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.

Mourning edition: Donald Trump

Now the media who wanted him, have him,

mourningI was watching 60 Minutes on Election Day evening because watching early returns are not good for one. And there were stories about war, pestilence, and America’s toxic political mood, which prompted “viewers to invoke divine intervention.” It showed, as though we didn’t already know, that we are a fractured people, unfriending political opponents.

I can’t help but think how much America really wanted Trump all along. The Daily Kos blamed his rise on the (deliberate) failure of TV news, and one could make that case. Hey, it’s all infotainment!

But the comedians wanted him too. Just this past weekend, John Oliver made an impassioned final plea for Americans to reject Donald Trump, during which he shows himself, back on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, begging Trump to run.

And when he DID run, Stewart, before he retired in August 2015, thought DJT quite amusing. The news organizations loved the boffo ratings of the Republican debates, which were four TIMES greater in the summer of 2015 than four years earlier. It was all great theater, I suppose, but I never thought it was all that humorous.

Finally, on the late, lamented Nightly Show in December 2015, they were doing a skit when a couple of the actors, Mike Yard and Ricky Velez, told host Larry Wilmore that doing Trump schtick just wasn’t funny anymore. I noticed recently that someone was complaining that the comedians were all bashing Trump more than Hillary; I figured it was penance.

The 16 Republicans who ran against him were largely intimidated that he might slap a nickname on them. The guy’s been in the public eye since the 1970s; where was their opposition research?

And now the media who wanted him, have him, ironically a guy who has promised to be a threat to press freedom, who inspires claims of Lügenpresse (lying press), and gins up his followers to intimidate specific reporters.

Yeah, yeah, maybe Bernie could have won, and easily, I think, because he had passionate followers, one of the reasons I supported him in the primaries. And maybe the FBI director James Comey’s announcement of a new investigation less than two weeks before the election sunk her.

I admit I don’t understand why these angry people think Donald Trump, of all people, is the fellow to fix things. But the people wanted someone who insults people and abuses women and hypocritically attacks others for the same misdeeds he’s been criticized for, whose rhetoric encourages extremism, and who eschews science. The people have spoken.

Obviously, I think “the people” are wrong. I realized it fully last April, when my daughter expressed interest in seeing Donald Trump when he was in Albany. She didn’t support him, just wanted to see him. And I vetoed it, not for political reasons, but because I worried for her safety and mine. THAT’S who we just elected President. (NOW will he release his income tax returns?)

This is a blow I have to muse upon a bit more.

ADDENDUM: I wrote on Facebook yesterday:
Ah, it’s November 8. According to Wikipedia, what happened on this date?
1519 – Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Montezuma welcomes him with a great celebration.
1644 – The Shunzhi Emperor, the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, is enthroned in Beijing after the collapse of the Ming dynasty as the first Qing emperor to rule over China.
1923 – Beer Hall Putsch: In Munich, Adolf Hitler leads the Nazis in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government.
Anything interesting happening today?

What Do We Tell The Children? “Tell them, first, that we will protect them.”

R is for Rainbows

I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.

double-rainbow-lrgBecause I was bereft of a topic, I decided to Google the word rainbows. Interesting things I found:

About Rainbows

Author Donald Ahrens in his text Meteorology Today describes a rainbow as “one of the most spectacular light shows observed on earth”. Indeed the traditional rainbow is sunlight spread out into its spectrum of colors and diverted to the eye of the observer by water droplets. The “bow” part of the word describes the fact that the rainbow is a group of nearly circular arcs of color all having a common center.

Think You Know Rainbows? Look Again

Although the most common rainbow is a single crescent containing every color from red through violet, if you pay close attention, you will discover that rainbows come in a surprising variety of colors and shapes. And scientists are finally figuring out why.

From Wiktionary:

From Middle English reinbowe, reinboȝe, from Old English reġnboga ‎(“rainbow”), from Proto-Germanic *regnabugô ‎(“rainbow”), equivalent to rain +‎ bow ‎(“arch”). Cognate with West Frisian reinbôge ‎(“rainbow”), Dutch regenboog ‎(“rainbow”), German Regenbogen ‎(“rainbow”), Danish regnbue ‎(“rainbow”), Swedish regnbåge ‎(“rainbow”), Icelandic regnbogi ‎(“rainbow”).

