Some Assembly Required for the Full Appreciation of This Blog

This is just a reminder to regular readers that you cannot even begin to plumb the depths of comic mayhem inherent in this blog unless you understand that the bold-faced parts of my posts are links to other material resident on the Web. Mouse them and click them and shower in delight! For instance, in the previous post I was particularly proud of the link to the German lyrics of Lili Marlene, a link that also directs you to the English lyrics and to what sounds like the famous Marlene Dietrich recording but may not be.

This is a very drole juxtaposition of links: Oliver as the German Joe Buck pining for his Ratso!!

Just to deepen the enjoyment of this blog among the youth who have flocked to its banner -- think Children's Crusade, and there's another link for you-- I have stolen the following from another website:

Lili Marlene was based on a poem written by German soldier Hans Leip during World War I (in 1915), and published in 1937. Norbert Schultze set the poem to music in 1938 and it was recorded just before the war. It became a favorite of both German troops when it was broadcast to the AfrikaKorps in 1941. The immense popularity of the German version led to a hurried English version done by Tommie Connor and broadcast by the BBC for the Allied troops. Eventually, both sides began broadcasting the song in both versions, interspersed with propaganda nuggets. The German singer was Lale Andersen , an anti-Nazi. But the most celebrated singer was another anti-Nazi German - Marlene Dietrich, began to sing it in 1943. The English version of the song embellishs an already sentimental German original. After the war, the song's fame was perpetuated by Vera Lynn who sang it in every NAAFI concert she gave for British BAOR (British Army of the Rhine) soldiers stationed in pre-NATO Germany, to thunderous applause and stomping feet.