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Q is for Queens

The Queens Library has the highest circulation of any public library system in the U.S.

Queens is one of the five boroughs of New York City. The boroughs are coterminous with the five counties that comprise the city, out of 62 counties statewide: Manhattan (New York County), Brooklyn (Kings County), Staten Island (Richmond County); Bronx and Queens have the same county and borough names.

Queens is physically the largest of the NYC boroughs, at 109.7 square miles (284.12 square kilometers or 70,190.2 acres), and with 2.3 million people, the second-most populous, after Brooklyn; this is more people than any other whole US city, save for Los Angeles and Chicago. NYC has established 59 community districts in 1975, based on the historic development of communities, 14 of which are in Queens.

Queens has a rich history as one of the 12 original counties of New York State. You can read about that here. Just as interesting, though, is the fact that Queens is considered one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the United States. Here are just the ancestry groups with an estimated 25,000 or more, according to the 2009 American Community Survey 1-year estimates: Asian Indian 137,696; Chinese 190,183; Colombian 83,433; Ecuadorian 107,931; German 48,042; Greek 50,949; Guyanese 53,012; Haitian 44,226; Irish 82,543; Italian 153,704; Jamaican 50,828; Korean 59,690; Mexican 83,185; Polish 54,974; Puerto Rican 123,219; Russian 39,798; Salvadoran 26,571; plus a lot of less numerous groups as well.

I have some personal links with Queens. My mother’s uncle Ernest died of cancer in 1954, and then six months later, Aunt Charlotte and her four kids moved from small-town Binghamton (NY) to New York City, into a house in Queens. As Charlotte’s daughter Fran noted in a 2005 interview, her mother thought that with her “kids coming from a town where there were big back yards and big houses — and when we would get too noisy she would just put us in the back yard to run around — that we would be too much to move into an apartment…. So we moved into St. Albans, a three-bedroom house.” My family would visit that house several times a year when I was growing up; it seemed enormous but was probably dwarfed by the current McMansions.

Then in 1965, my family went to the World’s Fair in Flushing. Oddly, my most vivid memory was standing in line FOREVER to get to have something called Belgian waffles. With strawberries! And whipped cream!

My sister and her then-husband moved to an apartment in Jackson Heights c. 1976, and my eldest niece Rebecca was born there in October 1978; I first saw her within a month of her birth, and then several times subsequently, including on her first and second birthdays.

I even lived in that apartment in the summer of 1977; my sister was going back and forth between NYC and Boston. I won $48 in a radio contest, and I took my sister to see a New York Mets baseball game; they, too, are the pride of Queens. The Mets played at Shea Stadium, which was built in time for the 1964 season – and 55,000 Beatles fans were there in 1965. In the early 1970s, my father and I caught a New York Jets-Houston Oilers football game at Shea. The stadium was razed in 2008, replaced by Citi Field in 2009. There’s a documentary about the stadium, Last Play at Shea; the trailer is HERE.

Since I’m a librarian, I should note that the Queens Library is “an independent, not-for-profit corporation and is not affiliated with any other library… With a record 23 million items in circulation for FY 2009, the Library has the highest circulation of any public library system in the U.S. and one of the highest circulations in the world.”

ABC Wednesday – Round 7

The Presuppose You’re Living in New England Meme

My sense of melancholy. Oh, that’s not was meant?

Presuppose? Albany, NY IS in EXTREMELY western New England, at the junction of I-87 and I-90. From Sunday Stealing, again.

1. Have you turned the heat on in your house yet this fall?

It kicked in the middle of October. Surprisingly cold for that time of year.

2. Do you allow your pets on the furniture?

Well, IF we had a pet, it’d be a cat. Yes, on the sofa; no, on the dining room table. The Wife and I have actually discussed the possibility recently. Shhh! Don’t tell the Daughter yet; we need to ask her at the right time.

3. What were your final words for September?

Where did I leave my October bus pass?

4. What are your first words for October?

Oh, there it is.

5. Do you think you’ve ever seen a ghost?

It’s remotely possible if I believed in such things, which I tend not to.

6. What is the one color that represents this time of year?

Clearly, orange, which represents both Halloween and Thanksgiving, not to mention falling leaves.

7. Which of your senses do you think is most sensitive this time of year?

My sense of melancholy. Oh, that’s not what was meant? My sense of seeing the increasingly barren trees.

