Ramblin' with Roger

Movie review: The Persian Version

plates spinning

The movie The Persian Version has much to commend it. Writer/director Maryam Keshavarz has created a storyline based mainly on her own life as the youngest child and the only girl in a sizeable Iranian-American family.

Early on, Leila found that she didn’t fit in. She was too Iranian when she was in the United States and too American when in Iran. She forged her own path, conflicting with her mother, Shireen. Leila blames her mother for her breakup with Elena.

She has a peculiar relationship with the actor Maxmillian, who appears in the play Hedwig and the Angry Inch; she and her eight brothers have fun at Max’s expense. Her constant refuge is her grandmother Mamanjoon, who catalyzes a significant story arc.

As Leila’s father/Shireen’s husband Ali Reza becomes very ill, with medical bills piling up, Shireen becomes focused on remaking herself to take care of the family financially. The film has a suitable ending.

Good flick

The Persian Version has a lot to commend it. The family dynamics, with Shireen disappointed that her daughter is a basketball player and one of her sons a cheerleader, is believable. It takes on the redlining of immigrant families and businesses. The perceived role of women, past and present, is important throughout.

Critic Kate Walsh writes: “Keshavarz spins a lot of plates in ‘The Persian Version,’ and we can see the effort, but she keeps them all in the air.” Whether she pulls this off is the real issue. The Rotten Tomatoes critics, 18% of whom think she didn’t quite it off, are like Jeff Mitchell, who wrote, “Too many shifts in times, tones, and ideas crowd the earnest intentions.”

My wife is in the Walsh camp, whereas I see Mitchell’s point. That said, I think it’s an important film, and despite its flaws, it is very much worthwhile. I loved the use of dance. We saw the movie on Saturday, November 4, as usual, at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany.

People born in November 1953

Hof linebacker for the NYG

I’m listing some people born in November 1953 because I was born in 1953. But I’m MUCH older.

Kate Capshaw (3rd) is a painter. I found this quote on Instagram: “As a painter, #Outwin2019 artist Kate Capshaw is deeply committed to revealing the crisis of homelessness as it affects young people. The alla prima painting sessions were in collaboration with the subjects, who were welcomed as guests to participate in this cycle of the series.”

Oh, yeah, she was an actor, appearing in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. She had been married to marketing manager Robert Capshaw (1976-1980); her given surname was Nail. She married the Temple of Doom director Steven Spielberg in 1991.

Kevin Nealon (18th) was a mainstay on Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1995, anchoring Weekend Update for three years. Dana Carvey and Nealon would “Pump… you up” as Hans and Franz.

Alan Moore (18th): I probably read his work before remembering because I was picking up some Marvelman/Miracleman. The Encyclopedia Britannica describes a “British writer whose works included some of the most influential books in comics history.” It claims, probably correctly, how Watchman defined the term “graphic novel” for many readers. Still, I’m a sucker for the Moore/Steve Bissette/John Totleben Saga of the Swamp Thing, which I have in a box set.

Tina Brown (23rd): I read several publications when she was editing them, including Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and The Daily Beast.

Someone I once knew

Darlanne Fluegel (25th): In 2010, Kelly wrote about Battle Beyond the Stars, a 1980 movie I’ve never seen, and he noted how cute Darlanne was. Months later, I posted a page from a Binghamton Central High School yearbook. I didn’t know her well, as I was more friends with her sister. Still, I was very sad to hear she suffered from early-onset Alzheimer’s at 56. She died from the disease in 2017 at the age of 64

. Harry Carson (26th) was a linebacker for my favorite team, the New York Giants. “Later in his career, when he was joined by outside linebackers Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks, there was no better linebacker trio in the NFL.” He was selected for 9 Pro Bowls in 13 seasons. Carson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

Steve Bannon (27th): His poison resonates far too often. The Washington Post noted in mid-October 2023 that conservative media stars like Bannon helped fuel the GOP Speaker chaos. Here’s a 2022 BBC story about his downfall.

