The Fear Of Poetry

Narraptor's challenge has gone from looming over me to making active threats. This is because I have located an authentic lost story from my distant past. It was written from sheer boredom, in a variety of colored inks, and it has a monster or two.

It is also the first time I had ever written poetry.

I have to try even harder to dredge up something that is at the very least, "forgivably awful."

Narraptor brought up the problem with Nightmare Before Christmas covers, in that very few of them work. A case in point is that a new edition of the soundtrack has been put out, featuring a second CD with random people covering half of the songs, and some demo versions by Danny Elfman.

You don't need to bother. It feels like a tribute album that gave up halfway in the making, once they heard the initial offerings. The only song I'm partial to is the blandgoth rendition of Kidnap The Sandy Claws, and that's from the part of my brain that enjoys undefendable music. Meanwhile, Maryiln Manson sings This is Haloween, and Finona Apple sings Sally's Song. It would've been better all around if they'd switched songs.

The demos, meanwhile, aren't anything special. Lower production values, and it's not like hearing Danny Elfman singing most of the lines is anything unusual.

Oh, and the movie's out, in 3-D. The effect is much more subtle than you might expect. For one thing, there is very little kinetic action going on that crosses viewing planes.

Halloween Tribute to Bear McCreary

Last Friday I took my wife to Johnny Vatos' Tribute to Halloween: Featuring Members of Oingo Boingo. X and Dramarama were also in attendance--apparently the tribute group's solo gig was the next night in Anaheim. (This is not the first time Ticketmaster has hidden something from me. When my wife wanted to see Al Pacino in Salome, we ended up at a staged reading days before the actual premiere. All the actors except for Mr. Pacino were reading aloud from their scripts, which lead my wife to assume that a) Pacino's a really dedicated actor and b) American plays are different than they are in Japan, where people are required to know their lines.) But our primary reason for showing up was Bear McCreary.

McCreary took over as the composer on Battlestar Galactica during its first season. The scope of the second season soundtrack would have an uninformed listener believing he or she were listening to a movie soundtrack instead of one for a TV show. The variety of instruments, the participation of live musicians, and the overall "What if Philip Glass was good?" vibe make it stand out from anything else on the small screen. And unlike many other respectable sci-fi/fantasy series from the past, there seems to be little direct repetition of the music from season to season. I'm looking at you, The X-Files.

Many of the Former Members of Oingo Boingo in the tribute band, including Vatos himself, have performed on the soundtracks. Raya Yarbrough, who sings the vocals on the "Lord of Kobol" track, was there Friday night and performed "Sally's Song" from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Unlike the live reenactment of Oogie Boogie's song, her version was a moving improvement over the weakest song in the film. McCreary served as musical director, keyboardist, and Jack Skellington for the concert.

This is difficult for me to admit, but after seeing the guy who composed "Prelude For War" rocking out in skull makeup, pumping his fist in the air to "Only a Lad," and singing "Jack's Lament" with live string accompaniment, Bear McCreary is now my favorite musician.

It was one of those concerts that make you wish you had stuck with the violin. I don't lament giving up drawing. My talent for placing commas is much more important to me than being able to sketch ghoul lords and abishai (from the astral planes, not The Bible) in colored pencil. But if someone had told me in sixth grade that if I kept at it I could be playing with Oingo Boingo, I would have had a reason to stay in orchestra class other than the obvious.

I'm sorry, Voltaire. Release Ookie Spookie and we'll talk.