Dear Internet,
Can you please help me out here. I’ve already tried my faithful friend Google, but I was only able to get a partial answer there. I’m just dying to know what, exactly, 1-800-Fat-Pony is.
Maybe a little background is in order. For the last few weeks at S’s bedtime, we’ve been reading the new Kelly DiPucchio/Heather Ross book Crafty Chloe together. Have you seen it yet? It’s the best. It features a wonderfully inspiring story about how a little girl’s crafty ingenuity saves the day, it’s filled with hilarious illustrations of this girl’s craft projects in progress (which include a baby brother covered with googly eyes), and it even has a really fun website that provides age-appropriate craft projects for parents and their little Crafty Chloes to do together. (We’ve already got the glow-in-the-dark fabric paint queued up for a spring break pajama project.)
In the interest of full disclosure, I’m pre-disposed to like the book because, well, I’m in it. Sort of.
Yeah, that’s me–more or less. The more part is the befuddled look on my face, which I think I frequently have when my little Crafty Chloe gets going on her own projects. (Last weekend, she made a raincoat for a friend’s tiny toy dolphin using fabric scraps, packing tape, and staples. Dolphins need raincoats. Who knew?) The less part is the stubbly little chicken legs. My legs are much more attractive than these. Everyone says so. Really.
I didn’t know that Heather had based the illustrations of Chloe’s father on me until she was almost done with the project. And then I found out…. Well, I forget exactly how I found out. But I’m pretty sure I was never asked if I would mind serving as the model for one of the characters in the book. No worries, though. I couldn’t be more flattered.
But now, back to the matter at hand. There’s an illustration toward the end of the book that features a little horse trailer with a phone number written on it.
One night Liesl and S were reading the book together, and I heard them giggling about that phone number, 1-800-Fat-Pony. Funny, right?
The next morning, when she woke up, S was still talking about 1-800-Fat-Pony. She and Liesl were speculating about what would happen if they called the number. “Why not,” I thought. So I dialed. And what do you think happened? Spanish pop music.
We’ve called several times now. And each time it’s a different song. Most of the time, but not always, the lyrics are in Spanish. It’s almost like a radio station. But we’ve never heard a DJ speak between songs.
We’ve checked the number with Google, and it looks like it might belong to Sony Entertainment. But I have no idea what it is. Is it a live stream of a Mexican radio station? An endless loop of music by entertainers on one of Sony’s niche recording labels? A portal into an alternate universe where Spanish-speaking people listen to music by dialing a telephone number and talk to one another using radios? I’ve got no clue.
That’s why I’m asking you, dear Internet. You’re smarter than any individual person. So what can you tell me? What, exactly, is it that you hear when you dial 1-800-Fat-Pony? Please leave a comment to enlighten me. I really want to know.
(And before you jaded, marketing-savvy smarty-pants say that this is something set up by the book’s publisher, let me tell you that you’re wrong. I asked Heather what 1-800-Fat-Pony is. And she says she doesn’t know. She never thought to dial the number to see what would happen while she was illustrating the book. That’s what happens when you’re on deadline, I suppose.)
Thanks in advance for your help with solving this Fat Pony mystery,
Todd
I’m guessing it’s the Latino version of Dial-a-Song.
I havent a clue about the music line, whew, Heather really dodged a bullet there. The number might have connected to something a lot less benign than that!
I too thought is was Sony based seeing as though the last four digits also spell SONY. The prefix is what led me to believe it was Sony based as well seeing as though it spelled FAT or DAT (Digital Audio Tape). But upon further searching here :http://www.customtollfree.com/toll-free-reverse-lookup/8003287669 it turns out it is owned by QWEST, or better yet a QWEST customer. For what purpose I have no Idea. That is as far as I got LOL
When I saw the blog title my first thoughts were ”What spam did HE delete’?
I am with Lisa on this one-very dodgey or it could be the perfect name for a Andrew Denton production for the ABC(AUS)…..
Maybe it’s FAV-SONY or EAT-SNOW? An intriguing mystery…
I tried it tonight and, yes, I was immediately connected to Spanish pop music… I had to try it. 🙂 Thanks for the laugh.
I can report that at 23:15 edt the Spanish music is going strong. It’s probably something like Callin’ Oates: 719-266-2837.
The song it’s playing right now is Argentinian — Teresa Parodi, Con la cara del amanecer. This song isn’t produced by any major label.
Now it’s playing another Argentine song — Vicentico, El Rey Del Rock y Roll. It is from an album produced by BMG.
… and this next also Argentine song is on youtube with a notice saying (C) 2011 Sony Music Entertainment Argentina.
Next song is La Oreja de Van Gogh, a Spanish band, again on youtube with the notice: (C)2011 Sony Music Entertainment España, S.L.
OK, I think I figured it out. This is hold music; if you call Sony and get put on hold, they transfer you to this number.
This is hilarious! I called, I heard something in Spanish, don’t know what they said, and then a song started. I am going to tell my 15 yr old son to call, that it is his homework.
The internet is a really funny place. I’m giggling all over about the Fat Pony telephone/songs. Crafty Chloe is our new family favorite heroine!