May 2025 - Page 4 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

Top country singles of 1945

NOT the Deep Purple song

I have gleaned the top country singles of 1945 from Joel Whitburn’s Top Country Singles from 1944 to 2017. The charts only began in 1944.

You Two Timed Me One Time Too Often – Tex Ritter, 11 weeks at #1. Woodward Maurice “Tex” Ritter was the father of John Ritter (Three’s Company) and grandfather of Jason Ritter (the new Matlock), though Tex died six years before Jason was born. Tex wasn’t fond of John’s career choice.

Shame On You – Spade Cooley and his orchestra, featuring Tex Williams, nine weeks at #1, written by Spade Cooley

At Mail Call Today – Gene Autry, eight weeks at #1, a WWII song

I’m Losing My Mind Over You – Al Dexter and his Troopers, seven weeks at #1, co-written by Dexter. I’d never heard of Al Dexter until I started looking at these charts, but he shows up quite a few times.

Woody’s cousin

Oklahoma Hills – Jack Guthrie, six weeks at #1. Jack was a cousin of Woody Guthrie; the songwriting credit here is Jack, but it sounds a lot like the Woody song that Woody’s son Arlo recorded

With Tears In My Eyes – Wesley Tuttle, four weeks at #1

Sioux City Sue – Dick Thomas, four weeks at #1, co-written by Thomas

It’s Been So Long, Darling -Ernest Tubb, four weeks at #1

Silver Dew On The Blue Grass Tonight – Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, three weeks at #1. A WWII song.

Smoke On The Water -Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, two weeks at #1. A definite WWII song: “Hirohito, ‘long with Hitler, will be riding on a rail. Mussolini’ll beg for mercy. As a leader, he has failed.” Not to be confused with the Deep Purple song.

There’s A New Moon Over My Shoulder – Jimmie Davis, co-written by Davis, who was governor of Louisiana when this song was released.

Stars And Stripes on Iwo Jima – Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, an obvious WWII song

Shame On You – Lawrence Welk and his orchestra with Red Foley

Too busy to worry

Chautauqua

Since it’s our 26th anniversary, I’ve been trying to determine what made this marriage thing work. It may be we are too busy to worry about the small crap. Yeah, she still says at church, “Let’s go,” and then ends up in a 15-minute conversation with someone. I have an uncanny ability for my cough drop wrappers to end up on the floor.

My wife’s job remains extraordinarily busy. Moreover, her mother moved from one retirement facility to another, which is in a much smaller space, in March. This involved my wife, with help from her brother, sister-in-law, and husband, to clear out the previous location. This was a real time suck, not just the cleaning out distributing stuff to other people if they wanted it. She also has additional fiscal responsibilities.

At church, I’m in the choir and occasionally read scripture or handle communion. She counts the money every four to six weeks, and there are always other things that come up. Weddings, funerals, medical visits, and one-off things fill the void.

Last year, my wife and I overbooked ourselves by getting not one, but two theater subscriptions: to Proctors and Capital Rep.. This coming season, we will only be doing the latter. Other things we’ve done in previous years, we have decided to forego because there’s no time.

We’re also trying to keep in contact with our daughter, who is only 7,845 miles away. Yay, WhatsApp.

FBH

As I noted last year, one thing that has continued to work is the full-body hug, which we do once in the morning before she goes to work and once in the evening before she goes to bed. She always goes to bed before I do.

This picture was taken at Chautauqua in the summer of 2024. We were very ambitious and went to both Chautauqua and DC. I’m waiting for the time when she retires; maybe we can actually relax. Or maybe not.

Anyway, she’s a great partner as we muddle through life. I love you, dear.

May rambling: We Cannot Remain Silent

When the U.S. Is No Longer the Good Guy

We Cannot Remain Silent: A Statement on the National Moment from Albany Presbytery, PCUSA (May 1, 2025)

Who broke the internet?

Cardinal Robert Prevost Becomes First American Pope, Will Take the Name Leo XIV; he plays Wordle!

David H. Souter, Republican Justice Who Allied With Court’s Liberal Wing, Dies at 85. He left conservatives bitterly disappointed with his migration from right to left, leading to the cry of “no more Souters.” I saw him speak in 2013. “A demand for saving art, keeping music, teaching civics in the schools is not asking for favors. Rather, it is vital for the stability, even the very survival of the United States, which is hampered by a voting citizenry that is grossly unaware about how the government of the country is supposed to work.”

