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The Lydster, Part 102: Science Girl

She also loves to water the outdoor plants and weed the garden.

Maybe The Daughter will be a scientist. Two of her favorite shows are science-oriented. One, which I may have mentioned, is the Canadian/American television series called Dino Dan, shown on Nick Jr in the US, which “follows the adventures of the paleontologist-in-training Dan Henderson (played by Jason Spevack)… and his friends, who uncover clues about the past and secrets of the dinosaurs. The show combines live action with CGI dinosaurs.”

The other is Wild Kratts, an animated series, with live-action framing sequences, “created by Chris Kratt and Martin Kratt, presented by PBS in the United States… The show’s aim is to educate children… about biology, zoology, and ecology, and teaches kids small ways to make big impacts… while entertaining them with the Kratts’ usual antics.” Here are some videos.

She also loves to water the outdoor plants and weed the garden. Her reading material includes lots of biology books. The Toronto Zoo was entrancing to her, as was the Ontario Science Centre, where the picture above was taken.

Random Memory of My Father: Gregory Hines edition

The common theme: both Darlanne Fluegal and my father really needed to get out of Binghamton.

Back in 1988, my sister Leslie (who was visiting from California) and I (visiting from New York State) were in the car with my parents and my sister Marcia, traveling from Charlotte, NC to Raleigh, NC for some event when the issue of the NAACP Image Awards came up. I hadn’t watched them, and I don’t think Leslie had either. But my father had done so, on television, and he was VERY upset with actor Gregory Hines (pictured). His failing? He was wearing an earring to the event, showing an intentional lack of respect for the NAACP and for the proceedings.

Leslie and I spent about an hour unsuccessfully trying to convince my father that this was not a slight, that Gregory Hines often wore an earring, that actors are just different, and that we seriously doubted that the NAACP was upset about this (for the aforementioned reasons).

I think I remember this, and that we argued about it for so long at the time, because it seemed so…parochial, narrow-minded, and that wasn’t how we viewed our father AT ALL.

It only recently occurred to me to wonder WHY Gregory Hines was getting that Image Award in the first place. Actually, Hines had been nominated a total of four times and won twice, the latter in 2002 for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special for Bojangles (2001), but my father had passed away by then, and Hines would, too, the following year.

The award in question was for Running Scared (1986), for which Hines was Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture. “Danny [Billy Crystal] and Ray [Hines] are two street-wise cops in Chicago. When they are almost killed on a case, they are forced to take a vacation by their captain. Key West offers a substantial change over frozen Chicago. They decide to quit and open a bar in Key West. Upon returning, they find that Julio [Jimmy Smits], the drug dealer who nearly killed them has made bail and is trying to complete a giant drug deal.”

Of particular interest to me: Darlanne Fluegel played the Crystal character’s wife, Anna. From this 1986 story about her appearance on the TV show Crime Story: Actually, Fluegel never intended to be a model. Raised in Binghamton, N.Y., she was a tomboy who felt more kinship with her three younger brothers than her two older sisters. When she was 16, her father, a chiropractor, died suddenly of a brain tumor. Darlanne turned to modeling “not to be a burden” on her mother, who worked with the Department of Social Security, and “as a quick way out of Binghamton.” Darlanne attended Binghamton Central High School for a time, and I knew her vaguely; I knew her sister Donna better.

In any case, the common theme: both Darlanne Fluegel and my father really needed to get out of Binghamton.

My father would have been 86 tomorrow.

Sidebar to Jaquandor: this is the same Darlanne Fluegel you wrote about here and to which I eventually replied here. Oh, and happy birthday tomorrow.

K is for Kiss

Here are some songs about kissing, all of which charted on the US pop charts.

 

Some couples have “our song” or “our place.” My wife and I seem to have “our drawing.” It is, of course, “The Kiss” by Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918). My wife has a book about it, we have it on a mug, and at some level, it is an idealized version of us.

