Every Poet is a Thief

I don't write poetry, but I do write song lyrics and I have to believe that's close enough to qualify me. Anyway, I'm borrowing from my funny and intelligent friends at the Guster website (www.guster.com) again because they're brilliant. Through their road diary, I just discovered that they made an appearance on a children's show called Pancake Mountain.

What is Pancake Mountain you ask? It's is a kid's show on Washington DC cable access television, but it's not entirely for kids. There are puppets interviewing the guests and little toddlers running around in circles while bands perform their songs and Pancake Mountain tends to book diverse indie rock artists on their show. The music is insanely good; Henry Rollins, Arcade Fire, George Clinton, Garbage, Billy Idol, Metric, and as of a few weeks ago, Guster. I mean, come on! I love Sesame Street, but this kicks Sesame Street's ASS!!! Apparently, when Ted Leo (he and his band are called the Pharmacists) filmed his episode of Pancake Mountain, he thought he'd better dumb down his stuff and so he started playing "The Wheels on the Bus" until the kids interrupted him and said they didn't want to hear it, they'd rather rock... then he launched into his own song. Something like that.

Anyway, check it out if you have some time. http://www.pancakemountain.com/watch.htm I watched the Arcade Fire and laughed because they taped it at 9:30 (which, as they declare, is way past everyone's bedtime since it's a school night!) Dig it.