Larkfest and Pinksterfest

There are two great Albany annual traditions that I try to attend. The one coming up is Larkfest on September 20. the other is The Tulip Festival, a/k/a Pinksterfest. Once upon a time I used to live between Washington Park, where the Tulip Festival is held, and Lark street (guess what’s held there?), and I could easily walk to both events. Now, less than three miles away, but a different calculation.

I think the venues really determine the differences. For Pinksterfest, the city gardener carefully plants varieties of tulips so that at least some of them will be coming into bloom on Mother’s Day weekend. This year, Carol, Lydia, and I were going to go to the Festival on that Saturday afternoon after attending a child’s birthday party, but we could find no parking whatsoever, so my wife let me out of the car and I traipsed into Washington Park. I got to see my requisite half dozen people I only seem to see once a year, including those in social activism row. I could hear the sounds of the Spin Doctors playing familiar tunes, yet I ended up passing on them in favor of the sounds of a band called 10 (something), a local band that apparently played popular cover songs. They were doing a tune called “Jump,” for instance, which all the kids were dancing to, but it was neither the Van Halen nor the Pointer Sisters versions that I was familiar with. I knew it was a cover version only because I asked someone in the audience – which can tell you how out of it I can really be musically.

For LarkFest, the merchants (and the church) on the street seem to be the prime beneficiaries of the thousands of people who gather there, although there are other vendors. While both claim to be family-friendly, the anti-open booze container law seems to be violated even more often at LarkFest. Also, the park is green space, while the Lark street event is far more physically constricted, which gives it a certain vitality, among the shoving.

The key: go early.
ROG

Jamestown and Williamsburg

Lost Details of the Vacation

I’ve told you about our vacation that the family took back in April, back when gas was cheaper, but there were a couple of details I left out. One is that if you’re ever driving anywhere near Baltimore, and you see a road sign saying “Travel plaza ahead,” it is NOT one of the places where you can stop, get coffee and gas, and rest. It’s actually a bus and train station, and it is NOT easy on/off the highway. In fact we drove several blocks before we could find the single McDonald’s which served food.

On the way there, we passed a car that was stopped at the light. When the driver didn’t go forward, we waited several seconds before we honked. He still didn’t move, so we passed him and went down the street. We couldn’t tell as we looked back whether he was okay, or injured, or deceased. So we got to the travel station, and I walked back. The car was still at the intersection. When I got several steps along, he finally apparently woke up and drove off.
***
The highlight of the trip was Jamestown, for my daughter loved the boats and the hands-on Indian and colonial villages.

Colonial Williamsburg was less fun, but only because we didn’t think it was worth the high cost of a single-day ticket, which is all we had time for; a multiple day ticket WOULD have been worthwhile. Still, Lydia was placated by a fife we bought her (no, not Barney Fyfe.) And it WAS a beautiful day for a picnic. The one “free” place we got to was a church that high ranking officials such as governors, had special seats designated for them. The first two governors are names well known to most Americans, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson.
ROG

Blogging about blogging can be habit-forming


We’ve gotta stop meeting like this.

As a result of a difficulty I had with one of my other blogs on Blogger – this weird bX error that others suffered through too – I copied this blog (and that one) in its entirety to WordPress this past month. I’m not that familiar with WordPress, though my Times Union blog appears on it, so I will play with that at some point. But this Blogger blog will still be my primary blogging outlet until further notice, if only because whatever minimal promotion I’ve done has been to the Blogspot address. Also, I haven’t followed up to post the subsequent items on WordPress, so that is a factor.

I added a couple of bloggers to my sidebar. One is Gary who describes himself as the “old dude”. He’s only 16 years older than I am, so I wouldn’t call him old at all; gotta be at least 25 years older than I am to be old. He’s, er, more politically conservative than I am, but he can tolerate me, then I can tolerate him. In fact, it was Gary’s sidebar that inspired me to START to tweak mine, so that at least I can see when at least some of the bloggers listed they last posted. (Yeah, Yeah, I can do the RSS feed thing; I just haven’t.)

I also added Demeur from Gary’s sidebar, just for some political balance. (Did I mention that Gary’s rather conservative?) Also, WayneJohn seems more comprehensible than the so-called “blogger help”.

Another is yet another damn blog from Alan David Doane, who currently kvetches a lot about his dental work. See, I do all my kvetching right here. And speaking of ADD, I liked this link he found about what makes a good blog.

