June 2007 - Page 3 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

Nik Experiences the New Zealand Winter

One of the great things about knowing people who live in other places is that you get perspectives from those other people. For instance, I’d be inclined to say, today is the first day of summer. Or not. But Nik, who I should note I’ve never met personally, only through his writings, is an expat American about to experience winter in the Southern Hemisphere.

Which is a roundabout way of saying: it’s time for my summer/winter solstice edition of (drum roll, please)… Ask Roger Anything, in which you can, well, query myself, er, about any topic. Ask me about the two times I got to shake Nelson Rockefeller’s hand or how many Supreme Court justices I’ve met, or anything about sports or race or politics or religion or music or television or being a librarian. Well, anything except the Dewey Decimal System; that’s as deep dark secret.

You may ask a maximum of 16 questions apiece, except for Gordon, who can ask as many as he wants; bring ’em on, Piscean!

But DON’T ask me bizarro trivia questions, such as the one I saw on Ken Jennings’ blog this month:

Consider the universe of baseball statistics. Forget about ones that are averages, and thus a player’s score can go up or down over time — batting average, ERA, slugging percentage, and the like. Focus on the ones that accumulate. Also, forget about statistics that nobody tracks, like ground rule doubles in extra innings under a full moon on astroturf. Stay with statistics that people have actually heard of.

Now consider that among such statistics there’s the concept of one category being a special case of another. If you do one, you necessarily do the other, but not vice versa (otherwise two statistics would be called “synonyms”). A perfect game is a special case of a no-hitter. A double is a special case of a hit. An at-bat is a special case of a plate appearance. A save is a special case of a game played, but a hit is not because you can have any number of hits in a game.

At last, the question. There are two statistics, one of which is a special case of the other. The career leaders in the two categories — the guys who did each the most times — are different men with the same first and middle names. Who are they?

Oy. I barely understood the QUESTION, let alone had any idea what the answer was.

Anyway,

the

answer

is

Henry Louis (Hank) Aaron holds the record for career home runs (755) and Henry Louis (Lou) Gehrig holds the record for career grand slam home runs (23).

Of course, Barry Bonds is in a well-publicized pursuit of Aaron’s record (currently at 748), and Manny Ramirez, last I checked, stood at 20 Grand Slams. Bonds, BTW, is the career leader of a statistic with his initials: Bases on Balls.

So don’t ask me questions like that.

Underplayed Vinyl: Beach Boys

My first Beach Boys album was Pet Sounds, followed by some of those other late 1960s/early 1970s albums, such as Smiley Smile, Surf’s Up and Holland, plus the pairing of Wild Honey and 20/20. I never owned any of those early beach/surf/cars tunes until I bought those wildly successful double LP compilations, Endless Summer and Spirit of America.

So, when 15 Big Ones came out, complete with the “Brian is back!” mantra, it didn’t have the same meaning to me as it might have for a more faithful BB fan.

1. “Rock And Roll Music” (Chuck Berry) – 2:29
2. “It’s OK” (Brian Wilson/Mike Love) – 2:12
3. “Had To Phone Ya” (Brian Wilson/Mike Love/Diane Rovell) – 1:43
4. “Chapel Of Love” (Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich/Phil Spector) – 2:34
5. “Everyone’s In Love With You” (Mike Love) – 2:42
6. “Talk To Me” (J. Seneca) – 2:14
7. “That Same Song” (Brian Wilson/Mike Love) – 2:16
8. “TM Song” (Brian Wilson) – 1:34
9. “Palisades Park” (C. Barris) – 2:27
10. “Susie Cincinnati” (Al Jardine) – 2:57
11. “A Casual Look” (E. Wells) – 2:45
12. “Blueberry Hill” (A. Lewis/L. Stock/V. Rose) – 3:01
13. “Back Home” (Brian Wilson/Bob Norberg) – 2:49
14. “In The Still Of The Night” (F. Parris) – 3:03
15. “Just Once In My Life” (Gerry Goffin/Carole King/Phil Spector) – 3:47

The album begins with the Chuck Berry song. Most critics hate this rendition, even though it went to #5 in the charts. I thought it was OK. More than OK, though was “It’s OK”, which to my ears, was vintage Beach Boys. “Had to Phone Ya” was charming. “That Same Song” I loved, as well as “Back Home”, which apparently Brian had around for over a decade. “Susie Cincinnati”, which had been cut from the Sunflower album, I learned from that album’s CD liner notes, was a fun little song. “Talk to Me” was a strange little tune, with weak vocals, but I sorta liked it anyway.

