Ramblin' with Roger

Most awarded songs #4

“Worry, why do I let myself worry?”

The most awarded songs #4 are more tunes that got awards from the Grammys, the Oscars, Rolling Stone magazine, RIAA, ASCAP, CMA, NPR, et al. in some arcane formula.

120. Ain’t That A Shame – Fats Domino. One of the earliest songs I really loved. It was covered by Cheap Trick and John Lennon. I understand that Chubby Checker of The Twist fame got HIS nickname as a derivative of Fats Domino.

119. Crazy – Patsy Cline. A Willie Nelson song that became so ubiquitous that it was covered by Linda Ronstadt and many others. In 1961 and early 1962, it went to #2 country and adult contemporary, each for two weeks. But it also went to #9 pop.
I did one of these LOST quizzes, even though I didn’t watch the show. “You are Kate. You listen to Patsy Cline anywhere,” which is true. About a decade ago, Parade magazine had a list of Americans’ All-Time Favorite Love Songs, and Crazy by Patsy Cline was there.

118. Summertime Blues – Eddie Cochran. I heard the song first by The Who, on the Live at Leeds album, then Blue Cheer. But this is my favorite.

117. For What It’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield. The trouble with the song is that it became SO overrepresented on any TV show pointing out the strife of the 1960s. It’s on the Forrest Gump soundtrack and countless compilations of the period. It IS a good song, just overplayed.

Could have been a Billboard R and B hit

116. Walk On By – Dionne Warwick. I loved all of those Warwick/Burt Bacharach/Hal David songs. And I got rather irritable when some people thought she wasn’t “black enough.” The song hit number 1 on the Cash Box Rhythm and Blues Chart in June 1964; Billboard did not print rhythm and blues charts during 1964, for reasons.)

115. California Girls – The Beach Boys. Either Brian Wilson wrote this while he was on acid, or afterward when he was sober. It was inspired by the feel of the Drifters’ version of On Broadway or Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, or maybe both. Mike Love was initially left off the credits and had to litigate to fix the situation. I particularly love the intro.

114. Mr. Tambourine Man – the Byrds. Others, such as Peter, Paul, and Mary had covered Bob Dylan before. But the Byrds’ #1 pop version was so transformative that it influenced other artists covering or imitating Dylan. It even changed Bob’s approach to the song.

Goffin/King

113. The Loco-Motion – Little Eva. Eva Boyd was Carole King and Gerry Goffin’s babysitter. When another singer passed on the song, Eva got the chance in 1962. Grand Funk Railroad also reached #1 with it a dozen years later, so The Loco-Motion became the second song to reach No. 1 by two different artists in the US. The previous song to do that was the Goffin/King hit Go Away Little Girl.

112. Heart Of Glass – Blondie. Is it allowed for a rock band to play dance music? “In an interview published in the February 4, 1978, edition of NME, Debbie Harry expressed her affinity for the Euro disco music of Giorgio Moroder, stating that ‘It’s commercial, but it’s good, it says something… that’s the kind of stuff that I want to do.'”

111. Runaround Sue– Dion. I always thought that period of about 1960-1962 was pretty fallow musically. But Dion DiMucci, with and without the Belmonts was an exception.

Vladimir Putin turns 70 and is losing it

and his crony, Tucker Carlson

For months, I’ve been reading speculation that the sanity of Russian president Vladimir Putin is in question. Maybe, as Daily Beast noted back in March 2022: “The more desperately Putin tries to demonstrate his authority ahead of elections in 2024, the more his grip on power may slip away.”

Or is he merely physically ill? Politico, in June 2022, addressed the various rumors, as did Grid.

Regardless, the leader’s recent actions have received severe pushback from the Russian people. His forces continue to lose on the battlefield in Ukraine. Putin announced the mobilization of 300K reservists, many of whom are ill-trained for war. This is the first such conscription since World War II.

But Russian men are fleeing the country to avoid military service. Some are paying nearly $25K for plane tickets. The land exodus is so significant that their neighbors are moving to close the borders. Also, Russian military recruitment offices have come under attack. The Kremlin appears to be in crisis.

Last year on this date, Reporters Without Borders protested to mark not only Putin’s natal day but also the 15th anniversary of Anna Politkovskaya’s murder.

The response

What is the Russian response? Putin granted Russian citizenship to Edward Snowden. Russia is boycotting the 2023 Oscars and won’t submit a Film for the International Feature category.

Then, per the Boston Globe, “Putin has signed treaties to begin the process of absorbing parts of Ukraine into Russia, defying international law. The signing came three days after the completion of Kremlin-orchestrated ‘referendums’ on joining Russia that were dismissed by Kyiv and the West as a bare-faced land grab and based on lies.”

Here’s his BS speech at the “signing of treaties on the accession of Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics and Zaporozhye and Kherson regions to Russia.”

Still, Angela Stent writes in Foreign Policy, “The moral and strategic disaster of… Putin’s war in Ukraine has ended his imperial dreams. “

The Swanson heir

What are we to make of the pro-Russia American Right? What are they telling themselves?

Even Dick Morris, with whom I seldom agree, calls FOX News talking head Tucker Carlson’s stance “dangerous.” From Newsmax: “During the Cold War, Soviet apologists would often cite facts and claims from Pravda as if they were really true. Today, Carlson recites Russian talking points with the same sort of zeal.

“Putin really likes Carlson for doing so. Newsweek reported that Carlson’s Fox video from [a couple of weeks ago] is even being shown on Russian state media to bolster Putin’s war efforts.”

May Vladimir Putin have some bad borscht for his birthday.

Break-up, baseball, and JEOPARDY

Lake George

Here are some Ask Roger Anything questions about break-up, baseball, and JEOPARDY. They were asked by Kelly Sedinger, the fine Buffalo-area blogger at ForgottenStars.net.

