October 2014 - Page 5 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

Lee and TJ get married

Lee had expressed his desire to get married in the church of which he’s been a member for decades to the person he’s been with for nearly a quarter century.

I was going to write about how that in 24 states, or 30, maybe 35 states plus the District of Columbia, same-sex couples can get married. No wait, there’s a stay by the Supreme Court justice in Idaho, or not anymore. I do think that the SCOTUS should just DECIDE this issue once and for all and that there are dangers in dawdling. But the heck with all that.

On Friday, October 10, 2014, for the first time in the 251-year history of my church, a same-gender couple was able to marry there. This was a function not just of the New York State law passed in June 2011, but the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voting to allow pastors to marry same-sex couples in states where it is legal just this past June.

Lee had spoken at the local presbytery (regional body) meeting this past January, expressing his desire to get married in the church of which he’s been a member for decades to the person he’s been with for nearly a quarter-century. Lee had spent time in the hospital this summer, but he’s better now, so it was an extra special celebration. Both pastors officiated, and the house was quite full, with family, friends, and many members of the congregation.

The Wife noted that it was difficult to find a greeting card appropriate for same-gender couples at the local drug store; I totally get that.

The odd thing for me is that the biggest piece of conversation at the reception, besides the happy couple, was the fact that I wore a TIE with my bright red shirt. There are people there who’ve known me for a decade who’d never seen me wear one. Don’t get used to it, people; it was a very special occasion.

MOVIE REVIEW: Dolphin Tale 2

How can Sawyer go when the dolphin Winter’s status at the hospital is still in doubt?

One of the useful functions of the blog is that it helps me remind me of events. In this case, it was Columbus Day weekend three years ago when The Daughter, The wife and I saw the movie Dolphin Tale, the first theatrical film the three of us ever saw all together. I liked it; the Daughter was even more fond.

The Daughter really wanted to see the sequel, the cleverly-named Dolphin Tale 2. We trekked to Colonie Center near Albany on a Sunday afternoon to whatever chain theater is out there to discover an annoying fact: 3 p.m. is the demarcation line for matinee prices, and it was the 4 p.m. showing we wanted to see. So it goes.

The plot is that Winter, the dolphin with the artificial tail, who has become a big hit at the facility where she lives, has an aging playmate. What happens when the older creature dies? USDA regulations require that marine mammals have a companion. Another dolphin is rescued. Why can’t this be the solution?

Dolphin Tale 2 is…nice. I’m not sure I would have known who all the human characters were, and their relationships had I not seen the first film. Sawyer Nelson (Nathan Gamble), the young man who first found Winter in the last film, is still working at Clearwater Marine Hospital. The facility is headed by Dr. Clay Haskett (Harry Connick Jr.), and assisted by a number of attractive young adults, plus his now teenaged daughter Hazel (Cozi Zuehlsdorff). Loraine Nelson (Ashley Judd) is trying to get her son Sawyer to decide on an incredible educational opportunity, but how can he go when Winter’s status at the hospital is still in doubt? Dr. Clay has to make tough decisions, with his dad Reed (Kris Kristofferson) lending support. Can Dr. Cameron McCarthy (Morgan Freeman) save the day again?

Any real drama in the movie takes place in the last third of the film. However, I did enjoy the ethical dilemma Dr. Haskett found himself in during the middle of the narrative. Also present in a cameo is Bethany Hamilton, a noted surfer, who came to national attention after her left arm was bitten off by a tiger shark back in 2003.

If you have an 8 to 14-year-old who wants to see it, I recommend renting the first movie and watching it, for it is the stronger film. THEN watch this one.

I am the eggman

Coo coo ca choo is believed to be used in songs and in 60s and 70s slang as a phrase left to be freely interpreted by anyone based on the surrounding context it is used in.

Sometimes, librarians get distracted by non-work-related stuff.

One of our librarians wanted to help a colleague who operates a trivia night competition periodically. He was working on a variation on a question he heard in a Trivial Pursuit edition, something along the lines of “Which two 1960s classic songs, released within a year of each other, both use the phrase ‘koo kook a choo'”.

Librarian that he is, he wanted to know how to “spell” the “koo koo”. While researching, he came across this:

So, he asked me, someone who has a passing interest and knowledge of Beatles stuff: “Is the line, then, as used by John, ‘goo goo g’joob’?” That, in fact IS the way I learned it. And most sources agree.

The Urban Dictionary is more catholic about this:

Coo coo ca choo

The phrase was first used in songs by artists such as The Beatles and shortly after by Simon & Garfunkel. This phrase has absolutely no definitive meaning given by dictionaries or artists such as John Lennon who first used it. The phrase has two other widely known spellings: goo goo g’joob and kukukachu. It is believed to be used in songs and in 60s and 70s slang as a phrase left to be freely interpreted by anyone based on the surrounding context it is used in. The freedom to bestow any meaning upon the phrase makes the word a statement about freedom of expression, which is a meaning in itself.

If I were doing the trivia night, I’d toss this question.

Here’s I Am The Walrus by the Beatles. Plus the parody Piggy in the Middle by the Rutles, which uses “Doo-a-poo-poo.”
And for good measure, here is Mrs. Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel.

John Lennon would be 74 today, and it’s Sean Lennon’s 39th birthday.
***
John and Yoko in love and on love

Dream: can’t get there from here

About five minutes later, I realize we forgot the tickets, so we attempt to go back. But we can’t.

One of the things I’ve noticed about the dreams I remember recently is that I wake up in the middle of the night, go back to sleep, and a short time later, wake up again. I would have sworn I hadn’t slept at all, except that the dreams are so vivid.

