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.

June rambling #1: procrastination, and tessellation

The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson: America’s Mozart?

waltz in
When You Kill Ten Million Africans and You Aren’t Called ‘Hitler’ – King Leopold II of Belgium, who “owned” the Congo.

The Dannemora Dilemma. “‘Little Siberia’ turned out to be the prison’s nickname.”

The Weekly Sift addresses the Duggars’ brand of fundamentalist Christianity and other stuff. Plus What’s So Scary About Caitlyn Jenner?

The 2016 U.S. Presidential Race: A Cheat Sheet and The Crystal Ball‘s 2016 Electoral College ratings. I have NO idea who the Republican candidate for President will be.

If it’s not Jeb Bush, and I have my serious doubts that it will be, then one of those people from the “he/she can’t win” category could possibly emerge.

ADD on blaming the victims of today’s disastrous economy for trying to survive it.

What Poverty Does to the Young Brain.

Disunion, The Final Q&A: The New York Times’s series on the Civil War.

Franklin Graham Calls for Christian Boycott — Here Are Some Ideas for Targets.

Rachel Dolezal and minstrelsy.

David Kalish: The Fine Art of Procrastination.

THE MARVEL-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX and a follow-up.

Drawing the Undrawable: An Explanation from Neil and Amanda Gaiman, re: The New Statesman and Art Spiegelman.

Microsoft’s Windows 10 will be available on July 29. This SHOULD mean you can update from Windows 7, and I can get rid of the dreadful Windows 8.

How to create strong passwords.

Why Pluto Is a Planet, and Eris Is, Too.

Now I Know: The Lights That Almost Led to World War III and America’s Most Wanted Coincidence and Why are there so few $2 bills?

Gouverneur is a small town of about 6,000 located in St. Lawrence County, NY. But how do you PRONOUNCE it? In English and in French.

Berowne: George Gordon. Better known as Lord Byron.

Never-before-seen film of the legendary aviator Amelia Earhart — from her last photo shoot ever, shortly before she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in 1937.

The origin of that Orange Church of God sign I see on Facebook all the time. Speaking of which: 6 Facebook Statuses That Need To Stop Right Now.

Mark Evanier’s childhood Christmas chicanery.

The app that identifies plants from a picture. Seriously, I could use this.

What is a tessellation? Math, and design.

A marbles tsunami.

True: Why are the Tony Awards so afraid of the Tony Awards?

Sex Pistols credit card.

The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson: America’s Mozart?

James Taylor’s creativity flows anew.

The Mary Lou Williams Suite, the jazz pianist and arranger. Includes the Land of Oo-Bla-Dee.

SamuraiFrog ranks Weird Al: 60-51. He also brought to mind that the birthday of Todd Rundgren is coming up, which reminded me of a 1985 album I own on vinyl that I haven’t heard in a good while. LISTEN to A Cappella, or at least the last song, a cover of the Spinners’ Mighty Love.

Bert Jansch’s Blackwaterside, first recorded in 1966. Which sounds an awful lot like Jimmy Page’s instrumental Black Mountain Side, from Led Zeppelin’s 1969 debut.

DJ Otzi – Burger Dance, “based on the premise that the single aspect of American culture most readily recognizable in the rest of the world is fast food.”

This list is rubbish, but hey, it has links to Beatles songs. The most skippable Beatles cuts, from “All You Need Is Love” to “Yellow Submarine”.

Muppets: Puppetman and Kermit the Frog and Grover on The Ed Sullivan Show and Grover is Special and the 1962 pilot Tales of the Tinkerdee and some other stuff.

Legendary Special-Effects Artist Rick Baker on How CGI Killed His Industry.

Actor Christopher Lee, Dracula and Nazi hunter, dies at 93. From The Guardian and BFI and the Hollywood Reporter and Bruce Hallenbeck in Diabolique and Mr. Frog and Gordon at Blog This, Pal.

Ornette Coleman, Jazz Innovator, Dies at 85.

Dustbury notes the passing of Monica Lewis, a voice, at least, you’ve heard, if you are of a certain age.

GOOGLE ALERTS (not me)

Roger and Carmen Green of Baraboo, Wisconsin celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

UK: An illustrated guided walk tracing the route of the Nickey Line is being led by railway enthusiast Roger Green on Saturday, June 27.

