In Search Of: Answering Your Keyword Search Questions

Every now and then, I enjoy looking through the list of Google search terms that brought people to Cabbages.

It appeals to my sense of curiosity... My deep inner marketer... And, well, because I'm a big ol' loser with nothin' better to do.

But I'm also a big ol' helper. And I'd like to help my readers find the information they seek on this amazing thing we call the Web. I'm a giver that way. (snicker)

So today, I give you answers to some of Cabbages' most intriguing Google referrers.


"Gooten gleepen gloppen" ?
Yes, Sir or Madam, the bathroom in Ikea IS, in fact, located on the first floor level near the cinnamon bun store. I do hope you make it in time.

Well, okay, I'm kidding you. This person was actually looking for the faux German from the beginning of Def Leppard's "Hysteria." This also comes to me in variations of "Gooben gleepen gloppen globen," "Gruben greeben gloppen globen" and "Horace." Though those last folks clearly aren't really even trying when they listen to the song.


"What is a scround?"
I know in one of my posts, I had many a Cabbages reader befuddled by my mysterious use of the word "scround." And I apologize for that. So, to clear that up, a scround is the not-quite-round-not-quite-square packaging that ice cream now tends to come in.

And while it seems new to our lexicon, it's a little-known fact that the word "scround" has actually been around for decades. It made its debut as a part of 60s music culture, when it was first heard in the Beach Boys song, "I Get a Scround," a tune dedicated to Brian Wilson's deep love of ice cream as a cure for the munchies.


"What does ouija stand for?"
Why, truth, justice, and the Parker Brothers way, of course!

In my post about the time a friend and I tried to channel the Great Beyond, we didn't actually go into stuff like Ouija etymology. But the word is apparently a Parker Brothers trademark.

According to Wikipedia, one theory is the word was derived from the French word "oui," meaning "yes"... And the German word "ja" meaning... er... also "yes."

Because when you drag a spirit from the Other Side or, y'know, you're just sitting around talking to yourself... you want it to be polite and agreeable.

"Ouija, will I get that payraise?"

"Oh, oui... ja!"

The Ouija board's spirit guide may be Marlene Dietrich. But I can't be certain about that.


"Paintings of william shatner" ?
Er, are you looking for paintings featuring Mr. Shatner-- to flesh out your vast William Shatner Tribute Gallery (AKA, your mom's basement)? Or are you looking for paintings done by Mr. Shatner, in which case I'd kinda be keen to see those myself?

I can just imagine his work now.... A canvas done entirely in pink paint entitled, "Tribble."

I'm afraid, dear search engine visitor, I cannot give you Shatner Art here at Of Cabbages and Kings, but I can tell you about the time William Shatner almost wrecked my car. I hope that, at least, makes it worth your click.


"Why we r using form no 29 in post office" ?
Because Forms 1-28 are in the back room with that person who is terrified to come out to wait on the line that is now wrapping around the building three times and makes queues in Disney World look short and manageable?

Well, that's been my recent post office experience, anyway.

Truthfully, I don't really know y u r uzng the 4rm u r. May-b u shd ask ur boss?


"Mayometer" ?
This is the carefully-calibrated, microscopic, sensory-perceptive device, located in the tastebuds, that allows those of us with acute mayophobia to know that mayonnaise has been surreptitiously added to our foodstuffs. You either have a mayometer, or you do not.

If you've come to this site, a person suffering from mayonnaise fear and the occasional familial mayo-betrayal, I consider you my newest bestest friend and you may very well enjoy this post. If you are a mother looking to slip mayo into your family's foods-- shame on you! Shame, shame.


"Tentacle egg impregnation story" ?
Okay, I don't really have any answers for this, but maybe you-- my readers-- do. What's a "tentacle egg"? Or are the eggs impregnated in the tentacle? So many questions. No answers. I just hope this wasn't a personal health question. Because I don't think WebMD will have what they're looking for, either.


"Why there are lots of safety pins in 1980's?"
Excellent question! This is because we all felt the need to buy very expensive jeans, with designer names on them, and then slash the heck out of them with razor blades.

Then, our parents would ground us because they had paid for said very expensive designer jeans, and they wouldn't let us out of our rooms until we thought about what we'd done, and fixed them.

Of course, most of us also failed home ec.

So the safety pins were a quick fix allowing us to at least get to see the light of day sometime during our high school careers.


