Ramblin' with Roger

Reciprocity with sister Leslie

Another set of eyes

As I now think it about, I developed an unstated reciprocity with sister Leslie in 2023. In recent years, she has had the opportunity to travel, primarily to Europe. She was able to give me some travel advice when we went to France.

Moreover, she sent me some documents, especially from Ireland, which may come in handy if I ever figure out who my great-grandmother Margaret/Marguerite Collins Williams’ parents were.

More recently, she has changed jobs. She still works for the same entity, but in a different department. Now she has interns, which she’s not used to having.

When I was working for the New York Small Business Development Center, we had several interns. Most of them in later years were NOT library students. But they were smart and eager and curious.

I found some long-term wishlist projects, such as adding more current statistics to our website. If I were immodest, I would say that I was rather good at finding them projects that were not just “make work” tasks.

Mystery shopping

However, my sister is too new to her department to have developed such projects. In this case, I recommended that she get her interns to “shop” her department.

The first thing I thought of was that her interns could look over their current website. They should try it on Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox.

Are there any broken links or pages that load slowly?

Are there any misspellings or instructions that are confusing?

Is the site compliant with Americans With Disabilities Act requirements?

Are there color combos that aren’t easy to read – yellow on white, purple on black, or too-fancy fonts that are difficult to read?

One intern has already discovered that the directions for people in the offices ordering an ergonomically-correct chair on their Intranet was unclear. People who are outside of a process can often discover things that those on the “inside” just can’t see.

Sister Leslie is… a year older today.

Sunday Stealing: Either/or

kind

chorded_keyboard_ — From https://xkcd.com/2583/

Another Sunday Stealing involving either/or.

Would you rather…

1. Live on a boat or in a treehouse?

I suppose it would depend on the size of the boat. If it were a kayak, then no. On the other hand, is there a ladder to get to the treehouse? How big is it? I need more details.

2. No computer use for a year or no sweets for a year?

I write a blog every day, so this is easy. Also, my preference for sweets has diminished with age.

3. Have $2,000 right now or be given $100 every month for the rest of your life?

Now this is a good actuarial question. It also determines the future inflation rate and the money’s value in 20 months. I’ll take the $100/month, but it’s a close call.

4. Be an astronaut or an athlete?

Will I have knee surgery first? Instinctively, I’d pick being the athlete in baseball, volleyball, or a racket sport. I was watching a piece of an interview with Peggy Whitson, who has spent over a year and a half in space; I know that, as much as I would enjoy it initially, the confinement would eventually make me bonkers.

5. Have 50 good friends or only one best friend?

Fifty good friends. I’ve long discovered that you can tell various people different things. Also, people get busy, so having others to share with makes sense.

Am I Blue?

6. Have bright blue teeth or bright blue hair?

Bright blue hair, assuming I had hair. I had an English teacher in eighth grade named Gertrude Kane. I can’t remember if her hair was blue or purple.

7. Have the power of flight or the power of invisibility?

It’s always been flight. I’ve dreamed about it within the past month.

8. Have a fun friend who is snarky or a boring friend who is kind?

Snarky gets old and exhausting pretty fast. Kind and boring.

9. Be incredibly rich but without love, or be poor but have a happy marriage?

Poor and happy. Easy call.

10. Have a freezing cold shower every day or a pleasant hot shower once a week?

Americans shower too often. Shower once a week and wash up at the sink in the interim.

11. Be an only child or have many siblings?

I have two sisters, which is fine. We’ve discovered in the past decade that we’ve learned so much as we’ve compared notes about our growing up. If I had the parents I had, I’d want siblings. If I had different parents, who knows?

12. Quit video games forever or live in a desert for a month?

I could easily give up video games, though there was a period in the late 1980s when I was somewhat obsessed with Ms. Pac-Man.

13. Go on a one-week trip to a foreign country of your choice or a month-long trip in your own country?

This is surprisingly easy. I spent a week in a foreign country – France – his year, which was WAY too short. A month-long trip in the US would probably involve going to various Major League Baseball stadiums, traveling by train if possible. I’ve only been to 30 states.

14. Celebrate your birthday every day or go on your favorite holiday once a year?

I already celebrate my birthday every day.

15. If fish could talk, what would you ask them?

What is your opinion about global warming?

Most awarded songs #13

Porter/Prater

We’re so lucky to be able to listen to some of the most awarded songs #13. Maybe they’ve gotten Grammys and/or Oscars. Rolling Stone magazine, RIAA, ASCAP, CMA, NPR, and others have said good things about them.

30. I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor. An anthem. In 2019, I listed it as one of the Songs that make me think about life. “In 2016, the Library of Congress deemed [it] to be ‘culturally, historically, or artistically significant’ and selected it for preservation in the National Recording Registry.”

29. Hotel California – The Eagles. “In the 2013 documentary, History of the Eagles, Don Henley reiterated: ‘On just about every album we made, there was some kind of commentary on the music business, and on American culture in general. The hotel itself could be taken as a metaphor not only for the myth-making of Southern California but for the myth-making that is the American Dream because it is a fine line between the American Dream and the American nightmare.'”

28. Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon and Garfunkel. I wrote about this here.

27. The Message – Grand Master Flash and The Furious Five. I was very taken by this, that the newish genre in 1982 would address social commentary.

26. People Get Ready – The Impressions. Written by Curtis Mayfield, it’s a great freedom song, clearly written with the black church experience permeated in it. Heavily covered.

“I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend”

25. Fire And Rain – James Taylor. The singer has said that the song is in three parts, the suicide of his friend Suzanne, his struggle to overcome drug addiction and depression, and coming to grips with fame and fortune.