XKCD (licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License).
rainbow-xkcd

Bible verses about rainbows (Genesis 9:12-17 and others)

God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth…”

Welcome to Reading Rainbow® Skybrary Family

Skybrary is a carefully curated, ever-expanding interactive library of digital books and video explorations designed to engage young readers and foster a love of learning.

rainbowbridge
Rainbow Bridge National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)

Rainbow Bridge is one of the world’s largest known natural bridges. The span has undoubtedly inspired people throughout time–from the neighboring American Indian tribes who consider Rainbow Bridge sacred, to the 85,000 people from around the world who visit it each year.

The Couch in Rainbow Colors: ‘L.G.B.T.-Affirming’ Therapy

Started in 2006, Antioch’s program is, to its leaders’ knowledge, the country’s first and only graduate-level L.G.B.T.-affirming clinical psychology specialization.

Voting in Albany County, NY 2016: the proposition and the D.A. race

A friend of mine suggested this, and I’m liking it: a write-in vote for Marquis Dixon for Albany County D.A.

note the proposals were on the same side as the candidates
See that, in 2012, proposals were on the same side as the list of candidates

[Those of you NOT voting in Albany County can skip this.]

A friend of mine is voting absentee and asked me to interpret the one proposal on the Albany County ballot.

Proposal Number One, County Proposition Number One
Local Law No “H” for 2016

“Shall there be approved in the County of Albany, Local Law No. “H” for 2016, entitled A LOCAL LAW OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY, NEW YORK, AMENDING VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE ALBANY COUNTY CHARTER AND LOCAL LAW NO. 8 FOR 1993 AS SUBSEQUENTLY AMENDED AND FOR THE PURPOSE OF INCORPORATING THE PROBATION DEPARTMENT AND THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS INTO THE ALBANY COUNTY CHARTER.”

I had no idea what that meant.

Subsequently, over the Columbus Day weekend, the Board of Elections has posted information. I’ve learned that the legislation would clarify language in the Albany County Charter. It would:

* Incorporate the county’s Probation Department and Board of Elections into the charter – seems pretty much administrative

* Extend the period in which the county executive may make an appointment to fill a department-head vacancy position to 90 days from 45 days, and the period in which the legislature may confirm the appointments to 60 days from 45 days – I assume this has been a problem

* Mandate a written designation of an order of succession for the offices of the county executive, comptroller, and sheriff – I like THAT

* Mandate that the county adopt an administrative code – it doesn’t have one?

* Require public hearing notices be posted on the county website – transparency I like, but why does that need a vote? Whatever

* Update various sections of the Albany County Charter by defining previously outdated or ambiguous terms and correcting language for clarity – sufficiently vague

Also important: I was looking at my sample ballot and noticed the words: PROPOSITIONS ARE L0CATED ON THE REVERSE SIDE OF THIS BALLOT. Don’t miss it!

Note that the charter revisions will NOT include any provision to downsize the county Legislature, unlike last year’s ballot.
***
You may be surprised to discover that there are candidates to vote for besides the President. There are members of the US House of Representatives, and for many Americans, a race for US Senate. Plus the entire New York State legislature – the Senate and the Assembly, is up.

Unfortunately, there are a number of judge races in this area, plus the Albany County District Attorney’s contest, that are running unopposed. I hate that, as it reminds me of the lesser days of Albany politics.

At the same time, there is an opportunity to help Marquis Dixonin the form of a YouCaring drive. We have an opportunity to help support his family by helping to remove some of the financial stress of more than 2.5 years of supporting Marquis while he was incarcerated.

A friend of mine suggested this, and I’m liking it: a write-in vote for Marquis Dixon for Albany County D.A. District Attorney David Soares supported sending Dixon, a 16-year old at the time of the offense, to adult prison for nine years for the theft of a pair of sneakers, a minor incident during which no one was harmed.

Last week the appeals court strongly repudiated Soares’ position, unanimously granting Marquis Dixon “youthful offender” status he should have initially had and reducing his sentence to the minimum of one to three years. This write-in vote will send a message to D. A. Soares that his punitive incarceration-based policies are unacceptable.

Book review: March, Book Three

An interesting aspect of the book is the appearance of one Barack Obama.

march-book-three-coverBack when Jon Stewart was hosting The Daily Show, he had on Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), the lion of the civil rights movement. He was plugging March, Book Two, which continued the description of the “historic events he participated in as a leader of the civil rights movement,” sharing “his desire to inspire the next generation of activists with his graphic novel trilogy.” I said, “I should get that,” but did not.

