Day 20. A song you know most or part of the choreography to:

“Gangnam Style” — PSY

If it weren’t for my wife, Laura, my life would be a lot more sheltered than it is. Not only wouldn’t I know “Ça Plane Pour Moi,” have tried Goat Cheese or been to Aruba, my connection to many things pop culture would be much more tenuous. At the very least, I would discover things a lot later without her. (She, in essence, keeps me from being a complete square, the result being I’m only mostly square. I’m one of those squares with rounded corners.)

Such is the case with “Gangnam Style.”

We were watching an episode of “Saturday Night Live” in September 2012 (which, itself, is an example of something I would probably rarely watch if we weren’t together). It was not actually on the Saturday night, because we TiVo just about everything we like to watch and view it later. In the case of SNL, TiVo makes it so much easier to watch. As anyone who watches the show with any regularity knows, most episodes are hit and miss, but with TiVo, you blast through the misses. Especially the (typically) really lame skits that show up after Weekend Update. Yay! Technology!

Anyway, this particular evening there was a skit set in a “Lids” store, and at one point, the employees press a button and Bobby Moynhan comes out dressed like PSY is in the “Gangnam Style” video, and does a snippet of the song complete with dance moves. I was so completely lost; I had absolutely no clue what just happened and why it was funny. So, Laura paused the show (another benefit of TiVo*) and we went to YouTube, where we watched the video. (I’ve conveniently embedded it at the bottom of this post for your viewing pleasure)

Now suitably educated, I could enjoy (read: actually understand) the skit much more, especially when PSY himself came out. (To view the skit yourself, click on the picture above.) Seemingly minutes later the song was everywhere and you couldn’t avoid it, but for a little while, I had no idea.

But back to the video. You know, if you’ve seen it, that it’s really messed up. It jumps from scene to scene in a seemingly random way, the locations are bizarre (A beach? A sauna? Under a bridge? Huh?) and weird things just… happen. (For a laugh, check out the girl on the right starting at about 0:40. She is so happy to be there!) And then, the horse dance starts. I think that’s where people start to get fascinated. I did.

As was obviously the case with many people, the song (and video) stuck in my head. Some time later, as we were planning our wedding and subsequent reception we considered surprising people and doing “Gangnam Style” during our first dance, but we ultimately dropped that idea. I’m not sure why. But, before we dropped it, I went to the trouble to learn the moves.

Well, learn might be a bit grand. I noted them with some interest. I watched a YouTube “how to” video and practiced for about 90 seconds. So it’s not to say I could actually do them. But I know them. However, if Bobby Moynihan can do it, I bet I can too, with a bit of practice. But, much like “how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop”, the world may never know.

And now, for the one person left on earth who has not yet seen it, I present “Gangnam Style”: