Saturday Nine: Sixteen Tons (1955)

This week's Saturday Nine:


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

1. 16 tons = 32,000 pounds, because there are 2,000 lbs. to a ton. Without looking it up, do you know how many ounces are in a pound? Sixteen. Seriously, though, it's time to convert to metric.
   
   
2. The singer describes himself as having "a mind that's weak and a back that's strong." Think about yourself. Which feels more powerful today, your body or your brain? Brain. Always brain.
   
   
3. The poor chap in this song has money troubles. Are you good at sticking to your budget? Usually. But sometimes I get sidetracked. By Sephora.
   
   
4. Tennessee Ernie Ford snapped his fingers as he recorded this song. It's been said that while it's possible to snap your fingers of both hands, the noise is louder with your "dominant hand." (So if you're a rightie, the finger snap will be louder with your right hand.) Try it yourself. Did you find this to be true? Well, the fingers on your dominant hand are stronger and have better coordination because you use them more often, so your snaps should be louder with your dominant hand... but having just tested this several times, mine are about equal on both hands.
   
   
5. Mr. Ford appeared as "Cousin Ernie" in three episodes of I Love Lucy. What's your all-time favourite sitcom? Sex and the City. That's the one show that I can re-watch over and over and over again. (Seriously, I think I've re-watched every season at least 12 times.) I find that I don't love sitcoms nowadays as much as I used to. As an adult, there were only a handful of sitcoms I even watched, aside from SATC: Weeds, How I Met Your Mother, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Community, Arrested Development, The Big Bang Theory, New Girl, and 2 Broke Girls. But I really, really loved sitcoms when I was a kid (a.k.a. the height of sitcoms). From elementary school (some until middle school), I watched Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Boy Meets World, Blossom, Who's the Boss?, Full House, Family Matters, Saved by the Bell, Married... with Children, Daria, The Simpsons, Step by Step, Breaker High, Student Bodies, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, That '70s Show, What I Like About You, Malcolm in the Middle, Will & Grace... God, I'm getting nostalgic.
   
   
6. Tennessee Ernie took the money he made from his performing career and invested in a California cattle ranch. Think back to the last beef your ate. How was it prepared?
   
   
   Ground up and grilled. It was in the Double Bacon Cheesecake Burger from Inspire.
   
   
7. Mr. Ford passed away at age 72 in 1991. That year, Dr. Seuss also died. What's your favourite Dr. Seuss book? Green Eggs and Ham.
   
   
8. Gene Roddenberry also died that year. Mr. Roddenberry is best known as the creator of Star Trek. Who is your favourite Star Trek character? Er, none. I never got into Star Trek, and even though I watched the 2009 movie and remember enjoying it, I don't remember the plot nor the characters.
   
   
9. Random question: We're having smoothies. What's your favourite? I don't drink a lot of smoothies these days, but I had a phase a few years ago during which I got a banana strawberry smoothie from Freshly Squeezed every day for lunch because it was tasty, cheap (it was the daily special, so a large was $3.99), filling, and I didn't have to walk far to get one.