This month, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding! It is a national landmark and world-renowned research center located in the heart of Harlem.

John Green – “Everything Is Tuberculosis” | The Daily Show

The Remote Work Paradox: Higher Engagement, Lower Wellbeing

Pulitzer Prize for a distinguished portfolio of editorial cartoons or other illustrated work (still, animated, or both) characterized by political insight, editorial effectiveness, or public service value: Ann Telnaes of The Washington Post: “For delivering piercing commentary on powerful people and institutions with deftness, creativity – and a fearlessness that led to her departure from the news organization after 17 years. The Cartoonist Who Crushed the Oligarchs: An Interview with Ann Telnaes.

What was food like before the FDA? Formaldehyde, brick dust, lead, and borax once made grocery shopping a minefield.

Measles Cases Top 1,000: A Crisis of Complacency— This situation is an avoidable public health failure

Baloney

How Will We Know When We Have Lost Our Democracy?

We Have To Deal with Presidential Power

“Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear. “-Harry S. Truman, 33rd US president (8 May 1884-1972)

FOTUS family crypto firm raises concerns over potential conflicts of interest. Crypto landscape is like a ‘Walking Dead, post-apocalyptic anarchy. Tell Congress: Ban Government Officials From Issuing Cryptocurrencies

The firing of the Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, is the latest move in the upheaval of U.S. cultural institutions.

MAGA news network OAN to take over venerable government-funded outlet, Voice of America

Bill Gates says Elon Musk is ‘killing the world’s poorest children’

The battle is here: GOP health care cuts and tax giveaways to the rich

What Happens to Hollywood When the U.S. Is No Longer the Good Guy? For decades, the studios have churned out movies that celebrated truth, justice, and the American way. Now, as FOTUS attacks allies, tears down democratic institutions, and cozies up to dictators, U.S. exceptionalism is a hard sell onscreen.

100% Tariff on Movies: 8 Key Questions the Industry Is Now Pondering and Dreading

PBS President Says Executive Order to End Funding Is “Blatantly Unlawful”

New Oklahoma Curriculum Requires Students To Learn 2020 Election Fraud Conspiracies

Sherman Tanks have no use for Elon Musk

Plus

Anne Frank: The Exhibition: Opened on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27, 2025, to mark the 80th commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz. It has been extended until October 31, 2025. It’s at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY (between 5th and 6th Avenues).

EFF How to Fix the Internet Podcast Episode: Digital Autonomy for Bodily Autonomy

Little Bosses Everywhere review: Pyramid schemes are as American as apple pie.

The Diabolical World of Phone Scams

Family-Vlogger Documentary Trend Magnifies a Serious Societal Problem

A scientist was urged not to take a risky cosmic image. He didn’t listen.

Ruth Buzzi, the Lady With the Handbag on ‘Laugh-In,’ Dies at 88

Monty Python’s Life of Brian. It’s hilarious, but is it in any way accurate? Answered for us by classicist Honor Cargill-Martin

Pentasyllabic is a word that both means and is five syllables long.

Do The Spike Thing — The Defiant Director on Reuniting With Denzel, Bad Money and Resisting

Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery

Why the Laugh Track Won’t Die

Why the U.S. Government Really Wants Some People To Take Vacations and The Phone Calls That Cost €220 Million a Minute (for Life) and How Jibberish Beat a Prison Sentence and The Rain of Fish

MUSIC

Never Let Me Go – Andy Bey; Smooth Sailing -Andy & The Bey Sisters; In Memoriam: Andy Bey, 1939-2025

Jill Sobule, “I Kissed A Girl” and “Supermodel” Singer, Dies at 66. Singer Vance Gilbert wrote on Facebook (May 3): “Backstage, Jill and I bonded with the idea of someday doing an album of the saddest songs we could think of. When we were last hanging out, the list looked like this: Ballad Of The Sad Young Men; Sweet Bitter Love; Do What You Gotta Do; Train Off The Track.

“While we were waiting to go on, I’d play one of these songs, and Jill and I would cry, and then try to put on some kind of game face while laughing for the set. Just last year, I had signed with a new agency, Black Oak Artists, and Jill and I shared an agent, and there were plans for sending us out together to do shows.

“Tomorrow really is never guaranteed. I will forever feel the loss of not having that future time together.”

