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Why an article about how the French love Obama has me watching a clip from "Full Metal Jacket."

1. I see on Memeorandum ? my favorite starting point for finding bloggable things ? that the French love Obama: "Obamania Sweeps France."

2. I think about blogging the item ? you know, the obvious (being supported by the French isn't helpful for a guy who's getting called elitist) ? but first, since I'm already in the middle of an iChat with my Obama-supporting son John, I quote the title of the article to him. He's all "Who's Oba?" And I'm "What's nia?" He wonders if it's pronounced "Obama - NIA" or "oh - BAH - MAY - nee - uh." I observe that "Obamamania" would have the word "mama" in it. The blogging gears of my head are trying to engage. Is some fear of the mother figure causing resistance manifested at the orthographic level? Fear of Hillary? And then John responds "Obamamamamania."

3. Suddenly, all I want to do is listen to the song "Papa Oom Mow Mow," but I don't know how to spell it. (I miss the "Oom." I think it's just "Oo.") And you have to spell to do internet. But I happen to know that song is by The Trashmen, and I know another song by them that I can spell, so I figure I'll get into YouTube that way, and the hard-to-spell song should come up in the suggestions. So I look up "Surfin' Bird."

4. I get distracted by The Ramones:

5. I listen to The Trashmen version.

6. YouTube reminds me that the song was used in "Full Metal Jacket":

7. I start to think that the use of "Surfin' Bird" in "Full Metal Jacket" is a more interesting subject for blogging than the French (who, by the way, are responsible for Vietnam).

8. In the film clip, "Surfin' Bird" turns into "Papa Oom Mow Mow" and I refocus on my simple desire to hear a cool song from my younger days.

9. John comes through with the proper "Oom" spelling and a link to Wikipedia, which doesn't mention The Trashmen version of the song, only the earlier Rivingtons doo wop version. It turns out that the Rivingtons also made the precursor to "Surfin' Bird," which they called "Bird Is the Word." I barely remember the doo wop "Papa Oom Mow Mow," but I find it on YouTube as the soundtrack to a video about coffee. Coffee distracts me:

10. I still can't find "Papa Oom Mow Mow" by The Trashmen. By now, I realize that the available recording of "Surfin' Bird" ends, as it does in the movie clip, with "Papa Oom Mow Mow." But I am almost certain that The Trashmen released "Papa Oom Mow Mow" as a free-standing single before "Surfin' Bird." Yet this 1964 album of theirs makes me doubt my own memory. But I had the 45!

11. I realize my post is going to be the story of my little Sunday morning journey across the internet and into the canyons of my 1960s memories. I'm going to post it as a list, perhaps an 11-item list, and then, I'm going to sit back and see what it causes you to talk about.

Full post as published by Althouse on April 27, 2008 (boomark / email).