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Ask Roger Anything: the Ann Landers edition

Let me put on my Ann Landers wig.

Implicit in my requests that you Ask Roger Anything is the notion that it will help me, which undoubtedly is true.

But I was less than clear that this is ALSO an opportunity for you to get my opinion on topics that may be bothering YOU. After all, I’m on the Internet, and as such, am TOTALLY as qualified as any random stranger in solving your problems.

For those unfamiliar, Ann Landers was one of a pair of twin sisters, born on the 4th of July, 1918, who had competing advice columns, and for a long while, a bitter feud. When I was growing up in my hometown of Binghamton, NY, Ann was in the Sun-Bulletin, while Dear Abby/Abigail Van Buren was in the Evening Press, back in the day when there were thriving afternoon newspapers.

I preferred Ann because, particularly after her divorce in 1975, after 36 years of marriage, she seemed more understanding of the foibles of human existence. Dan Savage, the author of the relationship-and-sex advice column Savage Love, purchased her desk after her death.

Both the original columnists, Esther Pauline “Eppie” Lederer and Pauline Esther “Popo” Phillips, are deceased, though the Dear Abby column is continued by Pauline’s daughter Jeanne.

In any case, let me put on my Ann Landers wig, figuratively speaking. As always, if you ask it, I answer it. I get to obfuscate, but not to lie outright. You can ask your questions here or my email – rogerogreen(AT)gmail(DOT)com, or my Facebook (Roger Green, the one with the duck) or Twitter (ersie, the one with the duck). I’ll use your name UNLESS you indicate that I ought not.

Music Throwback Saturday: O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion

Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
(Isaiah 60: 1)

More soulful Messiah, an Advent celebration.

O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain. O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, behold your God!
(Isaiah 40: 9)

Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
(Isaiah 60: 1)

Some comments about Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration:

ANYONE who is a lover of music will love this disc.
I bet when Handel wrote the “Messiah” he had no idea what other artists would contribute to his work.
“O Thou that Tellest”, the original alto aria, adapted by Take 6 and Stevie Wonder – so how could it possibly go wrong? Well, it doesn’t! Close harmony and Stevie’s classic voice – oh, yeah.

Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion – London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus.
Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion – Stevie Wonder and Take 6. produced by Take 6
***

Bonus music

Santa’s Too Fat For The Hula Hoop – The Pixies with Thurl Ravenscroft as Santa Claus (c 1958). No, not THOSE Pixies.

Coverville 1105: A Very Christmas Coverville 2015

ABC Wednesday, Round 18 of 20

Note that we’re VERY flexible with the letter X, with eXit or eXcellent legitimate choices.

As I’ve mentioned on this blog, I have been, for the past three and a half years, the administrator of the blog meme ABC Wednesday. We are beginning Round 18 the week of January 11, 2016.

It was started eight and a half years ago by Denise Nesbitt from Jolly Olde England. People, literally from around the world, post an item – pictures, poems, essays – that in some way describe each letter of the alphabet, in turn. I’ve been participating since the letter K in Round 5.

As the administrator, I assign who reads which posts, making sure somebody is writing the introductions (and writing them myself, when necessary) and inserting the link that allows everyone to participate.

All good things, blah blah. As a participant, I’ve been having a more difficult time coming up with a word for each letter. This is in contrast to two years ago, when, before Round 14 began, I had sussed out the list of musical groups that featured family members. I actually found 24 groups, for all the letters except Q and U, though I did have to stretch some definitions.

So this will end with Round 20. But you are invited to participate, every week, or as you can. I do think it’s advantageous to do so weekly, as it generates a lot of comments for me. Personally, I visit practically everyone who posts.

Note that we’re VERY flexible with the letter X, with eXit or eXcellent legitimate choices.

The Netiquette for the site is this:

1. Post something on your non-commercial blog/webpage having something to do with the letter of the week. Use your imagination. Put a link to ABC Wednesday in your post and/or put up the logo.

2. Come to the ABC Wednesday site and link the SPECIFIC link to the Linky thing. It’ll be available around 4 p.m., Greenwich Mean Time each Tuesday, which is 11 a.m. or noon in the Eastern part of the United States.

3. Try and visit at least 5 other participants, and comment on their posts. The more sites you do visit, the more comments you will probably get.

We have discovered that there are folks who participate in a round, then drop out for a bit. Others start a round, but don’t complete. We think this will be an opportunity to invite those folks to participate once again.

Or maybe you have friends who have THOUGHT about trying ABC Wednesday but have not. THIS would be a good time to start.

Bloggers, consider giving ABC Wednesday a try, if this sounds interesting. Write to me a rogerogreen (AT) gmail (DOT) com for more details.

Kennedy Center Honors 2015

I remember buying my copy of Tapestry somewhere in Binghamton, NY, along with Sticky Fingers by the Rolling Stones.

As I’ve noted over the years, I LOVE the Kennedy Center Honors. The event generally takes place in DC the first weekend in December and is broadcast on CBS-TV at the end of the month. The celebration of the honorees’ Lifetime Artistic Achievements took place on Sunday, December 6, and will be aired on CBS on Tuesday, December 29 at 9:00 p.m., ET/PT. This year’s honorees are Carole King, George Lucas, Rita Moreno, Seiji Ozawa, and Cicely Tyson.

Rita Moreno – if she were in nothing but the movie West Side Story – a pivotal film in my life – I’d be a big fan, but she accomplished so much more and, as she indicated in this interview, had to fight the Latina actress stereotypes.

