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1 June 2019

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!

It's Late (1959)

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

1) Ricky Nelson laments that he should have been home hours ago. When is the last time you stayed up later than you should have? What were you doing?

I almost always either stay up later than I should have, or wake up earlier than I should.  Last night I went to sleep at the usual time (about 11:00) but was up at 2 and now, at 5, I am still awake.  What was I doing?  Making the June changes for this journal (the start of a new month always involves a lot of editing)

2) Compounding Ricky's problem is that he's nearly out of gas. How is your gas tank right now? When did you most recently fill 'er up?

I don't drive that often, so I'm not the person who usually fills the tank.  Walt is good about keeping it full so I would guess we are at least half full.

3) It gets worse! He can't call home because he doesn't have a dime for the pay phone. Have you recently been in a situation where you've been glad you had your cell phone handy?

Recently, no, but I feel naked if I don't have my cell phone with me.  Probably the last time I was glad I had the phone handy was last year, during the months when we were going to Kaiser so often and had so many needs to check something or other.

4) The video for this song is from an episode of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Ozzie Nelson, Ricky's father, was in charge of the show and made the rules. One was that no one was allowed to smoke on the set ... except his wife, Harriet. Do you smoke? Have you ever lived with a smoker?

I have never smoked, but my father was a chain smoker, so I lived with a smoker for 18 years.  Given how many in my extended family have died of lung-related diseases, it's amazing to me that I don't have lung cancer, since second hand smoke is supposed to be so lethal.

5) Life magazine coined the phrase "teen idol" to describe Ricky's popularity. According to Tiger Beat, today's teen idols include Johnny Orlando and Ruby Jay. Johnny was born in 2003, Ruby in 2004. Sam admits that before today, she had no idea who these young people are. How about you?

I never heard of them either, but then I haven't known "teen idols" for decades.

6) While Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan have posthumously praised Ricky Nelson's music, 1950s music critics dismissed him as a lightweight. What's the last review you read? Was it written by a professional critic, or was it contributed by a consumer to a site like Amazon or Yelp?

Well this is rather difficult to answer, since I am a critic and so I'm reading reviews all the time--my own.  But the last review I read that was not my own was one written by one of my colleagues at Sacramento News and Review. (And BTW, I listened to a woman who had shocking things to say about Yelp, Billion Dollar Bully.  I won't read their reviews any more.  Here is an interview about the movie and about Yelp.)

7) At the height of his popularity, Ricky tried his hand at movies, appearing in the western Rio Bravo with John Wayne. He turned 18 during the filming, and Wayne celebrated by playfully throwing Ricky into a sack of horse manure. Do you think pranks and practical jokes are funny?

I hate pranks and practical jokes.  Period.  Nothing funny about them at all.

8) In 1959, when this song was popular, the St. Lawrence Seaway was completed. It connects Canada to our Great Lakes. Without looking it up, can you name all 5 Great Lakes?

I use the mnemonic HOMES - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior

9) Random question – You drive past a local motel and see the car of a very married friend right there in the lot. Would you ask her about it?

No. way.  Unless I knew an awful lot about her secret life.
 

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Ricky Nelson -- printing for Alice Nan
 

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