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WOMBAT MANIA
It's a northern hairy nosed Homan wombat.
Some days I hate the internets but most days I love it. Where else could I learn more than I ever wanted to know about northern hairy nosed wombats at a site called Wombania.com? Where else could I learn that the Australian Treasury Secretary plans to spend his vacation babysitting wombats? The wombats are an endangered species down under and said Aussie Labour pol, Ken Henry, plans to do his bit to help said wombats survive. I applaud Mr. Henry's wombat mania and for inspiring me to keep writing the word wombat, which is one of the silliest words known to man, woman, child or, I daresay, wombat. Thanks, Mr. Henry.
In all seriousness, I hope that the wombat survives; hairy nose and all. I may not be as wombatty as some Ozzies because all I knew about the critters before tonight was that my high school crony David wrote a song called Wombat. Our little adolescent garage band used to play it but the lyrics were very un-PC so I shan't repeat them here. All I can say is that wombat mania rocks.
Since we never recorded David's little ditty, there are no songs about wombats on YouTube; so here's Oz's own Midnight Oil doing a tune that is NOT about wombats. Damn, I love that word. Must stop, must stop...
Btw, the Midnight Oil connection is less far fetched than it may seem. The Oil's lead singer Peter Garrett is one of Henry's cabinet colleagues, he's the minister for environment, heritage and the arts. I suspect he's a wombat fancier and/or marsupial maven as well.
Finally, whilst YouTubing I learned that there is indeed a band called the Wombats and they're not only Liverpudlians (another word I love) but also pretty good:
The wombat on top of your television set is about to explode...
The wombat on top of your television set is about to explode...
I've always liked "platypus", myself. Some of the best species names are
from Down Under...
Luckily, I assume this means you won't be grossing out future Muses party
guests with wombat stew. If only nutria were endangered...
Homan, you are such a malaka and a scaredy cat as well. Your culinary
cowardice is now legendary. Howie ate the nutria as did Schroeder but
neither of them is a malaka.
I love this. We're a WOMBAT household... my husband's nickname became
wombat years ago as a co-op worker during college (the nickname was based
on 'a wombat' as Waste Of Money Brains And Time) and since then, as a
telecommuter for a group of 5 with 3 of them having the same name, it
became his professional name. Wombat is on his business cards and for
years, many of his co-workers didn't know his first name. Some people
thought that he didn't even exist -- we were flown up for an office party
where I overheard two people saying that 'they heard WOMBAT was there!!!!'
and wondering if it was a man or a woman. Anyway. This post totally made
our night.
Holly: Glad to be of service. Now I'm *really* glad that I didn't quote
those lyrics...
With all of your wombat pics on Flickr, I thought the wife and you were
adopting one.
As a member of said "little adolescent garage band", I find it odd that you
don't remember
recording "Wombat". It's a great song, if a tad juvenile, but hey, it was
the 70's. Recorded at your parents' home in Foster City, CA, 7/24/74. Why,
the 34th anniversary is coming soon! Maybe we can get the song online by
then. Interesting how time and distance has a way of re-shaping our
memories.....
best, rsc
I do indeed recall that, Russ but I was thinking of a slicker, snappier and
even listenable version.
As the writer of the song and another member of the "little adolescent
garage band" which never saw the inside of a garage (more of an "adolescent
living room band"), I have to add a little more. "Wombat" was recorded
twice with the original version lost forever. The second version which
Russ alludes to (featuring me on lead vocal and percussion, Adrastos on
backing vocal and percussion, Russ on bass and Steve on guitar) was
considerably more p.c. than the original and, if I may say so, was a fairly
sophisticated song for us: a song about a guy who is obsessed with a girl
whose looks and habits otherwise repel him (echoes of the line from Dylan's
Things Have Changed "I'm in love with a woman who doesn't even appeal to
me" -- not to compare myself with Bob merely to note the thematic
similarity). Song also features what I think is a killer guitar solo by
Steve. Too bad we lacked a drum kit. Slick? No. Listenable? Yes. Might
get my vote for the best Budalright song.
Here are the lyrics to the song discussed. There were a few lyric
modifications in the fall
of 2004, when the song was indeed recorded again! (Sorry that no one was
ever heard that one - entirely my fault.) I too enjoy the '74 version, even
without drums.