Explaining the Old Days (and Trivia Answers)

My grandson is in a program at school that mixes social issues and robotics.  The kids (7th and 8th graders) look at some issue in society, research it, and propose a form or method of improvement.  This year they're studying the problems faced by seniors.  I discovered this when my grandson asked if I'd be willing to be interviewed by the group, since I'm OLD.

After I finished smacking him around, I agreed and yesterday was my day to meet for a little Q & A.

Some of the questions were what I expected...  What are some problems I'm facing now that I'm older?  Are there things I have difficulty doing?  Are there places I like to go that I can't get around in any more? 

But there were questions I didn't expect.  And some of them gave me pause.

What did I like to do or where did I like to go as a kid that isn't around anymore?

What do I think of teenagers? (I loved that they asked that question.)

Am I more afraid of things now or less?

Is life easier or harder?

What do I miss most?

It was harder to answer some of these than I thought it would be.  What would you have said?


Trivia Answers:

Thanks to everyone who played along.  Just about everyone got Arnold and Buzz.  Most of you got 1984. But only a few remember the Fonz (Heyyyy) and Laugh In (sock it to me, sock it to me)

What or who first made these catch-phrases famous?

1 - I'll be back.

The Terminator, played by Arnold Schwarzenneger  in the 1984 film.

2 - Correctomundo

Fonzie/The Fonz/Arthur Fonzarelli, played by Henry Winkler in the 1970's-80's TV comedy Happy Days.

3 - Big Brother (is watching you..) 

1984 - In the dark futuristic novel by George Orwell, published in 1949, the phrase appeared in the description of a government poster, in part 1, chapter 1.

4 - You bet your sweet bippy. 

Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in, 1960's-70's TV comedy series, in which numerous guests used the phrase and variations of it.

5- To infinity, and beyond. 

Buzz Lightyear, voice by Tim Allen, in the 1995 film animation Toy Story.

Quote of the Day:

You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old. ~ George Burns

But Cats are Just Funny (Happy Hump Day)

Happy Hump Day

Okay, let me set the record straight - I'm a dog person. I have a dog.  I've always had dogs.  I think dogs are noble animals and they can be both very attractive and quite funny.

But in photos, cats are...well...

Oh, just see for yourself.

That's almost scary.  Scratch that - it's definitely scary.

Seems only fair.

Hmmm.  Some of these could also apply to a dog.

I use that look to keep the kids in line.

No comment.

And I wouldn't ask you to get through a Hump Day without your weekly "aw".

Did that one do it for you?

Okay, there are your hump day funnies. Hope this helps get you over the hump and coasting toward the weekend.  But before you go, why don't you try our...

Trivia Questions for Today:

What or who first made these catch-phrases famous?

1 - I'll be back.

2 - Correctomundo

3 - Big Brother (is watching you..)

4 - You bet your sweet bippy.

5- To infinity, and beyond.

But I was having fun...

Oops.

I didn't post this morning.  I meant to.  I had a post half-written.  But I always do my Monday posts over the weekend and this weekend I was having too much fun.

Saturday morning hubby and I took our eldest grandson to the first day of this year's bowling league and stayed to watch him. 

(Okay, this picture was from last year but it's him and he's bowling so close enough.)

 

Then we worked our church booth at the local popcorn festival.

 

Saturday evening we saw an excellent play. 

(For my blog followers who are in Dayton, you should go see this . It's playing at the Loft downtown.)

Sunday morning was church, of course.  Then we headed south to see our younger grandson's football game.

That's him, number 21.

Can you guess the outcome of the game (check out those happy faces).

What was even better, my dad drove up from Kentucky to see the game.

How many football players get post-game congratulations from their great-grandfather?

And then we all went out for dinner at a very cool burger place.

So why didn't I at least get my post up earlier today?

Well, I had to help a good friend celebrate her birthday.  Kidnapped her from work for a long lunch and somehow the day just got away.

But I was having fun.

How about you?  Did you have a good weekend?  Ever play hookey from everything you're supposed to be doing?

I'll be around to visit everyone tomorrow.

Trivia Questions - Remember M*A*S*H?

I stumbled over an old M*A*S*H rerun recently and got to remembering what a great show it was.  Let's see how many of you remember this classic.

1. Where is Hawkeye from?

2. In the episode where Hawkeye places an order for ribs from Adam’s Ribs, what does he forget to order?

3. Who was major Houlihan’s fiancée and what was his rank?

4. What is Klinger’s middle initial?

5. Where is B.J. Hunnicutt from? 

6. What was Max Klinger’s favorite baseball team?

7. What was Col. Potter’s middle initial?

8. What was the name of Col. Potter’s horse?  (Hint: think of my dog.)

9. What was the name of the psychiatrist?

10. What is Father Mulcahy’s full name?

Bonus question - What was Charles' sister's name?

