Congratulations to Matt Groening, creator of many things animated, who is Best Thing Today!
Why Matt Groening? Well, I'm afraid it's not his hard work on the popular show featuring America's favorite dysfunctional family that hammered me over the head and gave me my happiest moment of the day. No, there is a different story behind this, as I am expecting most Best Thing Today! moments will have.
The story begins in, of all places, 20th Century music theory class. And I'll be honest here, today was one of those days where I was just not excited to go to that particular class. Actually, most days most of the class isn't excited to be there. Just as I began to zone out at the beginning of the lecture on the music of Olivier Messiaen I happened to catch a few words about the particular piece we were looking supposed to be looking at in our books. "The title," the professor said, "comes from the words Turanga and Lila." "I know those words," my inner monologue says to itself, "That's from Futurama!" Involuntarily, some kind of audible outburst sprang from my mouth, although I don't remember for the life of me what it was. I guarantee it was pretty unsettling for everyone in the vicinity.
The professor went on to mention that Matt Groening did indeed lift the name of Messiaen's symphony as a character in one of his shows. (See: Turanga Leela) Incidentally the title translates to "love song," a name I find fitting for this particular character and I'm sure other Futurama buffs can agree.
Looking back on it, this story might need a "And then I found five dollars" tacked on the end to up the 'interesting factor' a bit, but surely you can all still give Matt some credit. Messiaen fan or not (apparently he's a big one though) the man has still given us all a laugh at least once, and looking past the mainstream Simpsons, his work on Futurama has given a significant population of nerds more than one good inside chuckle. And if he listens to Messiaen, he's probably got a pretty good brain up in that head.
Congrats again to Matt, but Olivier, you're not walking away empty handed. 10 points to you for your use of the crazy ondes Martenot (10 points to you if you look this one up on your own) and a healthy 20 point bonus for making me pay close attention in music theory for an entire class. Good job!
And then I found five dollars.
"...and then I found five dollars." is the best way to end any story. Pretty much ever.
ReplyDeleteIt is also worth mentioning that it is a good thing we aren't in the same 20CSS class because it's likely our zoning out would merge together in a fit of hilarity and general time of not paying any attention at all.
Love this premise for a blog!