“I put a dollar in a change machine. Nothing changed.”
George Carlin, American comedian, actor, author, and social critic
Written for Linda G. Hill’s One-Liner Wednesday prompt.
One-Liner Wednesday — Change Machine
Day: April 26, 2023
WDYS — Movie Magic
“You must have been scared shitless when they were filming that scene,” Irene said to her friend when she saw the photo they were using to promote the movie. “How did they keep you from falling into the abyss? Invisible wires or something?”
Cara laughed. “It wasn’t scary at all, Irene. It was all just movie magic and computer generated graphics. That slab that it looks like I am desperately hanging onto for dear life hoping to be saved by the outstretched arm of the movie’s hero, was as flat and horizontal as the floor we’re standing on right now! It’s all camera angles and CGI to make it look like I was in peril at the edge of a steep precipice. And in the movie, I was the first casualty, dead within the first minute of the film when I fell to my death because the hero couldn’t grab me in time. But as you can see, I’m very much alive and well.”
“I can’t believe it. It looks so realistic in that photo,” Irene marveled.
“This was the opening scene of the movie and I was on screen for barely a minute,” Cara said. “But maybe if others are as impressed as you are with my movie debut, perhaps my next movie role will last a little longer than a minute and won’t end with my death.
Written for Sadje’s What Do You See prompt. Photo credit: Noah Buscher @ Unsplash.
V is for “Vehicle”
My theme for this year’s A to Z Blogging Challenge is classic rock songs. Each day during the month (except for the first four Sundays, I will post a classic rock song: a video from YouTube, along with a brief bit of background about the song and the recording artist(s).
This is much more difficult than I thought it would be. For every letter of the alphabet there are dozens of fantastic classic rock songs to choose from and picking just one song for each letter is maddening. But this is what I signed up for.
My V song is “Vehicle” from The Ides of March.
“Vehicle” was a song written by Jim Peterik, vocalist and frontman for the American rock band The Ides of March for their debut studio album of the same name. It was released as the lead single from the album in March 1970. The song reached the number 2 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. The arrangement includes a distinctive horn section riff, which caused some listeners to mistake the band for Blood, Sweat and Tears, who were also popular in that era.
Despite the success of this song, the Ides of March never had another hit single, leaving them one-hit wonders. Peterik, however, was to go on to found the rock group Survivor, and become an extremely successful songwriter.
“Vehicle” is about a girl who often used Peterik for her mode of transportation, leading him to believe that he was little more than her “vehicle.” Peterik said, “At the time, I was madly in love with this girl named Karen. I had a souped-up 1964 Plymouth Valiant, and she was always asking for rides. I drove her to modeling school every week. I was hoping flames would ignite, but they didn’t. I came home one day, dejected, and thought: all I am is her vehicle. And I thought: Wow! Vehicle! I came up with this song, taught it to the band, and the next thing I knew, we were recording.”
The original opening line to the song was, “I got a set of wheels pretty baby, won’t you hop inside my car?” Peterik changed it when his friend showed him a government issued anti-drug pamphlet. It explained the perils of drug use and was illustrated with a little drawing of an undesirable type cruising along the curb looking for easy targets. The caption read, “I’m the friendly stranger in the black sedan, won’t you hop inside my car?” The lyrics that followed, about the picture and candy, came from a warning his mother used to give him about walking home from school.
The lyrics are both a love story and a tale of an unsavory guy who’s up to no good. Peterik said, “To me, the dichotomy is kind of cool. To me, the first line is the most important of all. The original line had nothing going for it. It had no rhythm to it. When I came across, ‘I’m the friendly stranger in the black sedan, won’t you hop inside my car,’ all other concerns went out the window. At age 18 when I wrote the song, I wasn’t thinking about coherency of the song or if one half fit the other half. I was just glad I was writing, just glad I had a song to play live.
Interesting (romantic) factoid: After “Vehicle” became a hit, Peterik got back together with Karen, the girl he wrote it for. They’ve been together ever since, and have been married for almost 30 years.
Here are the lyrics to “Vehicle.”
Hey, well
I'm the friendly stranger in the black Sedan
Won't you hop inside my car?
I got pictures, got candy
I'm a lovable man
And I can take you to the nearest star
I'm your vehicle, baby
I'll take you anywhere you want to go
I'm your vehicle, woman
by now I'm sure you know
That I love ya (love ya)
I need ya (need ya)
I want ya
Got to have you, child
Great God in Heaven, you know I love you
Well, if you wants to be a movie star
I can-a take you to Hollywood
But if you want to stay just like you are
You know, I think you really should
I'm your vehicle, baby
I'll take you anywhere you want to go
I'm your vehicle, woman
by now I'm sure you know
That I love ya (love ya)
I need ya (need ya)
I want ya
Got to have you, child
Great God in Heaven, you know I love you
Oh, you know I do
Well, I'm the friendly stranger in the black Sedan
Won't you hop inside my car?
I got pictures, candy
I'm a lovable man
And I can take you to the nearest star
I'm your vehicle, babe
I'll take you anywhere you want to go
I'm your vehicle, woman
by now I'm sure you know
That I love ya (love ya)
I need ya (need ya)
I want ya
I got to have you
Great God in Heaven, you know I love you
And I'm your vehicle, babe, alright
You know I love ya (love ya)
I need ya (need ya)
I want ya
Got to have you, child
Great God in Heaven, you know I love you
Previous 2023 A to Z posts: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T
Fandango’s Provocative Question #211
Welcome once again to Fandango’s Provocative Question. Each week I will pose what I think is a provocative question for your consideration.
By provocative, I don’t mean a question that will cause annoyance or anger. Nor do I mean a question intended to arouse sexual desire or interest.
What I do mean is a question that is likely to get you to think, to be creative, and to provoke a response. Hopefully a positive response.
Yesterday, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that he would be seeking a second term as president and will be running for re-election in 2024.
When Americans go to vote in the general election on November 5, 2024, Joe Biden will be 81 and will turn 82 just 15 days later. He already is the oldest person to hold the Office of President. And if he’s victorious in winning his second term, he would be 86 at the end of that term.
Donald Trump, who is leading the field of Republican candidates, is 76. If he succeeds in winning their party’s nomination, and, God forbid, wins a second term, he would be 77 on Election Day and the second oldest president in history behind Biden.
The United States sets a minimum age for someone to serve as POTUS, which is 35. But there is no maximum age to run for that office. My provocative question this week is:
Do you believe that Joe Biden, at 82 shortly after Election Day 2024, is too old to seek that office. What about Donald Trump at 77? Most important, do you think there should be a maximum age set for an individual to run for President of the United States?
If you choose to participate in Fandango’s Provocative Question, you may respond with a comment or write your own post in response to the question. Once you are done, tag your post with #FPQ and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments. But remember to check to confirm that your pingback or your link shows up in the comments.
FOWC with Fandango — Brisk
Welcome to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.).
Today’s word is “brisk.”
Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.
Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.
And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. Show them some love.
This, That, and the Other 