Thursday, April 1, 2010

Toast and Marmalade for Tea - Revisited

This is a recycled post. In fact I have recycled this once before! I last posted this back on August 31 of last year. That was also the last time it was as warm in Iowa as it is today! As an update, The Adventures of Tintin - Secret of the Unicorn will be released on December 23, 2011. Yes - it will be nearly two years!

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.

7 comments:

Jo said...

You know what? Tea and marmalade is my favorite snack. Sometimes at night if I can't sleep, I have a cup of tea and toast with Robertson's ginger marmalade, and it relaxes me. And I always think of the song, "Toast and Marmalade for Tea".

I have always loved TinTin and Snowy. They're very popular here in Canada.

A Lady's Life said...

tin tin is our family's treasure series with capitaine haddock. lol
My husband read all the books since he was a child my kids and I did and our school library's books were used to shreds.
I am happy they will be making movies out of this series. :)

Hilary said...

Ah I remember when you posted this before. I hadn't heard that song in ages before then and this is first time I've heard it since. I brings back some fine memories... of being young. :)

Pop and Ice said...

I can't believe I never heard "Toast and Marmalade for Tea". I was a keen listener of radio in the 70's, well, ok, all my life, so not sure how I missed this gem. Loved seeing the record spin; I have all my old 45's in the basement, but in reality they all now reside on my iPod.

I am a lifelong tea drinker and perhaps that is why I am so calm most of the time. I'd like to think there are some health benefits to drinking tea, and I love mine with honey!

Pauline said...

My kids LOVED the Tin Tin adventures and now one of my second grade students has discovered them. I drink several cups of tea a day and can attest to the calming effect - if only they all involved sitting down!

Barbara said...

Make sure to let us know when the Spielberg movie comes out. Looks like something I would enjoy. Probably no violence and a happy ending -- the main ingredients for my kind of movies! I'm always a sucker for dogs, too!

Small City Scenes said...

I remember that song----and back then a lot of songs sounded alike.
Memories are nice. I can live without tea but I do like Marmalade on toast. Mb