L Is For Lime, Like It Or Not

April 14, 2016May 6, 2021 / Ally Bean / 30 Comments

Take life with a Grain of salt, a Slice of lime, and a shot of tequila

… is good advice that I’ve never taken literally because I don’t like to drink shots of tequila.

If I might be allowed to combine these ingredients with some simple syrup into a margarita on the rocks, then I’m right there with you chilling out about life, being cool about things.

Which is what I take this slang saying to mean.

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OF COURSE if we happen to make it two margaritas, then I’m singing a song about a lime.

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AND IF by chance we make it three margaritas? I’m wearing a sombrero because like Hobbes says: “What fun is it being ‘cool’ if you can’t wear a sombrero!”

{ From Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Patterson }

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K Is For Klondike Bar, Kinda Clever

April 13, 2016January 28, 2021 / Ally Bean / 49 Comments

“What would you do for a Klondike bar?”

These lyrics are from a TV commercial jingle that is embedded in my brain. Permanently.

Yours, too?

In fact, when I started musing on the letter “K” for this challenge, the first thing that came to my mind was Klondike Bar, which got me thinking about how I know many TV commercial jingles from memory.

You, too?

It’s annoying, yet hilarious, to realize that instead of keeping track of important adult stuff, my old brain chooses to retain a weird assortment of lyrics and tunes, learned in my childhood while watching the idiot box [aka the TV].

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• I’m sure this realization would upset me more, if I wasn’t so darned happy when singing the Oscar Mayer Bologna Song.

“My bologna has a first name, it’s O-S-C-A-R…”

• OR awkwardly singing and dancing along to the Dr. Pepper commercial.

“Us peppers are an interesting breed, an original taste is what we need… Be a Pepper…”

• OR belting out a soulful rendition of the Enjoli perfume commercial.

“I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and never let you forget that you’re a man… ‘Cause I’m a woman…”

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All of which brings me to this very important question:

How many TV commercial jingles do you, my gentle readers, remember by heart? You may confess in the comments below.

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J Is For Jelly, So Jazzy

April 12, 2016January 28, 2021 / Ally Bean / 38 Comments

“It must be jelly ’cause jam don’t shake like that.”

These are the lyrics from an old song. I didn’t know the source of this saying, but that’s what I discovered. And what a cool discovery it is.

I’m familiar with this saying because Zen-Den says it every so often. It’s part of his repertoire of sayings intended to describe + amuse anyone who might be listening.

Which is what I think you, my gentle readers, should do now.

Listen and watch Ray McKinley & The New Glenn Miller Orchestra perform a swinging jazzy rendition of this song, and learn about the saying… in context.

It’s fascinating, as you will hear.

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“And lay it on me…”

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I Is For Ice Cream, I Do Believe

April 11, 2016January 28, 2021 / Ally Bean / 54 Comments

“I scream, You scream, We all scream for ice cream.”

This is what my Dad used to say, kind of like he was casting a spell, when we as a family would get in the car to go get ice cream cones at the local dairy.

This was big deal back then in my small town.

There were no stores open 24/7. All we had were a few dairies in town, each featuring a rotating list of flavors, that sold ice cream cones, during limited hours of operation.

I never knew why he said what he said. But a fast googling tells me that this saying is part of the lyrics to a ~~dreadful~~ 1920s novelty song of the same name. The ~~stupid~~ lyrics are whacked, making references to Alaska and Eskimos; the ~~irritating~~ tune is a fox trot.

How he ever came to know this song I couldn’t say. But like most of the food sayings I’ve talked about so far, they just get into your brain and never leave.