R is for Rock and/or Roll

I was reading my Beatlefan magazine this month and there was a discussion of the album "The Beatles" that had a stark white cover, in contrast with the elaborately colorful predecessor Sgt. Pepper. Beatles' producer George Martin opined that it would have made a great single album, and maybe it it would have. Though Paul McCartney famously replied, "It's great. It sold. It's the bloody Beatles' White Album. Shut up." . But what to cut?

Then Internet friend Scott actually made a pared-down list, and that has has forced me to TRY to do the same.

Understand that I heard this album in late November or early December 1968, 40 years ago, when it was brand new. I was in the basement of the Unitarian church in Binghamton in upstate New York, hanging out with Steve, who was a member of the church's LRY (Liberal Religious Youth) group plus other friends of ours. And we listened to the whole thing sitting around in a circle. We were gobsmacked by the experience. I received the album for Christmas that year, but had to return it because the intro to Birthday skipped; this was, as I recall, a problem for a number of people, not just me.


Side one
# Title Length
1. "Back in the U.S.S.R." 2:43
2. "Dear Prudence" 3:56
3. "Glass Onion" 2:17
4. "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" 3:08
5. "Wild Honey Pie" 0:52
6. "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" 3:14
7. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (George Harrison) 4:45
8. "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" 2:43
Side two
# Title Length
1. "Martha My Dear" 2:28
2. "I'm So Tired" 2:03
3. "Blackbird" 2:18
4. "Piggies" (Harrison) 2:04
5. "Rocky Raccoon" 3:32
6. "Don't Pass Me By" (Starkey) 3:50
7. "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" 1:41
8. "I Will" 1:46
9. "Julia" 2:54
Side three
# Title Length
1. "Birthday" 2:42
2. "Yer Blues" 4:01
3. "Mother Nature's Son" 2:48
4. "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" 2:24
5. "Sexy Sadie" 3:15
6. "Helter Skelter" 4:29
7. "Long, Long, Long" (Harrison) 3:04
Side four
# Title Length
1. "Revolution 1" 4:15
2. "Honey Pie" 2:41
3. "Savoy Truffle" (Harrison) 2:54
4. "Cry Baby Cry" 3:01
5. "Revolution 9" 8:22
6. "Good Night" 3:11

Strategically, I suppose what to keep is of some import. One has to have one Ringo vocal. The drummer left the band during the making of the album and had to be wooed back. While selecting the song he wrote years earlier, Don't Pass Me By, might have been more pleasing to him, Lennon's Good Night is a more pleasant tune. Likewise one needs two Harrison songs; Guitar and Savoy Truffle are the strongest. I need to keep some, but not all of Paul's dance hall tunes. If we keep Obladi, the reference to it in Savoy makes more sense. I suppose we'll dump the "obvious" Revolution 9 and Wild Honey Pie. I'm also dumping Revolution 1 only because Revolution became a single.

In fact, if it had been cut down to a single LP, wouldn't there have been another single instead? Other than the songs chosen for inclusion, I'm thinking that Glass Onion might have stood alone, with all those insider Beatles' references, backed with one of McCartney's pretty ballads - I'll pick Mother Nature's Son.
Which leaves:
Side 1
1. "Back in the U.S.S.R." 2:43
2. "Dear Prudence" 3:56
3. "Blackbird" 2:18
4. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (Harrison) 4:45
5. "Julia" 2:54
6. "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" 3:08
7. "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" 2:43
Side 2
1. "I'm So Tired" 2:03
2. "Birthday" 2:42
3. "Yer Blues" 4:01
4. "Savoy Truffle" (Harrison) 2:54
5. "Sexy Sadie" 3:15
6. "Helter Skelter" 4:29
7. "Good Night" 3:11
I'm trying to think as they might have. "Julia", about John's mother, wouldn't be cut. Most of the other songs, notably "I Will", would have shown up in other albums, either by the Beatles or solo. "Rocky Raccoon" is the cut I least enjoyed making.
Alternately, "Ob-la-di" is the single, b/w "Savoy Truffle". but that involves perhaps a different song selection altogether.

What sayest thou?

ABC Wednesday
ROG

The Times They Are A Changin'

You may have seen this cover of a fake New York Times that was being distributed last week. If you want a PDF of the whole thing, it's here. We're not at that point in the headlines, of course, but I'm pleased with the transition website. I like that openness. Naturally, he's still being coy about his Cabinet. (Wanna guess and win a prize?) The speculation that Hillary Clinton might be named Secretary of State has this town all a-buzz, mostly concerning who might succeed her in the Senate.

Speaking of the New York Times, the REAL paper had a great article earlier this month about the imperial Presidency of George W. Bush. (Free login required.) The Dan Rather fights back piece intrigues me. There was also another article that caught my attention, "Can Obama Help Kill Baggy Pants Look?"
"P. Rubinstein, a sociology professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, agreed. 'It's very clear that what a president wears has an impact on the population,' she said. Not everyone believes that words alone are enough. One doubter is Alan Flusser, a designer of men's wear in Manhattan who has written several books on fashion. When it comes to Mr. Obama and the brotherhood of the sagging pants, 'I don't think his commenting on it one way or another is going to influence anybody,' Mr. Flusser said."

And I've finally discovered Rachel Maddow, who laid out in six minutes why the Dems should strip Joe Lieberman of his chair of the Homeland Security Committee. It's not about 60 "Democratic" senators - would you trust this man to be the 60th person in a cloture vote? - or revenge over Joe supporting Johnny Mac, but about competence (or lack thereof) in the job he has had:
or here.

But there were a couple stories that made me remember that the country's still a scary place. A member of a group linked to the Ku Klux Klan has been charged with murder following the death of an Oklahoma woman who was recruited via the internet to Louisiana, but subsequently tried to leave an initiation ceremony. The KKK. In 2008. Ain't that ducky?

Much closer to home is this hate crime apparently part of a pattern of violence which was stirred up in part by the rhetoric of a local politician. After I wrote this, I discovered that Greg also touched on this topic, proving the "great minds" theorem; and Common Dreams likewise had a story.

So lest we get all warm and fuzzy about "change", know that "change" is a process, not just a flick of a switch. Or even a voting lever.

ROG

Mom's birthday

My mother turns 81 today. Happy birthday, mom.

We've established that she doesn't want any more "stuff" for her birthday, or, for that matter, for Christmas. In fact, our present for her 80th birthday was the removal of a half ton of trash. Being four or five states away, that's not always an option.

Generally, gifts now are consumable (food, postage stamps) or disposable (flowers, e.g.).

So this is what I wish for my mom: clarity. She seems...stuck. Without getting into it too much, she often talks, thinks and worries about people, places and things that she has NO control over. People who disappointed her from many years ago, in large part. I wish she could just let it go, maybe write letters to these deceased folk to rant at them.

Lest you ask, I don't think this is a function of Alzheimer's. She was checked for hat last year. The pattern of behavior long predates that.

One of my sisters, who lives with her, is at her wit's end as to what to do. That I would talk about it this much expresses my own sense of helplessness in the situation. I'm open to suggestions. Perhaps it is that the children should just let it be.


