Roger O Green

The theater and other diversions

Some Like It Hot; Hadestown; Gordon Parks

While filling out one of those quizzes, I realized I must be missing some other diversions. I’m not watching much television. The movies I see (primarily) get reviewed here. So what else have I been doing?

My wife and I went to the Albany Institute of History and Art and saw “Gordon Park: I, too, am America” in early February, just before the exhibit closed. I loved his work, which I remember from the pages of LIFE magazines in the 1960s. He exposed the disparity of American life with his camera. A reviewer called the installation “incomplete but still rewarding.” The description of the works in one medium-sized room and a tiny annex seems accurate.

I realized that I related to Parks as a singular figure, the only black photographer I knew of, just as Arthur Ashe was the sole black male tennis player in my awareness.

Theater

My wife and I have season tickets to musicals at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady. The first one scheduled was Aladdin in October 2022. Unfortunately, that was the timeframe when my spouse was experiencing her leg injury.

I could have gotten the money credited to our theater account, but at that late date, Proctors wouldn’t fill those seats. Instead, I posted my issue on Facebook; I got a taker – a guy and his very enthusiastic mom – and our digital tickets could be used, which made me happy.

Thus, the first show we saw was Hairspray in January. I’d seen the original 1988 movie, written and directed by John Waters. The iteration we saw was more moving than a previous production I had seen, especially when Motormouth sings I Know Where I’ve Been.

The best part of going to a Thursday matinee at Proctors is that a few actors will come to a smaller theater and talk to the audience. They told their stories of putting on a production in the midst of COVID. One performer was cast two years earlier, while another auditioned online on a Thursday in Mississippi and was in NYC the following Monday. That first rehearsal involved practicing the exhausting finale. You Can’t Stop The Beat.

Hell, you say

In March, we saw Hadestown. The Tony winner still plays on Broadway but also has a touring show. The musical by Anaïs Mitchell tells a variation of an ancient Greek myth about Eurydice, a young woman desperate for something to eat. She ends up in “a hellish industrial version of the underworld. Her poor singer-songwriter lover Orpheus comes to attempt to rescue her.” The tour will continue through May of 2024. Well worth your time.

My wife and I saw Rent at UAlbany in March; some great performances. Ditto Sister Act at the newly refurbished Albany High School, where our daughter, home from college, joined us. Some difficulties with the sound marred both shows.

Norma Jeane

My wife and I also saw the movie Some Like It Hot (1959) at the Spectrum in Albany. While I had seen a movie ABOUT Marilyn Monroe, this was the first film I saw that she starred in.

The movie was very good. Indeed, it has been “voted one of the best films ever made in polls by the BBC, the American Film Institute, and Sight & Sound.”

Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis play two musicians on the run from the Chicago mob in 1929 who dress up as women and join an all-female band heading to Miami. Marilyn as Sugar Kane is more than another “dumb blonde,” even though the band’s singer describes herself that way.

I had heard about her clashes with director/producer/co-writer Billy Wilder, with her demanding many retakes. Ultimately, Wilder acknowledged: “Anyone can remember lines, but it takes a real artist to come on the set and not know her lines and yet give the performance she did!” She won a Golden Globe for Best Actress.

My wife and I thought that the lighting made Marilyn seem to be topless in a couple of nightclub scenes, though she was wearing clothing.

There is a bit of mob violence in Some Like It Hot. But fortunately, it wasn’t like seeing a Scorcese or Coppola film.

Also, I imagine that they should ban the movie in Kentucky. Lemmon and Curtis are in drag. And Joe E. Brown’s famous last line just nails that down.

Sunday Stealing: Pinterest

555 feet

This Sunday Stealing cue comes from Pinterest. I have an account, but I never use it. BTW, the graphic came from Pinterest.

1. Would you rather trade some intelligence for looks or looks for intelligence?

Easy. I’ll always take intelligence. Looks are transitory. Intelligence is sexy.

2. If everything in your house had to be one color, what would it be?

I guess I’ll go with the obvious. There’s such a range in any color. Here are 134 Shades of Green Color With Names, Hex, RGB, CMYK Codes

3. What animal would be the most terrifying if it could speak?

Humans. Some of them say the damndest things.

4. How do you procrastinate?

I don’t see it as procrastination. I play backgammon, spades, and pinochle on my phone as a break from a given task.

