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: Beyond the Sea (1959)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
 1) This song mentions golden sands. When do you think you'll next visit the beach?
I have no plans to visit a beach, but I will be on a cruise later this month, stopping in many ports and who knows whether there will be a beach or not?

2) Shortly after "Beyond the Sea" hit the charts, Bobby Darin  met and married movie sweetheart Sandra Dee. Her squeaky-clean image is spoofed in the song, "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee," from Grease. Can you name another song from Grease?

Probably all of them, but "Greased Lightning" comes immediately to mind.  Then there's "We Go Together..." and "Beauty School Dropout," etc.  Grease is one of those shows that I have problems with because of its very bad message (to be accepted you have to become a slut), but I do enjoy the music.

3) Years earlier, Bobby had an ill-fated romance with singer Connie Francis. According to Ms. Francis, Darin wanted to marry her, but her father forbade it. Have you ever had a relationship that your parents disapproved of?
My mother wasn't too happy with Walt at first, but since that relationship has lasted 50 years, she's OK with it now.

4) Bobby was a Renaissance man: Grammy-winning singer, Oscar-nominated actor, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and an excellent chess player. Are you good at chess?
Not at all.  I know which way the pieces move, but that's about it.

5) A car buff, he drove a 1960 custom car that was so unique and spectacular it's now in a Detroit museum. The bright red paint was mixed with ground diamonds to ensure that it sparkled in the sun. Each of the four bucket seats had its own ac/heat control and radio speaker. The steering wheel was slightly squared for easier handling. What features would your dream car have?
Built-in WiFi; seat warmers for if it ever gets cold in California again; self-parking, since I have become so inept at it in my old age (used to be an expert parallel parker.  Now I can't park correctly to save my soul) I don't really care what the car looks like, as long as it's comfortable inside.

6) Beyond the Sea is also the name of the 2004 screen biography in which Kevin Spacey played Bobby Darin. Who would you choose to play you in the story of your life?
Rosie O'Donnell

7) When he was just 8 years old, Bobby Darin was stricken with rheumatic fever, and the disease left him with a dangerously weakened heart. Did you spend much time in the hospital when you were a kid?
I only went into the hospital once, to have my tonsils removed, when I was 5 years old.  My sister was never hospitalized, but she spent a lot of time at the doctor because of her allergies.

 8) In 1959, when "Beyond the Sea" was popular, Alaska became our 49th state. What comes to mind when you think of Alaska?
Big produce and hot air balloons.  We were in Palmer, outside Anchorage, one year for the Alaska State Fair and saw a fabulous hot air balloon race and the huge produce that is grown when there is 24 hour a day sun.  Blueberries the size of kumquats, cabbage measured in feet across, giant pumpkins, etc.

9) In 1959, Conair introduced the first hair dryer developed for home use. Is there a hair dryer in your bathroom right now?
I think so.  I never use one, but Peggy asked me to buy one for her when she was coming to visit in 2000 and I still have it.  I occasionally used it to dry puppies after bathing them.