Star Struck?

Happy Hump Day

Every so often I come across a funny that's so good, it's worth a post of its own. 

This is one of those.

Enjoy.

Paul Newman

Women of a certain era will fully appreciate this true story.

(If you don't understand this, tell your mother, she'll get it!)

A Michigan woman and her family were vacationing in a small New England town where Paul Newman and his family often visited.

One Sunday morning, the woman got up early to take a long walk. After a brisk five-mile hike, she decided to treat herself to a double-dip chocolate ice cream cone.

She hopped in the car, drove to the center of the village and went straight to the combination bakery/ice cream parlor.

There was only one other patron in the store:

Paul Newman, sitting at the counter having a doughnut and coffee.

The woman's heart skipped a beat as her eyes made contact with those famous baby-blue eyes.

The actor nodded graciously and the star struck woman smiled demurely.

Pull yourself together, she chided herself. You're a happily married woman with three children. You're forty-five years old, not a teenager!

The clerk filled her order and she took the double-dip chocolate ice cream cone in one hand and her change in the other.

Then she went out the door, avoiding even a glance in Paul Newman's direction.

When she reached her car, she realized that she had a handful of change but her other hand was empty.

Where's my ice cream cone? Did I leave it in the store?

Back into the shop she went, expecting to see the cone still in the clerk's hand or in a holder on the counter or something!

No ice cream cone was in sight.

With that, she happened to look over at Paul Newman.

His face broke into his familiar, warm, friendly grin and he said to the woman,

"You put it in your purse."

* * * *

If you're too young to have ever fallen under the spell of those blue eyes, I'm really sorry for you. You've missed out on something special. 

*sigh*

And although I think Paul is worth plently of sighs, I wouldn't think of forgetting your "aw".

How about this one?

Okay, did that get you over the mid-week hump?

Answer to yesterday's trivia question:

Question: In what country was Britain's Queen Elizabeth II when she became Queen in 1952?

Answer: Kenya   Elizabeth II actually ascended some time in the night of February 5th/6th 1952, officially early hours of February 6, when staying overnight at the Treetops Hotel, Aberdare National Park, near Nyeri town, close to Mount Kenya. She was told of her father King George VI's death a few hours later after arriving at Sagana Lodge, the royal residence at Kiganjo, in the Mount Kenya foothills. Elizabeth II was the first British monarch since the William IV [reigned 1830-37] to be outside the UK on succession, and first in modern times whose exact time of accession is unknown because George VI died asleep at an uncertain time.

Medical Bloopers for Today:

Skin: somewhat pale but present.   (well, thank goodness for that)

The pelvic exam will be done later on the floor.    (do they charge extra for the table?)

Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized.    (no comment)

Novel or Screenplay?

A couple weeks ago my writing group held a public reading night.  A local bookstore gave us the space and a dozen or so members read to whomever stopped by.

Some of our group find these events unnerving but I enjoy them.  Maybe there's a little frustrated ham in me.  I did have childhood fantasies of being an actress.  In fact, I auditioned for our class play in the third grade but I was turned down because I wasn't loud enough.  (I'm glad my sons don't follow my blog - they'd be on the floor right now.) 

But I digress.

I wrote a short story specifically for this night and I noticed I write differently when I'll be reading the story aloud.  For one thing, I skip most dialogue tags and use a different voice for each character.  Yes, I know we create separate character voices in our writing, but it's a lot easier to do verbally.

This caused me to remember a critique I once received that said my plot, action, character development, and dialogue were good but I needed to layer in a lot more setting, more visual description.

Hmmm.

I'm stronger in plot, action, character development, and dialogue.  I like verbalizing (or hearing someone else verbalize) my character's voices.  I'm weaker in visual description and setting.

Should I be writing screenplays?

It's an "out of left field" idea and I'll have to do a lot of research and study if I try going in that direction but does anyone have any insight to offer?  Any experience you'd like to share?

Just wondering.

Couple of notes on upcoming events...

On September 5, I'll have a special guest, author Marilyn Meredith, with a special contest. Don't miss it.

On September 17 I'll be participating in Alex Cavanaugh's latest BlogFest.  This should be fun. Why don't you join in?



Trivia Question for Today:

In what country was Britain's Queen Elizabeth II when she became Queen in 1952?