ROG

Joe Fludd's Raoul Vezina Recollection

Raoul Vezina was part of a very special experience in my youth. You have to understand what it was like back then, when I was in high school. Star Wars Episode IV had just been released, and the phenomenon of that film was so new that no one yet realized that it was in fact the fourth episode in a saga. The whole culture around science fiction, comics, and imaginative gaming that we have today was just a seed barely sprouted. I envy the outlets for these kinds of things that kids have today. When I was that age, I was a devotee--someone who took comic books and science fiction completely to heart and made it what my life was about--surrounded by dabblers who had more time for things like girls, soccer, cars, and computers (and in time, alcohol and drugs) than for the things that were important to me. (I wasn't even out to myself as gay yet.) I had visited only one comic-book specialty store in my life, the one in the Pike's Place Public Market in Seattle, and I'd only had a chance to linger there briefly while visiting relatives. When FantaCo Enterprises opened in Albany when I was a Junior in high school, it felt as if it had opened up just for me. It was a place where I was in my own element. And there was Raoul.

While I felt isolated as a young person, at least people respected the things I could do as an artist and a writer. Everyone thought I was good--my classmates, my teachers--and I was accustomed to being able to attract a crowd in school just by opening my sketchbook. But with Raoul at FantaCo, it was different. He, too, was an artist, though he had about ten years or so on me. He was out of school, working at a comic book shop, and wanted to establish himself in his profession. Our professional interests were a bit different; he was more of a humor cartoonist and I was a strict super-hero guy. But Raoul was someone who "got" me in a way that most other people didn't. His friendship and approval were special to me. The acceptance and encouragement I got from Raoul were acceptance and encouragement from "within the tribe". I remember one Sunday evening when Raoul and store owner Tom Skulan were guests on a radio talk show on what was then our "album rock" station, WQBK-FM, and I made a point of calling in and helping them keep the conversation about comics, and imaginative things in general, interesting. (As if they needed it.) It was a little taste of being part of something that mattered to me.

Raoul was one of those people who made you believe there was room for one more under his wing. He always had time to look at what I was doing, or chat up the latest developments in The Fantastic Four or The X-Men or whatever I was reading. When I talked about something that interested me, Raoul actually knew what I was talking about and could discuss it intelligently. He knew the artists I liked and understood the kinds of things I wanted to accomplish. FantaCo was a place where I didn't feel isolated, and Raoul was an important part of the reason why. He introduced me to visiting artists. I remember Raoul was there the first time anyone asked me to sign anything. I was talking to comic artist Joe Staton, who was visiting the store. He did a sketch for me and looked at some of my stuff. A little boy shopping at the store watched us, and when Joe was done with me, the little boy asked for MY autograph. I couldn't believe it. I mean, I gave him an autograph, but I couldn't believe anyone would ask me such a thing. Raoul, bless him, wasn't the least bit surprised. He was just that kind of guy.

When FantaCo would have its conventions at The Egg in Albany's Empire State Plaza, Raoul would let me come behind the artist's table in the last hours of Sunday's activities and sit with the pros and draw and sign things for fans. These are among my most precious memories of my student days. They made me feel as if the things I imagined for myself were actually possible. It was Raoul who gave me that experience, which I'll always treasure. After the FantaCon, he'd invite me to have dinner out with him and the other guest artists as if I were one of them. Sometimes, in the summer, when I went in to the store to get my weekly stash, Raoul would come out to lunch with me at a little cafe next to the store. There we'd be, two artists, two friends, two members of the comic-book community, having a bite and enjoying each other's company. That meant the world to me.

Raoul and I would have our respective Moms come to the FantaCon as well. Raoul's mother was a gentle, soft-spoken, old-world-type lady. I thought she was adorable. Raoul liked my Mom too. One day after the Con, Raoul remarked to me, "We're just a couple of mother lovers." It was such a "Raoul" thing to say.

When I went into the store one afternoon to get my comics and found Raoul's obituary posted on the bulletin board, I thought it was a joke. He was 35 years old; how could he have died? It was just unreal. It still seemed unreal--surreal, even--when I went to the funeral in Troy. At the burial, I met and spoke to his sister, and it finally hit me that he was actually gone; that I would never see or speak to him again, that we would never again do any of the things we did together. I collapsed in tears, openly weeping in my friend Walter's arms. We all went out to brunch afterwards, and I began to let go of everything but the memories. Those, I'll always keep.

I don't know if it's possible for me or anyone else, really, to do justice to the memory of someone like Raoul Vezina. He was just too special. But Raoul's friendship was one that occupied an extra special place in my young life. I think he set a good example of how to be in the world, and how to treat people. There were so many things he could have done and so many things he could have accomplished, had his life not been cut so short. But the friendships he made, including mine, are, I think, an achievement in themselves.

J.A. (Joe) Fludd, a native of Albany, was a contributing writer to The FantaCo Chronicles series. He was also a contributing artist to Gay Comics, for which he drew the super-hero feature Sentinel (later Pride). He was a regularly featured writer at the Fantastic Four Website, FF Plaza (www.ffplaza.com), whose articles have been archived there for perusal. Joe spent six weeks at Paramount Pictures serving a Screenwriting Internship with the TV series Star Trek Voyager after submitting an unproduced script for The Outer Limits as a writing sample. J.A. Fludd's art is showcased at The Quantum Male Art Blog (http://qmaleart.blogspot.com) and on Comicspace (www.comicspace.com/quantumartist), which house many of the works he has done for auction on eBay and for private commission. J.A. Fludd also donates original art to the annual Wonder Woman Day charity auction event (www.wonderwomanmuseum.com/WWDay3/WWDay3.html). ROG

Feeling crummy

I've been feeling lousy pretty much since Election Day. (Not feeling lousy BECAUSE of Election day; much to the contrary.) But I've had a sore throat and insomnia for about a week and a half. So I'm going to take a nap.

Meanwhile, you can read what I wrote here about racism, sexism and homophobia.

I'm also going to suggest reading this article by conservative columnist Kathleen Parker. While I don't know that I subscribe to the conclusion suggested in the title, "Relief from weight of our racial burden", I found the story touching.
***
RIP, Miriam Makeba. My father was a big fan, and he infused that appreciation into me.
or here.
***
Pic from the Star Trek pic next summer.
***
Urban Dictionary : New Entry
Palin
An applicant lacking even basic job skills
Someone supremely un-self-aware or lacking any relative sense of what he/she does or doesn't know.
HR sent me another Palin for the marketing manager job.
Palin v.
to abandon one's principles for short term gain
Tom, a devout vegan, palined when he consumed a happy meal solely to obtain the collectible toy it contained.
Palin n.
Pejorative term that refers to an incompetent, impractical, irrelevant or incapable person who has been appointed to a position of great importance.
A person who holds authority disproportionate to his or her requisite ethics and qualifications. Derived from John McCain's controversial 2008 Vice Presidential pick, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
John was recently made principal, but everybody thinks he's a Palin who can't do the job.
My new boss is such a Palin - he took my deserved place because the CEO is his personal friend.
***
Finally, I thought this post by Mr. Frog was terribly snarky. And terribly funny.
ROG

The TV Season

I must admit that it was my intention not to add any new shows to my list of programs to record on my DVR and (presumably) eventually watch. From a DVR at 0% on Labor Day, the machine got filled up to about 77% on Halloween weekend, and currently is is the mid 50% range.

