Fielding, what they all love most about the Boosh is that half their mates don’t get it. They see a bloke in a gorilla suit, a shaman called Naboo, silly rhymes about soup, stories involving shipwrecked men seducing coconuts “and they’re like, ‘This is bloody rubbish,’” says Jessica. “So you feel special because you do get it. You’re part of a club.”

Except the Mighty Boosh club is now more like a movement. What began as an Edinburgh fringe show starring Fielding and his partner Julian Barratt and later became an obscure BBC3 series has grown into a box-set flogging, mega-merchandising, 80-date touring Boosh inc. There was a Boosh festival last summer, now talk of a Boosh movie and Boosh in America. An impasse seems to have been reached: either the Boosh will expand globally or, like other mass comedy cults before it – Vic and Bob, Newman and Baddiel – slowly begin to deflate.

But for the moment, the fans still wait in the rain for heroes who’ve already left the building. I find the Boosh gang gathered in their hotel bar, high on post-gig adrenalin. Barratt, blokishly handsome with his ring-master moustache, if a tad paunchy these days, blends in with the crew. But Fielding is never truly “off”. All day he has been channelling A Clockwork Orange in thick black eyeliner (now smudged into panda rings) and a bowler hat, which he wears with polka-dot leggings, gold boots and a long, neon-green fur-collared PVC trenchcoat. He has, as those women outside put it, “something about him”: a carefully-wrought rock-god danger mixed with an amiable sweetness. Sexy yet approachable. Which is why, perched on a barstool, is a great slab of security called Danny.

“He stops people getting in our faces,” says Fielding. “He does massive stars like P. Diddy and Madonna and he says that considering how we’re viewed in the media as a cult phenomenon, we get much more attention in the street than, say, Girls Aloud. Danny says we’re on the same level as Russell Brand, who can’t walk from the door to the car without ten people speaking to him.”

This barometer of fame appears to fascinate and thrill Fielding. Although he complains he can’t eat dinner with his girlfriend (Dee Plume from the band Robots in Disguise) unmolested, he parties hard and publicly with paparazzi-magnets like Courtney Love and Amy Winehouse. He claims he’s tried wearing a baseball cap but fans still recognise him. Hearing this, Julian Barratt smiles wryly: “Noel is never going to dress down.”

It is clear on meeting them that their Boosh characters Vince Noir (Fielding), the narcissistic extrovert, and Howard Moon (Barratt), the serious, socially awkward jazz obsessive, are comic exaggerations of their own personalities. At the afternoon photo shoot, Fielding breaks free of the hair and make-up lady, sprays most of a can of Elnett on to his Bolan feather-cut and teases it to his satisfaction. Very Vince. “It is an art-life crossover,” says Barratt.

At 40, five years older than Fielding, Barratt exhibits the profound weariness of a man trying to balance a five-month national tour with new-fatherhood. After every Saturday night show he returns home to his 18-month-old twins, Arthur and Walter, and his partner Julia Davis (the creator-star of Nighty Night) and today he was up at 5am pushing a pram on Hampstead Heath before taking the train north to rejoin the Boosh. “I go back so the boys remember who I am. But it’s harder to leave them every time,” he says. “It is totally schizophrenic, totally opposite mental states: all this self-obsession and then them.”

About two nights a week on tour, Fielding doesn’t go to bed, parties through the night and performs the next evening having not slept at all. Barratt often retreats to his room to plough through box sets of The Wire. “It’s a bit gritty, but that is in itself an escape, because what we do is so fantastical.”

But mostly it is hard to resist the instant party provided by a large cast, crew and band. Indeed, drinking with them, it appears Fielding and Barratt are but the most famous members of a close collective of artists, musicians and old mates. Fielding’s brother Michael, who previously worked in a bowling alley, plays Naboo the shaman. “He is late every single day,” complains Noel. “He’s mad and useless, but I’m quite protective of him, quite parental.” Michael is always arguing with Bollo the gorilla, aka Fielding’s best mate, Dave Brown, a graphic artist relieved to remove his costume – “It’s so hot in there I fear I may never father children” – to design the Boosh book. One of the lighting crew worked as male nanny to Barratt’s twins and was in Michael’s class at school: “The first time I met you,” he says to Noel, “you gave me a dead arm.” “You were 9,” Fielding replies. “And you were messing with my stuff.”

This gang aren’t hangers-on but the wellspring of the Boosh’s originality and its strange, homespun, degree-show aesthetic: a character called Mr Susan is made out of chamois leathers, the Hitcher has a giant Polo Mint for an eye. When they need a tour poster they ignore the promoter’s suggestions and call in their old mate, Nige.

