Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson for March 18, 2025

She’s trying to join in your fun, Petey.

Is there anything more nerve grating than a child learning an instrument? I speak from experience, both boys were in band, 2 years apart.

Lovely spit coming out of Petey’s oboe.

In ancient times, wise men, wizards and seers would say: “No one can handle a toy ukulele version of ‘Polly Wolly Doodle’”

Maybe if you played “Digital Fidgets”, Alice.

Didn’t realize what Alice was “playing”. But as soon as she said Polly Wally Doodle my brain immediately went to the movie ‘You Can’t Take It With You’, and Lionel Barrymore, Edward Arnold, and harmonicas.

Petey is just jealous because Alice can play and dance at the same time!

Oboe: an ill wind that everyone blows badly.

The Otterloop jam band. Adorable and horrific at the same time.

I had a plastic toy uke with a small crank which would play something like “Polly Wolly Doodle All Day” when I turned the handle. Bet Alice’s does that too.

She thought maybe you wanted to do a duet.

I always get a kick out of watching guitar shredders like Zack Wilde playing a Hello Kitty guitar, but another guitarist (I don’t know who he was) play the full tilt Hello Kitty guitar to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata’s 3rd movement and I was blown away.