Cottage by the Sea

 
All Shook Up

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love to answer the questions, however, and here is today's questions!



Saturday 9: All Shook Up (1957)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
Chosen because January 8 is the anniversary of Elvis Presley's birth.

1) In this song, Elvis shares quite a list of maladies: he's itching, his hands are shaky, his knees are weak, he has chills ... How are you feeling this morning?
Well I do this on Friday... and I am kind of okay today. Not great but okay.

 
2) He also mentions being "tongue tied." The dictionary defines it as, "unable to speak freely, as from shyness." Do you often find yourself tongue tied?   Sometimes yes.

3) Even after he was wealthy, Elvis never lived away from his parents. At one point Graceland Mansion was home to four generations of the family: his grandmother, his father and stepmother, Elvis, his wife and daughter. Have you ever lived in a multi-generational household? 

Most of my life, yes. Its the only way to live if you have a decent family. My grandmother and I shared a bedroom until I was almost 14.

4) Thinking of family, Elvis Presley was a distant cousin of President Jimmy Carter. Both of their family trees can be traced back to the 18th century and Thomas Preslar (before the surname was changed to Presley in the early 1800s). Have you traced your ancestry? If not, is it something you'd like to do?  Yes I have looked into it a bit.
 
5) As an adult, Elvis never wore denim (except for a movie role). That's because when he was in school, his classmates teased him for "dressing poor" in jeans and coveralls. Is denim a big part of your wardrobe today?  Sometimes I do but not for going out, no.

 
6) Before becoming famous, Elvis drove a truck in and around Memphis. Have you ever had a job that kept you behind the wheel most of the day?     No. I drove a truck when I was doing horses though and so that was for a number of years but not all day long.

7) In 1957, the year this song was a hit, the Allstate Mechanical Freight Set was popular, too. Kids would wind up the engine and watch it pull two cars and a caboose around the track. To enhance the realism, sparks would shoot from the engine's smoke stack as it rumbled by. Did you ever play with a toy train? If not, tell us about a childhood plaything you remember fondly.

Oh yes. I had several train sets.. I am a railfan. I had two HO scales sets in my lifetime. Love model trains!

8) The best-selling book of 1957 was Peyton Place, a scandalous tale of life in a small New England town. Do you suppose there are enough steamy stories behind closed doors in your town to fill a novel?

Of course! There are stories and scandals in every town around the world.  I like the movie Peyton Place and Return to Peyton Place too. Sometimes they are on YouTube.

9) Random question: Can you do 10 push ups? Probably, yes.