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.

Jon & Kate plus Roger Makes ?


I’m at the supermarket and, as usual, I’m looking at the cover of People magazine. Early in its run, I actually used to buy it, but I haven’t purchased it in well over a decade. I see the picture and I say to myself, “Who are Jon and Kate and why should I care?” The way they were referred to in the first person, like Brad and Angelina or Tom and Katie made me wonder how I managed to miss this power couple.

Then that very same magazine showed up in the breakroom in my building, so then I HAD to read it. Apparently Jon & Kate Plus Ei8ht is the TLC’s most popular show. (Probably doing better than NBC is on Friday nights.

I think it’s that there may be an article about “reality” programming in something I’m reading, but I’ll skip over it. (“Reality TV” – what an oxymoron; the most unreal programming on the air.) So that person who was on American Idol a couple years ago and now shows up on another show is a cipher to me. I have no animosity; I just don’t care. The brain actively doesn’t let me remember that stuff. I come across those those people from The Hills, and the only one I know is Audrina who gets mentioned in a blog I read; I mean I know there’s a Spencer and a Heidi, but wouldn’t recognize them if they walked into the room.

Fifteen years ago, I might do the TV Guide crossword and finish it in 15 minutes or less. Recently, I gave it another go; couldn’t even complete it. This is not a source of either pride or disdain, just the facts.

And it’s partly that I just don’t have time. Last weekend, I finally finished watching the inauguration. This weekend it was the two-hour series finale of ER from early April. And while I’m pretty current with the few dramas I watch, ever since my old DVR got fried in a lightning strike, it’s been difficult to catch up.

1/22 30 Rock
1/29 The Office
3/25 Scrubs
Those are the oldest programs on my DVR, and we’ve made a concerted effort with Scrubs. So no, I have no idea that Michael Scott started his own office on The Office or that J.D. loves Elliot more than Turk on Scrubs. So DON’T TELL ME.

And it is the reasons I miss the olden days when there were summer reruns. Fortunately, there’s so much “reality” this summer, I’ll still be able to catch up by the fall season. As someone tweeted yesterday, “Man, primetime TV really sucks during the summer.” I find that to be a good thing. With the exception of The Closer, plus the usual (news and JEOPARDY!), the DVR will slowly but surely be emptying out. Got to zero last September; I bet I can do it again this year.

ROG

ROG

The Blogging Meme

From Sunday Stealing

1. How long have you been blogging?
4 years, 1 month

2. Any advice to beginners?
Yes, have a couple pieces written before posting the first one. I came across these tips for beginner bloggers.

3. What are the good things blogging has brought to your life?
Actually “met”, as it were, a number of decent folks.

4. What would you consider the pitfalls?
Obsessive behavior, on the part of at least one respondent. Maybe the blogger as well.

5. Tell us about your blog name. Ever think of changing it? If so, to what? Why?
It’s semi-alliterative. It was inspired by a radio show called Ramblin’ with Gamblin, or something like that. I could change it, but I have no particular inspiration.

6. Knowing what you know now, was starting a blog a good thing for you? Why or why not?
Why? Because all of those thoughts about what made me annoyed, or occasionally pleased, about the world were all bottled up, previously with no outlet.
Why not? Because sometimes I get melancholy and discouraged when I don’t seem to generate any comments for two or three days in a row.

7. How do you think blogging, bloggers, or the blogosphere has changed since you started?
More of them, of course. More tools such as Twitter to augment the blog. More toys to play with in general.

8. Ultimately, what would you like your blog to accomplish for you or others?
The usual: world peace.
***
Every week, I get a PDF of the blogs I write. You can get the same for your blogs or others that you follow, even on a daily basis, if they have an RSS feed, with tabbloid.com. It’s free, easy and you don’t need an account, just an e-mail to send it to. I know it sounds like a commercial, but I’m not getting anything for it; I just think it’s rather cool if you envision being published in a more traditional manner.

ROG

ROG

The tongue or the ear?

I was asking someone who reads the Bible voraciously whether Pentecost, from Acts 2 , where suddenly people start hearing the Gospel in their own language, is a miracle of the tongue or a miracle of the ear? He said it was the tongue, though he dismissed notion that people will just start spouting gibberish, as some religious folks portray the event in modern times.

As someone who has – once – been part of a service where people actually seemed to spontaneously start speaking in tongues, I nevertheless believe in the possibility of the miracle of the ear; that is, that people began comprehending as though the words were in their own language. Isn’t it true that sometimes, if we really listen, we can understand what would seem to be incomprehensible?

And did not the church, based on its understanding of Genesis 1, long believe that the sun went around the earth? It was heresy to think otherwise. Yet our greater understanding of the universe does not diminish the awesomeness of creation, however it came to be.

I’ve long believe that AN explanation, not necessarily THE explanation of the feeding of the 4000 or 5000 in the New Testament was based on the notion stone soup. Many people had a little of this, a little of that, but when they shared, it created a magnificent feast. And it was a miracle: the miracle of open hearts.