The rest is rather hit or miss. The remaining covers seldom distinguish themselves from the originals, or are far lesser versions, though I appreciated “Palisades Park” for the near slavish imitation it was.

Yet, as I recall, I played the album. Played it a lot, actually. It had enough songs that I liked that I largely ignored the ones I didn’t. I barely remembered the uninspired, but short, “TM Song”, e.g. And it wasn’t that I hated the rest; it was more that it wasn’t as good as it might have been.

15 Big Ones is now available on CD, paired with Love You, the follow-up Beach Boys album, that received far better reviews, at least that I’ve read. I own it, but don’t remember it nearly that well. 15 Big Ones sold better, fueled by that Top 10 single, getting to #8 and going gold, while Love You peaked at #53.

Guess I know what Underplayed Vinyl will be next year. Brian Wilson turns 65 today; who woulda thunk it?
ROG

Why I Own Three (count ’em, 3) Paula Abdul Albums

I was at the Olin family reunion; the Olins are my wife’s mother’s people. They were having their international family event, which they have every lustrum. In 2001, the event was held in my hometown of Binghamton, NY. (The 1996 event was in Fargo, ND; the 2006 in eastern Washington state; 2011, somewhere in Ontario.)

One event was an auction. Many of the items were handmade items, or family treasures; I know Carol got a much-coveted family cookbook with typed or hand-written recipes from various members of the tribe. One lot, though, was for a bunch of mostly classical CDs, maybe 10 or 12 of them. I bid on them, but I was outbid by one of Carol’s cousins in her late teens. Truth is I probably could have put in a pre-emptive bid, but it didn’t seem sporting to overbid a poor high school student. She was really happy to get a dozen classical albums for $20, but what the heck was she going to do with three Paula Abdul CDs? She looked SO pained, so apoplectic, that I bought them from her, for $8 or $10, which she appreciated at a couple levels: she was rid of the albatross AND the albums she REALLY want were even cheaper.

I was recalling this as I finished my annual playing of my entire collection of Paula Abdul albums – Forever Your Girl, Shut Up and Dance (The Dance Remixes), and Spellbound, in anticipation of today, Paula’s 45th birthday. I don’t care what you say: I really like Straight Up. The rest of it: eh, not so much. I didn’t really go through a phase of eighties divas – Paula, Taylor, Madonna, Expose, and Gloria – like some people I know.
***
I’ve had a long-standing affection for the Traveling Wilburys and have Volumes 1 and 3, now out of print. I’m having a hard time thinking about buying the re-release, despite Nik’s appealing review. So, I decided to go to You Tube and watch a couple videos, including the star-laden Wilbury Twist, at lunchtime yesterday. But by 9 p.m. EDT yesterday, the Twist video that I saw only hours earlier was “no longer available due to a copyright claim by Warner Music Group”; it’s part of the new collection. However, what remains on You Tube is the 2007 version, with more George, Bob, Tom, and Jeff. No Wonder Years kids, Milli Vanilli, Cheech Marin, Whoopi Goldberg, or Woody Harrelson, but the John Candy/Eric Idle intro remains.
***
A link to reviews of Paul McCartney’s new album, Memory Almost Full. A couple of them have links to the music and/or videos from the album.

