Saturday 9

Saturday 9: The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia

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


Attention, Harriet! Since you removed the button requiring me to click on the pineapple, I can no longer leave comments through Blogger. Please know, though, that I have visited you these past two weeks. (I even admired your St. Jude's hat.)

1) The lyrics tell us about a young man who stopped at a bar named Webb's before heading home. What's the last restaurant or bar you visited? What did you order? We had dinner at the Randolph Tavern, arriving at about 7:00. It was packed with the pre-theater crowd and a lot of basketball fans, watching Western Illinois play Madison. We were jealous of those happy, noisy patrons because they didn't yet know what had gone down in Paris. Oh yeah, I ordered a lobster roll with fries and had a Moscow Mule. My friend John just had three beers (Stella Artois, if you're interested).

 
2) In this video, Vicki Lawrence is obviously lip synching. If you had to participate in a competition, would you do better at karaoke or lip synching? And what song would you choose to perform? I'd lip synch and I could perform this week's song. I know it that well. ("That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia, uh-huh-uh. That's the night that they hung an innocent man ...") I don't like this song, mind you. But it's one of those earwigs that bores in.

3) Back when this song was popular, so was the Rubik's Cube. Can you solve that 3-D puzzle? No

4) Vicki Lawrence is a hyphenate, meaning she's a comedienne-actress-singer. Using hyphens, describe yourself. Aunt-Friend-Cat Lady

5) Back in the early 1970s, songwriter Bobby Russell first offered this song to Cher, who refused it. Give us the name of a song Cher did record. "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves"
 

"Julie" then

"Julie" now

6) Vicki Lawrence won her first big break playing Carol Burnett's kid sister because of her resemblance to the star. Have you ever been told you look like a celebrity? I used to hear all the time that I looked like Julie on The Love Boat. I saw a photo of her recently and realized, "My God, I still look like her." And now I don't know if that's a good thing.

7) She also starred on Mama's Family in the role of matriarch of an argumentative Southern clan. As we head into the holiday season, do your plans involve a lot of family time? Not really. I'm spending Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day with people I love, but they are not my blood relatives.

8) After The Carol Burnett Show and Mama's Family, Vicki became a staple on daytime TV. She hosted Win, Lose or Draw and was a contestant on The Match Game and $25,000 Pyramid. Do you watch much daytime TV? Yes, but not during the day. I discovered this cable channel, Buzzr, that shows vintage game shows every evening. I am especially fascinated by What's My Line, ca 1962. The guests, the panelists and the audience are all dressed so elegantly and behaved with such impeccable manners. And we were so gender-defined in those days. The panel was surprised when women had jobs like architect or scientist.

9) Random question provided by a Sat 9er: Bugs/insects. Do you like 'em or fear 'em? Tell us something/anything you know about them. All bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs.

Shocked and sad

I'm watching the hostage situation at Paris' Bataclan Theater unfold in real time. It's overwhelming.

Bataclan, in happier times

I have no desire to travel overseas, never really have. There's so much of the United
States I haven't seen, or wish to see again, and that's my priority.

But I did go to Paris, back when I was 19, and it was exactly as I wanted it to be. I saw the Mona Lisa, the Champs-Élysée, the Arc de Triomphe. I loved almost* every moment.

That makes me feel a greater kinship to the tourists and citizens of Paris. My sadness, anger and horror is greater than my capacity to express it.

*OK, I also remember severe stomach upset after dining on a beer and sausage fondue. Just typing those words made me cramp up.

Looks rather silly, doesn't it?

This is the Excalibur Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. It will be our home-away-from-home next week. It's the goofiest looking, most garish building I've seen since ... well ... last time I went to Las Vegas.

We're going to see the Supreme Diana Ross at the Venetian and Las Vegas' one-of-a-kind Mob Museum. There's also going to be spa treatments -- a facial for me and a massage for my oldest friend -- and maybe, time permitting, time in the jacuzzi.

I'm a little worried about this whole trip with my oldest friend. She's still not done with her outpatient stint for depression. She owes me $200 for the trip and can't pay it back, because she's not working full-time yet. Is she going to be able to get up in the morning, as she'll need to if we're to make our spa appointments? I understand that with the meds she's on, mornings are difficult ...

Oh well, there isn't anything I can do about the situation until it actually presents itself. No point in borrowing dread.

Instead I'll try to imagine what trippy fairytale could have a setting like this as its happily ever after.

Love it!