Monday, August 31, 2009

Toast and Marmalade for Tea

This morning I heard about a study that claims drinking tea significantly reduces stress. It was mentioned that it is the process of making the tea and actually sitting down for a few minutes to drink it that helps calm a person as much as the tea itself.

It reminded me of one of my favorite songs - Toast and Marmalade for Tea by a group called Tin Tin. That was Tin Tin's only big hit and the distinctive sound you hear at the beginning of the song was made by accident. Someone leaned against a tape machine and that created the distorted piano sound you hear.

Several months ago I posted these same pictures and this YouTube song. Some things are worth doing more than once (that certainly conjures up some interesting thoughts but I better keep them to myself...).



As you may know, Tintin is actually the name of a very popular Belgian comic character. Tintin and his faithful dog Snowy have all sorts of wonderful adventures. I can relate very closely to Tintin as my faithful companion is a dog named Bailey and the two of us live alone (okay, with each other).



Tintin first appeared in 1929. The characters were created by Belgian artist Hergé, who went by the pen name George Remi. The combination of art and clever story lines has kept the comic popular for all these years.



I found this in Wikipedia: "Tintin is a young Belgian reporter who becomes involved in dangerous cases in which he takes heroic action to save the day. Almost every adventure features Tintin hard at work at his investigative reporting, but he is rarely seen actually turning in a story. He is a young man of more or less neutral attitudes and is less colourful than the supporting cast. In this respect, he represents the everyman."



"Snowy, an exceptionally white terrier, is Tintin's four-legged companion, who travels everywhere with him. The bond between the dog and Tintin is unbreakable, and they regularly save each other from perilous situations. Snowy frequently "speaks" to the reader through his thoughts (often displaying a very dry sense of humour), which are supposedly not heard by the characters in the story." (Wikipedia)



Steven Spielberg is currently producing the first major Tintin movie. It is scheduled to be released in late 2011. I hope it can live up to the books. Until then, I am going to sit down and listen to one of my favorite songs.



Thanks for stopping by.

8 comments:

Tess Kincaid said...

I adore the charming artwork of Herge. And I don't know whether I'm calmer from switching to tea, or whether it's just because I'm not drinking a pot of coffee every morning!

Small City Scenes said...

what a charming story. I had not heard of Tintin. Now I will look tintin up.

for some reason my computer has decided not to have any sound. Where is Tintin when I have a problem to solve.

Thanks, MB

Anonymous said...

Wow... this song has certainly received no radio play that I can recall, at least in the past 30 years or so... Thanks for the memory!

Snappy Di

Maureen said...

Interesting, I always thought Tintin was a much younger child. Who am I thinking of?

Hilary said...

Ahh yes I remember when you posted this before. The song stayed with me after that for a long time. I'd not heard it in forever and it was quite nostalgic to hear it.. as it is again today. Thanks for that. :)

Debbie Courson Smith said...

Cheers - we're having a tea party this afternoon!

Country Girl said...

Russell, I haven't heard this song for such a long time. I'd completely forgotten about it. I remember TinTin and if anyone can do a movie, it would be Mr. Spielberg. I hope he does it justice.

Jo said...

I'm sure Steven Spielberg will do a wonderful job of this.

I always loved TinTin, mostly for the art work. It's extraordinary and it stands by itself.

Snowy and Mr. Bailey are very much alike. Bailey looks after you and makes sure you stay out of trouble.

Maybe one day you can post a video of Bailey doing his Neil Young impersonation. :-)