ROG

Macca and Ebert

Paul McCartney, star of that new iTunes commercial for “Dance Tonight”, turns 65 today, so I’ve been thinking for a couple years, ever since I saw Johnny B. do it, that I should come up with a list of my favorite post-Beatles McCartney songs. This is a little trickier than to make a list of, say, my favorite Beatles songs, for there are huge gaps in my 1980s and 1990s collection. I’ve never owned, and don’t really know, Pipes of Peace, Press to Play, or Broad Street. That said:

1. MAYBE I’M AMAZED from McCartney. I heard Paul was going to be on Ed Sullivan. I was disappointed that it was just a video, but not in the song.
2. MY BRAVE FACE from Flowers in the Dirt. I recall that it was Elvis Costello who encouraged Macca to play the bass like Beatle Paul.
3. JET from Band on the Run. A rollicking good time. Love the bridge.
4. WHAT’S THAT YOU’RE DOIN’ from Tug of War. Admittedly, more for Stevie Wonder, whose output in the early 1980s was, let’s say, less interesting to me – “I Just Called to Say I Love You”, anyone? – but also pointed out Paul’s funky side that I loved in “Got To Get You Into My Life” and “Lady Madonna”. BTW, that OTHER McCartney/Wonder song is also on that album, but not on this list.
5. HI,HI,HI, a 1972 single. Goofy song that I loved in part because so many people got bent out of shape over it (“high, high, high”).
6. FLAMING PIE from Flaming Pie. Describing a piece of John Lennon’s early 1960s witticisms.
7. OO YOU from McCartney. Sparse but rocking tune. Love the vocal.
8. LOOKING FOR CHANGES from Off the Ground. This is his rant about saving the animals from testing. I like that:
“I Saw A Cat With A Machine In His Brain
The Man Who Fed Him Said He Didn’t Feel Any Pain
I’d Like To See That Man Take Out That Machine And Stick It In His Own Brain
You Know What I Mean”
9. BAND ON THE RUN from Band on the Run. Anthemic.
10. WE GOT MARRIED from Flowers in the Dirt. In a minor key, it’s a wonderful juxtaposition between the optimism of the lyric and the moodiness of the melody.

If I were to pick my next ten, there would be several from that first album, a few singles, and maybe JENNY WREN from Chaos and Creation.
***
I should also note that Roger Ebert also turns 65 today. He has long been my favorite movie critic, not because his name is Roger (though that doesn’t hurt), and not because I always agree with him, but because he’s so aware and honest with his personal biases that I usually know that I’ll like a movie he disliked and vice versa. He’s been having some medical issues over the past couple years, but appears to be on the mend.
ROG

Father’s Day

Ah, yes, my annual Father’s Day ambivalence. On one hand, my wife understandably wants to spend time with her father, who is, not so incidentally, a pretty swell father-in-law. On the other hand, he’s been busy with his antique car show on Father’s Day anyway. On the third hand, my father’s deceased, and I think (know) I’m a little peeved with him because his treatment plan for his prostate cancer, if any, was practically a secret even to his family. On the fourth hand, I’m now a father. (I figure, if I keep going, I’ll hit Eight Arms To Hold You.)

Here’s a pretty big constant: I wish my father had had a chance to meet my daughter, and vice versa. Lydia and I spend time going over the family relationships; she’s gotten it down pretty well. Grandma Green is my mommy. She’s seen pictures of my father, mostly the 1999 wedding pictures. At some point, she’ll wonder why she’s never met him, and I get to tell her about heaven. (Even if one doesn’t believe in heaven, I’d think it would be the easier explanation.)

So, Carol went down to visit with Lydia to visit her father yesterday. I stayed home to go to the funeral of a church member, Nancy Vail, and so I can go to the last church service conducted by my old friend Bob Pennock today before he retires. Presumably, Carol and Lydia will be home this afternoon, and I’ll get to celebrate Father’s Day in whatever way they deem fit.

Did I mention my ambivalence?

But then, before they left, Lydia gave me her present, a paperweight. It’s a rock, painted black, with a couple eyeballs, and a black pipe cleaner tail that serves as a flag pole for a little banner that reads “#1 Dad”. It’s sweet. Really. Guess the day’ll be OK, after all.
***
Tyler Perry on Father’s Day and forgiveness.
***
“Prepare for a marital smackdown, as pastors Miriam and Glen go head-to-head over Glen’s cheapskatism. He turns off the AC when passing, and puts their minivan into neutral when heading downhill. Is this consummate chisler going to wreck his marriage?” MY pastors on the 6/16/2007 episode of Car Talk!
ROG