"I don't like Mondays"- but...

What's up from The Outer World (my world, that is)?! So, it's Monday (or, it has been - it's almost done) and, to be perfectly honest, I don't really EVER like Monday. Monday means 'the weekend has been terminated, is dead, gone, 5 more days until you see a new one!' So, that's why I was quoting Bob Geldof's tune in the title to this post (did you know that?). I should mention, that it was The Boomtown Rats (Geldof's band until 1986), but we all know that song has become a Geldof song. Here's a link to a Boomtown Rats/Geldof blog if you're curious.

Anyway, here's how the chorus to "I don't like Mondays" goes:

" Tell me why?
I don't like Mondays.
Tell me why?
I don't like Mondays.
Tell me why?
I don't like Mondays.
I want to shoot
The whole day down."
(*I added the bold on the last part to emphasize how I now feel, and always have felt, about Mondays.)

See a copy of the original video on YouTube. Or, check out this video from the LiveAid concert that Geldof organized with Midge Ure back in 1985 to help people suffering from famine in Ethiopia. If you're a Bon Jovi fan (for the record, I'm not really), here they are singing it together.

More on Geldof.

I should go on record as having said that, although I occasionally think of that song, and I appreciate the efforts Bob Geldof has made as a celebrity to draw attention to important political causes, I am only calling attention to him because his song popped into my head (again). I'm not sure his politic views and mine are always on the same page, although I think he's got a big heart and that really counts. Anyway, you check him out and decide for yourself what you think of him. That's fair.

Anyway, after having said all that... Monday wasn't nearly as bad as I always feel it will be. I went to 大崎小学校 (Osaki elementary school) today and really enjoyed myself. I think the kids all had a good time practicing the numbers 1-10 (１年/２年), colours (３年/４年), and colours and shapes combined (５年/６年). Enjoyed my time there, enjoyed all of the teachers, and met someone new, whose name I cannot remember right away, but he's the Assistant Teacher at the school, is a super nice guy, and he speaks excellent English. I will have to give him directions to The Outer World!

Monday isn't over yet, and I have no real need to "shoot (it) down" anymore, so I might as well leave The Outer World and have some fun with my 彼女!

I'm out...

Oh, but wait! I'm back?! Well, The Lady was checking to see if this post deserved the 'OK' and we so enjoyed the original Boomtown Rats video of "I don't like Mondays", especially because of its New Wave aesthetic and, well, it's just so damn FUN and quirky... so, we wanted to see another super fun video that we can always turn to for a good laugh and be totally thrilled by the combination of minimalist simplicity with super FUN and, yes, sophistication. You MUST see it! It's by OK Go and it's the famous treadmill video for "Here It Goes Again".

BUT, that's not it! While we were at YouTube watching that video, we found another video of high school students that did an AMAZING job of recreating the OK Go video on stage at their school. Now, I rarely give kudos to high school students but, this time, they deserve a big round of applause for a job well done! Check out the amateur version.

What can we learn from New Wave and Punk, you ask? Well, if you saw the original "I don't like Mondays" video and then watched the OK Go video (and the remake), you can see that brilliance does not have to cost a lot of money. It's all about FUN, great ideas, and doing cool things with the camera or other strange innovative things with technology (like dancing on treadmills!). All you need to be 'hip' is (a) fun ideas and (b) a bit of 'TUDE (short for ATTITUDE)! Be inspired and get out there and get cool.

Now I'm really out...