As always, we have shows that are hers, hers, theirs, mine and ours.

HERS (the wife):
Skating. Unfortunately, the ISU series, save for Skate America, is not airing on any TV network, broadcast or cable. Apparently, this is a particularly big deal since we're leading into an Olympic year and it'll be easier to handicap the skaters once you've seen them on the Grand Prix circuit.
Also one of those home improvement shows on HGTV.

HERS (the daughter):
Little Bear. A nice show on Noggin co-created by Maurice Sendak.

THEIRS:
Dancing with the Stars. Even I know that 82-year-old Cloris Leachman stuck around longer than her talent would suggest based on her bawdy charm.

MINE:
This Week/Meet the Press/ABC World News - current.
Everything else is at least a week behind, including JEOPARDY!, CBS Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes. Also watching:
Boston Legal: yes, I know, but it's the last season. There was actually a pretty good episode, one lacking with most of the supporting cast, in which Kyle Secor (Homicide) played the accused murderer and husband of Alan Shore's former loves.
Pushing Daisies: frankly, I thought this show was too whimsical last season to survive, but ABC brought back virtually everything except Men in Trees. I expect it to get canceled THIS season. BTW, some kind person sent me this link to video content they had received directly from ABC, a new “Inside with the Stars” of Pushing Daisies
or here.
Dirty Sexy Money: my unapologetic soap opera trash, and I liked Peter Krause from Sports Night and Donald Sutherland from so many things, most recently, Commander in Chief.
Grey's Anatomy: more tolerable since Grey and McDreamy have decided to actually have their damn relationship.
Life on Mars: One of the adds to the list. Jason O'Mara has intrigued me going back to a short-lived show called In Justice in 2006. Since then he was a love interest in Men in Trees and an arsonist on The Closer. Additionally, I lived in NYC albeit in 1977, not 1973, but it feels right. Interestingly, this is a short-lived British show that moved to a Los Angeles setting with the cast above to a disastrous result. It now has the cast pictured here and a different venue.
Brothers and Sisters: if you've ever had siblings...

OURS:
With the exception of one Earl and one Office, we've watched NOTHING on this list- My Name Is Earl, The Office, and at the suggestion of my wife, an add, 30 Rock.

So I never complain about TV shows being pre-empted. There's always something in the queue. Frankly, I looked forward to November 12, when the CMA Music Awards scuttled the entire ABC lineup for Wednesday.

And no, I'm not adding anything else. I'm sure there are perfectly good shows out there, like How I Met Your Mother (saw once) or Eli Stone or those geeky guys on that CBS Monday sitcom. I'm not going to get invested in Lost or Heroes or Desperate Housewives at this point. Hey, I added 30 Rock.

ROG

His Name is Raoul

This is Part 3. Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here.

Monday morning, November 14, 1983, Tom Skulan calls me at FantaCo and asks me whether Dee had called me. I thought this was a peculiar question. Dee, who was Raoul’s ex-girlfriend but still friend, had never called me to that point. Tom told me Raoul had died the day before, and I said, "Okay" and went back to work. About 10 minutes later I decided I should call my ex-girlfriend Susan and tell her. After letting her know, I realized, "Oh my God, Raoul died," and I never mentioned it again that day. You would think that would be difficult, given the fact that I was going to be working the front of the store that day, but Raoul was working a Tuesday to Saturday schedule, and most people would not have expected him on Monday. They didn’t ask; I didn’t bring it up.

The next day we were faced with how to let people know that Raoul was deceased. While he was actually on vacation, most people would figure he was scheduled to work. Fortunately, his obituary had appeared in that morning’s newspaper. So as I sat at the front counter and people invariably asked me where Raoul was, I could point to the obit which I had taped to a piece of black construction paper and had hung on the wall opposite the counter.

Invariably, the first thing that came out of almost every person’s mouth was "You’re kidding!" Naturally, they didn’t mean that literally, but I heard that phrase a whole lot that day. It was so much easier just to point than to have to say the words again. But I attempted to comfort the customers who needed to process this awful news. Later that day, Raoul’s mother Betty and Raoul’s sister Maria came into the store along with Maria’s boyfriend. Maria hugged me for about four minutes, which felt like a LONG time. She and her mother asked Tom and me to be pallbearers at the funeral.

Raoul's Nostromo Cap poster, recently discovered by Bill Anderson
Thursday evening was the wake. Fantaco employees Broome Spiro, Bill Anderson, and a number of others went over to the funeral home in Troy. Open casket. Damn. Eventually I made a quick pass at the lifeless body, but mostly talked to people as far away as I could from that part of the room.

Friday, the store was closed, of course, as we attended the funeral. The priest gave a homily that, while pleasant enough, didn’t seem to have anything to do with the Raoul we knew. He talked about Raoul drawing pictures of Christ and other fiction. But worse, he kept getting his name wrong. He repeatedly referred to him as Ralph. Ralph did this, Ralph did that. We all grimaced. Finally someone, and I didn't even know then who it was, yelled, "HIS NAME IS RAOUL!" The priest continued, but at least he got the name right. After the ceremony, I went with a number of people from the band Blotto to a restaurant in Troy and we swapped tales about our friend Raoul.


ROG

Q is for Quadricentennial

Q turned out to be one of the easier letters for me, for 2009 marks the 400th anniversary of a trip taken by Henry Hudson which directly led to the founding of Albany, NY, where I've lived for the past 29 years. In 1609, Hudson was looking for an easterly passage to Asia, commissioned by the Dutch East India Company.

After crossing the Atlantic Ocean, his vessel, the Halve Maen (Half Moon), after first sailing down to the Chesapeake Bay with a sister ship, eventually traveled into New York Harbor and proceeded up what is today called the Hudson River. It made it about 150 miles, as far as what is now Albany before he was forced to turn around by waters that were too shallow. He realized that the river that would come to eventually bear his name was not a westerly passage to Asia.

Eventually, on the western shore, a settlement was established in what became the cqapital of New York State.


But this is not just a celebration of one city but of an entire region. Check out this site, or better still, this one for a list of events during the upcoming quadricentennial year. Also, check out this video, which will explain things somewhat.


ROG

Fallen soldiers, fallen leaves

I associate the raking of falling leaves with Veterans Day. Some of this is at the mundane level. One November 10, I raked the leaves so well, and then the next day, more dropped so that it appeared that I had made no effort at all. It seems that the leaves all fall almost at once. I can tell it was last Thursday in the front of my house, with leaves covering up half of the windshield of the car.

The linkage, however, is also more subtle. One rakes the leaves early on, and one feels a sense of accomplishment. In that second and third pass over the same terrain, though, the law of diminishing returns kicks in. Is it REALLY worth the effort to go over that ground again?

