I am having difficulty sleeping and was going through old, old, old computer junk. I pleasantly found you again. I was a pretty regular follower of you for awhile when I was working 3rd Shift as a Corrections Officer. 2 Tours in Iraq, a divorce, and moving to 1st shift changed my reading habits. Nice to see you are still here.
Good to have you back. I am up to almost 9000 posts, so pick a topic and put in in the search box. There are still a wide range of topics. I have been doing less politics, more genetics and evolutionary psychology, but I still try to break up the miles of text visually with photos or a video every 5-6 post.
I think there were probably reasons why they thought the "Galloping Ghost" was a better fit in the song than more contemporary-to-them football stars such as Johnny Unitas
More distant still. It was a song from the English music hall in the 20s and in England the lyric "tis Arsenal going to win" followed by reference to an English footballer.
Yes, Alex James of Arsenal football club was a culturally efficient name to use at the time the song was written -- but in one sense one could think a rugby athlete might have been more appropriate to the song, as soccer players tend not to carry the ball under their arm in play (although they often do when carrying it to the corner for kicks etc.)
An American football athlete would often be depicted with a head-sized object (the football) under his arm, and Red Grange in particular is often depicted as a ghost.
There are a number of US high-schools in the process of losing their Red Grange "Galloping Ghost" mascots, as pictures and statues of dudes with sheets over their heads carry cultural baggage that schools would like to avoid.
We are currently binge-watching a British sit com called "Ghosts," in which a young couple inherits a dilapidated and very haunted old mansion. The wife nearly dies in the first episode, which enables her to see the ghosts, which range in date from a cave man to an MP who died on the premises in a sex scandal in the '80s (?). In the middle, we have an Elizabethan ghost who died by decapitation. Only rarely can the head get back to the body. He spends most of his time invisibly, impalpably lying about on the floor, watching shoes go by. His most fun is being used as a volley ball by the other ghosts, who have very few things they can touch.
I am having difficulty sleeping and was going through old, old, old computer junk. I pleasantly found you again. I was a pretty regular follower of you for awhile when I was working 3rd Shift as a Corrections Officer. 2 Tours in Iraq, a divorce, and moving to 1st shift changed my reading habits. Nice to see you are still here.
ReplyDeleteGood to have you back. I am up to almost 9000 posts, so pick a topic and put in in the search box. There are still a wide range of topics. I have been doing less politics, more genetics and evolutionary psychology, but I still try to break up the miles of text visually with photos or a video every 5-6 post.
ReplyDeleteI grew up with the Stanley Holloway version. Interesting to hear this much different take.
ReplyDeleteI think there were probably reasons why they thought the "Galloping Ghost" was a better fit in the song than more contemporary-to-them football stars such as Johnny Unitas
ReplyDeleteMore distant still. It was a song from the English music hall in the 20s and in England the lyric "tis Arsenal going to win" followed by reference to an English footballer.
ReplyDeleteYes, Alex James of Arsenal football club was a culturally efficient name to use at the time the song was written -- but in one sense one could think a rugby athlete might have been more appropriate to the song, as soccer players tend not to carry the ball under their arm in play (although they often do when carrying it to the corner for kicks etc.)
ReplyDeleteAn American football athlete would often be depicted with a head-sized object (the football) under his arm, and Red Grange in particular is often depicted as a ghost.
There are a number of US high-schools in the process of losing their Red Grange "Galloping Ghost" mascots, as pictures and statues of dudes with sheets over their heads carry cultural baggage that schools would like to avoid.
We are currently binge-watching a British sit com called "Ghosts," in which a young couple inherits a dilapidated and very haunted old mansion. The wife nearly dies in the first episode, which enables her to see the ghosts, which range in date from a cave man to an MP who died on the premises in a sex scandal in the '80s (?). In the middle, we have an Elizabethan ghost who died by decapitation. Only rarely can the head get back to the body. He spends most of his time invisibly, impalpably lying about on the floor, watching shoes go by. His most fun is being used as a volley ball by the other ghosts, who have very few things they can touch.
ReplyDelete