The Hut-Sut Song (a Swedish Serenade) is a novelty song from the 1940s with nonsense lyrics. The song was written in 1941 by Leo V. Killion, Ted McMichael and Jack Owens. The first and most popular recording was by Horace Heidt and His Musical Knights. A 1941 Time Magazine entry suggests the song was probably a creative adaptation of an unpublished Missouri River song called “Hot Shot Dawson.”
High Fidelity is a 2000 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears. It stars John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Jack Black, Todd Louiso, and Lisa Bonet. The film is based on the 1995 British novel of the same name by Nick Hornby, with the setting moved from London to Chicago and the name of the lead character changed. Rob Gordon (Cusack) is a music-loving man who works at a record store and has a poor understanding of women. After being dumped by his long term girlfriend (Hjejle), he tried to understand how he failed in his relationships by seeking out his former partners. High Fidelity was produced for $30 million and brought in just over $47 million.
Jo Stafford was one of the few Swing-era popular singers who was able to communicate the homespun beauty of the American folk idiom. Not surprisingly, since she always brought a Midwestern serenity, even a devotional quality, to just about everything she sang, even the most soaring big-band numbers. In this, she is reminiscent of the great Wagnerian soprano Kirstin Flagstad, who also brought a restrained, serene delivery to highly emotional material. American Folk Songs from 1950, benefits from the highly musical, Copland-like arrangements by Stafford’s husband and long-time musical partner, Paul Weston. Judy Collins once said that she decided to become a folk singer herself after hearing “Barbara Allen” from this album for the first time.
Balderdash is a board game variant of a classic parlor game known as Fictionary or “The Dictionary Game.” It was created by Laura Robinson and Paul Toyne of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The game was first released in 1984 under Canada Games. It was later picked up by a U.S company, The Games Gang, and eventually became the property of Hasbro and finally Mattel. Balderdash is based on an earlier game, Fictionary, of essentially similar gameplay, varying in that obscure words are found in an unabridged dictionary instead of the definitions and meanings provided on cards. They are then read out to the unsuspecting individual. The game has sold over 15 million copies worldwide to date. It is aimed at fans of word games, such as Scrabble.
Throughout Eastern Europe (in countries like Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Poland), Ivan Kupala Day on July 7 brings out the waterworks in people (well, the water mischief, if we’re trying to be accurate). This holiday, held in honor of John the Baptist, includes bathing in rivers, jumping over bonfires and even the prospect of true love. Once upon a time, unmarried women would put floral wreaths in the river that single men would try to catch on the other side.
Addicted is the first single by American rock band Saving Abel, which appeared on their self-titled debut studio album of the same name as the second track. The single was released in March 2008 through Virgin Records, and it was produced by Skidd Mills for Skiddo Music, LLC. The song is about a man who is “addicted” to a girl, either emotionally or for the sex they have. The original lyrics of the song from the chorus are “I’m so addicted to all the things you do / When you’re going down on me in between the sheets,” whereas the radio edit lyrics are “I’m so addicted to all the things you do / When you’re rollin’ ’round with me in between the sheets”. Some radio versions of the song either have the pre-chorus’s lyric “It’s not like you to turn away / From all the bullshit I can take” censored or amended to “It’s not like you to turn away / From all the positions that we take.”
In November 2008, Addicted was certified Gold by the RIAA. It was also placed at #97 on Billboard’s Top Hot 100 Hits of 2008. It had at that point sold almost 800,000 copies and was well on its way to going Platinum. Co-writer Skidd Mills won a BMI Pop Award for “most played song.” On January 12, 2009, Addicted debuted at number 93 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, and later entered the top 50 at #48. In the United States, it has reached #20 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming their first top-twenty hit. It was their only entry on either chart.
Shoeless Joe Jackson (July 16, 1887 – December 5, 1951)
Joseph Jefferson Jackson was an American outfielder who played Major League Baseball in the early 1900s. He is remembered for his performance on the field and for his association with the Black Sox Scandal, in which members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox participated in a conspiracy to fix the World Series. As a result of Jackson’s association with the scandal, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Major League Baseball’s first commissioner, banned Jackson from playing after the 1920 season despite his exceptional play in the 1919 World Series, in which he led both teams in several statistical categories and set a World Series record with 12 base hits. Since then, Jackson’s guilt has been fiercely debated with new accounts claiming his innocence and urging Major League Baseball to reconsider his banishment. As a result of the scandal, Jackson’s career was abruptly halted in his prime, ensuring him a place in baseball lore.
Jackson played for three Major League teams during his 12-year career. He spent 1908–1909 as a member of the Philadelphia Athletics and 1910 with the minor league New Orleans Pelicans before joining the Cleveland Naps at the end of the 1910 season. He remained in Cleveland through the first part of 1915; he played the remainder of the 1915 season through 1920 with the Chicago White Sox. Later in life, Jackson played ball under assumed names throughout the south. Jackson, who played left field for most of his career, has the third-highest career batting average in major league history. In 1911, Jackson hit for a .408 average. It is still the sixth-highest single-season total since 1901, which marked the beginning of the modern era for the sport. His average that year also set the record for batting average in a single season by a rookie. Babe Ruth said that he modeled his hitting technique after Jackson’s.
The origin of his nickname: Jackson got his nickname during a mill game played in Greenville, South Carolina on June 6, 1908. Jackson had blisters on his foot from a new pair of cleats, which hurt so much that he took his shoes off before he was at bat. As play continued, a heckling fan noticed Jackson running to third base in his socks, and shouted “You shoeless son of a gun, you!” and the resulting nickname “Shoeless Joe” stuck with him throughout the remainder of his life.
As he aged, Jackson began to suffer from heart trouble. In 1951, at the age of 64, Jackson died of a heart attack. He had no children, but he and his wife raised two of his nephews.
Jackson still holds the Indians and White Sox franchise records for both triples in a season and career batting average. In 1999, he ranked number 35 on The Sporting News’ list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players and was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. The fans voted him as the 12th-best outfielder of all-time. He also ranks 33rd on the all-time list for non-pitchers according to the win shares formula developed by Bill James.
In this retelling of an old Mexican folktale about the origin of poinsettias, Lucida and her mother work tirelessly to weave a blanket for the baby Jesus to wear in the town’s nativity celebration. When Lucida’s mother gets sick, Lucida tries to finish the blanket herself but ends up ruining it beyond repair. She is so ashamed of her failure that she hides at the church service on Christmas Eve. An old woman approaches Lucida and tells her that “any gift is beautiful because it is given.” Hearing these words, Lucida places weeds around the manger and suddenly they turn into “flaming red stars,” or poinsettias. The Legend of the Poinsettia was retold and illustrated by American author and illustrator Tomie dePaola.
Another Lay’s product, this time only available in the Indian marketplace, was their Mint Mischief flavor. They featured mint, lime and jalapeno flavors.
The Popcorn Kid was a short-lived American sitcom that aired on CBS from March 23, 1987 to April 24, 1987, for a total of six episodes. A 16-year-old, Scott Creasman (Bruce Norris), worked behind the candy counter of a movie theater dreams of someday being in show business. Raye Birk starred as Mr. Brown, the manager of the Majestic Theatre. Jeffrey Joseph, Penelope Ann Miller, John Christopher Jones and Faith Ford also star as Majestic Theatre employees and round out the main cast.