War must feel like that. In the beginning, everyone, at least everyone who's in charge of executing the war, must have a sense of the rightness of their duty. As the war drags on, though, do doubts settle in?

I always wondered about extremely long wars. In year 37 of the 100 Years' War, do the leaders remember what the point was. By year 73, all the leaders are most certainly dead, and all there is to hold onto is an abstraction. "For England!" or whatnot.

I came across this video about World War I, the end of which we are celebrating its 90th anniversary today. It's not all gunfire, as the first minute or two might suggest, but has music of the period.

As you may know, WWI was so awful that it was thought that it must certainly be the "war to end all wars." The League of Nations was formed and the world lived peacefully ever after, or so the script read. Here's a list of wars most of them since 1918, with casualties when available.

I guess we'll keep on trying for peace, regardless of our inability to achieve it.

The JEOPARDY Anniversary

It's been 10 years this week since the episodes of JEOPARDY! on which I appeared aired. I'm not going to do a play-by-play of that time, which you can find here, but to make some observations about what it's meant to me. Oh, and give my Alex Trebek rant.

I should note that I wasn't the first JEOPARDY! winner from the Capital District, or even the first champion in 1998. That honor goes to Linda Zusman, an Albany teacher.

Nor was I the most successful JEOPARDY! player, even in my own neighborhood. That honor goes to Paul Glaser, who won five games and made it to the Tournament of Champions in 2007. (Say, wasn't that his wife Amanda who as on in October 2008?)

I did, however, have one advantage that added to my local notoriety, and it's that old real estate credo: location, location, location. My shows were taped in September in Boston, rather than in southern California. This meant that WTEN-TV, Channel 10 in Albany, sent a reporter and crew to interview me. Some of the piece was shown in September, the rest in November when the JEOPARDY! show actually aired. The reporter, by the way, was Bianca de la Garza, who, perhaps not coincidentally, is a reporter in Boston.

After I was interviewed by Bianca before I taped my episodes, I figured I was done. But no, Sharman Saccetti of Channel 18 in Elmira also wanted to talk with me. That station showed JEOPARDY! in Binghamton, my hometown. Sharman, who played a mock game of JEOPARDY! with Bianca and another reporter and appeared to be winning, subsequently had a stint at WTEN in Albany as well. I ALSO spoke to a reporter from Plattsburgh.

JEOPARDY! in Boston was also a big deal for both the program and Boston. The program set up a special area on its webpage, now partially defunct. Meanwhile, the Boston papers, including the Christian Science Monitor, all did stories. The September 19, 1998 Boston Globe story by M. R. Montgomery, "A Chance At Fame For $100, Alex: N.H. Woman Finds It's Not Easy Being In 'jeopardy!'" noted that 3,200 citizens roared for the new "Jeopardy!" set, for the assistant producer". It also featured two photographs of me, one with two of my competitors, including the New Hampshire woman, Amy Roeder, and one with Amy, me and a JEOPARDY! staffer.

JEOPARDY! out of the house was so much a big deal that I discovered shells of Internet Movie Database posts about it in English and Italian.

After the shows aired - I'll say this: I started a round thrice in my two games - I got mentioned in the paper along with Linda Zusman. then I got mention AGAIN as a run of Capital District residents succeed at the game. I even called a few of them.

Then I got quoted in the local paper a couple times. Once was during the Ken Jennings run. I said it at the time, and I haven't changed my mind - the abolition of the five-day rule, while great for Ken Jennings and a few others, had a deleterious effect on the game. The season Jennings won most of this games, there was a three-game winner in the Tournament of Champions, and that was just WRONG. I also got quoted in a story about American Idol when a local contestant had to keep a secret about the results for over a month; I LOVED keeping the secret for seven weeks. But I wish that they had doubled the values of the clues a few seasons earlier.

Anyway, I'll never say the word "charisma" ever again. Oh, yes: I work for the New York State Small Business Development Center. I've taken 10 years of grief for not mentioning THAT on the show.

My Trebek complaint: most contestants have pictures of themselves with Alex Trebek; my pic is a solo. And the reason is this; for reasons known only to him, he did the rabbit-ears thing with his fingers behind me! I know his only because I caught us in a monitor. I think it annoys me more now than it did then.

One of the perks is that people now think that I know stuff, whereas when I was merely a librarian with a Masters in Library Science, not so much. I wish future contestants well, especially a couple from the Albany area I know who have tried out; you know who you are.



Photo of the Wang theater in Boston used with permission of Brian C. Dominy.

ROG

Chaos Never Dies Day

This is Chaos Never Dies Day

But What is Chaos?
Chaos is a tricky thing to define.
I had read that the term at sixes and sevens referred to chaos.
Chaos is a quarterly journal devoted to increasing the understanding of nonlinear phenomena and describing the manifestations.
Here's a trailer for the movie Chaos Theory.
Jefferson Airplane › We Can Be Together
We are forces of chaos and anarchy
Everything they say we are we are
And we are very
Proud of ourselves

ROG

What did you REALLY think? QUESTIONS

Regardless of who you WANTED to win on Tuesday, what did you REALLY think would happen? Go ahead, admit it You thought there'd be another Florida 2000. My guess for that was Missouri, which IS very close for McCain...NOT THAT IT MATTERS.

I thought:
Obama would win, initially with 364 electoral votes, as noted here. But I got nervous and changed to 311. He's at 365, including one in Nebraska with Missouri still in doubt, so I should have stayed with my first instinct. Incidentally, I favor the Maine/Nebraska model of allocating electoral votes by Congressional district, with only the two votes going to the statewide winner. If only we could do something about the gerrymandering that tends to make certain districts heavily leaning towards one party or another.
Hey, does anyone know someone who could look at the last several Presidential elections to ascertain what the Electoral College vote would have been had the Maine/Nebraska model been in place NATIONALLY?

I knew Sen. Liddy Dole was going down in NC, and deservedly so.

I thought Sen. Ted Stevens would lose in AK; if he wins, I think the Senate will boot him, and the governor of Alaska (who is the governor of Alaska, I wonder) will pick someone, perhaps herself.

I was disappointed that the anti-gay marriage proposals went down, but was surprised only in CA.

I'm sorry Chris Shays, the last Republican in the House from New England, will be gone.

I guessed a pickup of 7 Senate seats and 29 House seats for the Democrats; so far, 5 Senate seats and at least two dozen House seats.

I was hoping Linda Hall would win in the race for Onondaga County Clerk, if only because we went to church together when we were kids. Onondaga County includes Syracuse, NY.

I'm not surprised that Rahm Emanuel's heading Obamas's staff. I saw him on Meet the Press with MN Gov. Tom Pawlenty and had him for lunch.

