Ramblin' with Roger

Sunday Stealing: Lucky Stubbs

Australia

The Sunday Stealing for this week is another Kwizgiver. I’ll write about Lucky Stubbs and other things.

1. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive-through?

While we’ve used the drive-through, we tend to be people who go inside. My wife doesn’t like us to eat in her car, and I get that.

However, I’ve witnessed how people in their cars are given more attention in terms of staffing at some locales than the people inside. This tends to make me irritable.

2. Have you ever lost anything down a toilet?

Undoubtedly, though, I have no specific recollection of what.

3. Do you have a dog?

In my life, I had only one dog. He was named Lucky Stubbs. I believe he was an Alaskan husky we had when I was a tween. He would nip at me, but my parents, specifically my father, seemed unconcerned. That is until he bit one or maybe both of the minister’s daughters. THEN they got rid of him, ostensibly to a farm in the area. (This is a random pic from a governmental website, BTW.)

4. Ever gone camping?

When I was a kid, we went camping a lot. I hated it. Setting up the tent, no matter how many times I had set it up, continued to be a mystery to me. I hated trying to sleep on an air mattress. There were often lots of bugs. On the other hand, I did think the Coleman stove and lamp were cool.

5. Have you met anyone famous?

I’m sure I’ve answered this before. Rod Serling, Earl Warren, Nelson Rockefeller, Anita Baker, And Randy Newman, sort of. Probably others.

6. Any plans today?

I will be singing in the church choir for the first time in three weeks and talking with my sisters for the first time in three weeks. These are related.

7. Are you happy?

Sure. I got to go to the wedding of an old friend this month. Now I can sing in the choir and talk with my sisters.

8. Where are you right now?

I am almost always in my office when I write these things.

More an irritation than a mere annoyance

9. What is the biggest annoyance in your life right now?

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said this about Florida, but it’s hardly limited to the Sunshine State. “They started by finding marginalized groups to demonize to unite people around a common enemy: Jews, gays, Catholics, or whatever group they could rally the desperate mob to hate. Then they launched overwhelming campaigns of disinformation that ensured the people didn’t know what actually was happening in the world, only what they wanted them to know.

“At the same time, they would re-engineer education so children would be prompted to embrace feverish, unquestioning patriotism while censoring what kids learned in order to promote an idealized country that never made mistakes and only had the best interests of all people in their hearts. Facts, they declared, were for nerds and elitists.”

Last

10. Last song listened to?

P.S. I Love You from On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2 by some obscure Liverpudlian band of the 1960s.

11. Last movie you saw?

We Are Marshall (2007) is a movie based on the real story of rebuilding a football team after most of the team was killed in a plane crash. My wife and daughter were watching the film on TV, which starred Matthew McConaughey, Thursday night when I came home from choir rehearsal.

12. Are you allergic to anything?

Some trees and grasses and this season is particularly virulent.

13. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?

Sneakers with support.

14. What do you think of when you think of Australia?

Aboriginal peoples; the Sydney Opera House; the Great Barrier Reef; the Australian Open, the first of the tennis Grand Slam events each year; and the fact that about two-thirds of its land mass is boringly named (Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory).

15. Do you use smiley faces on the computer a lot?

I rather loathe them. That would be a hard NO.

Most awarded songs #10

mondegreen of long duration

More fun with tunes that are among the most awarded songs #10. I own every one of them in some form. Here are some of your Grammy and Oscar winners. They’ve been touted by Rolling Stone magazine, RIAA, ASCAP, CMA, NPR, and others.

60. A Change Is Going To Come – Sam Cooke. If you saw the biopic One Night in Miami, you get a sense of the importance of this song on society at that point. He was inspired by Bob Dylan’s Blowing In The Wind. Cooke chose to share feelings he had from dealing with discrimination, at hotels, e.g., that he experienced. Unfortunately, he was killed on December 12, 1964, two weeks before the song was released as a single.

59. I Only Have Eyes For You – The Flamingoes. Quoting me: “I hear those first three or four chords and I am always surprised how it leads to such a lush tune. My first favorite song, probably for 30 years.”

58. Layla – Derek and the Dominoes. I loved this song when I was in college. My neighbors Howie and Debi had a cat named Layla, who was a sister to our cat Doris. It is, of course, about Clapton’s longing for his friend George Harrison’s wife, Pattie Boyd. Rita Coolidge has claimed credit for co-creating the piano part, a segment that her then-boyfriend Jim Gordon was playing the tune during the album sessions.

