Saturday Nine

Call Me (1966)

Unfamiliar with this week's song. Hear it here.

1) Chris Montez sings that you can always call him, regardless of the hour. Do you believe that it's ever too late to phone someone?

I've always felt that if someone calls after 10 p.m., it's with bad news.

2) He insists that you can depend on him, even when your friends desert you. Who is someone you can trust to have your back, no matter what?

Walt and the kids...and Char.

3) Billy Crystal serenades Meg Ryan -- via answering machine -- with "Call Me" in When Harry Met Sally. Answering machines have been replaced by voice mail. Who most recently left you a voice mail?

Kaiser pharmacy letting us know that they had mailed out prescriptions we had ordered.  They leave more voice mail messages than anybody else.

4) Chris Montez is a graduate of El Camino College in Torrance, California. The average daytime temperature in November in Torrance is 70º. How is the weather where you are today?

59⁰.  Predicted low will be 44⁰

5) Today Chris actively promotes a healthy lifestyle to children. He was honored for his efforts by the group SOPA (Stop Obesity, Promote Activity). Do you believe you get enough exercise?

Bwahahaha.  The most exercise I get is walking from my office down the long hall to the bathroom.

6) Released in late 1965, "Call Me" became a big hit in 1966, reaching #2 on the charts. Even though it sold millions of copies and was certified as a Gold Record, it never hit #1. Is winning, or being the best, important to you?

I never think it's a big deal for me, unless I'm playing a game and then it suddenly becomes a very big deal.  (Comes from a lifetime of playing games with my very competitive mother!)

7) In 1966, when this was playing on juke boxes, kids were watching Batman and Star Trek. If you had your choice of watching an episode right now, which would you choose: Star Trek or Batman?

Star Trek, hands down!  (I don't know that I have ever watched Batman.

8) Also in 1966, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay was born. Do you enjoy cooking?

Good grief.  Gordon Ramsay is the same age as my daughter!  Yes, I enjoy cooking, most of the time.  I do get  tired of it sometimes and enjoyed when we had Blue Apron and Home Chef because I didn't have to plan meals, but I needed a break and am now back to making "something with chicken in it again.

9) Random question -- You have the opportunity to perform in the circus! Would you rather be shot from a cannon, or put your head in the lion's mouth?

Neither, actually, but if you put a gun to my head and made me make a choice, I guess I'd go with the lion...but make sure that it is well fed beforehand (I understand they only kill when they are hungry)

Saturday 9

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

Saturday 9: Black Magic Woman (1970)

 

Unfamiliar with this week's tune: Hear it here.

 1) Black is this week's signature color because Friday, November 23, was "Black Friday," when retailers cut their prices and consumers flock to the stores. Did you score any "Black Friday" bargains?

I stay away from stores on Black Friday like the plague.  The last thing in the world I want to do is fight with 1,000 other people for something I probably don't need anyway.

2) On busy shopping days, carts often litter parking lots. After loading your items into your car, are you careful to return your shopping cart to the store or the designated cart receptacle?

Sometimes, but not lately.  I use the cart as a walker instead of taking my walker into the store, so I need it to hang on to and if I return it, I am in danger of falling on my way back to the car.

3) Who on your gift list is hardest to buy for?

Walt.  We have been married 53 years and I can probably count on the fingers of one hand the gifts I've given him that he has actually used.  But it's not just me.  His mother always gave him clothes that I would find years later still in the box under the bed.  Last year I bought him wine and I think he actually drank it.

4) Feasting and football are also popular Thanksgiving weekend pastimes. Do your Thursday-Sunday plans include enjoying leftovers or watching a game?

Not a big football fan.  I chatted with my granddaughter, who chose "Bridge to Terabithia" as our next book club book, so I spent the afternoon reading the book and then watching the movie.  I am now all cried out.

5) Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is an annual event. It began in 1924 as a local event in New York. Today it's nationally televised. Did you watch it?