Lyle Mays (27th): He was a great jazz pianist who often played with jazz guitar great Pat Metheny. I associate both with Joni Mitchell’s live Shadows and Light album from 1980. He died in February 2020 from a recurring illness.

Michael Chertoff (28th) was the second Secretary of Homeland Security under George W. Bush. He was a co-author of the dreadful USA PATRIOT Act. Still, “In a July 2020 op-ed in The New York Times, Chertoff claimed” djt’s administration “was hijacking the DHS for political purposes.”

Shuggie Otis (30th) is the son of Johnny Otis, a legendary musician I wrote about in 2008. One of Shuggie’s albums features his composition Strawberry Letter #23, successfully covered by the Brothers Johnson.

Good times, bad times

The bast team to go from 100+ losses to winning the World Series two years later was the 1969 Mets

While there are a lot of pretty average days, pretty standard, some are noteworthy. Per the song, “Good times, bad times, you know I had my share.”

Wed, Nov 1: We had a dearth of trick-or-treaters the night before. Remarkably, I ate no candy.

I received a call from the younger of my two sisters. Then, my daughter rang me up, asking my opinion about something, which admittedly pleases me no end.

I have this project to work on, which I need to complete for monetary reasons. But it required a larger block of time than I had left, so I called a good friend from church instead.

Then, I took the bus downtown to the all-day reading of William Kennedy’s Albany-based novel Ironweed. It is the 40th anniversary of the book, which was made into a 1987 film starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep. True confession: I’ve never read the book, although I tried about 35 years ago. Nor have I seen the film, made in Albany.

Regardless

Yet I signed up to read one of the five-minute segments and promoted the event at a book review. I have long thought that it takes a while to become an Albanian, maybe 30 years. Perhaps I was trying to read it too soon. Also, I signed up for a 3:55 slot, so I showed up to the Albany Distilling Co. Bar and Bottle Shop, maker of Ironweed whiskey, at 75 Livingston Ave. at 3:15.

The event was running late, so I got to hear over an hour of the book before I read, including a couple of people I know. Each reader was to sign their segment of the reading text. Two people, one an organizer, told me, that I read particularly well, which was nice to hear.

Then, at 7 pm, the event moved from the pub around the corner to the Capital Rep theater, where the last of the celebrity readers completed the book, the last of whom was the 95-year-old William Kennedy. It was an extraordinary Albany event.

I took the bus home and watched Game 5 of the World Series. While both the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Texas Rangers were only two years from 100-loss seasons, I was rooting for the Rangers, who won, because they’ve never won the Series, going back to when they were the second Washington Senators; the first Senators had moved to Minnesota.

BTW, I watched it recorded on the DVR. Baseball and football are way better, and faster when one can fast-forward through instant replay, manager/coach challenges, and commercials. This was a glorious day.

Lost day

Thurs, Nov 2: I had an allergist appointment, but I couldn’t find my wallet. I’d looked in all of the usual places. My wife took me to the doctor’s office in Corporate (frickin’) Woods. I learned my doctor is retiring, which made me sad because it takes a while to break in a medical professional.

With no bus returning downtown for a few hours, I took an Uber home. I called CDTA to see if my bus had retrieved my wallet; no. Then, I called two of my credit card companies to put a freeze on my account.

Earlier, my website provider, DreamHost had their site go down, but it was back online. Yet my site was still not available. I wanted to contact their support, but I was not able to. I COULD have requested a callback, but that would have cost $9.95. This ticked me off.

Instead, I went to CDTA and got a new bus pass. On the way home, I stopped for a sandwich. I got a notification from my Jetpack software that my site was up after six hours offline.

After trying to catch up with my email, eating dinner, and taking out the garbage, I went to church for the dress rehearsal of Lux Aeterna. This was the first time the two participating choirs and the orchestra, some 90 people, had practiced together. From my previous experience, this can be rough musically, and this was no exception, though it got better as the evening progressed.

This was a pretty sucky day and emotionally exhausting, though the woman at CDTA was quite nice.

Finally

Fri, Nov 3: I canceled my debit card and then did various chores. After the University Chamber Singers performed the first half of the First Friday program, it was time for the Lux Aeterna, which was an intense experience. It seemed to go well, from the audience’s reaction. And it was a pretty full house.

