"When I tell you something is dangerous, I mean it. And, I never forget the Victims"
T.J. Hooker
"Everyone can master a Grief but he who has it”
William Shakespeare
”I had given him a life not worth living, but I had also given him an iron will to live. This was a common combination on the planet Earth”
Kurt Vonnegut about his character, Kilgore Trout.

Friday, January 18, 2019

To Exist or not to Exist... was that the Question? Love Affair, Paul Davis

Want to join in?  Go HERE for the Linkie... 

Many thanks to Sam, aka ,"The Gal", for doing this meme for scads of Saturdays and for making it unfailingly interesting.




Saturday 9: '65 Love Affair (1977)

Oh!  It's Doowop! Plop!

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

This is all "Stream of Consciousness" stuff.  Sorry, it gets a little silly....

1) The first line of this song is, "I was a car hop." Car hops used to take orders and bring diners food to eat in their cars. Today, the drive through lane has pretty much replaced car hops. Think about the last time you went to a fast food restaurant. Did you order at the counter or at the drive through window?
To be honest, I can't remember the last time we even ate at a fast food place.  Side note:  When I was in high school, and even as a young mother,  the drug store in my town still had a soda fountain, and there were car hops at the local hamburger joint.  Actually, I still miss that.  

2) Mr. Davis sings that his girlfriend was "bad with her pom-poms." Presumably she was a cheerleader. Share one of your school's cheers.   This is the one that I remember from my old high school, the one that I didn't graduate from: 

Maroon and White Fight, Maroon and White Fight, 
Fight Maroon and White, Fight! Fight! Fight!
Aztecs! Aztecs! Sis boom bah..
Mark Keppel High School Rah! Rah! Rah!

Odd how this stuff stays with you..  Oh!  That was .... painful....

3) The lyrics tell us he believes that if he could go back in time, his girl would still be his. If you could travel back in time to your high school years, what would you enjoy doing again? What would you do differently?
I'd still want my same little group of semi outcast friends.  And, I'd get someone to tell me how easy Trigonometry was.  I'd study it on my own.  It's easier than Geometry!  Don't let anyone tell you it's never too late.  That's just not true.  It's too late for Trig... which could have changed my whole life!  But then, existentially speaking, that would have been the way the cookie crumbled... or not.  They never get anywhere because of Paradigm shifts.  Give it up already!

4) During his performing days, Paul Davis sported a full beard and flowing hair. We're using that to check your powers of observation and recollection. Think of the last man you spoke to. Who was he? Describe his hair, and tell us whether he was clean shaven. 
He was the admitting nurse at the hospital when I had my eye surgery.  His hair was dark and short.  He had a partial beard.  Obviously, I don't speak to guys face to face that often.

5) Paul Davis was born in Meridian, MS, and that's where he returned to when he went into semi-retirement in 1982. Meridian's biggest employer is the Naval Air Station in Meridian. Do you know anyone who is currently in, or employed by, the military? 
No.  Not any one.  Not a soul...

6) He was a pool player and a golfer. Which sport are you better at? 
Sports questions are sort of N/A to me.  

7) Sadly, he died in 2008, on the day after his 60th birthday. His best friend remembers him as "a homebody," who enjoyed staying up long into the night with his friends, playing and listening to music. Describe your perfect way to spend an evening.
I'd say that the perfect way would to be in Santa Cruz, doing anything at all with Mr. Z and the kids.

8) The publishing rights to "'65 Love Affair," as well as Paul Davis' bigger hits ("Cool Night" and "I Go Crazy"), are owned by another Paul -- Paul McCartney. Sir Paul's MPL Publishing Company has made him a very rich man, and Paul says that's because he chose to invest in music, something he loves. What about you? If you were to invest in a business or industry you love, which would you choose?
N/A  Sorry... I won't be investing in Business or industry.  We are investing in our grand nieces.  It's a 7th Generation thing.

9) Random question --You're at a party and one of your host's best friends is a real egghead who tries to draw you into a conversation about paradigmatic counter existentialism. Would you: a) just listen politely while letting your mind wander; b) admit you don't know what the hell he's talking about; c) explain why you personally feel that the counter existential paradigm just adds unnecessary complexity to the individual's search for meaning?

Left field questions ....Super Califragilistic Existentialitosis..

Yawning in his face, I reckon
 Is rude and is out?  
This seems a lot like a snake biting it's own tail... 
But.... Be that as it may.....

