Category: Uncategorized

July Rambling

If you’re ever in a Finnish disco, you’ll know just what to do. This is funnier to me than what’s on the video, for reasons I shan’t get into.

There was a front-page story in The (Albany, NY) Times Union this past Saturday, in anticipation of the same-sex marriage laws kicking in on Sunday. My pastors were highlighted:
Church views vary on same-sex vows; Locally, some pastors support weddings, but still wait for official word
By BRYAN FITZGERALD

The Revs. Glenn and Miriam Lawrence Leupold have been married for 24 years. As co-pastors of First Presbyterian Church in Albany, they have advocated for the right of gay men and lesbians to marry.

“When you think about the civil rights movement, so much of it was because of the churches,” she said. “The church was at the middle of the fight for civil rights. In fact, the church preceded the government.”

Sunday, when New York’s Marriage Equality Act takes effect, will be a day of celebration and chagrin for the Leupolds. The Presbyterian Church USA is still debating whether to lift their prohibition on ministers marrying gay couples.

“State law is ahead of our church law,” Glenn Leupold said. “And that’s unfortunate.”
…
The Leupolds said several gay couples in the congregation would like to be married at the church. The Leupolds advise gay couples to either have a civil ceremony or make arrangements to be married at another church.

[Like many people who are quoted in the newspaper, Miriam believes she was misquoted on this nuanced point. She and Glenn can/will do commitment services, but they cannot do marriages. So one could get married at City Hall and then have a commitment service at church.]

“They want their spiritual life, which is very rich and very real, to have a central role in how and where their relationship is affirmed,” said Glenn Leupold.

This month a majority of the denomination’s 173 presbyteries approved an amendment to their church’s Book of Order, clearing the way for men and women in same-sex relationships to be ordained. Ministers can legally preside over gay marriage ceremony, but not without repercussions from the church, which could strip a pastor of ordination.

“The denomination as a whole isn’t quite there,” Miriam Lawrence Leupold said. “But we’re closer than we were 10 years ago.”

There was an interesting article from a gay Presbyterian pastor serving in North Carolina, and Arthur wrote about it.

Lisa is one of those people who actually understand the reasons for the Declaration of Independence; so many others obviously do not.

Comics legend Stephen R. Bissette talks about his new book, ‘Teen Angels and New Mutants’ to Entertainment Weekly

Ken Jennings, JEOPARDY! winner (left) and Brian Ibbott, Coverville host (right), together.

Mr. Parrot discovered this rather sinister site that can not only generate a random name for you but a brand new identity complete with email address, mother’s maiden name, credit card number and blood group. I could see a legit use for it; when you go to a website you may go to just once that insists on all of your personal info.

Mimi writes: Only I Could Total A Car and Not Break A Nail, followed by I’ve Had My Twelve Minutes of Fame.

THE OFFICE recut as a traditional sitcom

For anyone who hates a****s that text in theaters. Yes, the word is used, and the linked audio is NSFW.

Tiskotansi! If you’re ever in a Finnish disco, you’ll know just what to do. This is funnier to me than what’s on the video, for reasons I shan’t get into.

GOOGLE ALERT Section

Roger Green Drum Solo (video)

Roger Green’s page on My Powerblock

Roger Green’s Personal Training Website’s in Great Shape!

During the June 23 Wayne County Foundation dinner, new board members Roger Green, Greg Janzow, Darla Randall, Jim Tanner and John Zetzl were recognized.

Regret the Error

The lowered standards are a function of cost-cutting, doing it fast, and a different ethos of publishing than what existed in the past.

One of my favorite websites is Regret the Error, which “reports on media corrections, retractions, apologies, clarifications and trends regarding accuracy and honesty in the press. It was launched in October 2004 by Craig Silverman, a freelance journalist, and author based in Montreal.”

Initially, or at least when I first came across the site, it merely linked to the foibles of the press; hey, as the logo notes, “Mistakes happen.” For instance, recently, the New York Times accidentally traded Alex Rodriguez from the Yankees to the Phillies.

