Author: Roger

I'm a librarian. I hear music, even when it's not being played. I used to work at a comic book store, and it still informs my life. I won once on JEOPARDY! - ditto.

The Lenten devotional post, in five minutes or less

The notion that I could churn something out “in 5 minutes” really ticked me off.

Among others, I was requested to make a submission to the FOCUS churches Lenten devotional calendar/booklet. I received the email because “you have either submitted an entry in the past [I had not] or have demonstrated interest in writing for public consumption [maybe THAT’S it]… There are texts assigned for each day and… parameters…for this project.”

After failing to respond, five days later, On January 31, I was asked if I had received the invitation. Eventually, I acceded to do one entry, about 2 paragraphs, based on 1 Corinthians 2:10-16. “It has Paul talking about spiritual vs those who are unspiritual. Those who are spiritual understand that which is spiritual, but those who are unspiritual see the gifts of God’s spirit as foolishness. Why? Because spirit is required to understand these gifts, and they don’t have them. And we [followers of Christ] have the mind of Christ. Below are instructions… about doing this. Can you have it to me by Feb 10? I’m guessing you could create it right now in 5 minutes. Or you can live with it a few days as [the editor] suggests.”

And somehow, the notion that I could churn something out “in 5 minutes” really ticked me off, so much, in fact, that I mentioned it to my wife when I got home. She said that it was a compliment to my skilled writing or some such. (Yes, I know I’m being petty here; sometimes I’m petty.)

Here’s something that has, for a long time, been true of me. I hate long, or even moderately long deadlines. Invariably, one of two things will happen: I will do the thing right away because I don’t want to forget or become too busy at the point of the deadline. If I have an intro to write for ABC Wednesday, it’s usually done at least the week before. When I’m going to contribute to Flashmob Fridays, all but one of the contributions I’ve sent by Monday.

Or, I’ll forget altogether, or in the alternative, just run out of time. February 10 comes, and in my pique, the booklet had TOTALLY left my consciousness, until I get a reminder.

So, I take more than five minutes – indeed my entire lunch hour (or more) – to write 187 words; the maximum was 250. I needed to find the right tactic. And now that I’ve finished ranting about it, here is what I submitted:

“I’ve been a librarian for nearly two decades. One of the things I have noticed over the last several years is that many people seem to think that virtually all the information they will ever need can be found by going on the Internet and Googling for it. In fact, Google and other search engines do not always retrieve what’s known as ‘gray literature’, which is defined as ‘research that is either unpublished or has been published in non-commercial form.’ Often, it is that particular dissertation, government report or policy statement that provides the best answer to a query.

“Likewise, there is human knowledge. Some folks believe that’s all there is, and are skeptical of any other source of data. But others have been blessed by the Spirit to access the ‘gray literature’ of Christ’s spirituality. Best of all, one doesn’t need a computer or other device to access this database, and one can download it at any time, day or night. And the wisdom to answer life’s pressing questions can be found in unexpected clarity.”

I also had to add a sentence prayer.

“May we be transformed by the greater wisdom offered to us graciously by the Spirit of God.”

I have no idea if it’s any good. It’s not something I’ve done before. But it DID make it into the booklet. If I do it again, I’ll definitely budget at least TEN minutes for the project.

WTF? Cavemen in America

It’s baffling that some folks seem to have gone all retrograde in America, with particular men deciding when women should get pregnant.

I try not to write about politics too much, I really do, mostly so that I don’t make myself crazy. But a series of related events, which I would not have imagined would be part of the public discourse in the USA in 2012, ARE front-page news.

First, the Republican-led Congress convened a panel of “experts”, most of whom railed against employer insurance plans covering birth control. Interestingly, they happened to be mostly a bunch of guys. The odd thing is that many of these same insurance plans with contraceptive coverage that the panel was railing against will cover Viagra and similar products that will be a sexual aid, even for (gasp!) unmarried men.

So some Democrats allowed Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke to testify from a different perspective, e.g., a woman’s, regarding women’s reproductive health care; LISTEN to her opening statement. Note that Fluke’s comments were primarily about the use of contraceptives for other purposes, such as to avoid ovarian cysts. A windbag named Rush Limbaugh slandered Fluke as a “slut” and a “prostitute,” then, in response to the outrage of his remarks, exclaimed that he would “buy all of the women at Georgetown University as much aspirin to put between their knees as they want.” (It would be off-topic, I suppose, to note that Limbaugh has been married four times and has no children, suggesting at least the possibility of contraception use.) The talk radio guy eventually offered a limp apology after sponsors left his show.

