August 2026 - Ramblin' with Roger

Broadway: Buena Vista Social Club

Tony winner Natalie Venetia Belcon

My wife and I were in Times Square on August 6 to see if we could get discounted tickets from TKTS. On Wednesdays, the entity opens at 11 a.m. But by the time we arrived at 10:40 a.m., there were at least 150 people in line. Alas. So we expected to be there for a while.

But then one of the employees told us to get out of line. What did we do wrong? Nothing, as it turned out. We were put at the BEGINNING of the line because my wife’s husband was using a cane! They officially promote folks in the military and folks who saw a Broadway show in the previous week.

However, no tickets were available for the Buena Vista Social Club matinee, so we spent the time on another task. (See a subsequent post.)

We got to the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on 45th Street at about 6:30 for the 7 pm show. I really wanted to see this show because I had seen a movie in 1999 or 2000. Wim Wenders directed the film about Cuban music, “featuring the musicians who recorded the 1997 album Buena Vista Social Club,” produced by Ry Cooder, which I subsequently acquired and loved.

“Buena Vista Social Club was a musical ensemble primarily made up of Cuban musicians, formed in 1996. They named the group after the members’ club of the same name in Havana’s Buenavista quarter, a popular music venue in the 1940s. To showcase the popular styles of the time, such as son, bolero and danzón, they recruited a dozen veteran musicians, some of whom had been retired for many years.”

The story of the musical picks up the thread of the above narrative, specifically how the 1959 revolution impacted the music scene and the musicians’ lives.

Force of nature

Natalie Venetia Belcon played Omara, who had stopped singing six years earlier. Would she be swayed by an enthusiastic young man, a record producer, to return to the recording studio with a bunch of her old musical colleagues? Or would her painful past sideline her?

“Hailed as a ‘jaw-dropping, soul-stirring must-see’ (The Washington Post), the Tony® and GRAMMY® Award-winning BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB is a journey through music and memory into the beating heart of Havana. A world-class company brings the story of the iconic album to thrilling life in this tale of big dreams, second chances, and music that needs no translation.”

The show won five Tonys, including for Ms. Belcon, and was nominated for six more. Following the narrative between 1959 and 1996 was surprisingly easy.

Honestly, the plot threads in the second act were resolved relatively quickly. But it mattered little, because the opening 20 minutes or so of that act became an extraordinary concert, featuring an unbelievable guitarist, David Oquendo.

My wife said it may have been the best show she had ever seen. She may be correct. A touring show will start on September 12 in Buffalo.

Check out the CBS Sunday Morning story from 2025. Oh, it was announced that no photography was allowed DURING the show; this was taken just BEFORE the show. I understand the set was a great replica of the Havana Club.

August rambling: dowfart

Waiting for a Library Book?

Catbird: “When I viewed it again, it looked like a heart that had been run over by a tire, which reflected my yet-unrealized reaction to what doge had just started. My conscious mind didn’t know yet, but my hand did. What a revelation!”

Dowfart – Meaning: 1. A dimwit. 2. A coward.

Digital sewer socialism: Mamdani’s Public Interest Technologists are what DOGE should have been.

Talarico Explains Infamous ‘Powell Memo’ to Texas Voters. The top 1% put the American Dream behind a paywall,” said the Texas Democrat as he unveiled a framework for his economic vision.

History Wars: The Declaration of Independence

First Came the Flock Cameras. Now Local Cops Want Autonomous Drones. Hundreds of local police departments have received waivers to fly surveillance drones that navigate with AI. Also, are Flock cameras in your neighborhood?

The Manosphere and MAHA Have Merged. I Worry for My Pre-Teen Son

FDA Approves First mRNA Flu Vaccine — Approval is for people 50 years or older

‘The Good Maharaja’: How an Indian Prince Saved Hundreds of Polish Children During WWII. When the world looked away, Maharaja Digvijaysinhji Jadeja stepped forward to provide refuge and hope to young castaways

A High Schooler Invents a Plant-Based Plastic That Removes Microplastics From the Environment as It Biodegrades.

Waiting for a Library Book? This Man Makes Sure You Get It

Sydney Towle, who chronicled her cancer on TikTok, dies at 26

Tommy John, Dodgers pitcher and medical pioneer, dies at 83. After tearing an elbow ligament, he underwent a risky procedure and returned at his best, changing baseball and giving new hope to injured players.

Why Gen Z and millennials are embracing “grandma hobbies”

When His Church Goes Dark, They Talk to His Digital Twin

Can Robots Save an Aging Japan?