But in recent months, the site has taken a more meta approach. For instance, What Typos Mean to Book Publishing bemoans the loss of “full-time copy editors and proofreaders to filter out an author’s mistakes”, shortcuts taken by publishers, and carelessness of authors.

The piece How to Correct Social Media Errors notes that “There’s no good way to notify those who read erroneous information and moved on, believing it to be true,” because most of those who tweeted or Facebooked the error-laden message may not have seen the follow-up.

Last month had a great link, Have newsrooms relaxed standards, sanctions for fabrication and plagiarism?

It seems that the three examples I cited have some factors in common. The lowered standards are a function of cost-cutting, doing it fast, and a different ethos of publishing than what existed in the past.

From the latter story, Poynter’s Kelly McBride says, “Some editors these days seem more willing to overlook minor plagiarism because it almost always involves writers trying to work fast, either because they have additional duties or because they are trying to publish to ride a wave of interest.”

Can these factors – on steroids – have contributed to the News of the World hacking scandal? Were the editors aware of the sources of the stories their reporters were brought to them or did they totally abdicate their responsibilities? Add hubris and a corrupting amount of power, over politicians and police alike, and you have a massive scandal.

More than one pundit has pointed to an ethics clause in the FCC licensing process requiring a licensee to be of “good character”. Could the Murdoch TV empire in the United States crumble?

Given the fact that a former FCC Commissioner could support the massive Comcast/NBC buyout back in January and become a Comcast lobbyist months later, makes me wonder. The former commissioner did seek ethics advice from FCC attorneys.

In ways big and small, I feel that our media outlets have often let us down, not necessarily in a Murdockian manner, but in a more pedestrian fashion. And I’m at a loss to figure out how to stop it.

Sherwood, Betty and Rob

Amish Paradise, a parody of Coolio’s Gangsta Paradise, which in turn was a remake of Stevie Wonder’s Pastime Paradise.

The great thing about Sherwood Schwartz, who died earlier this month, is not just that he created two popular TV shows. He also wrote or co-wrote their iconic themes.

I never, not once, did I see The Brady Bunch, during its initial run. But I knew exactly what it was about, just by watching the theme. It was the story about two widowed people, each with three kids, each the same gender as the parent, who, along with the housekeeper, became a blended family.

The theme to Gilligan’s Island, a show I admit to watching in my callow youth, also let us know the entire plot, though it changed somewhat from the first season to subsequent ones.

The show was name-checked several times by Weird Al Yankovic and others. From Al’s Couch Potato, “…And there’s “Gilligan” and “SpongeBob”, plus there’s “MacGyver”…” Stop Draggin’ My Car Around, a takeoff of the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song, also namechecks the show.

But Isle Thing, a parody of Tone Loc’s Wild Thing, is all about “watchin’ that Gilligan’s Isle thing”. And Amish Paradise, a parody of Coolio’s Gangsta Paradise, which in turn was a remake of Stevie Wonder’s Pastime Paradise, appropriates a whole section of the closing theme:
No phone, no lights, no motor cars,
not a single luxury.
Like Robinson Crusoe,
it’s primitive as can be.
In live shows and on radio shows, Weird Al has been known to do other Gilligan takeoffs.

Others have taken different music and attached it to the theme, none more notably than Little Roger and the Goosebumps merging the lyrics to the music of Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin to create Stairway to Gilligan’s Island.
***

I always thought that Betty Ford, the former dancer Betty Bloomer, was cool. She dealt with her private difficulties, from her breast cancer surgery to her pain medication addiction, in a very public way, helping countless people, women, and men. Not to mention her forthright comments about equal rights, sexuality, and abortion, not always in lockstep with her husband, even when he was President.

The long-time lead singer for The Grass Roots named Rob Grill died this month. Reportedly he was listening to a recording of Let’s Live for Today when he passed away.

Ken Levine on Amy Winehouse.

 

The Lydster, Part 88: Dead Ant

As we assassinated the critters, the Wife and I had to make a game of it.


