Ramblin' with Roger

Sunday Stealing: Questions You Aren’t Used To

Dinosaurs, clearly

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

We stumbled upon a post on Blogography that promises to ask “questions you aren’t used to.” Well, after all the memes we’ve done, that’s a tall order! Of the 65 questions asked, we’ve stolen 10 of the most unique.

10 Questions You Aren’t Used To

1. What celebrity would you never want to meet?

He hosted a reality show called The Apprentice a number of years ago. His catchphrase was “You’re fired!” He was a real blowhard. His name escapes me.

2. What do you label yourself as?

A lot of things, usually depending on the situation. Most recently, it’s been progressive Christian, to distinguish me from the Christian nationalists. Coincidentally, I came across “Hymns that resist Christian nationalism. Two Presbyterian pastors and hymnwriters, the Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing and the Rev. Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, offer up a meaty workshop.”

But also a straight, cisgender, black, English-speaking male. Oh, and an American (a privileged lot, generally speaking)

Because of the sand, which is there

3. You can only have one sandwich for the rest of your life. You have every sandwich-making ingredient known to man at your disposal. What sandwich do you make?

Well, it’s a sub/hoagie/grinder/hero. Black Forest ham, pepperoni, Genoa salami, turkey, roast beef, spinach, tomato, onion, Swiss cheese, Russian dressing. The idea is that I could forgo some of the ingredients, making a different combo every day.

4. An angel provides you with a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. What’s it gonna be?

Kahlua. It’s strange, though: I believe I’ve only had two white Russians in the last year and a half.

5. Have you ever built a snowman?

Often as a child.

6. If you could ask your future self a question, what would it be?

Are you really there, or did we screw up the world? Some idiot recently used his alleged wartime powers to dole out $700m to ‘clean, beautiful’ coal.

7. Have you ever baked your own birthday cake?

I want to say yes, probably in my twenties or thirties, but I have no specific recollection.

8. Which are cooler: dinosaurs or dragons?

Dinosaurs, clearly. They were real; what we know about them has changed over time, et al. By contrast, the Dungeons and Dragons folks at college were… insular; Game of Thrones didn’t interest me…

Bambinos

9. What do you like about babies?

I find babies, generally, fun to try to entertain. I’ve been on buses with crying babies and their overwrought parent. I’ve made faces that will calm the child more than 80% of the time.

10. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. What’s the first rule you put in place?

Limited cellphone use, including no walking and texting/talking. In fact, what the heck, no cellphones at all. But landlines, including payphones, are allowed!

INSTEAD OF STEALING, LET’S BUILD OUR OWN MEME. Think of a question you’d like to ask and insert it here. If we get at least four good ones, we’ll do our own DIY meme in a week or two.

What information do you know that you are proud of/happy about, but others say, “WHO CARES?” (This comes from a very specific place.) BTW, the symbol above was referenced in the June 1 episode of JEOPARDY!

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

#1 R&B Hits for 1956

These are the #1 R&B Hits for 1956. There are a total of 79 weeks represented, as there were charts for Juke Boxes, Best Sellers, and those played by Disc Jockeys.

Honky Tonk (Parts 1 & 2) – Bill Doggett (King), 13 weeks at #1; #2 pop for three weeks

The Great Pretender – The Platters, 11 weeks at #1 (also #1 pop)

Blueberry Hill – Fats Domino (Imperial), 11 weeks at #1; #2 pop for three weeks

I’m In Love Again – Fats Domino (Imperial) , 9 weeks at #1; #3 pop for two weeks. Written by Domino and Dave Bartholomew

Long Tall Sally – Little Richard and His Band (Specialty), 8 weeks at #1; #6 pop

Hound Dog/Don’t Be Cruel – Elvis Presley, 6 weeks at #1 )also #1 pop)

Why Do Fools Fall In Love – The Teenagers Featuring Frankie Lymon (Gee), 5 weeks at #1; #6 pop. Lymon co-wrote the song and was 13 when he recorded it.

Fever – Little Willie John with Orchestra (King), 5 weeks at #1; #24 pop

Let The Good Times Roll – Shirley & Lee (Aladdin), 3 weeks at #1; #20 pop. Written by Leonard Lee.

Drown In My Own Tears – Ray Charles and his Band (Atlantic), 2 weeks at #1; did not chart pop

Rip It Up – Little Richard and his Band (Specialty), 2 weeks at #1; #17 pop. Co-written by Otis Blackwell.

My Prayer – The Platters, 2 weeks at #1 (also #1 pop)

At My Front Door – The El Dorados (Vee-Jay), 1 week at #1; #17 pop

Treasure Of Love – Clyde McPhatter (Atlantic), 1 week at #1; #16 pop. Founded the Drifters in 1953.