I was surprised by the margin (61-39) of victory for Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, in
the Congressional district adjacent to mine, a Democrat running in a GOP district who won last time largely because of domestic violence allegation against the imncumbent. Her opponent this time, Sandy Treadwell, is rich and spent lots of money. In fact, this may have been the most expensive House race in the country. Part of Gillibrand's district is Rensselaer County, where Obama did less well against McCain than Kerry did against Bush.
***
Someone I know well says he'll have me defenestrated if I don't show up to this:

Monday, 4:30 PM Albany Law School. "Maggie Thompson on the big screen, free Buffy comics, and hot food after. What more could you ask for?" More hours in the day. Say, does anyone know what "defenestrated" means? thanks to high school French, I guessed correctly.
***
Samhain Wax Magic by people I know.
***
Remembering John Leonard, who I particularly loved for over a decade and a half on CBS Sunday Morning. He was unapologetical erudite in a world where "dumbing down" seemed more popular.



ROG

Dear President-Elect Obama

Congratulations on your historic win. Not only am I glad that you were victorious, I'm happy that it wasn't decided by the interpretation of a few hundred hanging chads somewhere. You ran, for the most part, an excellent campaign. You gave a very moving acceptance speech, embracing those who did not support you. I'm betting even Condi Rice shed a tear or two of happiness. Not only black people, but white people, Asians, Hispanics and not insignificantly, those who identify as mixed race, were inspired that your election could happen in the United States of America.

Before I get too far into this, my condolences to you and your sister on the passing of your beloved grandmother. Her death, practically on the eve of the election, gave you no time to grieve properly.

Wow. I'm so used to voting for people who run for President and lose. I'm now 2 for 10.

One of the things I saw on the news that hadn't occurred to me was a story in a barbershop, the barbershop of Steve Osumsami of ABC News. One man noted that young black men can't going around saying they can't achieve because they didn't have a father around. He said he'd point out Barack Obama and note that a fatherless black child can become President.

I know you know what a big job you have. Moreover, you doubtless know how much you've already been undercut, perhaps less by your race and more by a bunch of pernicious lies that may have been a cover for race or a different form of "otherness". Some of it was particularly venal.

One of the effects of this particular poisoning of the well is that you will need to show that you're not part of some wacko conspiracy to undermine the country. One of the ways for you to do that is to do less.

Please follow me here. One of the most egregious things done by your soon-to-be-predecessor is his unprecedented grab of Presidential authority. Signing documents, secret dealings and other tools in the toolkit that made the last eight years far from the balance of power I believe the Founders intended. in fact, the reason I favored the impeachment of George W. Bush was not to punish him but to set limits on the authority of the executive branch.

Failing that, I think you can build confidence of the American people, both those who supported you, and perhaps even more, those who did not, by relinquishing, or at least not utilizing some of the more venal methodologies used by Bush 43. Transparency, rather than secrecy, needs to be the watchword. You have given a lot of people tremendous hope in our future, in spite of the bleak economic forecast. They will follow you a long way as long as they know what they are following.

To that end, i think your http://www.change.gov/ Change.gov website , which will be the "source for the latest news, events, and announcements so that you can follow the setting up of the Obama Administration" is a wonderful idea.

I do hope you can do something about health care, as you've indicated. I've found your story about your mother fighting insurance companies while fighting cancer deeply moving and I know will motivate you to have America do better.

Beyond that, I'll just wish you well. But I do have this thought: I realize that voting is a function of the states. Is there something you might champion that would champion some sort of nationwide early voting? Also, it 1polls open 12 hours for a Presidential election seems severely short when it means long lines, perhaps in inclement weather; it IS November, after all.

Finally, and I know it's a quirk, but you say, when answering questions, "Look" as a stalling tactic way too often. Watch the Fred Armisen parodies on Saturday Night Live. Hey maybe you can appear on SNL - all your opponents (Clinton, McCain, Palin) have. Maybe it'll be a sock it to me?" moment.

ROG

Raoul Vezina, Part 1

Raoul Vezina was born in January 1948, I believe in Troy, NY. As far as I can tell, he was always been a very generous and very talented soul.

Here’s a picture that he drew back when he was in high school, which he gave to his friend, Jim Strickland dated 12/13/65.

He was also a musician, playing keyboards and harmonica; these are photos of RV from 69/70 around Lemoyne College, also provided by Jim.

Eventually, he found his way to New Paltz, NY, a small college town about halfway between Albany and New York City. Michael T. Gilbert recalled that he played some kind of "electronic piano gizmo with a band that gigged at St. Blaise bar/restaurant" in town.

Michael and Raoul often collaborated on stories. Here are a couple of nice pieces that appeared in 1973 in the first issue of Michael's New Paltz Comix underground.

Michael noted that he and Raoul "either met at the local drugstore (fighting over the latest comics!) or at the school newspaper office, where we both contributed cartoons. We hit it off and decided to collaborate on a page for the first issue of New Paltz Comix, which was originally to be published by the school paper. When they dropped the ball, I took over and printed it myself. I later published three more issues, and Raoul and I collaborated on a neat sci-fi story, "Rubber Soul", for the second issue. Raoul's work appeared in all four issues, and he was my favorite contributor to those comics."


I first met Raoul in 1973 or 1974. When I first started collecting comics a couple of years earlier, my friend Mark and I used to have to hop into his car and drive five miles to a newsstand trying to find a copy of our letter four-color fix that wasn’t totally wrinkled from being jammed into the spinner rack. Then a guy named Peter Maresca opened a comic book store right in downtown New Paltz called the Crystal Cave. Oddly, Peter wasn’t all that interested in comic books. He was much more interested in comic strips and would diligently clip strips from the Sunday paper and put in protective coverings. This is, by the way, the same Peter Maresca who’s involved in publishing Little Nemo in Slumberland and other comic strip books.

So it fell to the guy running the front of the store, Raoul Vezina, to create an atmosphere of welcoming and information about the comic book scene. And he did. As a customer, I always felt welcomed and understood at the Crystal Cave, and that was largely Raoul's doing.

And when I left New Paltz for the Capital District, I would find myself again the the Raoul's orbit.

ROG

P is for Popular Mechanics

I suppose I could have done a piece on politics or Presidents. I'm still processing (a good P word) on that concept of President-elect Obama, which makes this only the second time I've voted for a Presidential candidate who actually won. Maybe next time through the alphabet I'll expound on that.

Meanwhile, there was this list in Popular Mechanics magazine back in September about 100 Skills Every Man Should Know: 2008's Ultimate DIY List, which noted that "Brains and charm are fine, but a real guy needs to know how to do real stuff."

There were lots of comments about should and should not have been on the list, but I won't go there except that it tended to be carrist, i.e., automobile-oriented. This quiz does push some buttons for me, though, in that I am not what people would consider "handy". What they used to call Shop in 7th and 8th grades, dealing with wood and ceramics was a disaster for me.

