Periodicity
Jun. 24th, 2005 02:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
libertangoA while back All Things Considered had me really laughing.
See, they ran a story about The Periodic Table of Haiku. And that was cool. It's a cute concept -- each element of the periodic table gets its own descriptive haiku (some strictly so, some more loosely).
But what some sneaky producer did next was the really funny part. Because, as a piece of incidental music to separate the Haiku piece from the next one (or "bumper", in radio jargon), they used Gilbert & Sullivan's "Model of a Modern Major General".
As Denis Leary says, "Some of you are laughing, and some need an explanation..."
In a very generational kind of thing, there's a musical parodist by the name of Tom Lehrer. He was a math professor (now retired), but he also did topical stuff. This was in the 1960s -- he hasn't made any new recordings in decades.
One of things he did was, he sang through the list of elements to the tune of, you guessed it, "Modern Major General". (Though not in order.)
Fortunately, due to The Magic of the Web (TM), I can point you to this: An animation of Lehrer's ditty (done using Macromedia Flash -- go here if you don't already have the plug-in).
You can thank me later.
See, they ran a story about The Periodic Table of Haiku. And that was cool. It's a cute concept -- each element of the periodic table gets its own descriptive haiku (some strictly so, some more loosely).
But what some sneaky producer did next was the really funny part. Because, as a piece of incidental music to separate the Haiku piece from the next one (or "bumper", in radio jargon), they used Gilbert & Sullivan's "Model of a Modern Major General".
As Denis Leary says, "Some of you are laughing, and some need an explanation..."
In a very generational kind of thing, there's a musical parodist by the name of Tom Lehrer. He was a math professor (now retired), but he also did topical stuff. This was in the 1960s -- he hasn't made any new recordings in decades.
One of things he did was, he sang through the list of elements to the tune of, you guessed it, "Modern Major General". (Though not in order.)
Fortunately, due to The Magic of the Web (TM), I can point you to this: An animation of Lehrer's ditty (done using Macromedia Flash -- go here if you don't already have the plug-in).
You can thank me later.
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no subject
Date: 2005-06-24 04:25 pm (UTC)Okay, so I know I am a geek and an intellectual snob. Not only did I laugh so abruptly at the words "Model of a Modern Major General" that coffee hit the laptop screen, I began singing it from memory before switching right into the Vatican rag when I reached the reference of Tom Leher, whom I adore.
I had never seen Leher's version and I thank you now, later, and endlessly for this flash ditty!
It made my Friday!
no subject
Date: 2005-06-24 05:08 pm (UTC)Chortleium, crackupium, and even coffeesplatium.
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Date: 2005-06-24 07:26 pm (UTC)Hullo
Date: 2005-06-24 08:39 pm (UTC)(sorry... one doesn't get a chance to do that too often...)
Re: Hullo
Date: 2005-06-24 09:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-24 07:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-24 10:44 pm (UTC)Can't have too much Tom Lehrer.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-25 07:02 am (UTC)All Things Considered is one of my favourites ever and Tom Lehrer? A king! I have heard the Elements song many times, but it was so fun to watch all the words fly by in animation. How cool!
I forwarded the site to all my buddies. We all thank you!