My near-twin Gordon had a post about all the cool things he’s doing on his blog. I must admit I didn’t understand about 70 percent of it.

One of my blog posts was linked to the Comic Reporter this past month with this single sentence: “One retailer recalls the 1987 Comic-Con.” No mention of my name; no mention, even, of FantaCo. Talk about being damned with faint praise.

I came across a blogpost that read as follows: “A friend of mine, Roger Green, often reminds me that the enemy of excellence is not the pitiful or horrible, but rather just the good.” No, it was not me. I found the post and replied: “It seems also true the perfect can drive out the good; if I can’t be perfect in my relationship with God, I might as well give up.”

Another blog post about face transplants cites “Roger Green, president of the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons, said: “This particular surgery is a way of giving back a life to a patient who has been horribly scarred by burns, trauma or a tumour.”
***
In other news, my HP printer died, quite a few months ago, actually, and I was forced to go out and buy a new one. It’s a Brother, which not only prints but copies, scans, and if I had a phone line for it, faxes. It only cost $70, but after you add in the USB port cable and various ink cartridges, it was closer to $200. Still, once I’ve mastered the scanning technique – assuming I master the scanning technique – you’ll be able to see some of the results on this blog.

ROG

One Step Beyond

Monk / Nun
Monk / Nun
Take Your Secret Self 1 Step Beyond today!
Created with Rum and Monkey‘s Personality Test Generator.

Going 1 step beyond I am all about spiritual truth, bread and bad haircuts. For me the best part of the day is spent in quiet meditation where I don’t have to worry about my big ears and people laughing at me. No one really understands the depth of my soul, which is in here somewheres. I study, I work, I feed deer and am kind to little bunnies. I am making this a better world by shutting myself away from real life. Somehow. I am certain life’s questions can be answered by sleeping on hard things and chanting.

***

Your result for The Director Who Films Your Life Test…

Francis Ford Coppola

Your film will be 61% romantic, 29% comedy, 34% complex plot, and a $ 45 million budget.

Filmography: The Conversation, The Godfather (and Pt. 2 and Pt. 3), Apocolypse Now, Peggy Sue Got Married, Jack, etc. He even used his clout after The Godfather to get George Lucas’ classic American Graffiti made. But then he notoriously went WAY overbudget with Apocolypse Now which sort of maimed his career since. He’s been doing a lot of small films lately which may give your life story an inside track. A high-budget simple romantic drama is best in the hands of this modern master filmmaker.

Take The Director Who Films Your Life Test at HelloQuizzy

***
My sister, knowing my lifelong love of Wal-Mart (I seriously jest), sent this:
BANNED FROM WAL-MART………..

Mrs. Fenton insisted her husband accompany her on her trips to Wal-Mart.
One day she received the following letter from her local Wal-Mart.

Dear Mrs. Fenton,

Over the past six months, your husband has been causing quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and may be forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against Mr. Fenton are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras

1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people’s carts when they weren’t looking.
2 . July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.
3. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, ‘Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away.’
4. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&M’s on layaway.
5. September 14: Moved a ‘CAUTION – WET FLOOR’ sign to a carpeted area.
6. September 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told other shoppers he’d invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department.
7. September 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, ‘Why can’t you people just leave me alone?’
8. October 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.
9. November 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.
10. December 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the ‘Mission Impossible’ theme.
11. December 6: In the auto department, he practiced his ‘Madonna look’ by
using different sizes of funnels.
12. December 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled ‘PICK ME! PICK ME!’
13. December 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed ‘OH NO! IT’S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!’
And last, but not least …
14. December 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, ‘Hey! There’s no toilet paper in here!’

Regards,
Wal-Mart

ROG

No Labor Involved

It’s Labor Day. No one’s reading blogs today. Time to be lazy and post a bunch of stuff from YouTube and elsewhere.

Watch the entire full length documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? right here.
***
A sad Sesame Street moment.
***
It’s only water, part 1
HERE.
***
Lightening it up a bit, this video from the Smothers Brothers Show, or a reasonable facsimile, of the classic Mason Williams song:

***
Still thinking about Isaac Hayes. And so was the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.

***
Ode To Joy, Muppet style

***
A great episode of WKRP in Cincinnati.
***
It’s only water, part 2


ROG

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial