Ramblin' with Roger

An interesting choir year

2009-07-05T05:20:00.000-04:00

The choir is done for the church year until September. It's been a momentous period. Victor left last June, and in the proper Presbyterian tradition, a committee was formed to find a replacement. In the meantime, we had Don, a fellow I'd worked with often, who would be interim through Epiphany in early January. The committee found a candidate, OKed by the choir, but she was in the DC area and had to sell or rent her residence. Fortunately, with a new administration, she was able to come up on March 1. In the interim, Chris, our bass section leader, filled in as director.

Janet came up but, just as we got to Holy Week, fell ill. So it was Chris leading the choir on Easter Sunday. Janet returned, but her sister, who had been dying of cancer, got to the end stages. Jack, another bass in the choir, took over the last couple rehearsals and services. Evelyn, Janet's sister died on Friday, June 26.

Coincidentally, Bradley Wong, a former member of the church and the choir - he was there when I first arrived nine years ago, though not in several seasons - died on Saturday, June 27.

It's those deaths, along with the number of celebrity deaths and maybe the constant rain of late that put Samuel Barber to mind. I had a friend named Donna George who died a few years ago. She had given me this recording of eight different versions of Barber's Adagio.

So I went to YouTube and found this choral version of the Agnus Dei plus a more traditional version.

ROG

What does patriotism mean? QUESTION

2009-07-04T05:24:00.002-04:00

My wife is reading a book called Deep Democracy by Judith Green (no relation) as one of the required readings for her summer courses. My understanding of the book, and I haven't seen it, is that deep democracy isn't just a flag pin on the lapel; it's working for the opportunity to make sure that each individual has the opportunity to pursue the American dream.

So what does patriotism mean to you? For me voting; but also being an informed voter. Perhaps working on a campaign; I owe time to TWO of them this year. Participate in the "marketplace of ideas".

I believe that participating in the Census qualifies.

Civil protest, when injustice exists.

How about you?

And what do you think of this new study of sixteen countries, which "shows that in nearly every democracy surveyed, government helps assure that every eligible citizen is registered to vote. If the United States were to modernize voter registration in this way, it would add between 50 and 65 million citizens to the rolls." How do you feel about compulsory voter registration? I think I'm against it, but I can be convinced.

ROG

Yawn - here now the news

2009-07-03T05:16:00.008-04:00

I have found a lot of the details of the recent news less than riveting.

The Sanford sex scandal: more hypocrisy from someone who chastised others (in his case, Bill Clinton, among others.) Another sobbing confession; comparing himself to King David was a nice touch though. In fact, the only real issue for me is possible is him being "out of pocket" for a week. Don't know South Carolina law, but it's the disappearing that seems to be the real issue. And I can't help but think that if he HAD notified his staff and the lieutenant governor he was away, the sex part might not have come out at all.

The blow-by-blow of the joke we (not laughingly) call the New York State Senate doesn't interest me any more. I just want them to grow up and gt back to work. Last week, I asked my wife if she had heard the big news. She said, "You mean how a senator insulted the governor?" I said, "No, that Michael Jackson died." Don't even care which senator said what to whom. i DO think that the governor, David Paterson, is looking more..gubernatorial in all of this, though.

And speaking of Michael Jackson, we've now gotten into the silly season, and most of what has happened since about Monday, I've caught the headlines, but am actively not reading the stories. A couple things I noticed though. Last Friday's ABC News, which dedicated the majority of the show to Michael, played snippets of songs by the J5 and MJ; they described the first song as "One More Chance-1970" when it was "I Want You Back". It would have been an understandable error on Thursday as a breaking story on Thursday, but sloppy on Friday. At least two podcasts identified "Ebony and Ivory" as by Paul McCartney and MJ, when it was by Macca and Stevie Wonder. The good news is that a couple of folks - wish I could remember who - who noted that Off the Wall was Revolver to Thriller's Sgt. Pepper; less well-known but the better album.

Should Bernie Madoff gotten 150 years? Of course not. He should have gotten 99 years, and with good behavior would be out of prison before he hit 120. But seriously, it doesn't much matter to me.

Oscars are going to have 10 best picture nominees? Whatever. There were double-digit numbers of nominees in several categories in the late 1930s (and I don't care enough to even look it up!) I do recall that 1939, one of the best years in cinema, had a huge number of nominees. I wonder, though, that by dumping some of the non-competitive awards, it will change the character of the show. And would the nomination of, say, The Dark Knight and WALL-E (probably) in the Best Picture mix have changed the outcome last year? Unknowable, of course.

I'm watching Bill Moyers on PBS tonight, but even after that shot of Christianity in the liberal tradition, I'm convinced most people will still believe that when they hear the words "Christian in America", they'll assume, in the words of local pastor Jo Page: "anti-choice, anti-gay, anti-socialized medicine, pro-gun rights, pro-creationism, pro-abstinence and literalist when it comes to reading the Bible."

Is Shia Labouef dating Megan Fox? Surely, I don't care, but am surprised to note that I actually know who they are. (I saw the movie "Holes" and I read other blogs.)

I do care that Karl Malden died, but he's been out of the public eye so long - one appearance on the West Wing in 2000, nothing else since 1993 - that most people thought the 97-year-old had passed away years ago. I did watch The Streets of San Francisco regularly, but save for On The Waterfront, I'm not sure I ever saw him on film. And he never convinced me to buy American Express travelers' checks.

ROG

Obama, the Gay President?

2009-07-02T05:24:00.001-04:00

I'm working on a theory, not yet totally formulated, that goes like this:

John F. Kennedy, the first Catholic President of the United States, nibbled around the edges in dealing with the civil rights of black people. His heart I believe was always in the right place, but he needed to be pushed by the civil rights community, notably Martin Luther King Jr, culminating in the March on Washington, August 28, 1963, to really get on board.

Barack H. Obama, the first black President of the United States, has nibbled around the edges in dealing with the civil rights of gay people. His heart I believe was always in the right place, but he needs to be pushed by the civil rights community, notably ????, fulfilling the promise of his Democratic nomination acceptance speech on August 28, 2008, to really get on board.

Both as a civil rights supporter and as a data person, I was pleased that the Obama Administration is "determining the best way to ensure that gay and lesbian couples are accurately counted" in the 2010 census. "The Administration had directed the Census Bureau to explore ways to tabulate responses to the census relationship question, to produce data showing responses from married couples of the same sex." One does not need to "believe in" same-sex marriage to want a reporting of what is actually taking place.

There have been other positives such as the extension of benefits to gay federal employees.

These do not make up for my disappointment with Obama's foot dragging on the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy and his Justice Department's defense of the deplorable Defense of Marriage Act. But as he reiterated to some GLBT leaders Monday, the day after the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, he says he's working on it.

As I pondered all of this, I came across a piece by Robert Reich called, What can I do to help Obama? The crux of the issue is in the subtitle: "The public has to force him to do the right thing." Reiterating, we need to bug him AND Congress to, as the title of the best Spike Lee movie, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Do the Right Thing.
***
As I've mentioned, I only recently discovered that an old friend of mine moved to Canada because same-sex unions were untenable in the U.S. and her now spouse already lived there. This bugs me tremendously. Still, since yesterday was Canada Day, props to the U.S.'s neighbors to the north.
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I came across an interesting survey: Spiritual Profile of Homosexual Adults Provides Surprising Insights. "People who portray gay adults as godless, hedonistic, Christian bashers are not working with the facts...The data indicate that millions of gay people are interested in faith but not in the local church and do not appear to be focused on the traditional tools and traditions that represent the comfort zone of most churched Christians...It is interesting to see that most homosexuals, who have some history within the Christian Church, have rejected orthodox biblical teachings and principles – but, in many cases, to nearly the same degree that the heterosexual Christian population has rejected those same teachings and principles." As someone noted, some of their margins of error are ENORMOUS. And identifying sexuality on a phone survey, when some people are terrified of answering Census questions about when they go to work, raises an eyebrow. Still, it is is an interesting repudiation of a stereotype, which is always good.
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Here's a peculiar story briefly referenced in my local paper: Could gay marriage reduce HIV/AIDS? A study by two Emory University economists suggests the answer is yes. They "calculated that a rise in tolerance from the 1970s to the 1990s reduced HIV cases by one per 100,000 people, and that laws against same-sex marriage boosted cases by 4 per 100,000." Not sure I buy the entire premise of their study, but I accept this sentence: "Intolerance is deadly."

