The return
-
I started this blog as an unofficial vehicle for interesting statistical
information. When I retired, I let it lie fallow. I'm going to post here
period...
Gender Wage Gap By State - Census Bureau
-
If you need a reason to start a business, the gender wage gap may be a
factor. The Census has created a new visualization of the disparity between
male ...
It takes a lot of practice
-
A friend asked: “If you had the chance to ask three different people
(living or dead, famous or not) ONE question… who and what would you ask?”
The one req...
Faded road markings cause concern
-
Q: Can someone at New York state tell me why the DOT doesn’t use a better
reflective paint when the lines are painted? It appears the paint used has
no ref...
Goodbye but NOT farewell
-
Using the words which Roger used in his intro for the last post of round
20--- Z
*With joy, we'll dream away each sorrow, With love we'll live for each...
Alan Moore's Twilight Proposal
-
Introduction by Alan David Doane:
Honestly I didn't intend the irony, but this week's FMF, looking at Alan
Moore's never-published Twilight proposal, also ...
Empowered Minds: Celebrating Women in Research
-
SUNY Researchers Making an Impact Here at SUNY, we have no shortage of
women who have made a mark on our world. Throughout Women’s History Month,
we’ve had...
The Best Films of 2023
-
Martin Scorsese, left, Lily Gladstone, and Robert DeNiro all received Oscar
nods for *Killers of the Flower Moon*. Some say Leo DiCaprio, right, was
snubbe...
Getting Ready To Die
-
Getting Ready To DieNo, as far as I know, it’s not imminent, but you never
know. An awful lot of people are checking out in the seventh decade that I
just ...
Petitioning season cut short
-
Political "petitioning season" for U.S. Congress, NYS Assembly, NYS Senate,
and a host of other positions, was cut short. Like all the other things
that...
Eagle Scout Project
-
Rutherford neighbor Krish Soni is getting started on his Eagle Scout
project on Saturday, October 26. He will be labeling storm drains in the
neighborhood ...
We’re Off On An Adventure!
-
Just now, Marge and I are doing a bit of adventuring. The next adventure
will include a whole new online reality and presence for me and my work…
See you i...
It Changes
-
Living with Lupus and Fibro and Asthma is often not so much 'one day at a
time.' It is much more like one fifteen minute segment of time - at at time.
This...
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye…
-
Well, kids, this is it. I’m leaving first thing tomorrow morning. My visits
home will be few and far between, and when they happen, they’ll be
exclusive...
Spring is here?
-
As far as the pro peloton goes, it’s on! I watched the Tour of Flanders
today, and it was one of the best races I’ve ever seen. “Looking back, you
get a b...
Modern Types-Ronald Searle,Geoffrey Gorer
-
With the recent attention given to Ronald Searle's 90th birthday and new
interview,I decided to look at one of his books.
The book is titled Modern Ty...
AmeriNZ Podcast episode 413 is now available
-
AmeriNZ Podcast episode 413, “Eighteenth season”, is finally *available
from the podcast website*. There, you can listen, download or subscribe to
the po...
AmeriNZ 413 – Eighteenth season
-
This episode has been so very long delayed! I was busy with a lot of little
things, and I still am, so this episode isn’t edited. I start with what I
did r...
Bedfordshire, the hay, and the sack
-
Inspired by Anatoly Liberman's *Take My Word for It: A Dictionary of
English Idioms* (which I've reviewed for the *International Journal of
Lexicography*...
March Photo Challenge: Eleven
-
Welp, I missed last month’s photo challenge due to our winter vacation from
February 22-March 2, and came down with the flu in record time on March
3rd, wh...
1, 2, 3, 4: You Can Count On It
-
Up the stairs, count the steps1, 2, 3, 41, 2, 3, 41, 2, 3…Crap, it didn’t
come out even, it’s eleven But 1-2-3-4-1/ 2 /3-4-1-2-3 will have to do; the
middl...
Here we are at 21.
-
Happy 21st birthday, Johnny Bacardi Show!
Probably won't begin writing here again anytime soon, but hey, if you like
my stuff I have a Substack now and...