"Anonymous of the word captain" ?
I just have no idea on this one. "Anonymous of the Word" would be a good band name. But it doesn't seem to be. If we're looking for the anonymous posts of some dude named the "Word Captain," then, um, we're probably not going to find them due to his... er... anonymity.


So, folks-- ideas? More questions? A rousing chorus of "I Get a Scround"? Let me know.

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Maybe It'd Be Better if the Leppard WERE Def

I believe I've mentioned this before, but I LOVE to sing along with music in the car. And not knowing the words-- or the language, for that matter-- has never really dampened the ol' spirits.

It's not that I necessarily SET OUT to mangle other people's creativity. It's just when it's a melody I particularly like, this great wave of joy overcomes me, I become totally immersed-- and there's nothing left to do but sing... SING... SIIINNNG!

But as I caught myself doing this again this week-- much to the horror of my fellow commuters and the innocent people standing on the sidewalk--

(good music requires projection)

--I realized HOW MANY artists I like without having any concept of what I'm singing. I mean, I could look them up... but then that would ruin the fun, wouldn't it?

Here are a few:

Def Leppard, the Rock of Ages album. This is one of my guilty pleasures. There's this great powerful chorus of voices that gets me all inspired and ready to sing along, with NO CLUE what the actual words are. (Which is just as well, because I'm pretty sure they're not the musical equivalent of Shakespeare).

Like my favorite song on the album, "Rocket":

Rocket
Yeah
Meah-liiiiii-ba-da-numble-nah

This, of course, gets normalized to the point that I forget "Meah-liiiiii-ba-da-numble-nah" isn't the real lyrics. And then I sing it with gusto in front of friends who don't view gusto as a great substitution for, say, talent.

Or like the opening of "Pour Some Sugar On Me":

Bomb-ee-domba-bomb (with echo).

Bomb-ee-domba-bomb and
come on get it on
Yomba domba domba domba
Red eye phone

Man, I love that album!

Dave Matthews is another one. Dave has some really interesting work. But the wrap-around lyrics and singing style which make him so distinctive, also make certain songs a bit challenging. I spent a good amount of time trying to figure out "Satellite":

Sa-till-lite
Nin-my-liiiiie
Lyga-dyma-inna-guy
How I wonder

And I DID wonder. I finally broke down and read the lyrics on that one.

And then there's Steve Winwood. I LOVE Stevie's stuff, because his melodies are sharp, his early work has an interesting use of keyboard, and he's not bad lookin', either. But as for understanding half of what dear Mr. Winwood sings...

The key to singing with Steve Winwood-- if you were looking for some tips (you WERE, weren't you? fess up!... Okay, nevermind)-- is to make up the lyrics as always, but:

Do it with a Cockney accent. Also, don't move your lips or jaw when you sing.

In terms of World music, Om Shanti Om has been one of my recent favorites to scare the locals with. This is a Bollywood soundtrack to a film of the same name which a guy on BlogCatalog got me into. It's hugely fun-- very upbeat-- terrific to sing to... IF you know Hindi.

I myself do not know Hindi.

I know people who KNOW Hindi, who have tried hard to teach me to pronounce a few assorted words properly so I do not embarrass myself. Because they're considerate that way.

But this doesn't really lend itself to singing loudly in the car. My consolation is, that in looking online to see what the songs are actually about, there seem to be a number of people in India who also don't speak Hindi and are confused. I also noticed some American kids of Indian descent posting online who like the album, and don't know what the singers are saying.

So I don't feel quite as bad about that one. Not knowing brings us all together!

All hot girls put your hands up and say, 'Om Shanti Om!'

Woo-HOO!! (I know: I'm a big dork.)

Lastly, Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" of a few years ago had me totally baffled. I could have SWORN there was a line in it that sounded like:

Mr. Mom is stinkin'

In retrospect, that didn't seem quite right. I mean, why the harsh words for ol' Mr. Mom, dudes? What's Keaton done to you? So I went online and looked up the lyrics:

This time I'm mistaken.

OH. Sure. I knew that. (Okay, not really.)

So tell me folks-- are there musicians or particular songs YOU like without actually knowing the lyrics? Do you sing along? Have I inadvertently made your eardrums bleed at some point because I've driven past you while singing "Rocket"? (If so, my apologies.)


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The folks at Humor-blogs LOOOOVE karaoke.