ROG

X is for Xerox

2009-07-01T00:15:00.000-04:00

Xerography is a dry photocopying technique invented by Chester Carlson in 1938. Here's an interesting story about Carlson. "It was not until 1959, twenty-one years after Carlson invented xerography, that the first convenient office copier using xerography was unveiled. The Xerox 914 copier could make copies quickly at the touch of a button on plain paper. It was a phenomenal success."

The company Xerox became synonymous with office copiers. Somewhere I recently read that government in particular was partial to having copies. For before the Xerox copier, data were stored in a single location and people had to go to that location. With the ability to duplicate the information, the individual offices wanted their own version. Many trees died.

Being the industry leader, the company became synonymous with making copies. Inevitably, this meant the term risked becoming genericized.

The Free Dictionary still recognizes the term as Xerox would have it. "A trademark used for a photocopying process or machine employing xerography. This trademark often occurs in print in lowercase as a verb and noun." Xerox can seem rather pedantic in this process. I dare say they would hate the word's use as Xeroxing DNA as this article on Polymerase Chain Reaction does.

I can't help but wonder how many Xeroxing policies actually involve actual Xerox machines.

Xerox logos over the years
Xeroxing quotes
Video: Writing Xerox in Chinese symbols - looks more like writing "copying" in Chinese.
Video: The Xerox Star 8010 graphical user interface (or GUI) presented by Xerox graphical interface designer Dave Smith in the 1981-82 time frame.
The final of the World Championship Xeroxing, held in Roelofarendsveen, Holland

For ABC Wednesday.

Xerography is a dry photocopying technique invented by Chester Carlson in 1938. Here's an interesting story about Carlson. "It was not until 1959, twenty-one years after Carlson invented xerography, that the first convenient office copier using xerography was unveiled. The Xerox 914 copier could make copies quickly at the touch of a button on plain paper. It was a phenomenal success."

The company Xerox became synonymous with office copiers. Somewhere I recently read that government in particular was partial to having copies. For before the Xerox copier, data were stored in a single location and people had to go to that location. With the ability to duplicate the information, the individual offices wanted their own version. Many trees died.

Being the industry leader, the company became synonymous with making copies. Inevitably, this meant the term risked becoming genericized.

The Free Dictionary still recognizes the term as Xerox would have it. "A trademark used for a photocopying process or machine employing xerography. This trademark often occurs in print in lowercase as a verb and noun." Xerox can seem rather pedantic in this process. I dare say they would hate the word's use as Xeroxing DNA as this article on Polymerase Chain Reaction does.

I can't help but wonder how many Xeroxing policies actually involve actual Xerox machines.

Xerox logos over the years
Xeroxing quotes
Video: Writing Xerox in Chinese symbols - looks more like writing "copying" in Chinese.
Video: The Xerox Star 8010 graphical user interface (or GUI) presented by Xerox graphical interface designer Dave Smith in the 1981-82 time frame.
The final of the World Championship Xeroxing, held in Roelofarendsveen, Holland

For ABC Wednesday.

ROG

I Remember Where I Was When I Heard Michael Jackson Died

2009-06-30T05:09:00.004-04:00

I do know and am quite likely to remember how I learned of MJ's death.

Just as I remember when JFK died - fifth grade, Miss Oberlik's class, Daniel S. Dickinson School, Binghamton, NY. Just as I remember finding out about the Challenger disaster - working in the back room at FantaCo Enterprises, the late comic book store store on Central Avenue, Albany, NY, while listening to Q-104, when Mary Margaret Apple interrupted the music to give the news.

This is not to say - lest you start to fret - that I'm making a comparison about the import of these events. I am talking about how memory works.

I was at the Albany Public Library, main branch, computer room, shortly after 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 25. I needed to write about my daughter for a blog post the next day. Then I heard someone say to the woman at the desk that Michael Jackson had died. WHA? So I went to CNN and AP, both of whom indicated that Michael had been rushed to the hospital but neither of whom had announced his death. Most sources indicated that TMZ, the Matt Drudge of entertainment sites, WAS declaring Michael dead, but that they were seeking independent verification.

About 15 minutes later, CNN notes that "multiple sources" have noted Michael's passing. In the moment, I was more peeved that TMZ had been right in breaking the story, that this was a greater sign of the deterioration of the mainstream media, than the death of an entertainer who I'd watched, sometimes with tremendous admiration and other times in disdain, over the past four decades. Someone who, and I ALWAYS hate this, was younger than I am.

The death of Michael Jackson is this fascinating cultural and technological phenomenon. It slowed Twitter to a crawl and taxed much of the rest of the Internet as well.

Here's what always bothers me about these types of stories. There are folks who say endlessly, "Why do people care about THAT? If people spent more time caring about (pick one or more) world hunger/the health care crisis/the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan/whatever, rather than some entertainer's death, we'd be better off." It's often the same people disdain the use of television (they don't have one or only watch PBS).

I'm willing to bet that if people spent as much time worrying about the health care industry as they did about Michael or Jon & Kate (who I must admit, I didn't even know who they were until a month ago) or some other "frivolous" thing, it would have next to zero impact on the important issue. It is as though some individuals feel that passion for Off the Wall, Michael's best album, could be somehow transferable to other, more "significant" things. (Speaking of which, apparently Michael's soul has been saved, in case you were wondering.) Thank goodness ABC was planning repeats of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice last Thursday so they could preempt them for instant specials on Michael and Farrah Fawcett, who, not unexpectedly, had died earlier that day. (What, no special on Sky Saxon of the Seeds?)

So I will remember how I learned of Michael's death, just as I remember John Lennon's (heard it from Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football) or the shootings of Lee Harvey Oswald and Robert F. Kennedy (saw them on TV in real time). The intensity of the events will wane, but a piece of the recollection will likely remain.
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Just discovered The Dead Rock Stars Club. Have only been in 2009, but it is quite detailed. Not does it have obvious choices such as MJ, Sky Saxon and Koko Taylor, but more obscure artists such as Viola Wills, and even folks you wouldn't have thought of in this context: Gale Storm (I'm old enough to remember My Little Margie), Ed McMahon, and David Carradine, e.g.

ROG

Eight Meme

2009-06-29T05:20:00.001-04:00

Jacquandor has a quiz thing! And I'm a sucker for them

8 Things I am looking forward to:

1. Riding the bicycle more.

2. Carol finally being done with her schooling in early August. It's exhausting for all of us.

3. I'm hoping for our annual trip to the Mid-Hudson area of NYS, though the school thing may interfere.

4. That month between Carol being done with school and Lydia entering kindergarten when I can go to racquetball directly from home and Carol will take Lydia to day care.

5. Getting the new Top Pop Singles book from Record Research.

6. September when it'll presumably gets less hot. I burn incredibly easily these days.

7. September, which is my favorite sports month. U.S. Open tennis, end of the baseball season, beginning of football season.

8. Actually watching those TV shows I've recorded but not seen - Scrubs, The Office, 30 Rock.

8 Things I did yesterday:

1. Went to church.

2. Watched the news from Friday and Saturday.

3. Made pancakes.

4. Read old newspapers.

5. Rode the stationery bike.

6. Played board games with the child.

7. Read to the child.

8. Sing to the child.

8 Things I wish I could do:

1. Care about politics. I mean I participate, and I'll probably be carrying petitions for two candidates this summer, but sometimes I sense a real futility.

2. See better - reading in bad light is a chore.

3. Catch up on some of the "I ought to read that" list.

4. Have my father meet my daughter,

5. Type; I'd make blogging easier.

6. Most of the handiwork (that I'm really quite awful at.

7. Sleep through the night.

8. Lose weight.

8 Shows I Watch

1. JEOPARDY!

2. 60 Minutes

3. This Week (ABC)

4. CBS Sunday Morning

5. Brothers & Sisters

6. Grey's Anatomy

7. Bill Moyers Journal

8. Scrubs

Just a couple more entries would sum up the entirety of my teevee watching these days.

8 Life Lessons I have benefited from (or am TRYING to put into practice)

1. Listen more, talk less.

2. Please, please: Don't be a litterbug, 'cause every litter bit hurts.

3. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

4. Do, or do not. There is no try.

5. Take the road less traveled.

6. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

7. Do unto others...

8. Smile, though your heart is aching.

Quizzes! Fun!! I love words with zz -give 'em the old raZZle daZZle.