Incompetent! – A Randy Rainbow Song Parody

Ablassen by Gottfried Reiche

From -Bon Iver

Coverville 1532: The Foreigner Cover Story II and 1533: Tribute to Mike Peters and Captain & Tennille Cover Story

Never Enough – Turnstile

Here – Pavement

Who is Broken Peach?

offa me -davido feat victoria monet

Gentle On My Mind – The Band Perry

Yesterday Was Just The Beginning Of My Life – Mark Williams

Star Wars – The Throne Room and End Title

Husky – Jimmie Nicol, a Beatle for two weeks

Election Days

Albany mayor

Many voters in New York State have election days in May and June. On May 20, there will be the Annual Budget Vote and School Board Election in most geographies. The polling places may or may not be at the location of the general election.

In the city of Albany, there is also the Albany Public Library budget and selection of two library trustees. You’ll find a lot of information here. “The proposed 2025-2026 tax levy of $8,257,997 reflects a 5% increase over last year’s operating budget tax levy. The increase is under this year’s New York State tax cap for APL.” Yes, I’m supporting the budget. There were a few years in the past decade when no increase was requested, and I thought it was shortsighted at the time.

The five candidates, listed in ballot order, are:
(1) Aidan Hennessey of Grand St., 12202
(2) Christina Wiggins of State St., 12203
(3) Shaniqua Jackson of Patroon Creek Blvd., 12206
(4) Michele Greenblatt of South Main Ave., 12208
(5) Rachael Vonada of Mountainview Ave., 12208

The trustee forum can be watched using the above link. I attended the May 6 event and have my preferences.

I’ve seen the earlier printed material for Christina Wiggins when she was running for both the Common Council (the city council) and the library trustee. Even though she didn’t make it on the Common Council ballot, I thought the move showed incredible hubris. Moreover, her “No to the property tax increase” – does she mean the school district, the library, or both? – I disagree with.

Michele Greenblatt’s recent Facebook posts display a mixed bag on freedom of expression.

This leaves three. Rachael Vonada had the most support in the room. A library insider is a fan, so YES. Aiden Hennessey’s responses were fine, but Shaniqua Jackson’s seemed more thoughtful, so I’ll likely vote for her.

Albany mayor

Someone asked me in October 2024 about my assessment of candidates for Albany’s next mayor. At the time, Corey Ellis had not entered the race, but he has since.

I wrote that by March, I’d know who I supported in the Democratic primary, tantamount to an election. One person I know well is strong on the “outsider.” I have read that he is “in the pocket of out-of-state, right-wing capital.” But I’ve also heard that this characterization was a smear campaign by one of his opponents, the one I don’t particularly like, so I don’t know what to think.

To date, none of them have filled out a Ballotpedia survey.

Here’s a WRGB debate from April 30. One of my acquaintances rightly complained about the mayoral candidates’ answers about parking downtown. “One chided about getting parking tickets while they live within a mile, another said we can’t grow the city without more parking.” But studies find that, compared to other cities, real estate eaten up by parking vehicles in Albany is not out of the ordinary. I still haven’t decided.

I know even less about other races, such as the city auditor contest. So, I’m open to persuasion. That primary election is Tuesday, June 24.

Pain in the left Achilles

“Stop doing activities that stress your tendon”

I’ve mentioned a pain in my left Achilles. I went to my podiatrist, who referred me to an imaging place, where I got an ultrasound. When I went back to my podiatrist, he assumed that I had a tear but was pleased that it was only a pull.

From the Mayo Clinic: “Achilles tendinitis is an injury of the Achilles (uh-KILL-eez) tendon. It can be caused by using it too much or too hard without enough rest, called overuse. Or it can develop without a clear cause.” This is the situation I’m in. I didn’t do anything that would have obviously aggravated it.

“The Achilles tendon is the band of tissue that joins calf muscles at the back of the lower leg to the heel bone.” It hurts when I walk.

My podiatrist suggested rest, and then after a couple of weeks, physical therapy. The Cleveland Clinic notes:

Nonsurgical Achilles tendinitis treatments include the RICE method:

Rest: Stop doing activities that stress your tendon. Switch to low-impact activities, such as swimming, that put less stress on your Achilles tendon.
Ice: Put ice on your tendon for up to 20 minutes, as needed throughout the day.
Compression: Compress, or put pressure on, your tendon using an athletic wrap or surgical tape.
Elevation: To reduce swelling, lie down and raise your foot on pillows so it’s above your heart.

Goody, goody. Lately, I’ve often used my cane, not just on uneven surfaces. It’s instrumental in getting off buses and down the stairs; down is harder than up. I’ll probably use an Uber more often in the near term.