Monday, September 1, 2008

Sunshine, Muppets and soft-porn

Mother Nature turned on a textbook sunshiney morning for the first day of spring. I woke up to warm yellow light flooding in my windows. It was still an hour before my alarm was due to go off though and I was very cosy and comfy in bed, so I rolled over and had a little week day "sleep in". Aaaahhh. I love that.

I walked to work under a perfect blue sky and I got nearly all the green lights on the way, too. It pleases me when the little green man appears just as I reach the curb, and I can cross the road without breaking my stride. I don't know why. Maybe it allows me the brief illusion that the world around me is running on my schedule?

You know that silly song Mahna Mahna from The Muppet Show (and numerous ads since)? Mahna mahna do-do-do-do-do and so on? A friend told me yesterday that it was originally from a soft-porn movie. Haw haw! I googled it on my lunch break today, and it's true! A song sung by furry puppets on a family show was first heard in rudie movie!

It was written by Italian composer Piero Umiliani for a 1968 Italian mondo movie about life in Sweden called Svezia, Inferno e Paradiso (Sweden, Heaven and Hell). According to IMDb, the movie "shows contraceptives for teen girls, lesbian nightclubs, wife swapping, porno movies, biker gangs, and Walpurgis Night celebrations. It also examines Sweden's purported drug, drinking and suicide problems." Whoah!



I'd post the clip from Svezia, Inferno e Paradiso if I could figure out how to, so click here if you want to see. Despite the subject matter of the movie, this snippet is pretty tame - a bunch of fully clothed Swedish women gambolling through the snow and sitting be-towelled in the sauna. No boobies.

Hmmm...Muppets and soft porn. Maybe not an auspicious start to this blog.

Anyone else have any little moments of glee to share?

13 comments:

The Rusty Knight said...

Well done and a fantastic blog to hit off with

Anonymous said...

Hey, Mahna Mahna was good enough to launch the Muppet show (I think it was from the first episode), so why not use it to launch the blog?

After all, The Muppet Show did very well..

Anonymous said...

If you fancy a bit of retro soft-porn soundtrack loveliness may i suggest the soundtrack to Vampyros Lesbos by Manfred Hubler and Siegfreid Schwab. It's very groooovy :)

Glad to hear you had a good first day of Spring :)

My glee today was induced by a sunny morning and finishing my University unit on Critical Thinking, moving on to the MUCH more fun sounding Art and Fashion in the 20th Century. Yee ha!

Surendra said...

To start off on a cheerful note is great.

Jayne said...

Thanks Rusty. I thought if I put "soft-porn" in the heading it might get 'em in!

And hello Alex. Yes, why not ride on Muppet coat tails?! I'm not sure if it was in the first episode, but I do know that there were various versions of it over the years.

Does anyone else have it stuck in their heads now?

Jayne said...

Thanks Victoria. I'll check it out!

Art and fashion certainly does sound like more of a hoot than thinking critically. There might be boobies there.

Jayne said...

Thanks Surendra. There ain't gonna nothing be nothin' but cheery here, my friend.

Anonymous said...

WhooHoo! What a gleeful start to spring!!!
I'm impressed that you've been able to combine The Muppets and porn and still leave a positive aftertaste.
Living in residences, Mahna Mahna (thinking hoping I just did an italic bit)was the track accompanying Miss Mandy's life in 1982, and the theme song for her floor.
That in itself is a gleeful memory for me.
But what to share from today? Got washing on the line before the sun came up...made my third farewell speech for the month but didn't reduce everyone to tears this time...wowed them all with homemade orange cake with real hand squozen orange juice icing...and went to school for a little talk with my daughter's teacher and ended up feeling she was doing ok (rather than that I was in trouble).

and the new font colour is working for me, Glee Girl!

Jayne said...

A day with no tears at work is a good day. The orange cake sounds great too. I love orange cake. Well, cake generally, but orange is one of my faves.

Anonymous said...

umm...so you are here to record gleeful moments...I've just jumped in before asking what the role of the reader is on this blog???

Unknown said...

It takes a real genius to combine Muppets and porn, much less without offending anyone, except maybe for making Kermit blush a bit.

Good start to your blogs......

Katrina said...

I love that song! Ha! Now every time I hear it I'm going to feel a bit naughty.

Jayne said...

Paul @ September 1, 2008 9:11 AM

Thanks. Yes, I did imagine Kermit doing that pursed lip expression of his as I wrote it (well, it would be a pursed lip expression if he had lips).

Mrs Blueballs @ September 1, 2008 7:27 PM

I'll think of Swedish girls in the sauna (which would be more enjoyable if I were a guy...)