Dear Friends,
I am pleased to announce that a large box of new Hard Taco CDs is sitting in my kitchen, and like all things on God's brown Earth, it has a name. The box is called "box," and the album is called, “and then the training takes over…” The new disc is truly a sensual massage of all four of your senses.
(I warned you to stop using Zicam, but did you listen to me?)
This CD features a handful of previously unreleased songs about GREAT AMERICAN WARS which will direct a relentless blitzkrieg on your remaining three senses.
(Seriously, why would you keep liquid nitrogen right next to your mouthwash and in an identical bottle?)
However, even without these exciting military-themed tunes, this CD is nothing less than a merciless steamrolling frenzied onslaught/assault on both of your senses.
(Just to clarify... you're wearing that blindfold just in case you happen upon a game of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey?)
Scarlett's Recording Debut
The Hard Taco song for September is called, "Roughhousing Robots." This is a milestone for us, because it is the first song in our oeuvre to feature vocals by a local up-'n'-comer, Scarlett London. You will be moved, touched, softened, disconcerted, placated, ruffled, and completely melted by her performance. Then you will hear her second line, and you will experience an entirely different set of emotions.
And now I will throw a bone to the majority of readers who scan the HT Digest looking for content that has nothing to do with music by presenting an fragment entitled:
The Startling Origins of Common Expressions
Common phrase: "Children are like sponges."
Original phrase: "Sponges are like children."
In 1849, the Lynchburg General Store began to market huggable sponges to young women who had been rendered infertile by malnutrition and weevils. The phrase "sponges are like children" became so engrained into to the vernacular that when child labor laws were ratified a decade later, it became illegal to mop up a spill with a sponge that was less than 16 years old.
Common phrase: "It doesn't take a genius to know..."
Original phrase: "It doesn't take a genie to know..."
This expression became ubiquitous after a rash of magic lamp-finders squandered all three wishes by asking the genie to verify the following:
1. Inhaling poisonous fumes isn't the most healthy thing to do.
2. There is a problem when the "Check Engine" light comes on.
3. Meg Ryan might have had plastic surgery.
Common phrase: "Starve a fever, feed a cold."
Original phrase: "Starve a beaver, feed a toad."
The odds of surviving an illness in the 17th century were greatly increased by having ample firewood to keep warm. This expression built on the common misconception that beavers ate wood, and that toads ate beavers.
Common phrase: "No Skin off My Nose."
Original phrase: "No Skin on My Nose."
This is said to be an observation made by Joan of Arc shortly before her death, in reference to one of the more noticeable effects of being burned at the stake. For unclear reasons, the expression has taken on exactly the opposite meaning over time. Another example of this phenomenon is the phrase "Don't let the cat out of the bag," which originally was, "Don't! Let the cat out of the bag!"
Next month: the startling origin of the phrase, "When life gives you ovals, make Ovaltine."
Sincerely,
Zach
