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.

July rambling: “Tell Us How We Did”

time to use the F-word

Misinformation
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose

The U.S. could lose its top-level bond rating because of the Big Lie

Yes, this is fascism: The Atlantic’s conservative David Frum says it’s time to use the F-word; a dark warning

Military Chiefs Planned Joint Resignation To Thwart Trump’s ‘Gospel Of The Fuhrer’

Deadly Flooding Turns ‘Small’ German River Into a ‘Raging Monster’. Video by Roger Green (not me)

NBC News: Eighty years after a segregation wall rose in Detroit, America remains divided. That’s not an accident

Flight attendant harasses Muslim woman

DACA: One More Example of Broken Democracy

I lived in an airport for seven months

According to the EPA, clothes, and shoes account for more municipal solid waste than .plastic items

Now I Know:  Literally Nuts for Candy and The Problem with Lots of People Drinking Lots of Tea and  The Pink Hat of Fidelity and  The Biggest of Macs and  When It’s Better to Be in Fourth Place and The Problem With Stealing High-End Electronics and The Bugs That Make Danger Glow

Media

Inside Big Tech’s angry, geeky, often petty war for your privacy

Hank Green: Should You Abandon Social Media?

I’m Breaking Up with ZOOM

“Tell Us How We Did”. Irrefutably TRUE

An Exploration of James Baldwin’s Life and Works Through the Powerful Lens of His House Chez Baldwin in St. Paul de Vence, France

Voice actors

Emmy’s Big Problem

Ken Levine interviews author Mark Harris who wrote the book MIKE NICHOLS: A LIFE here and here.

The Marvel Sacred Timeline

At The Washington Post, Harry Rosenfeld found himself handling the most important political scandal of the 20th century – Watergate – before joining the Times Union in Albany, N.Y. “HIRSCH MORITZ ROSENFELD and his Polish immigrant parents fled the violence engulfing Nazi Germany in 1939, and found refuge in the Bronx. He never forgot the price his family paid for freedom, never took American citizenship for granted. He developed a keen eye for unaccountable power and nascent oppression and embraced his responsibility to fight for the freedoms that made America a beacon of hope.” The last time I saw him in person was in 2017.

Jackie Mason, R.I.P.

Summary: No Exit – Jean-Paul Sartre

Central Warehouse

Cartoons: Human time and 10 ways to befriend a misanthropic cat and  explaining confusing things

MUSIC

Harlem – Duke Ellington. Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by JoAnn Falletta.

Run Run Run – Kurt Vile,  from the album I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground and Nico; long version

Mighty River by Errollyn Wallen.

Dragon live album concert during two weeks in an Auckland hotel for quarantine clearance

Coverville 1365: The AC/DC Cover Story III

Just A Friend– Biz Markie, RIP

The Glamourous Life – Audra McDonald from A Little Night Music

Bohemian Rhapsody in Blue – Postmodern Jukebox

He’d Have to Get Under, Get out and Get Under  (to Fix Up His Automobile) – The Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra

A medley of ten Hanna-Barbera theme songs performed by Alex Duquette  in two minutes

Jim Croce

The Music of the Night/Monster Mash – Big Daddy

Where are you right now?

books, and more books

where are youAs I noted, I got a package from DFTBA. One item is a Prompt Book from Life’s Library. The first one:

Where are you right now? Describe it in detail.

The ironic aspect of this assignment is that, as soon as I agreed to write about the place, I knew I had to change it. It was a mess. Now, it’s hardly tidy – too much stuff in a small space – but much improved.

The room is the office. It’s about a nine-foot cube. The most obvious features are built-in books on at least part of every wall.

East Wall

Except for the end of the north wall bookcase, there’s a bare wall for about a meter. The one front window, which the girl cat likes to look out. Below that is the radiator. On top of the radiator frame are boxes of CDs I recently got from my late FIL’s collection. The bookcase starts next to the window, only three shelves, mostly unsorted books most recently at my in-laws’ house.

On top, indeed on the top of all the bookshelves throughout are Hess trucks, in chronological order.

