Saturday 9

 

Papa, Can You Hear Me?

 Welcome to Saturday 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every
Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

Saturday 9: Papa, Can You Hear Me? (1984)

This song was chosen in honor of Father's Day. Hear it here.

1) The song begins with a prayer to "God, our Heavenly Father." Do you often pray?

As a Jewish woman, I have often performed the candle lighting ritual that Barbra performs in that clip.    We light candles to usher in the Sabbath and every major holiday.   You light the candles, cover your eyes and recite

Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all, who hallows us with mitzvot, commanding us to kindle the light of Shabbat.

Watch Golde do it in Fiddler on the Roof.

2) This song is from the movie Yentl. Set in the early 1900s, it tells the story of a Polish girl determined to receive a religious education, even though the custom of the day banned girls from studying the Talmud. What subject do you wish you knew more about?

Ornithology.  I love birds and would like to know more about them.

3) It took Streisand more than 15 years to get Yentl made. Studios initially rejected the project, telling her that audiences no longer want to see musicals. Then, because it centered on Judaism, she was told it was "too ethnic." But Yentl was a success at the box office, becoming one of the most profitable movies of the year -- and since Barbra was producer, director and star, she enjoyed those profits. Tell us about a time you're glad you stuck with something.

I had a very bad day in law school, I was behind on a project and started drinking coffee so I could stay awake and finish it.   I gave myself the jitters, got very emotional, and was ready to walk away --- not just from the project, but from the whole law school thing.  I am glad I stayed.

4) The movie, and this song, were so popular that they earned a parody on The Simpsons. (See it here.)  That video has had more than 250,000 views. Before the Yentl parody, what's the last YouTube video you watched?

Back in 1986, when MTV was hot, the NY Mets put together a music video to promote the team.  As we all know, the Mets won the World Series that year.  Great time for a Mets fan.  

The video came up on my YouTube feed.  Ah, memories.

And we've got a great team this year, too!  Let's Go Mets!

5) Barbra Streisand's father died suddenly, the result of complications after an epileptic seizure, just after her first birthday. He held degrees in both English Literature and Education and was a school superintendent. Do you know anyone who made a career in education?

My dad was a teacher and later an assistant principal.  My mom was a teacher, though she had a career change later on.  Drew is a teacher.  I have several friends who are teachers.    Becca's best friend is a teacher.  Jen's best friend is a teacher.  

6) Sam's own father wasn't an educator, but he is crazy about the local library. He's there so much the librarians greet him by name. Do you have a library card?

My dad was an English teacher, what do you think?  

I have three apps on my iPad -- Kindle, nook and Libby.  I uploaded my library card to Libby.  It gets quite a workout.  I still carry the hard copy in my wallet.  

7) For family barbecues, Sam's dad proudly dons his "Kiss the Chef" apron and mans the Weber. What's the last thing you cooked on the grill?

Drew made burgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, and Italian sausage for a barbecue.

8) He takes his grilling very seriously and jealously guards his marinade recipe. Do you have a recipe you're willing to share this morning?

I shared this recipe a few weeks ago, but it's worth repeating

It's easy to prepare, very forgiving.  Cook your pasta, add veggies, dress.  Voila, pasta salad.

I  like  to use rotelle or shells.  I'll usually throw in a bag of frozen peas (I don't cook them -- I defrost them by placing them in the colander where I'm about to drain my pasta, and let the cooking water do the rest), shredded carrots, red onion, and bell peppers.  I don't measure the vegetables, I just cut them up and add them until it looks like "enough".

The dressing?    Here's what I use:

2 T honey
1 T honey mustard or Dijon mustard
1/4 C balsamic vinegar
3/4 C extra virgin olive oil

Whisk ingredients together and serve over the pasta salad. 

9) Sam's father hates it when his daughter swears. What's the latest curse word you used? (It's OK, we don't blush easily.)

There was a time when I blushed hearing that sort of language.  Then I went to law school, where a professor read Carlin's 7 Words You Can't Say on Television to the class.  He felt we could not discuss Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978) without hearing the actual routine.

On October 30, 1973, FM radio station WBAI in New York City aired a broadcast that included a segment which featured the George Carlin routine "Filthy Words" as part of a program about societal attitudes toward language. A few weeks later, John Douglas (an active member of Morality in Media) stated in a complaint filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that he heard the broadcast while he was driving with his 15-year-old son. He also stated the material was inappropriate for the time of day (approximately 2:00 p.m.). In response, Pacifica received a letter of reprimand from the FCC, censuring them for allegedly violating broadcast regulations which prohibited airing indecent material.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the FCC's actions in 1978, by a vote of 5 to 4, ruling that the routine was "indecent but not obscene". The Court recognized the government had strong interests in shielding children from potentially offensive material, and ensuring that unwanted speech does not intrude on the privacy of one's home.

.The Court stated that the FCC had the authority to prohibit such broadcasts during hours when children were likely to be among the audience, and gave the FCC broad leeway to determine what constituted indecency in different contexts.

I had a classmate who literally ran out of the room halfway through the reading.  

Carlin added to the list in subsequent routines.  But one word famously came off the list in 1988, in an episode of Designing Women...Annie Potts' character contemplates getting  breast implants, and numerous slang words for "breasts" are included in the dialogue.

                Charlene Frazier Stillfield: Is she in yet?

                Julia Sugarbaker: Who?

                Charlene Frazier Stillfield: The tit monster.

One word off the list...

Of course, cable TV has changed all that...

But here's the original Carlin performance: