Okay, 25 years ago our grandfather, who was not renowned for his giddy sense of humor, was given the task of putting the pink peacock ornament on the top of our Christmas tree.
The peacock, many years after the events in question.
The two of us, 6 and 8 years old at the time, were especially eager to see the tree finished off with its sparkly pink topper, but our grandfather was in no rush. We bothered at him to hurry up, but he told us the peacock needed to warm up first. He then proceeded, presumably as the peacock, to sing songs from Carmen (from what we learned about him as adults, we can only assume this came from our grandfather probably just having those tunes stuck indelibly in his head at the time), but with lyrics that only a 6- and 8-year-old could find hilarious:
Toreador, toreador
I’ll tell you how
To kill Mr. Cow
And, creating even more of an impression of brilliant comedic stylings on us:
I lost my shirt
I lost my shirt
I won’t be happy til I find my shirt
Other than the fact that we have argued about which childhood home we were living in at the time of this particular Christmas, we both remember the Carmen-singing peacock vividly.
So, fast-forward to present-day, on a lazy, listless evening watching a game on the Ducks broadcast. When a commercial for an Andrea Bocelli concert and his upcoming Christmas album comes on, we have this exchange:
Pookie: Getzi can’t wait for this concert.
Schnookie: Yeah. He’s like, [in her Getzi voice] “I love opera singers who don’t put any emotion or meaning into the songs they sing. I like opera singers who just belt.”
Pookie: Yeah.
Schnookie: That’s how Getzi sings. He has the voice of an angel.
Pookie: [Completely cracking up, singing in her Getzi voice] “I lost my shirt/I lost my shirt/I won’t be happy til I find my shirt!”
[We both collapse in hysterical laughter.]
Pookie: And THAT is bringing it home. It only took 25 years, but it was worth it.
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but with lyrics that only a 6- and 8-year-old could find hilarious:
That’s about right mentally for me.
Yeah, things haven’t progressed much for me either, obvy. :D
Okay, I’ve just eaten my weight in cheese — I’m ready for the hockey to begin! *Notices the hockey began 90 minutes ago* Oh. Huh.
I just flipped over in time to see Pretty Eyes Pyatt get interviewed. I have no recollection of what he said. He’s just pretty.
Um, can the Rangers stop winning? This is pissing me off.
I have no recollection of what he said. He’s just pretty.
:^:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: I love interviews like that!
And I have found in recent years that it’s best to just ignore the Rangers’ annual fast start, because once we hit about mid-November, they’ll fall off a cliff. I’m hoping that happens again.
they’ll fall off a cliff.
Woohoo! I can’t wait to see that.
Rangers falling off a cliff is one of the best things in hockey. :D
Oh man, I love when this happens! When something you’ve been laughing about for years suddenly gets another layer of hilarity when combined with a current running joke. I, of course, can’t think of any examples now, but this kind of collision has happened to me before, and it’s so sweet.
This is why I need to make sure to maintain good relationships with my siblings through life, because they’re the only ones who will have known me long enough to get my best jokes.
This is why I need to make sure to maintain good relationships with my siblings through life, because they’re the only ones who will have known me long enough to get my best jokes.
That’s EXACTLY my motivation for being BFFs with Pookie. (And yeah, I can’t ever think of other examples of this kind of joke fusion, but it’s just so delightful. The best part about this example, though, is that it took me a few beats before I realized that “I lost my shirt” meant anything other than just “generic opera lyrics”, since it’s just THAT deeply ingrained in me that that’s how Carmen is sung. Heh.)
And good morning, everyone! Pookie and I spent a great deal of time last night whining that we were so stupid not to take full vacation days today. It was all, “Gripe, gripe, gripe, I’m so annoyed I have to go into work tomorrow morning…” and then when I actually bit the bullet and dragged myself into the office, what was I greeted by? My boss, bearing cupcakes from the Bent Spoon. They’re for a meeting this afternoon that I specifically scheduled for when I’d be on vacation so I wouldn’t have to go to it, and he was all, “Because you’ve been SOOOO helpful on this project, I want you to have TWO cupcakes.” You don’t have to ask me twice!
