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I’ve decided. I don’t trust myself anymore. I’m going to let Paul the Psychic Octopus make all my decisions from now on. The kicker is, even when I think I’ve made the right decision, it always turns out wrong. It’s not like Tom Petty says. Even the losers get lucky sometimes. No, they really don’t.

That’s what I thought anyway, tonight when I couldn’t make it all go away. The night I had a chance to turn my whole life around. Go for the brass ring, like Grandpa always said. I miss him. I miss how he made life sound so simple. About an hour ago I reached for that big, brass ring–AKA my only shot at non-loserdom, my amazingly funny, yet insightful stand-up comedy act–but, as usual, I second guessed myself and it slipped through my fingers.

Losers don’t get second chances at anything. The only shot losers get in this world is if they’re funny. And after my first official attempt at funny, I prayed someone would just run me over and put me out of my misery, but do it in a way that would put a smile on my face. I worry about Paul. The minute he’s wrong he’ll have to resort to stand-up, and, well, it’s hard enough when you’re not an octopus.

Gordon Thompson is Professor of Music at Skidmore College. His book, Please Please Me: Sixties British Pop, Inside Out, offers an insider’s view of the British pop-music recording industry. Below is a hint to a musical riddle with sixties British rock and pop as its subject. Be sure to check back Friday for the answer. Check out Thompson’s other riddles here. Feel free to guess the answer in the comments.

British pop musicians in the sixties transformed what had been quiet imitations of Americana into the height of hip artistic creativity. In the early sixties, the only British music to break into the American charts sounded weird (Joe Meek’s production of the Tornados performing “Telstar” in 1962) and wacky (Lonnie Donegan’s “Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It’s [sic] Flavor (On the Bedpost Over Night)” in 1961). A few years later, Time declared London to be the self-evident center of the western cultural universe. Whether you considered James Bond, Twiggy, Mary Quant, or the Who, the Brits had established a place in pop culture that in the fifties we could hardly have imagined.

In another twisted attempt to obscure the obvious, I offer one more of my riddles celebrating an anniversary in sixties British pop. I look forward to your guesses. We will post a solution in two days.

Riddle me when, riddle me why; can you name the song this time?
Ole blue eyes thought this was the best, even if he named the rest.
More than nothing, a quiet plateau; some friendly help, a bass concerto.
Sthā’ī-antarā gat nahi; an unknown answer to a desperate plea.

A lion was walking in the jungle. It asked a monkey, “Do you know who am I?”

Monkey, “Your majesty! You are king of this forest.”

The lion asked same question to other animals that encountered it in the way and got the same answer. Ultimately, it encountered a healthy wild elephant and asked it the same question. The elephant picked up the king of the forest with its powerful trunk and threw it into the bushes.

The lion got up after a great difficulty and said while cleansing its body, “If you do not know answer to the question, why did you reacted so angrily!”

A lion was walking in the jungle. It asked a monkey, “Do you know who am I?”

Monkey, “Your majesty! You are king of this forest.”

The lion asked same question to other animals that encountered it in the way and got the same answer. Ultimately, it encountered a healthy wild elephant and asked it the same question. The elephant picked up the king of the forest with its powerful trunk and threw it into the bushes.

The lion got up after a great difficulty and said while cleansing its body, “If you do not know answer to the question, why did you reacted so angrily!”

It’s Tony season and who better to educate us about the wonderful world of theatre than Thomas S. Hischak, author of The Oxford Companion To The American Musical: Theatre, Film and Television. Hischak is a Professor of Theatre at the State University of New York College at Cortland. He is the author of sixteen books on theater, film, and popular music as well as the author of twenty published plays. In The Oxford Companion To The American Musical Hischak offers over two thousand entires on musicals, performers, composers, lyricists, producers, choreographers and much more. Below are the answers to this morning’s quiz.

1. Harvey (1944). It was also her last Broadway credit.

2. Liza Minnelli in The Act.

3. Into the Woods. Book by James Lapine, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

4. Pipe Dream.

5. South Pacific (1949). The four winning performers were Mary Martin, Ezio Pinza, Juanita Hall, and Myron McCormick.

6. Fosse was the winner. The other revues were The Civil War and It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues.

7. Wonderful Town (1953).

8. Les Misérables and Starlight Express. He won for the first.

9. The Sound of Music (1959). Six of the seven Von Trapp kids were nominated for Best Featured Actress and the eldest Von Trapp, Lauri Peters, was nominated separately. They all lost to Patricia Neway as the Mother Abbess in the same show.

10. Angela Lansbury.

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This is an entry from Beth Cholette! It's a recipe. Thanks Beth!
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My favorite month is June, for several reasons:

It contains the summer solstice, which is the longest day of sunlight of the
year. :) It is the official start of summer and warm weather (I hate the cold!). ;)
And last but not least, I got married in June. :D

So, in honor of the latter, I thought I would send a recipe. This is my
grandmother's recipe for Cream Puffs--since my grandmother passed away in
2000, my mother made them in honor of her for my June 2003 wedding.

Cream Puffs
1/2 c. butter
1 c. flour
1 c. boiling water
4 eggs

Add butter to boiling water. Add flour all at once and cook until ball forms;
remove from heat and cool slightly. Add eggs one at a time, beating hard.
Drop by spoon onto greased cookie sheet (makes about 2 dozen). Bake 20
minutes at 425-degrees and then another 20 minutes at 300-degrees. When puffs
are cool, split at fill with your choice of pudding* or cream.
*My grandmom filled these using instant pudding mix in the french vanilla flavor.

Thanks!
Beth Cholette