Check me out!
-
Over the years I have collected a range of recipes to help me lose weight.
I attend Slimming World and achieved my target weight in November 2022.
Read...
This is The End (a follow-up)
-
I wrote yesterday about my possibly retiring this space in favor of
migrating all of my blogging to ForgottenStars.net, because of Reasons. I
am now pul...
A Dumb God
-
People who believe in God but don’t believe that creation is teleologically
imbued essentially believe in a dumb God, likely a God who merely exists to
ser...
18 and life, you got it
-
It's the 18th of April, and that means it's the anniversary of Mia's
accident - 18 (!!!!) years ago today, we were in the crash that damaged her
brain ir...
Sunday Round-up
-
Wash your mouth out
In these ultra-hygienic days, Russian artist Yulia Popova has come into her
own by making models of foodstuffs out of soap. What makes y...
I believe ..Religion
-
Written by the Rev.Jeannette van der Veen-Bosgra
I believe in a world where all people can live in happiness,
and that I too have a duty to create such a wo...
Tough Day
-
A few weeks ago, I turned 38, and I am still under the scrutiny of
strangers in public. One would think that once you're out of grade school,
middle school...
Change
-
Group Reading “The only thing we have in this world that is utterly and
intrinsically ours is our integrity.” ~ Mira Grant One- to find the
universal eleme...
Retro Y'all!
-
Still jumping. In place, mostly. Someone should do one of these rap battle
style brags about being a junker. Seriously. Big sale at the Peddlers Mall
today.
X is for XMAS
-
*MERRY CHRISTMAS (XMAS) EVERYONE!*
I thought I'd put a link to the top 100 Xmas songs for 2017 so you could
click on it and play anything your heart d...
The Myth Memers
-
One of those little questionnaires just to dip a toe back into blogging.
Took this from Chris Hull's Facebook.
1. Do you make your bed? No.
2. The first c...
Now available in paperback!
-
*Sharp: A Memoir*. William Morrow & Co, 2012. Print.
We lost 4 members of the Guilford High School Class of 84: David Ciardello,
Richard Eaton, Ronnie Burn...
No parallel
-
Get a good look at these: Whence they came: After seeing that incredible
glow-in-the-dark Zac Posen dress that Claire Danes wore at the 2016 Met
Gala, Lori...
ABC Wednesday: The Importance of Being Bored
-
When I was growing up, you being bored was your problem that you were
responsible to rectify. As children we learned never to be bored- or at
least not t...
Monday PSA: The Pioneer of the Pole
-
Click on the image for the full ad As promised, the second of two
Antarctica themed PSAs. Today: “Pioneer of the Pole.” Just like last week,
this is from D...
Final Act
-
Dear Followers of Berowne's "Savage Reflections." I'm very sorry to have to
inform you that my father, John Savage, passed away on December 26, just a
week...
Friday Post - Your services are no longer needed
-
Heads will roll
While the good news fairies of Wall Street would have you believe that
everything is just hunky dory the truth is it's not. In order to m...
Age is a State of Mind, Somewhere Near Nebraska
-
What a year it has been! After surviving the odometer rolling over to 40, I
had a year of sabbatical. That gave me plenty of time to think about my mid-lif...
The End of a Long Day
-
You know those days where all you really want to do is change into your
pajamas and curl up on the couch while you decide which comfort food would
mak...
#Freaking Out -AND!
-
Calmly completely freaking out about my move. AND! I quit smoking. I feel
this qualifies me to have an opinion on how to do it.
So I am calmly completel...
Gaze Upon My Works and Snicker, Part 53.
-
[image: DP700-F365028]
Another quickie sketch at work, because I wanted to draw Pandora A in a
white fuzzy hat (no, I don't know the name for them) and a b...
Superheroes I Love #10: Deathlok
-
Every red-blooded boy loves cyborgs. Half-man, half-robot, what’s not to
love? The Marvel Comics character Deathlok is a bit on the obscure side,
but debut...
