2008 Apollo
(AKA Rocketa)
Teacher George
Call Me Professor Mason!
Honda, We make it simple.... Except where you put your feet!
1960's Music Videos and Answer Songs
Have you ever heard the expression men are from Mars, and women are from Venus? This is a fine example of that. it is also a fine example of what is called an answer song. An answer song (or answer record) is, as the name suggests, a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s through 1950s. Answer songs were also extremely popular in country music in the 1950s and 1960s, most often as female responses to an original hit by a male artist. Today, this practice is most common in hip hop music, especially as the continuation of a feud between performers. Sometimes an answer record imitated the original very closely and occasionally a hit song would be followed up by the same artist. A famous example of this would be Woody Guthrie's famous "This Land Is Your Land" was written as an answer to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". Here we have Jody Miller's "Queen of the House" was a response to Roger Miller's song "King of the Road".
King of the Road" is a 1965 song written and originally recorded by country singer Roger Miller. The lyrics tell of a hobo who despite being poor (a "man of means by no means") revels in his freedom, describing himself humorously as the "king of the road". It was Miller's third single. It was No.1 for 5 weeks in 1965.
Jody Miller's "Queen of the House" went to No.5. She is no relation to Roger.
There are lots of answer
songs, a lot of which we have heard, but yet we do not even realize that
they are part of this rare selection of group. Some time I feel like
Ellen and I are like this, dancing to the same tune, but very different
words.... Anyway here is what MTV looked like in the 1960's. Let me
tell you fist off that there was not MTV at that time, and the Jody Miller
song "Queen of the House" was really racy for it's day. These songs
were stuck in my head today and I just thought I would share them with you!
Laura's Awesome Epic Statue
Griffin,
"You pick up your Pork Fried Rice!"
Kern
Glenn, So... This looks doable...
So I am getting around to publishing this now, but On April 2nd (Good Friday) I hauled the kids down to Gettysburg PA for a battlefield tour. Jeff (My friend since college) and I have done these a lot in the past, but none recently. We left early and stopped at Battlefield Harley Davidson first so Jeff could pick up a few things, and then we did lunch at the Asian buffet. Here Laura took some pics of this "Epic" Statue and we learned about Griffin's impression of one of the Jerky Boys, and their prank phone calls. From here we went to the new visitor's center and looked around at the exhibits. I Guess they did a good job, but I was disappointed that the Electric Map was torn down with the old visitors center. I think the NPS was pretty stupid for doing this. The new movies from The History Channel are nice, but are you seriously telling me that in a building this friggin big, they could not fit the electric map? Then we took a tour of the field with Jeff and I explaining to the kids what happened, when and where. If you click below you will see pictures from the trip. They are high resolution and take a while to load even over high speed!
Gettysburg Trip. Click Here for more!!
Warning: This page has lots of High Res Pics. It takes over 5 minutes to load on a T-1.
So A good time was had by all and it was a great trip.
So, as you see me here you can see I am not happy. For the next week I am not going to have a day or evening off. Up by 4:30, and not home before 11:00 at night. This is going to be a tough week.
This morning for those of you keeping track I was 223.5
Me in Bing's Hat
Bing in Bing's Hat
Playboy in Bing's Hat
Random dude in Bing's Hat
Here I am walking wearing Bing's hat. and there is a story behind both of these. It is currently Monday at 4:47pm and I am at the bust stop walking. Walking you say? not the George Mason I know! Sure enough I am now an exercise freak! Why? Well last November I stopped loosing weight. I knew in the back of my mind that would happen, I just did not think it to be that soon. Flash Forward to to April 1st, and I went up 10 pounds. WELL! I had to arrest that ASAP so I started walking. To start with about a mile. I walk around the development, or the bus station parking lot, where I am pictured here. So now I am back down to 223 and sinking. Eating less and exercising more... an Interesting concept.
As for the hat... As I was loosing weight I was loosing hair. Vanity was not too bad, as I knew it would come back, but my head was getting cold. So I needed a hat. Here was issue 1. I have always looked really dorky in a hat. But now that my face shape has changed it has gotten much better. Issue 2 What kind of hat? Baseball, Cowboy? Which way.... Those that know me know about my love for classic looks, so I went with a Fedora. So I bid on a couple on Ebay. now here was one I bid on thinking I wont get this one. it is a piece of movie memorabilia from the movie Holiday Inn, once worn by BIng Crosby. Bing wore one of 27 of these for the filming, and this one is a little beat up, and has a moth hole and some fading, but sure enough it is Bing's Hat. A 1942 Stetson Whippet. Usually a hat like this will for for 2-3000 dollars. I bid $50.00 and because of its issues I won it! I took it down to my buddy Marty Semmel at CE Roth in Allentown, (My Haberdasher) Who steamed it back into shape, and cleaned it up and made it wearable for me. As a side note, Marty is a great guy and a fashion genius. If you are in Allentown, he is on 10th street, and everyone needs to experience a CE Roth suit once in their lives. It is practically bespoke tailoring and incredibly affordable. (I paid less than on the rack at Men's Warehouse) Anyway, I replaced the hatband, with a vintage smaller one, but I have the original to put back on if need be. but I just enjoy it as a 50 dollar hat.
Now if I could only find a pair of shoes like that, see my buddy Marty at CE Roth for a grey felt Double Breasted Suit, and somehow get Linda Mason (Marjorie Reynolds) on my arm, I would be the proudest fella in the Easter Parade!
James Mason? in Bing's Hat
George = Tuxman
Ryan Leckey of WNEP TV 16 = Metrosexual and according to Joe Snedecker, a Manscaper!
"Its a bird! It's a plane, It's a flying can! .....A can?" "No folks, not bird, nor plane, nor even can. It's just little old me..... Tuxman!"
Well... really it is Monday April 19th, at about 6:00 pm.
This is yet another CE Roth creation and I am on my way to another formal engagement. Notice I have picked up the habit of using a real tied Bow-Tie instead of one of those clip on jobs. I am told there is something real sexy about that look, with the bow tie hanging down like that. anyway Zach snapped my picture when I was in the kitchen giving him and his girlfriend the "Do this and not that" speech. I like formal attire, I could wear it all of the time, but alas life is like that no more. I miss the days of a well turned out man, but there is nothing wrong, with looking as good as you can, without tipping the scales of Metrosexual or Manscaping I enjoy dressing up and wearing a suit, it is a bit tough combining that look and commuting on a bike. (Perhaps a leather suit or tux? Marty would kill me.) I will work it out I am sure.
I was complaining Sunday night about being out all week and this was my first of a string of many nights out. someone I know has just been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer wit it having spread to his brain, and bones. Tough nut to crack that is, but it has made me reevaluate the time I have left on earth. How do any of us know where we are headed and what we are doing here? Why are we wasting our time with senseless undertakings when they just make us unhappy. There are to be sure those things that we do not want to do, but we do them because we have to, like bills, work, taxes, and the like, but we often, with out reason volunteer take on responsibilities and projects that just make us unhappy and why? If there is a reason, like it helps someone, ok, I am all for that, but when is it ok to say no to the litany of things we just either don't want to, or just have better things to do.
Speaking of which, I got to go It is time to go put on the Ritz!
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