I have this fan who is a bankruptcy attorney. I honestly don't know if he genuinely likes my books or if he just thinks that I may be a good candidate for needing his services in the future, but back in May he sent me an e-mail titled "A Sort Of Soundtrack To Your Musings" that contained the song "Re Your Brains" by Jonathan Coulton.

I loved it. Not only is the song (about brain-eating zombies who still have a corporate mentality) hilarious, but the tune is catchy as hell. I've listened to it approximately 21,738 times since May.

Until very recently, Jonathan Coulton did the "Thing a Week" podcast, where every single week for a year he recorded a new song and made it available for free. Your first reaction to such a venture might be "A free song every week? Wow, talk about a potential suckfest!" But no! This is not some guy singing into a tape recorder and shaking a bag of Wild Berry Skittles for percussion. The quality is amazingly high even if you discount the whole "he did a new one every week" element. (C'mon, Weird Al has a 3-4 year gap between CDs!)

Lots of gems in there. "Creepy Doll" may not be as laugh-out-loud funny as "Re Your Brains" but it's a very amusing and ROCKIN' tune. "I'm Your Moon" is a love song for Pluto after it was shamefully demoted from planet status ("Promise me you will always remember who you are..."). A heartfelt cover of "Baby Got Back" is pure brilliance. "Soft Rocked By Me" is a wonderfully sleazy seduction song ("I use the passive voice to show how tender I'll be"), while "This One Is Not About You" is a hysterical song about a stalker insisting that he's over the object of his affection.

"Code Monkey" is absolutely irresistible and one of his most popular songs. "Chiron Beta Prime" is a lovely Christmas carol ("Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime, where we're working in a mine for our robot overlords...did I say overlords?...I meant protectors."). "Podsafe Christmas Song" parodies Alvin & The Chipmunks, while songs like "Furry Old Lobster," and "Mr. Fancy Pants," are engaging silliness.

And there's plenty more.

To get you started, here are some links.

http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2006/03/ ... ur-brains/
http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2006/07/ ... eepy-doll/
http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2006/04/ ... de-monkey/

After you say, "Wow, Jeff, thank you so much for steering us in his direction! Once again you have immeasurably enriched our lives!" you can visit his main page at http://www.jonathancoulton.com. Load up those iPods!!!

you BASTARD!!!! Now I have that damn eat your brains rolling over and over in my head. Gotta get my kids into this song when they home from school

So...what'd your kids think?

--Jeff

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Lost Homicidal Maniac (Answers to "Shirley") The fourth Andrew Mayhem novel is available NOW for $2.99! http://tinyurl.com/6n4rujb

Ok, so who do I see about a new keyboard considering I just spit my drink out all over mine after cueing up "Code Monkey"???

I can see I'll be spending the rest of my day with Mr. Coulton.