Loose ends tied while-u-wait, or Rhymeswithplague cannot leave well enough alone

Everything I say in this post except the part about Joe Biden was prompted by comments left by readers on the previous post, "Life is not a bowl of cherries."

1. I am indebted to Bonnie from Missouri for telling me about a song called “Life Is Just A Cher O’Bowlies” as I had never heard of it or the group that recorded it, The Blues Magoos. Here it is:

Life Is Just A Cher O’ Bowlies
(sung by The Blues Magoos on their 1967 album Electric Comic Book)

Rain rain from the sky
In my magic land
It isn't rain or rain at all
Though all is coming down

All that's coming from the sky
Is tons and tons of frum
This may seem mighty strange
And comical to boot

Life is just a Cher O' Bowlies
Life is just a Cher O' Bowlies

Whats the use of singing this song
Some of you aren't even listening

Life is just a Cher O' Bowlies
Life is just a Cher O' Bowlies

Thank you

(end of song)

I just know in my heart of hearts that the Cher mentioned in the song’s title is none other than Cherilyn Sarkisian LaPiere Bono Allman because by 1967 the song she recorded in 1965 with Sonny Bono, “I Got You, Babe”, had been played more than 40,000,000 times. I looked it up.

I had never encountered the word “frum” before so I looked it up too. I learned that it is a Yiddish adjective that means 'religious'' or 'pious' and connotes the observance of Jewish religious law in a way that often exceeds its bare requirements. This includes the careful study of Torah, daily prayers, observing Shabbat (Sabbath) and performing deeds of loving-kindness. I learned also that “frum” can be used in a negative sense for 'hypocritically pious', 'holier-than-thou', and 'sanctimonious’ or in a positive sense for 'pious', 'devout', 'God-fearing', and 'upright'.

Unfortunately, we cannot know which sense The Blues Magoos meant "frum" in their song, "Life Is Just A Cher O' Bowlies" so thanks a lot, Bonnie from Missouri.

If you cannot possibly live another minute without hearing the song performed and are okay with losing two minutes, 36 seconds of your life that you will never get back, click here.

2. Breitbart.com (a website some people like and others abhor) published the following story on Tuesday:

BRAIN FREEZE: JOE BIDEN SAYS HE’S ‘CANDIDATE FOR THE UNITED STATES SENATE’

Former Vice President Joe Biden made yet another gaffe Monday, saying in a South Carolina campaign speech that he is a “candidate for the United States Senate” and that people could “vote for the other Biden” if he is not their preferred presidential candidate.

“My name is Joe Biden. I’m a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. Look me over, if you like what you see, help out. If not, vote for the other Biden,” the 77-year-old said in his remarks at the First in the South Dinner, according to a video that has gone viral on Twitter.

The pair of confusing statements comes as Democrat primary candidates will debate Tuesday evening in Charleston. The Palmetto State will head to the polls for its primary contest on Saturday, where Biden hopes to use his “firewall” to blunt Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-VT) momentum after winning the Nevada caucuses. Earlier this month, the Vermont senator won the New Hampshire primary and took the popular vote in Iowa. A Public Policy Polling survey released Monday shows Biden with 36 percent of support, while Sanders is trailing in second at 21 percent.

Biden is no stranger to making confusing statements on the campaign trail. Biden referred to New Hampshire as Nevada on the night of the Granite State’s primary. The incident was one of several in which he has appeared confused about the city or state that’s he’s campaigning in.

Appearing Thursday at a CNN town hall event, Biden said deceased son Beau Biden, who served as the Attorney General of Delaware, was the U.S. Attorney General.

(end of story)

You are free to draw your own conclusions. On Wednesday the news was that in Tuesday night's Democratic presidential candidates debate in Charleson, South Carolina, Joe Biden said that over 150 MILLION people had been killed by guns since 2007. Assuming that he was referring to the United States of America, the actual number is closer to 150 THOUSAND (loyal Democrats who want to believe Mr. Biden should note that 150 MILLION is almost half the population of the entire U.S. —- or put another way, if California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, and half of Georgia were gone, somebody would have noticed). Candidates come and candidates go, but the king of gaffes apparently goes on forever.

3. Another reader, Kathy from Virginia, said that her husband often quotes lines from Shakespeare's Macbeth and then says, "Terence, this is stupid stuff."

Without looking it up, do you know who wrote that and what work it is from?

I do. It’s from a collection of poems called A Shropshire Lad by A. E. Housman that was published in 1896 in England. Some of the better-known poems in the collection are “When I Was One-and-Twenty”, “With Rue My Heart Is Laden”, and “Loveliest Of Trees The Cherry Now”.

Thank you, Mr. D. P. Morris, my high-school English teacher.

Kethy herself allowed as how she prefers Psalm Of Life, which is by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, which she neglected to mention.

4. Yorkshire Pudding said, "How can you look on the bright side of life when’s you have no home or when you have contracted the coronavirus or when your dog just died or when you you were just mugged by a crazy drug addict? I wish life was a bowl of cherries but it clearly isn't."

5. In response to my having said in the post that a saying attributed by many to Voltaire was actually made by historian Peter Gay, reader Graham Edwards (who lives in the town of Stornaway on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, did you know that?) said, "Voltaire seems to be popping up everywhere recently. I always preferred his view of life and whatever is is best rather than Nietzsche's." I must resond to Graham's response.

The saying that many incorrectly attribute to Voltaire is "Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats." According to the quoteinquisitor.com website, Voltaire did employ the shipwreck metaphor in his letters; for example, in 1760 he wrote: "Comptez que le monde est un grand naufrage, et que la devise des hommes est, sauve qui peut." because Voltaire was French. One possible translation is, "The world is one great shipwreck: and man’s motto, “Save yourself if you can.” Voltaire’s remark did not mention lifeboats or singing; thus, his tone was quite different.

In Voltaire's book Candide the character Dr. Pangloss viewed every situation with extreme, possibly even naive optimism and taught that we live in the best of all possible worlds. Candide is devastating satire that ridicules the idea that everything works out for the best and that we live in the best of all possible worlds. I know that St. Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans that all things work together for good to them that love God and are the called according to His purpose, but that is not exactly the same thing as saying we live in the best of all possible worlds or that what is is best.

This post is quite long enough and I promise (a) not to write another post this long any time in the near future and (b) to refrain as best as I can from using my own comment stream as fodder and inspiration for future posts. This time I simply couldn't help myself..

P.S. -- On a personal note, today is the birthday of my favorite cousin Dr. Philip F. Caracena (1935-2016). RIP, Philip..