Friday, August 28, 2015

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Viva la Vida

1) The song refers to the singing of choirs. Have you ever been in a choir or a vocal group? No. I'm utterly tone deaf.

2) Chris Martin sings of when he "ruled the world." If you were in charge and had infinite power, what would you change right away? I'd make hogging space a criminal offense. If you take up two seats on the train, but you only paid one fare, then you are stealing that second seat and should be arrested. The same goes for sloppy drivers who take up two parking spaces. You're going down!

3) Chris used to be married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow. USA Today, The Washington Post and The Daily Telegraph have all run articles about how Gwyneth seems to annoy so very many people. What celebrity gets on your nerves? That horrible Patricia Heaton from Everybody Loves Raymond. Shrill, bossy and humorless, both on her TV shows and in her RWNJ tweets.

4) Coldplay's first big hit was, "Yellow." What color are you wearing right now? White

5) Sam remembers when she used to hear this song everywhere and can't believe that was 7 years ago! When is the last time you had a similar "my, how time flies!" moment? Every time I see my nephew. He's a sophomore in high school now, taller than me with such a deep voice. Yet it seems like just last week he was obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine. In reality, that was 7 years ago, too.

6) In 2008, when "Viva la Vida" was popular, John Grisham's latest legal thriller, The Appeal, was jumping off bookshelves. What have you read this summer? An okay mystery, a lovely and light biography of costume designer Edith Head, and now an exhausting biography, Being Nixon. I'm learning a lot about him and it's fascinating, but it's not an easy read. Complex and tragic. (I know, I know ... it's summer so I should be reading chick lit.)

7) Thinking of books: Let's say a biographer has taken the task of writing your biography. What would you title your life story? The Determined Heroine. I take this from my favorite Nora Ephron quote.


 

8) 2008 is also the year Paul Newman died of cancer. Name a Newman movie. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The film that will always define cool for me.


 
BTW, Mr. Newman was as good and decent offscreen as he was cool onscreen. After he died, I learned how much he helped a children's home right here, next door to where I live. The kids who live next door are in foster care, and the unfortunate reality is that the system separates siblings. Every summer, Newman's Own sent a bus to collect the kids next door and their brothers and sisters also in foster care so they could enjoy a day together at an amusement park. No charge. The only request was that the children's home not publicize it or use his name in their fundraising. I live next door, and didn't know this was happening until after he had passed. A class act.
 
 

9) Random question: Do you like garlic? Not especially.

8 comments:

  1. What a great story about PN.
    And I think we would all do a really great job ruling the world. In fact, better than anyone who is doing it now! :)

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  2. He was a class act that Mr. Newman. And yes to space hogs getting arrested or whatever! We do need new rulers but Trump's not one of them. Can we please take over the Palace?

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  3. Enjoyed your answers, but you do need some lighter reading. Nixon? Whew.

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  4. You know there is a name for when a man taking up two seats on the train... "Manspreading"

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  5. I got a little choked up at the Newman information. I always admired him and it has deepened after reading that.

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  6. I'm amazed at how man people can't name a single Paul Newman movie. And I loved the Nora Ephron cartoon. (BTW, Paul Newman also established the Hole in the Wall camp for sick kids and the proceeds for all of his products go to charity.)

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  7. You should rule the world. You have a lot of good ideas!

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  8. I too admired Paul Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward. It's a shame his company is now in the midst of a battle for control.

    It is weird watching "our" kids grow up into adults, isn't it? I'm having difficulty, on occasion, remembering that my little Thomas-lover is now an adult in his own apartment hosting D&D tourneys this weekend. ;-)

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