Roger O Green

P is for Presidents

When I (mostly) finished collecting the state quarters (I STILL need a Kentucky D and some of the 2009 quarters), I decided to start collecting the new United States Mint Presidential One Dollar Coins. Actually, they are not that new. The series actually began in 2007 with the first four Presidents, then in 2008 with Presidents 5 through 8. The most recent one I have is for James K. Polk, #11, with Zachary Taylor still to come in 2009.

It occurred to me that, for some of these Presidents, these coins may be be their first appearance on American money. Apparently, the government and/or the people were resistant to putting real, specific people on its currency and coinage. Prior to 1909, when Abraham Lincoln first appeared on the penny (one cent), in commemoration of the centennial of the 16th President’s birth, there was an “Indian head” penny. Likewise it was the buffalo head nickel (five cents) prior to 1938, when it changed to 3rd President Thomas Jefferson; Lady Liberty dime (10 cents) before 1946, when Franklin Roosevelt, the 32nd President, appeared the year after he died; and Standing Liberty quarter (25 cents) before 1932, when the bicentennial of George Washington’s birth was celebrated.

The portraits that appear on paper currency were adopted in 1929. Initially, it was determined to use portraits of Presidents, but the Secretary of the Treasury altered the plan to include Alexander Hamilton ($10 bill), who was the first Secretary of the Treasury; Salmon P. Chase ($10,000), who was Secretary of the Treasury during the Civil War and “is credited with promoting our National Banking System”; and Benjamin Franklin ($100 bill), who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. U.S. bills are sometimes known as dead Presidents; while one must be dead to appear on U.S. money or stamps, not all of them have to be Presidents. Not incidentally, denominations of $500 and higher were discontinued in 1969, in large part because of fears about counterfeiting.

NOT a President
The Presidents

1. George Washington – quarter, $1 bill
2. John Adams – as far as I can determine, the Presidential $1 coin is his first appearance. This was one of the founders. Why didn’t HE show up on the $2 bill instead of his sometimes rival?
3. Thomas Jefferson – nickel, $2 bill, which was discontinued for a time, and not widely found
4. James Madison – $5000 bill
5. James Monroe, 6. John Quincy Adams – just the 2008 Presidential coin
7. Andrew Jackson – $20 bill, though there are some who would like to see him off the bill
8. Martin Van Buren – just the 2008 Presidential coin
9. William Henry Harrison, 10. John Tyler, 11. James K. Polk, 12. Zachary Taylor – just the 2009 Presidential coin
13. Millard Fillmore, 14. Franklin Pierce, 15. James Buchanan – just the 2010 Presidential coin
16. Abraham Lincoln – penny, $5 bill, Illinois state quarter. There is also a 2009 Lincoln commemorative silver dollar in honor of the bicentennial of HIS birth, separate from the Presidential coin coming out next year.
17. Andrew Johnson – just the 2011 Presidential coin
18. Ulysses S. Grant – $50 bill
19. Rutherford B. Hayes, 20. James Garfield – just the 2011 Presidential coin
21. Chester A. Arthur, 23. Benjamin Harrison – just the 2012 Presidential coin

22 & 24. Grover Cleveland (won in non-consecutive terms) – $1000 bill
25. William McKinley – $500 bill
26. Theodore Roosevelt – just the 2013 Presidential coin. Although, now that I think of it, since TR, along with Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln, appear on Mount Rushmore, and Rushmore is on the South Dakota state quarter, I suppose that should count in each of their tallies.
27. William Howard Taft – just the 2013 Presidential coin
28. Woodrow Wilson – $100,000 bill; this note never appeared in general circulation, and was only used in transactions between Federal Reserve Banks

29. Warren G. Harding, 30. Calvin Coolidge, 31. Herbert Hoover – just the 2014 Presidential coin
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt – dime (10 cents)
33. Harry S. Truman – just the 2015 Presidential coin
34. Dwight D. Eisenhower – $1 coin, 1971-1978
35. John F. Kennedy – half dollar (50 cents)
36. Lyndon B. Johnson – just the 2015 Presidential coin
37. Richard M. Nixon, 38. Gerald R. Ford, 39. James Carter, 40. Ronald Reagan – just the 2016 Presidential coin. BUT the Carter coin will be postponed unless he had died two years before its issuance. This is also true of the Class of 2017:
41. George H. W. Bush, 42. William J. Clinton, 43. George W. Bush, 44. Barack Obama
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Here’s an interesting link to Presidents on postage stamps.

ROG

Twist and Shout

STILL stuck in my mind: that great dance sequence from the movie 500 Days of Summer which makes more sense in context.
The song namechecks the song “Twist and Shout”.

Then there’s this new show on Nickelodeon the daughter is watching called The Fresh Beat Band. They were originally called the Jumparounds, plugged so often in the commercials as such that my daughter still refers them that way. (Also, she knows I think that their initial name was goofy, but the new moniker is boring – generic is what I actually said, but boring is a reasonable translation.) Think the Monkees aimed at four-year-olds. The Hispanic guitarist goes by Kiki and the red-haired percussionist is Marina. But it’s the guys’ names that I should note. The preternaturally tall guy is the beat boxer Twist, while the black keyboardist is named Shout. Twist and Shout? I expect that if this program catches on, the players will be replaced as though they were in Menudo. (None of them go by their real names.)