Roger (Finally) Answers Your Questions, Scott

2009-06-28T04:58:00.005-04:00

Scott from the Scooter Chronicles - GIVE THIS MAN A JOB! - wrote several questions:

Since obtaining your current job, have you ever thought of switching careers?

What, and leave show business? Seriously, not really. I learn something new (and sometimes interesting) every day. I work with smart people, and I provide a valuable service, if I do say so.

Besides which, I came to it so late (library school at 37, librarian at 39), I feel behind the curve compared with people who are my contemporaries agewise but have twice as much experience in the field.

Do you think the Obama administration will be able to make changes to the current health care systems? If so, do you think it will truly change for the better?

It'll be incremental change, and it'll be marginally for the better. But it won't be the sweeping changes you righteously ranted about a few months ago. I knew trouble was brewing when single-payer wasn't even on the table. I blame Sen. Max Baucus for that. Then the single-payer people were at the table but could not speak. Do not underestimate the power of the insurance lobbies.

Who do you think will be in the World Series, and who will win it?

At the beginning of the season, I picked Mets over Red Sox. Still feel the BoSox will be there. I could/should jump on the Dodgers/Cards/Phillies bandwagon, but heck with it, I'll stick with the Metropolitans.

Oh, there was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal about "high-leverage" situation hitting versus the two-run homer in the fifth inning when you're already ahead 11-1.
These are the best and worst, through June 13.
Crucial/non-crucial
Giants .299/.254
Phillies .288/.247
Marlins .263/.231

Nationals .236/.284
Mariners .252/.279
Rays .257/.276

When growing up, did you play in any organized baseball leagues?

No. Tried out for Little League once. I was a middling to poor fielder, but what really made me give up was being at bat. This kid threw a 3-2 pitch for a strike and I never even saw it.

Is so, what position(s) did you play? (If you didn't, what position would you have liked to play?)

I played a lot of unorganized baseball. I tended to play the right side of the infield, though I'm right-handed, because my arm wasn't great. I could throw relatively accurately from second to first, but not from shortstop or third base. Also played first, since I was a large target. Actually got better getting throws in the dirt, but not throws that were too wide or too high.

I also caught some games. Didn't much enjoy it, but I could block the ball if I didn't catch it.

Who was your favorite baseball player while growing up?

Clearly, Willie Mays. He could hit for average and power, he could run and he could field well. That said, I always had an affection for National League outfielders such as Vada Pinson (Reds), Lou Brock (Cards), Billy Williams (Cubs), Hank Aaron (Braves), the Alou Brothers (Giants), Frank Robinson (Reds/Orioles), and Roberto Clemente (Pirates); I had a Clemente card that referred to him as "Bob", but he was no "Bob".

Do you have a favorite baseball player now? If so, who and why?

Albert Pujois (Cards). Seems like a decent guy and he's very good.

Any big travel plans for the summer months?

At this very moment, we were supposed to be in Williamsburg, VA with my parents-in-law, my two brothers-in-law, their wives and collectively, their three daughters. But my wife Carol has so much school work to do in preparation for going away to college for 17 days in a row later this summer that we bailed. During that 17-day run, I'll be doing the solo parenting thing. Having my wife back will be like a vacation; we did this last summer as well, so I know of what I speak.

There's talk about going somewhere in August, but so far, I'm not feeling it. I don't know about your experiences with Nigel, but my experience with Lydia is that vacation away from home is more taxing than just staying in the routine. I AM basing that on our vacation when she was three, and she's more self-sufficient now.

ROG

Michael, Farrah, Ed

2009-06-27T05:21:00.004-04:00

Just this month, a friend of mine bought me the 1979 Michael Jackson album Off the Wall on CD, after I noted that I only have it on vinyl and that I believed that Off the Wall was better than the album Thriller.

But my appreciation for Michael goes back earlier than that. The first album where Diana Ross "presents" the boys from Gary, Indiana to us was played often in our household. Not that I owned it; my sister did. On the surface, it was a little too childish to buy the music of a group led by a preteen. But I certainly did listen. I watched them on Ed Sullivan and eventually on their Saturday morning cartoon show. (In Gordon's tribute to MJ, he picked a fine song from that debut album.)

But it was the second collection, ABC, that won me over. Not just the title song - "Sit down, girl, I think I love you" - but especially The Love You Save. I can competently sing every vocal part of that song - save for Michael's. My sister got the third album, cleverly titled "Third Album", and the fourth. I once requested on my favorite radio station of the 1970s that the DJ play Maybe Tomorrow, but she cut it off before that great call and response at the end.

I went away to college, appreciating what I had heard, but they left my consciousness until Dancing Machine in 1974, which I simply could not resist. Ultimately, I picked up that 1976 anthology.

There was this Andy Rooney special circa 1978 who did a riff on who was famous and who was not. Paul McCartney was famous; Michael Jackson, to his mind, was not. That would certainly change.

1979's Off the Wall would sell sell over seven million copies domestically. But Michael's commercial growth was stalled because MTV wouldn't play MJ's music, including the new (1982) Thriller; not their demographic. That is to say, too black. Columbia/Epic said, Fine, we'll take off our OTHER artists from MTV; MTV capitulated. Given the way that MJ made MTV, and vice versa, it seems unbelievable now.

Every teenaged girl i knew thought that Michael was so "cute". For whatever reasons, Michael's appearance began to morph, all the weird stuff began happening. Seriously, I think the vitiligo, the skin disease that I also have messed with his head as much as his reportedly abusive father Joe. But I'm not going there. I choose to remember Michael as this force so powerful that on the Motown 25 special, he performed two non-Motown songs, mesmerizing the audience with his moonwalk, and forever stamped his ticket as a pop legend.
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I hardly ever saw Charlie's Angels. I know watched one episode at my parents' house in Charlotte, NC that first season; I think it was the now infamous prison episode. When I bought a notebook with Farrah's famous red bathing suit on the cover, I said I was being ironic; well, maybe. Used that notebook as a journal and I still have it, actually. She showed that she could act in The Burning Bed, which I did see.

So, I didn't have a great deal invested in Farrah the icon. But her very public fight with cancer and her dogged determination to tackle it was admirable, if a little uncomfortable.
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I always felt a little sorry for Ed McMahon. It was though, because he "lucked" into a high-profile, long-term job, he was somehow undeserving of it. Stuff happens; if he came onto a great gig, more power to him. Actually, I probably saw him more in his pitchman; he seemed ubiquitous in the roles, and I think it undercut his effectiveness. But he seemed like an OK guy. And in any case, he did not suffer the premature death of the others mentioned herein.
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In more upbeat news:
Help Polyvinyl Save 10,000 Records From Destruction. I did and will be getting Of Montreal and other artists in return.
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My niece Rebecca's in a Top 40 Cover band, Siren's Crush.
They've been in a battle of the bands and have made it the finals! The final competition is this coming Sunday night, June 28, 2009 at Viejas Casino, San Diego. 7 - 10 PM.
If you're in the area, please come out and show your support. If you can't make it, please send out good thoughts.

ROG

The Lydster, Part 63: The Songs

2009-06-26T05:20:00.000-04:00

It's been long been my philosophy that, as much as I love providing information for youse folk, a primary point of this blog is as a resource for myself. Things I think I'll remember "forever" fade into oblivion.

With that in mind, I'm going to note the songs I sing to my daughter. Often, it's the case that I'll take an existing song and put new lyrics to it. If I do that, though, it has to be a song that she does not know. Once, I tried singing something to the "Wonder Pets" theme: "Lydia, Lydia, my favorite girl..." I was scolded, and told "THAT'S not how it goes."

So, I take songs obscure to her. One of the first was this ditty:
"I love Lydia
I love Lydia,
'Cause she is my daughter
Oh yeah
She is my daughter."
This is to the tune of I Eat Cannibals by TOTAL Coelo. I didn't even KNOW what the tune was at first, since I don't even own it, I don't think.

Another song I adapted Turn Down Day by The Cyrkle, a group best known for covering Paul Simon's Red Rubber Ball. The words vary, but I usually start with the chorus, usually trying to prod the child out of bed:
It's a day-care day
And it's time to get some clothes
It's a day-care day
Let's get ready.

