Saturday 9: It's Impossible

Nice! Sam chose a blast from my past for this week's song choice. Perry is a little before my time, but both my parents liked him so his music was part of the soundtrack for my childhood. My dad and his friends even drove to Pittsburgh when they were young to hear Perry at some of the dance clubs before he made it big.

Saturday 9: It's Impossible (1970)

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

1) In this song, Mr. Como maintains it's impossible to ask a baby not to cry. When did you most recently hold a baby? Did you ask him or her not to cry?  I hold my grandson nearly every day. He's a year and a half now, so not really a baby, but not quite a toddler, either. I didn't ask him not to cry. I asked him not to shriek at the top of his lungs in the grocery store this afternoon because he was finding it great fun to do so.

2) Perry Como was known for his casual, easy going style. Therefore people were surprised to learn that he could lose his temper. His long-time musical director reported that bad drivers really got under Perry's skin. What is one of your pet peeves? Oh, I have a ton of them, but given how much time I spend behind the wheel I'd have to say I'm with Perry on this one. Bad, ignorant, flat-out stupid, drivers really get under my skin.

3) Though Perry Como was born in Pennsylvania, he didn't speak English until he began grade school. His parents were Italian immigrants and the family only spoke Italian at home. Do you know any words/phrases in Italian?  I probably do if I think about it long enough. I'm not Italian, but I'm from the same corner of the world as Perry and back in the day it seemed like virtually everyone was either Italian, Hungarian/Polish, or Irish. I think we're a pretty blended bunch of uniqueness that comes from that mix these days. Most of us probably know a few words or observe a few traditions of each nationality without even realizing it.

4) He met Roselle, the girl he would marry, when they were both still in high school. Tell us about a high school classmate you were crazy about back in the day. There was a Puerto Rican boy in my grade. He was a handsome, latin boy and all of us girls were half in love with him. He was a good friend of mine, but never anything else...much to my dismay at the time. I know now that it was a good thing we never dated. It turned out that he's been abusive in some of his relationships and the last I heard he was living in semi-seclusion, suffering from PTSD after serving in Desert Storm. Oh, and he's not a hottie these days.

5) When he was just 14, his father's ill health made it essential that Perry begin working after school to help support his family. He apprenticed to a barber but was so short, he had to stand on a box when he cut hair. Again, going back to school, were you taller than your classmates? Shorter? Or were you the average height for a kid your age?  I shot up early and in junior high I was taller than the majority of my classmates until 9th grade when the boys finally began to hit puberty and get taller. From that point on I was about average. I was so tall and skinny in those early years that one of my nicknames was "Spider Legs."

6) While taping his annual holiday special in 1971, he fell from a platform and broke his knee. He had to wear a cast and endure 8 months of rehab. Have you ever broken a bone?  Just a toe. Or rather, toes. I'm a clutz. I seem to break a toe every couple of years.

7) During the decades when he was a recording and television star, Perry Como was also an avid golfer. He was so popular that many of the best pro golfers of the day -- Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, etc. -- were happy to play with him. It's estimated that it takes about 4 hours to play 18 holes of golf. What celebrity would you most like to hang around with for four hours?  Gordon Ramsey or maybe Simon Cowell. I'm just not that into celebrity. (By the way, Arnold Palmer was a local boy, too. In fact, he was from the small town I live in. He and Mr. Rogers were the same age as my dad and he knew both of them before they were famous.)

8) After he retired, Perry's passion switched from golf to fishing in the waters near Palm Beach, Florida. His catch of the day often ended up as his family's dinner. What's for dinner at your house tonight?  If it's not raining, I'll be throwing some shrimp on the barbie.

9) Random question -- They say "birds of a feather, flock together." But that's not always true. Can you think of an area where you are out of step with most of your friends/family?  My mom and her sisters tend to think I'm missing some vital piece of DNA because while I am a collector and have a lot of "stuff," I am not like them in saving EVERYTHING. They have fits when I part with things. Their houses are so cluttered that I don't feel relaxed in them.

That's all for this week's edition of the Saturday 9. Be sure to stop by the site and let Sam know you enjoyed the questions.