Unit Three Blog Post

            For this blog post, I want talk about some of the subjects that were brought up in the 2 Dope Queens podcast. One of fabulously fun things about the 2 Dope Queens podcast is the array of pop culture subjects that Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams talk about and make fun of. While a lot of the stuff that Robinson and Williams talk about seems delightfully random, I think it is worthwhile to extend upon some of the topics that they discussed.

1.Yarling

            On the episode, “Creed’s Greatest Hits” there is an anecdote about being trapped with a Lyft driver who was playing the entirety of “Creed’s Greatest Hits.” This situation sounds like the thirteenth labor of Hercules. If I was in this situation, I would probably do this:

Anyway, this naturally led to a discussion about the distinctive singing style that was popular in the late 90s and early aughts, yarling. Yarling is a lot like the dodo bird. We know that it was odd, we know that it existed, but we are not really certain why. Much like the dodo bird, it seems to be an extinct species. People use the term “deader than disco” but disco still has its musical DNA on a lot of current music. For instance, Daft Punk is highly indebted to disco. Yarling on the other hand, has pretty much disappeared. Besides, saying “deader than yarling” is a lot more fun.

            Williams and Robinson recite an impressive list of singers who performed yarling. Believe it or not, there is an even longer list out there! Here is the link below:

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Yarling

I disagree with them that Lana Del Ray has a yarling singing style. Rey is more of a David Lynchian crooner type. A more applicable female to yarling would probably be Alanis Morrissette. This is a hill that I’m willing to die on. It isn’t much of hill. It’s more like those inexplicably giant piles of dirt that appear on construction sites next to the porta johns. Regardless, I’m still sticking to it.

           Let's end this paragraph with a parody of yarling, shall we? The link is below:

           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAOKRpVAmZE

2. Famous People with Names That Sound Like They Were Invented by People Who Secretly Write Downtown Abbey Fanfiction on the Weekends (Not That there is Anything Wrong With That.)

On the podcast episode, “Who is Jeff Tweedy?” Williams, Robinson, and Fred Armisen talk about how Jeff Tweedy’s name seems like something somebody just made up, because it makes one think about Tweety Bird. This kind of reminds of Tina Fey’s “Rick Fenderman” in Bossypants (144), (although Rick Fenderman was made up.) I wonder if anybody who out there who is actually named Rick Fenderman. I wonder if the real Rick Fenderman read Fey’s book, and exclaimed “Hey! That me! Wait a minute…” Jeff’s last name, Tweedy, makes me think of fancy jackets made of heavy woolen fabric. Kind of like the suit pictured below.

        Anyway, it got me thinking about famous people with names that sound fictitious but are actually real. Here is my personal list below:

 1.      Albert R. Broccoli
        Broccoli, Albert Broccoli. Broccoli was an American producer who helped to make the James Bond movies possible. His daughter's name is Barbara Broccoli.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_R._Broccoli

 2. Jarvis Cocker

       Jarvis Cocker is the frontman for the British band, Pulp. They have a song called "Common People" that is very catchy. William Shatner did a ridiculous cover of it, where he inexplicably placed a lot of emotional emphasis on the word "roaches." Here are links to both of them below:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuTMWgOduFM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXWEM4gZhg4

3. Dr. Harry Coover

      Dr. Harry Coover invented Super Glue. Many art students and craft hobbyists should be grateful  for his invention. You can read all about it at the sexy and thrillingly action packed Glue History website.

http://www.gluehistory.com/glue-origin/harry-coover/

4. Ima Hogg

       Ima Hogg was philanthropist, patron and collector of the arts. She did not have a sister named Ura.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ima_Hogg

5. Edward Bulwer-Lytton

       Edward Bulwer-Lytton was a British writer and politician. Was Bulwer-Lytton a good writer? God, no! However, the legacy of his terrible writing remains with the satirical literary contest, the Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest. The Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest challenges every "man, woman, and (precocious) child to write an atrocious opening sentence to a hypothetical bad novel." This contest features many funny women from around the world. Here is a link to the winners of the contest:

https://www.bulwer-lytton.com/copy-of-about-us

      In closing, I want to hear your thoughts. Is yarling still a thing? Should horses have designer wardrobes? 
Citations:
https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/2-dope-queens-podcast-bonus-episode-creeds-greatest-hits
https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/2-dope-queens-podcast-episode-36-who-jeff-tweedy
Fey, Tina. Bossypants. Little, Brown and Company. 2011.