Automotive

1. Handle a blowout - I suppose no
2. Drive in snow - no
3. Check trouble codes - what does this mean? Look at the gauges? That I can do.
4. Replace fan belt - no
5. Wax a car - this I've done, but not in a long time
6. Conquer an off-road obstacle - I don't even know what that means, but I'll say no
7. Use a stick welder - if I knew what a stick welder was, that would help
8. Hitch up a trailer - have done, though not lately
9. Jump start a car - have done this, but not lately

Handling Emergencies

10. Perform the Heimlich - I've actually successfully done this
11. Reverse hypothermia - I could do that
12. Perform hands-only CPR - I've actually trained to do that
13. Escape a sinking car - I had a recurring dream as a child about a sinking car; I think I could

Home
14. Carve a turkey - have done it
15. Use a sewing machine - not well
16. Put out a fire - yes, actually
17. Home brew beer - disinclined
18. Remove bloodstains from fabric - seems as though I've done this
19. Move heavy stuff - I've helped on over 100 moves, including a piano
20. Grow food - done this a few years ago
21. Read an electric meter - actually one thing I used to do all the time as a kid

22. Shovel the right way - I don't know what that means. But I do have an ergonomically correct shovel, so I'll say yes.
23. Solder wire - have done it
24. Tape drywall - have done it, did not enjoy
25. Split firewood - have done a while back
26. Replace a faucet washer - did this a while ago
27. Mix concrete - for some reason, did this, though not lately
28. Paint a straight line - not really, unless I'm using a straight edge
29. Use a French knife - don't know
30. Prune bushes and small trees - actually think I'm good at this; did it this summer
31. Iron a shirt - I can, but I don't enjoy it; that's why God created permanent press
32. Fix a toilet tank flapper - one of those things I was curious about as a kid and actually figured out
33. Change a single-pole switch - no
34. Fell a tree - never have even tried
35. Replace a broken windowpane - never tried
36. Set up a ladder, safely - I assume so
37. Fix a faucet cartridge - I'll say no
38. Sweat copper tubing - have done
39. Change a diaper - this I absolutely have accomplished
40. Grill with charcoal -yeah, but not lately
41. Sew a button on a shirt - I'll say no. I've actually done it, but it always takes me so long doing and redoing that I feel peevish.
42. Fold a flag - I'd need the manual, but I used to do it in Cub Scouts

Medical Myths

43. Treat frostbite - yes
44. Treat a burn -yes
45. Help a seizure victim - yes, on a city bus in Albany
46. Treat a snakebite - I've read how
47. Remove a tick - yes

Military Know-How
48. Shine shoes - I was actually good at this at one point
49. Make a drum-tight bed - absolutely not
50. Drop and give the perfect pushup - define "perfect"

Outdoors
51. Run rapids in a canoe - no
52. Hang food in the wild - ? let's just say no
53. Skipper a boat - no
54. Shoot straight - no
55. Tackle steep drops on a mountain bike - no thank you
56. Escape a rip current - I did this once, but I don't know how

Primitive Skills
57. Build a fire in the wilderness - probably not
58. Build a shelter - maybe
59. Find potable water - possibly

Surviving Extremes

60. Floods - haven't yet
61. Tornadoes - ditto
62. Cold - yes
63. Heat - yes
64. Lightning - hasn't been an issue

Teach Your Kids

65. Cast a line - no
66. Lend a hand - I try
67. Change a tire - she's not even five
68. Throw a spiral - ditto
69. Fly a stunt kite - what's "stunt kite"?
70. Drive a stick shift - no way
71. Parallel park - no
72. Tie a bowline - ?
73. Tie a necktie - maybe someday
74. Whittle - I don't whittle
75. Ride a bike - eventually; she has a trike

Technology
76. Install a graphics card - I don't do
77. Take the perfect portrait - trial and error
78. Calibrate HDTV settings - not yet applicable
79. Shoot a home movie - no
80. Ditch your hard drive - no

Master Key Workshop Tools
81. Drill driver - no
82. Grease gun - no
83. Coolant hydrometer - ? no
84. Socket wrench - possibly
85. Test light - ?
86. Brick trowel - no
87. Framing hammer - ?
88. Wood chisel - we have one
89. Spade bit - ?
90. Circular saw - we don't have one
91. Sledge hammer - have used one
92. Hacksaw - had one
93. Torque wrench - have used
94. Air wrench - ?
95. Infrared thermometer - no
96. Sand blaster - no
97. Crosscut saw - have used one
98. Hand plane - used one and ruined perfectly good items in shop
99. Multimeter - ?
100. Feeler gauges ?

Obviously, my very manhood is threatened.
ROG

Finally!

So here's the plan for the day: Get up at 5:45, throw on some clothes, walk the 5 blocks to my new polling place - my old one was less than 2 blocks away, but that library's being renovated.

Vote. This undercuts the need for anyone (this means YOU, Working Families Party) to have to CALL me to REMIND me to vote. I ALWAYS VOTE. (Can we get early voting someday, New York? Oh, you're arcane and backwards? I take that as a "no".) Also, I'll beat the crowds AND I'll have a fallback position to come after work, should the machines not be working.

Since my wife has the day off, she'll take the child to day care, so I can just go to play racquetball, then go to work. Try to ignore all polling news; I just don't care anymore.

Go home, eat dinner, do the evening routine with the child. Turn on TV at 9 pm EST and watch the voting results until shortly after the California polls close, then go to bed for a few hours, getting up early to see what was unresolved tonight.

I must say that Charlie Gibson of ABC News seemed a bit apoplectic last week about the early voting that's taking place, saying in essence, shouldn't all the voters have exactly the same opportunity to get as much information before pulling the lever, or whatever it is one does on an electronic machine? I think Evanier said it as well as anyone: "Seriously, a lot of us just want it over. How long has it been since you heard anything from either candidate that might have changed your mind?" Everything I hear now is preaching to the converted. Here's MY contribution to that effort:

***
Local (Albany County) advice.
***
My Personal 'Faith Priorities' for this Election by Jim Wallis of Sojourner Magazine
***
"The other day, a guy who played a game of basketball against Barack Obama said that Obama spent the whole game ‘trash talking.' He also said Obama's trash-talking is
eloquent, high-minded and inspirational."
— Conan O'Brien


ROG

The SKA questions

A friend of mine e-mailed this to me:

