This drives me nutty... the local TV channels preempt network broadcasting for local weather reporting that is spun as a special broadcast, complete with theme music & special graphics- STORM WATCH 2009!. Today will be the 1st day of the week with temperatures above feezing, but we will be ending this adventure with snow & freezing rain today, & the local channels are treating it as if it were something out of the film- 2012. Yesterday the husband & I found each other with an unexpected afternoon off at home. We got a little toasty, cuddled up & watched a bunch of backed-up DVR recordings: Ugly BettyModern Family, Top Chef, So You Think You Can Dance, 30 Rock. We recently started our 31st year as a couple, & you would think that there would be nothing left to discover about each other... but I don't think I have enjoyed his close proximity, his body heat, his sense of humor, or his presence in my life, more than on the last full day of ARCTIC BLAST 2009. I started the week with frigid muffins & ended it with I Melt With You.
Check out the amazing photos of the frozen Columbia Gorge by my buddy Spirit Of St. Louis.
It is day 5 of the deep freeze in Portland, Oregon.
Yesterday, when I got home from work, my neighbors (who I know by their first names & who I have no contact info) had a burst pipe that was gushing water into their yard. It was flowing at an alarming rate & then immediately freezing. I called the Portland Water Bureau, & they did send someone out. I didn’t tell my neighbors that I was their hero. I think that good deeds don’t have to have their horns tooted. We are all here to take care of each other, right? Tonight we are to have snow & freezing rain, but Arctic Blast 2009 is to end by tomorrow night & temperatures are forecast of the 40s & 50s next week.
The Executive Chef of the company that I work for, advised me that he was worried about the pastry display at my store, because-" it looks like you have frigid muffins". Wow, nobody has ever said that to me before. I consider my muffins to be warm & inviting. I did come away from our meeting thinking that FRIGID MUFFINS would be the name of my new band though. Thanks Chef!
I remember it from my childhood growing up in Spokane, a place that had true winter. It was almost like a folk myth: if you touch your tongue to the flag pole it will stick, & the school will have to call & get special help from the fire department to get you unstuck...& you may loose part of your tongue! I wasn't dumb enough to try it, even with my early attraction to firemen (some things stick with you into adulthood). Portland is in day 4 of the deep freeze, with a low this morning of 14 degrees. This week, The Oregonian reports a record number of calls for people with tongues stuck to metal poles. I think for some, the chance to prove the theory comes from the Holiday classic- A Christmas Story:
Should it it really be necessary to warn youngsters & teens not to do this? Even if you are triple-dog-dared, this is not a good idea, as proven by this lovely 13 year old girl from the town I grew up in. Apparently, the entire exercise hurt:
The very frigid commute this morning was harrowing, as my initially dry windows were visted by newly formed ice crystals that obliterated my view after I was on the freeway. I had to pull over & scrape the windows 3 times on my trip into work at 4:30am. Somehow I gathered the needed strength by singing this tune from 1977, at the top of my lungs. Sometimes a little Foreigner is what a guy needs to get through a very scary moment:
Portland has been in a deep freeze since Monday, with a record low this morning of 12 degrees. As always, I worry about all the creatures & I have been making sure that the birds have food & water. The Husband, the canines & I really had to snuggle up to make it through the night, nothing warms you like something warm & furry, huh?
Baby It's Cold Outside was written by Frank Loesser ( Guys & Dolls et al). In 1948, after years of informally performing the song at various parties, Loesser sold its rights to MGM, which inserted the song into its 1949 motion picture, Neptune's Daughter. The film featured two performances of the song: one by Ricardo Montalbán & Esther Williams & the other by Red Skelton & Betty Garrett. These performances earned Loesser an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Baby, It's Cold Outside" has been recorded by numerous other artists over the years, including: Homer & Jethro with June Carter (1949) Jo Stafford (1956) Sammy Davis, Jr. & Carmen McRae (1957) Ray Charles & Betty Carter (1962) Oliver Reed &Joyce Blair (1962) Kenneth Connor with Glennis Beresford (1971) on the album Much Ado About Love Barry Manilow & K. T. Oslin (1990) Bobby Caldwell & Vanessa Williams (1998) Tom Jones & Cerys Matthews (1999) Al Hirt and Ann-Margaret (1964) Lee Ann Womack & Harry Connick, Jr. (2002) Brian Setzer & Ann-Margret (2002) Jessica Simpson &Nick Lachey (2004) Rod Stewart & Dolly Parton (2004) - Stardust: The Great American Songbook Volume III (2004) James Taylor & Natalie Cole (2004) Wheat & Liz Phair (2004) Alan Cumming & Liza Minnelli Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme Holly Cole & Ed Robertson Jack Nicholson & Meryl Streep, in the 1986 film Heartburn Bette Midler & James Caan, in the 1991 film For the Boys Leon Redbone & Zooey Deschanel in 2003 on the Elf Soundtrack Michael Bublé & Anne Murray (2008) Lady Antebellum (2008) Willie Nelson & Norah Jones (2009) on the album American Classic Also in 2006, Peter Gallagher & Megan Mullally performed it on The Megan Mullally Show. One of the oddest & most amusing renditions was by husband & wife Charles Laughton & Elsa Lanchester on an American radio show. In his Christmas in New England special, Rod McKuen sings the song with Dusty Springfield, in an instance where the roles of the male & female are reversed in the second verse. Rudolf Nureyev also performed the song with Miss Piggy on the Muppet Show. In this rendition Nureyev was in a sauna with only a towel & Miss Piggy was trying to seduce him. My favorite version is the Stephen Rutledge & Tom Ford duet that opens the LOGO TV special- A Very Steve Holiday!.