Fielding and Barratt met ten years ago at a comedy night in a North London pub. The former had just left Croydon Art College, the latter had dropped out of an American Studies degree at Reading to try stand-up, although he was so terrified at his first gig that he ran off stage and had to be dragged back by the compere.

While superficially different, their childhoods have a common theme: both had artistic, bohemian parents who exercised benign neglect. Fielding’s folks were only 17 when he was born: “They were just kids really. Hippies. Though more into Black Sabbath and Led Zep. There were lots of parties and crazy times. They loved dressing up. And there was a big gap between me and my brother – about nine years – so I was an only child for a long time, hanging out with them, lots of weird stuff going on.

“The great thing about my mum and dad is they let me do anything I wanted as a kid as long as I wasn’t misbehaving. I could eat and go to bed when I liked. I used to spend a lot of time drawing and painting and reading. In my own world, I guess.”

Growing up in Mitcham, South London, his father was a postmaster, while his mother now works for the Home Office. Work was merely the means to fund a good time. “When your dad is into David Bowie, how do you rebel against that? You can’t really. They come to all the gigs. They’ve been in America for the past three weeks. I’m ringing my mum really excited because we’re hanging out with Jim Sheridan, who directed In the Name of the Father, and the Edge from U2, and she said, ‘We’re hanging with Jack White,’ whom they met through a friend of mine. Trumped again!”

Barratt’s father was a Leeds art teacher, his mother an artist later turned businesswoman. “Dad was a bit more strict and academic. Mum would let me do anything I wanted, didn’t mind whether I went to school.” Through his father he became obsessed with Monty Python, went to jazz and Spike Milligan gigs, learnt about sex from his dad’s leatherbound volumes of Penthouse.

Barratt joined bands and assumed he would become a musician (he does all the Boosh’s musical arrangements); Fielding hoped to become an artist (he designed the Boosh book cover and throughout our interview sketches obsessively). Instead they threw their talents into comedy. Barratt: “It is a great means of getting your ideas over instantly.” Fielding: “Yes, it is quite punk in that way.”

Their 1998 Edinburgh Fringe show called The Mighty Boosh was named, obscurely, after a friend’s description of Michael Fielding’s huge childhood Afro: “A mighty bush.” While their double-act banter has an old-fashioned dynamic, redolent of Morecambe and Wise, the show threw in weird characters and a fantasy storyline in which they played a pair of zookeepers. They are very serious about their influences. “Magritte, Rousseau...” says Fielding. “I like Rousseau’s made-up worlds: his jungle has all the things you’d want in a jungle, even though he’d never been in one so it was an imaginary place.”

Eclectic, weird and, crucially, unprepared to compromise their aesthetic sensibilities, it was 2004 before, championed by Steve Coogan’s Baby Cow production company, their first series aired on BBC3. Through repeats and DVD sales the second series, in which the pair have left the zoo and are living above Naboo’s shop, found a bigger audience. Last year the first episode of series three had one million viewers. But perhaps the Boosh’s true breakthrough into mainstream came in June when George Bush visited Belfast and a child presented him with a plant labelled “The Mighty Bush”. Assuming it was a tribute to his greatness, the president proudly displayed it for the cameras, while the rest of Britain tittered.

A Boosh audience these days is quite a mix. In Sheffield the front row is rammed with teenage indie girls, heavy on the eyeliner, who fancy Fielding. But there are children, too: my own sons can recite whole “crimps” (the Boosh’s silly, very English version of rap) word for word. And there are older, respectable types who, when I interview them, all apologise for having such boring jobs. They’re accountants, IT workers, human resources officers and civil servants. But probe deeper and you find ten years ago they excelled at art A level or played in a band, and now puzzle how their lives turned out so square. For them, the Boosh embody their former dreams. And their DIY comedy, shambolic air, the slightly crap costumes, the melding of fantasy with the everyday, feels like something they could still knock up at home.

Indeed, many fans come to gigs in costume. At the Mighty Boosh Festival 15,000 people came dressed up to watch bands and absurdity in a Kent field. And in Sheffield I meet a father-and-son combo dressed as Howard Moon and Bob Fossil – general manager of the zoo – plus a gang of thirty-something parents elaborately attired as Crack Fox, Spirit of Jazz, a granny called Nanageddon, and Amy Housemouse. “I love the Boosh because it’s total escapism,” says Laura Hargreaves, an employment manager dressed as an Electro Fairy. “It’s not all perfect and people these days worry too much that things aren’t perfect. It’s just pure fun.”