5. If you had a warning label, what would yours say?

Prone to tell you some obscure fact that you have no interest in.

6. Would you rather go 30 days without your phone or life without dessert?

I could easily survive 30 days without my phone if I could commit my appointment to a paper calendar first. I’ve determined that others can’t deal with me not having a phone. Doctors’ offices. Anything involving two-step verification. THEY want me to have a phone.

7. If one animal was made the size of an elephant, which would be the scariest?

An ant. Have you ever looked at those mandibles?

Obelisk

8. If you were reincarnated as a famous landmark, which would it be?

The Washington Monument. At 555 feet, it has such a great view of history. (I didn’t have to look up the height; I told you I know obscure stuff.)

9. What celebrity chef would you like to make you dinner?

The first living one I could think of was Nigella Lawson because she seems genuine and not a schmuck. If we could resurrect Julia Child or Anthony Bourdain, then one of them.

10. How much would someone have to pay you to eat a spider?

The annual budget of the charity of my choosing.

11. If you joined a circus, what would your circus act be?

Cat tamer. I’m talking about domesticated felines.

12. Do you have any superstitions?

None come to mind.

13. What cheesy song do you have memorized?

The great thing about getting older is that if there were cheesy songs, I’d since forgotten them. Of course, it depends on the definition of “cheesy.” Okay, Be Kind To Your Parents, which my sister Leslie and I used to sing as kids.

14. What’s something weird that you recommend everyone tries at least once?

I don’t think it’s “weird,” but sitting quietly for at least five minutes daily.

15. What do you think is the most unpleasant-sounding word?

Schmuck. Or at least the worse one I’m willing to post online.

In my mind, music linked together

Town Without Pity

Quite often, not to your surprise, music gets linked together in my mind.

American classical composer Aaron Copeland finished Appalachian Spring in 1944, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize. The ballet was written for dancer Martha Graham.

Copland uses Simple Gifts, a “Shaker song written and composed in 1848, generally attributed to Elder Joseph Brackett from Alfred Shaker Village.”

Here is the song Simple Gifts, performed by Yo-Yo Ma and Alison Krauss.

The Aaron Copland version of the Simple Gifts section is isolated here. The part starting at 2:24 was used as the theme for CBS Reports, which may be the first place I heard it.

Simple Gifts was also the template for Lord of the Dance, a hymn written by English songwriter Sydney Carter in 1963. It has been included in at least one hymnal I’ve sung from in the last quarter century.

Come to where the flavor is

As a kid, I thought the theme that accompanied the Marlboro cigarette commercials was magnificent. I later discovered the tune from the movie The Magnificant Seven by Elmer Bernstein, which I have never seen.

Town Without Pity is a song performed by Gene Pitney and written by composer Dimitri Tiomkin and lyricist Ned Washington. I didn’t learn much about Pitney until after his commercial peak from 1961 to 1964. The a cappella group, The Nylons, does an excellent cover version. The intro sounds to my ear very much like the theme to the television program Perry Mason, which I think is one of the finest pieces of pure music in that genre, especially the closing.

Of course, the William Tell Overture from Gioachino Rossini’s last opera is quite familiar. The third movement is often used in many animated features to represent a new day. Then the fourth movement was used as the theme for the television program The Lone Ranger. That final movement speeded up appears in the movie A Clockwork Orange.

Earth Day

Since it’s Earth Day, I thought of picking some appropriate songs for the occasion. Instead, there are links here and here and here. Inevitably, there is some overlap, but other tracks are unique to a list.

Having a green website

Website Carbon Calculator

I received an email this month from Yoast about having a green website. No, we’re NOT talking about my surname. I only vaguely knew that a green website was a thing.

“Did you know the tech industry is responsible for nearly 4% of global CO2 emissions? That’s similar to the travel industry! Shockingly enough, this number is only growing. It’s time to take action and reduce our ecological footprint. Luckily, there are some things you can do to make your website greener!”

The article notes that you can save energy by blocking bad bots. GameSpot, a news site about video games, produced the most significant amount of CO2. Conversely, “the cleanest and greenest: Google. They only produce 5,480 grams per year. Which isn’t surprising when you consider their net-zero target in 2030. Google’s sustainability efforts range from machine learning to help cool data centers to smart thermostats that conserve home energy.”

