[UPDATE: Some answers added, three still unguessed. Also, for those of you interested, I've bumped the Dan Fogelberg quiz because the lovely Linda added some questions and I don't got 'em. Have at it, kids!]
Okay, so I'm kinda lame. I had a "What's My Name" Edition last week and it took me days, days I tell you, to come up with the obvious pop culture reference. Everybody, I'm sure, remembers the old game show "What's My Line?" If you don't, then I shall, um, jeez I know there was something I wanted to do to those children in the audience but I can't remember what...
Hmm. Oh well, I suppose it doesn’t matter. Shut up children, someday you'll be senile like me. If you don't piss me off first.
Where was I? Oh yeah. Back in dubya dubya one... wait, that's not right. Back in the sixties and seventies (possibly the fifties too, I was kinda young then – shut up, I WAS young then) there was a rather fun game show in which a panel of celebrities would try to guess the occupation of the guest. I seemed to remember Kitty Carlisle being one of the regulars but the online info says no (must be "To Tell the Truth" I'm thinking of). Anyway, as an aside, I didn't remember that she was married to Moss Hart, though the Sainted Bride swears she told me that when Kitty died some months back at the age of 96.
Where was I? Shut up, not-yet-senile-kids.
Where was I? Oh yeah, "What's My Line?" It was kind of a fun game show. My Mom, living out in the boonies at the ranch, had a satellite dish and when we visited my girls got a kick out of watching the "Game Show Network", which, in addition to retarded new game shows, had reruns of the classics, including "What's My Line?".
Oh, yeah. Good times, good times.
Where was I? Oh yeah, "What's My Line?" Anyway, some days after my quiz last week, it occurred to me that a "What's My Line?" edition would be kind of fun. So I thought I would do it. Despite the fact that some of you CHILDREN out there might not get the pop culture reference. Children. You should be swatted with a hickory switch. I think. Can't remember.
Where was I? Oh yeah, beating children with a hickory switch.
No, that's not quite right. Oh yeah, "What's My Line?" Here are a regular dozen (not a baker's dozen, nor an accountant's dozen - c'mon, Maggie, you know I was just funnin' with you; please don't hurt me) C/W questions about jobs (and if the specific job is actually mentioned in the song, please be just as specific):
1) I have a mind that's weak and a back that's strong. What's my line? [Mike: Coal miner]
2) I have no hat upon my head and no shoes upon my feet. What's my line? [Joel: Newsboy]
3) I got my orders in Monroe, Virginia. What's my line? [Angie: Railroad engineer]
4) I left Seattle in the year of '92. What's my line? [Mike: Gold miner]
5) I came to take an outlaw back alive, or maybe dead. What's my line? [Mike: Arizona Ranger]
6) I'm from down old Tennessee way and I say "Good morning, Captain." What's my line? [Mike: Mule skinner]
7) I'm taking little white pills, and if you think I'm happy you're right. What's my line? [Mike: Truck driver]
8) One hand hold is all I got to pit myself against the clock. What's my line?
9) I ain't big, just tall. What's my line? [Joel: Big boss man]
10) I'm cautioned as a mountain cat and fleet as a deer as I travel over the high Sierras. What's my line?
11) I was hangin' 'round town, just spendin' my time out of a job, not earnin' a dime. A feller steps up and guesses my profession from looks of my clothes. What's my line? [Mike: Bronc fighter]
12) Portland Maine is just the same as sunny Tennessee and any old place I hang my hat is home sweet home to me. What's my line?
I can get about half of them.
1) coal miner.
4) gold miner (below that old white mountain, just a little southeast of Nome, specifically)
5) Arizona Ranger
6) Mule skinner
7) truck driver
11) bronco rider
Five and a half - can you be a wee bit more specific on #11?
Posted by: Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life at December 24, 2007 06:02 AM3) railroad engineer
Posted by: Angie Schultz at December 24, 2007 10:59 AMIndeed. And upon further reflection, I'm giving Mike full credit on #11. The exact lyric is "bronc fighter" but "bronco rider" is close enough for rock and roll.
Posted by: Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life at December 24, 2007 11:04 AM2) I sell the morning paper. (Recycled from the last quiz.)
8) I think this was the bronco rider Mike was thinking of.
9) Big boss man.
10) I'm guessing engineer, but I can't place the song.
11) I see by my outfit that I am a cowboy.
Posted by: Joel at December 24, 2007 11:15 AMYes
No (but right idea)
Yes
No
No
And of course I recycle. It's good for the environment.
Posted by: Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life at December 24, 2007 01:26 PM12. Brakeman (I should have know that something by the Singing Brakeman would be about a brakeman, but I had to look at the Jimmie Rodgers stuff on my iTunes to confirm it. 'The Brakeman's Blues -- Yodeling My Blues Away' was the first one I tried, and this is the first line.)
Posted by: Dr. Weevil at December 26, 2007 06:57 PM