A to Z Meme

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!

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

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

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

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

U is for the United States

I was thinking of the changes that the USCIS has made in the citizenship test to become a U.S. citizen. Just based on this sampling, the new test seem more vague.

TEST before October 1, 2008 - Sample U.S. Citizenship Test Questions:
1. How many stars are there on the US flag?
2. How many states are there in the Union?
3. What color are the stars on our flag?
4. What do the stars on the flag mean?
5. How many stripes are there on the flag?
6. What date is the Day of Independence?
7. The US achieved Independence from whom?
8. What country did we fight during the Revolutionary War?
9. Who was the first President of the United States?
10. What do we call a change of the Constitution?
All pretty straightforward, I think. (If you need the answers, e-mail me.)

REDESIGNED TEST - Sample U.S. Citizenship Test Questions:
1. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1900s.
OK, pretty easy. Well, unless you get all technical about it. If Congress is supposed to declare war, are the armed conflicts the US has had after WWII actually wars?
2. What did Susan B. Anthony do?
Well, I'm sure she DID lots of different things, such as eating breakfast. I know that fighting for women's suffrage is the answer, but it feels awkwardly phrased.
3. What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for?
Would philandering be an acceptable answer? Yeah, they want the almanac, electricity, the stove, eyewear, diplomat to France and that type of thing, but again, pretty open-ended.
4. There were 13 original states. Name three.
Pretty easy - just stay on the east coast and don't pick Maine, Vermont or Florida.
5. What is one responsibility that is only for United States citizens?
Huh? Is this a reference to voting? If so, other people vote in their own countries and lots of people here don't. If it's serving on juries, lots of people get out that. Non-citizens serve in the military, and most citizens don't.
6. What does the judicial branch do?
I get a lot of right-wing literature, so if someone wrote "make law", they might very well think they're right.
7. Name your U.S. Representative.
Now, THAT'S a good question. Mine's Paul Tonko, freshman Democrat.
8. Who makes federal laws?
Unless you answer The Supreme Court, easy one.
9. What does the Constitution do?
Well it DOES a lot of things, including setting terms of government officials. Another amorphous question.
10. What is the supreme law of the land?
Ah, a tough but knowable question. Article VI of the Constitution of the United States contains the "supremacy clause," which establishes that laws passed by Congress, treaties of the United States with other nations, and the Constitution "shall be the supreme Law of the Land."

Here's another sample test; looks rather old school, though. For new test guides, I'd go to the USCIS site.

I recently took one of those Could you pass the U.S. citizenship test? things on Facebook and got 19 out of 20; don't know what I missed. Being an American, and hearing how some of my fellow citizens interpret things, I've long believed that non-Americans might well fare better on the citizenship test than those born in the USA.
***
Curious thing: I was riding my bike to church a week and a half ago and, as usual, checked out the license plates. understand that church is only 1.6 miles from my house, according to Mapquest. I saw plates from the states of MA, NJ, and VT; not at all unusual. I also saw plates from PA and FL, not rare. (Folks from Florida often come north for the summer.) But I also saw CA, DE, MD, MI, OH, RI, SC, TX, VA, and WI. It was not a college graduation weekend. Most peculiar.



ROG

The Name Game

No doubt you saw the story a few weeks ago about how Emma supplanted Emily as the most popular name for a baby girl, while, on the boys' side, Jacob held steady.

There's much more at Social Security's Popular Baby Names site such as the names of twins born in 2008, by rank:
1 Jacob, Joshua 69
2 Daniel, David 59
3 Jayden, Jordan 56
4 Ethan, Evan 50
5 Taylor, Tyler 43
6 Gabriella, Isabella 42

Interesting stuff. The problem I have with most of the the stories is that it doesn't tell you the change in the nature of naming children.

For instance, below are percentages of boys, girls born with these names:
1880
1 John 8.1541%, Mary 7.2381%
2 William 8.0511%, Anna 2.6678%
3 James 5.0057%, Emma 2.0521%
4 Charles 4.5167%, Elizabeth 1.9865%
5 George 4.3292%, Minnie 1.7888%
6 Frank 2.7380%, Margaret 1.6167%
7 Joseph 2.2229%, Ida 1.5081%
8 Thomas 2.1401%, Alice 1.4487%
9 Henry 2.0641%, Bertha 1.3523%
10 Robert 2.0404%, Sarah 1.3196%

1930

1 Robert 5.5021%, Mary 5.4969%
2 James 4.7781%, Betty 3.2794%
3 John 4.6417%, Dorothy 2.6064%
4 William 4.1855%, Helen 1.7076%
5 Richard 2.8491%, Margaret 1.5743%
6 Charles 2.8197%, Barbara 1.5683%
7 Donald 2.5723%, Patricia 1.3507%
8 George 2.0155%, Joan 1.3280%
9 Joseph 1.8579%, Doris 1.3250%
10 Edward 1.5346%, Ruth 1.2804%

