Ramblin' with Roger

EW 100 Greatest Characters of Last 20 Years

I know her getting a haircut was apparently a national tragedy.

Entertainment Weekly, to which I have a subscription and sometimes actually read, has one of THOSE lists. Naturally, they’re subjective, but I’m assuming they are supposed to capture not just popularity but the zeitgeist of the characters mentioned.

For some reason, I feel compelled to comment. Feel free to suggest who you would move up or down, or add or remove from the list. My comment of “yes” means that it’s placed more or less correctly on the list.

1. Homer Simpson – The Simpsons. The word d’oh has made it into the dictionary. Interesting how the program went from being Bart’s show to Homer’s. Homer has engendered theological discussion.
2. Harry Potter – seven books, the last five or six of which got people to stay up past midnight to pick up. Plus six films (and counting) plus a theme park. Arguably, could be #1.
3. Buffy Summers – Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Phenom, yet I think it’s a little high; maybe top 20.
4. Tony Soprano – The Sopranos. Never saw but four minutes of this, yet there was no arguing about the significance of the DEEPLY flawed character.
5. The Joker – The Dark Knight. Great performance and tragic ending, but can’t help but wonder if people will still be talking about it in 10 years.
6. Rachel Green – Friends. If for the hairdo alone.
7. Edward Scissorhands. I liked this movie, but I think it’s too high on the list.
8. Hannibal Lecter – The Silence of the Lambs. Couldn’t get through the movie, yet I can quote dialogue from it. Definitely worthy of its placement.
9. Carrie Bradshaw – Sex and the City. Even if you hate the series, and apparently the second movie is cringe-inducing, significant.
10. Spongebob Squarepants – lots of adults actually watch this, including some that i know. Yes.

11. Cosmo Kramer – Seinfeld. Yes.
12. Fox Mulder & Dana Scully – The X-Files. Yes.
13. Jack Sparrow – Pirates of the Caribbean. Saw the first movie. More worthy choice of a Johnny Depp role that #7.
14. Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski – The Big Lebowski. Possibly should be in the Top 10.
15. Shrek – Sure.
16. Bridget Jones – It WAS a phenom for a time, wasn’t it?
17. Lara Croft – not my cuppa, but seems rightly placed on the list.
18. Sue Sylvester – Glee. I LOVE this character. Still, I think it’s an awfully high ranking for a show with such a short history, compared to other choices.
19. Morpheus – The Matrix. Sure.
20. Ally McBeal – made the cover of TIME magazine re: the death of feminism, which wasn’t the message of the show, I don’t think. Worthy choice.

21. Rosanne Conner – she became the epitome of some blue-collar ethos. Yes.
22. Cartman – South Park. Guess so.
23. Austin Powers – shagalicious; is that still a word? (Was it ever?) Yes.
24. Felicity Porter – I know her getting a haircut was apparently a national tragedy, but this feels too high.
25. Woody – Toy Story. wouldn’t have thought of him, but yes.
26. Kavalier & Clay – comic book novel done right, but did it have a larger reach? Seems high.
27. Frasier Crane – as the epitome of a smart person lacking self-awareness, yes.
28. Madea – Tyler Perry’s creation is more popular than some folks might think; yes.
29. Vincent Vega & Jules Winnfield – Pulp Fiction. Yes, the smart dialogue reached well beyond those who actually saw the movie, which spawned countless imitators.
30. Stephen Colbert – The Colbert Report. Yes, though it wouldn’t have occurred to me to include.