Ireland (The Words)

Memories of Goldmine

The Reality TV Show That Wasn’t Out of This World and The Driver That Can’t Give the Cops the Split and When Astronauts Smuggled Mail into Space and The Worst 2.6% of the Planet? and The Baseball Steroid Testing Loophole of 2003 and Jeopardy! is Full of Lies

FOTUS

Treasury Confirms $1.4 Trillion FY 2026 Deficit So Far, Higher Than 2025

& the DOJ: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Inside the New York court where children face deportation without access to attorneys

Draft dodger sure loves big battleships and military cosplay

Helicopter hiccup shows air traffic control is still a mess

Proposed arch could obstruct views of Washington’s historic sites

MUSIC

Funk music is as unapologetically Black as the musicians who pioneered it

The Enduring Power Of Stevie Wonder’s “As,” R&B’s Greatest Song Ever, and you could make a strong case for it being the greatest song ever recorded, period.

Claustrophobia – Bee Gees

Andy Warhol – David Bowie

Vienna — Billy Joel

Black Coffee In Bed – Squeeze

Under A Violet Moon -Blackmore’s Night

Radar Love – Golden Earring

That’s The Way I Always Heard It Should Be – Carly Simon

Coverville 1588: Queen’s Final 1986 Concert and 1589: The Glen Hansard Tribute

Glen Hansard edition

Grand March from the opera La reine de Saba by Charles Gounod

Sunday Stealing Plays Favorites

Sondheim

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!

This week’s meme was stolen from Country Dew. A decade ago, she shared these “get to know you” questions she found on Facebook. Let’s use them to get to know you better.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE …? Sunday Stealing Plays Favorites

1. Flavor? Apparently, it’s strawberry. Strawberry ice cream and milkshakes, strawberry shortcake, strawberry jam, strawberry lemonade. Strawberries in my morning oatmeal. Let me take you down, ’cause I’m going to Strawberry Fields Forever. The Brothers Johnson’s version of Strawberry Letter #23.

2. Movie? Maybe Casablanca, which I saw in the late 1970s in an outdoor venue – a park? – in Rochester, NY, with a former housemate. But I haven’t seen it in total since.

Possibly West Side Story, which I saw when I was ten. Specifically Tonight (Quintet), which just blew me away. A countermelody? I didn’t know you could do that. And I’ve seen a variety of productions of the stage musical since. I own two books by composer Stephen Sondheim; read the “words that rhyme” section.

It may not even be my favorite musical (likely Fiddler On The Roof), but West Side Story has a deeper foundation.

3. Piece of jewelry? Not a real jewelry guy. My wedding ring.

Lots of water

4. Place to be? Niagara Falls, which, now that I think about it, I’ve been to with my family growing up, with my work friends, with my wife, and with my wife and daughter.

5. Boy’s name? Roger. I’ve probably written about my name a number of times.

6. Girl’s name? Isabella, which I mentioned here why it’s NOT our daughter’s name.

7. Candy? York Peppermint Patties or Mounds bar.

8. Sports team? I was much more invested in sports teams as a kid. I have a bias for the NYC baseball and football teams. But there’s only one NFL team that plays its games in New York State: the Buffalo Bills.

9. Color? Green, mentioned here.

10. Month? March. Yes, it’s my birth month and my daughter’s, but it also has St. Patrick’s Day, which is green (see question 9), not to mention my genealogical roots. And it’s spring. Sometimes, it’s Easter.

Easy Listening #1 hits of 1976

Beach Boys-adjacent

There were SO many #1 hits in the mid-1970s on multiple charts. The Easy Listening #1 hits of 1976 numbered 40! There was very little crossover with the pop charts for the year.

Here are the ones that were #1 for more than a week, followed by the one-week wonders, chronologically from January through April.

Muskrat Love – the Captain & Tennille, four weeks at #1. Daryl Dragon got the nickname “Captain Keyboard” because, as an instrumentalist for the Beach Boys, he always wore the captain’s hat. Later, Toni Tennille also played keyboards for the Beach Boys, making her the only “Beach Girl”

Let It Shine -Olivia Newton-John, two weeks at #1

*50 Ways To Leave Your Lover – Paul Simon, two weeks at #1; three weeks at #1 pop

*Welcome Back – John Sebastian, two weeks at #1; also #1 pop. I wrote about him here a dozen years ago. Many years ago, I talked to JS very briefly outside of the Albany bar Pauly’s.

