I am known to have an irrational fear of rats and mice. It would also seem that I have very selective rodent phobia!
"Badger, badger, badger,"....I have loved those Weebls from our very first encounter.
I have perfected my "Badger Dance" while still remaining seated at the keyboard.
Arms outstretched to the sides, bouncing up and down to the music on a gas-lift chair and
singing...."Mushroom, mushroom. Ooooh it's a snaaaake!" PC aerobics. Keyboard kinetics.
Not a mouse in sight. That's right! My computer mouse is in fact a cat (click and toggle). I am fearless!
Well, uncommon valour can take a hit!
Boston Un-Common....
Squirrels have now been added to that phobia list. While dancing was involved, fearlessness was not!
The "Squirrel Dance" performed on Boston Common, showed none of the choreography I'd
honed over the the years of "Dancing With The Weebls" and of thinking I'd positively answered the question of whether or not I think I can dance.
My shoulder didn't see that squirrel coming! What followed was done without finesse.
"Manic!", I hear Nigel Lythgoe suggesting.
No "Hot Tomale Train" for me then Mary Murphy?
Did I mention I have a rodent phobia? Well yes of course I did!
Now if you ever encounter someone with a squirrel or any other rodent like creature on their body
and that person is screaming, "Get it off me! Get it off me!"....
this
is not, nor will it ever be, the appropriate response!
Speaking of trains other than the "Hot Tomale"....
The stored value card for public transport in Boston is The Charlie Card.
Odd name, but it certainly does the job. For some reason I decided that it was named after the Mayor Of Boston and that his name would of course be Charlie!
This deduction came about from a portrait I had seen in the subway. I didn't stop to read the inscription.
I should have. As it transpires his name is Thomas.
Charlie or Thomas? With 5 degrees of separation I can make any random thought process fit the Bill,Thomas or Charlie.
No need to let fact get in the way of a perfectly good assumption.
Unbelievably, sometime later in another country, a random radio station....
my education regarding the Charlie Card came courtesy of The Kingston Trio singing M.T.A.
Well I'll be! Life can be so weird!
Boston Ducks....
In other countries I have encountered Octopus and Oyster Cards for access to public transport,
so a Duck Card would work. There is certainly a water connection in all three.
Boston's love of ducks didn't come into play for the stored value card, but there are ducks. Many ducks.
With too many duck encounters for coincidence, I knew that the question needed to be asked.
Being in the "market" for answers... Faneuil Hall was the perfect place to go.
It was a book that started it all. Boston's love of ducks started with Robert McCloskey's book, Make Way for Ducklings. First published in 1941 it has been a popular children's book ever since.
Boston! Boston is so much
more than a feeling! It leaves this little duck
feelin' satisfied. Very satisfied!
Artist: Boston
Album: Boston (1976)
Song: More Than A Feeling
http://www.lyricsmx.com/lyrics.php?mode ... album=7655
I looked out this morning and the sun was gone
Turned on some music to start my day
I lost myself in a familiar song
I closed my eyes and I slipped away
It's more than a feeling, when I hear that old song they used to play (more than a feeling)
I begin dreaming (more than a feeling)
'till I see Marianne walk away
I see my Marianne walkin' away
So many people have come and gone
Their faces fade as the years go by
Yet I still recall as I wander on
as clear as the sun in the summer sky
It's more than a feeling, when I hear that old song they used to play (more than a feeling)
I begin dreaming (more than a feeling)
'till I see Marianne walk away
I see my Marianne walkin' away
When I'm tired and thinking cold
I hide in my music, forget the day
and dream of a girl I used to know
I closed my eyes and she slipped away
She slipped awa y. She slipped away.
It's more than a feeling, when I hear that old song they used to play (more than a feeling)
I begin dreaming (more than a feeling)
'till I see Marianne walk away
I see my Marianne walkin' away
Artist: Boston
Album: Don`t Look Back (1978)
Song: Feelin' Satisfied
http://www.lyricsmx.com/lyrics.php?mode ... album=7663
Well come on
All you people
The time has come to get together
You gotta have a little rock 'n' roll music
To get you through the stormy weather
And do whatever you feel
when you let go
Nothin's gonna help you more than rock 'n' roll
So come on, put you hands together
You know it's now or never
Take a chance on rock 'n' roll
Ooo are you feelin' satisfied
Come on let us give your mind a ride
Ooo are you ready tonight
Come on let us give your mind a ride You can do what you like
Come on let us give your mind a ride
Oh that funky feelin'
Is what you need to get you through
You oughta know
I'll tell you somethin'
Don't let your troubles get to you
'Cause win or lose it's alright
Well take control
And nothin's gonna help you more than rock 'n' roll
So come on
Put you hands together
You know it's now or never
Take a chance on rock 'n' roll
Ooo are you feelin' satisfied
Come on let us give your mind a ride
Ooo are you ready tonight
Come on let us give your mind a ride You can do what you like
Come on let us give your mind a ride
Artist: The Kingston Trio
Album: At Large (1959)
Song: M.T.A. / Charlie On The M.T.A.
http://www.lyricsmx.com/lyrics.php?mode=song&song=7671
Let me tell you the story
Of a man named Charlie
On a tragic and fateful day
He put ten cents in his pocket,
Kissed his wife and family
Went to ride on the MTA
Charlie handed in his dime
At the Kendall Square Station
And he changed for Jamaica Plain
When he got there the conductor told him,
"One more nickel."
Charlie could not get off that train.
Chorus:
Did he ever return,
No he never returned
And his fate is still unlearn'd
He may ride forever
'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man who never returned.
Now all night long
Charlie rides through the tunnels
the station
Saying, "What will become of me?
Crying
How can I afford to see
My sister in Chelsea
Or my cousin in Roxbury?"
Charlie's wife goes down
To the Scollay Square station
Every day at quarter past two
And through the open window
She hands Charlie a sandwich
As the train comes rumblin' through.
As his train rolled on
underneath Greater Boston
Charlie looked around and sighed:
"Well, I'm sore and disgusted
And I'm absolutely busted;
I guess this is my last long ride."
{this entire verse was replaced by a banjo solo}
Now you citizens of Boston,
Don't you think it's a scandal
That the people have to pay and pay
Vote for Walter A. O'Brien
Fight the fare increase!
And fight the fare increase
Vote for George O'Brien!
Get poor Charlie off the MTA.
Chorus:
Or else he'll never return,
No he'll never return
And his fate will be unlearned
He may ride forever
'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man (Who's the man)
He's the man who never returned.
He's the man (Oh, the man)
He's the man who never returned.
He's the man who never returned.
*Words in italics indicate the changes made by The Kingston Trio in their later recording. Parentheses indicate backing vocals.
The story behind the recording can be found at:
http://www.mit.edu/~jdreed/t/charlie.html
Badger, Badger, Badger
http://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com/
Robert McCloskey's - Make Way for Ducklings
http://forums.cricketmx.com/viewtopic.p ... 96#p100096
http://www.best-childrens-books.com/mak ... lings.html