Trololo

If you ever have to censor yourself, you may want to try what Eduard Khil did for a song he performed in the USSR, in 1976: he sang trololo, trololo, trololo! It took thirty years, but the video of Khil singing "I Am Glad, 'Cause I'm Finally Returning Back Home" has been uploaded millions of times, taking on a life of its own in popularity. I must caution you: this may the be the oddest, possibly most disturbing, yet oddly harmless video you'll ever watch. I will never forget the bizarreness of seeing it for the first, second, third time... and you know how when you learn something awful you get that compulsion to immediately torment someone else with it? So, yeah, I was sure to share it with my family as soon as possible.

For at least three years Eduard Khil's oddly censored song has been spontaneously, whole-heartedly sung, at top volume by my children, and by my children and their friends. Suddenly, something triggers their inner Russians, and in baritones, I am regaled with those words, and the image of that man grinning like no one has grinned ever before. How can something so odd, so disturbing, actually start to feel _almost_ endearing? We will remember Eduard Khil, fondly, grinning, and singing his song. Rest in peace Mr. Trololo.

*If I had a picture of a U.S. American Cowboy, or a woman knitting for a cowboy, or of Khil, himself, I would have included it in this post. The best I could think of, at 4:30 in the morning, is Alex's sketch of Russian author Fydor Dostoyevsky. He did this in 2010, and called it: Dostoyevskyeskyesky. Like Eduard Khil's singing trololo, it has an amusing resonance.