But how to retain that appealingly amateur art-school quality now that the Boosh is a mega comedy brand? Noel Fielding is adamant that they haven’t grown cynical, that The Mighty Book of Boosh was a long-term project, not a money-spinner chucked out for Christmas: “There is a lot of heart in what we do,” he says. Barratt adds: “It’s been hard this year to do everything we’ve wanted, to a standard we’re proud of... Which is why we’re worn to shreds.”

Comedy is most powerful in intimate spaces, but the Boosh show, with its huge set, requires major venues. “We’ve lost money every day on the tour,” says Fielding. “The crew and the props and what it costs to take them on the road – it’s ridiculous. Small gigs would lose millions of pounds.”

The live show is a kind of Mighty Boosh panto, with old favourites – Bob Fossil, Bollo, Tony Harrison, etc – coming on to cheers of recognition. But it lacks the escapism to the perfectly conceived world of the TV show. They have told the BBC they don’t want a fourth series: they want a movie. They would also, as with Little Britain USA, like a crack at the States, where they run on BBC America. Clearly the Boosh needs to keep evolving or it will die.

Already other artists are telling Fielding and Barratt to make their money now: “They say this is our time, which is quite frightening.” I recall Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, who dominated the Nineties with Big Night Out and Shooting Stars. “Yes, they were massive,” says Fielding. “A number one record...” And now Reeves presents Brainiac. “If you have longer-term goals, it’s not scary,” says Barratt. “To me, I’m heading somewhere else – to direct, make films, write stuff – and at the moment it’s all gone mental. I’m sort of enjoying this as an outsider. It was Noel who had this desire to reach more people.”

Indeed, the old cliché that comedy is the new rock’n’roll is closest to being realised in Noel Fielding. Watching him perform the thrash metal numbers in the Boosh live show, he is half ironic comic performer, half frustrated rock god. His heroes weren’t comics but androgynous musicians: Jagger, Bowie, Syd Barrett. (Although he liked Peter Cook’s style and looks.)

“I like clothes and make-up, I like the transformation,” he says. Does it puzzle him that women find this so sexually attractive? “I was reading a book the other day about the New York Dolls and David Johansen was saying that none of them were gay or even bisexual, and that when they started dressing in stilettos and leather pants, women got it straight away with no explanation. But a lot of men had problems. It’s one of those strange things. A man will go, ‘You f***ing queer.’ And you just think, ‘Well, your girlfriend fancies me.’”

The Boosh stopped signing autographs outside stage doors when it started taking two hours a night. At recent book signings up to 1,500 people have shown up, some sleeping overnight in the queue. And on this tour, the Boosh took control of the after-show parties, once run as money-spinners by the promoters, and now show up in person to do DJ slots. I ask if they like to meet their fans, and they laugh nervously.

Fielding: “We have to be behind a fence.”

Barratt: “They try to rip your clothes off your body.”

Fielding: “The other day my girlfriend gave me this ring. And, doing the rock numbers at the end, I held out my hands and the crowd just ripped it off.”

Barratt: “I see it as a thing which is going to go away. A moment when people are really excited about you. And it can’t last.”

He recalls a man in York grabbing him for a photo, saying, “I’d love to be you, it must be so amazing.” And Barratt says he thought, “Yes, it is. But all the while I was trying to duck into this doorway to avoid the next person.” He’s trying to enjoy the Boosh’s moment, knows it will pass, but all the same?

In the hotel bar, a young woman fan has dodged past Danny and comes brazenly over to Fielding. Head cocked attentively like a glossy bird, he chats, signs various items, submits to photos, speaks to her mate on her phone. The rest of the Boosh crew eye her steelily. They know how it will end. “You have five minutes then you go,” hisses one. “I feel really stupid now,” says the girl. It is hard not to squirm at the awful obeisance of fandom. But still she milks the encounter, demands Fielding come outside to meet her friend. When he demurs she is outraged, and Danny intercedes. Fielding returns to his seat slightly unsettled. “What more does she want?” he mutters, reaching for his wine glass. “A skin sample?”

[stitchlingbelle]

Tagged by @woodelflady 

Current top three ships:

Oooh, I’m a terrible shipper. I’m a hopeless romantic but I never really learned to ship? I just kinda go with whatever the book does, unless it actually sucks enough to break me out of the story. 