31. Forrest Gump -Yes, you can quote lines from this movie, even if you didn’t particularly like it.
32. Bevis and Butt-Head -Yes, I’m afraid so.
33. Sarah Connor – Terminator 2 – Yes.
34. Cher – Clueless. saw the movie, recall enjoying the movie, but seems a bit high.
35. Dexter Morgan – Dexter. Haven’t seen one minute of this, yet I know a great deal about it. Maybe a little high.
36. Gollum – Lord of the Rings. Yes, that technological magic.
37. Kyser Söze – The Usual Suspects. Had its day in the sun, but too high on the list.
38. Elmo – Sesame Street. WAY too low. This is the go-to Muppet. If you’ve watched Sesame Street, he has his own segment. Toys with his likeness became difficult to find.
39. GOB Bluth – Arrested Development. Great character, and the actor is great on 30 Rock, but I think, most people wouldn’t know the name. Too high.
40. Ron Burgundy – Anchorman. Yes, though I never saw the film.

41. Harold and Kumar -Yes.
42. Sydney Bristow – Alias – Yes.
43. Cal Stephanides – Middlesex – Can’t say; don’t know it at all. Which, by definition, means too high.
44. Jack Bauer – 24. WAY too low. As much as I grew to dislike the character, “Jack Bauer” became code word for a certain tough, take no prisoners, do what you have to do attitude. Should be Top 10.

45. Stewie Griffin – Family Guy. Just caught a bit of Family Guy; remember why so many hate it. Yes.
46. Jerry Maguire – has a couple catchphrases said TO him, involving money and hello; too low.
47. Corky St. Clair – Waiting for Guffman. I love this movie, but I doubt its impact in the broader market. Too high.
48. Red – The Shawshank Redemption. Yes, from a movie with so-so box office, it’s done extremely well as a rental.
49. Vivian Ward – Pretty Woman. Had all sorts of sociological conversations about the Cinderella aspect of the story. Made Julia Roberts’ career. Yes.
50. Pearl the Landlord – Funny or Die video. Do people who aren’t online even know what this is? The first one I saw was funny, though it lost its enjoyment. Too high.

51. Omar Little – The Wire. the show as a whole is influential beyond its viewership. But do people know the individual characters? Too high.
52. Annie Wilkes – Misery. Yes. Saw this.
53. Edward Cullen – Twilight. As much as I’m REALLY NOT interested, this may be a bit too low, considering the phenomenon.
54. Juno – Yes. briefly was the source of debate about abortion, choice and how to deal with teen pregnancy.
55. Tracy Jordan – 30 Rock. Hmm. I would have picked Liz or even Jack from the show. Maybe a little high.
56. Barney Stinson – How I Met Your Mother -Yes, and it’s done wonders for Neil Patrick Harris’ career to boot.
57. Clayton Bigsby (blind white supremacist) – Chappelle’s Show. Was this watercooler conversation? Feels a little high.
58. Thelma & Louise – THE female buddy movie. The ending was greatly debated. Yes.
59. Master Chief – Halo. I’m the wrong demographic, but seems high.
60. Mary Jones – Precious. with the book, and the movie, yes or a little high.

61. Vic Mackey – The Shield. Yes. the epitome of the conflicted cop.
62. Jimmy Corrigan – Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth. Yes.
63. John Locke – Lost. Yes, or maybe it’s a little low.
64. Maximus – Gladiator. Yes.
65. Lorelai & Rory Gilmore – Gilmore Girls. Yes. I watched every episode.

66. Allie & Noah – The Notebook. Yes, I guess.
67. Borat – Yes, or maybe a little low. Generated a national controversy about taste and honesty. Did not see myself either film.
68. (Jennifer Hudson’s) Effie White – Dreamgirls. Yes. The debate here was whether it was appropriate to applaud in the movie theater after her big number, given the fact that the performer couldn’t hear it. (I say, “Why not?” If you can laugh at a comedy, or cry at a melodramatic moment…)
69. Miranda Priestly – The Devil Wears Prada. Yes.
70. Mary Katherine Gallagher – SNL, Superstar. REALLY? Seems high.