For some reason, this spring, we had an infestation of black ants. Those big carpenter buggers. We’ve had a few before, but this rainy spring brought in more than usual. They’d get into everything. Especially the food in the pantry, which is near the back door.

One day, I discovered ants in a box of Froot Loops, but they did not bother either the Cheerios or the shredded wheat; the FL cereal ended up in the refrigerator for a time.

Conclusion: ants have a sweet tooth.

I also spilled some mouthwash (21% alcohol) in the bathroom. I cleaned up the stuff that landed on the toilet, but missed some on the floor; the ants were congregating there as well.

Conclusion: ants are lushes.

As we assassinated the critters, the Wife and I had to make a game of it. So we would sing, to the Pink Panther theme:

Dead ant. Dead ant.
Dead ant. Dead ant. Dead ant. Dead ant.
Dead annnnnnnnt.

Or, to the Long Ranger theme:

Dead ant, dead ant, dead ant, ant, ant.
Dead ant, dead ant, dead ant, ant, ant.
Dead ant, dead ant, dead ant, ant, ant.
Dead ant, de-de-dead ant, dead ant.

Or something like that.

The Daughter thought we were very weird. I’m sure it won’t be the last time.

B is for Big Daddy

I found a link that goes to some Big Daddy songs, including all of Sgt. Pepper.

There was a music group called Big Daddy. Perhaps more than one group. The one I’m talking about had this particular shtick, which you can read about here and here, which was that, basically, the group allegedly toured Southeast Asia in 1959, got stuck there, and were finally rescued in 1983. They heard the modern music and hated it, and so decided to “fix” it by recording the newer songs in the ways familiar to them.

Charles Hill put together a nice discography. Pop culture writer Mark Evanier has been a booster of the group.

The first album, which I own on vinyl, was BIG DADDY, aka What Really Happened To The Band Of ’59 (1983), which featured:

I Write The Songs, the Barry Manilow song actually written by Bruce Johnston, “Evoking Danny and the Juniors”
Star Wars. “Duane Eddy sits in with the Ventures”
Whip It. The Devo song is “Truly a standing-on-the-corner song for once”
Hotel California. “The stranger in town [in this Eagles’ tune] seems to be Del Shannon.”
Eye Of The Tiger

Album #2 was MEANWHILE…BACK IN THE STATES (1985) and featured:

Dancing In The Dark (Springsteen).
I Just Called To Say I Love You (Wonder)
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – “The Duchess of Earl gets her say”

CUTTING THEIR OWN GROOVE (1991 CD), which is actually available for MP3 download on Amazon for $10; preview the 15 songs.

But my favorite is SGT. PEPPER’S, a 1992 CD that I own:

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – Chaz thinks it’s rooted in the Coasters’ Poison Ivy. It’s DEFINITELY the Coasters.
With A Little Help From My Friends – “Billy Shears unmasked as Johnny Mathis,” specifically Chances Are.
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds – “Goodness, gracious, great tangerine dreams;” Jerry Lee Lewis’ Great Balls of Fire.
Getting Better – “At least as good as cherry pie”.
Fixing A Hole – Dion’s “The Wanderer, updated”.
She’s Leaving Home – “She’s so young, and we’re so old”.
Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite – “Last seen stopped at the top of a Ferris wheel” at Palisades Park.
Within You Without You – “On the whole, word jazz is preferable to sitars”; I can practically see the beatnik with his goatee and shades
When I’m Sixty-Four – “And playing dominoes for sixty minutes at a stretch”
Lovely Rita – “The name of his latest flame” (Elvis)
Good Morning, Good Morning – “Instruments? What instruments?”
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
A Day In The Life – “That’ll be the day” – or more specifically the Buddy Holly songs Rave On and, on the bridge, Every Day.

Big Daddy – With A Little Help From My Friends
Found at abmp3 search engine

I found the link HERE that goes to some Big Daddy songs, including all of Sgt. Pepper. It’s from that source I was able to create the doohickey above.

ABC Wednesday – Round 9

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