Saturday, June 23, 2018

Saturday 9: Shut Up & Dance

Saturday 9: Shut Up + Dance (2014)

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

1) This is about a man who meets the woman who is his destiny on the dance floor. Do you think we each have One Great Love preordained by fate? Or do you think life offers each of us many opportunities for romance?

A. I think life offers many opportunities. Love comes in many forms.

2) Lead singer Nick Petricca says this song is inspired by a true story. He was all keyed up and his girlfriend dragged him onto the dance floor, insisting that dancing would cheer him up. Therefore he considers this song an "anthem to letting go and having fun." Think of the last time you really had fun. Who were you with? What were you doing?

A. I was with my husband and we were playing video games in an arcade.

3) The dance floor incident that inspired this song took place in Echo Park, an LA neighborhood located near Elysian Park and Chinatown. Tell us about your village or city. Do the neighborhoods have interesting names?

A. In my county, we have Haymakertown, Mount Union, Fincastle, Amsterdamn, Trinity, Horrytown, Lithia, Lignite, Oriskany, Nace, Buchanan, Eagle Rock, Blue Ridge, Coyner Springs, Troutville, Wheatland and others.

4) Walk the Moon promoted this record by a performance on Good Morning America. Are you enthusiastic and energetic at 7:00 AM? Or do you hit your stride later in the day?

A. I am barely functioning at 7 a.m.

5) "Shut Up + Dance" is the biggest hit by Walk the Moon. The bandmembers met as at Kenyon, Ohio's oldest private college. Tell us about something that's old and revered where you live.

A. My husband was watching me answer these questions and he said, "me" to this one, but he's not that old, bless his heart. Since the question mentioned colleges, I will tell you about Hollins University, which used to be Hollins College (I have my BA from Hollins College and my MA from Hollins University). It is my alma mater. The undergraduate portion is all women, one of the few single-sex higher educational facilities left in the US. The masters level programs are not single-sex.

The college began in 1842 as Valley Union Seminary in the historical settlement of Botetourt Springs. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education for women in the United States. It was Virginia's first chartered women's college.

Hollins is known for its undergraduate and graduate writing programs, which have produced Pulitzer Prize–winning authors Annie Dillard, U.S. poet laureate Natasha Trethewey, and Henry S. Taylor. Other prominent alumnae include pioneering sportswriter Mary Garber, 2006 Man Booker Prize winner Kiran Desai, UC-Berkeley's first tenured female physicist (and a principal contributor to theories for detecting the Higgs boson) Mary K. Gaillard, Goodnight Moon author Margaret Wise Brown, author Lee Smith, photographer Sally Mann, former White House correspondent Ann Compton, and Ellen Malcolm, founder of EMILY's List.

Here are photos of the campus from 2011.









 

6) Walk the Moon took their name from the Police song, "Walking on the Moon." What's your favorite song by Sting and/or The Police?

A. Fields of Gold.

7) In 2014, the year this song was popular, Robin Williams took his own life. What's your favorite Robin Williams performance?

A. I liked him as the genie in Aladdin, but I think his work in Dead Poet's Society is probably my favorite.

8) Also in 2014, the Apple Watch was introduced. Are you wearing a watch as you answer these 9 questions?

A. Yes. I always wear a watch.

9) Random question -- You must create a coat of arms for yourself, representing your life and spirit. Which of these items would you place at the center: a heart, a sword, or a pen?

A. A heart with an ink pen in it.

_____________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.
 

7 comments:

  1. Your love of learning and your respect for language are clear to anyone who visits your blog. So Hollins done good by you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hollins is a lovely campus, though have you ever noticed that with a lot of the older schools their original main buildings all look very similar? That first photo...you could have told me it was any number of campuses I've been on and I'd have believed you. I'm glad you combined two things for your coat of arms. I thought all three should be in mine, but I decided not to be a rebel today. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  3. Between Sting and Robin Williams they both did many greats works it is hard to pick one for each of them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Too many Sting songs and Robin Williams movies--I almost added Dead Poets to my list.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your school really sounds impressive. I bet it is a pretty campus as well.

    ReplyDelete
  6. My grandmother used to work at Hollins college many moons ago in the cafeteria and one of my clients now is a retired dance teacher from Hollins. She is a very interesting lady, well read and travelled. I love conversations with her I learn so much! I also loved Dead Poets Society but I thought the Fisher King was a really good movie too. I thought Robin Williams was a wonderful entertainer an actor, and with my mom having Parkinson’s understand why he committed suicide. It’s a terrible disease. As for my favorite Sting song I like his collaboration with Rod Stewart and Brian Adams “All For Love.” A solo performance would be “ Every little Thing She Does Is Magic”.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Well, those names are quite interesting. My dad was from Clinchport, Virginia.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for dropping by! I appreciate comments and love to hear from others. I appreciate your time and responses.