1. Belle and Beast/ Prince from Beauty and the Beast, just because it’s the story of my heart.

2. ...is it cheating to just put other BatB versions down here? Or Robin McKinley’s other characters? (Let’s be real, everything she writes is secretly BatB in a trenchcoat.) (It’s why I love her.) (Chalice is one of the best books ever.)

Last Song I listened to: 

Feuerfest Polka by Strauss. Someday I WILL learn to dance the Bohemian National Polka if it kills me.

Last movie I watched:

Fellowship of the Ring, Two Towers, and Return of the King, actually, because I just introduced my ten year old to LOTR and now she is OBSESSED. Like, she embroidered her name in Quenya, I am making her a Legolas costume, she’s making Orc targets to shoot in the backyard with her toy arrows, we baked lembas bread, obsessed.

Currently reading:

I used to be one of those people who only read one thing at a time... Now I’m reading my kid LOTR, the Murderbot books, and The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. For myself, I just reread the Earth Girl and Queen’s Thief books again, I’m starting Robopocolypse, Binti, and Trail of Lightning, and a friend just randomly sent me a book in the mail that I’m sure I’ll get to. Nonfiction, I’m reading Spacefaring: The Human Dimension. Look, it’s coronavirus and I have no attention span anymore, ok?

Craving:

Solitude, honestly. I know lockdown has most people missing others but I mostly miss having the house completely to myself for an hour or two.

[kuchenprince]

APH Czech Pokemon Team

Info from:

Wikipedia

Geography Now

Bulbapedia

Hetalia Archives

The Czech Republic it’s a country in central Europe. The country has only 4 national parks, however with what nature zones they have, they stand out, and Narnia was filmed there! (Btw, I love Narnia; just a random fact about me).

Talking about Narnia, the most iconic symbol of this novel it’s Aslan, the Great Lion.

Her profile describes her as "serious, patient, and very hard-working" She plans her every move beforehand, and in her first appearance refers to independence from Austria-Hungary as a "starting line" and not a "goal". Beside that Slovakia describes her as having a "haughty" attitude, I think she kinda resembles like a lion tho.

And speaking about lions, its coat of arms has a White Double Tailed Lion on it.

Yeah, Solgaleo it’s in Greece Team too, but meh.

Also, Solgaleo’s mane has like ridges in each tuft, that kinda reminds me of the bohemian glass.

The bohemian glass, or bohemia crystal, is a glass produced in the regions of Bohemia and Silesia. It has a centuries long history of being internationally recognised for its high quality, craftsmanship, beauty and often innovative designs.

I don’t know about a pokemon that it’s based on glass or crystals, but I remembered about the Crystal Onix that appeared in the anime whose body is made out of glass crystal.

Also, the normal Onix reminds me how Czechia is shaped like a bowl, encased by mountains on all sides, that historically formed a natural border, and this makes the country a perfect drainage basin for various rivers.

I saw in Geography Now video that the favorite pastime for many czech families is going “mushrooming”, where they go out for hikes and pick wild edible mushrooms to eat at home.

I choose Breloom and not Foongus, beside that they both are mushroom pokemons, because the last one is poison type pokemon.

The polka is originally a Czech dance and genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas.

Polka remains a popular folk music genre in many European countries. The term polka possibly comes from the Czech word "půlka" ("half"), referring to the short half-steps featured in the dance. František Doucha (1840, Květy, p. 400) says that "polka" was supposed to mean "dance in half" ("tanec na polo", notice the absence of diacritics), referring to the half-tempo and the half-jump step of the dance.

I searched for dance moves in Pokemon, and I found the Teeter Dance, that in japanese is フラフラダンス  or Dizzy Dance. And you know what makes you feel dizzy? Alcohol!

Czech is the country that consumes more alcohol than any other country.

[polkadotdsign-blog]

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[serenitysally]

Bohemian National Polka

[seafleece]

me? staying up making playlists for the stranger things kids? it’s more likely than you think

(links for songs not on yt)

Max:

Bohemian Dances- The Dø

Seashore- The Regrettes

The Girl Who Stole My Tamagotchi- Hot Sugar

Dræm Girl- No Vacation

(BedHead)- Jay Som

Side A- Alohaha (4:29 to 7:54)

Mount Moon- You Don’t Know

Chinatown Style- HTRK

So Bad- Robert Schwartzman

Source- Fever The Ghost

Gorillaz- Empire Ants

Palehound- Dry Food

Recently Played- Crumb

Hotel Eden- Nimble Girl

El:

Spooky Couch- Albert Hammond Jr.