24. Soul Man – Sam and Dave. When I was younger I was a bit confused. The song was composed by Isaac Hayes and David Porter. Sam and Dave consisted of Samuel Moore and David Prater. Porter/Prater; OK, got it. Booker T. and the MGs played on the song. “Play it, Steve” refers to guitarist Steve Cropper. Hayes also played organ on the track.

23. Yesterday – The Beatles. My problem with Yesterday was that is that it seemed EVERYBODY covered it. Some of them are even good. I must have at least three dozen different versions.

22. Papper’s Delight – Sugarhill Gang. I bought this 12″ vinyl with the more familiar blue label, probably in 1980. It might be the first rap song I ever purchased.

21. La Bamba – Ritchie Valens. The song originated in Veracruz, Mexico. It was recorded in the late 1930s and several times afterward. Valens gave it a rock and roll feel. The song was a big hit in 1987 when Los Lobos covered it for the soundtrack of the movie La Bamba.

Movie review: You Hurt My Feelings

Writer/director Nicole Holofcener

First off, You Hurt My Feelings is a terrible title for just about any movie. In fact, it’s so lame that I managed to forget it between the time I saw it at a Wednesday matinee at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany and a meeting I had that evening. Someone chided that the film itself must not be very memorable as I looked it up on my phone.

“You Hurt My Feelings, ” I said. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” they replied. “No, that’s the name of the movie,” I noted.

Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Don (Tobias Menzies) are practically joined at the hip. They share the same ice cream cone! The couple reminded me of RichAndAmy, characters in the comic strip Zits, “a couple that have gradually morphed into a single organism.” This, BTW, is cringeworthy to me.

Then Beth, a writer, and her sister/best friend Sarah (Michaela Watkins) overhear a conversation that therapist Don and Sarah’s husband Mark (Arian Moayed) are having.

This leads to a fundamental question about what “telling the truth” means when someone seeks your opinion. It’s a “film about trust, lies, and the things we say to the people we love most.” These characters – Beth, Don, interior designer Sarah, and actor Mark – are all having some doubts about their chosen profession. Beth and Don’s son Eliot (Owen Teague) is likewise stymied by his parents’ expectations about the book he has yet to finish..

Response

I’m interested in the disparity between the critics’ reaction (95% postive on Rotten Tomatoes) and the audience response (64% positive). In the former category was Max Weiss in Baltimore Magazine, who says “It’s wonderful to watch these great actors living out this minor (to us), but major (to them) crisis.” I will suggest that the sense that they all feel a sense of imposter syndrome makes their anxiety very relatable.

The audience summary notes that You Hurt My Feelings “is well-acted and sometimes funny, but it’s also slow — and it can be hard to care about the problems of some fairly unlikable characters.” It’s not uproariously humorous but its comedy is in the recognition that we know people like them. Or maybe we ARE people like them. I didn’t find them particularly unlikable once Beth and Don stopped sharing dessert.

Indeed, my wife and I talked about the basic premise for days afterward. Writer/director Nicole Holofcener has asked the question about whether we are obliged to be candid or be positive, and smartly doesn’t entirelty provide an answer.

I used to love the Emmys

2015 is old?

For the longest time, I used to love the Emmys. I enjoyed seeing the list of shows and performers who were nominated.

That was then, back when TV was predominantly broadcast and basic cable. Things changed as television started being delivered in different ways. The leading platforms of this year’s nominees were HBO Max: 127, Netflix: 103, Apple TV+: 46, Hulu: 42, Prime Video: 42, and Disney+: 40. I haven’t watched anything on these consistently, even though I can access Apple TV and Prime.

Of the nominees, I’ve seen exactly zero Best Drama or actors/actresses in the category.

I regularly watch Abbott Elementary (ABC) in the comedy realm, so I’ve viewed those performers. I’ve caught The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video) and Ted Lasso (Apple TV+), but not this season.

I did view some of the programs in the Best Talk category. The Daily Show With Trevor Noah (Comedy Central) – watched. Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) – no. Late Night With Seth Meyers (NBC) – I’d watch A Closer Look news segments online. The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (CBS) – rarely. The Problem With Jon Stewart (Apple TV+) -once.

My daughter started watching RuPaul’s Drag Race in the Best Reality Competition area, and I saw a few episodes.

The best game show is now in this arena. Family Feud (ABC) – I may trip over it. Jeopardy! (ABC) – well, yes. The Price Is Right (CBS) – not in a while. That’s My Jam (NBC) – I watched it for half an episode and hated it. Wheel of Fortune (ABC) – I caught one episode of the Celebrity version with Vanna White competing against the two JEOPARDY hosts, who are both up for best Game Show Host. As she noted, she shouldn’t quit her day job.

So I have no real sense about what nominations were surprises and which potential picks were snubbed.

The network program is dead

A year and a half ago, I suggested that the traditional television was, if not dead, then dying. Because of the writers’ and actors’ strikes, ABC had a fall 2023 schedule filled with game shows and reality series. The FOX roster is much the same. And CBS has scrapped theirs, adding Yellowstone, U.K. ‘Ghosts to the fall lineup.

Oddly, this may finally get me to watch some series I had not seen before. My extant television is too old – from 2015! – to allow us to watch the streaming services easily. And I hate watching these shows on a 13″ laptop screen.

But the 24″ HD Smart TV I purchased months ago but never took out of the box until the most recent solstice may prod me to watch some of those extant shows. The DVR list has shrunk from over 70% when we returned from France in mid-May to under 30%.

Having said that, I hope the strikes are resolved soon, with the writers and performers getting a far larger slice of the pie on those streaming shows.