Which of course brings us to one of the great cover songs of all time, by the Beatles. Just saw this clip again on the Beatles Anthology, which I have on VHS. Don’t know why this song doesn’t get more respect in those “best covers” polls.
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Speaking of covers, I’ve really gotten into the new television show Glee, but I must admit there are some 21st century songs I couldn’t tell you the original artist without looking it up. One piece I did recognize instantly, was Queen’s Somebody to Love. Probably my favorite cover thus far on the show.

But I still prefer the original. I own only Queen album, a greatest hits collection, and that on vinyl. (And unlike my CDs, my LPs are in great disarray.) Any Queen album recommendations?

“If you think you’re too small to have an impact,
try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.”

— Johan Bruyneel
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VOTE

ROG

Big Hits of 1953

I have a couple friends who were born in 1966 who know the music of 1966 nearly as well as I do, and I was 13 that year. So I thought I’d find a list of 1953 songs to see how many I
O-Own, L-Like, H-Hate, R-Recognize (obviously, if I own, like, or hate, I recognize):

That’s Amore Dean Martin -(O, L)
Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes – Perry Como (R)
Your Cheatin’ Heart – Hank Williams (O,L)
The Doggie In The Window – Patti Page (O)
Rags To Riches – Tony Bennett (O,L)
Even Now – Eddie Fisher (R)
Have You Heard – Joni James (R)
Hound Dog – Big Mama Thornton (O,L)
I Believe – Frankie Laine (R)
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) – The Four Lads (O,L)
Oh! My Pa-Pa – Eddie Fisher (O)
Secret Love – Doris Day (R)
Three Coins In The Fountain – Frank Sinatra (O,L)
The Typewriter – Leroy Anderson & His Orchestra (O,L)
Young At Heart – Frank Sinatra (O,L)
Crying In The Chapel – The Orioles (O,L)
Mama (He Treats Your Daughter Mean) – Ruth Brown (O,L)
Mess Around – Ray Charles (O,L)
Your Cheatin’ Heart – Hank Williams (O,L)
You, You, You – the Ames Brothers (O,L)

The only album I have is Jazz at Massey Hall – The Quintet, though I have compilations of Frank Sinatra that cover this period.

I suspect that any of you younger bloggers that try this will have a far longer list than I.
ROG

NaBloPoMo

What’s the new public trend
That’s a sex turnoff to all the folks?
(NaBloPoMo!)
You’re damn right

What is the thing
That would risk one’s rep with the brother man?
(NaBloPoMo!)
Can ya dig it?

What’s the trend that won’t cop out
When there are deadlines all about?
(NaBloPoMo!)
Right on

You see this meme NaBloPoMo is a bad mother–
(Shut your mouth)
But I’m talkin’ about NaBloPoMo
(Then we can dig it)

It’s a complicated trend
And no one understands it, man or woman
(NaBloPoMo!)

A little 3 a.m. silliness about National Blog Posting Month.

Do I NEED NaBloPoMo? Well, not exactly. As of tomorrow, November 2, I’ll have blogged daily 4.5 years. I often say I’ll take a day off, but I don’t. It’s like my father’s cigarette habit; he never quit, just stopped smoking for a day, then another day until it was over 25 years. So actually, NaBloPoMo is more of a THREAT to blogging than just keeping my head down and just doing it.

I can’t help but to wonder if it’s all in response to National Novel Writing Month, which, perhaps not coincidentally, ALSO starts today.

Anyway, that’s 1 of 30.
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Oh, I’ll be here today, but probably mot until 1 p.m., in case anyone cares.

ROG

Sports Questions and Samhain

The World Series continues into November. In the Northeast, no less. This really bugs me. With two rounds before the Series, somethings gotta give. Maybe a 154-game season, which Major League baseball used to have until the 1960s, when it went to 162 games. And while they’re at it, couldn’t they starts some games earlier, so I kids could watch past the third inning?

I suppose this is sacrilege, but I wish the Yankees, and some minor league teams, and maybe others, would get rid of “God Bless America” during the 7th-inning stretch. It started after 9/11/2001, but now it’s become a “new tradition”. And at the last Hall of Fame game I attended, “honored America” with a scratchy and warped Kate Smith recording. And some people are now getting bent out of shape if television doesn’t cover the singing of same, even when TV doesn’t cover Take Me Out To The Ballgame, which follows.

In the NFL, I was really happy that Denver beat New England a few weeks ago, but I found it unfair that the Patriots never touched the ball offensively in overtime. There’s got to be a better way than a coin flip. In the college game, each team at least gets a chance to score, not a perfect model, but clearly fairer.

So what’s bugging you about sports? Maybe it’s the relatively new scoring system in figure skating; I happen to like it better than the 6.0 standard. I read that some are advocating for more instant reply in baseball; not sure how that would work. The example is a ball, not a home run ball, that was judged as foul by the umpire but fair in the replay. Where would the batter, and even trickier, the runners, end up? I’m not opposed out of hand, but I can’t see how it would work.

Swiped from Uthaclena: In Druid tradition, Samhain is the time of the dead, when the veil between the worlds thins and spirits walk the land of the living. It is the feast of death and rebirth, and the New Year of the Celtic calendar with the fall of the last leaves, the heart of the Autumn, the beginning of the Darkened Days, and the Quiet Time to listen to the Wisdom of the Crone. At this time we celebrate and commemorate our ancestors and elders who have passed into the Otherworld. But, fear naught, for the Sun will be born anew, and Light and Life will return to the world!

Solemn Blessings to you all; hold fast to the seed of Hope, and dream of Better days!

ROG