Roger Answers Your Questions, Eddie and Lefty

Our first contestant is Eddie, who not only asked a couple questions but promoted this Q&A.

1. How many CD's does a person have to own before you, Roger, consider the amount to be excessive?

Well, it depends on the amount you play. Let's say I have 1500 CDs. (OK, let's.) If I play six albums five times a week, that's 30 albums. Multiply that by 50 weeks, and 1500 is just the perfect number to be able to play your whole collection at least once a year. All of the discs get played, and none of them feel lonely and rejected. If one plays more music, one can own more music; if less, then less.

This is the reason, in large part, why I have a system of music playing that I know I've described in this blog, but cannot find. In brief, I play music around artists' birthdays (Springsteen now, Emmylou in April), compilers' birthdays (Motown compilations in November, in honor of Berry Gordy), events (movie soundtracks in February and March, in honor of the Academy Awards), etc. Which reminds me: when's your birthday? I like to play your compilations around then.

This is not to say I'm limited to these times; when I get the new Dylan album for Christmas (someone pleeeeease tell my wife she's getting this for me), I'll get the sense that I'll be playing it a lot in January and February, even if his birthday's not until May.

Of course, you don't HAVE to play them all annually. There are those albums you keep around for a few songs to put on compilation discs. (So why don't I just put them all on mp3s? Because I'd miss the information on the package.)

So my answer, for me, is 3000, and I'm only (a little more than) halfway there.

2. What does a guy have to do to get your summer mix, considering he was theoretically part of the exchange?

Well, theoretically, I wrote you an e-mail on this very topic that said I would send you a copy when I finished the crime CD in Gordon's exchange. But then, I got, curiously, a number of e-mails unsendable from two bloggers: my friend Lori in Florida, one of the few bloggers I actually know, and you. (Did you know I can see stuff such as on your page?)

So, for your trouble, my next package to you will contain the summer mix, the crime mix, and a mix that's totally randomly selected from a pile I put together when I was only exchanging with Hemby. And not so incidentally, I received your package on Friday. Boy, I hope Lydia doesn't turn out like the Lydia in that song.

Great groveling to Lefty, BTW.

And speaking of the southpaw:

1. Would you vote for a African-American Presidential candidate if they were conservative?

I suppose conservative in what way? Prior to 2003, I would have considered Colin Powell. He seemed to be a man of integrity. And truth is, maybe he bought that bill of goods about Iraq he spoke about at the UN in February 2003. Certainly, I appreciate his position on opposing torture.

Whereas his successor as Secretary of State, Condi Rice, I would NEVER vote for. At least Alan Keyes seems to have a consistent moral position, even if I oppose most of it.

2. Will we ever see a non-Christian presidential candidate?

Sure, he'll be Jewish (and it'll be a he) in 2016. Or 2020.

3. Can you remember that last time you heard a piece of music that made you nearly weep (for joy or sorrow)?

Sure, happens all the time.
Joy: the vocalization at the end of Surf's Up by the Beach Boys
Sorrow: there's a suspension at the end of a dramatic crescendo about 6 minutes into an 8 minute version of Barber's Adagio that almost never fails to get to me. (Anyone want to explain this better than I just did, please feel free.)

BTW, re: your question about going blind or deaf, sometimes I can recreate in my own mind a piece of music. If I would still have that, that'd be great.

4. What was the worst vacation you ever went on?

Undoubtedly it was some damn camping trip my father foisted on us. One place, north of Binghamton on the way to Syracuse actually had laundry facilities, but it was so fly-infested that I ended up killing dozens, including - and this is true - seven with one blow.

5. What website could you not live without?

At work, I use the Census Bureau page a LOT at work.
Personally, right now, it's my own page, or links thereon. What great insight has Gay Prof provided for us? What pop culture wisdom will Tom the Dog share? How's Nigel?

6. What did you think of my Circle of Friends mix?

I liked it, especially that middle section with Duran Duran and the Hall & Oates cover and that song that swipes, among other things, the Miracles' "Tears of a Clown".

7. So is Bush dumb, ill-informed, greedy, crafty, or evil?

I DON'T KNOW. Maybe all of them. Surely, he's crafty enough to have surrounded himself with people who could make him President. Early on in his administration, he was clearly ill-informed; you'll recall during the 2000 campaign how little he knew of world affairs. I don't care how many books he reads, but some of his comments in this area - I'm too lazy to look 'em up - sounded just dumb.

Evil. A serious word, that. But some of his non-response to the issue of torture as disingenuous at best. Did you see him interviewed by Matt Lauer this month? Something very disturbing about that, at least.