Blind Man- M-Phazes

Pale Waves- There’s a Honey

Doppelgänger- The Antlers

Clairo- Pretty Girl

Bilderbuch- Spliff

The Tiny- Closer

Haunt Me (x3)- teen suicide

Wait- m83

Already Gone- Alvvays

Talk a Lot- Sales

Foreign Girls- Bleachers

Dress Down- Kaoru Akimoto

Alice in Wonderland- Take One

Reincarnation of a Lovebird- Charles Mingus

Lover’s Spit- Feist (Broken Social Scene)

Mike:

Peach Pit- Peach Pit

Deep Web- Magic Potion

Too Much Time- John Vanderslice

Chaos Chaos- Do You Feel It?

Glass Animals- Agnes

Six Weeks- Of Monsters and Men

Diplomat’s Son- Vampire Weekend

Please Be Mine- Molly Burch

Sleeping at Last- Mercury

Something on Your Mind- Bastard Mountain

The Antlers- Two

Deadbeat Summer- Neon Indian

I Can See Your Tracks- Laura Veirs

Bloodbuzz Ohio- The National

Will:

Tarzan Boy- Baltimora

Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want- The Smiths

Polka Dot Boy- Camryn Mllo Reid

Video Killed the Radio Star- The Buggles

The First Days of Spring- Noah and the Whale

The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us!- Sufjan Stevens

Wrapped in Piano Strings- Radical Face

Sleeping at Last- Jupiter

One is a Bird- Over The Garden Wall (The Blasting Company)

The Ol’ North Wind- The Blasting Company

Potatoes and Molasses (Reprise)- The Blasting Company

Why Worry- Dire Straits

Sodus- Cemeteries

Ava Luna- PRPL

From the Bavarian Highlands: Lullaby- Edward Elgar

Sound and Color- Alabama Shakes

Dustin:

Hem- Tourniquet

Alaska- Maggie Rogers

The Bully- Richard Swift

Valley of Gardens- Teen Daze

Put a Light On- Generationals

Still Want You- Brandon Flowers

Phonetics- Reptar

1936- Phox

Sleeping at Last- Pluto

Dan Bern- Jerusalem

Jason Webley- Last Song

It Is What It Is- HOW SAD (Blood Orange)

Stan Getz- Desafinado

Until We Get There- Lucius

Lucas:

This Year- The Mountain Goats

No Way- The Naked and Famous

Saintseneca- How Many Blankets are in the World?

Moth’s Wings- Passion Pit

Sweet Disposition- Temper Trap

Young Lion- Vampire Weekend

The Run and Go- twenty one pilots

Sleeping at Last- Uranus

No Vacation- Yam Yam

Milo Greene- Perfectly Aligned

Shearwater- Quiet Americans

Yellow Days- Go Home

Deer- Manchester Orchestra

Lasst Mich Allein- Antonín Dvořák

and their single mom Steve(?):

A Change of Heart- the 1975

Tommy’s Party- Peach Pit

Somebody Else- the 1975

Ways to Go- Grouplove

Lorde- The Love Club

Hot Sugar- Your Nails Look So Pretty

Glass Animals- Season 2 Episode 3

Don’t Take the Money- Bleachers

Yellow Days- A Little While

you suck charlie- joji

Water- Jamaican Queens

[bm2ab]

Arrivals & Departures - 29 April 1933 Celebrate Willie Hugh Nelson Day!

Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actor, producer, author, poet, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger (1975) and Stardust (1978), made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music. He was one of the main figures of outlaw country, a subgenre of country music that developed in the late 1960's as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. Nelson has acted in over 30 films, co-authored several books, and has been involved in activism for the use of biofuels and the legalization of marijuana.

Born during the Great Depression and raised by his grandparents, Nelson wrote his first song at age seven and joined his first band at ten. During high school, he toured locally with the Bohemian Polka as their lead singer and guitar player. After graduating from high school in 1950, he joined the air force but was later discharged due to back problems. After his return, Nelson attended Baylor University for two years but dropped out because he was succeeding in music. During this time, he worked as a disc jockey in Texas radio stations and a singer in honky-tonks. Nelson moved to Vancouver, Washington, where he wrote "Family Bible" and recorded the song "Lumberjack" in 1956. He also worked as a disc jockey at various radio stations in Vancouver and nearby Portland Oregon. In 1958, he moved to Houston, Texas, after signing a contract with D Records. He sang at the Esquire Ballroom weekly and he worked as a disk jockey. During that time, he wrote songs that would become country standards, including "Funny How Time Slips Away", "Hello Walls", "Pretty Paper", and "Crazy". In 1960 he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and later signed a publishing contract with Pamper Music which allowed him to join Ray Price's band as a bassist. In 1962, he recorded his first album, ...And Then I Wrote. Due to this success, Nelson signed in 1964 with RCA Victor and joined the Grand Ole Opry the following year. After mid-chart hits in the late 1960's and the early 1970's, Nelson retired in 1972 and moved to Austin, Texas. The ongoing music scene of Austin motivated Nelson to return from retirement, performing frequently at the Armadillo World Headquarters.