After my wife and I went home, I decided to scour the bedroom floor one more time. No wallet on the carpet, but I found it in a cylindrical item in which I had never put my wallet before.

Crisis over. This was a day of relief.

PS: There were several photos of folks at the Were You Seen segment of the Times Union for the October 21 Albany Public Library Centennial Celebration, presented by The Friends and Foundation of the Albany Public Library. It went live two days later.

But just to show that some people read the print version of the paper, a few of the pictures, including one of Dr. Leonard Slade and me, appeared in the November 5 paper. Several people saw it before I did,

Sunday Stealing: alphabetical

Manic Depression

Welcome to this week’s Sunday Stealing. The moderator doesn’t remember where she stole this, so I dubbed it as alphabetical.

A – Ambition: To be useful. I suppose that’s why I became a librarian. But it shows up in other ways. We had the First Friday concert at our church, and I helped people find the second-floor bathrooms. Someone asked if I were the pastor; I laughed.

B – Birthday: March 7. When I was working, I would take off the day. If my birthday were on Saturday, I’d take off the Friday before. And I’d take off Monday if my birthday was on Sunday.

C – Computer: A Microsoft Surface laptop I bought from a former SBDC colleague after my previous one fell from a table and became essentially unusable.

D – Dream: I dream a lot. I thought after MLK was killed in 1968, the progress that had started with the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act would have taken hold better. But after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Right Act about a decade ago, attempts to disenfranchise people have grown.

E – Exercise: Primarily walking to the grocery store. My left knee is often in pain – including as I write this – so it’s limited.

Manga

F – Favorite Food: Grapes are great, especially for hydration. I like eggs, and usually, I prefer them when someone else makes them. And chicken. The chicken and the egg. There are lots of things I’d eat if I weren’t concerned about cholesterol and my weight. Bacon every day. There’s a packet of Golden Oreos on my kitchen counter I’m bringing to a meeting this week, but I’ve had none (so far).

G – Garden: Whatever gardening takes place is done by my wife, and she’s busy with work of late.

H – Hobby: Probably genealogy, though I haven’t had sufficient time to pursue it this autumn.

I – Idol: If I have one, it’s former Chief Justice Earl Warren or folksinger Pete Seeger.

J – Job: Retired business librarian for the New York Small Business Development Center; I was there for 26 years and eight months (1992-2019). The next longest job was working at FantaCo, a comic book/publisher/mail order/convention entity, for eight years and six months (1980-1988).

K – Kids: One, who I’ve written about in this blog every month on the 26th since May 2005.

L – Location: There was a question on a recent episode of Celebrity JEOPARDY in the category Demonyms, which are words that refer to a native or a resident of a specific place. “It’s how you might refer to a resident of Tirana, a capital city near the Adriatic coast–or to a resident of NY’s state capital.” I’m in the latter category.

M – Military: I received a Conscientious Objector status in 1972, and no one born in my year was drafted in 1973.

N – Name or Nickname: ROG

O – Optimist or Pessimist: Yes.

That darn cat

P – Pets: Two cats. One is demented. Midnight freaked out when he went to the vet nine years ago. The new vet was convinced that if we slipped him a sedative the night before and the morning of a visit, she could control him. Nope. She determined, “Your cat is crazy.” We knew this.

Q – Quote: From the comic book Saga of the Swamp Thing #22: “We left you the BEST part. We left you the HUMANITY. Try not to LOSE it.” (Alan Moore)

R – Reads: In the past few years, a bunch about race and racism. The New Jim Crow, The Color of Law, and How To Be An Antiracist.

S – School: Daniel S. Dickinson, Binghamton, NY, K-9. Binghamton Central High School, 10-12. SUNY New Paltz, B.A. in political science (1977). SUNY Albany: dropped out of a master’s in Public Administration program and went to work at the aforementioned comic book store (1980). Then SUNY Albany, Master’s in Library Science (1992).

