The challenge was to write a theme song for a TV show about ourselves (or in my case, me). I thought about it for a very short time before deciding that such a show would probably include some kind of monkey. Possibly even a monkey butler. Here’s the pitch for the show, which is obviously called “Monkey Shines”:

I am a stuffy, middle aged bachelor with an enormous inheritance. The monkey is a charming but unpredictable rake, who is also a master thief. In the pilot episode he is arrested while trying to steal my collection of jewels. He charms the judge, who much to my dismay orders that as a condition of his probation, the monkey must become my butler. Hilarity ensues as we try to live together, each of us coming to learn and appreciate the other’s perspective on life.

I think it’s got to be a talking monkey, I really don’t see any other way. Voting has begun: please do not use your sheer numbers to overwhelm the competition.

Did I mention how hot it was at Lestat’s in San Diego? I think I may have. Here is evidence:

JoCo Sweater Front, originally uploaded by jcoulton.

Indeed, it’s an exciting time to be a monkey in a lab. For instance, you get to eat all the marshmallows you want, just as long as you use your robot arm to do it.

I am quite pleased that Code Monkey was used as source material for a track on this fantastic free album of geek music remix madness called Old Nerdy Bastard. Mostly because it puts me in the company of MC Frontalot, MC Lars, Brad Sucks, The Grammar Club, and plenty of other folks I generally think of as quite a bit cooler than me. But boy howdy, does the Code Monkey track rule or what? It was done by The Evolution Control Committee, and it’s essentially me mashed up with everything else in the world.

Viva la illegal art!

Who would have guessed that all that goodness could fit inside an unassuming little 5-story tin shack on Sunset Boulevard? Not me. Though I must apologize to everyone who was waiting for me to come out and say hello – you know that I always do, but this time we had a lot of friends come to visit us in the green room right after we got off stage. And by the time we got done saying hello to them, the HOB folks had mostly cleared everyone out of the building. (It’s a very nice green room, and there were beers. I’m just saying.)

But it was a great show, thanks to everyone who came out. Coming up next are Cincinnati, Columbus, Pittsburgh and dear old NYC.