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Actor Dennis Quaid is 70

Thing Called Love

Dennis Quaid was born in Houston, TX. He has appeared in several movies I’ve seen, all in the cinema except for The Parent Trap, but none of them I’ve viewed since the initial viewing. Most of them I liked.

Breaking Away (1977) -This is a sports movie about bicycling, which I really enjoyed. It was Oscar-nominated for Best Picture and won for Best Original Screenplay.

The Right Stuff (1983) – It won four Oscars, including Best Picture, and deservedly so. It was… what the title said.

The Big Easy (1986). Per IMDb, “Both Ellen Barkin and Dennis Quaid consider this the favorite of all the films they’ve made.” I saw it with a friend, and we both thought the crime drama had plot holes that one could drive a police cruiser through. But the soundtrack is marvelous. Someone posted most of it on YouTube, some with variations from the album. Notably, it leaves off what AllMusic called “a respectable track,” Dennis Quaid singing Closer To You, which he wrote. I can’t find the studio version, but here’s a live take with Bonnie Raitt and the Neville Brothers.

Dennis shows up on the video for Bonnie’s Thing Called Love (1989) from her Grammy-winning comeback album, Nick Of Time. It’s a sexy video, even though they were just friends.

Postcards from the Edge (1990) – the somewhat autobiographical account of the lives of Debbie Reynolds and author/screenwriter Carrie Fisher, played by Shirley MacLaine and Meryl Streep, respectively. Quaid plays the Streep character’s sometimes boyfriend. I related to the family drama.

The Parent Trap (1998) – Quaid and Natasha Richardson play the divorced parents of the twins played by Lindsay Lohan (X2). Having watched the Hayley Mills original film, I think the remake was better, which I imagine is sacrilege. I saw this on video with my daughter.

Traffic (2000) – A fine film, though Quaid, as one of the bad guys, gets about fifth billing.

21st Century

The Rookie (2001)—Based on a true story, it’s the tale of a high school chemistry teacher who coaches the school’s baseball team. Once a pitching prospect before an injury, he agrees to go to a professional tryout if his team wins the championship. (No spoiler: they do, so he does.) I immensely enjoyed it.

Far From Heaven (2002) – A seemingly perfect 1950s suburban couple, played by Quaid and Oscar-nominated for Best Actress Julianne Moore, is jeopardized. The Moore character consoles herself with the friendship of their gardener (Dennis Haysbert). A fine work by the actors and writer/director Todd Haynes. My favorite Quaid movie.

I might have caught other films. The TV movie Dinner With Friends is about two close couples who are confounded when one couple decides to split up. And I’m sure I caught some guest appearances on SpongeBob or Inside Amy Schumer.

Dennis is the younger brother of actor Randy Quaid. According to reports, “the two have not communicated in over 20 years due to a bad real estate deal in Montecito, California.”

Happy birthday to Dennis Quaid.

I voted in the Presidential primary

vote with your heart

**This is for Jefferson County in upstate NYS, but the format is the same as what I saw.**

On Tuesday, April 2, I voted in the Presidential primary. In New York State, we have a closed system. Democrats and Republicans can only participate in their respective party primaries. Those in other parties or not enrolled in a party, often called independents, cannot vote in either of those parties’ primaries.

In many other states, it’s advantageous to be independent, but in my state, one wants to be a Democrat or Republican because there are more chances to vote. And I ALWAYS vote, in large part because people have long denied the franchise. I feel an obligation to my ancestors.

I am a registered Democrat. My ballot had three choices: incumbent Joe Biden, Marianne Williamson, and Rep. Dean Phillips (MN). I voted for Phillips, whose “adoptive paternal grandmother Pauline Phillips was the author of the advice column ‘Dear Abby,’ under the pen name Abigail Van Buren.” After Super Tuesday, he dropped out of the race on March 6, though his site was still up as of April 3. Biden became the presumptive nominee by March 13..

Phillips’ fundamental pitch was that Biden was acceptable, but we needed a younger guy – Philips was born in 1969 – and he unsuccessfully urged others to get into the fray. I agreed with him about this. Neither Phillips nor Williamson had delegates to vote for; I voted for one of Bden’s.

Strategic voting

Much has been made of Democrats voting with blank ballots. In New York, it’s much the same as what happened in Michigan, Minnesota, and elsewhere over the administration’s policies in the Israel/Gaza war.