1980
1 Michael 3.7039%, Jennifer 3.2811%
2 Christopher 2.6531%, Amanda 2.0132%
3 Jason 2.5994%, Jessica 1.9064%
4 David 2.2600%, Melissa 1.7776%
5 James 2.1205%, Sarah 1.4464%
6 Matthew 2.0417%, Heather 1.1223%
7 Joshua 1.9454%, Nicole 1.1189%
8 John 1.9018%, Amy 1.1148%
9 Robert 1.8475%, Elizabeth 1.0972%
10 Joseph 1.6285%, Michelle 1.0743%

2008
1 Jacob 1.0355%, Emma 0.9043%
2 Michael 0.9437%. Isabella 0.8941%
3 Ethan 0.9301%, Emily 0.8377%
4 Joshua 0.8799%, Madison 0.8199%
5 Daniel 0.8702%, Ava 0.8198%
6 Alexander 0.8566%, Olivia 0.8196%
7 Anthony 0.8442%, Sophia 0.7729%
8 William 0.8438%, Abigail 0.7250%
9 Christopher 0.8268%, Elizabeth 0.5748%
10 Matthew 0.8061%, Chloe 0.5692%

In 1880, two boy names were used by almost one-sixth of the population, while Mary was nearly thrice as popular as the next most popular girl's name. By 2008, the #1 names was considerably less dominant than the #10 names in 1980.

I decided to pick out some boys' and girls' names not entirely at random to note their trends.

Male

Roger
1880-349
1930-57
1980-134
2008-463
highest year-22 in 1945 (unsurprisingly)

Darrin
not in top 1000 until 1959
1980-505
not in top 1000 since 2004
highest year-102 in 1965

Gordon
1880-233
1930-77
1980-345
2008-946
highest year-70 in 1935

Rex
1880-519
1930-233
1980-488
2008-799
not in top 1000 in 1999-2002
highest year-171 in 1951

Arthur
1880-14
1930-23
1980-147
2008-363
highest year-14 in 1880-1884, 1886-1899, 1901

Norman
1880-133
1930-40
1980-286
not in top 1000 since 2005
highest year-36 in 1931

Leslie
1880-167
1930-139
1980-354
not in top 1000 since 1997
highest year-81 in 1895

Female

Carol
1880-685
1930-54
1980-232
not in top 1000 in 1883
not in top 1000 since 2006
highest year-4 in 1941

Lydia
1880-77
1930-233
1980-287
2008-120
highest year-75 in 1883

Gertrude
1880-25
1930-96
not in top 1000 since 1965
highest year-22 in 1906

Marcia
1880-614
1930-231
1980-414
not in top 1000 in 1992
not in top 1000 since 1994
highest year-74 in 1951

Gladys
1880-370
1930-48
1980-628
not in top 1000 in 1998
not in top 1000 since 1999
highest year-11 in 1901

Karen
1880-not in top 1000 until 1881
1930-687
1980-54
2008-183
not in top 1000 in 1882-1884, 1888, 1891, 1895-1905, 1907-1911, 1913-1917, 1919-1923, 1925, 1925, 1927
highest year-3 in 1965

Leslie
1880-655
1930-601
1980-61
2008-147
highest year-56 in 1981

Note that the specific spelling matters. For instance, on the boys' side in 2008, Arthur is #363, but, separately, Arturo is #352. Similarly, on the girls' 2008 list, Leslie is #147 and Lesly, #447; Lesley fell off the chart in 2008.

Having spent all this time on FIRST names, you may want to check out this database which allows you to search a last name and see how it ranks nationally, with racial demographic breakdowns (provided by U.S. Census Bureau).

Finally, I'm in the mood for a little Shirley Ellis:

Just don't try Chuck.

ROG

First Meme

From SamuraiFrog:

First Job: Among other things, my father arranged flowers for weddings and events such as debutante balls. Sister Leslie and I always got sucked into working on that.
But another choice would be when I'd sing at my father's gigs. Eventually Leslie joined us, certainly before I was 14, and we did get paid, albeit usually not much.

First Real Job: Newspaper delivery of the Evening and Sunday Press when I was 12.
Or alternatively pick being a page at the Binghamton Public Library when I was 16.

First Favorite Politician: Bill Burns. He was mayor of Binghamton, a Democrat, when I was 16. He had succeeded his brother John, who was more naturally suave politician. Bill was now what you'd call a wonk and looked the part. I remember blowing up balloons at his headquarters. Unfortunately, he lost in 1969 (I think) to Al Libous, who I despised politically. When Libous ran for Congress in 1974, I worked hard for his opponent, Matt McHugh, who fortunately beat Libous.

First Car: It was always someone else's car, like the Okie's Volvo; I never remember car stuff.

First Record/CD: Beatles VI and other Beatles LPs, plus Daydream by the Lovin' Spoonful; it was from the Capitol Record Club.

First Sport Played: Almost certainly baseball or softball; it depends whether it was on the school playground (softball) or at Ansco field (baseball), which we got to by walking through Spring Forest Cemetery.

First Concert: Seals & Crofts, November 12, 1971 in NYC; I'm convinced that J. Geils opened for them and was booed; the band may be a false memory, but the booing of the opening act was not.

First Foreign Country Visited: Canada. Niagara Falls, Ontario. I was...10?

First Favorite TV Show: Captain Kangaroo. Featured Mr. Green Jeans. Also, Bunny Rabbit, Grandfather Clock, and the bizarre cartoon Clutch Cargo.