Today’s The Day – America- two weeks at #1

Fernando – ABBA, two weeks at #1

After The Lovin’ – Engelbert Humperdinck, two weeks at #1

Torn Between Two Lovers – Mary MacGregor, two weeks at #1. Co-written and co-produced by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary.

Fly Away – John Denver, two weeks at #1

If You Know What I Mean -Neil Diamond, two weeks at #1

One week at #1 (incomplete)

Times of Your Life – Paul Anka

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do – Neil Sedaka

Break Away – Art Garfunkel. Simon AND Garfunkel, both on the charts. They both had albums that charted in that timeframe: Paul’s Still Crazy After All These Years and Art’s Breakaway. Both albums included My Little Town.

Lovely Face (Angel Face) – the Captain & Tennille. A song written and recorded by Neil Sedaka a year earlier.

Venus – Frankie Avalon, a discofied version of his 1959 #1 hit; I have no recollection of this version, though I remember the original quite well

Only Love Is Real – Carole King

Looking For Space – John Denver

Come On Over – Olivia Newton-John

More soon.

Book review: African-Americans in the Wyoming Valley

Wilkes-Barre, PA

On July 7, at the Albany Public Library, I spoke about the book African-Americans in the Wyoming Valley: 1778-1990 by Emerson L. Moss, published by the Wyoming Valley Historical and Geological Society and the Wilkes University Press in 1992.

Why am I reporting on such an obscure book? In part, it’s because it’s been in my collection for a while. Also, it mentions by name a couple of my ancestors.

First off, what is the Wyoming Valley? “It is a historic, industrialized region of Northeastern Pennsylvania consisting of Lackawanna, Wyoming, and Luzerne counties, with Luzerne being the largest in terms of both area and population. The region is historically notable for its role in fueling the American Industrial Revolution through its many anthracite coal mines. As a metropolitan area, it is known as the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, after its principal cities. With a population of 567,559 as of the 2020 United States census, it is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Pennsylvania, after the Philadelphia metropolitan area, Greater Pittsburgh, the Lehigh Valley (Allentown-Bethlehem), and the Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical areas.”

While not specifically an ethnography, it does “explore cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. It also… involves examining the behavior of the participants in a given social situation and understanding the group members’ own interpretation of such behavior.”

Breakdown

Chapter I is The Early African-American Experience in America, 1619-1896, which traces the timeline from the origins of slavery in the future USA to the dreadful Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case. It occurred to me that 35 years ago, knowledge about slavery, especially in the non-black community, was rather sparse. Most of them weren’t reading Lenore Bennett’s Before The Mayflower.

Charles Miner was a pioneer civil rights advocate, elected to the US House of Representatives in 1824 (yes, he was white).

Chapter II, The African-American in Pennsylvania, 1639-1887, noted that William Penn, who founded the future state, was a slaveholder. In 1700, PA passed Black Codes, though a few religious groups opposed the bigotry.

There is a fascinating debate in Congress, including by H.B. Wright from Luzerne County, about why blacks were unfit for war, and that black soldiers would make white soldiers leave the service.

Chapter III, Early African-Americans in the Wyoming Valley, noted that a 1798 census showed 11 slaves and 13 free non-whites in Luzerne County. Nevertheless, there was a strong anti-abolitionist streak in the area, as well as a vibrant Underground Railroad system. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 made things even more troubled. Black people could not vote until after the Civil War.

Chapter IV, Religious Life, and Chapter V, Education, were often intertwined because state laws and local regulations made it difficult to establish schools, leaving churches to fill the gap. Chapter VI, Organizations, focused on social entities such as lodges and the NAACP. and certain YMCAs, where black folks could participate freely.

Relative

Chapter VI is titled First Families Remembered. The first listed was the Patterson Family. As I wrote about here, Samuel Patterson, my great-great-grandfather, who fought in the 5th Massachusetts Colored Cavalry during the American Civil War. Oddly, neither his wife nor his mother is mentioned by name. S.J. later had a very successful tile company. Another family listed was the Patience family, a couple of whom married Pattersons, unsurprisingly.

The Afterward was titled “The Community Today,” which was rather critical of the lack of progress. Appendix A, Remembrances of Blacks in the Wyoming Valley, contained bios of several folks, including some 19th-century weddings. Appendix B (local black members of the US military) and Appendix C (Black business in the Wyoming Valley in 1910) both mentioned SJ Patterson. There were additional sections about medical, legal, religious, and sports figures.

The book is a robust look, especially at Luzerne County black life. Sometimes, one could extrapolate from the specific examples in this book to other northern communities with small but robust black populations.

Surely, the pride in local accomplishments applies to places I’ve lived.