Limbaugh’s comments echoed those of Foster Friess, Presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s billionaire supporter: “And this contraceptive thing, my gosh, it’s [so] inexpensive. Back in my day, they used Bayer aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn’t that costly.”

Santorum, who apparently has distanced himself from Limbaugh’s “slut” comment in an “oh, but he’s an entertainer” remark, talks about “the dangers of contraception”: “Many in the Christian faith have said, ‘… contraception’s okay.’ It’s not okay… because…[things in the sexual realm are] supposed to be within marriage, for purposes that are, yes, conjugal … but also procreative. That’s the perfect way that a sexual union should happen. We take any part of that out, we diminish the act. And if you can take one part out that’s not for purposes of procreation, that’s not one of the reasons, then you diminish this very special bond between men and women, so why can’t you take other parts of that out? And all of a sudden, it becomes deconstructed to the point where it’s simply pleasure. And that’s certainly a part of it—and it’s an important part of it, don’t get me wrong—but there’s a lot of things we do for pleasure, and this is special, and it needs to be seen as special.” I think Santorum has the perfect right to express his opinion, but my concern is that these issues would likely dominate his policies if he were elected.

If that weren’t enough, the Girl Scouts of America are under attack by some shady group because the GSA has “liberal progressive troop leaders [who] will indoctrinate the girls in their troop according to the principles of Planned Parenthood.” Oy.

It’s baffling that some folks seem to have gone all retrograde in America, with particular men deciding when women should get pregnant, while railing against the number of children born out of wedlock, and wanting to cut funds to them. Or maybe it’s just that these dudes want women to shut the hell up, particularly about issues that primarily impact women. I have to check my calendar. Nope, it’s not 1952. In fact, I don’t think the country was as backward 60 years ago as these folks are today.

The Pregnant Woman, La Donna Gravida by Raphael, 1507

Random People with Birthdays on March 7

1953 Roger Green, librarian, blogger

Pictured: Franco Harris and Lynn Swann (with Terry Bradshaw), Hall of Famers all, from the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers

1980 Laura Prepon, actress
1974 Jenna Fisher, actress
1970 Rachel Weisz, actress
1968 Jeff Kent, baseball infielder
1968 Ricky Proehl, NFL wide receiver
1967 Zheng Haixia, WNBA center (Los Angeles Sparks)
1966 Jeff Feagles, NFL punter
1966 Mel Rojas, baseball pitcher
1965 Steve Beuerlein, NFL quarterback
1964 Wanda Sykes, comedian
1962 Taylor Dayne, singer
1961 Mary Beth Evans, actress
1960 Ivan Lendl, tennis pro
1960 Joe Carter, baseball outfielder
1954 Matt Frenette, rock drummer ( Loverboy)
1953 Roger Green, librarian, blogger
1952 Ernie Isley, vocalist and guitarist
1952 Lynn Swann, NFL receiver
1950 Franco Harris, NFL fullback
1946 Matthew Fisher, rock keyboardist (Procol Harum)
1946 Peter Wolf, rock singer (J Geils Band)
1945 John Heard, actor
1944 Townes Van Zandt, musician
1943 Chris White, rock bassist (Zombies)
1942 Michael Eisner, former Disney honcho
1942 Tammy Faye Bakker, television personality
1940 Daniel J. Travanti, actor (Hill St. Blues)
1934 King Curtis, rocker
1934 Willard Scott, weather forecaster
1930 James Broderick, actor
1930 Lord Snowdon, Anthony Armstrong-Jones, photographer
1908 Anna Magnani, actress,
1875 Maurice Joseph Ravel, composer (Bolero)
1849 Luther Burbank, horticulturist
1659 Henry Purcell, organist/composer

H is for Help!, the Beatles albums

In the United States, Help! really was a SOUNDTRACK album. So the songs on the first side of the UK LP were spread onto the two sides, augmented by movie instruments written or arranged by Ken Thorne.

Help! was the second Beatles movie, after A Hard Day’s Night, but the first one I saw. When I watched it in a movie theater, back in 1965, I loved it! Viewing it again in 2009 on TV, with the Daughter, it really didn’t hold up, but it was nevertheless enjoyable for the music if nothing else. Here is the trailer to the 2007 video release. And here or here or here is the 90-minute film, in its entirety, or it was there, as of this posting.