First Favorite Actor: Dick van Dyke from his eponymous show.

First Favorite Actress: Mary Tyler Moore, "The Dick van Dyke Show" Capri pants!

First Girlfriend/Boyfriend: I suppose how you define it. I suppose Martha when I was 15 or 16.

First Encounter with a Famous Person: For some reason, I was on the sidelines at a Boston Celtics-New York Knicks game and almost literally ran into Willis Reed, the Knicks center.
Actually shook Nelson Rockefeller's hand twice while I was in high school.

First Brush With Death: I was about seven and I had a knit hat on. I thought I could see through it, so I put it over my head. Unfortunately, it cut off my peripheral vision and I almost got hit by a car while crossing the street in the middle of the block.

First House/Condo Owned: Well, technically, the house Carol bought, which we moved into when we got married. But I prefer to think of that as her house, and our current house, which we bought in May 2000,.

First Film Seen: I'm thinking State Fair; don't know which version.

First Favorite Recording Artist: Probably, from my father's singles, the Everly Brothers.

First Favorite Radio Station: WENE, 1360 (I think) AM, Top 40 radio in Endicott, NY.

First Book I Remember Reading: Probably some Dr. Seuss book, such as Cat in the Hat or Green Eggs and Ham.

First Meme You Answered on Your Blog: This one from Tosy in November 2005. ROG

Sweet Hitchhiker

Something Jacquandor cited reminded me of this: my primary form of transportation during my college days in New Paltz in the Mid-Hudson Valley of NYS was hitchhiking. I lived in Binghamton in the Southern Tier of NYS my first year in college, 150 miles and at least three highways away (Route 17, and then there were options). Even when I moved to New Paltz, there were friends to visit back in my hometown.

The easiest hitch I ever had involved me trying to get from New Paltz to Binghamton. Somehow, I found a large metal orange and white sign, perhaps cast off from a gas station. It said 17. I put it out on the outskirts of town and got picked up by a guy from the CIA who dropped me off at the Binghamton exit maybe a half mile from my grandmother's house. Oh, the CIA is the Culinary Institute of America.

I lived briefly in Kingston, maybe a dozen miles away from New Paltz, and hitched back and forth on Route 32 as well.

But my regular hitch in my freshman year was with my buddy Jay Rose. It was exceedingly easy to thumb a ride to New York City; just stand at the Thruway entrance. What was more difficult was hitching back to New Paltz. I discovered that the best way was to take the subway #4 line as far north as possible, take a commuter bus as far north as it would go on 90 cents, and THEN start seeking rides.

For four months in 1977, I lived in Charlotte, NC, a place that I did not much enjoy. It had lousy mass transit and I was broke. Ultimately, I hitched out of Charlotte to Binghamton; it took about 24 hours. Hitching in the South in 1977 might not have been the wisest move, but it was an incident-free trip, though I was stuck outside of Harrisburg, PA seemingly forever.

I stopped hitching in 1979, not out of any sense of real danger, but because it just took too long. A 150-mile trip from Binghamton to Schenectady took over six hours on old Route 7, pre I-88.

The trip I remember best I did with my friend Alice. Friends of ours were in a terrible car accident; a couple died and the rest were in a hospital in Hornell, NY, pretty much in the middle of the state. We got through Binghamton OK, but had slow going past there. Then one guy finally picked us up. He wanted to save our souls, and surely our souls needed saving, for we appeared to be a mixed race couple, and miscegenation was a sin according to his interpretation of the Word. (His basis for this theory was the OT prohibition against Jews intermarrying, I'm guessing.) However, he was otherwise harmless and let us out when he got to where he was going.

Alice and I never did get to Hornell, since this involved traveling on a rural road, Route 34, and we may not have met the appropriate demographic profile to get picked up. Instead, we went back to New Paltz, in record time, considering it was the middle of the night by then.

We always wondered what that guy would have said if he had found out that Alice was a lesbian.
***
In honor of John Fogerty's birthday late last month, Sweet Hitchhiker - Creedence Clearwater Revival



ROG

The Sotomayor QUESTION

Patrick J. Buchanan called Sonia Sotomayor a "Quota Queen for the Court." Newt Gingrich called her a racist, then backed off; of course, Newt also said, "No group has benefited more from impartial justice than the less fortunate."

Her controversial quote: "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

My initial reaction was well, a non-reaction. I knew what she meant. When people who are the "other" in this society succeed, they've often learned to navigate both the majority culture as well as their own. For instance, I know there are things that I don't have to endure because I'm a male. I don't always know what they are, but I surely know they exist.

Lanny J. Davis in the Washington Times makes the case that in the "3,000 decisions in which Judge Sotomayor participated and the more than 400 opinions that she signed during her 12 years on the appeals court...in case-after-case, she has voted based on applying the law to the facts — even where the result is contrary to the expected 'liberal' ideological position..." He says further, "As to Judge Sotomayor's statement...: The obvious answer is to view the statement in the broader context of what she meant — similar to what Judge Samuel A. Alito said during his confirmation hearings, i.e., that his background coming from an immigrant family would inevitably be 'taken into account' as he made his judicial decisions."

