It would, wouldn’t it?

It’s not uncommon that something on TV will make me want to cleanse some sort of palette, but TLC is really putting the blink tags around that particular concept. Every time their Premiere Week commercial pops up, I want to reformat my brain to get their customized bastardization of one of my favorite songs ever flushed from my memory.

“Wouldn’t It Be Nice” is the opening track from The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, an upbeat gem of a song with wide-eyed lyrics that could harken anybody back to their own personal good ol’ days. It’s one of the more universally known and loved songs out there, which is why it’s an especially dastardly choice to promote new episodes of Cake Boss.

It hits me right in the Pavlov. It makes me hungry, but not for cake. Just for that song. The real song. And it fails to deliver. It leads me to a pool of fond reminiscing and then jerks me back to my present-day couch. It’s calculated and mean, is what I’m trying to say.

A few years ago, my landlady decided not to renew the lease on my adorable Commercial Drive studio apartment. I no idea what I’d do, except that I really did have one idea. My boyfriend had the same idea, but we didn’t bring it up until one gin-soaked singalong night. Between songs (this is where the commercials go when singalongs are actually television shows) he turned to me, nodded slightly, and said, “I could live with you”.

A few months after that, we were looking around his – I mean, our – living room, which just that day had been freed of anyone else’s belongings, and all of mine had been completely moved in. It was the beginning of our home. I remember it in motion blurs between laughing and crying and cartwheels in the living room – such childlike happiness for a very grown-up situation. And this is the song that played.

If “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” is a question, the answer to this day is an all-caps HELL YES.

No stupid cable channel can ruin that.

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Trackoneitis.

I refuse to be one of those thirtysomething self-described fogeys, regaling the whippersnappers with shocking takes of the savage wasteland that was the pre-internet world. I was, without a doubt, there. And since I was raised in the woods, I literally walked a mile in the snow to get to school. It alarms me that such recent years qualify for nostalgia. →

Unexpected Distractions

I’m going to pretend the Canucks game tonight did not happen so I can focus on happy things. Like random throwbacks to childhood when you least expect them.

I was wandering downtown amongst the Olympics shenanigans when the Underground theme from Super Mario Brothers 2 grabbed my ear. I didn’t really get into video games past the 32-bit generation, and Super Mario 2 was always one of my favorites, and I love the music. It feels old-timey. Older-timey than the 20 years ago when the game was current.

I was so impressed by how complete the rendition was – I’m pretty sure they went through the entire game! That takes love. Or dedication, at least. It takes something that not everybody has. I hardly ever give anything to anybody, but I chucked a few bucks their way.