March 21, 2011
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Links here are good only for the week of March 21, 2011. After that... is
anybody's guess.
Earthquake, tsunami, flooding, nuclear power plant meltdown, budget
crisis, opening of "Spiderman" set back another six weeks... all we need
now is another Elvis sighting, and March madness will overflow.
But relax, everybody; it's springtime! (except down under, I guess, where
winter is about to arrive. Brrrrrrrr!)
Meanwhile, in this week's thrill-packed issue:
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Newsletter Table of Contents
(Yep; each is a clickable link)
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Last week's Trivia Teaser:
1. 1975: "This was no boating accident." - "Jaws"
2. 1965: "How do you handle a problem like Maria?" - "Sound of Music"
3. 1973: Henry: "You not gonna stick around for your share?" Johnny:
"Nah. I'd only blow it." - "The Sting"
We love the movies; we'll have more of these soon.
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The easiest way to get there from here:
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Why is it that Ray Stevens' "Ahab the Arab" keeps running through our
mind these days?
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The latest suggestions for favorite instrumentals include "Last Date,"
"Time is Tight," and lots of songs by Herb Alpert. What about Al Hirt?
Oh, there are lots more!
What are your favorite instrumental songs of the boomer years? Click
reply and tell us.
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This Week with the Chicowitz
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This week, Hershel explains why unions are -- and are not -- necessary, and
the danger of unions in the public sector.
Managers/owners of private companies know that it would be suicide to
yield to all the demands of union leaders. The owners must
pay for the benefits. But in the public sector, management - such as it
is - knows that giving in to the unions means re-election to another
term. The price for generous concessions can be buried with other
"necessary" expenses. Who's gonna' complain?
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You can read the entire essay here.
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Here are three questions from the BBHQ massive Trivia Vault:
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There
are no prizes here... it's all just for fun.
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The next BBHQ Weekly Trivia Contest cranks up Monday at 6 p.m.,
eastern.
Members can play all of our trivia games in
The BBHQ Trivia Library.
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Yep; we cannot get "Ahab the Arab" off our minds. So, this week, we have
a short clip of Ray Stevens performing his 1962 hit comedy song:
Click the pic to watch a clip from the video.
You can watch many of Ray Stevens' cute music videos on his web site,
www.raystevens.com.
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Our "Lyrics You Can Share" for this week come from the big hit by
Kansas, "Dust in the Wind":
I close my eyes,
Only for a moment and the moment's gone
All my dreams,
Pass before my eyes, a curiosity
Dust in the wind,
all they are is dust in the wind
Same old song,
Just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do,
Crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see
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You can listen to a clip from the song near the bottom of this week's essay. Click
here,
scroll down the page, and listen to our "Lyrics You Can Share."
BBHQ members can also play 200 oldies, 24/7 in our JukeBox. Think of
it as your own boomer karaoke machine.
And of course, you can buy this music and all kinds of stuff -
please! - using our link to
Amazon.com.
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The BBHQ Joke of the Week
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We love the spirit of this story.
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We went to breakfast at a restaurant where the special was two eggs,
bacon, hash browns and toast for $1.99.
"Sounds good," my wife said. "But I don't want the eggs."
The waitress warned her, "Then I'll have to charge you two dollars and
forty-nine cents because you're ordering a la carte."
"You mean I'd have to pay for NOT taking the eggs?" my wife asked
incredulously. The waitress nodded.
"I'll take the special."
"How do you want your eggs?"
"Raw and in the shell," my wife replied. She took the two eggs home
and baked a cake.
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Gotta' love it!
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Brush Up Your Webster - featuring Madam Red Dot
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This week Madam Red Dot kicks off a new series she calls, "Vocabulary
Death Wish" -- words and phrases that have outlived their usefulness, or
whose usefulness is exceeded by their misuse.
My first entry is an easy and obvious choice: the terrible misuse and
overuse of "like."
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Author, columnist, and all-round genius Marilyn vos Savant accepts the
use of the word, claiming its use is similar to paraphrasing. For
example, "I was, like, get away from me." The speaker is perhaps
repeating what he said, or might have said. So, its use is OK.
No, it is not.
"I was like, so hot!" "It was like, the worst movie I have ever seen."
"He was like, out of his mind."
Paraphrasing? No. People, particularly kids, have picked up this usage,
like a case of the flu, from their peers. That does not make it right.
Words matter. If you want what you say and write to be effective, choose
your words carefully.
So... brush up your Webster!
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Have a great week. We'll share the fun again next Monday.
- the Boomer Crew at BBHQ
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BBHQ Newsletter Archives
rev. 12/24/12 |