Whole Grain Digital offers 20 ways to make your website more energy efficient. Among the suggestions are SEO, choosing fonts carefully, and reducing images and videos.

Calculating carbon

Yoast pointed to a Website Carbon Calculator. I nervously put in my URL. “Hurrah! This web page is cleaner than 90% of web pages tested.” I’m not sure exactly what I’m doing correctly other than using YouTube links instead of videos. It’s probably primarily my provider’s doing. DreamHost is #3 on Sustainable Business Toolkit’s best green web hosting.

I checked out some of my blogging colleagues. Sharp Little Pencil from Amy was 88% cleaner. The blog of Chuck Miller was 85% cleaner. Diana De Avila, whose site is quite graphically intense, is 65% cleaner. Dan’s largely abandoned albanyweblog is 63% cleaner. Forgotten Stars, the site of Kelly Sedinger, was 60% cleaner.

Some of the other ones I checked fared less well. My most recent employer’s report: “Uh oh! This web page is dirtier than 69% of web pages tested.” Census.gov is 81% dirtier.

Hmm. I still have my old Blogspot site, which I used for my first five years. “Hurrah! This web page is cleaner than 55% of web pages tested, ” same as Albany Public Library, coincidentally.

Flooding

The website 1440 reported, “South Florida was hit by heavy rainfall [recently], causing widespread flooding and shutting down schools and the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Fort Lauderdale recorded a once-in-1,000-year rainfall of 20 inches [50.8 cm] within six hours. The city’s 24-hour total of 25.9 inches [65.8 cm] set a record for the rainiest 24 hours in the state’s recorded history.

“The floods come as extreme rainfall events are becoming more common worldwide. Experts say for every 1.8-degree increase in global temperature, the amount of atmospheric moisture increases by 6%-7%, resulting in more intense and frequent precipitation (see more on the Clausius-Clapeyron equation).”

Whatever we can do to stem the tide of global warming is vital.

Cashing in the savings bonds

paying for higher education

I wanted to start cashing in the savings bonds I bought thirty years ago. Late in 1992, I decided to buy $100 US savings bonds through my job’s payroll plan; they cost $50 each.

The first two EE bonds matured recently. The elder, from 1992, was now worth a whopping $207.36. However, the second, from 1993, was valued at $164.12. It’s like me to get on a good thing after it peaked.

I checked my bank’s website, which suggested they would cash them, but I went there and was told, “We haven’t done that in years.” Then I checked my credit union’s online bot, which told me I had to prove they were mine, even though my name was on them. I would need an unsigned copy of FS Form 1522.

After posting my confusion on Facebook, I got advice to try my credit union, my bank but to give them notice, and another bank. Ultimately, I went to my credit union, which was easier than anticipated.

I noticed that my bonds from 1993 through 1995 are getting 4% interest, which will cash out at about $160 each at maturity. But the 1996 and 1997 ones now receive 2.82% interest and will only be worth about $125 eventually.

Taxes

One of my relatives has several matured savings bonds left by a spouse, which they have not yet cashed because they are wary of the tax implications.

From Smart Asset: “You won’t pay state or local income tax on interest earnings, but you may pay state or inheritance taxes if those apply where you live.

“You have one option for avoiding taxes on savings bonds: the education exclusion. You can skip paying taxes on interest earned with Series EE and Series I savings bonds if you’re using the money to pay for qualified higher education costs. That includes expenses you pay for yourself, your spouse, or a qualified dependent. Only certain qualified higher education costs are covered, including:

Tuition
Fees
Some books
Equipment, such as a computer

“You can still use savings bonds to pay for other education expenses, such as room and board or activity fees, but you wouldn’t be able to avoid paying taxes on interest.”

Estates

I’ve known a couple of people dealing with estates involving savings bonds. They involve more legalese than I need to share here.

They may need to provide death certificates they do not possess. I know that, e.g., the city of Albany provides them “upon proof of entitlement under New York State (NYS) Public Health Law.” In Mecklenburg County (Charlotte), NC, you can get one when “seeking information for legal determination of personal property rights.”

Oh, I know I have lost one bond from 1993. I can tell because there is a gap in the dates issued. Since I have a TreasuryDirect account, I can replace it by filling out FS Form 1048. It shouldn’t be signed before being witnessed by a notary.