So her "controversial" remark bothered me not at all. The use of the word "better" will be written off as a gaffe, which, politically, it was. She appears to be well-qualified and I imagine she'll be confirmed.

But that's what I think. What says you?

ROG

Local News

There's a story in the local newspaper about how a Minnesota man who allegedly embezzled $1.38M attended Schenectady (NY) County Community College. It's always interesting to see how much coverage an item will receive, and part of it is the ability to find the local angle, if any. Most recently, we've had the alleged Craiglist killer who attended UAlbany; so instead of the national stories, we get our local "insight."

Visiting Arthur at AmeriNZ a couple months ago, he noted some North Carolina Republican speaking against the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, calling Matthew Shepard's murder "a hoax". One commenter said: "Sadly I'm not seeing much coverage of [Virginia] Foxx's incredible comments in the mainstream media," but another noted:" "Foxx's comments are all over the television and radio news, Internet, newspapers, etc. here in NC." Thus her banality was only newsworthy instate rather than nationally.

Yet the story of the mother kicking her kids out of the car in Westchester County, NY, a story that once upon a time might have been in the local police blotter, stirred up an international debate.

One of the things I'm reminded of every Thanksgiving is that the amount of news that gets reported and printed is only a fraction of the news available. Why Thanksgiving? It's because our local paper is so thick with stories - to balance the ads sold - that simply would not get reported on any other weekday.

So what's news? Depends on the purveyor of same. I knew this intellectually, but it's always nice to confirm.
***
If David Carradine's death at age 72 is really a suicide, then I'm truly shocked. A month or two ago, he was profiled on "CBS Sunday Morning" along with Bruce Dern and Rip Torn for a movie they'd made together. The basic point of the story is how full of life the three veteran actors still were. There was zero indication Carradine was anything but happy with where he was in this world.
***
I saw Koko Taylor perform on the Empire State Plaza in Albany sometime in the late 1990s or early 2000s. She was on the north end of the plaza near the state capitol, and she was very close to the audience. Anyone out there know the year? It was NOT the 2007 show that got driven indoors.

She only had one "hit", the Top 60 "Wang Dang Doodle" in 1966, but she was a blues force, and I'm sorry that she died at age 80.

ROG

Cinderella, Barbara Seagull and a Mama

Once upon a time, I wrote about my celebrity crushes that I had before I was 18. My buddy Greg, being the irascible sort, criticized me for being some sort of age fascist. It wasn't that; it was that there were just so many of them that I was mildly embarrassed to go further.

Worse, I left off at least three:
Lesley Ann Warren - star of a production on CBS of Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella in 1965, which would have made me 12. I'm pretty sure it was repeated at least once and that I watched it each time. It's the earliest item that shows up on her IMDB TV or movie resume when she was 19.

I must say, though, that she was no Barbara Bain (and Leonard Nimoy no Martin Landau) when there were cast changes on the CBS television show Mission: Impossible in 1969 and 1970. Nevertheless, I watched.

Still, I have a soft spot for her Cinderella version, having purchased the soundtrack only in the last couple years, even though her predecessor, Julie Andrews and her successor, Brandy, are both more professional singers.
Here's a segment of the program; Lesley's entrance in this scene is at about 2:30, and she sings "In My Own Little Corner" - I do love that song - at about 4:30.


The first time I knew saw Barbara Hershey was in a disturbing little 1969 movie called Last Summer, also starring Richard Thomas, Bruce Davison and the Oscar-nominated Catherine Burns; haven't seen it since. Leonard Maltin gave it three and a half stars; Roger Ebert gave it four stars. An event on the set was so traumatizing to Barbara, that for a time, she changed her name to Barbara Seagull. Just yesterday, I discovered it on YouTube, but haven't watched. The compiler called Last Summer "a small twisted film...not easy to find. It's quite sexual and very controversial for its time."
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Subsequently, I saw her in The Right Stuff (1983), The Natural (1984), Hoosiers (1986), Lantana (2001) and most notably in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986- very fond) and Beaches (1988 - treacle). Oddly, I didn't see her in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) as Mary Magdalene, and I don't remember why, since the controversy made me want to watch it all the more. She's also known as a partner of Lost's Naveen Andrews, who's two decades her junior, which is cool.

Above: 30 seconds from 1968's With Six You Get Eggroll, which I must have seen on TV

From the outset, I was a huge Mamas and the Papas fan. I loved the tight harmonies especially, and bought all their albums, starting with the first one; still have most of them on vinyl. While John Phillips was the primary writer of the group, Michelle Phillips (nee Gilliam) has co-writer credits on songs such as California Dreamin' and Creeque Alley. Most of the lead vocals fell to Denny Doherty or Cass Elliot, but every once in a while Michele got a bit to show her ethereal pipes, such as on Dedicated to the One I Love or the beginning of Got A Feeling.

Michele's personal life, it became clear, was a mess. She was married to John but sleeping with Denny. She was friends with some of the victims of the Charles Manson murders. She was once married to Dennis Hopper for eight days.

But in that American second act tradition, she began to act in movies and on TV. Her IMDB record shows her on multiple episodes of Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and Hotel before her six-year stint on Knots Landing. I don't recall seeing any of them.

