"...And punks and rastas and skins will all hold hands in sorrow for their fallen leader..."

Rik Mayall died yesterday at the surprisingly young age of 56. In case you are unfamiliar with the name, he was a British comedian/actor/writer who most Americans may only know as "Drop Dead Fred", the title character of the fantastically under rated 80's film. However, students of British comedy will also be familiar with his roles in the T.V series "Bottom", "Black  Adder", and of course "The Young Ones".

It is the latter where Rik and his comedy most influenced me. MTV began running repeats of the series when I was in my early teens. I was quite the outsider in my middle school years, quite shy and introverted. I wasn't much into sports but loved music and comedy. I had begun to develop a taste for things that were a little bit on the fringe. This was not by choice, I wasn't trying to be cool by not being cool (it was years before I realized you could even do that), it was just naturally where my interests lay. So when the music video station started airing this bizarre little show it just seemed perfect to me.

I remember clearly speaking with my friend Jim about the show. He was the only person I knew who watched and liked it. We discussed what made us laugh, what we didn't understand, what we thought of the music in the show and took turns talking like the guys in the cast. From the first one I saw it just felt like my show.

The rest of the people in my school didn't like it (or get it). My father didn't like it either, and we share a fairly similar sense of humor. I mean, he had been my introduction to British humor by watching Monty Python movies with me at an inappropriate age, and Dad didn't see it. Just me and Jim. Later on, I converted a few other people to the fold, indoctrinated my little brother, and even turned my Dad around on the show a little bit. But at the time it was mine. Having those types of things in your life is very important at that age as you are defining who you are and shaping how you look at life. And I was shaped, in part, by Rik Mayall and The Young Ones. Which explains a lot.

What made The Young Ones so unique is that it was based in reality, but sort of a hyper reality which made the whole thing seem more like a real life cartoon. Inanimate objects came to life and addressed the camera through wonderfully bad puppetry. Tom and Jerry type violence happened multiple times per show, and no-one was ever truly injured. Vyv once made his entrance riding a demolition ball into the kitchen. This was a bizarre, surreal show that took place in a foreign country and had characters that were unbelievably unlikeable but relatable and crazy funny.

Though I related least to Rik's character (named Rick, to avoid confusion) I always admired the genius it took to bring this spotty little creep to life. Rick was so desperate for attention he embarrassed himself and others on a regular basis. He tried so hard to be cool, to be a leftist revolutionary, even declaring himself the People's Poet (referenced in the post title).  And failed miserably. He, and the show in general were rude, stupid, vulgar, silly, petulant, gross, dangerous and completely insane.

But the show taught me something. Mostly how not to write a letter to your bank manager, but other stuff too. It taught me that although I already knew how to laugh at the establishment, it was okay to laugh at the opposition as well. It was okay to laugh at pretty much all personality types, and that very little is off limits. Absurdity is everywhere and if you don't laugh you go mad. What Rik and the other writers did was take the absurdity in every day life, explode it and exploit it in an admittedly juvenile yet terribly funny and creative way. And that's the kind of comedy I enjoy the most, smart people doing idiotic things while keeping a straight face and with a knowing wink to the audience that the performers are in in their own joke. Not many can do it right but The Young Ones did, and Rik was the head of the pack.

Most of the characters Mayall went on to develop had a little bit of Rik in them (or a lot bit in some cases). At least the stuff available to us Americans seems to be that way. I hear that he's pulled off some decent acting on the BBC in recent years. I would welcome the chance to see some of that, but honestly, Rik Mayall will forever be the crazy, manic genius I have always loved.  I still can quote whole sections of dialogue from the shows, and watch the Young Ones on at least a yearly basis. I enjoy his other stuff too (anybody else remember "Bad News"?), but clearly the thirteen year old me has never completely gone. Long may he remain.

So in closing may I just say: "There's a horrible farty smell in here and it's not come from my bottom!"

Thanks People's Poet. For everything.

The State Of Me

It's been much longer than I ever intended since my last blog post. I've had a few things I have wanted to blog about but not much time to do so, or motivation to organize my thoughts. So I'm lumping some of them together here, with helpful section headers so you can skip anything you don't want to read. You're welcome.

GETTING OLDER

I have officially started to feel old. Not all the time, mind you. And I'm not super old or anything, but the signs are starting to show. Apart from the grey in the beard, that is, which as we all know is sophisticated and not old. Right?

For example, every day when I wake up something different hurts. I'm getting aches in places I didn't know had places. Most often it's my back that hurts, or my shoulder, or feet, or weird muscular things around my middle. I also suspect that my fat hurts, but I can't verify that.

Also, I am falling asleep on the couch. Not every once in a while, more like every time I sit on it. My wife blames the couch but I know it's really me. Thanks for being supportive honey, but I'm just getting old(er). At least I'm not trying to pull that whole "resting my eyes" jazz. I fall asleep every evening for about 20 minutes or so and them I'm awake for another hour or two. I have missed the ending/middle of so many shows...

Finally, I am getting forgetful. When the kids were babies I blamed them but that excuse only goes so far. I just can't remember things anymore. And I'm not talking about forgetting a conversation from a few days ago or an upcoming event on the calendar. I can't remember, like, earlier. Today. I know, I know, "take the Ginko Biloba, it really helps" you say. And you are probably correct. Well, for your information I happen to have some here at the house. I just can't remember to take it.

CHURCH STUFF

I HAVE BECOME MORE INVOLVED IN MY CHURCH. Sorry, forgot to take off the Caps Lock.

I have become more involved in my church. This is a good thing. Fortunately, the church staff is full of good people who are quite supportive and encouraging. For the first time in a long time I feel I am with a group of people where I belong. The culture of the church is very open, welcoming, and community minded. Most churches talk about caring for others, few of them put it into action and actually build the church around that idea. God is doing great things and I am happy and humbled to be a part of it.

Which brings me to the point. I have always heard talk of God having a plan for His people. I've just never really understood that. I never really knew exactly what it meant, what it looked like, or how I was supposed to find my place in this plan. But I think I'm starting to.

See, this whole Christianity thing is a life long process. And I started late. There is still so much left for me to learn and experience. But I am taking steps to get to where I am supposed to be. Baby steps maybe, but at least I'm moving. I am learning how to use my talents for God, not just for me. And every time I accomplish something in that regard, be it some writing, being involved in Guest Services at the church, or being part of the service itself, I want to do more. This is new and exciting for me and I am interested to see how it all goes and where it all leads. I am nowhere near perfect and struggle daily with even being able to act like a follower. But...baby steps.

Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention the church itself. Check out The Way (United Methodist) online at www.livingdifferently.org to see what I've been on about. Thanks.

MISCELLANEOUS OTHER STUFF

Norm Core

Yes, that is a thing. And it annoys me. If I understand it correctly, it's a fashion type movement in which folks go out of their way to look non-descript. The style is the absence of style. Except that most of the people involved are still wearing designer brands, just in a bland, boring way.

So basically the Hipsters have finally run out of ideas.

THE SOCIAL GOSPEL

Is the name of my band. Contrary to what one may think by the above section, no, we are not a Christian band. We are mostly secular in nature and subject matter. All three members are believers so some of the religious stuff sneaks in around the edges, but so do some adult words and snotty rock and roll attitudes. That's part of the whole not being perfect thing I was talking about a few paragraphs back.

Anyway, we're recording and hope to have some stuff online for y'all to listen to soon. So yay.

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Okay, that got way longer than it was supposed to which is par for me. There's more but, next time.
See ya.