Category: Uncategorized

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

the album Nebraska

It occurred to me after seeing the movie Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, and then reading the heavily negative reviews (Rotten Tomatoes was only 59% positive), either my wife and I saw a different film or they were had different expectations.

Of course, we watched the movie at the Spectrum Theater in Albany. I was very much taken by young Bruce’s relationship with his father, and his great affection for his mother. The Boss talked about that during his brief Broadway run Springsteen on Broadway.

Some of the reviewers were saying this film was not worthy of an artist such as Bruce Springsteen. But the fact that the singer was heavily involved in giving feedback to actor Jeremy Allen White who portrayed the Boss was significant. Clearly, it was real enough and meaningful enough to him that he wanted to share this narrative of his depression.

The movie is about the period after Bruce had released the River album in 1980, a big double album hit that included the #5 pop hit Hungry Heart, followed by months on the road. Naturally, the record company was looking forward to the next chart mover.

When he decides to veer into uncommercial territory, recording Nebraska onto a cassette, barren and unpolished, the people on his label didn’t know what to make of that. He didn’t even want his picture on the cover. For more info about the album, go here.

Reviews

One of the positive reviews: “It’s an admirable adaptation that sometimes goes out of its way to avoid the usual cliches and pitfalls of the typical big-screen rock flick. But it also wants to be one.” That’s a fair assessment.

Another: “Jeremy Allen White captures the essence of Springsteen. To its credit, it’s not the conventional biopic of his whole career, but the problem is that the section they picked is not compelling to a normal viewer. Springsteen fans will find it more intriguing.” I’ll admit to having quite a number of the albums by the Boss. But my wife, who is at best a casual Boss fan and has never heard Nebraska, was nevertheless captivated. 

A negative review: “I have to think Bruce Springsteen was a little more exciting to be around during the creation of Nebraska. No way he was this dull.” Of course, I can’t answer that, but I have known depressed people, and it seems plausible. 

The fans were more supportive, 83% positive. I was very affected by Deliver Me From Nowhere, maybe even a little teary-eyed. 

Technological improvement

a router AND a modem?

Ah, I have a technological improvement! But, as usual, it took a bit of doing. I’ve been having real problems with my laptop of late. I assumed it was because there was not enough storage space, although the section was still in the Green Zone, and I’ve offloaded some things to a separate memory off the computer.

It was more of an irritation than anything. I’d leave the laptop for a few hours, and then I couldn’t easily get back onto the Internet. I had to click on something called Network Reset, which involved my computer shutting down and then looking for my Internet provider.  This was not onerous, but it was inefficient and irritating, as it was a real pain to have to keep re-entering the password, which was a lengthy alphanumeric gobbledygook, and which I almost began to memorize, which was terrible use of my brain cells.

Here comes the good part

I was looking through old emails, and Spectrum, my provider of Internet services, had sent an email suggesting that one should get an audit of one’s technological stuff.

So I made an appointment to exchange my current modem, which I’ve had since, I believe, 1693. I took my modem to the Spectrum store in Colonie Center on Saturday afternoon, and I received two pieces: a modem and a router, which I had to connect.

They told me I could go on to the app and read the instructions, but I know myself well enough to recognize that wouldn’t work because technology. Instead, I called the support desk, and the rep patiently walked me through the process. Ultimately, the Internet was working, but I didn’t notice that the phone was not. Ha, I plugged in the wrong phone line.

But a few hours later, the Internet wasn’t working, so I called again, and they said they didn’t know the problem. They could have somebody come over on Monday at 8:00 a.m., which I agreed to. I was frustrated because I didn’t want to wait that long, but what was I going to do?

In mild desperation, I did what one of the techs told me not to do: reset the modem. Lo and behold, this actually worked! I canceled the work order. Now I can return to my laptop and be on the Internet without rigmarole. (I love the word rigamarole; both spellings are acceptable.) Happy, happy, joy, joy, technological improvement.

A “heritage American”

Daniel Boone, burial plots and no birthright citizen

from The Atlantic

In my seemingly never-ending quest to try to understand the American political “right,” I recently came across the term “heritage American.”  It was in The Atlantic, largely behind a paywall. 

“In August, a guest on Tucker Carlson’s podcast said something that immediately caught his interest. The United States faces a fundamental rift ‘between heritage Americans and the new political class,’ Auron MacIntyre, a columnist for Blaze Media, argued…

“‘You could find their last names in the Civil War registry,’ MacIntyre explained. This ancestry matters, he said, because America is not ‘a collection of abstract things agreed to in some social contract.’ It is a specific set of people who embody an ‘Anglo-Protestant spirit’ and ‘have a tie to history and the land.’ MacIntyre continued: “If you change the people, you change the culture.”

This is a bit murky for me. In the American Reformer, the article Wise Men Have Left Us an Inheritance by Ben R. Crenshaw, a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Declaration of Independence Center at the University of Mississippi, is more explicit.

How does one qualify? 

He gets right to my concerns about heritage Americans. “This way of thinking and speaking is foreign to us today, and it also raises suspicions: is this a euphemism for exclusion and discrimination? Is this a return to an ugly and terrifying fascist ideology? What must one do to ‘qualify’ as a heritage American? Am I included? 

“Heritage America is best understood as involving seven inheritances: the English language, Christianity, self-government, Christian government, liberty, equality under the law, and relationship with the physical land.”

These are well-described. For instance, with “the loss of civilizational confidence among English speakers and the ideological dominance of ‘diversity and inclusion,’ there is little will among Americans to resist a linguistic revolution.” I agree, but I don’t see it as the bad thing the author fears. The American version of English has always been enriched by its diversity. 