Below those three shelves is a four-drawer file cabinet, painted blue, positioned at a 45-degree angle. The top two drawers are mine, the lower two are my wife’s. Part of the straightening involved making sure my wife could access her stuff.

South Wall

From left to right, books, and more books. The first shelves are likewise three rows, primarily my wife’s books. The next section goes to the floor, seven shelves. the top two and the fourth are miscellaneous, the third, my wife’s. The last three are for the tallest books, so music reference, some comics-related items, and books about Sondheim and the Beatles.

The next sections, more than twice as wide, are four shelves of pop culture; music, film, television. It’s where my Mozart Requiem and Handel Messiah scores reside.

Then the built-in desk – more a shelf – with the laptop, and a lamp. Pencils/pens in an Avengers: Age of Ultron cup from Subway. Below that is a shelf of photo albums from the previous century, which I haven’t looked at in years. The last section of five shelves has a number of Marvel Masterworks and more pop culture.

West Wall

The last of five long shelves are primarily my wife’s books. There’s also a section of anti-racism books. The shelf below holds the phone, the boom box, and pictures. Below that reams of paper. I used to have a printer on my desk, but recently it ceased to work; I suspect it was zapped by lightning.

Below that, some old, tall books I’ve read but still want to keep. In front of those books, the garbage can, the shredding bag, and the recycling bin – formerly filled with 17.5 pounds of cat litter.

Right of that is a little bit of wall with the light switch, then the door. My daughter recently fixed the knob, which was, alternately, too tight and too loose.

North Wall

It’s empty for the width of the door, except for a folded table. Then a separate bookcase from near the ceiling to floor. If you’ve been on ZoOM with me, it’s what you see in the background.

There are two sections of eight rows. Section one has, from top to bottom, trivia books, religious books including several hymnals, philosophy, and children’s books. Section two contains history, biographies, language, and pop culture paperbacks.

These book delineations are imperfect and are based on factors such as book/shelf heights, and recency of acquisition.

This room is where I almost always blog. It inspires me, AND it’s where I access my fact-checking resources. And all of this claustrophobic writing reminds me of this song.

Delta variant and other COVID news

Luciferian Globalists

By Harold Jessurun and Aníbal Quiñones, the prominent creators of the popular Pepito comic in Puerto Rico. Instagram had deleted the image on some sites, citing that it violated its Community Guidelines. https://www.latinorebels.com/2020/04/20/pepitocreatorsimage/

The Delta variant doesn’t give a flying #@$% if you’re tired of hearing about COVID-19.

From the  Boston Globe: “This is not the worry-free summer many envisioned as recently as Memorial Day, full of long-awaited travel, family reunions, and evenings in favorite restaurants.

“Since July Fourth, there’s been a steady drumbeat of discouraging COVID-19 news: Infections are climbing across the country. Hospitalizations in several Southern and Western states are spiking, too. Vaccination rates have dwindled. And communities from Cambridge to Los Angeles County are advising or mandating a return to mask-wearing, even for vaccinated people.”

An old friend of one of my sisters has been sending me stuff such as how some doctor says there is no Delta variant of COVID. But the “logic”, alas, fails me. Then she sent me something about the Luciferian Globalists Implementing the New World Order. Er, no.

Speaking of which: In southwest Missouri, the coronavirus Delta variant and “freedom” collide. Our guest pastor made a credible link between American individualism in this crisis and sin.

Right-Wing Vaccine Lies Are Tearing the Country Apart.

My daughter asked me if I’d ever heard of Eric Clapton. Er, yeah. Apparently, he was trending on Twitter because of some reportedly racist thing he said in 1978; IDK why it was notable decades later. But then I came across this article from 2021 noting that he says he won’t play venues that require COVID-19 vaccinations. I find that… disappointing.

Masking up

Someone asked me, “Are you going to watch the Olympics?” And I was surprised that I answered, “I don’t know.” The COVID surge in Japan has taken away some of the luster from the games in my mind. Ken Levine hit on it.

