So, this book was really fun. It kept popping up as recommended to me and I kept it on the back burner until my good friend called me to say that I had to read it next. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is that this friend picked up his phone and called me about it. Not a quick text. Space Opera necessitated a phone call. That is about as high a recommendation as I can imagine in 2018. My friend then told me the one thing that I needed to know to get me to read it right away. I knew it was about and singing competition in space but he told me that it contained the best, most perfect ICP reference.
Now, it is important to note that I am not a Juggalo, a fan of the Insane Clown Posse for the uninitiated. I pass no judgement on those who are, I just note that I am not but I do love ICP. More specifically, I love one ICP song. It is called “Miracles” and it is the greatest thing I have ever watched in my life. It is the most honestly uniformed song of all time and there is no other video, in the annals of the internet that makes me laugh harder than “Miracles”. It’s my favorite because of how unintentionally hilarious it is. In the song, Shaggy and Violent J, the duo that comprise ICP, describe all of the miracles they see in the world. They show a special sense of awe and wonder that is refreshing in general but especially in music. The thing that makes the song so wonderful to me is that every miracle they detail could be explain with a basic high school science education. One such miracle is described as such: “I seen a caterpillar turn into a butterfly.” Another favorite of mine is: “Shaggy’s little boys look just like Shaggy / And my little boy looks just like daddy.” None of that compares to the greatest lyric in the entire history of music.
“Water, fire, air, and dirt / Fuckin’ magnets how do they work?”
Needless to say, I had to read this book knowing that the author reference that line. And she did it perfectly. Just one little line but it had me DYING. Do yourself a favor and enjoy the video for Miracles.
All of Space Opera is little lines a references to pop culture. I found it very reminiscent of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and even Good Omens. That also means that I want to love the book just a tad more than I do. I think Space Opera does a much better job of characterization than Hitchhiker’s and a smidge better than Good Omens. It was a very funny and fun book and I recommend it if you love Douglas Adams, Good Omens, and really good or out there music.
Ha! In undergrad, the mandatory ROTC classes were open to the entire undergrad population, so there were people mostly in the freshmen or sophomore classes who were either interested in an easy A or learning about the military (or rappelling down Memorial Stadium). One of the freshmen year assignments was to give a ten minute informational brief – I don’t remember what I chose as my topic but I still remember one of the non-cadets in the class gave a presentation on ICP, Juggalos and Faygo soda.