57. Losing My Religion – R.E.M. I could always relate to this song.

56. Imagine – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. I’m on record of having overdosed on this recording and especially all of the covers. Still, I’m glad that John had a signature song by which he’ll be remembered. His son Julian sang it to support the Ukrainians recently.

“Picket lines and picket signs”

55. What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye. Berry Gordy famously wasn’t a fan at first.

54. You Send Me – Sam Cooke. Cooke took a lot of grief for abandoning the gospel music with the Soul Stirrers. Still, this song is pretty tame for such outrage.

53. I Walk The Line – Johnny Cash. as his first big hit – #1 country, #17 pop in 1957 – it is the song I most associate with him. A biopic about him and June Carter was titled Walk The Line.

52. Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison. Apparently, because of signing a bad contract with Bang Records, Morrison never made a cent on his first, and signature hit.

51. California Dreamin’ – The Mamas and The Papas. They were listed as The Mama’s and the Papa’s on their first big single. Here is was one of the mondegreens I lived with for the longest time:
Stopped into a church
I passed along the way
Well, I got down on my knees (got down on my knees)
And I pretend to pray (I pretend to pray)
but I heard
And I began to pray
Moreover, I’ve heard a number of cover versions that made the same mistake.

Lydster: Flip Your Wig and other games

Boggle

You might flip your wig about the activities when our daughter was home on spring break.

Her bedroom had a bunk bed for several years. But the beds had become very uncomfortable to sleep in. When she was home at Christmas, she slept on a futon in her mother’s office, my daughter’s bedroom pre-kindergarten.

However, in my wife’s new job with an afterschool program, she needs her office. This means we had to reclaim the room by removing the bunk bed. Easier said than done. The metal joints were stripped, and no wrench in our collection would take it apart. Our contractor came to do the job.

One section was huge and heavy. I slid it down the stairs but asked her to help me carry it from the front porch to the street. She did it by herself, proving she has greater upper arm strength than her old dad.

The games people play

One afternoon, she decided she wanted to play some board games. I beat her in a game of Yahtzee. But she utterly defeated me in our second game of Boggle, getting 50 points in one three-minute round versus my 15. She’s become an outstanding player.

The other thing we played was The Beatles Flip Your Wig board game. It came out in 1964. My wife and daughter bought it for me a few years back. I must admit that the play is pretty lame, but it was a sweet gesture.

The rules are these. You pick a Beatle and go around the board, trying to pick up four cards, a picture of your Beatle, his autograph, his instrument, and a generic hit record. You want to be the first player to collect all four cards.

While I won two out of three games, the game is so dependent on luck that there was no sense of accomplishment. Still, it was a fun afternoon with my daughter.

Deborah and Cyrille are engaged!

Gulf of Morbihan

My friend Deborah wrote to me in October 2022 that she and her beau Cyrille are engaged! I was happy for her and also a bit surprised for reasons.

Did I want to come to the wedding? Well, sure, of course. The slightly complicating factor is that they live in the Brittany section of France.

I’ve never been to France, or, for that matter, anywhere that’s not in North America. I always wanted to, and now’s an excellent opportunity.

Still, after they sent out the electronic, animated invitations on December 4, I did not respond despite indicating my desire to attend in an email. The wedding is a very elaborate series of events, which will be described in due course. On December 11, Deborah asked about my wife and me attending since I had not RSVPed yet.

This involved the next issue. After six months off, my wife would start a new job on January 2, 2023. It involves an afterschool program, and the school year is still going on May 19, when the wedding occurs.

(I should note that the six months “off” included her falling on her face, getting COVID, and having a leg infection that sent her to the hospital for four days plus more treatments for a month and a half afterward.)

I wrote, “I am going. [My wife] says she wants to go too but has to negotiate. She also needs to apply for her passport. I will let you know by the end of the month.”

Oui

We said yes on December 19, the same day we went to the local AAA office to discuss the trip with a travel consultant. They wrote back two days later: “Attached is a quote for your trip to France. Unfortunately, Avanti did not have any hotels in Erdeven. I checked, and none of the suppliers that we work with have hotels there. The closest town would be Auray (where the train goes) or Carnac.”

The trip involved flying from JFK Airport at 1830 on May 14, arriving at Charles De Gaulle Airport on May 15, staying at a hotel in Paris for three nights, then taking a train to Auray.

On January 4, we received another message from the couple, marked URGENT. “We are happy that you are coming.