In 1973, after signing with Atlantic Records, Nelson turned to outlaw country, including albums such as Shotgun Willie and Phases and Stages. In 1975, he switched to Columbia Records, where he recorded the critically acclaimed album Red Headed Stranger. The same year, he recorded another outlaw country album, Wanted! The Outlaws, along with Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser. During the mid-1980's, while creating hit albums like Honeysuckle Rose and recording hit songs like "On the Road Again", "To All the Girls I've Loved Before", and "Pancho and Lefty", he joined the country supergroup The Highwaymen, along with fellow singers Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson.

In 1990, Nelson's assets were seized by the Internal Revenue Service, which claimed that he owed $32 million. The difficulty of paying his outstanding debt was aggravated by weak investments he had made during the 1980's. In 1992, Nelson released The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories?; the profits of the double album—destined to the IRS—and the auction of Nelson's assets cleared his debt. During the 1990's and 2000's, Nelson continued touring extensively, and released albums every year. Reviews ranged from positive to mixed. He explored genres such as reggae, blues, jazz, and folk.

Nelson made his first movie appearance in the 1979 film The Electric Horseman, followed by other appearances in movies and on television. Nelson is a major liberal activist and the co-chair of the advisory board of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), which is in favor of marijuana legalization. On the environmental front, Nelson owns the bio-diesel brand Willie Nelson Biodiesel, which is made from vegetable oil. Nelson is also the honorary chairman of the advisory board of the Texas Music Project, the official music charity of the state of Texas.

[nonbinarysasquatch]

Because it amuses me, I’ve decided to assemble list of Weird Al polka songs and mark what songs I’ve heard along with notations of which ones are actually in my collection. Skipping Hot Rocks Polka from UHF (yeah, I have heard all of those, and I have some of them in my collection) and Bohemian Polka (is there a human being who hasn’t heard Bohemian Rhapsody, and of course it’s in my collection.)

Songs in bold I’ve heard at some point. Songs and artists in italics I literally know nothing about.

Just because something is in my collection doesn’t mean I love it (though more often than not I do) and just because something ISN’T doesn’t mean I don’t like it.

Polkas on 45 from “Weird Al” Yankovic in 3-D (1984):

"Jocko Homo" by Devo (In My Collection) "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple (In My Collection) "Sex (I'm A...)" by Berlin (In My Collection) "Hey Jude" by The Beatles (In My Collection) "L.A. Woman" by The Doors (In My Collection) "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly "Hey Joe" by Jimi Hendrix "Burning Down the House" by Talking Heads (In My Collection) "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner "Every Breath You Take" by The Police (In My Collection) "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash (In My Collection) "Jumpin' Jack Flash" by The Rolling Stones (In My Collection)

Hooked on Polkas from Dare to Be Stupid (1985):

"State of Shock" by The Jacksons and Mick Jagger "Sharp Dressed Man" by ZZ Top "What's Love Got to Do with It" by Tina Turner (In My Collection) "Method of Modern Love" by Hall & Oates (In My Collection) "Owner of a Lonely Heart" by Yes (In My Collection) "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister (In My Collection) "99 Luftballons" by Nena (In My Collection) "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins "The Reflex" by Duran Duran (In My Collection) "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)" by Quiet Riot "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood (In My Collection)

Polka Party! from Polka Party! (1986) (one of Al’s best albums imo):

"Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel (In My Collection) "Sussudio" by Phil Collins (In My Collection) "Party All the Time" by Eddie Murphy "Say You, Say Me" by Lionel Richie (In My Collection) "Freeway of Love" by Aretha Franklin (may have heard as child) "What You Need" by INXS (In My Collection) "Harlem Shuffle" by The Rolling Stones (In My Collection) "Venus" by Bananarama (In My Collection) "Nasty" by Janet Jackson "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco (WHY IS THIS NOT IN MY COLLECTION?) "Shout" by Tears for Fears (In My Collection) "Papa Don't Preach" by Madonna (In My Collection)