These tend to be the morning songs.

There are a slew of tuness to choose from when I sing to her at bedtime. Many are standard children's songs, though she likes a variation on Twinkle, Twinkle about traffic lights which she taught me. "Sing A Song of Sixpence" is altered from "pecked off her nose" to "[kiss sound] kissed her nose", at her instance, NOT me being overprotective.

The Car Song I learned from my father and I sing to her: "Mommy, won't you take me for a ride in the car." Be Kind to Your Parents was from from a record my sister Leslie and I had on red vinyl when we were kids; we sang it at my 50th birthday party.

But always, these are the last two. When she's really tired, these are the ONLY two: A, You're Adorable, which my mother sang to me - indeed the ONLY song I remember my mother ever singing to me, and for which I changed many of the lyrics, starting with J ("you're so jolly") because I couldn't remember the original; and Good Night, the song from the Beatles' white album, during which I turn on her night light, then slowly dim the overhead light.

Tomorrow, my take on yesterday's news.

ROG

June Ramblin'

2009-06-25T05:29:00.005-04:00

My goodness, I have been EXHAUSTED lately, ever since I got back from visiting family in Charlotte, NC last week. Not just a little tired, but wiped out. I HAD to mow the lawn when I got back - nine days and lots of rain since the last time, but it felt as though the mower was holding me up.

Part of it is the constant use of the automobile. In the course of a week at home, I'll bike or play racquetball or at least walk to the supermarket or the pharmacy. I took one walk with Lydia in Charlotte, and I was uncomfortable with that. No sidewalks and people drive way too fast, especially on the curve near my mom's house.

I was so tired that a call I got on Friday it took me until Monday to call back. Calls from the weekend I STILL haven't returned. Lydia too had been sick three or four days.

Eating at 8:30 pm is contraindicated for my five-year old. Indeed, some of my frustration wasn't about me being stuck for 3.5 hours at Wal-Mart(!). It was that, on Sunday, we went to church, then a cake thing for the niece and another girl graduating from high school, then ANOTHER church service, then ANOTHER cake thing. we went to eat at Mickey Ds, then to the Wal-Mart. we were supposed to get photos at 4 pm, but when the photographer hadn't acknowledged us at 4:45, we left.

We were out from 8:40 a.m. to 5:20 p.m, and Lydia without her new glasses, which she reminded me of at 9:30 a.m. I had no idea that we'd be out ALL DAY.

It went on like that with increasing frustration, about which you'll undoubtedly hear more. That said, I was glad my niece and my daughter got along so well. And a highlight of the week was when my 30-year-old niece called and shared with her mother her love of The Wonder Pets; my sister was momentarily slackjawed, but ended up appreciating it herself when she watched with Lydia.
***

Running stop light = $100.00
DUI = $5,000.00
Not wearing a seat belt = $50.00
Putting you AND your girlfriend on your fake driver's license = PRICELESS
(Allegedly, an actual driver's license from a traffic stop.)
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Beautifully stated insults
***
Tapping your cell phone
***
Covertube: Toto’s “Africa” performed by Perpetuum Jazzile. Even if you don't like the song, at least watch the percussive first 90 seconds.
***
Weird Al channels Jim Morrison
***
Han Solo, P.I.; the side-by-side comparison is astonishing.
***
When Scottish Sheep Herders get bored
***
Getting your child to sleep. This is of particular interest to me because it's being offered by an apparently local pediatric sleep expert named Dr. Roger Green.
***
The Joy of Less
***
Budget Travel hosting a contest to vote for "America's Coolest Small Town", and Owego, the only town in NYS nominated, won. It's the county seat of the county next to my home county of Broome. My grandma owned property there years ago.
***
This spam pleased me:
The Fondation De France(FDF) would like to notify you that you have been chosen by
the board of trustees as one of the final recipients of a cash Grant/Donation of
$1,350,000.00.This is a yearly program, which is a measure of universal development
strategy.
To file for claims...
Please endeavor to quote your Qualification numbers (FDF-444-6647-9163) and always
check you inbox, spam or junk for our emails and updates.
***
I'm not older than dirt...yet.
ROG

W is for World

2009-06-24T00:48:00.000-04:00

The world is populated with plenty of bizarre and astonishing creatures. I think I've met some of these folks, in human form.

An actor I know.

Certainly, this creature on cable news.

Has the beady eyes of as prominent local citizen.

A contestant on a reality television show.

An animated fellow.

This looks like a professor I once had.

I find that this type of mop cleans quite well.

SALUTE!

the chair of a committee I once served on.

A former customer.

Now, if I were nice, I'd tell you what these creatures are. But tr=the pictures were sent to me without that information. I WAS given an incomplete list of choices, though:
ALPACA
ANGORA RABBIT
Axolotl
Aye-aye
Blobfish
Dumbo Octopus
Emperor Tamarin
Frill-necked Lizard
Hagfish
Komondor Dog
Narwhale
Pink Fairy Armadillo
Proboscis Monkey
Pygmy Marmoset
Shoebill
Sloth
Star-nosed Mole
Sucker-footed Bat
Sun Bear
Tapir
Tarsier
White-faced Saki Monkey
Yeti Crab

I've figured out most of them, but have at it.

ROG

Memes of Love and Hate

2009-06-23T04:58:00.004-04:00

Before I get to that, though, I need to direct you to this post of June 23, 2004, when Fred Hembeck noted the 25th wedding anniversary of Lynn Moss and himself. That was five years ago, which would make today...their 30TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY! Big congrats to you both. Oh, and people, you might want to check out a more recent Fred post, June 21, 2009, where daughter Julie cracks wise.

Oh, and since we're speaking about Fred, you can now buy Hembeck-designed T-shirts from WORLD OF STRANGE Fantastic Apparel. You can't buy them from Fred directly , but his June 3 post explains how it all came about.
***
Got this from the Frog again; BTW, there's the back of lovely naked female person in the header of his blog, so depending on where you live or work, that may be an issue. What I guess I'm having trouble with in the meme is the hate side. It's not that I don't dislike stuff; it's that if I dislike it, I tend to ignore it and subsequently forget who or what it was.

1. Most hated food: Brussels sprouts; Sir Frog had a vivid description.
2. Most hated person: Well, I forgave G W Bush, so I'll say Dick Cheney.
3. Most hated job: Working at Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield as a customer service rep. We were given all the tools to fail. I note that of the 16 people in my training class, at least 12 had left the company before I did 13 months later.
4. Most hated city: that would be Charlotte, NC circa 1977; my father described it as a big country town. But I don't hate it now, and can think of no substitutes.
5. Most hated band: can't think of one.
6. Most hated web site: ditto. What I do hate are websites that are perfectly functional; then they do a redesign so I can't find anything.
7. Most hated TV program: is that show with the Sweet 16 excesses still on? Hated it, just hated it.
8. Most hated British politician: Tony Blair, maybe because I actually had high hopes for him before he became a W toady.
9. Most hated artist: don't know.
10. Most hated book: Don't know. That said, the book of Leviticus in the Old Testament is often troubling. Oh, and related, I JUST discovered Mr. Frog's The Bible Summarized By A Smartass from a couple years ago. Example from Genesis 22: "Abraham walks up the mountain and knifes his kid. Except that God jumps out of the bushes at the last second, probably laughing and pointing. 'Oh, dude, you were totally going to do it! You were! You should see your face, man! You’ve just been Punk’d!'"
11. Most hated shop: Wal-Mart. Beyond the politics of the place, I had a really lousy experience there when I first shopped there in 1994, and haven't been back since except with someone else.
12. Most hated organization: Ku Klux Klan, which is still out there, trust me.
13. Most hated historical event: Dred Scott decision, US Supreme Court, 1857.
14. Most hated sport: NASCAR, I suppose. I tried watching it, and unless there's, Allah forbid, an accident, it's pretty boring.
15. Most hated piece of technology: The cell phone. The expectation that one can be accessed 24/7. The fact that people drive poorly when talking on them, even the hands-free ones. The fact that I hear too much of other people's lives when they use them.
16. Most hated annual event: Cinco de Mayo. Pointless drinking.
17. Most hated daily task: Flossing. I swear the gaps in my teeth on the right side of my mouth are far smaller than on the left side, and it's a PITA.
18. Most hated comedian: never got the Three Stooges.