71. Det. Alonzo Harris – Training Day. You do know Denzel really got his Oscar for his other roles. Seems high.
72. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace – Battlestar Galactica. Yes.
73. Catherine Tramell – Basic Instinct. Oh, yes, if only for the interrogation scene and the dearth of vital apparel.
74. Don Draper – Mad Men. Yes, even though I’ve never seen it, the show has generated conversation about truth in advertising, women’s roles, and smoking. This character’s confused identity is a plus.
75. David Brent – The Office. Yes, without whom there would be no Michael Scott or other Office managers around the globe.
76. Tyler Durden – Fight Club. Yes.
77. Mimi Marquez – Rent. Yes, a moving musical.
78. Patty Hewes – Damages. Glenn Close’s award-winning performances. The reach is greater than the ratings. Yes.
79. Elphaba – Wicked. in both book and musical, it’s about seeing things from someone else’s POV. Yes.
80. Gorillaz, the world’s greatest virtual band (supplanting The Archies?) Yes.

81. Amanda Woodward – Melrose Place. No fan of the show, even I know this is Heather Locklear’s character. Yes.
82. Tracy Flick – Election. Great movie, but do people know this character?
83. Jen Yu – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Yes.
84. House – Yes to Doctor Grumpy.
85. Daniel Plainview – There Will Be Blood. Great performance, but will people still be talking about this movie?
86. Karen Walker & Jack McFarland – Will & Grace – Yes.
87. Tony Stark – Iron Man. Yes.
88. Napoleon Dynamite. Having never seen this, nevertheless think this is too low; gets mentioned often.
89. Wilkus van de Merwe – District 9. Saw this. Time will tell if this is too high or low.
90. Marge Gunderson – Fargo. Ah yup. I mean yes.

91. Hancock – REALLY? It was a popular movie, but will anyone care later? If I wanted a Will Smith role, I’d pick the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, or with Tommy Lee Jones, Men in Black.
92. Christopher Boone – The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-Time – don’t know enough about it.
93. “Game Boys”: Nathan Drake – Uncharted, Kratos – God of War, Niko Bellic – Grand Theft Auto IV – certainly GTA has a huge sociological significance. Don’t know the particular players.
94. Truman – The Truman Show. YES. What’s real? Seems to presage the glut of reality TV we are exposed to.

95. Wilhelmina Slater – Ugly Betty. Yes to Vanessa Williams’ role.
96. Bernie Mac – The Bernie Mac Show. Yes
97. Violet Weston – August: Osage County. From a Broadway play that’s now touring, don’t know enough about this character.
98. Lisbeth Salander – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Don’t know.
99. The Bride – Kill Bill. Yes. Totally NOT interested in seeing this, yet I know all about it.
100. Tim Riggins – Friday Night Lights. Yes. Probably a show I should watch.

30-Day Challenge: Day 4 – Favorite Book

What about “real” books, books with actual sentences?

About a month before Carol and I got married, some of our friends threw us a party. We were supposed to answer a series of questions about each other. I was supposed to pick her favorite book; don’t know what I chose, but it was wrong. It was 100 Years of Solitude, which I had never heard her ever mention.

She guessed the World Almanac. Some folks declared skepticism about her pick, but it was dead-on right. It’s a book I’ve gotten every year except maybe a couple since I was 10.
Now that the computer is so ubiquitous, can’t I find the same info online? Probably most of it. But I know where to find it in this book, with a notation for the source of additional data; in some ways, THAT is more significant than the initial information. Besides, sometimes I don’t WANT to be on the computer.

Indeed I love my reference books on music, TV, movies; that’s why the former is on my list for The Giveaway (see right column until July 3, 2010).

But what about “real” books, books with actual sentences? Certainly, one of the most significant is Lying by Sissela Bok; except for a couple books on the Beatles, it’s one of the books I’ve read more than once all the way through as an adult.

Another would be the Bible, but that’s a special case. Sometimes it’s just too oblique for me. In our Bible study, one of the goals is to ascertain what the reading means for today. But there are plenty of readings, in Leviticus, e.g., that I can’t fathom., even after repeated study.

So I pick the book with the facts and figures as my favorite.

