Roger O Green

October 2022 book reviews

Jon Rice on October 25

In another hyper-local post, here’s the list of October 2022 book reviews, offered by the Friends and Foundation of the Albany Public Library.

October 4 | Book Review | Islam: A Short History by Karen Armstrong. Reviewer: Carl Strock, author & prize-winning journalist.

October 11 |Book Review | Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant. Reviewer: Gene Damm, former president, Friends of APL.

October 18 | Book Review | Probable Impossibilities: Musings on Beginnings and OEndings by Alan Lightman. Reviewer: David Guistina, WAMC.

October 25 | Book Review | No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model by Richard Schwartz, Ph.D. Reviewer: Jon S. Rice, MSW, LCSW-R, Albany Health Management Associates, Inc.

Book reviews or author talks are offered every Tuesday at noon at the Washington Avenue branch of the Albany Public Library, 161 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY.

I post this to inform you that you are welcome to attend these events. Recently, in this not-quite-post-COVID period, coffee and snacks are being offered again.

The pitch

But my ulterior motive is to offer YOU the opportunity to participate in a more substantial level. If you’re going to be in the area and would like to provide a book review, please let me know and we can work on that. I’ve conned, I mean persuaded my friend Jon Rice to give a talk on October 25.

Or, if you are a writer of books, you could give an author talk. Holly Planells McKenna was the President of the Albany Public Library Foundation from 2012 until 2020 and was the first president of the combined Friends and Foundation of Albany Public Library. In September 2022, she gave an author talk about her book Across the River Jordan: The Journey to Bring My Son Home.

We are generally scheduling these events for three months out so that they make it onto the Albany Public Library calendar. If you’re interested in doing a book review or author talk, contact me via email or Messenger on Facebook.

Sunday Stealing Fall Meme (autumn)

Halloween 1978

The Sunday Stealing is a fall meme, appropriate because it’s autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.

1. Fave fall Holiday: Thanksgiving. Although there are complications about the origin story in the US (see this blog in eight days), it’s the event that was most tolerable when the family wasn’t around
2. The best thing about fall walks: walking on crunchy leaves
3. Favorite fall chore: Taking out the air conditioner, which is much easier than installing it

4. Least favorite fall chore: Raking leaves, which, BTW, my wife seems to enjoy. The thing about raking is that it is the perfect example of the law of diminishing returns, which I learned about in my freshman economics class in college. That first raking is quite satisfying, as one gathers up a good number of leaves, But subsequent raking in that area is less and less productive and, therefore, much less enjoyable
5. Best change in the home: Usually, the coins I find in the cushions of the sofa

6. Best tree in the fall: oak, maple, almost any deciduous tree
7. Fall ritual: watching (American) football on Thanksgiving and thereafter; I don’t really really pay attention until then
8. Most frustrating thing about fall: Getting darker earlier and getting lighter later

9. Favorite fall decorations: Some neighbors have creative Halloween displays. (And others are hideous, but we won’t talk about those…)
10. Favorite clothing: Any creative costume
11. Traditional fall candy: Junior Mints

Say it! Say it!

12. Favorite sound: Parents trying to coax their young Halloweeners to say “trick or treat.” Come on, my four-year-old, comply with the norms!
13. When does fall begin for you? October 1. There’s an argument between those who are in the meteorological calendar camp and the astronomical calendar camp. The former picks September 1, while the latter prefers September 22 or 23. But with global warming, I’m opting for the full month that everyone agrees is autumnal.

14. What is your favorite aspect of fall? I’m losing the feeling quite a bit, actually. It was the new television season and the arrival of serious Oscar-worthy films. But there are no seasons for TV anymore, plus I watch far less of it. And I haven’t gotten back into my pre-pandemic movie attending, plus so many are only streaming.

15. What are your favorite fall memories? Halloween parties I attended as an adult, especially in 1978
16. What do you like to drink in the fall? Mulled cider. I lived in a coffeehouse when I attended college, and we often had it
17. What’s your favorite fall food? Turkey. I can always eat turkey, not just in November

18. What color is the fall? Burnt orange, not that bright candy corn orange
19. What does fall smell like? Wood stoves
20. If you could go anywhere in the fall, where would you go? Vermont has great colors

1992 #1 the long haulers

double digits

There were two songs that were 1992 #1 hits for a double-digit number of weeks. This is the first time this had happened since the 1950s when there were multiple charts to pad the opportunities. However, the phenomenon would occur three more times during the decade. Unlike 1991, which had 27 chart-toppers, this year had but a dozen.

I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston, 14 weeks at #1, quadruple platinum record. This is the song from the movie The Bodyguard with Houston and Kevin Costner, which I have never seen. I’m sure that Dolly Parton is happy that she didn’t give away half the publishing rights to Elvis so that he would cover it. Whitney’s track kept If I Ever Love You by Shai out of the top spot for seven weeks, and Rump Shaker by Wreckx-N-Effect for three.

End Of The Road – Boyz II Men, 13 weeks at #1, platinum record. The group would have two even longer streaks in the next three years. This one kept Baby-Baby-Baby by TLC, then Sometimes Just Ain’t Enough by Patty Smyth with Don Henley, out of the top spot for six consecutive weeks EACH. Yes, I own that second Boyz album.

Jump – Kris Kross, 8 weeks at #1, double platinum record.