And now the love.

1. Most loved food: spinach lasagna.
2. Most loved person: The wife or the daughter.
3. Most loved job: working at FantaCo from 1981-1986; but I was there from 1980-1988. So overall, I'll say being a librarian at the NYS Small Business Development Center.
4. Most loved city: Montreal. U.S. city: San Francisco.
5. Most loved band: The Beatles.
6. Most loved web site: I don't know; maybe Evanier's.
7. Most loved TV program: Current: Scrubs. Ever? The Dick van Dyke Show. HOF: JEOPARDY! Oh, and my wife is watching 30 Rock faster than I am. BTW, I just came across a piece on how 30 Rock is a rip off of the Muppet Show
8. Most loved movie: Annie Hall. It's been a linchpin.
9. Most loved artist: Auguste Rodin. First time I actually saw a Rodin sculpture in person, rather than in photos - probably in Boston - it was heaven.
10. Most loved book: Top Pop Albums by Joel Whitburn. Oh, something with a narrative? Henri J. M. Nouwen's Here and Now: Living in the Spirit.
11. Most loved shop: Before I worked there, FantaCo.
12. Most loved organization: American Red Cross.
13. Most loved historical event: the resignation of Richard Nixon.
14. Most loved sport: baseball.
15. Most loved piece of technology: DVR
16. Most loved annual event: my birthday. I take it off from work.
17. Most loved daily task: racquetball.
18. Most loved comedian: Bill Cosby in the 1960s. Have five of his albums that I haven't played in years, but there are whole bits I can still hear and recite from memory.

ROG

Ask Roger Anything, Solstice Edition

2009-06-22T05:21:00.000-04:00

Now that it's summer (or winter, depending), it is time to Ask Roger Anything. Oh, but wait - I'm distracted by somebody who recently noted that if people from space came to Earth, they might conclude the South Pole is the top of the world and the North Pole is on the bottom; after all there is a large land mass. Or maybe they'd pick some point on the equator or the Tropic of Cancer. Is our sense of top and bottom somewhat arbitrary?

Usually I do this because I'm afraid I'll run out of things to write about. This is not the case presently; I have three or four blogposts re my trip to North Carolina alone. I am, though, having trouble actually composing them, or even deciding if I should. Answering YOUR questions gives me opportunity to muse on them some more.

Anyway, I already have a question from SB: "So perhaps you've already written about this, but I'd be interested to hear how libraries continue to change and evolve with stuff like Twitter and Facebook. Do libraries have their own Facebook badges? Is that - gasp! - allowed?"

Our library has a Facebook page, which is fueled in part from our blog feed. We have a Twitter feed that keeps both our blog and our website fresh. Our Facebook badge is a variation on the SBDC logo.

I've seen over 1000 libraries on both Twitter and Facebook, and I'd guesstimate that there are tens of thousands of librarians who are on one or both of the sites; I am on those, LinkedIn and a couple others.

The Library of Congress has over 10,000 followers but is following, last I checked, no one. At least the Library Journal is following a couple hundred while it is followed by over 5,000. I - and apparently others - had contacted the LOC about this, and the folks responded, rather quickly, that were worried that there would be too much noise in the feed. I'm not sure I agree with their thought process.

So, any other questions, folks? Everything is on the table. Let your mind get creative.
ROG

Father's Day 2009

2009-06-21T05:13:00.001-04:00

As usual, I'm missing my father, glad to be Lydia's father, and wishing that my father and my daughter had met.

I've been musing about this for a while: do guys say, "I love being a dad" the way some women say, "I love being a mom"? I mean I love being LYDIA'S dad, but it's not the same thing.

You know what cereal commercial I hated? The one for Kix that went: "Kids like Kix for what Kix has got. Moms like Kix for what Kix has not." It seemed to suggest that dads didn't care what was in their children's breakfast food. Not true, and the implication made me a bit peevish.

I really liked traveling with Lydia, just the two of us. Save for a couple 1.5-hour bus trips from Albany to Oneonta and back, we don't travel alone together beyond the routes of the CDTA regional bus system. She traveled well. She was momentarily peeved when I had to put her tray table in its upright and locked position until she realized that EVERYBODY had to do that.

Lydia made me a drawing for Father's Day. Drawing seems to be the gift for every occasion of late: birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries.

From AwesomeStories:

In 1909, Sonora Smart Dodd was listening to a Mother's Day sermon when she wondered why people didn't celebrate Father's Day. After her mom's death, Sonora's dad - William Jackson Smart, a Civil-War veteran - had raised all of his children alone.

To show her gratitude, Sonora worked to have Father's Day celebrated during June - the month of William's birth. She was successful, and the event took place on the 19th of June, 1910. Fourteen years later, Father's Day had become so important in America that President Coolidge recommended it should be a national holiday.

It was President Lyndon Johnson, though, who designated the date as the third Sunday of June and President Nixon who formally instituted Father's Day as a time of national observance.

And ... in case you didn't know ... the rose is the official Father's Day flower. Red is for fathers who are living; white is for fathers who have died.

ROG

Ray Davies Is 65 - tomorrow

2009-06-20T05:29:00.003-04:00

I think I may have heard the Kinks' All Day and All of the Night as an in-store play in a Binghamton, NY department store called Philadelphia Sales. It seemed to be the loudest, most unrelenting piece of music I ever heard; I loved it.

The Kinks seemed to go in and out of fashion. There was the early success, then a second wave in the early 1970s (Victoria, Lola, Apeman) to some spotty success in the late 1970s (Superman) and somewhat greater acclaim in the early 1980s (Come Dancing, Don't Forget to Dance).

I've been listening to a lot of Kinks music this month. One is the The Ultimate Collection, a 2002 greatest hits compilation. It's a great grouping of songs, though it does not include the minor hit Destroyer [YouTube video], which cops the main riff from All Day and All of the Night, and the storyline is a continuation of the Lola saga. Fortunately, that song and Give The People What They want both show up on a live Kinks album I own.

Nor does the collection contain anything from my favorite Kinks album, the 1971 release Muswell Hillbillies. It was their debut album on RCA Records after their previous contract had expired. "The album is named after the Muswell Hill area of London, where band leader Ray Davies and guitarist Dave Davies grew up and where the band formed in the early 1960s." The album bombed horribly, especially in contrast to the hits, but I enjoyed it greatly. It has elements of Dixieland jazz, dance hall tunes, and country. While Alcohol is probably my favorite song, I recall going around at the time saying, in the manner of Complicated Life, "Why is life soooo COM-plicated?"

I'm pleased to note that Ray Davies' Other People's Lives was one of my favorite albums in 2006. I noted at the time: "Given its long gestation period, an amazingly coherent album."

So Ray Davies has had a positive musical effect on me for over four decades. Happy early birthday, Ray.

Old friend of mine with Ray late in 2005 or early in 2006.
ROG

What I Am

2009-06-19T05:15:00.007-04:00

My old friend Uthaclena (and by OLD, I mean more than a week older than I am) got all philosophically musing on us recently. Worker, son, husband, father, this-and-that. These are not just voices - these are personae and skill sets, some greater, some lesser, a psychic closet of costumes and masks from among which we may select.

I am a son, brother, husband, father. But I have, either by my own doing, or those imposed on me, been defined by other roles.

Bus guy - not only is CDTA a primary form of transportation for me, but I'm pretty good at answering questions about the best way to get from here to there by bus - or IF one can get there. Assuming I've ridden the route more than a couple times, I can pretty much suss out the system.

Bicycle guy - though I barely rode for a year for various reasons, there are folks who know me from one two-wheeler or another.

Cereal guy - I swear there are people in my building who don't even know my name but could tell you what I have for breakfast (or occasionally lunch) each weeekday: Cheerios and/or Spoom-Size Shredded Wheat.

JEOPARDY! guy - it's sorta like the Oscars. OK, more like the Golden Globes.

Luddite guy or alternatively, computer guy - the former is most definitely true. I remember someone who was talking about compression of my iTunes folder; I was just happy I could figue out how to download music at all. And don't get me started about my cellphone. Yet some people who are even more inept technologically than I am keep asking questions that even I can answer.

Blog guy - less from this blog as from the other blog, even though I've been doing this one for over three years longer. It helps that occasionally, the text has appeared in the newspaper, providing a faux sense of authority.

