The Wanderers: Thanks to The Old Philosopher

Given the event noted in our last entry and the ensuing events over the past weekend, I’m reminded of Eddie Lawrence’s character "The Old Philosopher."

(While I continue with the philosopher’s words, I am including photos from San Antonio’s El Mercado, a market in which the floor to ceiling brightly-colored merchandise is sure to brighten one’s mood.)

The Old Philosopher’s 1956 comedy record, which rose to the Billboard Top 40 chart, featured a crotchety, ridiculous-sounding character recounting a litany of nonsensical calamities.

Over some tearful music, speaking in a comically downtrodden, empathic voice, The Old Philosopher begins:

Hiya, folks.
Ya say ya lost your job today?
Ya say its 4 A.M. and your kids ain't home from school yet?
Ya say your wife went out for a corned beef sandwich last weekend—the corned beef sandwich came back, but she didn't?
Ya say your furniture is out all over the sidewalk 'cause ya can't pay the rent and ya got chapped lips and paper cuts and your feets all swollen up and blistered from pounding the pavement looking for work?

Is that what’s troubling ya, Bunkie?

Then, with some patriotic song played by a brass band, comes the animated refrain:

Well, lift your head up high and take a walk in the sun with dignity and stick-to-it-iveness and you'll show the world, you'll show them where to get off.
You'll never give up, never give up, never give up . . .(drum beat)…(drum beat) that ship!

Hey there, friend.

Ya say your radiators never worked all winter and now that its summer they started up again and ya can't turn them off?
Ya say your wife sent your lightweight suits to the cleaners and that means you'll have to wear your itchy tweeds this morning when they say it'll hit 106 and ya gotta meet an important business man in an hour and your bridge just broke and ya pasted it together with bubble gum and ya hope it don't fall apart while you're doing some fast talking to this man?
And your shoelace just busted and ya opened a big cut on your cheek trying to even out your sideburns and your daughter's going out with a convict and your wife just confessed she gave your last sixty dollars as a deposit on an airplane hanger?

Is that what's troubling ya, friend?

Well, lift your head up high and take a walk in the sun with dignity and stick-to-it-iveness and you'll show the world, you'll show them where to get off.
You'll never give up, never give up, never give up . . .(drum beat)…(drum beat) that ship! (http://johnscorner.blogspot.com/2009/02/is-that-whats-bothering-you-bunkie.html).

"The rich culture of San Antonio abounds throughout the plazas of Market Square. A three-block outdoor plaza lined with restaurants, shops and produce stands near San Antonio's city center, Market Square is the largest Mexican market in the U.S. It is one of America's top ten outdoor markets according to Frommer's. Dozens of shops sell everything from hand-embroidered dresses to leather belts. Market Square's working artists, musicians, dancers and major cultural events give it a rich and lively cultural atmosphere."

Three markets make up Market Square: Farmers Market, El Mercado, and Produce Row. The four photos below show the Pizzini Building which houses Produce Row. I thought the exteriors of this building and its shops were colorful enough, so I did not photograph the interiors of the shops. And I did not visit the Farmers Market at all.

"Visitors browse through 32 shops at 'El Mercado' and 80 specialty shops in the Farmers Market Plaza. Market Square is also the scene of many Hispanic festivals where food and beverage booths spring up alongside Guadalajara lamps while the sounds of mariachi music blends with the excitement of Mexican dances" (visitsanantonio. com).

Opposite Produce Row is La Margarita, a restaurant with a colorful mosaic and exterior walls.