Is this a new thing?

For decades, I’ve believed you should vote with your heart in the primary and with your head in the general election. In the 1972 primary, the first time I could vote in the Presidential race, I cast a blank ballot because Shirley Chisholm was not on the roster in my Congressional district. Then, I voted for George McGovern in the general election.

In 2020, I voted for Elizabeth Warren, although Biden was the presumptive nominee by then. Then, I voted for Biden in the general election.

Polling

I don’t make political predictions; I’m not good at them. (I had Arthur attempt some back in December 2023.) The pundits muse about what the protest vote in the spring will mean in November. I have no idea.

Increasingly, I don’t think “they” know either. James Rosen, a former political reporter for McClatchy, wrote in the Boston Globe about why polling is so often wrong.

“The problems with political polls are multiple:

The dominance of cell phones and caller ID programs on landlines has made what statisticians call the “response rate” plummet.
There are too many political pollsters conducting too many polls.
The internet, with its voracious appetite and greatly expanded space for new information, no matter how incremental, has made some political journalists less discriminating and fueled more questionable polling.”

Pick and choose

Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., said in an interview on CBS News’ Face The Nation that Biden is a “cafeteria Catholic” who “picks and chooses” which parts of Catholicism he will adhere to. Gregory was speaking specifically about abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, which Biden has championed.

I’ve read that for decades, the vast majority of U.S. Catholics believe using artificial birth control is moral, despite church teaching to the contrary. My old denomination, the United Methodist Church, has ruptured “over issues of sexuality and authority.” In my experience, many people of faith create their own theology, to quote an old Unitarian friend.

Meanwhile, the Great Trumpkin – a term used by the Boston Globe -claims that Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, will be “Christian Visibility Day.” Apparently, he believes selling a $59.95 Bible is a qualifying event.

Or, as many Christians believe, “It is a bankrupt Christianity that sees a demagogue co-opting our faith and even our holy scriptures for the sake of his own pursuit of power and praise him for it rather than insist that we refuse to allow our sacred faith and scriptures to become a mouthpiece for an empire,” said Rev. Benjamin Cremer on X.

There’s a column in the Los Angeles Times, probably behind a paywall: I spent 24 hours on Trump’s Truth Social. No wonder it’s tanking. “The Truth Social feed I experienced was a mix of swaggering gun talk, typo-filled Bible scripture, violent Biden bashing, nonsensical conspiracy theories, and more misguided memes about Jan. 6 ‘hostages,’ trans satanists, and murderous migrants than anyone should be subjected to in one day. Or ever.”

Sunday Stealing: earthquake!

Statue of Liberty was struck by lightning

Before I get into Sunday Stealing, here are some headlines. The U.S. Geological Survey noted an earthquake at about 10:23 a.m. Friday, with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8, centered near Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, about 45 miles west of New York City and 50 miles north of Philadelphia. Sitting at my desk at home in Albany, NY, I suddenly felt queasy. Then the window began to rattle, off and on, for about 30 seconds. My wife didn’t feel it at work, but her coworker did.

On August 23, 2011, I was at my work desk at Corporate (frickin’) Woods. I also felt nauseous when the 5.8 earthquake hit Virginia. As a map on the page notes, “East Coast earthquakes travel much farther than West Coast earthquakes of similar magnitude.”

The Statue of Liberty was struck by lightning on Wednesday, and a photographer caught the image.

There will be a total eclipse over a big chunk of the United States tomorrow (Monday). Here are two reasons why this eclipse is so dangerous. Answering your eclipse questions.

Some folks believe the convergence of the earthquake and eclipse is an apocalyptic sign, even though the eclipse was forecast decades ago.

1. Name a TV series show or shows in which you have seen every episode at least twice:

The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966), I Love Lucy (1951-1957), and The Twilight Zone (1959-1964), all of which I have on DVD. Two have connections to my hometown of Binghamton, NY.

2. Name a show or shows you can’t or would not miss:

CBS Sunday Morning, a magazine of the air. I’ve been watching it regularly since 1979. This is why I had a VCR and now have a DVR.

TV actors

3. Name an actor or actors that would make you more inclined to watch a show:

I don’t think that is a primary criterion. If the story is interesting, then I’ll try to see it. That said, I saw Bob Newhart on three different series. I’ve also seen Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner, James Garner, Dick Van Dyke, Andy Griffith, Raymond Burr, June Lockhart, and William Shatner in at least two different series.