The Party Animal
-
“My mother hired this critter to liven up my birthday party. 1986, Ribeirão
Preto, Brazil.” (submitted by IG @glaumir_muraca)
The post The Party Animal ...
Episode 326: The WGA Strike
-
One by one, Ken goes over the many issues the WGA is fighting for and why
they’re important. He also gives an overview of the situation and how it
might...
The dopamine jail of joke Twitter
-
I’m home from vacation and the Planet Funny promotional engine is slowing
down. (There’s still one last signing at Powell’s City of Books in two
short week...
Rex Smith: Free speech, pulpit speech and tax laws
-
Each school day when I was a little boy began with the Pledge of
Allegiance, followed by all the students bowing their heads to recite the
Lord’s Prayer. T...
Mixed Results for The Rules
-
Well that was an “interesting” Emmy Awards. There were enough surprises to
make the alteration of the voting rules to a single round plurality rather
than ...
Mom Has Stacked Dinner Party Roster
-
GOLDEN, CO—Their eyes widening in amazement as the 43-year-old rattled off
the names of heavy hitter after heavy hitter, impressed members of the
Dreesh...
Week 17 NFL Picks
-
Last week’s 10 wins leaves me with 153 wins. Weak season. Sorry. Week 17
picks NFL Picks Away Home Chicago Detroit NY Jets Buffalo Tampa Bay Atlanta
Caroli...
Coverville Countdown 2012: Nominations Begin NOW!
-
It’s that time of year again! Time for you to nominate and vote for your
favorite covers, and for me to spend the last few shows of the year to line
them...
Obama’s speech coverage on NPR
-
What were the people at NPR thinking? The coverage of President Obama’s
speech on National Public Radio on Wednesday was just awful. I’ve never
minded anal...
2PP132 – 16 May 2020
-
This episode was delayed, yet again, because Arthur didn’t have enough
time. Anyway, here we are—were? Today’s chat was about the changes to New
Zealand’s ...
My New Venture: Top Flight Family
-
You may have noticed that you haven’t heard much from me lately. That’s
because I’ve been quietly working on new passion of mine, a digital media
startup o...
First blog post
-
This is your very first post. Click the Edit link to modify or delete it,
or start a new post. If you like, use this post to tell readers why you
started t...
10.29.15 GOOGLE UBER ALLES
-
This article originally appeared in the 10.29.15 issue of Metroland.
You may have heard that the New York federal appeals court granted Google a
big win ...
This Is Not A Joke
-
A new ball game - with tasers. Hat-tip : The Volokh Conspiracy According to
The Daily Caller, Eric Prum, one of the founders of Ultimate Tak Ball,
said, “I...
This page rank checking tool is powered by Page Rank Checker service
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
R is for Roger
The picture above was taken by my friend the Hoffinator when she was visiting mutual friends in Asheville, NC.
I must admit to loving the name Roger. It's not too common, not too rare. It's been on the 1000 most popular male names of babies in the United States ever since the Social Security Administration was able to post records of this, tracking back to 1880. At #463 in 2008, it is actually up five slots from the previous year. Indeed, it was in the Top 100 between 1921 and 1975, hitting its peak of 22 in 1945; I can't help but think that its popularity came from "Roger that" or "Roger, over and out" from the World War II years.
Here, in roughly chronological order of my awareness, are some of the people named Roger who have been important to me. (All pictures below courtesy of Life.com, "for personal non-commercial use only".
Roger Maris: We're talking baseball here. In 1961, the New York Yankees' right fielder Roger Maris and center fielder were both pursuing Babe Ruth's seemingly unbreakable record of 60 home runs set in 1927. The fans seemed OK with Mantle breaking the record; he came up through the Yankees farm system (i.e., minor-league affiliation), but he got injured and ended up with "only" 54 homers that year. Maris, though, was traded to the Yankees from the Kansas City A's before the 1960 season and wasn't considered enough of a REAL Yankee, or for that matter, a legitimate star, to break the record. So even before he broke Ruth's record, the baseball commissioner, Ford Frick, a Ruth worshiper, muddied the waters by suggesting that since the record had been broken in a 162-game season, whereas Ruth played in a 154-game season, it was somehow tainted. I for one was rooting for Roger - I mean he was a Roger - and he broke the record on the last day of the season. Picture: September 1961, during that noted season. Fact: Roger Maris got traded to the St. Cardinals in 1967 and won his third World Series ring that very season.