She sings from time to time, including at tributes to her musical colleagues. Cass died in 1974, John in 2001, and Denny in 2007, making Michelle the sole survivor of the group. I believe today is her 65th birthday (I've seen references to both 6/4/44 and 4/6/44.)

T is for Tang Museum

When my wife and I took a mini-vacation to Saratoga Springs, NY in late April, we went to the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College.

On the second floor, we came across Tim Rollins and K.O.S.: A History. This is a "major survey exhibition" that "examines the unique collaboration between Rollins, an artist, activist, and educator, and the Kids of Survival (K.O.S.), a group of artists originally made up of Rollins’s special education students from Intermediate School 52 in the South Bronx."

The gallery presented "over twenty-five years of work collaboratively produced by Rollins and his students from the Bronx and from workshops conducted nationally and internationally. Based on literary texts, musical scores, and other printed matter, these works comprise one of the most celebrated and controversial art projects of the past quarter century."


The piece above was inspired by the Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. The markings are wounds, but not always wounds in the pejorative sense. Alice in Wonderland (after Lewis Carroll) looked as though it were all white, but one could see Alice in silhouette. The Scarlet Letter (after Nathaniel Hawthorne) showed a series of bold versions of the letter A. Animal Farm (after George Orwell) used the tradition of making animals out of then-current political leaders.

But each canvas is the most interesting aspect of this process. They are made from the actual pages from the books, glued together but painted over. Yet one can still see the book text to greater or lesser degree.

How do I explain this? The pages are far more impressive in person than any visual I can show you. Our appreciation of the works was greatly enhanced by a docent who not only knew the history of each piece, but knew some of the young men, many of whom became successful in their lives.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (after Harriet Jacobs) was designed to represent the size of the room the slave girl hid in while seeing the world. There are a series of ribbons in front of the canvas, representing each student's color of freedom. The ribbons don't stop at the bottom of the canvas, but run free to the floor.

X-Men (after Marvel Comics) is a run of 1968 episodes of the comic book by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, totally unaltered beyond being placed as the canvas.

The Adventures of Pinocchio (after Carlo Collodi) was a variation on the theme. There were a series of logs, with eyes affixed, representing the person inside these pieces of wood. We were told that this book cover provided K.O.S. with a modicum of fame but no royalties.

The most poignant piece for me was Invisible Man (after Ralph Ellison). One of the Kids of Survival did not survive. He was killed along with four or five others, just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Daily News (New York City tabloid) headline read VICTIM... The pages of IM were whitewashed, with only the letters IM appearing in the Daily News font. But you'll notice that while on the top of the page, the words of the book cannot be seen, by the bottom of the page, they are readable. The slain young man is not invisible after all.

We wanted to buy the catalogue but it was not yet prepared as of our visit. The website says: "Tang Curator Ian Berry will serve as curator and editor of the project. The catalogue will be co-published with MIT Press and will include extensive new photographs of Rollins/K.O.S. work; exhaustive biographic information for Rollins and all K.O.S. members, and their first fully researched bibliography and exhibition history. Berry will provide a wide-ranging overview interview with Rollins, and a number of essays will be commissioned... A selection of writings by Martin Luther King—a key source for Rollins as he formed his early practice – will also be included."

We did buy the now decade-old video from the Tang store and found it extremely moving. One of the aspects of the process that it touched on was Rollins' use of the classic literature - read "primarily written by white people" ; other pieces that have been done included A Midsummer Night's Dream (after William Shakespeare), Diary of a Young Girl (after Anne Frank), The Creation (after Franz Joseph Haydn), The War of the Worlds (after H.G. Wells). The critics asked: "How are black and Latino kids supposed to relate to these stories?" But relate to it they do; such is the power of this collaboration of literature and art. Also, many black writers WERE ultimately used.

Tim Rollins and K.O.S.: A History runs from February 28, 2009 through August 23, 2009; see it if you can.

I wish I had written it down, but the elevator music was labeled, with the musician and composer listed, as though it were part of the art experience, which I guess it was.

The program on the first floor was Oliver Herring: Me Us Them, a "fifteen-year survey ...including sculpture, performance, photography and video." One of his pieces appeared to be a menage a quatre. But it wasn't sensual; it was, after all silvery Mylar. My favorite piece actually was a Mylar bed with a coat on it. I was not allowed to photograph it, but art critic David Brickman found a shot of it here; it's even more impressive when seen from the mezzanine. Overall, I think David enjoyed the Herring show more than I did.

It runs from January 31, 2009 through June 14, 2009.


I couldn't take shots inside, but I COULD take the external photos.
ROG

Jon & Kate plus Roger Makes ?

I'm at the supermarket and, as usual, I'm looking at the cover of People magazine. Early in its run, I actually used to buy it, but I haven't purchased it in well over a decade. I see the picture and I say to myself, "Who are Jon and Kate and why should I care?" The way they were referred to in the first person, like Brad and Angelina or Tom and Katie made me wonder how I managed to miss this power couple.

Then that very same magazine showed up in the breakroom in my building, so then I HAD to read it. Apparently Jon & Kate Plus Ei8ht is the TLC's most popular show. (Probably doing better than NBC is on Friday nights.