But what I really wanted to talk about is the album. Or to be more precise the albums. In Great Britain, and other civilised places in the world, when the LP came out in 1965, the playlist was based on the wishes of the group, and looked like this:

Side one

1. Help!
2. The Night Before
3. You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away
4. I Need You
5. Another Girl
6. You’re Going to Lose That Girl
7. Ticket to Ride

Side two

1. Act Naturally
2. It’s Only Love
3. You Like Me Too Much
4. Tell Me What You See
5. I’ve Just Seen a Face
6. Yesterday
7. Dizzy Miss Lizzy

You can find the individual songs, I’m sure, on YouTube. Here is the whole album.

But in the United States, Help! really was a SOUNDTRACK album. So the songs on the first side of the UK LP were spread onto the two sides, augmented by movie instruments written or arranged by Ken Thorne.

Side one

1. Help! (preceded by a James Bondian instrumental intro)
2. The Night Before
3. From Me to You Fantasy (Lennon–McCartney; arranged by Thorne)
4. You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away
5. I Need You
6. In the Tyrol

Side two

1. Another Girl
2. Another Hard Day’s Night (Lennon–McCartney; arranged by Thorne)
3. Ticket to Ride
4. Medley: The Bitter End/You Can’t Do That (Thorne/Lennon–McCartney; arranged by Thorne)
5. You’re Going to Lose That Girl
6. The Chase

American ears, at least those of a certain age, had gotten used to a particular order of their songs, and while, for most albums, one could take the CDs (based on the British order) and rearrange the songs to suit our aural needs, there were those five instrumentals on the US Help! album that for a long time weren’t digitally available elsewhere. It was ALMOST reason enough to buy The Capitol Albums, Volume 2, which contains The Early Beatles, Beatles VI, the US version of Help! (with the instrumentals) and the US version of Rubber Soul.

What happened to the seven songs on Side 2 of the UK album? You Like Me Too Much and Tell Me What You See, rejected for the movie, ended up on Beatles VI, as did Dizzy Miss Lizzie. I’ve Just Seen a Face and It’s Only Love start Sides 1 and 2, respectively of the US Rubber Soul album; the US and UK Rubber Soul album have 10 common songs, with the other four UK songs ending up on the US Yesterday and Today. Yesterday and Act Naturally from UK Help also ended up on Y&T, which didn’t exist in the UK.

From Wikipedia: A few songs that were intended for the film were not used… because of The Beatles’ suggestions. Lennon and McCartney wrote If You’ve Got Trouble for Ringo Starr to sing, but the song was rejected…That Means a Lot was written for the film, but The Beatles were not satisfied with their performance of the song and they gave it to P.J. Proby, who released it as a single [The linked versions are from Beatles Anthology 2.]…Yes, It Is ended up being released as the B-side of Ticket to Ride and was also on Beatles VI.

ABC Wednesday – Round 10

40 Years Ago: March 5, 1972 – did not see that coming

It was a surprise birthday party for me!

In the Scudder Hall dorm, at the State University College of New Paltz, my room was B-2. I had a roommate named Ron, who was a graduate student; an odd pairing, a freshman and someone doing post-graduate work. But he was a pretty easy-going guy, and I guess I didn’t drive him too crazy.

It was surprising, though, that one day, Ron decided that we really needed to thoroughly clean the room. I didn’t think it looked that bad, but surely I would not have been the gold standard for that kind of thing.

A couple of days later, which was a Sunday, my friend Uthaclena was over at one of the dining halls playing billiards. I must admit here that 1) I love playing pool, but in spite of that, 2) I’ve never gotten very good at it.

After a time, he and I went back to my dorm room. If you have had glasses, you know how it was when it’s a bit cool out, then you walk into a room that’s a bit warmer? Right – the glasses steam up. So I walk into my room, and there are my girlfriend, the Okie (I think – I’m having trouble seeing), and our friend Alice, Ron of course, but wait? Is that my father, mother, and sisters? And who is THAT guy? (It turned out to be the quasi-boyfriend of one of my sisters.) And possibly others, though it was a small room.

It was a surprise birthday party for me! My birthday wasn’t for a couple of days, and so it caught me unawares. But it was great. I was feeling a bit melancholy, my first birthday away from home. And, more than that, they brought a lot of Kentucky Fried Chicken ((back when they called it that), and there was enough left over for me to have for a couple more meals.

The event had a profound impact on me. I have subsequently helped pull off a number of surprise birthday parties over the years. Of course, I can still be surprised myself; the very next year, my parents, coordinating with the Okie, puled off another event; I think we went out to dinner. And much more recently, Uthaclena and his wife plotted with my wife to surprise me.

One last thing about the plan two score ago: my father called our dorm room one morning at 7 a.m. Ron answered the phone, and my father revealed the plan. But even as I lay on my bed half-awake, Ron never let on who he was talking to. But it DID lead to a clean dorm room.

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