Saturday 9: Snowbird

Saturday 9: Snowbird (1971)

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

1) In this song, Elvis wants the snowbird to fly away and take the snow back with her. Have you seen a measurable snowfall yet this season?

No, but it's been snowing off and on since last night. Just a dusting, but maybe we'll get more.  I think they are calling for a couple of inches this weekend.

2) Drivers in snowy climes are encouraged to keep salt, sand or kitty litter in the trunk because those items can help a car regain traction in the snow. Do you have an emergency kit in your car right now? If so, what's in it?

I don't keep those things in the trunk, but I do have an emergency kit.  I don't know what's in it.  My daughter has used a few things over the last couple of years and she never put them back...like my jumper cables.  Gone.  I know there's one of those folding shovels and maybe a shiny silver space blanket...has anyone ever used one of those?  Are they really warm?

3) Back in 2007, North Dakota set the world record for the most snow angels made at one time (8,910). Do you enjoy playing in the snow?

I did when I was a kid. These days I prefer to enjoy the snow through a window while I'm all snug and cozy inside.

4) Chionophobia is the fear of snow. Astraphobia is the fear of thunder and lightening. Lilapsophobia is the fear of tornadoes and hurricanes. Do you have to cope with any of these fears?

Not really, but isn't anyone with a lick of sense at least a little afraid of tornadoes and hurricanes?  Especially, if they live where they occur on a regular basis?  I've been through a couple of tornadoes.  I don't live in fear, but I could live without doing it again...and we just get little F1's around here.
  
5) Elvis' daughter Lisa Marie split her childhood between Memphis and Los Angeles, so she seldom saw snow. When she was a little girl, she was whisked her off to Denver in her father's private plane so the two of them could spend an afternoon playing in the snow. If you could take off and spend the afternoon anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I don't know, maybe Seattle.  A guy I graduated from high school with lives there and he's always posting pictures of the market and the restaurants and stuff.  I wouldn't want to live there, but I think I'd enjoy visiting.

6) At home and onstage, Elvis refused to wear jeans and only wore denim if a film role demanded it. This is because when he was young, classmates teased him for "dressing poor" in jeans and coveralls. What did you wear to class when you were in grammar school?

Girls still wore dresses to school when I was in grammar school, plus I went to a private school for the last 3 years and was required to wear a uniform.  Funny to hear Elvis thought that way because I was never allowed to wear jeans to school even in high school.  My dad was older and grew up in a time when jeans were for working on the farm, doing chores or just bumming around with your pals on a Saturday.  I had to hide them in my bag and change at school.

7) Elvis and President Jimmy Carter are distant relatives (the President is the sixth cousin of the King's great grandfather). Your turn: Tell us about one of your more interesting relatives.

Going way back, John and Priscilla Alden, of Mayflower fame, are my 11 or 12 times great-grandparents.  Currently, I have a cousin who is a songwriter in Nashville.  He has won a Grammy and I believe he is the current CMA (or maybe it's ACM) songwriter of the year.  He is way younger than me and my family moved away from the area when I was 7 so we don't really know each other. I re-met him at a family reunion a couple of years ago.

8) In 1971, when Elvis released his recording of "Snowbird," You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown was a hit on Broadway. Who is your favorite Peanuts character?

Snoopy.

9) Random question: You receive a gift certificate from a gourmet food company that can be redeemed for one of these three things: 1 lb. of caviar, 5 lbs. of steak or a 10 lb., live lobster. Which would you choose?

Lobster!  I am all about the sea food.

That's it for this Saturday.  Be sure to pop over to see Sam at the Saturday 9 to check out everyone's answers or to link up your own.

Me?  I'm just going to be here snoozing and watching Christmas movies while I battle this stupid cold.