Enough piffle about religion, politics and the fate of millions. My present burning concern is to determine whether it's true that when you hear the whistle blowing eight to the bar you will know that Tennessee is not very far. Or did Tex Beneke lie to us all those years?

Finally a fit subject for theological debate!

Of course the canonical way to tell that we're in Tennessee is when

I smell frost on cotton leaves

And I feel that Southern breeze.

...or when the contamination alarm goes off as one passes through the detector at the end of one's shift at Oak Ridge.

For all you young-uns without a clue ...

Chattanooga Choo Choo

And this one was truly obscure.

Johnny Cash (click intro link to play)

Who would have thunk AdamSmith a country fan? The mish mash of oddities he carries around in his head never ceases to amaze.

And this one was truly obscure.

Johnny Cash (click intro link to play)

What?! Our greatest folk poet save Bob Dylan? Obscure? Them's fightin' words!

The mish mash of oddities he carries around in his head

Anything to combat that deadliest foe of all -- terminal boredom.

For all you young-uns without a clue ...

Chattanooga Choo Choo

Or, for a REAL blast from the past:

And, behind them all, the Ur-texts:

http://www.bluegrasswest.com/ideas/carter.htm

http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/carter_family/artist.jhtml

Thanks, deej, that's a much better link for the kiddies.

Get a grip, AdamSmith. Johnny Cash's 1955 single "Hey Porter" ain't likely to be featured by Simon Cowell any time soon.

How could I have forgotten "Can the Circle be Unbroken?" I guess it's so embedded in my life that it didn't register that someone actually wrote it. Sort of like "Amazing Grace." Thanks AdamSmith, thats the kind of Ur-text I can relate to.

likely to be featured by Simon Cowell any time soon.

Antonyms for "obscure" are one thing. The torrent of words that the above conjures is altogether another, and not fit to mention in a family venue such as this.

Antonyms for "obscure" are one thing. The torrent of words that the above conjures is altogether another, and not fit to mention in a family venue such as this.

I think we've started posting past each other. On further consideration, I have to admit that cramming Mr. Cash and Simon Crowell together in the same sentence was a shameless reach for effect.

To paraphrase Lucky, you start a little thread, round and round she goes, and where she stops nobody knows.

The South has quite taken this one over. Time for an intrusion from Yankeeland, so cold, so distant. Not so distant that the occasional Southern manifestation never makes it through. For instance, the ditty detailed in part below. It's easy enough to tell what it is, not so easy to say who performed it. That's a thrown gauntlet. A gauntlet, that is.

Ah come from Ca'alahna, so pahd'n mah drawl.*

I'm here to mention long-grain rice to y'all.

It makes right fancy eating. It's tasty and so nice.

For quality and nourishment it's Carolina Rice.

*I limit my struggle to render the accent to one line only, just to give a whiff.

Paula Deans, maybe?

O.K., Melba Moore for the 70's, a black vocal group in the 40's and who knows in the 50's. StuCotts, if you know the name of the singer for the 50's jingle, it would be a mitzbah to post it to Greg at the One Hit Wonders Central website. He's been researching this for 5 or 6 years. The jingle is available as a download from Ringtones.

Hey! You wouldn't be aka Greg and still trying to find out the name of the singer, would you? Just asking.

I like Udo Lindenberg's version.

O.K., Melba Moore for the 70's, a black vocal group in the 40's and who knows in the 50's. StuCotts, if you know the name of the singer for the 50's jingle, it would be a mitzbah to post it to Greg at the One Hit Wonders Central website. He's been researching this for 5 or 6 years. The jingle is available as a download from Ringtones.

Hey! You wouldn't be aka Greg and still trying to find out the name of the singer, would you? Just asking.

I tried to post a reply on that site. Twice. Both times with no visible success. It may be that on that site there's a delay between submitting a post and seeing it on the screen. I've done my bit for Gregg. If it doesn't work, screw it.

P.S. in all humility: It's mitzvah.

P.S. in all humility: It's mitzvah.

Kvetsh, kvetsh, I have trouble enough spelling in English.

Kvetsh, kvetsh, I have trouble enough spelling in English.

Actually, kvetch, in the usual acceptance.

OK, enough of my foolishness. You've been patient well beyond all expectation in this matter. Your reward is the name of the singer on the original version of the Carolina Rice jingle, since it looks like nobody else is going to come up with it here.

It's Janette Davis.

To which I expect that over 99% of the reactions will be: WHO?

The link tells all. Look under the Trivia heading.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0204769/bio

It's Janette Davis.

This Tar Heel is embarrassed to have had no idea.

(Even though Carolina Rice refers to the South Carolina low country product, not to North Carolina.)

(And though North Carolina -- historically a relatively poor sharecrop-oriented agricultural economy compared with the prosperous plantation systems of South Carolina and Virginia -- thus sometimes styled itself "a vale of humility between two mountains of conceit.")

Quite apart, the IMDB article on Janette Davis includes a link to Red Skelton's entry. About whom a new thread...?

"Actually, kvetch, in the usual acceptance."

Ouch, Mr. Maven, I guess I'll never qualify as a yiddisher kop.

"You've been patient well beyond all expectation in this matter. It's Janette Davis."

Thank you for saving what little dignity I have left. I was on the verge of begging for it.

Off topic: Seeing as how I've already admitted to being no yiddisher kop, could someone tell me what " " means?

"This Tar Heel is embarrassed to have had no idea.

North Carolina -- historically a relatively poor sharecrop-oriented agricultural economy"

That's O.K., AdamSmith, I've always had a serious weakness for Southern trailer trash.

"Quite apart, the IMDB article on Janette Davis includes a link to Red Skelton's entry. About whom a new thread...? "

Go for it! Freddie the Freeloader rules.

Quite apart, the IMDB article on Janette Davis includes a link to Red Skelton's entry. About whom a new thread...?

I wish I could oblige, but I can't think of even one little-known and/or interesting fact about Red Skelton that I could base a thread on. I feel like a flop.

Off topic: Seeing as how I've already admitted to being no yiddisher kop, could someone tell me what " " means?

I see either what I remember hearing called a niqab in Saudi, or a slot in a speakeasy door in a 30's film. Gives the user lots of scope.

The only actual use I believe I've ever seen it put to was in a past post of Adam's, whose contents have deserted my memory, though I'm certain that at the time I found the use appropriate. Assuming I'm right, maybe Adam can shed light.

It does look like a woman peering out of an Afgan burqa, doesn't it. I didn't think of that.

The typed out version is ph34r which factoid helps me not in the least. Thanx for your help.

Ph34r ( ) is hacker speak for "the extreme feeling of anticipation felt at the point of inevitable harm or death," or, in plain English, fear. I've been puzzling over this one off and on for two months and it never once occurred to me to google it. What's the point of this learning all these new internet tricks if I forget them the instant something distracts me? Jeez! Could it be early onset senility?

I've always had a serious weakness for Southern trailer trash.

Flattery will get you everywhere.

I ought to add, as both excuse and shameless tease, that I will pull myself together and get back to posting in earnest once I recover from The Trip. Oz's largesse helped fund 60 hours with Andre in NYC last week. Details when, as I say, concentration returns.

If ever.