Saturday 9

Saturday 9: 5-10-15-20 (1970)

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

1) In this week's song, The Presidents sing about a long married, very happy couple. Who is the longest married couple you know? Who is the happiest? Are they the same couple?

A. I'm sure there are people I know who have been married longer than I, but I have hit 40 years of marriage and that is a long time. We are content with the life we have created together.

2) The lyrics ask repeatedly: "Aren't we happy?" Are you feeling happy today? Why or why not?

A. I'm feeling content today. I have some health issues nagging at me, and lots on my mind, but that's fairly usual for me.

3) This happy couple enjoys watching children at play. Is there a park, playground or schoolyard near you?

A. There are two elementary schools; one is six miles away and the other is 5 miles away in the other direction. The elementary school that is six miles away is near a sports complex that has lots of ballfields.

4) This song reminds Crazy Sam of when she used to recite the multiplication tables. Think back to your school days. Was math one of your favorite subjects?

A. I loved my math teachers but not so much the subject. It pains me that I couldn't do an algebra problem if my life depended on it now, when I took years of it and made straight As. I skipped math for the most part in college and took "literary math" which was more about the famous personalities in math than the actual doing of math. It's like my Spanish - if you stop using the skill, you lose it.

5) The Presidents seems like a good name for a band formed in Washington DC. What would be an appropriate name for a band from your hometown?

A. The Botetourt (pronounced "body-tot") Beaters.

6) DC trivia: The street names are letters, but J was skipped. That's because in the 1700s, the way many wrote their alphabet, "J" looked like "I" and so "J" was passed over to avoid confusion. Tell us something we may not know about your hometown (or state).

A. Botetourt was part of the raids during the Civil War, and the area we call Buchanan was burned during Hunter's Civil War Raid, and the bridge over the James River was destroyed, too. Also, this is where the James River begins. It's like a creek of sorts here, or a small river, but when you see the James at Williamsburg, it is massive.

7) In 1970, when this song was on the Billboard chart, The Mary Tyler Moore Show premiered on CBS. The theme song said Mary could "turn the world on with her smile," yet in real life, MTM was self-conscious about her "wide mouth." Are you comfortable looking at photos of yourself?

A. Not really. I don't take pictures of myself often, nor do others.

8) Also in 1970, Dinah Shore became one of the first women to host her own national daytime talk show. Today, Kelly Clarkson, Drew Barrymore, Tamron Hall, Jennifer Hudson and Kelly Ripa all have their own shows, and The Talk and The View are both hosted by women. Who is your favorite talk show host?

A. I don't have one. Sorry.

9) Random question -- Would you rather have a job that has you on your feet all day, or one that has you parked in a chair?

A. I tend to stay parked in a chair, so that one.

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