T is for Titans

Three actors were on NBC programs that started after their appearance in the movie.

Uncharacteristically, I was flipping through the TV channels recently. This is highly unusual, because generally, when I watch television, I go to a particular show, usually prerecorded. I came across this 2000 movie I saw in the theaters, Remember the Titans. Part of the IMBD synopsis:
“It’s 1971 in Alexandria, Virginia and successful high school football coach Bill Yoast (Will Patton) has just been deprived of the head coaching job at the new integrated T.C. Williams High School to make way for equally successful black coach Herman Boone (Denzel Washington). Yoast debates pursuing opportunities elsewhere, but when most of his white players vow to sit out the season unless he coaches, he changes his mind and stays on as Boone’s assistant.”
The Rotten Tomatoes Consensus: “An inspirational crowd-pleaser with a healthy dose of social commentary, Remember the Titans may be predictable, but it’s also well-crafted and features terrific performances.”

Well, yes, predictable, including having the Big Game. I enjoyed it well enough, and it at least tried to tackle the issue of race.

Looking back at it, though, I noticed an interesting coincidence:

Donald Faison, who played football star Petey Jones, became Dr. Christopher Turk, best friend of quirky Dr. John Dorian on the TV comedy Scrubs (2001-2010), with seven years on NBC, and the final two on ABC. Turk and JD were probably the epitome of a word I’m not fond of, “bromance”.

Ethan Suplee, who played big-hearted lineman Louie Lastik, was the some-what simple-minded younger brother Randy Hickey to the title character on the comedy My Name Is Earl (2005-2009, NBC). Earl dragged Randy into his plans to fix the outcomes of some of their less-than-desirable activities after the elder brother discovered karma following a car accident.

Hayden Panettiere played Sheryl Yoast, daughter of Coach Yoast: “My daddy coached in Alexandria, he worked so hard my momma left him, but I stayed with coach, he needed me on that field.” She initially resents Coach Boone for supplanting her daddy, but:
Sheryl Yoast: Coach Boone, you did a good job up here. You ran a tough camp from what I can see.
Coach Boone: Well I’m very happy to have the approval of a 5-year-old.
Sheryl Yoast: I’m 9 and a half, thank you very much.
Coach Boone: Why don’t you get this little girl some pretty dolls or something, coach?
Coach Yoast: I’ve tried. She loves football.
After playing Ally McBeal’s daughter in that program’s last season (2002), Hayden played Claire “Save the cheerleader” Bennet on Heroes (NBC) from 2006 until its cancellation in 2010.

So all three actors were on NBC programs that started after their appearance in the movie but that are all now off the air.
***

When the upstart American Football League (AFL) was formed in 1960 to challenge the long-established National Football League, the franchise in the US’s largest city was called the New York Titans. Major League Baseball’s National League experienced an expansion in 1962, and the city got the New York Mets. When the Titans were sold to new owners in 1964, the team changed its name to the New York Jets, to nominally link it to the popular, though inept, baseball franchise. The AFL merged with the NFL in 1966, though it wasn’t finalized until 1970. the Jets, of course, were the first AFL team to beat an established NFL in what became known as the Super Bowl, in January 1969. (The Mets would win the World Series later that same year.)

Another of the charter members of the AFL was the Houston Oilers, which relocated to the “state of Tennessee in 1997, first playing temporarily in Memphis for one season before moving to Nashville. For two seasons, the team was known as the Tennessee Oilers before changing its name to Titans in 1999.” So the Titans’ name lives again.

When I was collecting comics in the 1970s through the mid-1990s, I was pretty much a Marvel fan (Spider-Man, Iron Man, Fantastic Four) rather than a DC fan (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman). I never read, never even sought out, the original Teen Titans, a book about the sidekicks of the established stars from back in the 1960s. But because of the creative team of writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez, I did collect the NEW Teen Titans, starting in 1980, even though Robin was the only character I knew, and it became one of the most popular titles of its time.

