Archive for the ‘music’ Tag
Well, today was the Fourth and for a change the weather was absolutely perfect. Ninety degrees with a slight breeze along the shore to keep things just cool enough. We made our way to the town of Old Orchid Beach late in the morning and found the place already jammed with tourists. The beach was packed with thousands of people and if the car license plates we saw were accurate most of Massachusetts and Quebec had moved in for the holiday weekend.
The local business people decided to start early gouging as many visitors as possible with a new and higher parking lot charge, $25.00 for the day. Since last year the cost was between $10.00 and $15.00 we decided to find a parking spot in town on the street and to feed the parking meters. A huge pain in the ass but at the end of the day we saved about $15.00. Luckily we found a spot only two blocks from the beach so our walk wasn’t too bad.
We dropped our blanket under the Pier out of the sun and started snapping pictures in between trips into the water to cool off. We’ve been coming here for years and it was as crowded as we’ve ever seen it. After an hour or so we decided a meal or snack was in order. We trekked back to the car and did a quick strip tease on the street to change out our wet clothes. Thankfully the foot traffic in the area was light so my better-half’s rear half didn’t scare anyone too badly.
We ended up sitting on the shaded deck of the Surf 6 Club for a few refreshing drinks and a nosh of onion rings and chicken fingers. We met a few visiting tourists and were able to chat and have a great time. The band started playing at eleven am and were pretty good. They were playing not only for the customers of the club but for the hundreds of people nearby on the beach.
The OOB Pier extends out into the ocean for at lease three hundred yards and is covered with small shops and eating establishments. We worked our way to the end of the Pier for a a quick drink at the “Pier” bar and to take a few more photos of the beach goers from a different angle. The place was packed with tourists and everyone seemed to be enjoying the atmosphere and the dozens of bikini wearing female customers. We stayed only a half hour because we had to go and to feed the parking meter.
Next was the better-half’s favorite thing, shopping. We started hitting the shops to look through the tons of touristy junk with really unbelievably high prices. She was forced by her shopping addiction to make a few purchases and then we were off to the Arcade. She kicked my ass playing Air Hockey and followed her victory with a little Skee-Ball. We then strolled over to the amusement park.
We agreed that the cost for tickets on the rides was ridiculous so we took lots of photographs and just walked around enjoying the atmosphere. We hit a few more of the smaller shops in town as we made our way back to the car. The nicest part of these visits is that we live only seven or eight miles away and we returned home in short order.
Lounging on our deck and enjoying the cool breeze and a cooler drink was a perfect ending to a great day. The better-half just couldn’t stop herself from peppering the yard with firecrackers and Roman Candles. That was her extremely loud way to celebrate the country’s birthday. I was also pleased to see so many of the people in town and at the beach wearing red, white, and blue swim suits, head ware, t-shirts, and beach equipment. The meaning of the holiday wasn’t lost on most of us and that was nice to see.
We both hope your day was as nice as ours. Happy Birthday America!
Welcome to a new day. As promised yesterday I’ll be giving you the answers to the ten mystery music trivia questions. I imagine getting the right answers without cheating and using Google or Bing was difficult. As my collection of totally useless information continues to accumulate I’ll be testing your knowledge of many different subjects. One of the things I like best about collecting trivia is that it’s fun and even interesting at times. Here’s your answers, I hope you did well.
1. In 1926, the police raided Mae West Broadway show ‘Sex’ and jailed her on vice charges. What did the rise wisecracking blonde sexpot claim when she was freed after serving 8 days of her 10 day sentence?
A: That it was the only time she ever got anything for good behavior.
2. Who was the first person ever awarded a gold record?
A: Glenn Miller, for Chattanooga Choo-Choo.
3. What singer named Clara Ann Fowler at birth adopted the name of the milk company that sponsored her first radio show?
A: Patti Page. The company was the Page Milk Company of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
4. What famous entertainer was known as Annie Mae Bullock before she adopted her stage name?
A: Actress-Singer, Tina Turner.
5. The singing duo of Caesar and Cleo only achieved fame under another name. What was it?
A: Sonny and Cher.
6. Country music comedienne, Minnie Pearl, always wore a hat with a price tag on it when she performed. What was the amount written on the price tag?
A: $1.98
7. Who was the only cast member of the hit rock musical Hair who refused to shed her clothes in the nude closing number?
A: Diane Keaton
8. What top rock group took it’s name from a song by blues great Muddy Waters?
A: The Rolling Stones. Water’s song, of course, was "Rolling Stone".
9. Under what name did New Wave singer-songwriter Declan McManus gain fame?
A: Elvis Costello
10. What famous singer, after receiving an honorary degree from Georgetown University, enrolled as a freshman and earned a BA in Theology?
