Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Some Guys Have All the Luck (1984)
 
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) Do you consider yourself lucky? Want to hear how lucky I am? So far this year I've won a whopping $6 in the Illinois State Lottery. And it only took me $10 in tickets to do it!

2) When did you last risk money in a game of chance (lottery, raffle ticket, slot machine, etc.)? How did you do? This very week I won $1 on $2 worth of lottery tickets. Jealous, aren't you?


3)  There's a major football game this weekend. Will you be watching? Do you have any money riding on the outcome? I won't be watching. And now that I think of it, no one came around selling squares for a pool at the office this year.

4) The composer of this song, Jeff Fortgang, is an interesting guy who's had two disparate careers: first pop musician, then Yale-educated clinical psychologist. It's possible that many of the patients who see him for help with anxiety or depression have no idea that he wrote this song. What's something your coworkers (or, if you're not working, casual friends) would be surprised to know about you? Most everyone I know in real life would be surprised to know this blog exists.

5) Similarly, fans are often surprised to learn that this week's featured artist, Rod Stewart, is a history buff who loves reading about WWII. Is there a period of time or historic event that has captured your interest? I'm a mid-century girl. The 1860s and the 1960s both fascinate me. Talk to me about Kennedy and Lincoln. Let's discuss Mary and Jackie. I love immersing myself in those eras.

 

6) Rod met his current wife as the result of a dare. Penny Lancaster, then in her 20s, spotted the decades-older celebrity in a bar and only approached him because her friends bet her she didn't have the guts to talk to him. Are you, like Penny, vulnerable to peer pressure? Can your friends talk you into doing things you might not otherwise do? Not anymore. I'm too old for that.

7) Rod vividly recalls being 11 years old and going to see  Little Richard perform in a film comedy called The Girl Can't Help It. When you were a kid, did you enjoy going to the movies? What do you recall seeing? One of my more vivid cinematic memories is the re-release of The Parent Trap. My oldest friend and I were in third or fourth grade. Her mom was in the hospital and her dad got the idea of dropping us off at the movies while he visited her. Her dad and my mom had a summit and my mom agreed to this and so it was the first time I ever went to a movie without an adult. Thrilling! My friend and I felt soooo grown up and sophisticated, sitting together surrounded by those babies who still needed their parents to see a movie in the theater. And it took my friend's mind off worry about her mom, which in retrospect I see was probably the point.

8) The lyrics tell of when Rod's car overheats and he calls a friend, who doesn't come through. Tell us about a time recently when you were there and helped a buddy out. He's not a buddy, I don't even know his name. But I hung around in the laundry room a minute or two after I finished folding, waiting for the neighbor whose clothes were done and sitting in the washers. I wanted him to know there was time left in the dryers. I probably saved him 50¢! But it wasn't the money, of course. Washing clothes in our laundry room can be depressing, and I was happy to provide even a tiny bright spot.

 

9) The lyrics mention that "some guys do nothing but complain." Who do you know who is like that? Do you have a friend, relative or coworker who just always seems to find fault? A different neighbor. Peter. The Saddest Boy in the World. I ended up waiting on the platform with him as we were both leaving work. We had to wait two minutes in the cold for the next train. He was complaining but I reminded him 2 minutes is less than the time it takes to microwave popcorn. Then he started complaining that the train was pausing too long at the stops. We're dry and warm, I reminded him. He complained about the new construction around our condo building, how he can't breathe for all the dust and debris it's kicked up. I told him I was sorry but I hadn't even noticed it. Every moment of our 45-minute ride together was like this. By the time we got home, I wanted to kill myself.