Roger O Green

Movie review: It Ain’t Over

New York Yankees

I am recommending to you the documentary movie It Ain’t Over. It’s about the baseball catcher Lawrence Peter Berra, commonly known as Yogi Berra (May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015). Interesting, it was my wife, not really a baseball fan who recommended us seeing it after viewing the trailer.

Early in the film, we see the announcement at the 2015 All-Star Game of the four “greatest living ballplayers”: Hank Aaron, Johnny Bench, Sandy Koufax, and Willie Mays. Watching it, Yogi’s granddaughter Lindsay asked Yogi if he were still alive. Yogi affirmed that he was.

The narrative was about a player who didn’t really “look” like a model athlete. He was short (5’7″) and stocky (185 lbs) and not at all conventionally good-looking. Some said, after he reached the majors, that he didn’t “look like a Yankee,” whatever that meant.

But he could hit. And after some intense tutoring, he became a good catcher. Most of all, he could win, ten World Series rings, more than Aaron, Bench, Koufax, and Mays combined.

As he was treated as a bit of the buffoon, he leaned into the image. It helped that he had those Yogisms. “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might end up some place else.” It was only upon reflection that his sayings contained real truth. Also, he became an endearing pitchman for a variety of products.

Unfair

Still, he took baseball seriously. I remember well that after he managed the Yankees to the 1964 American League pennant before losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games, he was fired, and replaced by the Cards manager, Johnny Keane. I was 11, but I was outraged by this ill treatment. So I was happy when he won the National League pennant as manager of the crosstown Mets in 1973.

His firing by George Steinbrenner, only 16 games into his second of a two-year contract with the Yankees in 1985, and the fact that George sent an underling to do it kept Yogi out of his beloved Yankee Stadium for 14 years. When he came back, even though I KNEW what happened, it left tears in my eyes and my wife’s as well.

There were many great quotes by Yankee players from Al Downing to Mariano Rivera, big Yankee fan and friend Billy Crystal, sportswriter Roger Angell, broadcaster Bob Costas, the late baseball announcer Vin Scully, and Yogi’s neighbor growing up in the Italian section of St. Louis, the late Joe Garagiola.

But Yogi was much more than a beloved ballplayer. He was an unrecognized war hero. His loving marriage to Carmen Short lasted from 1949 until her death in 2014. They had three sons, including Dale, a Major Leaguer himself, and 11 grandchildren.

He became the inspiration for the Hanna-Barbera cartoon Yogi Bear. Indeed, when Berra died, the AP accidentally reported the death of the animated ursine.

We saw the very positively reviewed It Ain’t Over at the Spectrum Theatre, on a Wednesday night in mid-June.

‘History has its eyes on us’

The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman

I was excited to hear Amanda Gorman deliver her inaugural poem‘The Hill We Climb’ on January 20, 2021. “History has its eyes on us,” indeed. You can read and hear it here.

How did she come to give this address? From the Library of Congress site on that notable day: She had performed an original poem, “In This Place (An American Lyric),” at U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith‘s 2017 inaugural ceremony… “It was this very performance that led First Lady Dr. Jill Biden to select Gorman as inaugural poet.

“Dr. Biden ‘stumbled upon’ a video of Amanda’s performance, which ultimately led to a Zoom call between Dr. Biden and Gorman in which the latter was asked to serve as inaugural poet. During the meeting, Dr. Biden complimented the yellow dress Gorman wore at Smith’s inaugural ceremony, which inspired her to wear a yellow dress at President Biden’s inauguration…”

“Educators have also been quick to seize on a unique opportunity to introduce poetry in a relatable way to their students. Lesson plans for ‘The Hill We Climb’ are already available through PBS and The New York Times.”

When a Florida school barred its use for younger children, it disappointed me, but Amanda Gorman felt “gutted.”

The poem “was challenged by the parent of two students at Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes, along with several books.”

The poet wrote: “’Robbing children of the chance to find their voices in literature is a violation of their right to free thought and free speech.’

“Gorman, who at 17 became the country’s National Youth Poet Laureate, said she wrote the poem… so ‘all young people could see themselves in a historical moment,’ and that she’s received countless letters and videos from children who were inspired to write their own poems.”

What’s the issue?

I don’t know what parts of the poem were considered too sophisticated for younger kids. We Are Teachers made several points. The complaint “shows at best a concerning level of reading comprehension, at worst an acceptance of casual racism.” Oprah Winfrey wrote the foreward, not the book.

Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed

a nation that isn’t broken

but simply unfinished

Kids are a lot smarter than some grownups understand. Maybe it’s:

We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,

we must first put our differences aside

We lay down our arms

so we can reach out our arms

to one another

How bad can the words be to a generation of kids growing up with active-shooter drills in school?

We did not feel prepared to be the heirs

of such a terrifying hour

but within it we found the power

to author a new chapter

To offer hope and laughter to ourselves

So while once we asked,

how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?

