Saturday 9: Paper Doll (1943)
Unfamiliar
with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1)
The song is about a fellow who is exasperated by men flirting with his girl. Do you have a jealous streak? Yes. I wish I didn't, but when it comes to romance, I do.
2) He's blue after a quarrel with Sue. Did you exchange harsh words with anyone recently? Well, there's someone I was dying to exchange harsh words with, but I resisted. On the 7th, we had a condo association meeting. Gwendolyn attended and, presumably, heard the update on conditions in the laundry room.
• The machines would be up and running by noon on the 8th
• They will not be in their customary spots for a while because work still needs to be done on the baseboards, but they are available for use.
An email went out to everyone Friday morning, restating all this.
On Sunday, Gwendolyn sent an officious bitch-o-gram to those of us on the board, complaining that the laundry room looks a mess with the machines pulled away from the walls and will they ever be available for use? Please advise, because she's "too busy" to try to use the washers and then find out they aren't operational. I wanted to reply that I'm "too busy" to explain the situation three times for wretched nitwits like her, but I bit my tongue. I just asked the management company to resend Friday's email to her. Did she apologize for not only being wrong but for treating us like employees? Of course not.
3)
"Paper Doll" was #1 for 12 weeks in 1943-44, sold 11 million copies and
remains one of the best-selling singles of all time. Had you heard it
before today? Yes.
4)
As kids, the Mills Brothers worked on their harmonies in front of their
father's Piqua, OH, barbershop, much to the delight of passers by. Do
you often encounter street musicians in your neighborhood? When I worked in The Loop, I saw them every day. But in my little neighborhood it's just not done. I don't know why.
5)
The Mills Brothers were a long way from that street corner when, in
1936, they became the first African Americans to perform for the British
Royal Family. It's about 4,000 miles from Piqua to London. What's the
farthest you've ever been from home? It's 4,500 miles from Chicago to Munich, which I visited decades ago. I have friends and family who travel to Europe regularly -- my cousin Rose is saving for a trip to Italy right now to visit her favorite grand nephew who is studying there -- but I admit I'm far more parochial. There are many places in the United States I'd love to see for the first time or long to return to. (Like Honolulu, 4,250 miles from Chicago.)
6)
In the early 1930s, the Mills Brothers not only performed songs on
radio, they sang jingles for Standard Oil and Crisco. What commercial
can you recall having seen (or heard) lately? There's a new Jardiance commercial and I'm disappointed. I liked the original better.
8) Also in 1943, a bottle of Coke was a nickel. When did you most recently have a soft drink? What was it? I have Coke every day. When I worked at the office, the refrigerator was filled with Pepsi so I took advantage of that, but only because it was free. Coke is always my first choice.
9) Random question: Have you learned more from your successes, or your failures? Successes. I respond better to positive reinforcement, and find myself dispirited by failure.
Photo by Andre Taissin on Unsplash