Whew! I made it!

At least Black Americans can be Heritage Americans, according to some. “They have ancestral roots that go back to the beginning of the American colonies as well as collective memories from every period of American history. Black Americans speak English, even if in distinctive and subcultural dialects; they have historically been Christians, and in a tragic way, they have a relationship to America’s land unlike anyone else. Even though blacks were historically denied liberty, equality under the law, and participation in government, they have slowly been accorded these rights and privileges.” Thanks, I think. 

Leaning into his Scotch-Irish roots

The Politico article from July 2025 is The Online Right’s Favorite Nativist Slogan Is Gaining Traction in the Real World by Ian Ward. It is subtitled, “Daniel Boone, burial plots and no birthright citizen: Welcome to the MAGA world of ‘Heritage America.'”

I should not be surprised: “In a speech at the National Conservative Conference in July 2024, then-Sen. Vance delivered a broadside against creedal nationalism, arguing that ‘America is not just an idea’ but ‘a group of people with a common history and a common future.’ Creedal nationalism, which is how I have long understood the country’s mission, means that people become Americans because of their values; in other words, the melting pot. 

So, I remain uncomfortable with the exclusionary status of the term, even though I personally “rate” in part because of my three Civil War great-great-grandfathers.  A heritage American DOES feel like “a euphemism for exclusion and discrimination,” with their accident of birth providing them privilege. But if you are more savvy about the term, you may try to convince me otherwise.

Monday Morning Meme on Sunday Stealing

math is everywhere

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

Maria called these questions “The Monday Morning Meme.” Unfortunately she didn’t link back and I couldn’t find the original blog that posted it. OK, I admit I didn’t try very hard, but still I found the questions and am sharing them with you. That counts for something, right?

Monday Morning Meme

1. What was the last thing you laughed at?

It almost certainly was some sort of wordplay, possibly my own. I’ve been known to crack myself up. I’m an easy audience. My wife was doing a Spelling Bee on Friday (Halloween), and looking at the letters upside down, I found the pangram WITCHING, which amused me.

Maybe it was this picture from Jeff Lefferts of the King Crimson Fan Club, done by one of his friends; it helps if you know the original.

There have been “bits” of comedians that cracked me up the first several dozen times, but I’ve seen/heard them too often: Jack Benny,  Abbott and Costello, probably many others. But I still appreciate this bit from The Life of Brian, though it’s funnier in context. 

2. Who among your friends/family “gets” your sense of humor?

My friend Bruce and I can banter about almost anything. Numbers are usually involved because, as he says, math is everywhere, and it is. I should note that my wife has slowly picked up on some of the play on words that I’m prone to using.

3. What jewelry are you wearing at this moment?

I was never a jewelry guy. When I was offered the option of getting a high school class ring, I declined. The only item I have is my wedding ring.

No schmuck zone

4. If you could offer one bit of etiquette that everyone should follow while dining out, what would it be?

Patience. At least some food establishments are understaffed, especially in the past half-decade. Screaming at the waitstaff makes you an ass; if you do it in my presence, I will be mortified with embarrassment. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t comment to them about the slow service or a wrong order. But don’t be a schmuck. That seems to be good advice for most situations.

5. What’s the first thing a guest would notice when they walk through your front door?

The coat rack is unsteadily leaning against the wall, filled with shopping bags.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

Hot R&B #1 Singles for 1995

sampling Marvin Gaye

Here are the Hot R&B #1 Singles for 1995 from the Billboard charts.

One More Chance/Stay With Me – The Notorious B.I.G., nine weeks at #1 RB, #2 for three weeks pop. Christopher George Latore Wallace, a/k/a Biggie Smalls. The hit is from his 1994 debut album, Ready To Die. Brittanica notes that he “was among the most influential artists of 1990s gangsta rap.” He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020. “On March 9, 1997, Wallace was leaving a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles when he was killed in a drive-by shooting. The shooter and the motive remained unknown.”

Exhale (Shoop Shoop) – Whitney Houston, eight weeks at #1 RB, also #1 pop. Died in 2012.

This Is How We Do It – Montell Jordan, seven weeks at # RB, also #1 pop

Fantasy – Mariah Carey, six weeks at #1 RB, also #1 pop

MJ

You Are Not Alone – Michael Jackson, four weeks at #1 RB, also #1 pop. Died in 2009. About a decade after that, I posted a piece in response to the question, “Are we under any obligation to erase performers or songs we once liked because it later turns out that they were either allegedly or actually terrible humans or allegedly or actually did terrible things?” I’m still ambivalent about it.

Baby – Brandy, four weeks at #1 RB, #4 RB, platinum

Candy Rain – Soul for Real, three weeks at #1 RB, #2 for four weeks RB, gold

I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need To Get By – Method Man featuring Mary J Blige, three weeks at #1 RB, #3 pop. The latter song was a 1968 hit by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, #1 RB for five weeks, #7 pop.

Don’t Take It Personal (just one of dem days) – Monica, two weeks at #1 RB, #2 for three weeks pop, platinum. Samples Back Seat (Of My Jeep) by LL Cool J

These are the number ones for only one week, RB.

Boombastic– Shaggy, #3 for two weeks pop, platinum. Samples Baby Let Me Kiss You by  King Floyd. A remix also samples Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On.

Who Can I Run To? – Xscape, #8 pop, gold

You Remind Me Of Something – R. Kelly, #4 pop, platinum

Ramblin' with Roger
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