This one from several weeks ago, I didn’t write down until three weeks later, and I still remember:

I am walking, with my daughter, from a house on a hill down to performance down into town. It should take about 15 minutes to get there, and we’re leaving an hour beforehand, so we should have plenty of time.

About five minutes later, I realize we forgot the tickets, so we attempt to go back. But we can’t. The streets are clogged with fire trucks and other emergency vehicles, and the streets are flooded, though it has not been raining. And I can’t keep going to the theater, perhaps buying new tickets, for the same reason. Every street is suddenly inaccessible, even the one we just came down to.

So we walk through alleyways, climbing in and out of non-residential buildings – ending up in the back of stores, sometimes having to jump from one incomplete stairway to another, and terribly worried that someone is going to shoot us. Then we end up having to climb up the sides of the building, through windows we have to open and climb through.

At some point, we come through the back of a store that was a bakery. It has an old-fashioned tile floor and has barrels of flour and other things to make food, but nothing prepared. And we finally see a large window and a door to the outside, and we look out and I have no idea where the heck I am.

[I wake up.]

#1 songs on my birthday, 1994-2003

On episode 3261 of JEOPARDY!, which aired aired 1998-11-09, the category was SONGS BY THE NUMBER $200.

My friend Dan Van Riper sent me this list of all the #1 songs since August 4, 1958.

I have links only to the middle tune, the song of my birthday. You can go to the website and hear the other contenders. If I’ve heard it before, I won’t play it again. If I’ve never heard of it, I’ll play it once. But I won’t listen to the adjacent tunes. My goal: am I happy with THAT choice to celebrate my birthday? Or (as will be the case in the latter stages of the game), I have no idea?

1/22/94 Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, And Sting – All For Love
2/12/94 Celine Dion – The Power Of Love
3/12/94 Ace Of Base – The Sign

I played the Dion song because I didn’t recognize the song by the title, but I HAVE heard the chorus. Neither this nor the Three Musketeers song is my cuppa. Ace of Base, almost by default.

1/28/95 TLC – Creep
2/25/95 Madonna – Take A Bow
4/15/95 Montell Jordan – This Is How We Do It

I had only a vague recollection of the Madonna song, but knew neither of the others. It’s OK, but not a favorite.

11/25/95 Whitney Houston – Exhale (Shoop Shoop)
12/2/95 Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men – One Sweet Day
3/23/96 Celine Dion – Because You Loved Me

I actually really love Shoop Shoop, and can’t place the Dion tune. But I must own the team up, because: On episode 3261 of JEOPARDY!, which aired 1998-11-09, the category was SONGS BY THE NUMBER $200. The clue: This 1995-96 hit by Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men holds the record for the most weeks at No. 1 with 16. I COULD NOT REMEMBER IT. I thought, One Fine Day, then no, that was the Chiffons song. It was the second clue on the show and no one got it right.

12/7/96 Toni Braxton – Un-Break My Heart
2/22/97 The Spice Girls – Wannabe
3/22/97 Puff Daddy feat. Mase – Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down

I thought the Spice Girls was very disposable pop. But the hook, “Tell me what you want…,” was annoyingly infectious. The Braxton song is great, though. I rather dislike the Puff Daddy, which samples that seminal Grandmaster Flash song The Message, to far lesser effect.

2/14/98 Usher – Nice & Slow
2/28/98 Celine Dion – My Heart Will Go On
3/14/98 Will Smith – Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It

Don’t know the Usher. DO know the Will Smith, which is OK. Whatever value the Dion ever has been driven away from overplaying. Yet I’ll take it anyway, as a reaction to the Titanic haters.

1/30/99 Britney Spears – …Baby One More Time
2/13/99 Monica – Angel Of Mine
3/13/99 Cher – Believe

We can eliminate the Cher song, which brought to the fore Autotune, which actually does not bother me here as much in MANY subsequent recordings. I’ll own up to liking the Spears song. But I think the Monica song is quite pleasant, though it could do with a little less Mariah Carey-type melisma.

2/19/00 Mariah Carey feat. Joe and 98° – Thank God I Found You
3/4/00 Lonestar – Amazed
3/18/00 Destiny’s Child -Say My Name

Speaking of Carey, most of her songs sound alike to me, but this is a good use of a boy band, so I’ll take this one. Don’t much like the Destiny’s Child vocal. The Lonestar was new to me, and maybe it could grow on me.

2/17/01 OutKast – Ms. Jackson
2/24/01 Joe feat. Mystikal – Stutter
3/24/01 Crazy Town – Butterfly

Don’t know Butterfly. Like the OutKast chorus. I’d never heard Stutter; I like the concept of the stuttering and liked the main theme, but hated the rap. OutKast by default.

12/22/01 Nickelback – How You Remind Me
2/23/02 Ja Rule feat. Ashanti – Always On Time
3/9/02 Jennifer Lopez feat. Ja Rule – Ain’t It Funny

Bashing Nickelback is a pretty regular exercise. Still, I’ll pick it over The Ja Rule song, which I had not heard before, even though I like the Ashanti parts. Don’t know the JLo song either.

2/1/03 B2K feat. P. Diddy – Bump, Bump, Bump
2/8/03 Jennifer Lopez feat. LL Cool J – All I Have
3/8/03 50 Cent – In Da Club

Don’t know the B2K. The JLo song, previously unknown to me, didn’t grab me. There are appealing hooks in the 50 Cent song, which I had heard, so it’s the winner.