Polka Your Eyes Out from Off the Deep End (1992):

"Cradle of Love" by Billy Idol (In My Collection) "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega (In My Collection) "Love Shack" by The B-52's (In My Collection) "Pump Up the Jam" by Technotronic "Losing My Religion" by R.E.M. (In My Collection) "Unbelievable" by EMF (another I’m surprised I don’t have) "Do Me!" by Bell Biv DeVoe "Enter Sandman" by Metallica (In My Collection) "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground "Cherry Pie" by Warrant "Miss You Much" by Janet Jackson "I Touch Myself" by Divinyls (In My Collection) "Dr. Feelgood" by Mötley Crüe "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice

The Alternative Polka from Bad Hair Day (1996) (welcome to my teen years)

"Loser" by Beck (In My Collection) "Sex Type Thing" by Stone Temple Pilots (In My Collection) "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow (In My Collection) "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails (In My Collection) "Bang and Blame" by R.E.M. (In My Collection) "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette (In My Collection) "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" by The Smashing Pumpkins (In My Collection) "My Friends" by Red Hot Chili Peppers (In My Collection) "I'll Stick Around" by Foo Fighters (In My Collection) "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden (In My Collection) "Basket Case" by Green Day (In My Collection)

Polka Power! from Running with Scissors (1999): (the beginning of the end of my time listening to the radio/watching MTV... seriously 1999 me was so bitter about how music was going to shit...)

"Wannabe" by the Spice Girls "Flagpole Sitta" by Harvey Danger (In My Collection) "Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)" by Pras featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard and Mýa "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" by the Backstreet Boys "Walkin' on the Sun" by Smash Mouth (In My Collection) "Intergalactic" by the Beastie Boys (In My Collection) "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba (In My Collection) "Ray of Light" by Madonna (In My Collection) "Push" by Matchbox Twenty (In My Collection) "Semi-Charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind (I HATE THIS SONG AND I SAW THEM IN CONCERT AT ROCK FEST BEFORE THEY WERE BIG AND I WAS LIKE “WOW, THAT BAND SUCKED” THEN INEXPLICABLY THEY WERE SUDDENLY FAMOUS LIKE TWO MONTHS LATER) "The Dope Show" by Marilyn Manson (In My Collection) "MMMBop" by Hanson (I kinda wish I had some Hanson) "Sex and Candy" by Marcy Playground (In My Collection) "Closing Time" by Semisonic (In My Collection)

Angry White Boy Polka from Poodle Hat (2003) (I wasn’t listening much to the radio at this point, and some of these songs I’m pretty sure I heard a good while after they were in the Polka, I either don’t care about or don’t like most of these songs.):

"Last Resort" by Papa Roach "Chop Suey!" by System of a Down (In My Collection) "Get Free" by The Vines "Hate to Say I Told You So" by The Hives "Fell in Love with a Girl" by The White Stripes (In My Collection) "Last Nite" by The Strokes (In My Collection) "Down with the Sickness" by Disturbed (In My Collection) "Renegades of Funk" by Rage Against the Machine "My Way" by Limp Bizkit "Outside" by Staind (In My Collection) "Bawitdaba" by Kid Rock "Youth of the Nation" by P.O.D. "The Real Slim Shady" by Eminem

Polkarama! from Straight Outta Lynwood (2006): (We’re at the point where unless I just randomly caught it on the radio or someone I knew played it, I was pretty over popular music and was digging through other musical interests)

"Let's Get It Started" by The Black Eyed Peas (I’m unsure on this one. I know I’ve heard some Black Eyed Peas in the past) "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand (In My Collection) "Beverly Hills" by Weezer (In My Collection) "Speed of Sound" by Coldplay "Float On" by Modest Mouse "Feel Good Inc." by Gorillaz featuring De La Soul  (In My Collection) "Don't Cha" by Pussycat Dolls featuring Busta Rhymes "Somebody Told Me" by The Killers (In My Collection) "Slither" by Velvet Revolver "Candy Shop" by 50 Cent featuring Olivia "Drop It Like It's Hot" by Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell "Pon de Replay" by Rihanna (I feel like Umbrella is the only Rihanna song I’ve heard) "Gold Digger" by Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx

Polka Face from Alpocalypse (2011):