There was also a Teen Titans TV series in the first decade of the century. New episodes stopped in 2006, but they are rerun often; I watched a part of an episode just this week to get into the spirit of this post.

Here is an extensive team history of the Teen Titans.

Finally, there is Clash of the Titans, the cheesy 1981 film with Harry Hamlin, and the 2010 remake. But I’ve seen neither, so I thought I’d just do the photo comparison.

ABC Wednesday

In Memoriam

It seems sadly fitting that the US death toll reached 1,000 in the Afghanistan war this weekend.

I’ve discovered that there seems to be some confusion about the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day. That fact confuses me, frankly, though their previous designations would be much more unclear.

Memorial Day, which falls on the last Monday of May, commemorates the men and women who died while serving in the American military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971.

Whereas:
Veterans Day, initially designated as Armistice Day in 1919, after World War I is a celebration to honor America’s veterans.

It seems sadly fitting that the US toll reached 1,000 deaths in the Afghanistan war this weekend, with “more U.S. military deaths in the last 10 months… than in the first five years of the conflict. More boots on the ground than in Iraq.”

Despite my major misgivings about the war(s), the list of war dead always affects me, every Sunday morning on ABC News’ This Week.
Here’s the one for February 10, 2008, which also noted the death of ABC’s former Pentagon correspondent John McWethy, who asked a former Secretary of Defense a pertinent question. This one, for February 15, 2010, also noted the deaths of Congressman John Murtha, who opposed the Iraq war, and former Congressman Charlie Wilson, who was a proponent of US involvement in Afghanistan years before the current conflict.

Oh, yeah, the lie that Obama’s non-presence at Arlington is somehow unprecedented. I’m perfectly comfortable with differences of opinions; deliberate prevarication is something else again.

Celebrity deaths:
Art Linkletter, 97 – I watched House Party when I was a kid, probably up to when I went to kindergarten, but not so much afterward. I always think that the “darndest things” the kids said rather annoying, actually.
Gary Coleman, 42 – I might have watched a half-season of Diff’rent Strokes, maybe less, before bailing. The L.A. Times obit made mention of his “unlikely run for California governor”. As though the state hadn’t elected an actor in the position before. He becomes another cautionary tale, I suppose.
Dennis Hopper, 74 – I remember him from my earliest television watching, though I didn’t know his name. I know him best from Easy Rider, but he was also the villain in the first movie The Wife and I ever saw together, Speed. I was still watching 24 for his villainous turn there. He was an artist and an iconoclast. Damn, died of prostate cancer, just like my father.

Stitching a Meme Together

I was at work, getting ready for a plane trip to Dallas for a conference the next day, when the first plane struck. Lots of confusion about whether it was an accident.

Jaquandor stitched together a couple of Sunday Stealing memes (On speed dating, but he is happily married. I am happily married, so don’t get any ideas).

1. What’s your favorite Dr. Seuss book?

Bartholemew and the Oobleck. Like most of my favorite Geisel stories, it confronts the powerful.

2. If you could live in any home on a television series, what would it be?

The USS Enterprise.

3. What’s the longest you’ve gone without sleep?

About 40 hours. I pulled an all-nighter to study for my calculus exam in my freshman year in college. I was failing calculus but ended up with a C for the semester.

4. What’s your favorite Barry Manilow song?

“Could It Be Magic”, specifically the Chopin-inspired opening.

5. Who’s your favorite Muppet?

Kermit. I mean, he’s green, about which he has sung.

6. What’s the habit you’re proudest of breaking?

I want to say none. There are things I don’t do anymore, but proud? Not coming to me.

7. What’s your favorite website?

For work, the Census site. For pleasure, probably my old blog, because I haven’t finished updating my links here.

8. What’s your favorite school supply?

A compass. No, not THAT kind of compass. THIS kind of compass:

Also, protractors. Always thought they were fun.
You don’t know what a protractor, is, do you?