1. What time did you wake up this morning? 5:30 AM. this is actual;ly an improvement.
2. Diamonds or pearls? In order to do what?
3. What was the last movie you saw? Vicki Crisina Barcelona. I was going to go see Frozen River this past weekemnd, but the prospect of taking two buses each way simply didn't appeal to me.
4. What is your favorite TV show? Current: The Office; true for at least three years. All0-time, Dick van Dyke Show.
5. What do you have for breakfast? Spoon-Size Shredded Wheat mixed with Cheerios, the usual one weekdays; on weekends, it's oatmeal
6. What is your middle name? Owen. There was a period in junior high when my friends and I would address each other by our middle names.
7. What is your favorite CD at the moment? I have about nine CDs in rotation, including Brian Wilson, REM and Elvis Costello
8. What kind of car do you drive? I don't drive it, but we have - what is that Bryan Ferry song? - Avalon
9. What's your favorite sandwich? egg salad on wheat
10.What characteristic do you despise? injustice
11. Favorite item of clothing? slippers
12. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? San Francisco
13. Favorite brand of clothing? L.L. Bean
14. Where would you retire to? Qu'est-ce-que ce 'retire'?
15. What was your most recent memorable birthday? My 16th. My parents rented a place and I invited all my friends.
17. Furthest place you are sending this? So, I went to SiteMeter, and the farthest country appearing there was Thailand
18. Person you expect to send it back first? n/a
19. When is your birthday? March
20. Are you a morning person or a night person? Middle of the night
21. What is your shoe size? 10
22. Pets? none
23. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? we went to the open house for UAlbany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. I now know more about a buckyball than I ever wanted to
24. What did you want to be when you were little? A minister, then a lawyer
25. How are you today! reflective
26. What is your favorite candy? cherry Hershey kisses
27. What is your favorite flower? mums
28. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? tomorrow
29. What is your full name? Roger Owen Green
30. What are you listening to right now? Tom Petty box set
31. What was the last thing you ate? dinner last night: chicken, corn, potatoes
32. Do you wish on stars? hard to see the stars in the city, but I never did anyway
33. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? green, of course
34. Last person you spoke to on the phone? probably one of my sisters
35. Favorite restaurant? Justin's, where I proposed to Carol
36. Real hair color? WYSIWYG. Gray.
37. What was your favorite toy as a child? teddy bear
38. Summer or winter: summer
39. Hugs or kisses? hugs, unless they are romantic kisses...
40. Chocolate or Vanilla? vanilla. Did I ever tell this story? I was in 6th grade, and we were selecting ice cream for a party. I was out of the room, but came back and was asked when I returned. I was the ONLY one to pick vanilla.
41. Coffee or tea? tea, I suppose, in that I don't drink coffee, to some people's chagrin
42. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? I love comments
43. When was the last time you cried? there's always something
44. What is under your bed? books, slippers, the bathroom scale
45. What did you do last night? after dinner, did the child's bedtime routine, then bed
46. What are you most afraid of? boredom
47. Salt or sweet? sweet
48. How many keys on your key ring? 4
49. How many years at your current job? 16 last month
50. Favorite day of the week? Sunday
51. Do you make friends easily? depends on what you call friends
52. How many people will you send this to? billions and billions
53. How many will respond? millions and millions

3ROG

Web changes

Someone asked on a listserv, "Does anyone know of a service for tracking not just website changes, but exactly what content on the webpage changed?" As a result of the question, I joined ChangeDetect, a free web page monitoring system. It's my intention to add all of the web sites and blogs which I follow that do not offer an RSS feed, but I've only gotten around to tracking the website of my ol' friend Fred Hembeck thus far.

So how does it work? So far, fine, though the e-mail notification takes about a day from the actual site change. Still, when I actually get around to using it more frequently, it'll beats going to the page and seeing the same old stuff.
***
Blogger has this feature where it'll let you know when an RSS-equipped blog on the sidebar was last updated. I discovered, however, that if the blog poster says the post was entered two days ago, it'll note on my blog that the blog was posted two days ago.
***
I used to have something called Jigli on my side panel, a service that was creating a word cloud of my blog, which I liked. Unfortunately, it was creating an unintended consequence. It seemed to create what appeared to be hyperlinks on words that weren't actually hyperlinks. I thought it was just my computer, but when a good friend of mine saw the same thing, I deleted the Jigli and the problem went away.
***
I was on a listserv when someone provided info about a conference in Italy. One reader took great exception to this and said, "I saw the announcement for a conference that cost $15 to attend within driving range for most of New York State.
One does not need to spend hours on an international flight plus all of the money for staying in a hotel in order to present at a conference or to attend a conference." Others responded with comments such as "funding issues notwithstanding, some people may be interested in knowing this is happening. Why the need for the nasty responses?" ou'd be surprised how heated librarians can get.
Finally, I wrote: "To quote Sylvester Stewart: 'Different strokes for different folks And so on, and so on and scooby-dooby-doo.'" That generated a "Roger: Best. Post. Ever." and another positive comments. That made me feel really good!
***
I've got nothing pithy to say about the passing of Studs Terkel. I've read only one of his books - Working - though I did enjoy seeing him express his views in various venues. But here's a nice piece:
Studs Terkel: The Power of His Prose By Dennis Kucinich, October 31, 2008

Studs Terkel knew the real America. The America of grit and gumption, heart and soul, passion and nerve. He chronicled five generations of American history with a compassionate and deep understanding of the American character.

He was the quintessential American writer. He was our Boswell, our Whitman, our Sandburg. He was able to get people to open up and share their innermost thoughts and their deepest dreams. In the words of Kipling 'he walked with kings and never lost the common touch.'

Infused in each word he wrote and in his spoken word, he was a master story-teller and could regale groups for literally hours with his deep understanding of human nature its possibilities and its foibles. He was a person of great appetites and his greatest appetite was for the truth. America has lost a tribune of the people. But the power of his prose lives on.

Studs was a dear friend. My wife, Elizabeth, and I have enjoyed many visits in Studs's home. His good humor was a constant even during a visit a couple of years ago when he was recovering from heart surgery.

I was touched by the forward he wrote to my book, A Prayer for America. I'll never forget the encouragement he gave me to run for president in 2004.


ROG

QUESTION: THE QUESTION of the season

1. Regardless of your political persuasion, who do you think's going to win the US Presidential election. Will it be:
a. McCain wins the popular vote, but Obama wins the electoral college.
b. Obama wins the popular vote, but McCain wins the electoral college.
c. McCain wins both.
d. Obama wins both.

I'm leaning towards d, but fear b.

2. How will the swing states go? As of yesterday, Electoral Vote attributes MS, SD, WV, and AZ(!) as weak McCain, GA, IN, and MT as barely McCain, FL, MO, and NC as barely Obama, CO, NV, OH and VA as weak Obama, and ND a dead heat. What's interesting to me is how much bluer the map has gotten in some places and redder in others. AZ was solid McCain and MO barely McCain just last week, but IN moved from barely Obama. I expect Obama to win FL because of the Great Schlep. Traditionally, at least where I grew up, there were lots of blacks and Jews working together on civil rights issues so I'm hoping that translates to votes this year. The state Obama could win that would least shock me is Georgia. Not only is former Congressman Bob Barr running, but the early black vote has been strong, I've been told.
Actually, any state that isn't solid red may be in play for Obama. Maybe I'm crazy, but in the Evanier poll, I picked 364 electoral votes.

3. What will be the "Florida 2000/Ohio 2004" for 2008?

Of course, I fear shenanigans. This story about NM just one example. Here's a machine problem in WV. Democrats in Virginia are getting notices in the mail that tell them Democrats are to vote on November 5th instead of the 4th. Nevadans with Hispanic names are getting calls that they can vote by phone. In some places, letters are going out saying that when you show your ID, you'll be checked for outstanding warrants or parking tickets. I was hoping Ohio would be cleaner than before under new management, though indications suggest that its troubled history will be replicated.

And it may not even be intentional. This from a friend of a friend - NOT an apocryphal tale:
Although [the 89-year-old man] voted in the primary election, the Early Voting officials could not find his name or address on file. [The man and his daughter] went the Craven County (NC) Board of Elections office... The officials "tried to re-register him only to find Dad and his address no longer existed. Well guess what, they finally found him in their records only to inform me that he was listed as DECEASED as of 7/24/08 per the State of North Carolina. They were still unable to find his residence. I happened to have his tax papers in my pocket book but of course that didn't help. I was told that this problem was a mistake made in Raleigh and that it would be after the election before the problem could be fixed. Dad was given a Provisional Ballot and we were assured me that his vote would be counted.