Except for a few restaurant visits, I tend to wear my mask indoors, even though I’m fully vaccinated. So it’s not onerous for me if it’s mandated.

Oh, and it IS required on the local CDTA buses, as it is on most mass transportation. At a bus stop where I was getting on, two potential passengers were arguing about whether masks were required. I butted in and agreed with the one who said yes. Then the bus driver refused to allow the unmasked person on, so the other one declined to get on too. The two were still squabbling as the bus pulled away.

The Department of Justice decided not to probe COVID deaths in state-run nursing homes in four states, including New York. I can’t speak about the other states, but I was hoping for such a probe in my state. It’ll be investigated at the state level, but federal juice has more impact.

Canada to Open to Fully Vaccinated Americans on August 9.

I read that the morally bankrupt Congressman Madison Cawthorn, who lied about a major aspect of his biography, is bloviating that if the GOP retakes the House, it’ll be prosecuting Dr. Fauci to the “full extent” of the law.

Lydster: Boggling Boggle play

competitive

BoggleOn our recent vacation in the Berkshires, we brought along the word game Boggle. I described it four years ago here.

We played twice in three days. The first time my wife won. She ALWAYS wins. It’s not that she knows more words as much as she can SEE more combinations. I’ve told her for years that, if luck allowed, she’d kill me on the TV game show Wheel of Fortune.

As I noted, a few years ago, we used to give our daughter an advantage. The parents wouldn’t count any of the three-letter words we found, only the longer ones. We have revoked that accommodation.

And still, she’d regularly beat me, coming in second to her mother. After coming second last time, she started studying the letters. I don’t know how this would help her, since the dice land randomly.

Yet, in the next game, she started with more than a 10-point lead, finding words that were obvious in retrospect, but which her parents just didn’t see. And ultimately, she won the game.

She’s Got Game

I’ve always tried to play games with her competitively at the point when she had a fair chance of beating me. Whether it be Connect Four or another game, she plays to win.

When we play the board/card game Sorry, her strategy hanging around the starting point, hoping for a back 4, and or two 10s that she could use as back 1s, has occasionally been adopted by her parents.

No hearts

But I’ve not yet gotten her to regularly play any of the card games I know. Sure, hearts, spades, pinochle, and the like require more than two players. But I still haven’t shown her the joy of cribbage.

I may try to teach her backgammon this summer. Since I’ve retired, I’ve become rusty, and playing on the tablet is not an adequate substitute.

It’s also true that if/when she goes off to college, this might put her in good stead. Do college kids still play board games and cards? How about Yahtzee online?

 

Some substitutes for title songs #5

Emmylou Harris, Heaven 17, and especially Amy Grant

peter gabriel.soThese are more substitutes for title songs. The album name appears as a lyric, but it’s not the title song. There is no actual title song, but these can be substituted. I’ve provided links when I could easily find them on YouTube.

Allelujah – Fairground Attraction. Album: The First of a Million Kisses Lyric: “And we’ll kiss the first of a million kisses.”

Emerald Eyes – Fleetwood Mac. Album: Mystery To Me. Lyric: “She’s still a mystery to me.”

Battle of Who Could Care Less – Ben Folds Five. Album: Whatever and Ever Amen. Lyrics: “General apathy and major boredom singing Whatever and ever Amen.”

Home – Foo Fighters. Album: Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace, Lyrics: The echoes and silence, patience and grace All of these moments I’ll never replace.”
All My Life -Foo Fighters. Album: One By One. Lyrics: “All my life, I’ve been searching for something.”

Into the Sun – Roddy Frame. Album: Seven Dials. Lyrics: “So bury me at Seven Dials So my soul can never find its way back to where I kissed you.”

Good Grief – Frazier Chorus. EP: Monkey Spunk

Death Dream – Frightened Rabbit. Album: Painting of a Panic Attack. Lyrics: “A still life is the last I will see of you. A painting of a panic attack.”

Gee

Red Rain, Don’t Give Up, That Voice Again, In Your Eyes, Mercy Street, Big Time -Peter Gabriel. Album: So.  Lyrics.