“But we have learned that our wedding is during a major Brittany event, La Semaine du Golfe… It is urgent to make your hotel and transport reservations as soon as possible.”

Re: that event, taking place from Monday, May 15th to Sunday, May 21st, 2023.: “The Gulf of Morbihan regularly welcomes over 1000 classic and traditional vessels for La Semaine du Golfe, a quite unique maritime festival sees the fleet split into flotillas by class, with around 18 harbours welcoming a new flotilla on each day on the event.”

Deborah and Cyrille wrote: “We also want to invite you to a post-wedding brunch at our home on Saturday, 20th of May, at 12:30 pm at our home. Please RSVP by 15 January.” This we did.

Ascension Day

Next complication. We need to rent a car to get around to the various wedding locales. Avis in Auray, both at the train station and downtown, close at noon on the 17th, and they are closed all day on Thursday the 18th for Ascension Day.

What the heck is Ascension Day? “We commemorate Jesus Christ’s ascension into heaven (as per Christian belief) by celebrating Ascension Day, which occurs on the Thursday, which is 40 (or 39) days after Easter. This year, it will take place on May 18. Known by multiple names — The Feast of the Ascension, The Ascension of Jesus, Ascension Thursday, Holy Thursday, or Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord — this is a Christian holiday that doubles as a public holiday in many countries like Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, and more.”

This took me by surprise. The Wikipedia list of countries puts France as the 17th least devout among 144 counties, with only three in ten people saying that religion is important. (In the US, two in three say religion is important.)

So we returned to AAA on the phone and changed the train from the 18th to the 17th. Also, we booked a place to stay in Auray on the 17th and the 18th. But we did not yet undo our three days in Paris because AAA couldn’t get Avanti to lock in the train tickets.

But that’s for the next installment.

Quaint and Quirky Ads of the Past

husky

The excellent Internet Archive is “a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.” It has recently sent me an email entitled Quaint and Quirky Ads of the Past.

“In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, advertising exploded from a niche art form into a massive industry. Companies began to invest heavily in marketing their products, and many artists would supplement earnings by creating brand advertisements for print magazines. A century later, over 2,800 print graphics have been digitized and preserved in our Advertising Art in Magazines Collection.”

This one struck my fancy because of the word “husky.” As a kid growing up who wore clothes sometimes labeled as “husky,” I am fascinated by the development of the word since 1920.

Brand evolution

“Some household items that were popular from the 1900s to the 1930s remain pantry staples even today. Lipton Tea was marketed as “a glorious lift when you’re weary,” and Lifesavers were proclaimed “an amazing new taste sensation,” while Campbell’s Soup promoted itself as a luxury dinner party course without the hassle. While these brands didn’t retain the prestige they were attempting to claim (recipes like wine Jell-O aren’t an essential dessert for every occasion), advertisements from this time served their purpose of keeping these goods top of mind, even for today’s modern households.”

This is one bossy kid for 1913.

Cigarette Supremacy

“Before tobacco marketing was legally restricted, cigarette advertising was a big business. Popular brands such as Lucky Strike, Camel, and Chesterfield used visually-compelling imagery and memorable slogans, like “It’s toasted,” to differentiate themselves. Holidays were even fair game for promotions, with tobacco companies featuring Santa Claus as a smoker and brand ambassador for their products.”

Such a specific number of doctors endorsed “coffin nails” in 1930.

Likely Discontinued

“Over the past century, many goods have demonstrated their long-term viability. However, several others did not stand the test of time. Products that appeared helpful—such as the Pillow Inhaler (1869 ), designed to alleviate asthma, bronchitis, and lung ailments, or Magnetic Foot Batteries (1900) for warming cold feet—turned out to be nothing more than snake oil and were banned from sale. Similarly, the Pandiculator (1920), which claimed to improve health and height, was available from 1914 until malls prohibited it in 1942.”

If this brand is still available, as it was in 1946, I cannot find it.

I’ve been donating a paltry $5.00 monthly to the Internet Archive. “Your monthly donation allows us to continue our work of advancing Universal Access to All Knowledge, and we couldn’t do it without you.

“Your ongoing giving helps us survive, thrive, and grow—ensuring that students, researchers, journalists, librarians, and curious citizens everywhere have access to our digital cultural heritage. Thanks to you, we have a dependable monthly income that helps us plan for the future, build long-term sustainability, and continue to provide consistent services to all our patrons, especially including those who may not be able to afford it.”

I may have to up my donation.