Now we assert

How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

We will not march back to what was

but move to what shall be

A country that is bruised but whole,

benevolent but bold,

fierce and free

We will not be turned around

or interrupted by intimidation

because we know our inaction and inertia

will be the inheritance of the next generation

Our blunders become their burdens

But one thing is certain:

If we merge mercy with might,

and might with right,

then love becomes our legacy

Love is what we need

People born in July 1953

Take Off!

Here’s a list of folks who were born in July 1953. I’m only doing this in 2023 since it’s the year I turned 70.

Nancy Griffith (6th) – I have two of her albums and probably should have more. Per NPR, she was “a Texas-born singer-songwriter celebrated in folk and country-music circles for her crystalline voice and storytelling skill… Griffith was known for her skills as a story-telling songwriter, producing memorable songs like Late Night Grand Hotel and It’s A Hard Life Wherever You Go. Her songs also proved successful for other singers: Kathy Mattea scored a country Top 5 hit with Love at the Five and Dime, while Suzy Bogguss cracked the country Top 10 with Outbound Plane, written by Griffith with Tom Russell… She survived bouts with breast cancer in 1996 and thyroid cancer in 1998,” but no cause of her death in 2021 was announced.

Anna Quindlen (8th) – I used to read her column in Newsweek. She recently wrote an article for the Saturday Evening Post on Why Writing Is for Everyone.

The boxer

Leon Spinks (11th). There was a time that I could name every heavyweight boxing champion. I remember Leon because he won the title by being Muhammad Ali in 1978 in a split decision, a massive sports upset. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer, the disease that killed my father. Spinks died on February 5, 2021, at the age of 67.

Thomas Carter (17th) is a prolific television director. He started as an actor, most notably on the TV series The White Shadow.

Claire McCaskill (24th) was a two-term Democratic US Senator from Missouri (2007-2019). She was moderately conservative. In 2018, she lost to the odious Josh Hawley. She shows up as a talking head on MSNBC. The most interesting thing I read about her was that she was a contestant on the game show High Rollers, hosted by Alex Trebek. She was champion for four days and “later sold several of her prizes to pay off her student loan debt.”

Thomas Friedman (20th) – I read his column regularly, even though I disagree with him about half the time. For every forward-thinking on the environment, he’ll follow it with It’s Time for Biden to Out-Trump Trump on Immigration.

Sweetness

Walter Payton (25th) was a great football player, a running back who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.

However, the “Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award isn’t just an athletic award. It “recognizes an NFL player for his excellence on and off the field. The award was established in 1970. It was renamed in 1999 after the late Hall of Fame Chicago Bears running back, Walter Payton. Each team nominates one player who has had a significant positive impact on his community.”

“In early 1999, Payton revealed he had primary sclerosing cholangitis, a condition in which the bile ducts are blocked. He died on November 1 of that year of cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer), but not before helping to raise awareness of the rare disease.

“The football great was survived by his wife, Connie, and two children, Jarrett and Brittney. His charitable organization became the Walter and Connie Payton Foundation, with his wife taking over the foundation’s mission of helping children and veterans.”

Geddy Lee (29th) is the lead singer of the Canadian trio Rush, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. Alas, I have no Rush unless it’s on a compilation I’m not remembering. The only Geddy Lee vocal I have in my collection is Take Off by Bob & Doug McKenzie.

There’s one more birthday, about whom I’ll write later in the month.

Sunday Stealing: The Pen Company

The Good Book

Here’s the new Sunday Stealing, The Pen Company. But before I get to that, a couple of Independence Day announcements in Albany, NY.

First, the July 4 oration will take place at the Stephen and Harriet Myers residence, 194 Livingston Avenue in Albany, NY, sponsored by the Underground Railroad Education Center (UREC). Music by Magpie, who will be joined by Kim Harris.

Second, Sheila E. will be performing at 8 pm at the Empire State Plaza. One of her singers cannot make it, so subbing will be Rebecca Jade, who is my niece. Rebecca was backing Sheila when my wife, daughter, and I saw them at the New York State Fair in Syracuse back in September 2019.

Onto the show

1. If your house was on fire, which three items would you save?

A metal box in my office that has my birth certificate, my father’s death certificate plus other important documents. A box of photos. My laptop.

2. What is the strangest or most awkward date you’ve ever been on?

Oddly, it wasn’t my date. My ex-girlfriend was going to the Washington (NY) County Fair with her new boyfriend c 1996/97. She invited a friend of ours and me to attend as well, because we were all “mature” people. It was…weird. Interestingly, they broke up, I got back together with my gf, and we’ve been married 24 years.

3. What are your biggest fears?

The loss of freedom and justice in the United States, based on the actions of several governors and state legislatures, the rhetoric of several candidates for the 2024 Presidency, and recent Supreme Court decisions.

4. How do you spend your time when you are procrastinating?

Usually playing double deck pinochle or backgammon on my phone.

5. What has been your most memorable birthday so far, and why?

Probably my 50th because I had a big party at my church. I made a mixed CD that I gave out.

6. What is your favorite snack?

Fig Newtons with milk.

