This Boy

So there we were, fourth-grade field trip to the zoo. It smelled like a mix of tide water and feces, which was probably because we stood between the otters and the capybara. The aristocratic scent of obscenely-priced churros wafted from a stand. It was pure heaven I wandered over to said stand and proffered up a handful of quarters.

"One churro please," I said.

"Seven dollars," said Churro-Stand Man, his voice muffled by his large mustache. I started to count out quarters. My math-minded readers already know that at these exorbitant prices, I would need 28 quarters.  And my elementary-school fashion-minded readers will remember that cargo shorts hit the big time around 1999. My pockets could carry 20 quarters, max. I had some nickels mixed in there too. Needless to say, I came up short. So I scooped my quarters into my hand, and then funneled them back into my pocket. Then the teacher called my name and we moved into the monkey house. That churro smell still slipped through the wire fence, and sidestepped past the angry orangutans and found its way into my nostrils. I needed 8 quarters, badly. Even though I'd have to clutch them in my hands (all pants-pockets were at capacity). I scoured the floor of the monkey house and moved on to the snake house. I found some pennies with gum on them; they weren't worth it. I also found a couple beads. 

Long story short, I never found two dollars that day, but I recently had a cream-filled churro and it was totally worth the wait.

Who likes churros?

This Boy.

Two of Us

Today I visited my brother Simon in Flagstaff. He has a ukelele and is way cooler than me, which may have something to do with the fact that he has recently met Ke$ha. We played "Two of Us."


Then we played Four of Us, with the help of some special guests.


"Two of Us" was written by Paul McCartney about his soon-to-be wife, Linda.

Taxman

The Beatles' "Taxman," a biting indictment of 1960's British fiscal policy, gives voice to the bitterness of the middle- and working-class families. The song was written by George Harrison, when he found out that the British government had imposed a 95% super tax on the highest tax bracket. At the time, there was a general distrust of taxes, which manifested itself not only in song, but it political uprisings as well. This lack of support for taxes was fomented by rumors of great excess in the aristocratic class. For example, Sir Lord Very Reverend Henry Wallaceford Dogrumple's appropriation of taxes to fund his cheese-sculpting habit. The British government responded saying that the seal fur used to make beefeaters' hats had grown very expensive, and needed to be imported from Luxembourg at £10,000 a barrel. The cost was so great because Luxembourg has only seven seals, all of which are in zoos around the country. If one has any degree of familiarity with the Luxembourgish, one knows that they are very fond of their seals.