8. What is your favorite thing to do at the county fair?

Buying homemade food products. I’m also a sucker for farmers’ markets.

9. What do you like when you have a cold?

Ginger ale, hot tea, Vitamin C drops, to do nothing.

10. Are you willing to spend over $100 for a piece of winter clothing, like boots or a coat?

My hands get all clammy and sweaty simultaneously just at the thought. I HATE buying clothes, aside from hats, gloves, underwear, and socks.

12. What do you have too much of in your kitchen?

Mugs. For all occasions. But I don’t see us giving them up, as they represent particular events.

13. What gripes do you have about this time of year?

The cold, the need for gloves and especially a knit hat; a cap is insufficient for my balding pate.

14. Other than yourself, are you responsible for getting anyone ready in the morning?

The Daughter, and she can take FOREVER.

15. When was the last time you cleaned your gutters?

Well, it will be done this year, but not by me.

16. So, it’s after Labor Day. Will you still be wearing white?

This is a fashion thing, isn’t it? Have I mentioned that I think that fashion, by and large, is quite stupid? So, yes, and I HAVE!

17. What shows are you most looking forward to this Fall?

Well, I’m interested in watching The Good Wife, Grey’s Anatomy, 30 Rock, and JEOPARDY! I’m constantly three weeks behind. There are people who complain about reruns and pre-emptions of TV shows; I am NOT one of those people.

18. What three things have you just not gotten around to from the summer, but probably should do before snow flies?

The leaves need raking. I should probably mow the lawn one last time. And the summer furniture needs to go into the basement. Also, while I’M not doing it, the roof needs replacing.
***
I mentioned the Mockingbird reading that took place this Saturday past. Chuck Miller took pictures of all the participants.

With God On Our Side

I’ve been watching God in America on PBS recently. I will grant that the criticism that it does not touch on non-Christian faiths as much as it ought is valid, but I still think the series has validity, and I’ve already recommended it to my church’s adult education coordinator. Maybe the series SHOULD be called “Christanity in America.”

That caveat aside, it is an interesting take on the conflicting views of faith in the country, never moreso than in the period right before and during the Civil War, when slavery was attacked and defended using the very same Bible. On the show, one abolitionist minister cites Exodus 21:16, “Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death.” Meanwhile, a pro-slavery preacher quotes Leviticus 25:45, 46 – “You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. You can will them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life.” This fight split the Methodist, baptist and Presbyterian denominations for decades.

Meanwhile, the slaves themselves are attracted to the liberation theology of Moses leading his people to freedom, epitomized by Exodus 3: 7-8: “The LORD said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

Thing is that most of these people had a certainty that God supports their particular take on the word because they believe – at least the non-slaves – in the notion that the United States is uniquely blessed by God. Interesting, one person in this period was less certain about God’s will, and that was President Abraham Lincoln, a man with a good Old Testament name.

The parallels with modern-day America are clear. There are some who claim to have a direct line to the Almighty when it comes to what is required/desired/permitted/omitted. The rest of us, not so much, except that God couldn’t POSSIBLY have meant THAT, at least not any more.

Anyway, it reminded me of the Bob Dylan song With God On Our Side, performed here by Joan Baez.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Mendelssohn music in Troy on November 7, 4 p.m. and at 4 p.m. on November 14 at First Pres Albany.

We looked at the calendar at home this week, and there is something on it for every day this week. This is not, BTW, something I strive for.

Monday night, Carol had a teacher conference, and Wednesday night, she had a church meeting. This meant getting the child to bed – a lengthy ritual involving homework and medicines, as well as toothbrushing and storytime.

Tuesday morning, I voted; it was a little chaotic with the new system, at least at 6 a.m. Hey, did you notice I made three predictions, two came true, and when they count the 41% of the vote as write-ins (!) in Alaska, I may be 3 for 3?

Then I had a parent-teacher conference with the daughter’s teacher, then stayed home with her, because none of the schools around here are open for class, but the teachers, such as my wife, have to report. The Daughter and I went to the library, did housekeeping and raking. Tuesday night, I had a church meeting.

Thursday AND Friday nights, I had rehearsals in Troy for a concert, described thusly:
The First Presbyterian (Albany) Chancel Choir will partner with the choir of Troy First United Presbyterian Church, under the direction of Maury Castro, to perform the magnificent cantata Lauda Sion, as well as other works by Felix Mendelssohn. In addition to the combined choirs, the concerts will feature members of the Hyperion String Quartet, soloists from our church, and, of course, our esteemed organist, Nancy Frank. Each church will host: in Troy on November 7, 4 p.m., and at 4 p.m. on November 14 at First Pres Albany.