Black guy - often I'm the only black male in a situation. So if someone who didn't know me by name were to ask who I was in a group, he or she might ask: "Who is that balding guy?" Well, they could, but it'd probably be more efficient, and not at all racialist, to ask the more obvious question.

I took one of those personality tests a while back, and I'm an INFP:
Extraverted 16% Introverted 84%
Sensing 47% Intuition 53%
Thinking 32% Feeling 68%
Judging 16% Perceiving 84%
Some people are surprised that I am as introverted as I score; I am not.

So, to quote the musings of a fellow March Piscean, a Roger named Daltry, who are YOU?
***
Here's something really silly:

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Site

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

death (5x) breast (3x) dead (2x) vulva (1x)
***

My sister asked, and I don't know. Does anyone know who produced "Daily Bread", shown here?

ROG

Macca and Ebert

2009-06-18T05:19:00.001-04:00

It's James Paul McCartney's 67th birthday.

I continue to like about 50% of Macca's output. Never really warmed to the Fireman album as I did Chaos and Creation. But I LOVED this ~~bootl~~ unauthorized recording of Paul doing Beatles songs someone sent me. Some are straight covers, but others, notably Yesterday and Hey Jude are just plain goofy; in the former, rabbits are mentioned.

There's always one story in Beatlefan magazine that I treasure. The March/April 2009 edition is no exception. Bruce Spizer did a tribute to Alan Livingston. Don't know who he was? He was the one who signed the Beatles to Capitol Records. The bare facts of his life are reflected on the Wikipedia page, but not his personality. As Livingston's widow recalled, he was the one who recognized the group's full potential and put the resources of Capitol Records behind the group. Here's a different, less in-depth Livingston interview. But his career ran from Bozo to Sinatra and from Beatles to Star Wars; he was president of entertainment at 20th Century Fox when the movie was being developed. Livingston died on March 13, 2009 at the age of 91 and without him, you might not have heard of Paul McCartney.

It's also Roger Joseph Ebert's 67th birthday. I used to watch Ebert & Roeper religiously, and before that, Siskel & Ebert. Lately, I've been more interested in his non-film essays than his reviews. His recent essay about death is a prime example. Always engaging.

Happy birthday, Paul and Roger.
ROG

Barry Manilow Turns 65 66

2009-06-17T05:12:00.003-04:00

And I thought I'd acknowledge that; now I have.

Actually, there is one song Manilow wrote and performed that I rather like. Call it a guilty pleasure. And no, it's not "I Write The Songs", which was actually written by sometime Beach Boy Bruce Johnston, the guy who wrote 'Disney Girls (1957)'. Bruce, BTW, turns 65 on June 27.

The Manilow song I like is Could It Be Magic. I love how the intro morphs into the main theme and then morphs back into the outro piano bit. Here is how Barry himself describes it: "I thought I had come up with the coolest batch of chords in my composing experience. And then I realized that before I had that glass of wine, I had been playing my Chopin preludes. And I wrote the song around Chopin's 'Prelude in C Minor.'"

This has brought me a whole lot of sympathy for at least some of the musicians who have cribbed parts of other songs. I always believed George Harrison when he copped 'He's So Fine' for 'My Sweet Lord'. Paul McCartney was so worried that he had inadvertently stolen the tune for 'Yesterday' that he ran around asking people if they'd heard the song before. The difference between Harrison and Manilow is that Manilow's subconscious had the wisdom to swipe from a dead guy whose work is in the public domain, while Harrison pilfered from a more recent composition.

Manilow
Chopin
ROG

V is for Vacation

2009-06-16T05:18:00.007-04:00

I have alluded to this before: the wife and I had not been on a vacation alone together in over five years. This correlates nicely with the fact that we have a five-year-old daughter. So a couple years back, for our 10th anniversary, the wife began saving some money for us to do something.

As it turned out, we decided to travel a mere 32 miles from our home in Albany to Saratoga Springs, NY. While our actual anniversary was May 15, we decided to travel Thursday through Sunday on a week Carol had off from school in April and the in-laws could come up from Oneonta - about 70 miles away - and watch the child.

Thursday, we checked into the inn. We had had Indian food in Albany for a late lunch so all we had for dinner was popcorn as we went to the movies to see I Love You, Man, which I reviewed here; not high art, but we enjoyed it.
Friday morning, we went to the Tang Museum, discussed here.

Then, we went to this cute little restaurant for lunch; had an Old World charm. The food was good, but we noted that they used peanut oil in some of their cooking. Tasty, but the child is allergic, so I suspect we wouldn't be going there as a family.

In the afternoon, we went to the National Museum of Dance. Ah, piled snow melts slower.

Here's the building. That person in pink is my wife, BTW.

I have to say that we found the museum quite disappointing. A good museum or hall of fame - and this purports to be that for dance - needs enough "stuff" to make you want to come back again. This place just did not.

On the other hand, this was the only museum-like place we went to that actually allowed us to take photographs. Make of that what you will. The showcase pictured above is the primary part of the Peter Martens display; Martens is the most recent inductee. Oh, there are the dresses below, signed by some of his dance partners.

But there were no permanent items for each of the artists, save for a banner with fairly limited information. BTW, I no longer remember WHAT this is.

One of the cool things this place DID have were coverings on the windows representing the Hall of Famers. Don't recall who the couple are, but the woman on the left is choreographer Agnes deMille.

This begins the section "The Evolution of Dance on the Broadway Stage", starting with a replication of the streets around the Great White Way.

This is Sardi's, the famous restaurant where performers hung out.

A picture of one of my favorite performers, the late Jerry Orbach.

The museum is working on developing a section on the "spa" history of Saratoga. This is a machine used in that period.

There was a small Russian dance exhibit.

The place was so casual that the purse of the woman working on the spa area, which was adjacent to the Russian area, was just sitting on a table nearby. Fortunate that we did not have larceny on our minds.

For dinner, we decided to go to the famous Hattie's, nee Hattie's Chicken Shack. As we were going in, a contingent of folks led bty U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer were coming out. The chicken was good, but the macronini asnd cheese was fabulous. BTW, Hattie's is on the lower left, a comic book store which I went into briefly is on the lower right and above that is the legendary Caffè Lena.

(Incidentally, these are right across the street from a nice Thai restaurant that ADD took Rocco Nigro and me to last year.)

The next morning we went to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Now THIS is a great museum! THIS is a hall of fame! And though I'm less interested in horse racing than dance, this is a place I could return to. There were three sets of plaques: for horses, jockeys anmd others, primarily trainers. Interesting exhibits, informative films. (Picture below is not from the Hall but an exhibit of a street vendor.)

There was soime sort of vendor event in the city's civic center, and we managed to eat enough sample foods that we actually didn't need to have lunch. Afterwards, we went up to Glens Falls to see the Hyde Collection. It's part a couple's actual former house. The living room had 1500 books, surrounded by works by Rembrandt, Degas, and Rubens. The kitchen featured 17th century German chairs and 17th century French table. You can read about the collectors' philosophy for the eclectic collections throughout the house. Definitely worthwhile.

The gallery featured Thomas Chambers (1808-1869) born and died in England, who helped create the popular market of landscape painting. He spent much of his time in the United States including NYC, Baltimore, Boston and Albany (c. 1850) before returning to UK in 1865. Just didn't much care for it.

Then we ate an extraordinary dinner at our inn; the horse above, BTW, is just outside the main entrance of the building. Each morning we also had a nice breakfast there.

Alas, after breakfast, we had to return from our little getaway. This was a most enjoyable time where we didn't talk about the child all weekend but rather enjoyed each other's company.

ROG

A to Z Meme

2009-06-15T05:14:00.001-04:00

Stolen - again! - from the Frog:

A
• Are you available? You mean for parties and other light entertainment? No. And I've Djed my first and last wedding.
• What is your age? I'm 575 months old.
• What annoys you? Rude, impolite, ignorant people; this tends to include right-wing talk show hosts and litterers.

B
• Do you know anyone named Billy? Well, he's Bill now. went to school with him, K-12 in Binghamton. He lives not far from here and comments on my TU blog occasionally. .
• When is your birthday? March 7.
• Who is your best friend? There are three or four people I'd think about: one or two two from kindergarten, one from the first day of college and one from Albany.