There is a Right Way to Hang the American Flag

Does one wash a US flag regularly?

Tattered-flagNot being a “flag” guy, I find it odd that the misuse of the same bugs me. Yet it does.

Purloined from Heritage.org

Which four of the following “Flag Code” rules are true?

1. Display it with the field of stars to the top left.
2. Wash it regularly.
3. If hung alongside another flag(s), it must be oriented higher than the other(s).
4. Retire it when it’s showing signs of wear and tear..
5. Unless it’s made of synthetic material, it must be brought inside in harsh weather..
6. The National Anthem must be played or sung during the raising or lowering of the flag.
7. If displayed at night, a light must illuminate the flag.

I’ll give you 24 hours or so, then post the answers. Curse me for a novice, I only got three out of the four.

Music Throwback Saturday: Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)

Lay Down was a song that I would hear on an album and then play again right away.

melaniesafkaMelanie Safka, who performed under her first name, appeared at the Woodstock festival in 1969. Although she doesn’t appear in the 1970 movie, she does have songs on the second album from the three-day concert.

Her first single was What Have They’ve Done to My Song, Ma, which became a much bigger hit for the New Seekers later in 1970 (#14 US Billboard).

Her first big smash, though, inspired by her Woodstock experience, was Lay Down (Candles in the Rain) for which she enlisted her Buddah Records label mates, the Edwin Hawkins Singers.

From American Songwriter: “Melanie had to beg the group to join her on the song since they were reluctant to perform any song that didn’t make specific mention of the Lord. ‘But he’s in there,’ she told them in the studio, and she must have been convincing. ‘By the time I finished singing,’ Safka says, ‘they were joining me in the chorus.'”

It went to #6 on the Billboard charts. #3 in Australia, #5 in Canada, #1 in the Netherlands, and #4 in France.

On the US version of the Candles in the Rain LP, which I own, there’s a spoken-word track that segues into the singing portion.

LISTEN to:
single version (3:50)
spoken word intro (5:45)
live version (6:15)

She would have several Top 40 hits in the United States, notably Brand New Key, which was #1 for three weeks in the fall of 1971. But it is Lay Down that I would hear on an album and then have to play again right away.

QUESTION: Is parenting a toddler at 50 easier than at 30?

What age do you think it optimal for a parent to be,

father.look up toI see this article in Chicago Now, Six Reasons Parenting a Toddler at 50 is So Much Easier than at 30. Interesting to me because I had my one and only child at 51.

I think, for the most part, the points made in the article are true. I’m more patient and less diaper averse. On the other hand, I have a bit less energy. I’ve almost gotten over being thought of as her grandfather, as there are parents at my daughter’s school young enough to be my children. But in the main, I’m a better dad.

Whether or not you’re a parent, what age do you think is optimal for a parent to be, and why?

MOVIE REVIEW – Seymour: An Introduction

Seymour: An Introduction is recommended musicians, teachers, and many others.

seymourActor Ethan Hawke was at a dinner party a few years back, where he met composer/pianist/ teacher Seymour Bernstein.

Hawke was struggling with his artistic direction and found the octogenarian’s insights from his most interesting life both inspiring and useful.

Deciding that the world needed to know more about this accomplished man, who I had never heard of, Hawke directed and coproduced Seymour: An Introduction. Read this New York Times article about that meeting, and the subsequent filming.

From Rotten Tomatoes, 100% positive from the critics and 88% positive from the audience:

“[Seymour] enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a performer before he gave it up to devote himself to helping others develop their own gifts. While Ethan Hawke’s gentle, meditative study is a warm and lucid portrait of Bernstein and his exceptional life and work, it’s also a love letter to the study of music itself, and a film about the patience, concentration, and devotion that are fundamental to the practice of art. Seymour: An Introduction allows us to spend time with a generous human being who has found balance and harmony through his love of music.”

Here is the trailer. Also, Ethan & Seymour talking to David Poland about life, happiness, and art.

When I saw Seymour: An Introduction with my friend Mary at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany in May 2015, it was already down to one showing, so you’re not likely to find it at a cinema. Assuming it comes out on DVR/on-demand, et al., I recommend that you watch it all at once – it’s only 84 minutes long – and get to know Seymour properly.

Recommended for those who perform or listen to music, teach or desire to be taught.

Ramblin' with Roger
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