Even Though Our Love Is Doomed – Garbage. Album – Strange Little Birds. Lyrics: “Such strange little birds devoured by our obsessions.”

Too Many Lovers – Crystal Gayle. Album: These Days. Lyrics: “These days too many lovers. These days not enough love.”

Dancing With The Moonlit Knight – Genesis. Album: Selling England By the Pound. Lyrics: “It seems he’s drowned; selling England by the pound.”

Vanilla Queen – Golden Earring. Album: Moontan. Lyrics: The secret of your beauty was your moontan and your fear.”

Radio King – Golden Smog. Album: Down By the Old Mainstream. Lyrics: Let’s go down together Down by the old mainstream.”

El Shaddai  – Amy Grant. Album: Age to Age. Lyrics: “Age to age you’re still the same.”
Fight – Amy Grant. Album: Unguarded. Lyrics: “I’ve made up my mind now, I don’t want to lose out (Unguarded)”
Baby, Baby  – Amy Grant. Album: Heart in Motion. Lyrics: “And ever since the day you put my heart in motion.”
Turn This World Around – Amy Grant. Album: Behind The Eyes. Lyrics: “We are all the same it seems Behind the eyes”

Here Comes Sunshine – Grateful Dead. Album: Wake of the Flood. Lyrics: “Wake of the flood, laughing water, forty-nine.”

Locomotive – Guns n’ Roses. Album: Use Your Illusion II. Lyrics: “You can use your illusion- Let it take you where it may.”

Aitch

Trans Am (Highway Wonderland) – Sammy Hagar. Album: Street Machine. Lyrics: “Red on black, she’s a street machine.”

Before Believing – Emmylou Harris. Album: Pieces Of The Sky. Lyrics: “Pieces of the sky were falling in your neighbors’ yard”
Easy From Now On – Emmylou Harris. Album: Quarter Moon In A Ten Cent Town. Lyrics: “It’s a quarter moon in a ten-cent town.”

Radio Silence – Harvey Danger. Album: Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone.

Community of Hope  – PJ Harvey. Album: The Hope Six Demolition Project. Lyrics: “Here’s the Hope Six Demolition Project switching down the Benning Road.” This is a fascinating story.

How Wonderful You Are – Gordon Haskell. Album: Harry’s Bar. Lyrics: “Listen to the jazz in Harry’s bar.”

Vainglorious -Heart. Album: Jupiter’s Darling. Lyrics: “Jupiter’s darling standing in the ring.”

Key To The World – Heaven 17. Album: The Luxury Gap. Lyrics: “But trying to fill the luxury gap has pushed me to the brink.”
Five Minutes To Midnight – Heaven 17. Album: How Men Are. Lyrics: “You know how men are.”

Izabella– Jimi Hendrix. Album: First Rays of the New Rising Sun. Lyrics: “Girl, here comes the rays of the rising sun.” Live track substitute.

Hi

Adios to California – John Hiatt. Album: Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns. Lyrics: “Dirty jeans and mudslide hymns that all began with soon.”

Listening to the Higsons – Robyn Hitchcock. Album: Gotta Let This Hen Out. Lyrics: “Said “‘ gotta let this hen out And give this hen some eyeballs.'”

Boys Keep Swingin’  – Susanna Hoffs. Album: When You’re a Boy. Lyrics (first of many in the David Bowie cover) “Nothing stands in your way When you’re a boy.”

Stuck Between Stations and First Night – The Hold Steady. Album: Boys and Girls in America. Lyrics to the first: “Boys and girls in America have such a sad time together.”

Hello To Romance – The Hollies. Album: A Crazy Steal. Lyrics: “Such a crazy steal.”

Preacher In The Ring, Pt. 1 – Bruce Hornsby. Album: Spirit Trail. Lyrics: “Believers out shakin’ on the spirit trail.”

Wheels – Hunters and Collectors. Album: Jaws of Life. Lyrics: “Hadda spit the dummy do a Jaws of Life job.”

Ramblin' with Roger
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