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The "When I was eight" post

Things that used to puzzle me when I was eight:

The phrase "The King is dead. Long live the King!" Sounded pretty ridiculous to me. Was he dead, or not?

Related to that, "God save the Queen." I could never figure out why she needed to be saved, but I figured she'd been in a shipwreck or something. Maybe kidnapped by pirates.

A poem I liked when I was eight:

My beard grown to my toes
I never wears no clothes
I wraps my hair
Around my bare
And down the road I goes

-Shel Silverstein

Songs I liked when I was eight:

"Jeepers, creepers" and "I'm Looking Over a Four-Leafed Clover" (Old songs from the 'thirties)
"Video Killed the Radio Star" (The Buggles)
All of Michael Jackson's "Thriller"
The Blue Jays' seventh-inning stretch song, "Okay Blue Jays (Let's Play Ball)." One wonders why it took them until the seventh inning to figure out what game they were playing
The theme song from "The Dukes of Hazzard"
"I Love Rocky Road" (Weird Al Yankovic). I don't think I understood the satire; I just liked the fact that it was about ice cream.
"Tell Her About It" and "Uptown Girl" (Billy Joel)
"the Love Cats" (The Cure). Again, I wasn't cool. I just liked cats.

Books I liked when I was eight:

The "Booky" canon by Bernice Thurman Hunter. Took place in 1930s Toronto, fairly close to where I grew up. I thought it was cool that I could recognise landmarks she wrote about.

"Abel's Island" by William Steig. Got me started on castaway stories, which led to "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell.

"Barbapapa at Work" by Annette Tison and Talus Taylor. Yes, these are the funny blobby things that can change shape. This book was particularly cool. Each member of the Barbapapa family had a different job; one was a pearl-fisher, one was a glazier, one was a carpenter, and still another was a lace maker. The French title, "Barbapapa Artisan" is probably more descriptive.