Obviously I would try all three, 
starting with the last, to see the anxiety
on his face (Though for 2, I'd change the wording).

 I would refrain from telling the Egg that
 he was a major PITA, but only because he was
 the host's best friend.  
I wouldn't tell him, for instance, that, in truth, 
Existentialism is passé 
so if anything, 
counter existentialism will carry the day.
  
Existentialism has got
 most of the people who are 
exponents of it absolutely nowhere.  
I think it would be fun
to spill a martini on him, too.  
But that might be 
just too existential. 

Would this make a halfways decent Country Western Song?  Probably not...sad though...



18 comments:

  1. Holy moly, that is some answer for the egghead!! It's awesome how that stuff just comes to you.

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    Replies
    1. You know, if you just keep it all inside you, it can do harm. I don't keep a journal so the blog gets it ... as much as I'm willing to share. Sometimes, Opaque is the best policy. Sometimes.. *grins* I've just never figured out what I am supposed to be when I grow up. Sad, really... lol Have a happy week, and STAY WARM!

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  2. I admit it: I googled Mark Keppel. Make that Dr. Mark Keppel. He was superintendent of schools in the LA area, back at the beginning of the 20th century.

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    Replies
    1. Ah Ha! Googling is allowed. and...I don't go quite as far back as Dr. Keppel, because I graduated in 1960. :o)
      The City of Alhambra is one of the oldest in the area, and may even predate Los Angeles (1771, and I'm sure it does) but it has become practically an arm of East L.A. now. So, the make up of the student body is somewhat different. I would have fit in better now than I did then. However, we didn't move away for me, but because of the wayward PsychoDad.

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  3. I never got "existentialism" of "finding self and the meaning of life through free will, choice, and personal responsibility. To me it seemed very selfish.

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    Replies
    1. It's supposed to help the individual fit in better into the modernist vision of the world. The trouble is, it doesn't work. Fate has a lot to do with what does and doesn't happen to any individual, no matter what their goal set. We all know this intrinsically. Free will isn't ever very free, either. Unless, as you say you are a selfish Gette. We praise selfishness when we adore the poems, say, so Frost, but we ignore the absolute HELL that his wife and children suffered. God what a mess...

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  4. It is really strange how some things still stick with you!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, isn't it. I haven't heard that thing for almost a full 50 years.
      Yours was different than any I've heard. I like the cheer and response. It must have sounded awesome for the team on the field. Go team!

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  5. I love how everyone is blowing off the egghead! I need to stop being so nice. Loved your answers! Have a nice weekend.

    https://lorisbusylife.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stay nice. It's the best way.. besides you can always just fly away in your imagination... And have a happy weekend and next week until we meet again.. 💛

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  6. Replies
    1. Aww. thank you Bev. That was a hard question so winging it seemed best. lol

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  7. In the end, none of it matters anyway. I guess I am existentialist in that way. I think anything I do that won't matter 100 years from now probably doesn't matter now, and that is most everything we all do, unless you're doing what you're doing and passing something on to a next generation. I have no next generation - I'm a deadend on the spectrum.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, you aren't a dead end of the spectrum. You are a thinker who will and has illuminated the path of young lives and done it as an example of honor and true grit. Never forget that please! You were acted upon by a thousand forces that were beyond your control and you made a good and decent life of it anyway.
      And you also write.

      And, just because some group of Neo-Philosophers wanted to gain fame and possible acclaim by putting their mark on modern Philosophy, it means nothing.
      this is because, in the process, they dreamt up something self evident to the businessmen who run our destructive, materialistic world. Meaning that they could be selfish and they were blessed by Existentialist thinking. Because of this, and still others who truly love narcissistic self absorption, we have big problems. Hopefully, as you say, it won't matter in a hundred years.

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  8. My school is maroon & white! I have learned to love it. (The school I attended was blue & white.)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Kwizgiver. It's actually a pretty color.
      The school I graduated from was blue and white.
      Happy restful Sunday eve to you...:o)

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  9. We had the Woolworth with the food counter. I would not call it a 4 star meal however. I think Walgreens has something too. Worst fries ever.... it helps to cook them. :)

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    Replies
    1. Ewww.. Walgreens? Ugh! They really should just close it!

      However, Mother used to take me shopping in Downtown L.A. from time to time, and we ate BLT's at the Woolworth Counter and they were good. But then, it was a rare treat so I probably romanticized it. lol

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I’m going through some stuff but I will peek in now and then and will be back when it’s over..