C
• What's your favorite candy? M&Ms. plain. Tegan's got me counting the green ones, which seems appropriate to me.
• Crush? No, I don't have one of those refrigerators that does that.
• When was the last time you cried? Maybe my niece's high school graduation.

D
• Do you daydream?: Suddenly, without warning...oh, wait, excuse me. what was the question again?
• What's your favorite kind of dog? Not really a dog kind of guy. Or dogs aren't really a Roger kind of species. That said, there were a couple golden retrievers I've liked, alas, both deceased.
• What day of the week is it? Tell me why. That a reference to a Boomtown Rats song.

E
• How do you like your eggs? Actually I like eggs any number of ways: fried, boiled, poached, omelet. They're usually scrambled.
• Have you ever been in the emergency room? A few times. Once with my daughter, where we discovered her peanut butter allergy. Once with my wife, when she fell in the shower. More than a few times with me. The first time was a car accident when I was 19, and subsequently a few times before I had a primary care physician. But the last time I was injured; - broke a rib a year ago - I went to the urgent care place, which was much more civilized.
• Ever pet an elephant? I think so.

F
• Do you use fly swatters? Yes, and seriously, once killed seven with one blow. It was a laundromat tied to a camp my father dragged us to north of Binghamton on the way to Syracuse. Killed a minimum of 50 flies that day.
• Have you ever used a foghorn? Possibly not.
• Is there a fan in your room? When it gets warm enough, I haul a standing rotating fan from the attic. It's about warm enough. we actually own a ceiling fan but haven't installed it yet.

G
• Do you chew gum? Only when I fly.
• Do you like gummy candies? They're OK; not my first choice.
• Do you like gory movies? Generally not, though I found The Shining, the Kubrick/Nicholson version so awful, it was (unintentionally?) hilarious at times.

H
• How are you? I'm OK; thanks for asking. How are YOU?
• What's your height? I used to be 5' 11 5/8", but I think I have shrunk 1/8 of an inch.
• What color is your hair? What hair? Brown to most gray.

I
• What's your favorite ice cream? Strawberry.
• Have you ever ice skated? Only to woo the wife.; it worked.
• Ever been in an igloo? I have a vague recollection, but no idea where or when.

J
• What's your favorite Jelly Bean? It's more what I DON'T like: apple, banana, watermelon, black licorice. Beyond that, whatever.
• Have you ever heard a really hilarious joke? Yes, but you'd better find someone else to repeat it.
• Do you wear jewelry? Wedding ring. I used to wear a watch, but I kill watches. Really.

K
• Who do you want to kill? Not really my thing.
• Have you ever flown a kite? Absolutely, even with the daughter.
• Do you think kangaroos are cute? In a marsupial sort of way. Now Bob Keeshan -HE wa cute.

L
• Are you laid back? Less than I think I am.
• Lions or Tigers? Bears, oh my. I like lions' manes, but I prefer baseball to football.
• Do you like black licorice? Gag, cough, sputter....NO!!

M
• Favorite movie as a kid? West Side Story, clearly.
• Ever shopped at Moosejaw? What's a Moosejaw?
• Favorite store at the mall? Hate the mall with a passion.

N
• Do you have a nickname? None that anyone uses to my face.
• Whats your favorite number? 37
• Do you prefer night or day? Depends what I'm doing.

O
• What's your one wish? That ppeople try to be a bit more civil to each other.
• Are you an only child? Only for 16 1/2 months. Two younger sisters.
• Do you like the color orange? On oranges, yes.

P
• What are you most paranoid about? I'm not paranoid; they're PROBABLY not even trying to get me.
• Piercings? None.
• Do you know anyone named Penelope? When I was a kid; not well.

Q
• Are you quick to judge people? No, I have the annoying habit of waiting to get more evidence.
• Do you like Quaker Oats? Yes, but the store brand is fine too.
• Know anyone that makes quilts? I do, sorta. Haven't seen her in years.

R
Do you think you're always right? I've gotten smart enough to know when I have no idea. So when I HAVE an idea, I'm right about 80% of the time.
• Do you watch reality TV? Only when I'm passing through the room when my wife watches Dancing with the Stars. I have watched Survivor (two seasons), American Idol (seasons 2-5), and probably most bizarrely, The Real World (the first five or six seasons; even own a book about the first four.)
• Reason to cry? Most often over beautiful music.

S
• Do you prefer sun or rain? A little of both for a nice balance. And then we get a rainbow.
• Do you like snow? In moderation.
• What's your favorite season? Spring.

T
• Time is it? 5:10 am.
• What time did you wake up? I'll let you know when i do.

U
• Can you ride a unicycle? Doubt it, but never tried.
• Do you know anyone with a unibrow? No.
• Uncles do you have? Zero. Parents were both only children.

V
• What’s the worst vegetable? Lima beans.
• Did you ever watch Veggie Tales? Once.
• Ever considered being vegan? Not seriously.

W
• What's your worst habit? Got a week...
• Do you like water rides? Don't know.
• Ever been inside a windmill? Don't think so.

X
• Have you ever had an x-ray? I think there is A year ago, most recently.
• Ever used a Xerox machine? Actually our copier's a Canon.

Y
• Do you like the color yellow? Electrical banana.
• What year were you born in?: 1953
• Do you yell when you're angry? Generally not any more.

Z
• Do you believe in the zodiac? It has its amusing coincidences.
• What's your zodiac sign? Something fishy.
• When was the last time you went to the zoo? Mid-1990s in Binghamton.
***
I should acknowledge the passing of artist Dave Simons at the age of 54. Evanier talks about him here, but for a better perspective about how I knew him, albeit many years ago, read Fred Hembeck's June 10 post. He was a talented guy and was always very decent to me.
ROG

Burn that flag!

2009-06-14T04:48:00.001-04:00

There are a whole bunch of law having to do with the US flag, codified in 4USC:
Sec.
1. Flag; stripes and stars on.
2. Same; additional stars.
3. Use of flag for advertising purposes; mutilation of flag.
4. Pledge of allegiance to the flag; manner of delivery.
5. Display and use of flag by civilians; codification of
rules and customs; definition.
6. Time and occasions for display.
7. Position and manner of display.
8. Respect for flag.
9. Conduct during hoisting, lowering or passing of flag.
10. Modification of rules and customs by President.

Here's Section 8, with a few notes in italics from me.

Sec. 8. Respect for flag

No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.
(a) The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.
Is a time of war a period of "dire distress"?
(b) The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.
Actually, something I try to teach the child.
(c) The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free.
(d) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker's desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general.
I've seen the flag as wearing apparel by people who wear trying to be "patriotic".
(e) The flag should never be fastened, displayed, used, or stored in such a manner as to permit it to be easily torn, soiled, or damaged in any way.
Elsewhere in the title, there are times to fly it: "The flag should not be displayed on days when the weather is inclement, except when an all weather flag is displayed."
(f) The flag should never be used as a covering for a ceiling.
Seen that.
(g) The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature.
(h) The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything.
(i) The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard. Advertising signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown.
I have occasionally seen company logo flags on the same pole as the US flag.
(j) No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel flag pin being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart.
I didn't know that sports teams were "patriotic organizations.
(k) The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.
Lots of ragged old flags out there, especially since 9/11/2001. If you don't want to burn it yourself, take it to the local VFW.

ROG

What the...QUESTION

2009-06-13T05:11:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday, I was walking down the street, MY street, with the five-year-old daughter. We walk past a house where I don't know the residents, unfortunately a too common occurrence.

In any case, there are about a dozen tween or young teen boys gathered along a stairway near the side of the house, with at least one adult male, when one of the boys yells out "faggot!"

I take a couple steps before I start looking around to see who he's yelling at.

"Yeah, I'm talking to you!"

At first, I think to to say nothing, but then wheel around and say, "Do you really think that's appropriate," and walk away.

LAME response!

Afterwords, I pondered. What was I doing that would make someone that I heretofore had not even noticed refer to me as a bundle of sticks? It probably was my long-sleeve jacket, which I wear even on hot, sunny days like that one lest I get sunburn on my arms. Since the vitiigo, this is a real concern.

I came up with my treppenwitz response: "You are a castrato!" He probably wouldn't have known what that meant, but to my mind, it was satisfying, in the moment at least, for it would have addressed the fact that he could be "brave" and yell out 30 feet from the street while he was with his pack, knowing my response would be limited while I was with my child. Pretty damn clever of him, too.