“Poker Face” by Lady Gaga “Womanizer” by Britney Spears “Right Round” by Flo Rida ft. Ke$ha (the first time I heard this in the polka I thought Al was suddenly doing Dead or Alive) “Day 'n' Nite” by Kid Cudi “Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum (In My Collection, weirdly enough) “Baby” by Justin Bieber ft. Ludacris “So What” by Pink (I’m surprised I don’t have more Pink) “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry “Fireflies” by Owl City (I know nothing about this band but the name sounds gothic, which probably means it’s pop) “Blame It” by Jamie Foxx ft. T-Pain “Replay” by Iyaz “Down” by Jay Sean ft. Lil Wayne “Break Your Heart” by Taio Cruz ft. Ludacris “Tik Tok” by Kesha (she’s on the periphery on the sort of thing I’m into so I checked her out and determined I wasn’t feeling it)

Now That’s What I Call Polka! from Mandatory Fun (2014): (To say that at this point I’ve long since abandoned any way to check out music that isn’t a deliberate choice is almost an understatement but at the same time I’ve become a lot more musically opened minded in recent years AND I’ve been on tumblr which has made me more vaguely aware of stuff younger folks are into):

“Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus (checked out re: controversy iirc) “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People (In My Collection) “Best Song Ever” by One Direction (I legit was like, well hey maybe One Direction is surprisingly good since so many people on Tumblr love them... nope. Sounded like every boy band in the history of ever as far as I could tell.) “Gangnam Style” by Psy (Too heavily referenced everywhere to have not checked it out) “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen (see above re: references) “Scream & Shout” by will.i.am feat. Britney Spears “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye feat. Kimbra (I legit love this song because it sounds like Peter Gabriel, I checked out Gotye without having any idea he had a hit song though) “Timber” by Pitbull feat. Kesha “Sexy and I Know It” by LMFAO “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz (Yeah, I’ve BEEN to the Value Village that has since closed on Capitol Hill in Seattle but I’ve never heard the song or seen the video in which it is featured... in fact I’ve never heard any Macklemore, despite Seattleite status) “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams

I think the polkas from recent years come out better than I thought, though I literally only have two songs in my collection from the last one so...

[myhahnestopinion]

THE AARONS 2018 - ELIGIBLE FILMS

Even with watching 102 films from 2018, there were several films I was eager to see that I couldn’t catch in time for these awards (including Boy Erased and Suspiria). However, Bohemian Rhapsody is also nowhere to be found on this list, so at least I can take comfort in knowing that the Aarons are a much better award show than the Golden Globes. Here are all the films that were eligible for The 2018 Aarons:

The 15:17 to Paris

Alex Strangelove

Annihilation

Anon

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Aquaman

Assassination Nation

Avengers: Infinity War

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Beautiful Boy

Before I Wake

BlacKkKlansman

Black Panther

Blindspotting

Blockers

Bumblebee

Chappaquiddick

Christopher Robin

The Clapper

The Cloverfield Paradox

The Commuter

Crazy Rich Asians

Deadpool 2

The Death of Stalin

Den of Thieves

Early Man

Eighth Grade

The Endless

Extinction

The First Purge

First Reformed

Flower

A Futile and Stupid Gesture

Game Night

Ghost Stories

Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters

Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle

Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween

Halloween

Hell Fest

Hereditary

Hold the Dark

Hotel Transylvania

How It Ends

The Hurricane Heist

Incredibles 2

Insidious: The Last Key

Isle of Dogs

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

The Last Hangover

Lean on Pete

Leave No Trace

Love, Simon

Mandy

Maze Runner: The Death Cure

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Mohawk

Mute

The Nun

Ocean’s 8

On Body and Soul

The Open House

Pacific Rim: Uprising

Paddington 2

Paul, Apostle of Christ

Peter Rabbit

The Polka King

The Predator

Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich

A Quiet Place

Ralph Breaks the Internet

Rampage

Ready Player One

Revenge

The Ritual

Roma

Searching

Seven in Heaven

Show Dogs

Slender Man

Slice

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Sorry to Bother You

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

The Strangers: Prey at Night

Tag

Teen Titans Go! To the Movies

Thoroughbreds

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

Tomb Raider

Truth or Dare

Unfriended: Dark Web

Unsane

Upgrade

Venom

Veronica

Vice

When We First Met

Widows

A Wrinkle in Time

You Might Be the Killer

You Were Never Really Here

SCROLL ON FOR A LIST OF THE TV SHOWS ELIGIBLE FOR THE 2018 AARONS!

[dancasecoreografias-blog]

Богемская полька (Bohemian National Polka)

[xask-teenage-monkiax-blog]

This is a pretty dance, This is the Bohemian National Polk.

[clearlygolden]

I miss dancing. Good workout too