In the Acts 2 reading for Pentecost, it cites a reading from Joel about the “last days”. It’s pretty clear that the early Christians such as Paul took the scripture to mean that the Lord was coming back in their lifetimes. Evidently, it didn’t. Or maybe the Joel reading was a reference to the Holy Spirit that was promised after the resurrection of Jesus. By that measure, we’ve been in the “end times” for about 1980 years. If that’s true, we’d better hurry up and feed the hungry, etc., because the “end times” might be a little while longer.
***
YouTube video: Gay scientists have isolated the gene they believe makes people Christian.

ROG

ROG

W.W.C.T.G.Y.T.B.N.C.O.S.Y.A.O. Question

I think it was Mark Evanier who came up with the notion of the W.W.C.T.G.Y.T.B.N.C.O.S.Y.A.O. (the World Wide Conspiracy To Get You To Buy New Copies Of Stuff You Already Own). This is why I’m less than excited by the remastered Beatles music coming out 09/09/09.

I haven’t done this in a while, but last week, I went to the library, got five CDs and burned them. I’m totally unapologetic about it, too, because every single album I’ve not only purchased but still own in vinyl. Until I get around to buying one of those turntables that will convert vinyl to digital form – I saw one listed recently for a little over $100 – then I will keep at it.

So what is on my little foray this week?

Boston- Boston. Yes, THAT album with More than A Feeling, et al.
Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young – Deja Vu – with four writers, they worked hard to be equitable, with each getting two songs, Stills/Young getting one, and the other song a cover of Joni Mitchell’s Woodstock.
Devo- Q: Are We Not Men? A: We are Devo – features one of my all-time favorite covers, Satisfaction. Incidentally, I have a schlocky instrumental album of Devo songs, done by Devo.
The Guess Who- co-founded by Randy Bachman, who later founded Bachman-Turner Overdrive, it has some decent songs. But the one that most fascinated me when i first bought it was a song I did not know before, Hang On To Your Life, which ends with the stark parts of Psalm 22.
Neil Young – Harvest. I listened to this album a LOT in my college years.

I could only take out five at a time. So what was interesting to me was what I didn’t take this time:
Allman Brothers – Brothers and Sisters. I have a colleague who burns so much Allman music for me that I may have ODed on them.
John Lennon – Rock and Roll. I bought this album on December 9, 1980, the day after Lennon died; they were sold out of Double Fantasy by the time I got to the store (Just a song or strawberries) at lunchtime. This is an oddly unsatisfying album, one I didn’t listen to much at the time. Mayne I SHOULD revisit for that reason alone.
Pretenders – the first album. It was a double album with out takes and alternate versions; almost certainly for next time.
Van Halen – the ONLY Van Halen I’ve ever owned, which I probably got for Happy Trails.

Oh, the questions: how do you feel about buying things (DVD, CDs) that you already own (VCR tapes, LPs or cassettes)? Do you avoid them? Pick only the core stuff? Seek out compilations? (Most of my early CDs were greatest hits collections of artists I already owned heavily on vinyl, such as Billy Joel and Elton John.) Do you have a mechanism to convert to newer formats?
ROG

ROG

Torture and other fun topics

I suppose it oughtn’t to be necessary to say, but I’m against torture. Dick Cheney’s been rebuked. Not so incidentally, I recognize his right to speak; I was just hoping that he wouldn’t exercise it right away. Most Vice-Presidents (Nixon in 1960, Gore in 2000) GO AWAY for a while.

Jaquandor, in touting someone else’s disgust with some conservative talk show host’s ramblings about waterboarding, was rather eviscerating of (yawn) Hannity who was likewise braying that he’d undergo waterboarding and “he’d do it for the troops”, I thought, “OK, you blowhard. But let’s do it right. Let’s have someone grab you off the street, throw you into a van, blindfold you, and drive you to someplace you have no idea. Then let’s have them strip off your clothes, deprive you of food for days, not say a word to you except to tell you to stand up or lie down; let’s have them randomly beat you. And then let’s have them waterboard you. No cameras to record your bravado. No knowledge that after ten seconds it’ll all be over. Let’s have them waterboard you, over and over and over again, until you scream for no more. Sounds about right to me.

Meanwhile Greg talks about Charles Krauthammer, moral relativism and torture, which you should just go read.

But there was a concept in Greg’s piece that reminded me of a somewhat different situation. In October 1972, I had to go in front of my draft board in Binghamton to maintain my position that I was a conscious objector, which I had declared when I had registered for the draft about a year and a half earlier, and which I had to deal with because my draft number was so low – 2. One of the questions was what I would do if someone attacked my mother. I said I would defend her and protect her. Then, I was asked, would not going to fight a Hitler be a protecting my mother against attack? My response was that it is one think to respond to an immediate threat of an attack against my mother; it was far different to intentionally put myself in a position to to fight and kill people. Perhaps this is moral relativism too, but regardless, I was granted a c.o.; then because the draft law was winding down, I wasn’t drafted anyway, even for alternative service.

Here’s another blogpost that had an impact on me this week, by Thom Wade: I hate that rape is an acceptable metaphor for minor things. Among the examples, “Stop Raping My Childhood, George Lucas.” Thom links to other banal rants as well. It is SO obviously wrongheaded that Thom should not have had to comment.

Finally, a personal, somewhat painful recollection by SamuraiFrog about family and friends and rage and therapy. “Everyone tells you to just get over it and move on, stop living in the past. But living in the past isn’t the problem.” I related to it more than I can say; OK, more than I am willing to say.

ROG

ROG
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