This has reminded me of a somewhat sad story here, we’ve had a tragic loss of tacky retailing. Fountains of Wayne, which sold lawn & garden furniture (and fountains & tacky statues) in warm weather, and insanely tacky Christmas decorations once it got cold, and had the best, incredibly tacky holiday displays to visit, is no more. Sigh.
I can’t wander through with my brother nad have him pick up random, totally holiday-inappropriate ornaments, saying, “Look, Sue, the Christmas carp! The Christmas garlic!” Life just won’t be the same.
Oh man, losing a treasure like that is just so sad. And that is SO something our family does! We tend to add a “sweets to the sweets” to it, though. Like, “Hey Pookie, sweets to the sweets — have a Christmas carp!” It’s never not funny. If you’re willing to laugh at the same lame joke 10,000 times. (Of course, if there are Christmas carp involved, it’s not lame at all.)
Schnookie, that’s so sweet of your boss.
My boss is the best, what can I say? :D
Your grandfather had excellent tast Ookies! Those lines are from a spoof of Carmen in the Marx Brothers first musical/movie “The Cocoanuts!”. The gag lyrics were written by Irving Berlin.
Morgan, I’m glad to hear that — I suspected those lyrics must have come from somewhere more clever than our grandfather! :D
And I love that Irving Berlin could be counted on to come up with lyrics that would only be hysterical to a 6- or 8-year-old. Heh.
Morning, all! I woke up in a punchy mood today. So glad to read about the Christmas carp and the cupcakes. I feel better already.
Sure beats the lyrics from an episode of Gilligan’s Island:
Neither a borrower
Nor a lender be
Do not forget
Stay out of debt
Carol, we’re always happy to oblige! :D
Amy, :^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
And guys, I’m home and ON VACATION! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! I just wanted to share that.
Schnookie, you kick all kinds of vacation a$$ (for the kitties)
Guess what? Bears of Bees is going gang-busters – they are 11/14.
Hey. Wait a minute. That’s not good at all. I better start yelling at the team.
I can’t wander through with my brother nad have him pick up random, totally holiday-inappropriate ornaments, saying, “Look, Sue, the Christmas carp! The Christmas garlic!” Life just won’t be the same.
:^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: My brother and I go to Walmart Dec 23 after dark just because of all the hilarity that ensues. “Just lookin’ for a mutha f#@$in’ butter dish, yo!” is never not funny.
Bears of Bees is going gang-busters – they are 11/14.
Hey. Wait a minute. That’s not good at all. I better start yelling at the team.
I told the Fire Clowns that if they didn’t knock it off, I was going to let Burke auto draft them onto his team next year.
my parents used to wait till late Christmas eve to raid the Christmas tree stands after everyone had left (dad never passes up a way to get crap for free) and one year they found a bound tree, the fullest ever, brought it home only to find it was actually 4 emancipated Charlie Brown type trees bundled together.
my mother, in her “lets fix this” way decorated all 4. We had a forest of christmas trees in the living room that year, each kid got their own tree.
and to find your grandfather was a Marx Brothers fan, excellent.
My brother and I go to Walmart Dec 23 after dark just because of all the hilarity that ensues.
I can’t wait to see how that’s going to be reflected on peopleofwalmart.com
Also, why does Stan Fischler refer to himself in third person as “The Maven” on Twitter? It’s not really making him sound any more important. It’s kind of pompous, actually.
I can’t wait to see how that’s going to be reflected on peopleofwalmart.com
You mean, “Just lookin’ for a mutha f#@$in’ butter dish, yo!” isn’t Walmart’s new holiday motto?
I can’t wait to see how that’s going to be reflected on peopleofwalmart.com
My friend got me hooked on that website a few weeks ago. I got her with ThereIFixedIt.com. We love the crazies!
You mean, “Just lookin’ for a mutha f#@$in’ butter dish, yo!” isn’t Walmart’s new holiday motto?
I believe it’s on their nametags: “Hi, my name is Jim. Can I help you find a mutha F#@$in’ butter dish, yo?”
Also, why does Stan Fischler refer to himself in third person as “The Maven” on Twitter? It’s not really making him sound any more important. It’s kind of pompous, actually.
What an a$$. I think I have to follow him now. Also, I love the word, “pompous”. It kills me.