TODAY, Saturday at 3 pm, at the CHANGED VENUE of the Book House in Stuyvesant Plaza in Guilderland, I’ll be doing my To Kill a Mockingbird shtick. Then, as noted, Sunday at 4 is the concert; given the fact that I have church, then a meeting after church, the window between being home (c. 1 pm), and being picked up c. 2:30 for a 3 pm call, is NOT great. At least our clocks FALL BACK tomorrow.

So I’m almost running on empty.

Beatles island song list

The interesting thing about this exercise is that I became aware, sometimes for the first time, some biases.

Ever have what you think is a really good concept, then you start actually DOING it, and you decide, “Well, maybe it WASN’T such a hot idea, after all”? So it is with this blogging project about the Beatles, clearly my favorite group.

The idea was to create my Beatles island song list. If I only had 10 or 20 or 50 or 100 Beatles songs available, which ones would I choose? First off, I had to find a list of all the songs that the Beatles recorded that are in the canon: the singles, albums, and EPs released between 1963 and 1970. No Star Club in Hamburg, no Tony Sheridan, no BBC or Anthology recordings. This list shows 215 songs, but lists Love Me Do twice (but not the other possibilities?) and also has Real Love, but not Free As a Bird. So I’m assuming 213 individual songs. It would be easy to just pick four songs from Revolver, four from Rubber Soul, and a couple others for my Top 10, but I tried, when I could, to be more diversified.

And let’s face it: making a list like this always depends on the mood so that a song at 93 on this list might be 103 or 83 if I did it again. Which almost certainly WILL NOT HAPPEN. I started working on this before February. Of 2009, for the 45th anniversary of the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, which I am old enough to have watched in real time. Someone coming to the group after the fact would surely hear the songs differently.

Know also that these are not entirely or strictly by most to least favorite, but more about both the (artificial) scarcity AND the diversity. One Lennon cover version rocker might push another one back; likewise, a McCartney saloon song, a Harrison tune with sitar, or a Ringo record.

The interesting thing about this exercise is that I became aware, sometimes for the first time, of some biases. Surely, I knew about my affection for Beatles VI, my first album. But I wasn’t as aware of my general antipathy for Let It Be, an album that always felt like the group’s musical funeral. Still, all things being equal, I wouldn’t give up ANY of the songs!

I also had to find videos for all of these; if you find a broken link, PLEASE let me know, as they all worked when I started this thing. Some of the sources are HERE at Beatles Box Set 2009 and HERE at BeatlesTube.net, the purpose of the latter site being “to organize all videos about The Beatles that you can find on Youtube.” But I DID find items elsewhere and used Beatles videos from the movies, were readily available.

To give you an idea of how my thinking went. On the list:
217. Across the Universe, the Wildlife version.
216. Love Me Do, the LP version which included Andy White, NOT Ringo on drums.
215. Let It Be, the single version, solely because the album version is longer
214. Get Back, the Let It Be album version, because the single actually ends, rather than “I hope we pass the audition,”, which IS a great line on a Simpsons’ episode, to be sure.
Because other versions of these songs appear elsewhere on the list.

So I’ll be doing these 10 at a time, at no particular set schedule. It’ll be at least once a week, but it might be twice or thrice, depending on what else I have in mind for the blog, and, of course, time.

My designation of the source album requires an explanation, I reckon. For the British albums, I limited myself to the original albums that the Beatles intended. Several of the early singles, EPs and the song Bad Boy appeared on A Collection of Beatles Oldies but Goldies, but it was their intent to put those songs out AS singles or EPs, so I’ve ignored it; all of those songs now appear on the Past Master CDs. Whereas for the US albums, I picked the Capitol albums, plus the Vee-Jay Introducing the Beatles and the United Artists’ A Hard Day’s Night, which had some overlap, because those releases, especially prior to Sgt. Pepper, were so convoluted. In fact, Introducing the Beatles was released at least TWICE, with 10 common songs, plus two on each album that don’t overlap; I’m not making the distinction.

Since I’m starting this on the 5th of November, I suppose I ought to provide a link to REMEMBER by John Lennon.