If this happened to someone who voted in the primary, what about those elderly people who haven't voted recently? Here's hoping that everyone, who knows elderly persons who are planning to vote, tell them DO NOT WAIT UNTIL ELECTION DAY BECAUSE IT MAY BE TOO LATE. Make sure that they vote early just in case they have been listed as deceased and taken off the roll."

Still, I'll pick Missouri as the most likely trouble spot. There's no early voting, it's a significant state and it's in play. It may or may not matter at the end of the day, but there it is.

Other political notes:
Precautions to take. Albany-based, but may be useful to others.

Some see gold in 'Osama' ballot goof. Those Rensselaer County (NY) ballots that had Osama for Obama are going for $50 to $100 on Craigslist.

A Poem for The Young Voter.

And this gem from earlier in the month, which I missed:
7th-Grade teacher to students: Obama is a ‘N’-word. Angry parents in the northwest Florida community of Marianna want a middle school teacher fired after he put the “N”-word on the board to describe Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama. The Marianna Middle School teacher, Greg Howard, is now serving a 10-day suspension after writing an acronym on the dry-erase board on Sept. 26: “C.H.A.N.G.E. - Come Help A N*gg*r Get Elected.” But many parents want the 17-year teacher fired. The seventh-grade social studies teacher’s class has 17 White students, six Black students and one Asian student. Initially he was suspended for the day without pay, but that was elevated to the 10-day punishment. He must also write a letter of apology to students. “We feel like the punishment is sufficient,” Larry Moore, superintendent of the Jackson County School District, told The Detroit Free Press. “We did not feel he had to be fired.” NAACP officials say they will reserve their actions in the case until their investigation is complete.

ROG

Am I Going Bats Again?

Long-time readers of this page know that our house, the one that we moved into in May 2000, has had a live bat within its walls in 2002. And 2003. And 2004. And 2005. And 2006. And 2007,despite efforts in the last several years to patch the places on the roofline where we suspect the creatures are getting into the living quarters.

Well, it's the end of October, it's cold, and it's already SNOWED in Albany this week, FCOL, so I can say with some degree of confidence: in 2008, we were bat-free! Hurray!

Since it's Halloween, Lydia's going trick-or-treating with some kids from church. (No, I don't worry about these "pagan" rituals threatening my Christian faith or whatnot.) We DO have to make sure we go through what she gets to pick out those candies with nuts or peanuts, since she is allergic to the latter, and the former are often processed in the same place as the latter. This means that her poor mother, my poor wife, will have to eat all the Snickers bars and Reese's Pieces.

Meanwhile, thanks to Noggin, this is Lydia's and my favorite Halloween song this year, based on something Evanier hates, but which I actually like in small quantities; Lydia has never had them.

or here.

Coverville discovered this One-man Thriller A Cappella with a unique twist.

20 Horror Movie Clichés.

Haunted library

Why Orange and Black?

YES WE CARVE!
ROG

And the other thing

Last weekend was extremely busy. I went to a library discussion on Saturday afternoon, more about which I'm pretty sure I'll share eventually. That night, Carol and i got a babsitter (yay!), ate dinner at some place called the Pump Station, then went to the Palace Theatre to hear the Albany Symphony Orchestra participate in A Night of Italian Opera, celebrating Puccini's 150th birthday. There were selections by Verdi, Donizetti, Rossini, Puccini, of course, and others (Honoring the Capital Region's Italian-American Community.) The baritone was a last minute replacement for another singer, and he was good, but the other three especially the mezzo-soprano, were quite expressive. It was more fun that it may sound. Thanks to the couple who gave us the tickets.

Sunday after church and our church's stewardship luncheon, I went to a comic book show in Albany (actually Colonie) described by ADD here and here.

Monday, I took off from work so I could catch up on things. I did get to watch Bill Moyers. Instead of his usual recent fare of voter fraud, misleading political ads and of course the economic meltdown, he sat with Mark Johnson, "the producer of a remarkable documentary about the simple but transformative power of music: PLAYING FOR CHANGE: PEACE THROUGH MUSIC. The film brings together musicians from around the world — blues singers in a waterlogged New Orleans, chamber groups in Moscow, a South African choir — to collaborate on songs familiar and new, in the effort to foster a new, greater understanding of our commonality." You may have seen the Stand By Me video on Evanier's page, but there's lots more.
***
Uncharacteristically, I actually replied to Five For Friday this week.
ROG

ABC Wednesday: O is for Overheard

The conceit of this exercise is that everything I'm writing about I actually overheard in the last 30 days, and that every image (save for the video) is from a government website.

The guest minister preaching at the stewardship (read that money, among other things) service this past week noted that doing that kind of campaign in this economic atmosphere is "counterintuitive". Somehow, I loved that.

I often take the city bus, after dropping off my daughter at day care, in order to get downtown. A couple middle school girls were talking.
GIRL #1: What was English about?
GIRL #2: There were three witches...
at which point GIRL #2 hands over her notebook to GIRL #1. Less than five minutes later, GIRL #1 returns the notebook and says, "At least now I won't fail the quiz."
I wish I could have absorbed Macbeth in five minutes like that.

A couple days ago, a couple of middle school males were talking on the bus:
BOY #1: Hey, did you ever go snowboarding?
BOY #2: Yeah, but when you fall, it can really hurt.
BOY #1: How much can it hurt? You're falling on SNOW! I'm gonna try it this winter.

These middle schoolers are pretty loud; not raucous, but definitely at a higher volume than the general public. This week, when they got off, I said, to no one in particular, "Hey, listen to that." The college student behind me replied, "The rest is silence." She was quoting Hamlet, which may have been a paraphrase of Psalm 115:16-18, "The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth he hath given to the children of men. The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence. But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the Lord." But I thought she was quoting the Broadway musical "Hair", that verse in The Flesh Failures/Let The Sunshine In in which Claude reprises "Manchester England" and sings, "I believe in God, And I believe that God believes in Claude, That's me, that's me, that's me", while the chorus ends their response with "the rest is silence."



I was in the barbershop getting a trim when one of the barbers was making a comment about one of his previous customers who got a traffic ticket despite a warning from that barber. It was an interesting enough tale, but then a woman, waiting for her boyfriend to get finished with his haircut, exclaimed, "Oh, this is just like the movie 'Barbershop"!" Immediately, the whole barbershop went dead silent. No one likes being caricatured.

I was downtown when this man, a good 15 years older than I, walked over to me and said, "You look just like my grandfather." I'm assuming his now deceased, beloved grandfather. Many years ago.

I was riding my now departed bike when a woman, standing on the corner waiting for the light to change, scolded her daughter for being too close to traffic while she was literally walking circles around her mother a good six feet from the curb. "No one cares about anybody," she said. I thought that was very sad.

I was in the grocery store and heard this great song: OR this. I was even able to remember the original artist, the Main Ingredient. Better than the Aaron Neville cover, which I heard four days later.


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