Saturday 9: I Will See You

 

Saturday 9: I Will See You in C-U-B-A (2010)

 

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

This song was chosen in honor of Father's Day.

 

1) In this week's song, Lucie Arnaz encourages us to hop a ship and join her in Cuba. Is your passport up to date?

A. No, it is not.

2) She sings that Cuba is a great place to enjoy wine and Panatelas. Do you like the smell of a good cigar?

A. I am allergic to cigarette smoke and cigar smoke makes me gag and then have an asthma attack.

 

3) Lucie said her Latin Roots CD represents "the rhythms of my soul" and is a tribute to her father, Desi Arnaz. Cuban-born Desi starred on Broadway and in nightclubs but was best known for co-starring in and producing the 1950s sitcom, I Love Lucy. When you think of I Love Lucy, what's the first thing that comes to mind?

A. Lucy stuffing chocolate in her mouth because she can't keep up with the line.

 

4) While Lucie's parents – Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball – are famous for their TV work, Tony-nominated Lucie has found her greatest success on the stage. She inherited their love of performing, saying, “My parents were always happiest when they were working.” What have you inherited from one or both your parents? (It could be anything from your work ethic to your eye color.)

A. I have my father's aversion to going barefoot and my mother's hands.

 

5) Though "Ricky Riccardo" often mangled English on I Love Lucy, Desi's English was very good. Lucille Ball admired his facility with languages and encouraged him to speak Spanish to their children so that they would be bilingual. When you were growing up, did your family speak any language other than English?  

A. My family spoke only English. I studied Spanish and Latin in high school, but I have forgotten most of it.

 

6) Desi Arnaz often performed "I Will See You in C-U-B-A." Is there a song that reminds you of your father?

A. "Daddy, Don't You Walk So Fast," by Wayne Newton

 

7) After Lucie's parents divorced, Lucille Ball remarried and Lucie got a stepfather, Gary Morton. Lucie appreciated how positive Gary always was about Desi. Decades later, when she married a man who already had children, Lucie said she better understood what a tough role stepparent can be. Did you have a stepparent? Are you a stepparent?

A. I have a stepmother now, but I was an adult when my father remarried. 

8) As a single dad, Desi lived south of Los Angeles in Del Mar. Lucie and her brother, Desi Jr., spent school vacations there, going to the racetrack, bowling, and fishing with their dad. Share a happy memory from one of your school vacations (Christmas, Spring Break, or Summer).

A. We stayed with my grandmother during the summers. We - my brother and two young uncles and myself - rode out bicycles around the block, and not far away was an old, abandoned house. About once a week, we'd dare one another to go up to the house and peek in a window.

 

9) Father's Day began in Washington state. In the early 1900s, Spokane resident Sonora Smart Dodd listened to her minister deliver a sermon celebrating Mother's Day and devoted herself to similarly honoring fathers. A century later, more money is still spent annually on Mother's Day. Why do you suppose that nationally we still make more of a fuss over Mother's Day than Father's Day?

A. I suspect it is related to the patriarchy. Mothers are supposed to be in charge of the children while the father goes out and makes the money. That mindset is firmly entrenched in this country even though women have always been in the workforce.

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