Howard went to 1964/1965 New York World's Fair when he was a little boy and that is where he first heard the song "It's a Small World." The song was written for that world's fair. So says my brother George who is expert in all things.
I just went looking for a clip of that song and all I see is people complaining about how annoying that song is. Why does everyone find "It's a Small World" annoying? I don't. Once I went to Disney World and it was blasted at me all day and I still didn't find it annoying. What was annoying was, the guy I was with, his glasses flew off in Space Mountain, and we had to go back after hours so they could put on the lights and try to find them. That was annoying. But the song was not.
The reason I am thinking about "It's a Small World" is that you would not believe the people who are appearing and becoming my friends on Facebook.
George says that Facebook is like the afterlife. All the people from your past come back. That is true. But I also get a kick out of my new Facebook friends, people I have never known.
Above is a picture of my new friend Volkmar Zimmermann. He lives in Denmark. He is a member of the Corona Guitar Kvartet. I reviewed one of the CGK's disks for the paper and next thing I know, there is Volkmar ready to be my friend! Mr. Zimmermann, I accept! That is my friend Volkmar on the right in that picture.
Being Buffalonian the first thing I did was introduce Volkmar Zimmermann to my Facebook friend Bill Zimmermann. Now they are friends too! Here is a video of the Corona Guitar Quartet playing Tico-Tico.
Another thing is, I make friends with people in the middle of the night without knowing it. Luckily I do not take Ambien except in extreme circumstances such as when Obama was elected so I do not do those Ambien things like drive or eat in my sleep. But I do make friends on Facebook!
Lastnight at midnight I made friends with the U.S. editor for the British paper the Telegraph. I had no idea what I was doing when I clicked that yes, he and I are friends. But now we are friends! I found that out this morning to my astonishment. His name is Toby Harnden.
Here is a picture of my new friend Toby when he was in Zimbabwe where he was taken captive. He is on the left.
Here is his Web site so you do not think I am making this up.
You can read some of his writing about Obama here. His latest headline is "Obama Throws Joe Biden Under the Bus" but my favorite headline is "Hillary Clinton Kisses Barack Obama Instead of Husband Bill." Ha, ha!
See, this is what happens when you say yes to becoming the authorized biographer of Leonard Pennario, not of some boring schuft. Everyone wants to know you! It becomes a very small world.
"It's a Small World" is by the Sherman Brothers who wrote all the greatest Disney songs. Here is a nifty clip of the song played by Richard Sherman.
Here is another one where he is in what looks like his living room. The introduction in a foreign language is a classic.
Wow, these guys are still around! They did "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," "The Jungle Book" and my favorite, "Mary Poppins." They are the real deal!
Maybe I can find them on Facebook.
6 comments:
In a classic mis-hearing of a kid song, when my daughter Emma was four she would sing, "It's a small worm after all."
No matter how intrinsically obnoxious, I could never hate the song after that.
Since I lived in New Jersey at the time of the NYC World's Fair, I went there a lot. There are a few things that still stick with me:
1. "It's a Small World."
2. The demonstration of a television/phone, where you could see who you were talking to. I guess it lives on with Webcams.
3. The General Motors exhibit that had models of cars steaming along at great speeds on superhighways in cities.
4. The West Virginia pavilion, which we visited because there was no line. They did a good job of showing us how nice the state was, no small task in an era when most of associated poverty and coal with it (as opposed to John Denver).
I also attended the World's Fair in NYC but since I was 9 at the time I can't say I remember the song being written for that event, but I absolutely do know the song. I always liked it myself. I have to head over and read about Obama throwing Joe under the bus, that really caught my attention!!!
Unless I'm very much mistaken (Mari is not home, or I would try this out), you can sing It's a Small World at the same time as In Heaven There is No Beer, without sounding as if you had too much to drink while staring at an atlas. Thus, I stake my musical claim to fame! This is what happens, along with making friends with Mary K-G, when you are the authorized biographer of no one at all, and spend too much time on Facebook. I may get to write my mother's story, when she gets out of the slammer after those trumped-up charges that put her in Guantanamo a couple of years ago. Until then, I spend every waking moment singing to my friends on Facebook!
I went to the fair also, after taking my grandfather to his ship for Scotland, My whole family had a great time, every may brother who was only 4 years old.
I was at the fair too . My dad was a welder and worked on the Hemisphere...That giant steel globe ...I saw it's a small world...the IBM exhibit was awesome too....it was the presidents.
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