Roger Miller: One of the very first LPs - LPs being long-playing musical albums, on vinyl - I ever bought was Golden Hits: Roger Miller. It was a fun, country-laden album with hits such as Chug-A-Lug, Dang Me (sample lyrics: "My pappy was a pistol; I'm a son of a gun." and England Swings, plus the big hit King Of The Road. I bought a subsequent album that included Husbands and Wives, with the lyrics, It's my belief, Pride is the chief cause and the decline in the number of husbands and wives. Great line, even if it rhymes "pride" and "decline". Picture: playing guitar & singing as he sits on couch next to coffee table displaying 5 Grammy awards, at his Hollywood home in 1965. Fact: Posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1995, three years after he died.
Roger Bannister: The British track star was the first person to run a mile in under four minutes. He set the record on May 6, 1954, but I did not become familiar with him until about a decade later. Not only did he break through the time and psychological barrier with a time of 3 min 59.4 sec. then Australian John Landy beat Bannister's record. Next time Bannister and Landy ran head-to-head, they BOTH broke four minutes, with Bammister winning the race. Picture: taken May 1951, I don't know the venue. Perhaps the Penn Relays? Fact: Bannister became a distinguished neurologist, who retired in 2001.
Roger Chaffee: The Apollo missions, following the successful Mercury (one-man) and Gemini (two-man) flights into space for the United States, were three-man trips designed eventually to get man to the moon. Unfortunately, Roger Chaffee was killed, along with fellow astronauts Gus Grissom and Ed White during a training exercise for the Apollo 1 mission at the Kennedy Space Center, January 27, 1967. I was personally devastated by this and thought the accident would put the kibosh on plans to go to the moon; apparently not. Picture: taken October 1963 Fact: There's a Chaffee crater on the dark side of the moon.
Roger McGuinn (center): The leader of the band that, after Bob Dylan "went electric", popularized folk-rock music with Dylan-penned songs such as Mr. Tambourine Man and All I Really Want To Do, and Pete Seeger's Turn! Turn! Turn! The Byrds bounced back and forth among genres from psychedelic rock (Eight Miles High) to country (Sweethearts of the Rodeo album), with an ever-changing lineup. Picture: the original Byrds -(l-r) Mike Clarke, David Crosby, Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Gene Clark in 1991. Fact: The Byrds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991; I'm guessing the picture is from an event associated with the induction.
Roger Mudd: even as a kid, I was a sucker for the news. And mostly it was the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. The weekend anchor and Cronkite's primary fill-in was Roger Mudd, a solid newsman who reported on everything from the Civil Rights movement, including the historic March on Washington in 1963, to 1971's the Selling of the Pentagon. He was on the scene when Robert Kennedy was shot in 1968, and his 1979 interview with Ted Kennedy pretty much derailed the Senator's campaign for the Presidency. Passed over to succeed Cronkite, he moved over to NBC News, then PBS. Picture: TV image of the CBS newscaster giving analysis of President Nixon's resignation speech in August 1974. Fact: Roger is distantly related to Samuel Mudd, the doctor who was imprisoned for aiding and conspiring with John Wilkes Booth after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
Roger Daltry: early in my listening to rock and roll, I was familiar with the group The Who and songs such as My Generation, I Can See For Miles and Magic Bus. But it wasn't until the "rock opera" Tommy, followed by the extraordinary album Who's Next (Baba O'Riley with the line "teenage wasteland"; Behind Blue Eyes; and Won't Get Fooled Again) that I started really differentiating the members of the group. The lead singer, with the golden locks, was Roger Daltry. Picture: from 1991. I SWEAR I owned bolo tie just like this one. Fact: The Who entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
Roger Ebert (center): There was this movie review show on PBS (public television) featuring this skinny guy named Gene Siskel and the more round Roger Ebert who I just loved to watch. Later, they became syndicated and their popularity and influence grew until Gene's untimely death in 1999. Roger Ebert continued on, eventually pairing with Richard Roeper until mid-2006, when "he suffered post-surgical complications related to thyroid cancer which left him unable to speak," and lost considerable weight in the process. While he no longer appears on the air, I read his columns regular, now more for his non-movie observations about death and race and politics than for his reviews. Picture: not described, but the guy on the right is the late Walter Cronkite. Fact: In June 2005, Roger Ebert was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a first for a critic.