I think it's that there may be an article about "reality" programming in something I'm reading, but I'll skip over it. ("Reality TV" - what an oxymoron; the most unreal programming on the air.) So that person who was on American Idol a couple years ago and now shows up on another show is a cipher to me. I have no animosity; I just don't care. The brain actively doesn't let me remember that stuff. I come across those those people from The Hills, and the only one I know is Audrina who gets mentioned in a blog I read; I mean I know there's a Spencer and a Heidi, but wouldn't recognize them if they walked into the room.

Fifteen years ago, I might do the TV Guide crossword and finish it in 15 minutes or less. Recently, I gave it another go; couldn't even complete it. This is not a source of either pride or disdain, just the facts.

And it's partly that I just don't have time. Last weekend, I finally finished watching the inauguration. This weekend it was the two-hour series finale of ER from early April. And while I'm pretty current with the few dramas I watch, ever since my old DVR got fried in a lightning strike, it's been difficult to catch up.

1/22 30 Rock
1/29 The Office
3/25 Scrubs
Those are the oldest programs on my DVR, and we've made a concerted effort with Scrubs. So no, I have no idea that Michael Scott started his own office on The Office or that J.D. loves Elliot more than Turk on Scrubs. So DON'T TELL ME.

And it is the reasons I miss the olden days when there were summer reruns. Fortunately, there's so much "reality" this summer, I'll still be able to catch up by the fall season. As someone tweeted yesterday, "Man, primetime TV really sucks during the summer." I find that to be a good thing. With the exception of The Closer, plus the usual (news and JEOPARDY!), the DVR will slowly but surely be emptying out. Got to zero last September; I bet I can do it again this year.

ROG

The Blogging Meme

From Sunday Stealing

1. How long have you been blogging?
4 years, 1 month

2. Any advice to beginners?
Yes, have a couple pieces written before posting the first one. I came across these tips for beginner bloggers.

3. What are the good things blogging has brought to your life?
Actually "met", as it were, a number of decent folks.

4. What would you consider the pitfalls?
Obsessive behavior, on the part of at least one respondent. Maybe the blogger as well.

5. Tell us about your blog name. Ever think of changing it? If so, to what? Why?
It's semi-alliterative. It was inspired by a radio show called Ramblin' with Gamblin, or something like that. I could change it, but I have no particular inspiration.

6. Knowing what you know now, was starting a blog a good thing for you? Why or why not?
Why? Because all of those thoughts about what made me annoyed, or occasionally pleased, about the world were all bottled up, previously with no outlet.
Why not? Because sometimes I get melancholy and discouraged when I don't seem to generate any comments for two or three days in a row.

7. How do you think blogging, bloggers, or the blogosphere has changed since you started?
More of them, of course. More tools such as Twitter to augment the blog. More toys to play with in general.

8. Ultimately, what would you like your blog to accomplish for you or others?
The usual: world peace.
***
Every week, I get a PDF of the blogs I write. You can get the same for your blogs or others that you follow, even on a daily basis, if they have an RSS feed, with tabbloid.com. It's free, easy and you don't need an account, just an e-mail to send it to. I know it sounds like a commercial, but I'm not getting anything for it; I just think it's rather cool if you envision being published in a more traditional manner.

ROG

The tongue or the ear?

I was asking someone who reads the Bible voraciously whether Pentecost, from Acts 2 , where suddenly people start hearing the Gospel in their own language, is a miracle of the tongue or a miracle of the ear? He said it was the tongue, though he dismissed notion that people will just start spouting gibberish, as some religious folks portray the event in modern times.

As someone who has - once - been part of a service where people actually seemed to spontaneously start speaking in tongues, I nevertheless believe in the possibility of the miracle of the ear; that is, that people began comprehending as though the words were in their own language. Isn't it true that sometimes, if we really listen, we can understand what would seem to be incomprehensible?

And did not the church, based on its understanding of Genesis 1, long believe that the sun went around the earth? It was heresy to think otherwise. Yet our greater understanding of the universe does not diminish the awesomeness of creation, however it came to be.

I've long believe that AN explanation, not necessarily THE explanation of the feeding of the 4000 or 5000 in the New Testament was based on the notion stone soup. Many people had a little of this, a little of that, but when they shared, it created a magnificent feast. And it was a miracle: the miracle of open hearts.

In the Acts 2 reading for Pentecost, it cites a reading from Joel about the "last days". It's pretty clear that the early Christians such as Paul took the scripture to mean that the Lord was coming back in their lifetimes. Evidently, it didn't. Or maybe the Joel reading was a reference to the Holy Spirit that was promised after the resurrection of Jesus. By that measure, we've been in the "end times" for about 1980 years. If that's true, we'd better hurry up and feed the hungry, etc., because the "end times" might be a little while longer.
***
YouTube video: Gay scientists have isolated the gene they believe makes people Christian.




ROG

W.W.C.T.G.Y.T.B.N.C.O.S.Y.A.O. Question

I think it was Mark Evanier who came up with the notion of the W.W.C.T.G.Y.T.B.N.C.O.S.Y.A.O. (the World Wide Conspiracy To Get You To Buy New Copies Of Stuff You Already Own). This is why I'm less than excited by the remastered Beatles music coming out 09/09/09.