Down Memory Lane – the Zionites

Trinity A.M.E. Zion church, 1956

A good friend of mine from my hometown of Binghamton, NY, Cee, wrote that on Friday, May 22, they “attended a wonderful presentation by Brenda Cave James on local Black churches, Susquehanna Street prior to urban renewal, and more.

“One of her display boards caught my eye…” A display showed two different musical revues by the folks at Trinity A.M.E. Zion church in 1948 and 1956. The latter event, with the performers dubbed the Zionites, is of particular interest to me.

Before that, a little history from WBMG-TV (2024). According to Broome County Historian Roger Luther, “AME Bethel closed its doors around 1930, and the congregation merged with AME Zion Church, formerly located where Columbus Park now stands.” I was baptized in the AME Zion church at that previous location. “In 1957, AME Zion was moved to its present-day location at the corner of Oak and Lydia streets.”

Musical triptych

There were three segments of the 1956 program, Down Memory Lane, which was directed by two women I knew from church: Beccye Fawcett, who was my boss when I worked at the Binghamton Public Library for several months in the late 1960s, and Dorothy Owens, a stalwart in the choir.

Part 1 represented the Gay Nineties. For one song, the Floradora Girls danced. Among the women: Geneivive Taylor, another librarian, and Gertrude Green, my mother! A couple of songs were performed by Luvenia McElroy, my sister Leslie’s godmother. Mack Green, presumably my grandfather McKinley Green, performed a Buck and Wing Dance.

The Roaring Twenties included Leslie Green (misspelled as Lesli) performing “Sonny Boy” with his son. Wait, what? I would have been three at the time. For the Rocking Fifties segment, my dad performed folk songs.

The December 3, 1948, performance at Binghamton Central High School also featured my mother, who was then Gertrude Williams, and my father. It was directed by Beccye Fawcett. The repertoire was limited to the Gay Nineties.

I believe Brenda Cave James is the daughter of the late Allen Cave, who was the vice-principal of Binghamton Central High School.

NYS Health Department records take forever

cf, New York Genealogical & Biographical Society

There was a story on the front page of the Albany Times Union for May 9, 2026. “Health department backlog leaves families in limbo. Frankly, it surprised me because anyone who has attempted to work on genealogy would likely already know that Health Department records take forever.

“The department’s vital records office, where requests for birth certificates, death records, and marriage documents have languished for years. Last year, the state stopped accepting new requests for some of these public records altogether…

Moreover, “genealogists said they are further troubled by a proposed increase in the embargo on certain records. Currently, birth certificates at least 75 years old are eligible for review; the new proposal would increase that requirement to 125 years. Death certificates would similarly have to be 75 years old instead of 50, while marriage records could only be accessed if they were 100 years old instead of 50.”

“The proposed changes have roiled both professional and amateur genealogists. And they come as some genealogists have pointed to ongoing court battles over the full disclosure of all death records the state has access to as one reason behind the attempted reshaping of the Bureau of Vital Statistics’ work. “

NYG&B

Alternatively, I’m quite fond of the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society. The NYG&B’s online records and collections contain thousands of pages ranging from county histories, immigration records, vital record substitutes, and much more from all over New York State and New York City.

“We’re continuously adding records to both new and existing collections, many of which aren’t available online anywhere else. So even if you’ve searched our databases in the past, there’s always something new to discover.”

“Anyone can go to our website and search our collections, free of charge. But you do need to be a member to open and access most of the records. To help you better understand the kind of information we have available, we have unlocked the following collections for you to explore:

26 May 2026 sunset

upper Madison Ave in ALB

sunset

This is the 26 May 2026 sunset at 8:31 PM. I had just left the Madison Open Mic Night in Albany, NY, which remains a lovely monthly event. I headed west on Madison Avenue and immediately saw the image above. Though I’m a lousy photographer using my cellphone, I didn’t have to do much. The streetlights added to the allure.

Sunset that evening, BTW, was 8:21 PM, so the picture was captured ten minutes after that. Had I left the building five minutes later, I likely would have missed the image.

I like the shot in part because it was in my Upper Madison neighborhood. My supermarket, local theater, and local police station. Those benches are recent additions.

In the next block, there are several restaurants I frequent. Across the street from them is my library branch. From the street pattern, that has to be the CDTA #114 bus, which I take home from the Amtrak station.

Spontaneity

What’s more interesting is that I saw a LOT of photos from around the region online that evening. It was a spontaneous communal activity. Speaking of community, the next Open Mic event on June 23 will be posted on the Upper Madison Facebook and Instagram accounts. No, I’m not expecting another extraordinary sunset, but a guy can dream.