7. What was your first pet?

Peter the cat. He was very smart. When he wanted to come in, he’d jump onto a piece of furniture and rattle the door knob.

I am where I am

8. What’s your favorite city in your country?

It might be Albany, NY because that’s where I decided to live. My favorite place to visit might be Galveston, TX; I’d go out to he pier at 5 a.m., watching the tide from the Gulf of Mexico come in.

9. Do you have a garden?

We have a garden. But I have little or nothing to do with it.

10. What is your favorite thing about your home town?

My hometown was Binghamton, NY. It was small enough – and my school was tiny enough – that I can to this day name most of the kids in my 9th grade class. And I’m still friends with three of them. Oh, and went to kindergarten with them too.

11. What was the last book you read?

A Century of Pop Music bt Joel Whitburn.

12. What is the best book you have ever read?

Quite possibly, The Good Book: Discovering the Bible’s Place in Our Lives by Peter J. Gomes. Here’s a reader recommendation from Thrift Books:

“Gomes takes the Bible off its pedestal and presents it to us as a tool for Christian living. This book is a must read for any Christian struggling to read and understand the Bible in modern terms. He explores many of the controversial topics of the Bible, including race, homosexuality, women’s roles, anti-Semitism, wealth, and more. [This is definitely true.]

“He challenges the reader to accept the Bible as an interpretation of fantastic religious events with historical and sociological significance. He teaches the reader to deal with contradictions within the Bible, even within individual books of the Bible… This book challenged my beliefs in positive ways and taught me to never ‘idolize’ the Bible again.”

Roger that

13. Who is your favorite author?

It might be Roger Ebert, whose movie essays I enjoyed greatly. His autobio, Life Itself, is the book I would liked to have written, if I had the skills.

14. Is there a food that you hate?

Olives. Black olives, green olives.

15. Do you get along with your neighbors?

The neighbor to one side, Al, is great. Now, the property on the other side is owned by an absentee landlord, so the quality of the tenants has varied. I’ve written about not great ones here and elsewhere, and the best ones here. But by far, the WORST thing that happened from that house was created by the landlord himself. What a schmuck.

I wrote about terrible neighbors across the street, but thankfully, they’re gone.

16. Do you have any tattoos or piercings?

Nope. And I was never seriously interested in doing so.

O Canada Day music

Take Off

It’s Canada Day, and so I need some Canada Day music. And there’s a LOT of it. I came across this list of the Best Canadian Musicians: 25 Icons From The Great White North.

I’m eliminating anyone whose music I don’t own, which is not a knock on the artists. I don’t have any albums by Shawn Mendes, Drake, Ron Sexsmith, Blue Rodeo, Justin Bieber, Feist, Bryan Adams, Rush, or Rufus Wainwright (though I have music by each of his parents). And I was not familiar with Broken Social Scene, Joel Plaskett, or Al Tuck.

I do have Bob & Doug McKenzie with Geddy Lee from Rush doing Take Off.

That leaves:

Diana Krall. My wife and I have seen her live, though not simultaneously. Maybe a quarter century ago, I caught her open for Tony Bennett at Tanglewood. We have about a dozen and a half of her albums. She is one of my wife’s K girls, along with Alison Krauss. Popsicle Toes

Daniel Lanois. I LOVE his album Acadie. Of course, I have several albums he’s produced for others, including U2, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, the Neville Brothers, Emmylou Harris, and Bob Dylan. The Maker

Gordon Lightfoot. I have a couple of his LPs. But this is the first song of his I ever heard. If You Could Read My Mind

Cowboy Junkies. I’ve opted for the last song on The Trinity Session. Walkin’ After Midnight

Arcade Fire. I have two of their CDs, which I’ve been playing every July 1 since. No Cars Go

The Guess Who. I have three of their LPs, plus the greatest hits on CD. The last song on the original GH. Hang On To Your Life with that ending from Psalm 22

Kathryn Dawn

k.d. lang. I have a LOT of her music, from her country roots to her more MOR material. She is one of the reasons I don’t organize my music by genre. Season Of Hollow Soul

The Tragically Hip. Road Apples is an album I play on July 1. Twist My Arm

Bruce Cockburn. I bought several used albums from my roomie Mark in the 1980s. I’ve already written about The Trouble With Normal. Lovers In A Dangerous Time

The Band. I loved the second (brown) album back in high school and then got all of their studio albums. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)

Joni Mitchell. I’ve seen Joni twice, in 1974 in Saratoga Springs, NY, and in 1981 in Philadelphia. I bought her early albums on CD in 2022. People’s Parties/The Same Situation

Leonard Cohen. I had one LP years ago. I have songs of his covered by Judy Collins, Jennifer Warnes, and others, but in the past thirty years, I’ve come to appreciate him as a teller of his own tales. If you get a chance, see the 2022 movie about him. Almost Like The Blues

Neil Young. I have scads of Neil Young, from Buffalo Springfield to CSNY to at least 20 solo albums; here is the list from 2010, and I’ve gotten some since then. Mr. Soul from Trans, because why not?