Where Did the Week Go?

Wow. It's Friday. TGIF and all that. But...well, the week's almost gone and I planned to get so much more done that actually happened.  Again.

Things started off well. I got almost everything on Monday's do-list done.  Almost.  Just a few things that rolled to Tuesday.  Which meant a few more of the things on Tuesday's list rolled to Wednesday.  Yeah, there were a few things that popped up that weren't on the list but really not that many.  Everything just seems to take longer than I plan for it.  Poor planning?  Or maybe poor execution.

It wouldn't be so bad except I always get the things that other people are waiting for done first.  Makes sense, right?  Get those critiques off to the crit group, take care of those committee e-mails, get the correspondence and blogs and all that stuff out of the way first and then do the non-deadline items.  Except right now, one of those non-deadline items is my WIP.  Nobody waiting on those re-writes but me.  Easy to let it slip to the bottom of the list.  To roll over to the next day.  And the next.

I know what I need to do, of course.  Change my priorities.  Set a writing scedule and stick to it.  Put my writing first. I know this.

I know it.

I just need to slap myself around a little and get back on track.  Anyone care to jump in and add a smack?

Hey, remember the grandson who lost his glasses in the lake at Scout camp?  He's doing the responsible thing and told his dad he'd pay for the new glasses, but he'd have to do it in payments.  Well, I'm doing my part.  I hired him to cut down some of the broken branches left by that big wind storm we had a couple weeks ago.  He did a lot of the work today.  Guess how much writing I got done while waiting to see if he was going to fall out of a tree.

Actually, I was proud of him.  Worked like a dog all day for money he knows is going right to his dad.  He's growing up. Nope, I'm not ready for that either.

Okay, I'm going back to work.  But please don't forget to give me a smack upside my head, or a well-placed kick, or something.  Sometimes I need a little push.

Trivia Questions for Today:

1. Two of the longest-running musicals in the London West end theater scene opened in 1981 and 1984 and feature the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. What are they?

2. Born in 1847 in Hungary, he grew to become an American journalist and publisher who eventually purchased the New York Sun and the St. Louis Evening Dispatch newspapers. Who was he?

3. Near what body of water, not far from what town, did Henry David Thoreau build a cabin in 1845 and live for more thatn two years?

Do you know?  Give them a try.  I'll post the answers on Monday.

Happy Hump Day - True or False

Happy Hump Day. 

I have a little brain teaser for you today. Don't worry, nothing too hard.

Can you guess which of the following are true and which are false?


1 . Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.

2. Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a belly button.

3. A pack-a-day smoker will lose approximately 2 teeth every 10 years.

4. People do not get sick from cold weather; it's from being indoors a lot more.

5. When you sneeze, all bodily functions stop, even your heart!

6. Only 7 per cent of the population are lefties.

7. Forty people are sent to the hospital for dog bites every minute.

8. Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until they are 2-6 years old.

9. The average person over 50 will have spent 5 years waiting in lines.

10. The toothbrush was invented in 1498.

11. The average housefly lives for one month.

12. 40,000 Americans are injured by toilets each year.

13. A coat hanger is 44 inches long when straightened.

14. The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute.

15. Your feet are bigger in the afternoon than any other time of day.

16. Most of us have eaten a spider in our sleep.

17. The REAL reason ostriches stick their head in the sand is to search for water.


18. The only two animals that can see behind themselves without turning their heads are the rabbit and the parrot.

19. John Travolta turned down the starring roles in 'An Officer and a Gentleman' and 'Tootsie.'

20. Michael Jackson owns the rights to the South Carolina State Anthem. 

21. In most television commercials advertising milk, a mixture of white paint and a little thinner is used in place of the milk.

 22. Prince Charles and Prince William NEVER travel on the same airplane, just in case there is a crash. 

23. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle built in 1903 used a tomato can for a carburettor. 

24. Most hospitals make money by selling the umbilical cords cut from women who give birth. They are used in vein transplant surgery. 

25. Humphrey Bogart was related to Princess Diana. They were 7th cousins.

26. If colouring weren't added to Coca-Cola, it would be green.

Okay, I have a great picture I planned to insert here but Blogger is being a pain tonight and won't let me upload.  (Stupid Blogger.)  So instead, we'll have to go right to the answers...

scroll down...








They are ALL true .....


I can't decide if I'm more freaked out at the thought of #16 or #2.  (How could Alfred not have a bellybutton?)  

Groaner of the Day:  You seemed to like the short one on Monday so here's another quickie.

The fattest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Circumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.