Baby Got Back – Sir Mix-A-Lot, 5 weeks at #1, double platinum record
Save The Best For Last – Vanessa Williams, 5 weeks at #1, gold record

I’m Too Sexy – Right Said Fred, 3 weeks at #1, platinum record. This is listed as a novelty song, and I suppose it is. I own a medley that includes this and Baby Got Back
To Be With You – Mr. Big, 3 weeks at #1, gold record

Two weeks at #1

How Do You Talk To An Angel – The Heights, gold record. The #1 song between Whitney and Boyz
I’ll Be There – Mariah Carey. The Jackson Five cover, with Trey Lorenz.
All 4 Love – Color Me Badd, gold record.

A single week

Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me – George Michael/Elton John, gold record
This Used To Be My Playground – Madonna, gold record

Bohemian Rhapsody ONLY got to #2

Imprinted: Illustrating Race

Kadir Nelson

Imprinted: Illustrating Race is a current exhibit at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA, 45 minutes from Albany, NY. I’ve written about visiting there a few times. In 2017, Rockwell and Warhol; in 2015, Roz Chast: Cartoon Memoirs; and in 2013, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

The current show, running from June 11 through October 30, 2022, “examines the role of published images in shaping attitudes toward race and culture. Over 300 artworks and objects… will be on view, produced from the late eighteenth century to today, which has an impact on public perception about race in the United States.

“The exhibition will explore stereotypical racial representations that have been imprinted upon us through the mass publication of images.” Many of these involve formerly enslaved people, but also Chinese would-be immigrants. These are generally from the 18th to the early 20th century.

But some creators took on the bigotry in that period. “William J. Wilson published the ‘Afric-American Picture Gallery’ under the name of Ethiop in the Anglo-African Magazine.” He wrote: “we must begin to tell our own story, write our own lecture, paint our own picture, chisel our own bust.”

Later, “The Harlem Renaissance… inspired pride in Black life and identity following World War I through the Great Depression. Artists associated with the movement conveyed a rising consciousness of inequality and discrimination and an interest in the rapidly changing modern world, many experiencing a freedom of expression through the arts for the first time.”

Modern times

“Illustration, Race, and Responsibility: 1950s to Now will explore activism through art from the Civil Rights movements of the mid-20th century to the racial unrest of present-day…

“Concurrent to the Imprinted exhibition, In Our Lifetime: Paintings from the Pandemic by Kadir Nelson will be on view… Featuring recent works which have never been exhibited publicly. These are large pieces all created between 2020 and 2022.” You may recognize one work, his George Floyd piece, that was featured as a New Yorker cover.

My wife and I also went on a tour of Norman Rockwell’s studio, a short walk away. The docent was very informative. One thing I had never noticed was that on Rockwell’s cover featuring Ruby Bridges walking with the marshalls, they are all walking in step, signifying their unified purpose.

If you are anywhere near Stockbridge, MA, I recommend a trip to the Norman Rockwell Museum, especially in the next month.

Oh, on the same trip, we also saw a Rodin exhibit at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA. Unfortunately, that show has concluded, but there are other fine things to see there.

Sept. rambling: First Internet Interaction

Pharoah Sanders

What is a mental health screening?

Stephen Colbert and Anderson Cooper shared personal experiences of coping with grief

The Contagion on Social Media

The relief of missing out: Anticipated anxiety is a big reason why more people are avoiding the news

How the Trump Grift Works

Declassifying by just thinking about it

Trump got the special master he wanted, but he’s finding that Judge Dearie isn’t what he expected

Hotter days lead to more harassment and hate speech

Making sense of reactionary victim culture

Warnings Mount Over Right-Wing Plot to Rewrite US Constitution

The Court’s problems run deeper than Roe

Book-Banning Attempts in the US Have Reached Unprecedented Level, Libraries Report

A brazen scheme: 47 charged with siphoning $250M from COVID-19 child meal program

Ken Starr’s Pious Misogyny

Iran unrest: Women burn headscarves at anti-hijab protests

John Oliver Criticizes Law and Order and Dick Wolf for Unrealistic, Highly Favorable Portrayal of Police

Why Younger People are Getting Shingles

Canada to Drop COVID Vaccine and ArriveCan App Requirement October 1

The Increasing Importance of a Best Friend at Work

The cheating scandal roiling the chess world has a new wrinkle

When Experts Play It Too Safe: Innovation Lessons from a NASA Experiment

Louise Fletcher, the Cruel Nurse Ratched in ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’ Dies at 88

Biden Surprises Elton John With National Humanities Medal

YouTube Launches Revenue-Sharing Programs for Shorts, Music Licensing

Albert Pujols lets emotions flow after joining 700 Home Run Club

Mark Evanier: Tales From High School, featuring Hawaiian Punch

Saturday Morning with Captain Kangaroo

The people making millions off Listerine royalties

NOW I KNOW

Is This Upscale Fast Food?

The Problem With Outsourcing Your Crimes

The Olympic Champion Who Never Knew It

Flying the Hungry Skies

The Real Movie That Created Fake Students

MUSIC

Pharoah Sanders Dies at 81. The legendary saxophonist was a key figure in the spiritual jazz movement. Harvest Time and The Creator Has A Master Plan

Spiegel im spiegel (The mirror in the mirror) by Arvo Part

Coverville 1414: The Fiona Apple Cover Story

Jolly Robbers overture by Franz von Suppe.

TV theme songs from kids’ shows – the Ashatones

Soundtrack Suite from Shadowlands by George Fenton