She’s won the EGOT:
OSCAR: Best Supporting Actress (1961) West Side Story (Anita del Carmen)
GRAMMY: Best Album for Children (1973) Electric Company
TONY: Best Featured Actress in a Play (1975) The Ritz
EMMY: Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program (1977) The Muppet Show; Outstanding Guest Actress – Drama Series (1978) The Rockford Files

Even though I was in college by then, I was a huge fan of The Electric Company, and she was a big reason.

WATCH:
West Side Story-America
Electric Company – STOP!
Muppet Show – Fever
Rockford Files
***
George Lucas – the writer/producer/director made a bunch of movies I enjoyed tremendously. The first was American Graffiti; a couple of the movie’s actors ended up in 1950s-based sitcoms, Ron Howard (Richie on Happy Days), and Cindy Williams (Cindy on Laverne &…) The film also featured some carpenter-actor named Harrison Ford, who later starred in Lucas’ original Star Wars trilogy, and the Indiana Jones trilogy, all of which I enjoyed (except Indy 2, which I’ve never seen).

All that hate for Star Wars 1: I didn’t enjoy it, but it was just a movie. All that nerdy nuance about the films, some brought on by Lucas himself – Han shot first! – is beyond my interest. Oh and he likes Star Wars 7.

I see Lucas’ wife, Mellody Hobson, on CBS News frequently.

WATCH:
American Graffiti (1973) – Original Trailer
Star Wars (1977) Original Trailer
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Theatrical Trailer
READ:
The Other Side of The Other Side of Midnight
***
Cicely Tyson – I wrote about her at length only a couple of years ago.

WATCH:
The Bold Move That Left Cicely Tyson’s First TV Director Speechless And Sparked A National Movement
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
Cicely Tyson on Roots, Grief and Strength
The Marva Collins Story (1981)
***
Seiji Ozawa – Though he had been the conductor for the San Francisco Symphony early in his career, I know him best from him leading the Boston Symphony. I’d see him on TV fairly often, and as he got older I recognized him as much for his style, and his coif as anything.

WATCH:
What’s My Line? – Seiji Ozawa (1963, TV Show)
Tchaikovsky Overture 1812
Beethoven Symphony No 5
Seiji Ozawa’s 80th Birthday
***
Carole King – Her life was so amazing that they turned it into a hit Broadway musical, Beautiful, which will be going on a national tour shortly. She is a songwriter, early on primarily with her then-husband, the late Gerry Goffin; they are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I found this list of 17 Popular Songs You Never Knew Were Written By Carole King, with links, but mostly, I DID know.

If you went to college in the US in the early 1970s, either you had a copy of her massively successful album Tapestry, or your roommate did; it may have been mandated by Congress. I remember buying my copy somewhere in Binghamton, NY, along with Sticky Fingers by the Rolling Stones. Tapestry was number one on the Billboard 200 for 15 consecutive weeks, and on the charts for over five years in a row.

Her Jazzman was covered by Lisa Simpson in an early episode of the TV cartoon The Simpsons. Where You Lead was the theme song of the TV show Gilmore Girls, sung by one Louise Goffin, daughter of Carole and Gerry.

LISTEN to Carole King:
Jazzman
It’s Too Late
So Far Away
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, with the Mitchell-Taylor Boy-and-Girl Choir

The Everly Brothers -Crying In the Rain (1962)

Eyesight to the blind

The man began upbraiding the canine.

It’s not just a pet peeve. It’s more like a wave of raging anger that I get, when drivers make it more difficult for others in these specific ways, involving parking their cars:
1) across the sidewalk (because the driveway has too many cars)
2) blocking the crosswalk (because they’ll only be “a minute”)

These selfish people make it nearly impossible for people with walkers, or carts, or wheelchairs. And they create a very disorienting situation for the blind. I’ve never keyed a car, but these folks have tempted me.

But sometimes other activities make it trickier for the visually impaired, and I saw both of these situations in the past month. Albany was doing a lot of road repairs around the crosswalks, and the work areas were barricaded with barrels and mesh. The Wife and I were leaving the local Indian restaurant when we saw a blind man crossing the street, terrified because his dog seemed to take him too far into the road, but we were too far away to help him.

What was really scary is that the cars didn’t seem to slow down as they buzzed by him. As the dog got past the construction and headed for the sidewalk, the man began upbraiding the canine. We met up with the man and assured him that the dog did exactly as he was trained, but that they had to traverse further into the road to avoid the clutter around the sidewalk. The man was very appreciative to know that his companion had done right by him.

Waiting for a bus downtown, I let another blind man know that his bus was approaching. But the bus went a bit further up, so the man had to walk with his cane to get to the vehicle. Unfortunately, he walked into this square concrete barrier around a young tree, and the man couldn’t figure out what to do.

In general, I hate helping any type of disabled folks, unless they ask for it, or are in peril, because I figure they have their pride and sense of independence. But I directed this man around the barrier, where he could get into the transport.

I realize that, if I were ever to go blind, it wouldn’t necessarily be the end of the world, with various technologies that would allow me to write, for instance. Still, as a sighted person, I am keenly aware of some of the difficulties that the blind face every day. I get just a taste of it at night, or in a darkened movie theater. I can only imagine how it would be to negotiate the world without sight full time.

Eyesight to the Blind: Sonny Boy Williamson II