I haven't done this in a while, but last week, I went to the library, got five CDs and burned them. I'm totally unapologetic about it, too, because every single album I've not only purchased but still own in vinyl. Until I get around to buying one of those turntables that will convert vinyl to digital form - I saw one listed recently for a little over $100 - then I will keep at it.

So what is on my little foray this week?

Boston- Boston. Yes, THAT album with More than A Feeling, et al.
Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young - Deja Vu - with four writers, they worked hard to be equitable, with each getting two songs, Stills/Young getting one, and the other song a cover of Joni Mitchell's Woodstock.
Devo- Q: Are We Not Men? A: We are Devo - features one of my all-time favorite covers, Satisfaction. Incidentally, I have a schlocky instrumental album of Devo songs, done by Devo.
The Guess Who- co-founded by Randy Bachman, who later founded Bachman-Turner Overdrive, it has some decent songs. But the one that most fascinated me when i first bought it was a song I did not know before, Hang On To Your Life, which ends with the stark parts of Psalm 22.
Neil Young - Harvest. I listened to this album a LOT in my college years.

I could only take out five at a time. So what was interesting to me was what I didn't take this time:
Allman Brothers - Brothers and Sisters. I have a colleague who burns so much Allman music for me that I may have ODed on them.
John Lennon - Rock and Roll. I bought this album on December 9, 1980, the day after Lennon died; they were sold out of Double Fantasy by the time I got to the store (Just a song or strawberries) at lunchtime. This is an oddly unsatisfying album, one I didn't listen to much at the time. Mayne I SHOULD revisit for that reason alone.
Pretenders - the first album. It was a double album with out takes and alternate versions; almost certainly for next time.
Van Halen - the ONLY Van Halen I've ever owned, which I probably got for Happy Trails.

Oh, the questions: how do you feel about buying things (DVD, CDs) that you already own (VCR tapes, LPs or cassettes)? Do you avoid them? Pick only the core stuff? Seek out compilations? (Most of my early CDs were greatest hits collections of artists I already owned heavily on vinyl, such as Billy Joel and Elton John.) Do you have a mechanism to convert to newer formats?
ROG

Torture and other fun topics

I suppose it oughtn't to be necessary to say, but I'm against torture. Dick Cheney's been rebuked. Not so incidentally, I recognize his right to speak; I was just hoping that he wouldn't exercise it right away. Most Vice-Presidents (Nixon in 1960, Gore in 2000) GO AWAY for a while.

Jaquandor, in touting someone else's disgust with some conservative talk show host's ramblings about waterboarding, was rather eviscerating of (yawn) Hannity who was likewise braying that he'd undergo waterboarding and "he'd do it for the troops", I thought, "OK, you blowhard. But let's do it right. Let's have someone grab you off the street, throw you into a van, blindfold you, and drive you to someplace you have no idea. Then let's have them strip off your clothes, deprive you of food for days, not say a word to you except to tell you to stand up or lie down; let's have them randomly beat you. And then let's have them waterboard you. No cameras to record your bravado. No knowledge that after ten seconds it'll all be over. Let's have them waterboard you, over and over and over again, until you scream for no more. Sounds about right to me.

Meanwhile Greg talks about Charles Krauthammer, moral relativism and torture, which you should just go read.

But there was a concept in Greg's piece that reminded me of a somewhat different situation. In October 1972, I had to go in front of my draft board in Binghamton to maintain my position that I was a conscious objector, which I had declared when I had registered for the draft about a year and a half earlier, and which I had to deal with because my draft number was so low - 2. One of the questions was what I would do if someone attacked my mother. I said I would defend her and protect her. Then, I was asked, would not going to fight a Hitler be a protecting my mother against attack? My response was that it is one think to respond to an immediate threat of an attack against my mother; it was far different to intentionally put myself in a position to to fight and kill people. Perhaps this is moral relativism too, but regardless, I was granted a c.o.; then because the draft law was winding down, I wasn't drafted anyway, even for alternative service.

Here's another blogpost that had an impact on me this week, by Thom Wade: I hate that rape is an acceptable metaphor for minor things. Among the examples, "Stop Raping My Childhood, George Lucas." Thom links to other banal rants as well. It is SO obviously wrongheaded that Thom should not have had to comment.

Finally, a personal, somewhat painful recollection by SamuraiFrog about family and friends and rage and therapy. "Everyone tells you to just get over it and move on, stop living in the past. But living in the past isn't the problem." I related to it more than I can say; OK, more than I am willing to say.

ROG

Me as the Dewey Decimal System

pink white tulip

Ever thought of what you would be if you would be if catalogued as a non fiction book? Well here is how to find out. Answer a few questions and voila up it comes, your own Dewey Decimal section in the imaginary library of life. Go here.

Roger Green's Dewey Decimal Section:

303 Social processes

Roger Green = 8575878554 = 857+587+855+4 = 2303

Class:
300 Social Sciences

Contains:
Books on politics, economics, education and the law.

