Amusement of the Morning

tamidon is whipping the house into shape for a baby shower we're hosting here today, when she sends me out on an errand to get a couple of pink helium balloons. Oh, and some sparkling cider, while I'm at it.

I get the cider (and some beer for me), but the Paper Store which normally sells helium balloons is closed for remodeling. I drop into the next-door toy store, where I happen to spy a whoopee cushion to replace the one my younger won at a birthday party yesterday but her momma broke fishing it out from under a couch cushion. That may count as a "pink balloon" in some circles, but it won't be a good thing to tie to the mailbox to identify the home of the baby shower (as we still have no helium), so I ask the proprietors where I can get some.

"The Paper Store".

"It's closed for remodeling."

"Oh, then go to the one in Maynard. It's across the street from the outdoor store."

Apparently, my blank stare was insufficient to let them know that they'd given me incomplete directions, so I bailed, delivered the things I had obtained to home, and then called iParty to confirm that they did indeed have both helium and pink. Hooray, they do. Onward.

I'm just getting off of I-495 into Chelmsford when my phone goes off. It's my old buddy Crash. "Hey, penmillion and I were hoping you could play 'Name That Tune' for us."

"Um, okay, I can try."

"It's an old song, we think it's by Synergy, here, let me try to sing it."

I roll my eyes, and move on up to the stop sign. "Go ahead."

"Bump bomp bump bum bom bum bomp."

"Oh, that's not Synergy, that's the grandfather of all techno, from the early '70s. It's called 'Popcorn', and the one-hit wonder who recorded it was called 'Hot Butter'. There are a few modern techno remixes of it, so if you go searching for it on-line, you'll want the 'Hot Butter' version to get the original."

"Thanks!"

"No sweat."

Well, now I know why he didn't just Google the lyrics.

And three pink helium balloons are now dangling from our mailbox.