4. Name an actor or actors who would make you less likely to watch a show:

There’s a whole crop of 21st-century actors I don’t know well enough to ascertain whether I like them. Television has become so diffused with streaming and other platforms.

5. You’re having a lovely dinner party for friends and family. What will you serve for appetizers, main course, and dessert?

I’m having it catered because I don’t have “lovely dinner parties.” The rules are that I need to find foods for people who are vegans, vegetarians, have allergies to nuts, peanuts, dairy, gluten, and/or eat kosher or halal. My daughter falls into three of those categories.

6. Snowstorm! You’ve got house guests, and you’re all stuck inside for the night. What do you prepare for dinner? Will you watch a movie? Which one?

All things being equal, it should involve eggs. If we have a movie, the choice will be by consensus. That said, I have a bunch of Mel Brooks movies. Maybe Young Frankenstein (1974). “Pardon me, boy, is this the Transylvania station?” “Ya ya.”

7. We are going to New York City for the weekend. Where do you want to go?

I’d see a Broadway play. BTW, I highly recommend the Museum Of Broadway.

Night school

8. You are going to night school. They offer courses in writing short stories, painting, piano or guitar lessons, simple home repairs, baking, and gardening. Which do you pick (or make up one of your own) and why?

Simple home repairs because I suck at simple home repairs.

9. Have you ever been to a Drive Theater? Would you like to see Drive-In Theaters make a comeback?

I went to drive-ins a lot growing up. They ARE making a comeback.

10. Should towns provide community entertainment like bands in the park, fireworks on the 4th, and community picnics, or is the cost just too much?

Our city has plays in the park, concerts on the plaza, a Tulip Festival, and other events that give the place its identity.

11. What would you change about your town if you had the power?

During the Women’s March Madness basketball tournament taking place at the arena downtown recently, “ESPN commentator Rebecca Lobo remarked about Albany… While discussing the family of Caitlin Clark and their plans while staying in the host city for the latest round of the women’s NCAA tournament at the MVP Arena, Lobo stated, ‘And by the way, good luck finding something to do in Albany.'”

This generated a great debate about what to do in downtown Albany in the winter. While the area has plenty of attractions throughout the year, and there are things to do in the metro area, the downtown, which was in trouble before the pandemic, is not necessarily… robust. It WAS Easter weekend.

Grocery shopping

12. How often do you find yourself shopping for groceries?

My wife goes shopping once a week using the car. I pick up stuff we run out of twice a week, walking with my trusty cart.

13. Do you have a favorite nighttime snack?

Spoon-Sized Shredded Wheat.

14. Do you buy in bulk, and what kinds of tips do you have to save money on grocery shopping?

I was a vigorous coupon clipper in college and for years after, going to two stores for the best price. But I don’t do that anymore. The only things we get in bulk are paper products (napkins, paper towels, toilet paper) and canned cat food.

15. Let’s have a picnic in the park. What foods are we packing, and will we cook anything there, or is it all prepared ahead of time?

There must be deviled eggs. My preference is cold chicken and potato salad. Beyond that, I don’t much care. But no anchovies.

The #1 hits of 1934

When Your Heart’s On Fire

Bing Crosby The #1 hits of 1934 were far less robust than five years earlier. But it wasn’t all bleak.

Per A Century of Pop Music by Joel Whitburn, the record market was boosted in “September 1934 with the American debut of the European company Decca Records, which startled the industry with an energetic promotional campaign built around its stable of top stars (led by Bing Crosby) and its affordable 35-cent record prices.”

You’ll note that 73 weeks are designated, a function of competing record charts. About half of these songs could be considered as part of the Great American Songbook.

June and January– Bing Crosby with Georgie Stoll and his Orchestra (Decca), seven weeks at #1. From the Paramount picture Here Is My Heart

Love In Bloom – Bing Crosby with Irving Aaronson and his Commanders (Brunswick), six weeks at #1. From She Loves Me Not.

(When Your Heart’s On Fire) Smoke Gets In Your Eyes – Paul Whiteman with Bob Lawrence (Victor), six weeks at #1, from the musical Roberta.