So, what would YOU have done? I know it's a moot point. With the prescription sunglasses I was wearing - good for reading, not distance - I wouldn't even necessarily recognize him.

If my child weren't there, maybe my response would have been different.

Or maybe my initial response, to do nothing, was the best?

And I'm peeved more with the adult, who said and did nothing, at least during this brief exchange.
ROG

Movies on the Big Screen

2009-06-12T04:55:00.002-04:00

Thom Wade opined about a recent Entertainment Weekly article noting dramas "tanking at the box office...And the big question is: Why? Why can’t potentially great films pull in a bigger audience?"

His conclusion? "Having a hi-def setup has honestly impacted how I see movies. With a wide screen hi-def television, Blu-Ray player and a surround sound system? I suddenly find that I judge seeing a movie based on how much I think it required a giant screen. And you know what? Few dramas (or comedies for that matter) require that big screen experience."

Well, maybe.

It is true that one-third of all Americans now own an HDTV, putting market penetration at an all-time high. The number has doubled from 2006's figures. Blu-Ray's penetration is right or nine percent, depending on the article.

Actually, I don't think Thom's conclusion about how people are deciding is wrong. Rather, I think that they might be coming to the wrong conclusion. In other words, seeing dramas and comedies on the big screen is different from seeing them on the small screen.

To be sure, I have no HDTV or Blu-Ray. But short of having a very large screen in a darkened private room, I think most people treat things they see on television like they treat television. They pause a movie to eat or go to the bathroom or take a nap. The movie experience is just...different.

Long before the new technology, I saw the movie Coming Home, a 1978 drama starring Jane Fonda and Jon Voight, in the movie theater. Then I saw it on HBO and thought it lost something. But then I saw it again on the large screen and it was almost as good as the first time.

I wonder if dramas in America are in trouble. The season finales of House and Grey's Anatomy both lost viewers compared with last season's last episodes. All the CSIs were down as well. Meanwhile most comedies are on the rise. Maybe it's a cyclical thing; it wasn't THAT long ago when the comedy was considered moribund.

And I need to consider changing audiences, for this reason: some people treat going to the movies like they treat being at home. Anyone who's been to a movie in recent years - cellphones, talking, etc. - knows what I mean.

Apparently, this audience bad behavior has spread to Broadway. In the June 6 Wall Street Journal, an article called "Are Misbehavin': No Tonys for These Performances --- Theatergoers Act Out With Phones, Bare Feet -- and Fried Chicken, Too" catalogs these misdemeanors:

Last month, an audience member at "South Pacific" took off a shoe and, complaining of an injured knee, propped her foot up on a rail in front of the stage. "Other patrons were not amused. 'The offenders' toes 'were practically in their nose...And her feet smelled.' "

Earlier this year, Patti LuPone broke character in "Gypsy" to scream at an audience member taking pictures.

One night, actor Will Swenson, who plays a hippie named Berger in "Hair", took a [recording] device from a person in the front row [during the nude scene] and threw it across the stage. "I just couldn't believe the gall of this woman who was videotaping me in my face," he says. A crew member deleted the video and returned the camera phone to its owner at intermission, he says.

During a Saturday matinee of the Holocaust drama "Irena's Vow," a man walked in late and called up to actress Tovah Feldshuh to halt her monologue until he got settled. "He shouted, 'Can you please wait a second?' and then continued on toward his seat." Ms. Feldshuh says she typically pauses when she's interrupted. She doesn't recall the incident, which she says may be evidence of the Zen attitude she's cultivated onstage."

So perhaps one needs an "event" movie to warrant going to the theater and put up with fellow humans.
ROG

Hard To Argue When They Think God Said So

2009-06-11T04:51:00.002-04:00

Those of us in what I guess one would call the "liberal theological tradition" are sometimes criticized because we don't seem to speak out against the religious right.

Well, two points:
1. We do, but maybe we just don't use a megaphone.
2. It's just difficult to argue with some people.

The service at my church this past Sunday, on More Light Sunday, featured the Gay Men's Choir and used Acts 10 as the backdrop. Acts 10 talks about the conversion of the Gentiles but it also gets into a large sheet and permission to eat food that was formerly thought as unclean. I think the pivotal verses are these: {34] Then Peter opened his mouth and said: In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. [35] But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. This is, to use the political vernacular, a "big tent" God.

Some not particularly religious friend sent me a link to Answers in Genesis for my "amusement and disabusement". These are the folks who believe that people lived at the same time as the dinosaurs and have -um- created the Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY.

I was interested in the answer to the question Cain’s Wife—Who Was She? Frankly, it was because of the snarky video Arthur at AmeriNZ linked to called Betty Bowers Explains Traditional Marriage. Well, lo and behold, AiG pretty much comes up with the same answer: incest. After chastising William Jennings Bryan, "the prosecutor who stood for the Christian faith", for failing "to answer the question about Cain’s wife posed by the ACLU lawyer Clarence Darrow" in the 1925 Scopes trial (!), the writer cites "the Jewish historian Josephus" who wrote, 'The number of Adam’s children, as says the old tradition, was thirty-three sons and twenty-three daughters.'" Non-Biblical information to make a Biblical "proof".

Cain was in the first generation of children ever born. He, as well as his brothers and sisters, would have received virtually no imperfect genes from Adam or Eve, since the effects of sin and the Curse would have been minimal to start with. In that situation, brother and sister could have married...without any potential to produce deformed offspring.

Now I can argue with these folks until I'm purple and it's HIGHLY unlikely to change anything.

In any case, I find them harmless compared to the New York Family Policy Council. One of their members wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper in Albany. A church friend went to the website and found:
And he called his ten servants, . . . Occupy* till I come. Luke 19:13 KJV
Welcome to the New York Family Policy Council web site. Remember, of His Kingdom there will be no end.
*oc cu py vt. [ME occupien; from OFr. ocuper; Lat. occupare, to seize : ob- (intensive) + capere, to take.] 1. To seize possession of and maintain control over by force.
In case you've missed the point, Ellen Kolb, Executive Director/President makes it clear:
Jesus’ command for us to occupy is mind boggling. We are commanded to take over the running of the government and subjugate it to the Laws of God’s Kingdom. We are to infuse the Kingdom into the culture. Our voice is the voice that is to supersede all others in the political arena. To accomplish this we must activate our voice – let it be heard on earth via phone calls, email, letters, letters to the editor, public meetings and in heaven via prayer and declarations. We must activate our prayer lives, spending time each day with the Lord. With prayer as our foundation, we can occupy. If it were not possible, Jesus would not have commanded us to do it. Therefore, let’s awake and become the Church Militant. Let’s put on the full armor of God. Let’s pray as never before. Let’s change the state and national laws so they line up with God’s Word. Let’s restore the Judeo-Christian foundation that our country was founded upon. Let’s not just take up space; let’s OCCUPY.

This is so antithetical to everything I believe, it's maddening. And possibly treasonous. I suspect these folks are even less likely to accept the notion of an inclusive God, a God of love rather than a God of subjugation, than the AiG people.

And speaking of antithetical:
Valley station church to hold gun service

By Peter Smith
psmith@courier-journal.com (Louisville, KY)
A Valley Station Road church is sponsoring an "Open Carry Church Service" in late June, encouraging people to wear unloaded guns in their holsters, enter a raffle to win a free handgun, hear patriotic music and listen to talks by operators of gun stores and firing ranges.
Pastor Ken Pagano of New Bethel Church said the first-time event is "basically trying to think a little bit outside the box" to promote "responsible gun ownership and 2nd Amendment rights."
The event, slated for late Saturday afternoon, June 27, is being promoted with online posters, including one using a red font resembling splattered blood with the words: "Open Carry Church Service." Full story here

But NOT, apparently, packing heat for the "occupation". To be fair, one pastor, commenting on this story, said the event "would nauseate Jesus." Indeed, the linkage of church and state I believe to be not only contrary to the Constitution but, more importantly, to Christianity. I don't believe it's the role of the church to promote Second Amendment rights or patriotism. I believe it's the role of the church to treat people like brothers and sisters; you know, the feed the hungry stuff.

So consider this one Christian voice crying out in the wilderness, for all the good it will do.

ROG