Somewhere else

T – Travel: I’ve visited 32 US states, most recently Nevada. I’ve only been to Canada, Mexico, Barbados, and, this year, France.

U – Unfulfilled ambition: To visit the remaining 18 states and go at least to Ireland.

V – Vacation spot: Lake Placid, NY, which I went to for at least two work conferences

W – Wardrobe: Casual if at all possible.

X – X-tra facts about me: I can’t really write or clean house unless I’m listening to music. Presently on the CD player: the Jimi Hendrix Experience, a greatest hits collection. The song Manic Depression ALMOST led me to yesterday’s Wordle, which was MANIA.

Y – Years online: For work, it was probably 1994. I had AOL back when you needed those shiny discs to access email.

Z – Zodiac sign: Pisces, the best one.

Most awarded songs #15

no relation

The finale of the most awarded songs #15. In honor of that, I’ll note some of the awards they got. RS is Rolling Stone 500, RIAA is Recording Industry of America, NPR is National Public Radio 100, BMI is Broadcast Music Inc, and RNN is the National Recording Registry.

10. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction– The Rolling Stones, #1 pop for four weeks pop, #19 RB only #3 in the UK in 1965. RS #2, RIAA #161, NRR. One of the most familiar hooks in all of pop music.

9. Blue Suede Shoes – Carl Perkins, #2 pop for four weeks, but #1 in Detroit, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Chicago; #2 RB for four weeks, #3 country in 1956. RS #95, RIAA #78, NPR, NRR. A serious car accident prevented Carl from fully capitalizing on this hit.

8. Let’s Stay Together – Al Green, #1 pop, #1 RB for nine weeks in 1972. RS #60, RIAA #145, NPR, NRR. Despite what I might have joked in the past, Al’s NOT my cousin, to my knowledge.

Timeless

7. What’s Love Got To Do With It – Tina Turner, #1 pop for three weeks, #2 for five weeks in 1984; Grammys for record and song of the year and pop female vocal; RS #316, RIAA #38, ASCAP #8. A return to form. Tina “was 44 when the song hit number one, at the time making her the oldest female solo artist to place a number-one single on the US Hot 100.”

6. Mack The Knife – Bobby Darin, #1 pop for nine weeks, #6 RB in 1959; Grammy record of the year, RS #255, RIAA #15, NPR, NRR. This is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their 1928 music drama The Threepenny Opera. It was translated into English in the 1930s. But the best-known translation was by Marc Blitzstein in 1954, which Darin adapted.

5. Oh, Pretty Woman – Roy Orbison, #1 for three weeks pop in 1964, #4 UK, RS #24, RIAA #43, BMI #26, NPR, NRR. The song was used in a 1990 film and a 2018 Broadway musical.

Posthumous

4. (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay – Otis Redding (pictured), #1 for four weeks pop, #1 for three weeks RB in 1968; Grammy RB song, RB male vocal; RS #26, RIAA #22, BMI #6, NPR. My wife and I were at Capital Rep seeing a musical about Janis Joplin some years ago, and I noted that Me and Bobby McGee was the second posthumous single to top the charts in the US. Dock was the first one.

3. My Girl – The Temptations, #1 pop, #1 for six weeks RB in 1965; RS #88, RIAA #45, ASCAP #2, NRR, NPR. Smokey Robinson and Ronald White of the Miracles wrote this. Smokey was inspired by his wife, Claudette Rogers Robinson, who was also in the group. This was the first of four #1 pop hits by the Temptations.

2. Rock Around The Clock – Bill Haley And His Comets, #1 pop for eight weeks, #1 for nine weeks UK, #3 for two weeks RB in 1955; RS #159, RIAA #12, ASCAP #86, NPR, NRR. Though it was released in 1954, it didn’t become an iconic hit until it was included in the 1955 film Blackboard Jungle.

1. Respect – Aretha Franklin, #1 for two weeks pop, #1 for eight weeks RB in 1967; Grammy RB record, RB female vocal; RS #5, RIAA #4, NRR, NPR. QoS and her sisters rearranged the song Otis Redding had written and recorded, and turned it into an empowerment anthem.