The Very Thought Of You – Ray Noble with Al Bowlly (Victor), five weeks at #1

I’ll String Along With You – Ted Fio Rito with Muzzy Marcellino (Brunswick), five weeks at #1, from Twenty Million Sweethearts.

Murder at the Vanities

Cocktails for Two – Duke Ellington (Victor), five weeks at #1. Instrumental. From the Paramount film Murder at the Vanities.

Little Dutch Mill – Bing Crosby (Brunswick), five weeks at #1

Let’s Fall In Love – Eddie Duchin with Lew Sherwood (Victor), five weeks at #1. From the Columbia film Let’s Fall In Love.

I Saw Stars– Freddy Martin with Elmer Feldkamp (Brunswick), four weeks at #1

One Night Of Love – Grace Moore (Brunswick), four weeks at #1. From One Night In Love.

Stars Fell On Alabama – Guy Lombardo with Carmen Lombardo (Decca), four weeks at #1

The Old Spinning Wheel – Ray Noble with Al Bowlly (Victor), three weeks at #1

Stay As Sweet As You Are – Jimmie Grier with Harry Foster (Brunswick), three weeks at #1

The Object Of My Affection – Jimmie Grier with Pinky Tomlin (Brunswick), two weeks at #1

Carioca – Enric Madriguera (Columbia), two weeks at #1. Instrumental. From the RKP picture Flying Down To Rio.

The Continental (You Kiss While You’re Dancing) – Leo Reisman (Brunswick), two weeks at #1. From the film Gay Divorcee.

My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii – Ted Fio Rito with Muzzy Marcellino (Brunswick), one week at #1

Wagon Wheels – Paul Whiteman with Bob Lawrence (Victor), one week at #1. From the Broadway revue Ziegfeld Follies of 1934.

Moonglow – Benny Goodman (Columbia), one week at #1. Instrumental.

Solar eclipse 2024

Not waiting until 2044

There was a solar eclipse in 2017. I did not see it, as its path was too far away. It crossed the United States from near Portland, OR, to Kansas City, MO, to Charleston, SC. Nashville, TN, was probably the nearest place to me.

By comparison, the solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, is just better. Per NASA: “Totality will last longer than it did in 2017. Seven years ago, the longest period of totality was experienced near Carbondale, Illinois, at 2 minutes, 42 seconds.

“For the upcoming eclipse, totality will last up to 4 minutes, 28 seconds, in an area about 25 minutes northwest of Torreón, Mexico. As the eclipse enters Texas, totality will last about 4 minutes and 26 seconds at the center of the eclipse’s path. Durations longer than 4 minutes stretch as far north as Economy, Indiana. Even as the eclipse exits the U.S. and enters Canada, the eclipse will last up to 3 minutes, 21 seconds.”

And closer. “Totality will be visible through… Upstate New York (including Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Syracuse, Watertown, the Adirondacks, Potsdam, and Plattsburgh)…” And there won’t be another one in the US until 2044, when I’ll be 91. I should try to experience this one.

Almost good enough

Albany, NY, will be at 96.6% of totality at 3:26 p.m., which is pretty darn good, and there are places to watch. Spectrum 1 News in the Capital District will be airing the eclipse starting at 2 pm.

But I wanted the full effect. The closest place with totality is Rome, NY, with 30 seconds. I thought to take the Amtrak out there, but the event is at 3;25 and the train leaves at 3:35, almost certainly loading too early.

I looked at trains farther west and also north, but they didn’t work out either. So I went with Plan B, which I’ll tell you about in due course. But it won’t be in Niagara Falls.

“Canada’s Niagara region has proactively declared a state of emergency ahead of a rare total solar eclipse on April 8 that is expected to gather massive crowds to areas in and around the region’s popular waterfalls.”

I had gotten the proper eyewear on March 2. They arrived during my hearts party, and I put the box aside. Three weeks later, I couldn’t find it, so I ordered more and accidentally had them sent to my sister in North Carolina, who has no use for them. Finally, I’m set for this.

Almanac.com notes this:

As we pass into Erie, Pennsylvania, and Buffalo, NY, the chance of cloudiness settles around the mid-60s.
The further away from the Great Lakes, the better the chance of clear skies; Rochester, NY, has a 60% chance of clouds. But in Watertown and Plattsburg, the chance of cloudiness rises to 70%.