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DO YOUR REMEMBER WHEN “VIRAL” WAS A BAD THING? The word “viral” was until recently associated with infection and wasn’t particularly a word you might wish to hear in regards to any family member. But now “viral” is a marketer’s dream—an “overnight” sensation that has spread across the internet and becomes the object of the latest buzz. I have a habit of watching the morning news as I eat my breakfast each morning, and early last week I learned that “Kitteh Kitteh Scatman” was one of the latest viral videos. I’m not certain the video was actually sufficiently newsworthy to have taken up Harry Smith’s time on the morning news, but I’ve had a fascination and appreciation for scat since I first heard the Mills Brothers sign the “Tiger Rag” on a Victrola record at my grandparents when I was a child. (Though if memory serves me correctly, the Mills Brothers recorded for Decca and not Victor, but the name is used generically these days, a tribute to Victor’s domination of the early market in much that same way that we may often refer to a Q-Tip rather than to a cotton swab.) So I reached for my laptop and headed for You Tube to listen. Well, I still prefer Ella Fitzgerald or the Mills Brothers, but this cartoon character is certainly cute (reminiscent of the Fair Point bundle mascot) and performs a mean scat; I encourage you to check him out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3T3rSYrRAc Now here at Rock of Ages Visitors Center, we can’t offer you a scatting cartoon, but we can offer you a great tour to a quarry nearly 600 feet in depth, an opportunity to watch some of the finest granite sculptors and artisans in the world and the chance to sandblast your own stone souvenir or bowl on the world’s only (to the best of our knowledge) outdoor granite bowling lane. So I hope you’ll take advantage of these last few weeks in August to pay us a visit before your children go back to school. We can’t scat, but we’ll be sure to greet you with a warm smile so that you feel right at home. And if you just can’t get here, remember that we offer great reminders of Vermont at our gift store—perhaps a calendar to remind you daily of Vermont’s beauty or a finely made granite gift to grace your kitchen or office or maybe you’d prefer to try one of our Vermont specialty foods so that you can enjoy the great tastes of Vermont right at your own table. |