Klimt, according to Wikipedia, painted it “between 1907 and 1908, the highpoint of his ‘Golden Period’, when he painted a number of works in a similar gilded style. A perfect square, the canvas depicts a couple embracing, their bodies entwined in elaborate robes decorated in a style influenced by both linear constructs of the contemporary Art Nouveau style and the organic forms of the earlier Arts and Crafts movement. The work is composed of conventional oil paint with applied layers of gold leaf, an aspect that gives it its strikingly modern, yet evocative appearance…”

“Klimt was 45 when he painted The Kiss, still living with his mother and two unmarried sisters,” yet reportedly had, let’s say, an active romantic life. There was a 2006 film called Klimt, starring John Malkovich, which I did not see, but it did not review well.

The artist was honored with a Google doodle in honor of the 150th anniversary of his birth earlier this year. Check out iklimt.com or klimtgallery.org for more information about Gustav Klimt.
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Here are some songs about kissing, all of which charted on the US pop charts. I didn’t bother with Kiss by Prince, because his people are always taking down YouTube videos.

Kiss on My List – Hall & Oates (1980)
Kiss You All Over – Exile (1978)
Kisses Sweeter than Wine – Jimmie Rodgers (1957)
Kiss An Angel Good Morning – Charley Pride (1972)

What are your favorite songs about kissing?

ABC Wednesday – Round 11

Too close to exploding manhole covers

Don’t know how energetic I will be to reply to comments after my procedure on this coming Wednesday.

For about four days, it started hurting when I would eat while using tooth 19. So this past Wednesday morning, I finally called my dentist’s office. Amazingly, I got an appointment that day at 2 p.m. (if not that day, then it would not have until tomorrow). From my symptoms, he believes I need a root canal. The tooth had been capped many years ago, not by him, and it’s a good chance that it has an infection, though nothing ominous is on the X-ray.

He referred me to an endodontist who has done work on his teeth, who can take me in a week. The bad news is that the specialist doesn’t take my insurance, which means that I’ll have an outlay of $1000 to $1500. The semi-good news is that my insurance company will reimburse me about 50% after the fact.

As I am making my appointment, my wife and daughter arrive for their scheduled cleanings. After I hang up, the reception asks, “What was that?” I have no idea what she was talking about, though the lights did flicker momentarily.

I get on my bicycle and was about to depart. But as I’m departing the building, I see a bunch of folks standing around looking northward up the street. It turns out they were looking at a hole from where a manhole cover had flown up in the air. It looked like this:

There were multiple police and fire vehicles on the scene, plus a truck from the National Grid utility.

I go back into my dentist’s office, and I apprise them of these facts. I didn’t know at the time that there were in fact multiple explosions from an underground fire. Soon, some parking attendant advised the dentist’s office to clear; it was all hands on deck to respond to this event, which had happened before.

Anyway, don’t know how energetic I will be to reply to comments after my procedure this coming Wednesday. Eventually, I will respond to your comments, and go visit your sites as well, if I’ve done so in the past.

Why the Equinox Ask Roger Anything Edition is Better

One of these days, he, or someone else, will throw some of those questions right back at me. Which, of course, serves me right.

 

(That is to say, better than the Solstice ARA.)

Yup. Doing that Ask Roger Anything, that exciting time of the year when YOU get to ASK ROGER ANYTHING. Pretty straightforward, eh?

And I LOVE to do this in March and September for one simple reason: Jaquandor does the same thing in February and August. And one of these days, he, or someone else, will throw some of those questions right back at me. Which, of course, serves me right. In fact, preemptively, I’m working on one right now. No topic is off-limits.

Of course, I reserve the right to obfuscate my remarks somewhat, but they cannot be outright lies; there must be an element of truth to my responses.

I’ll be answering y’all (which I consider a perfectly appropriate term) over the next couple of weeks.

Also would like your comments on the new Randy Newman video. He’s the guy who offended Short People, among many others.

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