9. Who’s your favorite TV attorney?

I LOVED TV attorneys! Owen Marshall, the folks on The Bold Ones, the lawyers on the first 13 years of Law & Order. It’s probably Perry Mason, an obvious choice. But I’ll pick D.A. Forrest Bedford, played by Sam Waterston on the 1991-1993 series I’ll Fly Away.

10. What was your most recent trip of more than 50 miles?

Going to Charlotte, NC in early April, arriving on Easter Sunday.

11. What’s the best bargain you’ve ever found at a garage sale or junk shop?

I’m not one to go to garage sales or junk shops. I’m not a “bargain” hunter. I’ve bought LPs I like for cheap, in the day, but nothing specific comes to mind.

12. Where were you on September 11, 2001?

I was at work, getting ready for a plane trip to Dallas for a conference the next day, when the first plane struck. Lots of confusion about whether it was an accident. Someone got a TV and I saw the first plane in the building, but that was not much to see. There wasn’t any reason to stay, so I went back to work. Then someone told me a SECOND plane hit.

So I watched it for a while, listened to the radio for a while. There were wild reports on the radion of a couple of dozen planes that had been hijacked. Went back to see the TV in time to see the first tower collapse, and then pretty much stayed there for a couple of hours.

Someone talked with my boss, who was already in Dallas. He seemed to be trying to reassure us that he didn’t think we in Albany were in danger. (One of the planes had been in Albany air space, and we were in a 12-story building.) It wasn’t that we were afraid; it was that we were depressed (and not getting any work done anyway). Eventually, we went home about noon.

I used to go ride my bike up through the Empire State Plaza roadway, take the elevator to the concourse level and ride home. It was technically illegal, but it beat taking State Street hill. Went past a policeman, who said “Hello,” but then, given the events, started worrying about the guy with a backpack, and called to me, but I feigned not hearing him and went on as usual. (A month later, after the Afghan war began, they started checking my backpack, so I went another way thereafter.)

Inexplicably, I stopped at a record store on Central Avenue, to pick up Bob Dylan’s Love and Theft CD (with two extra songs), which I had preordered, and which was released that day. I was watching the events on the TV there. Went home, watched ABC News for about eight more hours. Have a strong recollection of a film of a plane striking the second building, taken from below, i.e., the street level. Also, recall one of the smaller buildings collapsing around 5 p.m.

Some weeks later, our program was involved with a variety of programs trying to facilitate economic recovery, for which our state director won a prestigious award from SBA.

13. What’s your favorite tree?

The weeping willow. I think they are cool.

14. What’s the most interesting biography you’ve read?

Off the top, the last bio I read was probably the Autobiography of Malcolm X, with Alex Haley.

15. What do you order when you eat Chinese food?

When I was a kid, it was sweet and sour pork. Now, it was some broccoli and beef dish, or maybe General Tso’s.

16. What’s the best costume you’ve ever worn?

This one.

17. What’s your least favorite word?

I don’t know that I have one. I DO hate when a word is misused, such as “ironic” when they mean “coincidental.”

18. If you had to be named after one of the 50 states, which would it be?

Mississippi. I like typing it, and it’d turn me into an old blues singer: Mississippi Roger Green; OK, maybe not.

19. Who’s your favorite bear?

Yogi. When I was five and a half, and in the hospital for two days with an explained and uncontrollable bloody nose, watching all of those Hanna-Barbera cartoons (Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Yogi) made what could have been a scary experience exciting.

20. Describe something that’s happened to you for which you have no explanation.

I was 12, give or take a year. Walking down the street when one of the lenses of my glasses shattered, while I was wearing them. Fortunately, it didn’t hurt my eye. Don’t know if something fell from a tree. I don’t think it was a BB gun. It seemed to have been something that must have fallen from above me, but there was no sign of residue.

21. If you could travel anywhere in Africa, where would it be?

Victoria Falls. I love waterfalls.

22. What did you have for lunch yesterday?

Soup. It’s almost always soup or leftovers on Saturday.