When I was born, my father had told his cousins that he was working on my name, Roger Owen Green, making sure the initials, ROG, could serve as my nickname. As far as I knew, I was not named for anyone. But after my father died in 2000, the family came across a bunch of postcards from a guy named Roger from around 1961, where he worked at a Presbyterian church in New Jersey. They weren't mailed to our house but to a place called The Interracial Center, 45 Carroll Street, Binghamton, NY, where my father used to volunteer. Very mysterious. ROG
A few Rogers there I didn't know of, not including Bannister and Daltry of course. Two very fine Rogers indeed. I could never run as fast as the first, or perform as well as the second, but I did enjoy playing some Who songs in my old rock band. Always an enjoyable and informative post.
Thanks for this trip down memory lane, Roger! I was never a Yankee fan (sorry, I'm a diehard fan of the lovable losers, the Cubs), but I remember well the years of Mantle and Maris. It's sad that Maris was not as loved by the fans as he should have been; he deserved this record, much more so than Mark McGwire. And now I forget, did someone break McGwire's record?
Many great Rogers here--you should be very proud of your name! I remember well watching Roger Mudd, a great newsman. And Roger Ebert is a fellow U of I alum! He holds a film festival in nearby Champaign, IL each year--"Ebertfest." He always attends, but now his lovely wife Chaz usually does the speaking for him.
It was rather interesting for me to read that article. Thanx for it. I like such topics and everything connected to them. I would like to read more soon.
13 comments:
Wow, Roger! Now I know a lot of Rogers! Fascinating...
But, where did the phrase, "Roger Dodger" come from???
well, my father is named Roger, too!
nice to meet ya!
come and visit my ABC if you have the time!
have a great day!
xoxo
Now that's a lot of Rogers and fascinating information too. Thanks for the creative post.
A few Rogers there I didn't know of, not including Bannister and Daltry of course. Two very fine Rogers indeed. I could never run as fast as the first, or perform as well as the second, but I did enjoy playing some Who songs in my old rock band.
Always an enjoyable and informative post.
A lot of Rogers in there. And what a mystery about your name! Will you try and find out more?
Thanks for this trip down memory lane, Roger! I was never a Yankee fan (sorry, I'm a diehard fan of the lovable losers, the Cubs), but I remember well the years of Mantle and Maris. It's sad that Maris was not as loved by the fans as he should have been; he deserved this record, much more so than Mark McGwire. And now I forget, did someone break McGwire's record?
Many great Rogers here--you should be very proud of your name! I remember well watching Roger Mudd, a great newsman. And Roger Ebert is a fellow U of I alum! He holds a film festival in nearby Champaign, IL each year--"Ebertfest." He always attends, but now his lovely wife Chaz usually does the speaking for him.
Great post!
great post, i gained new info
my entry is here
Great day Wednesday folks :)
Thanx for the Visit :)
I love the first photo!
You've brought back a load of memories with this post - I remember Roger Bannister's 4 minute mile, and you've reminded me of a lot of good songs.
I hope your daughter gets well soon.
What a neat idea for an ABC Wednesday post! I recognise some of those Rogers, but not all of them!
Roger. What an informative post! Love it.
It was rather interesting for me to read that article. Thanx for it. I like such topics and everything connected to them. I would like to read more soon.
Great collection of Rogers. I knew a few of them (but not the sports Rogers.)
Hi ROG!
Wonderful r post. I am so far behind this week. I learned lots about Rogers from you this morning!
Very enjoyable.
Sherry
Post a Comment