Yearly Archives: 2007

1. She is So Funqular

Music, Song Blog,

In 1980 or thereabouts a song that played on the radio a lot caught my attention. I may or may not have known the musician – Peter Gabriel – at the time, but the song was catchy and I’d sing along with the chorus:

She is So Funqular
She is So Funqular
She is So Funqular

My boyfriend said funqular was a French word, but didn’t know what it meant. I imagined it meant sexy in a cool way or something. We were happy in our ignorance, and sang along with the lyrics – none of which made any sense, but that was fine with us.

At some point we purchased the album and realized we were wrong about the lyrics in the chorus, but it took me a while to realize exactly what the song was about. I’d even been to a Jeux San Frontiers heat on one of my visits to England in the 1970’s and had a bright yellow “It’s a Knockout” poster among my souvenirs of that trip.

I must have carefully read the lyrics, or perhaps took the poster out of storage, or maybe just saw the video, but it finally occurred to me what the song was about. I remember putting the poster up in the basement and smiling every time I saw it or heard the song played on the radio or on our stereo. It wasn’t until later that I learned that it was Kate Bush singing the chorus.

To this day, when I hear that song, I smile, and sing along with the chorus:

She is So Funqular
She is So Funqular
She is So Funqular

David

Photographs,

David resting

Click the image for a larger view.

David is my brother-in-law. He’s been a farmer since he was a child, first helping his father as a dairy farmer, later as a corn and wheat farmer with his twin brothers. It won’t be long now, before the land he and his brothers farm outside Elgin, Illinois becomes million-dollar homes, fancy shops and expensive cafes. Though David is past retirement age, farming is all he knows. Soon there will be no cattle to feed, corn to plant or harvest, or hay and straw to bale. David’s days of taking a break near the barn are numbered.

Revish – a new site for readers

Reading

If you are a reader and like to talk about the books you read with others, you might be interested in a brand new kid on the block called Revish. I’ve been one of a handful of folks helping Dan Champion, the founder of Revish, test the site for the past week. Since Dan is a web standards Guru, this site is sure to be accessible and usable.

Revish is kind of like your local book club combined with the book section of the newspaper. As a member you get to write reviews, list the books you are reading or have read. You can also comment on reviews written by others. What makes this place different, among other things, is the quality of the reviews. If you write a review you are asked to follow a set of fair, but definate guidelines as to the length and depth of the review. No “I liked this book, it was good” for Revish.

If you’re interested, head on over to www.revish.com and sign up for the beta. They are going to invite more people to help test the site, so if you’re interested, don’t delay.