I don't usually, but I did this year.  I liked it better when it was a real parade and not a series of musical performances with a bit of parade thrown in for good measure.

6) What did you give thanks for on Thanksgiving 2018?

Well, the president said that he gave thanks for himself, and I certainly did not count THAT in my things to be thankful for.  I was thankful for a nice, low key Thanksgiving brunch with my mother at Atria--if she is around next year, it will be her 100th Thanksgiving.  I'm thankful that my health is improving, and I am always thankful for everyone in my family, especially Ned this year, since he has been so helpful to us.

7) At the first Thanksgiving, there were no forks. Pilgrims ate with spoons and knives, and forks didn't become popular until the 18th century. Think about your Thanksgiving place setting. Did you have both a salad and a dinner fork?

I did not set a Thanksgiving table this year, but when I do, yes it does.  (Except the salad for is usually used for dessert)

8) Pies are a popular Thanksgiving dessert. What kind of pie did you enjoy? Or did you have ice cream? Or did you skip dessert?

I cannot envision Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie.  It is such an integral art of my Thanksgiving that I made a pie for Walt and me, since we were going out to friends' house for dinner and I didn't know if we would get pumpkin pie or not.  As it turned out, we left early so did not have any of the pumpkin pie, but came home and ate the pie I had made.  Skip dessert?  Surely you jest!!!

9) This week's featured band, Santana, was named for its founder, Carlos Santana. He was born in Mexico. When at a Mexican restaurant, what do you usually order?

It depends.  I love chile rellenos but I'm kind of particular about them, so unless I know that they are going to be GOOD chile rellenos, I will order a taco or burrito.  I frequently try flautas, hoping to recreate the wonderful flautas we used to have in Berkeley, but so far have not found anybody who makes them the way I like them (that includes our Mexican daughter, who owns a Mexican restaurant!)

Saturday 9

Welcome to Saturday 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!
Saturday 9: Love Is All Around (1970)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here
1) This week's song is the theme from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, a sitcom that originally aired from 1970 to 1977. Were you a fan?
Yes.   I loved the show.  I still remember the finale.

2) The song tells us that Mary Richards can turn the world on with her smile. Yet the real-life Mary Tyler Moore said she was uncomfortable with her "wide mouth." If you could improve on one of your facial features, which would you choose?
Wider rather than squinty eyes.

3) We also hear that Mary can "take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile." What do you think makes a day "a nothing day?"
I love "nothing days" where there is nothing on the schedule, no show to review, and no guilt about not visiting my mother.  (These days, with my knee problems, most days are "nothing days")

4) Mary works in the newsroom at WJM. Her desk is neat as a pin. Are you neat? Or do you lean to the sloppy side?
Bwahahaha.  Anybody who knows me, or who visits this house for 10 seconds, knows that "neat" is not a word EVER used to describe me.

5) Mary's best friend, Rhoda, worked as a window dresser at Hempel's department store. What department store did you most recently shop at? What did you buy?
I can't remember the last time I was in a department store.  I mostly buy on line.  I'm not a big shopper.

6) Mary Richards lived in Minneapolis. What city is nearest to where you are right now?
Sacramento.

7) Originally the part of Mary Richards was written as a divorcee, but in 1970, there were no TV shows that centered around a divorced woman. Think about the women in your life. Are most of them married, divorced, single or widowed?
Married or widowed.

8) The MTM production company logo featured a mewing kitten. The cat was found in a Minneapolis shelter, and, after her sequence was shot, she was adopted by a crew member who named her Mimsie. What's the name of the last cat -- or dog or hamster or rabbit -- that you petted?
Our dog, Polly.

9) Random question -- Would you rather have a job that kept you seated on your fanny or standing on your feet?
These days I can't stand for 5 minutes without discomfort, though I have a butt that handles being seated very well.  (And as a theater critic, my job pretty much requires that I sit all the time!)