A: Pearl Bailey. She received her BA in 1985 after seven years as a part-time student.
As you already know I really love passing on my never-ending lists of totally useless crap to my readers. I hope it helps make all of you moderately good Trivial Pursuit players as well as the winner of many a bar wager. I thought I’d take a somewhat different approach this time and make things a bit more interesting.
Usually I just supply the facts for you to enjoy but not today. I had a few readers give me some grief recently about never having any interesting facts from the music sector. The following ten questions need answered and it’s up to each of you to provide them. Are you up for the challenge? Even if you’re a true musical aficionado these music related questions should challenge even you. I’ll supply the answers tomorrow so let’s see just how good your trivia skills really are.
1. In 1926, the police raided Mae West Broadway show ‘Sex’ and jailed her on vice charges. What did the wisecracking blonde sexpot claim when she was freed after serving 8 days of her 10 day sentence?
2. Who was the first person ever awarded a gold record?
3. What singer named Clara Ann Fowler at birth adopted the name of the milk company that sponsored her first radio show?
4. What famous entertainer was known as Annie Mae Bullock before she adopted her stage name?
5. The singing duo of Caesar and Cleo only achieved fame under another name. What was it?
6. Country music comedienne, Minnie Pearl, always wore a hat with a price tag on it when she performed. What was the amount written on the price tag?
7. Who was the only cast member of the hit rock musical ‘Hair’ who refused to shed her clothes in the nude closing number?
8. What top rock group took it’s name from a song by blues great Muddy Waters?
9. Under what name did New Wave singer-songwriter Declan McManus gain fame?
10. What famous singer, after receiving an honorary degree from Georgetown University, enrolled as a freshman and earned a BA in Theology?
I told you they weren’t easy. I’m guessing anyone who scores more than five correct answers really knows their stuff. Check back tomorrow for the answers. I think you’ll find them interesting.
Have you ever had a song stuck in your head? Over the years I’ve listened to hundreds of thousands of songs without any problems whatsoever. I’ve listened to Jazz, Pop, Hard Rock, and yes even Opera. I’ve avoided when possible Hip-Hop, Rap, and the old style Country and Western songs because I just don’t care for them. There are a few exceptions to that list of course but not many.
I live with my better-half who is obsessed with music, singing, dancing, and humming songs almost constantly. It can be really annoying if you ever crave absolute peace and quiet like I do at times. Every once in a while as I’m listening to music I also find myself unable to disconnect completely. It’s maddening because I find it interfering with my everyday activities. I’ve been in conversations with people and as I’m listening to them speak I begin to hum to myself and I can hear the lyrics in my head very clearly. Then I begin to tap my toe to the music and then suffer from the almost uncontrollable urge to dance. It takes all of my will power not do anything stupid and embarrass myself. This has occurred in the past not just in casual conversations but important business conversations as well.
My mother passed away last year and as I was sitting in the church with my sister listening to the priest drone on and on I had the song "What a Man" by Salt and Pepa echoing through my head. Why? I have no freaking idea but it was actually better than listening to that priest and thinking about my mom’s passing.
On one occasion I was driving to Pittsburgh to visit family which is eleven hours of sheer boredom. For a large part of the trip through Pennsylvania there is little or no acceptable radio stations to listen to. Unfortunately I also forgot my IPod and was limited to one CD I found under my seat. For the rest of that trip and for the next week the song, "Higher Love" by Steve Winwood drove me freaking crazy.
When I’m cooking I find myself humming and occasionally singing various songs by Luciano Pavarotti in Italian no less. How weird is that? I love opera but it’s not something I want to hear over and over again.
This problem isn’t limited to good music but also to really bad songs and a few truly annoying television commercial theme songs. The theme songs are the absolute worst. Lately it’s been that stupid commercial with the Korean version of Richard Simmons singing some stupid song that I don’t even understand while he hops around the screen in a pukey green sport coat with a bunch of pistachios. I ‘d look up the name of the song for you but what’s the point, I hate that stupid song.
I think the worst part of this problem is that once I capture a song in my head, it’s there forever. I have quite a long list of tunes that show up unannounced at the weirdest times to entertain me. I may be forced to involve myself with some sort of meditation program that will allow me to sit quietly and purge my mind of all this nonsense. Maybe I’ll become a Buddhist monk where I can spend my time in quiet self-reflection in an attempt to make these evil music demons go away.
As I’ve been writing this I’ve been humming "Three Time a Lady" by Lionel Richey. Someone please help me!
everyuselessthing.com 