Saturday 9: Hawaii Five-O

Saturday 9: Hawaii Five-O (1969)

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

1) This is the theme from the TV show that originally ran from 1968 to 1980 and is on now again with a new cast. Were you/are you a fan?

A. I think it was on a channel we could not get. When I was growing up, out here in the rural Appalachians, we could only get two channels, and that was if we pulled out a cousin's tooth and had him hold the tin foil over his head while he stood with one toe on a piece of metal. (Just kidding. I am being mean and perpetuating a false stereotype.). I think Hawaii Five-O came on one of those channels that we could not receive. As for the new show, I never even bothered to watch it.

2) On both shows, Five-O is an elite police task force led by Det. Lt. Steve McGarrett. Who is your favorite TV cop?

A. Christine Cagney of Cagney & Lacey. She was tough and feminine at the same time. She was incredibly human, too.

3) On both shows, the part of Danny "Danno" Williams was played by a second generation performer. (James MacArthur was the son of Broadway legend Helen Hayes; Scott Caan is the son of movie actor James Caan.) If you followed one of your parents into their chosen profession, what would you be doing?

A. Well, if I'd followed my father, I'd be a business person working in an industry that sells seal gaskets and rubber hoses to major industries. If I'd followed my mother, I'd have been a secretary, which means I would probably have been laid off or the job changed into something else long ago, since many industries don't use secretaries anymore (There are 3.9 million secretarial/administrative assistant jobs listed in US Census in 2012. Yes, I looked it up.). But I am a free spirit and while I did work as a secretary for a time, I ended up as a writer. All hail the written word!
 
4) Both shows are filmed in Hawaii, the boyhood home of President Obama. Have any of our 44 Presidents hailed from your state? 

A. I live in Virginia, the Mother of Presidents. We have had eight U.S. presidents hail from our state, the most of any state in the nation. Those presidents are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Woodrow Wilson.

5) Kona coffee is made from beans cultivated on the Big Island of Hawaii. Are you a big coffee drinker? 

A. I don't drink coffee at all. I think I've had maybe seven cups of coffee in my entire life. The last cup of coffee I had was on June 19, 2013. It gave me a gallbladder attack and sent me to the hospital. I had surgery on June 28, 2013 and haven't been right since. In fact, I'm now in constant pain and I walk with a limp, all from a cup of coffee. So it is not my drink of choice.

6) This week's song was written by the late Morton Stevens. In addition to composing for TV shows, he was the musical director for a group of entertainers known in the 60s as "The Rat Pack." Can you name any "Rat Pack" members?

A. Frank Sinatra?

7) This week's featured band, The Ventures, began when Don Wilson purchased a used car from Bob Bogle. During negotiations, they discovered a shared passion for playing guitar. Did you buy your current ride new or used? Did the negotiations go smoothly?

A. My current ride was purchased new. Negotiations went well, though I was worn out and had to leave most of that to my husband as I was in the middle of a medical crisis at the time. My old car, which we traded in, decided to develop a problem that would have cost more to fix than the vehicle was worth. I had planned to drive her another year or two, but oh well. Best laid plans and all that.

8) The year this song was popular, 1969, is when Donald and Doris Fisher opened a San Francisco clothing store called The Gap. Today there are more than 3,200 Gap locations. Do you shop at The Gap or gap.com?

A. I do not. I doubt The Gap even carries clothes in my size.

9)  Random question: What's on your Saturday to-do list?

A. Reading Saturday 9 entries by other bloggers, writing up Sunday Stealing, fixing dinner, changing the bed linens and washing them, and working on tax records for 2015, having finally finished 2014.