23. Where do you go for advice?

Work advice: it’s my colleagues or the BUSLIB listserv. Personal advice: one of my friends or The Wife, or some friends at church.

24. Which do you use more often, the dictionary or the thesaurus?

Dictionary, mainly for spelling. I used to be a better speller before there was spellcheck.

25. Have you ever been snorkeling? Scuba diving?

Snorkeling, in Barbados in 1999, but I really didn’t take to it.

26. Have you ever been stung by a bee?

Yes, and at least once as a child by several all at once. Not fun at all.

27. What’s the sickest you’ve ever been?

The flu, sometime since I was married, before The Daughter. Out of work all week.

28. What’s your favorite form of exercise?

Since the Y closed, about the only type I get is bicycling.

29. What’s your favorite Cyndi Lauper song?

“Girls Just Want To Have Fun”. Someone made me a mixed tape with a parody: “Boys Just Want To Have Sex.”

30. What did you do for your 13th birthday?

I think it would have been just a family party. (The only big parties I had were when I was 10 and 16.) Strawberry ice cream, for certain.

31. Are you afraid of heights?

Not especially, though being on ladders doesn’t thrill me.

32. Have you ever taken dance lessons?

Once or twice. Not my strength.

33. What’s your favorite newspaper?

Unfortunately, the Wall Street Journal. The op/ed page is awful, but it has a lot of good coverage of business stuff.

34. What’s your favorite Broadway / West End musical?

West Side Story.

35. What’s the most memorable class you’ve ever taken?

At SUNY New Paltz, American Government & Politics with Alan Chartock, back in 1971, when he was young and creative.

36. What’s your favorite knock-knock joke?

My daughter has been trying to tell this joke:
Knock knock
Who’s there?
Banana.
Banana who?
Knock knock
Who’s there?
Banana.
Banana who?
Knock knock
Who’s there?
Orange.
Orange who?
Orange you glad I didn’t say banana ?

But she muffs the punchline but laughs hysterically. No real answer.

37. What’s your least favorite commercial?

I really don’t watch commercials anymore. I catch the annoying used car commercial now and then, but it doesn’t really affect me.
However, all-time, it had to be Wisk detergent commercials. “Ring around the collar,” with the wife looking SO ashamed. Seriously, I haven’t purchased Wisk ever since, and that was on back in the early 1970s.

38. If you could go to Disney World with any celebrity alive today, who would it be?

Kristen Chenowith. She seems like fun.

39. Do you prefer baths or showers?

Baths, but I almost never take one.

40. What’s your favorite newspaper comic strip?

Pearls Before Swine. Also like, to my surprise, Luann.

41. What’s your favorite breakfast food?

Pancakes. My favorite cereal is a Cheerios/shredded wheat mix.

42. Who’s your favorite game show host?

I always liked Allen Ludden, Dick Clark, Bob Barker, and especially Bill Cullen. Probably the only working one is Meredith Viera.

43. If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

Flight. Or transportation.

44. Do you like guacamole?

It’s OK. I’m not a huge fan, but I don’t dislike it, either.

45. Have you ever been in a food fight?

Not really. I might have thrown a donut hole or two.

46. Name five songs to which you know all the lyrics.

“Help!” (Beatles); “Yesterday” (Beatles); “A Day in the Life” (Beatles); “Act Naturally” (Buck Owens/Beatles) “The Boxer” (Simon & Garfunkel)

47. What’s your favorite infomercial?

“Favorite” and “infomercial” shouldn’t be in the same sentence. I did, when they were novel, watch a couple for Time-Life music.

48. What’s the longest you’ve ever waited in line?

1965 World’s Fair in Queens, NYC for the brand-new (to the United States) creation: Belgian waffles!

49. What’s on the cover of your address book or day planner?

Nothing but the words “Address Book”.

50. Have you ever taken a picture in one of those little booths?

ALL the time when I was a kid, at the Woolworths.