What it says about you:
You are good at understanding people and finding the systems that work for them. You like having established reasoning behind your decisions. You consider it very important for your friends to always have your back.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

giant pink hyacinth

Roger Green's Dewey Decimal Section:

990 History of other areas

Roger Green's birthday: 3/7/1953 = 37+1953 = 1990

Class:
900 History & Geography

Contains:
Travel, biographies, ancient history, and histories of continents.

What it says about you:
You're connected to your past and value the things that have happened to you. You've had some conflicted times in your life, but they've brought you to where you are today and you don't ignore it.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

clematis

Roger Green's Dewey Decimal Section:

037 Encyclopedias in Slavic languages

Class:
000 Computer Science, Information & General Works

Contains:
Encyclopedias, magazines, journals and books with quotations.

What it says about you:
You are very informative and up to date. You're working on living in the here and now, not the past. You go through a lot of changes. When you make a decision you can be very sure of yourself, maybe even stubborn, but your friends appreciate your honesty and resolve.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

angelique tulip

Why is it that spammers can't spell? "Madonna is a Moslim now!" was in my gmail spam box yesterday. Conversely, here's an e-mail from our campus e-mail administrator I also got yesterday.

This morning, a colleague showed me an email message she had received extending an invitation to join, or log into, Twitter.

The subject line was "Your friend invited you to twitter." The From: address was "invitations@twitter[dot]com."

The web (html) version of the message used many attractive and professionally looking visual elements to lend authenticity to the invitation.

Finally, the message came with an attachment, a zip file containing an .exe file masquerading as a .pdf file! This file has been confirmed as malicious. Currently, only 20% of anti-virus vendors correctly identify the file as malware.

All unsolicited email messages containing invitations to click on a link or an attachment should be considered suspicious and threatening unless you can independently confirm the identity and authenticity of the message with the sender.

***
Flowers, and pictures of same, plus the Memorial Day columbine, are from the garden of my friend the Hoffinator, who was feeling under the weather yesterday.

ROG

S is for Swearing

There's a podcast called Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing. She recently talked about Swear Words in Text. It's interesting, as usual. One of the things I learned - or relearned, having heard it years ago, but forgotten - is that the use of a string of characters used to represent cursing - e.g. @#$%&! - is called a grawlix.

I've had long-running debates over the use of curse words, sometimes even with myself. On the one hand is the influence of the late comedian George Carlin, who when describing the NSFW seven words you can't say on television. Why word A but not word B? Word C is bad but only in context. "There are 400,000 words in the English language, and there are 7 you can't say on television. What a ratio that is! 399,993...to 7. They must really be baaaad."

On the other side, I've long been convinced that the indiscriminate use of cursing diminishes its efficacy. A couple personal tales:

About 20 years ago, I was tired and hanging out at my then-girlfriend's house when she came back with some mutual friends. One of them told a joke I thought was offensive; it involved a Jamaican and his organ, and I don't mean musical instrument. I didn't say anything initially, but eventually, it bugged me so much that I said something to the teller of the tale. She immediately apologized. But her friend said, dismissively, "Oh, you don't have a sense of humor." To her, I yelled, "F*** you!"

[An alternative definition of grawlix is to "directly replace some letters in the swear word with asterisks. So instead of just typing random symbols, you replace a swear word with something like f***. That method usually leaves enough information so people can work out what the word is meant to be, but the offensive word isn't actually typed." You DO know what I said, don't you?]

I'm telling this two-decades-old story to one of my work colleagues recently. I deliver the punchline and I thought her teeth would fall out. In the nearly two years she's know me, she had never heard me use that word before. Which, I suppose, is the point: overuse of curse words makes them lose their efficacy.

At left: from Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Guilty Pleasures - would this be more effective without the grawlix? Some think so, but I do not.


This is not to say that I never swear. Nine years ago this week, I stepped on a nail that went through my sneaker. I am quite certain that a few expletives were uttered.

There was a period in my twenties where I used words that weren't curses in American English, such as bloody and bollocks, but fortunately, that passed.

I guess I DO rail against the "everyone talks that way" mantra that seemed to be popular in some circles as some sort of justification of what seems to me to be lazy speaking and writing. I was reminded in the current Entertainment Weekly magazine that the rapper Eminen literally cursed out Will Smith for NOT using expletives, which I just thought was wrongheaded.

Oh, and there's a five-year-old in my house who I DON'T curse in front of. I've been told, "She'll hear it eventually anyway"; that is both true and irrelevant. I'm the parent; I'm modeling, dammit, er, darn it.

There's a friend of mine, a good church-going fellow, who used to curse when he played racquetball, usually at himself; he called himself a MFCS. I've noticed since he stopped doing that recently, he plays better. Coincidence? Maybe.

Here's a song Daddy Could Swear by Gladys Knight and the Pips Totally safe for work.

I have this friend I've known for about 50 years who uses on particular curse SO effectively, I have to laugh. The word starts with A and has seven letters. Speaking of which, that's the title of this song by Beck. It is the juxtaposition of the musicality of the tune with the word which makes it oddly fascinating. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover this song on the She's the One Soundtrack.

And, as I've noted, sometimes swearing IS appropriate. Go to the Arthur at AmeriNZ blog and click on the NSFW video there about homophobia. Not only might one say the language is justified, again the sweetness of the tune tends to be a fascinating counterpoint to the word.


ROG