Day: May 14, 2023

Sunday Poser — Stupid Questions

Fandango6 Comments

For this week’s Sunday Poser, Sadje has asked…

Do you ask the obvious questions? Stupid question?

I do try to not ask obvious or stupid questions because I know how irritating it can be when someone asks me an obvious or stupid question. Like when I was in the hospital after breaking my hip and having had emergency partial hip replacement surgery.

I’m in a hospital, lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV, and in a lot of pain. People would come into the room and ask me how I’m doing. My instinctive reaction was to sarcastically say something like, “I love it here. The bed is comfy, the food is great, and I get waited on hand and foot. What’s not to love?” Either that or “How the fuck do you think I’m doing, asshole?”

But instead I try to be polite and say something like, “Oh, all things considered, I’m doing okay. Thanks for asking.”

My other pet peeve about questions are those perfunctory questions people ask who have interest in hearing an answer, like, “How are you,” “How’s it going?” or, “What’s happening?” When the person who asks these type of questions starts to walk away without waiting for an answer to their question, I want to grab their arm and commence with a long diatribe about how I am, how things are going with me, and what’s happening. But of course, I don’t. I will more likely respond with short, equally trite answers, like “fine,” or “well,” or “the usual.”

But Sadje’s question is not about how I respond to obvious or stupid questions. It’s about whether or not I ask such questions. My answer is not intentionally. But I admit there have been times when I asked what turned out to be a really stupid question, like when my wife is telling me something but I haven’t really been paying attention and then I ask her a question about what she just told me. That’s a really stupid question it really pisses her off when I do that.

Cellpic Sunday — 5/14/23

Fandango5 Comments

John Steiner, the blogger behind Journeys With Johnbo, has this prompt he calls Cellpic Sunday in which he asks us to post a photo that was taken with a cellphone, tablet, or another mobile device. I thought this might be fun so I decided to join in.

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting by myself in my audiologist’s office. I had just completed a hearing test and she was in another room futzing around with my hearing aids. Right across from me was this canvas and I thought it was interesting.

As I was waiting for her to return, I was staring at the painting and thought that it was a representation of our human connectivity. No matter our size, shape, or color, we are all connected in some way. Some of those connections are strong, represented by thick black lines and dots. Other connections, represented by thinner lines and smaller dots, are less strong. And, as in society as a whole, there are a few that are not connected at all.

That was about as deep as I got in my thinking before the audiologist returned to the room and strayed playing the “Can you hear me now?” game with me.

If you wish to participate in this fun cellphone photo prompt, please click on the link to John’s post at the top of my post to see his photo and to read his instructions.

Spam Comment of the Week — Week 19 2023

Fandango25 Comments

I get some interesting spam comments on my blog, most of which are captured by Akismet, WordPress’ spam blocker. I generally do a mass delete of all of my spam comments after checking to see if any legitimate comments got caught up in Akismet’s spam-catching net.

I thought it might be fun to select a particularly interesting or unique or outrageous spam comment and highlight it each week.

This week I’m featuring two spam comments. This first one was written by Reuhl37325 in response to my “Who Am I?” page. Reuhl wrote…

Hmmm, I am not therefore ‘ consider every little thing the following, but you do offer a important information with this make a difference. I’ll instruct me personally plus revisit at a later date.

Well, Reuhl, perhaps English is not your first language, but I have no idea what your words mean. Nevertheless, I’ll instruct me personally to not give your comment a second thought.

The second comment was written by Melissa in response to my May 7th Cellpic Sunday post. Unlike the previous spam commenter, Melissa was very articulate, but I think she may have mistaken me for someone else. She wrote…

Hi there! I just wanted to drop a quick note to let you know how much I adore your blog. It’s an amazing resource for anyone who is interested about culinary adventures. I particularly enjoy your DIY recipes and fast food suggestions, but your crispy treats ideas are also making my mouth water. applaud your dedication to supporting people in their dieting journey with insightful tips and tricks. Keep up the remarkable work, and I can’t wait to dive into more of your fabulous posts!

Stay Blessed – Mel

Mel, I appreciate that you adore my blog, but the truth is that I’ve never posted a recipe on my blog. Never! But if you have a recipe for crispy treats that make your mouth water, please do share it with me.

What about you? Have you read some catchy spam comments that you’d like to share with us? If so, put them in the comments or create your own post and tag it #FSCW.

Song Lyric Sunday — Girl Groups

Fandango7 Comments

For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme, Jim Adams has given us “girl groups” music. He defines a a girl group as a music act containing all, generally young, female singers who sing in complex harmonies with one another. The girl group I decided to go with is the Ronettes, and the song is “Be my Baby.”

“Be My Baby” was a song by the American girl group the Ronettes. It was released as a single on Philles Records in August 1963. Written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector, the song was the Ronettes’ biggest hit, reaching number 2 in the U.S. and number 4 in the UK. It is often ranked as among the best songs of the 1960s, and it is regarded by some as one of the greatest songs of all time. It turned out to be the only Top 10 song for the Ronettes.

The Ronettes were Veronica (Ronnie) Bennett, her sister Estelle Bennett and their cousin Nedra Talley. This was the first Ronettes song produced by Phil Spector and released on his label, Philles. He had already produced seven chart hits when he auditioned The Ronettes for his Philles record label. The song exemplified Spector’s “Wall Of Sound” production technique, where he layered lots of instruments and used echo effects.

Veronica Bennett was the only Ronette to sing on this recording. Phil Spector rehearsed her for weeks and had her do 42 takes before he got the sound he wanted.

The song is about a girl who is trying to convince a guy she likes to give her a chance. She lets him know that she’s been into him from the day they met, and she thinks they can be together forever. In an interview with National Public Radio (NPR), Ronnie Spector said she felt the song was inspired by her budding romance with Phil Spector. Spector and Bennett got married in 1968, and they divorced in 1974.

Interesting factoid #1: Before she became famous, Cher sang backup vocals on “Be My Baby.” According to Spector’s engineer, Larry Levine, they had to back Cher off the microphone because her voice cut through so powerfully.

Interesting factoid #2: On April 13, 2009, Phil Spector was found guilty of murdering actress Lana Clarkson in February 2003. Spector was sentenced to nineteen years to life in state prison and died in a prison hospital in 2021.

Here are the lyrics to “Be My Baby.”

The night we met I knew I needed you so
And if I had the chance I'd never let you go
So won't you say you love me?
I'll make you so proud of me
We'll make 'em turn their heads every place we go

So won't you, please (be my, be my baby)
Be my little baby? (My one and only baby)
Say you'll be my darlin' (be my, be my baby)
Be my baby now (my one and only baby)
Whoa-oh-oh-oh

I'll make you happy, baby, just wait and see
For every kiss you give me, I'll give you three
Oh, since the day I saw you
I have been waiting for you
You know I will adore you 'til eternity

So won't you, please (be my, be my baby)
Be my little baby? (My one and only baby)
Say you'll be my darlin' (be my, be my baby)
Be my baby now (my one and only baby)
Whoa-oh-oh-oh

So come on and, please (be my, be my baby)
Be my little baby? (My one and only baby)
Say you'll be my darlin' (be my, be my baby)
Be my baby now (my one and only baby)
Whoa-oh-oh-oh

(Be my, be my baby)
Be my little baby? (My one and only baby)
Oh-oh-oh (be my, be my baby)
Oh (my one and only baby)
Whoa-oh-oh-oh (be my, be my baby)
Oh-oh-oh (My one and only baby)
Oh (be my, be my baby)

FOWC with Fandango — Destination

Fandango16 Comments
FOWC

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 “destination.”

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.