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1 April 2017 ![]() Too Fat Polka (1947)
Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it
here.
The chorus, repeated endlessly, goes:
I don't want her, you can have her
1) Have you ever danced the polka?
For a brief period during college, we danced folk dances and I loved to dance the polka. As a matter of fact, I give the polka credit for Jeri being born. She was already a week or so late and the night before she was born, i went out and danced the polka. She was born the next day. 2) The centerpiece of a traditional Polish polka band is the accordion. The accordion is a substantial instrument. Have you ever tried to play it? No. Knowing me, if I ever tried, I'd get my boobs smashed in it! 3) The plump lady of this song cannot fit into the singer's car. How many passengers does your car comfortably seat? Five, two in the front and 3 in the back. 4) Would you like to lose a few pounds? You'd hardly notice if I lost "a few" pounds. I'd have to loose way more than a "few" before it would show. 5) In the long ago 1940s, this song was considered amusing. Do you think it's still funny today? Resembling the lady in the song, I say not in the least -- it may have been funny to some, but it sure wasn't funny then for zaftig women -- and you can bet that anyone playing that song over the airwaves today would be hit by so many protest groups they'd have to close their doors! 6) Arthur Godfrey, who recorded this song, was a popular radio and TV host from the 1930s to the 1970s. Before this week's Saturday 9, had you ever heard of him? Oh sure. We used to listen to his radio show. He didn't play the accordion, though--he played the ukelele. I believe he's in the ukelele Hall of Fame. He was a spokesman for Chesterfield cigarettes for many years....and died of lung cancer.
7) One of his more popular radio shows was
Talent Scouts. A 1940s-50s version of American Idol, this
show gave previously unknown singers their first national exposure.
Godfrey could point with pride to having helped discover Tony Bennett
and Patsy Cline, but he made a mistake by rejecting Elvis Presley. Tell
us about something you'd do differently if you could get a "do over."
If I could have a do over, I would finish college. I was woefully unprepared, coming from a tiny Catholic high school to the huge University of California Berkeley. I entered mid-year, so didn't have a group of freshmen to identify with and did not go through any sort of orientation. I had classes that had more students than my entire high school. I didn't know anything about counseling and had never received anything lower than a "C" in my life, so when I got a D on a class I stopped attending because the professor was hitting on me, I assumed I was going to fail and just stopped going to class. Many years later, when I was typing for a psychologist and typed report after report after report of people who had managed to complete university studies and who I suspected were not as smart as I was, I felt bad that I had given up so easily. But I had been the first person on either side of my family to go to college, so I had nobody in the family to counsel me either. 8) In 1953, Godfrey made news by having one of the nation's very first hip replacements. Have you ever been/would you be part of a clinical trial, either for a new drug or a new medical procedure? Depends on what it is. Probably not for a new drug, but possibly for a new medical procedure. Though if I were desperate enough, I'd probably try a new drug too
9) RANDOM QUESTION: You and a friend are
shopping. She tries on an expensive sweater and enthusiastically asks
what you think. You think it looks awful. Do you tell her the
truth? Yesterday was Brianna's 9th birthday and, as he has done every year
since her first birthday, our son, Uncle Ned, made a special video for
her. You gotta see this one. |
PHOTO OF THE DAY
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This is entry #6619