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That crazy Ohio...
Amidst the most recent post over at the Monkey Cage today, Monkey reveals that as a youngun, he was confused about the song "Hang on Sloopy," thinking it was a song about Snoopy. Fair enough. I remember this song well from my days as a young marching band kid in an Ohio high school. It's closely link to "Louie Louie" because both had the same chord progression (if what we were doing could fairly be called progressing chords) and a similar bass line (which as a trombone player is all I remember). Maybe not that similar, but similar enough. Point being, I had to look it up to see which of the two songs is the Official State Rock Song of Ohio (and The Ohio State University). In the process of doing so, I discovered that Ohio (and I'm sure most states are similar in this regard) has lots of official things "of the state." For instance:
State Animal: White-tailed deer. Fair enough: we (not so much me) kill enough of them.
State Insect: Lady Bug. I guess if you've got to pick something from quite possibly the ugliest branch of the tree of life, it might was well be a lady bug. From living there, I seem to remember more mosquitos than lady bugs, though.
State Bird: Cardinal. I already knew that. What I didn't know was the reasoning behind it: "the cardinal is known for its clear, strong song and beautiful plumage." Now say it with a British accent.
State Fossil: Trilobite. WTF? A state fossil? Who bothers to pass this crap?
State Motto: used to be "Imerium in Imperio" (an Empire within an Empire), but then the rebels destroyed the death star and they had to change it to "With God all things are possible." Hasn't been challenged in court because no Ohio resident even knew it existed.
State Beverage: Tomato Juice. Like this is consumed in vast quantities. Nonetheless, Ohio apparently leads the nation in the production of tomato juice and only second to CA in tomato growing. Who knew? And who drinks it?
State Gemstone: Flint. I shit you not. It's not exactly the first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word "gemstone," but Ohio tells us that "The Indians used flint to make knives, spearpoints, and arrowheads." Later farmers used to bitch about all the arrowheads in their fields. And were those the Cleveland Indians?
State Reptile: Black Racer Snake. Yes, there's an official reptile, thanks to a fourth-grader who saw the great need for such a designation. Thank you, Jacob Mercer. The state would be at a loss without you.