Recently, Lewis returned to The Daily Show, now hosted by Trevor Noah, promoting March, Book Three. So when I got a chance to review that book, I took it.

If you saw the movies Continue reading “Book review: March, Book Three”

Actress Sally Field turns 70

She played the matriarch on the TV series Brothers & Sisters.

normaraeI’ve watched Sally Field in more projects than almost anyone. I could quote her famous line – no, just imagine that I did.

Gidget, (TV, 1965-66) – I’m sure I watched her as a surfing teen in at least some episodes. Yikes, 50 years ago.

Hey, Landlord (1967) – in the latter stages, she played the visiting sister of a guy who inherits his uncle’s apartment building.

The Flying Nun (TV, 1967-1970) – I watched, fairly religiously, the antics of the nun wearing an improbably aerodynamic habit. Sister Bertrille was an innocent but always wanted to do the right thing. She had to keep her special abilities hidden from her Mother Superior. The ability to fly, which I dreamed about even before watching this, may be a core fantasy.

The Girl with Something Extra (1973-1974)- you know you’ve made it on when the character has your real first name. I only vaguely recall watching this one about newlyweds (the groom was John Davidson), but she had ESP. Shades, sort of, of Bewitched.

Sybil (1976) – no one, certainly not I was ready for her in this two-part miniseries playing a woman with multiple personalities. Our Gidget? I haven’t seen it since it first aired, and I’d be curious how it holds up. She won her first Emmy for this.

Smokey and the Bandit (1977), The End (1978), Hooper (1978), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) – I had a girlfriend at the time, Susan, who was smart and sophisticated, and LOVED Burt Reynolds. Sally Field was dating Burt and showed up in his films. I recall particularly enjoying The End, which was a comedy about someone trying to commit suicide after a bad diagnosis.

Norma Rae (1979) – she won her first Oscar for playing “a textile worker who agrees to help unionize her mill despite the problems and dangers involved”

Absence of Malice (1981) – she was nominated for a Golden Globe for this movie starring Paul Newman.

Places in the Heart (1984) – Sally wins her second Oscar, for playing a woman trying to hold on to a cotton field in the 1930s South, and gives her immortal quote at the ceremonies.

Murphy’s Romance (1985) – a May/October romance, with James Garner; pleasant, as I recall

Punchline (1988) – Sally and Tom Hanks are allies, then rivals, in the cutthroat world of stand-up comedy. I remember this as a bitter film with an uneven tone.

Steel Magnolias (1989) – the bond of women working in a hair salon. Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, Julia Roberts, and the colorful Shirley MacLaine.

Soapdish (1991) – the cutthroat world of TV soap operas. I recall liking it.

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) – I bought the contrivance that the ex-wife (Sally) doesn’t recognize her ex-husband (Robin Williams), and really liked this film

Forrest Gump (1994) – this movie made me cranky for a number of reasons, only one of which is Sally playing Tom Hanks’ mother when she’s only 10 years older than he is

The Court (TV, 2002) – it lasted a handful of episodes

ER (TV)- she won an Emmy in 2001 and was nominated in 2003 for guest appearances on the medical show. I didn’t always watch the series but I did when she was on.

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003) – The first one was OK, but this is NOT a good movie. Sally plays a Congresswoman

Brothers & Sisters (TV, 2006–2011) – she played the matriarch. Her adult children (Dave Annable, Calista Flockhart, Rachel Griffiths, Matthew Rhys, Balthazar Getty) all have complicated lives. I was a sucker for this show and watched almost every episode.

I wrote in this blog that it was the family-owned business, and the dysfunction that it brings, that intrigued me. It’s about a guy who owns a produce business; he dies in the first episode, and the succession plan doesn’t always go as he planned, with his elder daughter in charge, much to the resentment of at least one of his sons. And it’s the sibling dynamic that fueled the show.

Sally Field won an Emmy in 2007 and was nominated in 2008 and 2009. By the last season, she was executive director of the show.

Lincoln (2012) – she was rightly nominated for an Oscar for playing Mary Todd Lincoln, Abe’s wife

Hello, My Name Is Doris (2015) – I enjoyed this

And she’s made countless guest appearances, many I’ve seen.

In February 2017, she will be appearing in The Glass Menagerie on Broadway.

One of those bits in her IMBD page– Quote: My agent said, “You aren’t good enough for movies”. I said, “You’re fired.”

Evidently, I’m very fond of Sally Field.

Ramblin' with Roger
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