When the break-up finally comes, does New York form a country with, say, NJ and New England and maybe PA, MD, and DE? Or do we all just join Canada?

First, I do accept the premise of the question. Major Garrett, formerly of FOX and now CBS, wrote a book suggesting that America is close to Civil War. But I remain puzzled by the mechanism.

As someone in upstate New York, you KNOW there are pockets of conservatives in New York, such as the Southern Tier south of you, or much of the territory north of me, which are quite conservative. Conversely, there are liberal enclaves in Iowa.

The Greater Idaho movement, with much of eastern Oregon joining the spud state, will be difficult to achieve. Redistributing assets nationally would be a nightmare.

Still, rhetorically speaking, your larger model works. And the Canadians, if they are smart, will want to have nothing to do with a land annexation. They don’t want those gun-toting folks in their jurisdiction.

Here comes the Judge

Am I crazy in detecting a rather unsavory note in all the cheering of Aaron Judge this season as he chases home run records? Because it really does occasionally take on a tone of “Thank God a white guy is posing a threat to the record held by the black guy nobody likes.”

I can say that Barry Bonds was very supportive of Judge’s pursuit of the American League record of 61 (Roger Maris, 1961) and understood the stress of getting that 61st one. Days before the regular season ended, it was pretty clear that Judge wouldn’t surpass Bonds’ 73 HRs.

But I think your question hit on the real issue. Barry Bonds is just not warm and fuzzy. And people feel that he cheated with the Performance-Enhancing Drugs. So I don’t think it’s specifically racism, although I don’t listen to sports talk on radio or TV because I find much of it repetitive and banal.

Now some people didn’t want Henry Aaron to topple Babe Ruth’s career record of 714, even sending death threats. (When I saw a guy on the field running with Hammerin’ Hank, I was genuinely worried about the slugger’s safety.) But many people think Bonds’ career record of 762 is tainted and that it should belong to Aaron, with 755.

Favorite place within 50 miles of Albany?

I’m fond of Lake George, north of here. The lake itself is quite beautiful, and it has several amenities without being TOO touristy.

Unchange

A change you would make to JEOPARDY!? (Resurrecting Trebek is not an option.)

Actually, my wish can never happen because it seems to be too popular with the fans. I’d prefer that they stayed with five-day champions, and then they’re gone until the annual Tournament of Champions. The interview segment is fine for someone staying for a week, but most of them start to wear on me.

I don’t want to see the same people in yet another tournament. They had that awful team event a few years ago. Besides seeing Ken and Brad yet AGAIN in competition, it took away time when we might see your average champion. They seem to be keying on the “super champions,” which just doesn’t feel right. At least Ken Jennings and Buzzy Cohen, as hosts of the show, can no longer compete on the show because they’ve hosted.

Oh, and I’m against giving a bonus to people who run a category. Former JEOPARDY champ Austin Rogers makes a case for it, but I remain unconvinced.

Oh, and here’s something that Trebek used to say that I never liked, and I recently heard Jennings repeat. When all three contestants missed the same question, Alex would say, “No harm, no foul.” It’s not correct. If Player A has $12,000, Player B has $6,000, and Player C has $3,000, and they all miss a $2,000 question, who is most disadvantaged? The person with the least amount of money.

Is the pandemic over? OVER over?

another booster?

Mark Evanier wrote a post two weeks ago, his Question of the Day. Here it is in its entirety. “Was President Biden right to say The Pandemic is over? Well, it depends.”

The link is to a FactCheck.org article describing the debate. The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah, though, hit the nail on the head. Once some people have had COVID, they’re thinking that COVID is over for them and everyone.

From WebMD: “Biden’s comment has split experts in medicine and public health. Some adamantly disagree that the pandemic is over, pointing out that COVID-19 remains a public health emergency in the United States, the World Health Organization still considers it a global pandemic, and most significantly, the virus is still killing over 400 people a day in the U.S.

“Others point out that most of the country is protected by vaccination, infection, or a combination, at least for now. They say the time is right to declare the pandemic’s end and recognize what much of society has already decided.” Mass transit has dropped mask mandates in New York State and elsewhere.

Local spike?

Non-medical places that still require mask wearing are making people grumpy, I’ve noticed. Albany County and adjacent Rensselaer County have remained stubbornly in the yellow (medium) zone for the past six months, even as nearby counties fluctuate.

Then this past week, they bumped up to the red zone, even though the hospitalizations have remained steady. A statistician friend of mine wondered if the CDC got the numbers wrong.

Instead, “in recent months, New York health officials and those in other states have started using cases per 100,000 residents, and not the more traditional percentage of positive results of those who have been tested, as a more accurate way of measuring infection rates.”

This may explain how nine of the 55 counties north of New York City are in red, but only 109 of more than 3000 counties in the country.

A fifth shot?

The CDC recommends that “getting a COVID-19 vaccine after you recover from COVID-19 infection provides added protection against COVID-19.” However, I saw my primary care physician for my annual checkup in late September. They believe that I won’t need an Omicron-specific booster because having had the disease, probably BA.4 or BA.5, has given me sufficient immunity. I’m feeling conflicted, but I’m not even eligible until December, so I’ll ponder it further.

Meanwhile, my baby sister got COVID in the latter part of September, even though she was fully vaxxed and boosted. She’s a thousand miles away, so she didn’t get it from me.

There are people, particularly those with long COVID, for which the disease is clearly NOT over. Some desperate patients are turning to unproven alternative therapies.

The Census Bureau notes that 2.9% of adults ages 55-70 employed in January 2020 said they retired early or planned to retire early due to the pandemic, while 2.3% said they either delayed or planned to delay retirement for the same reason.

Not incidentally, my doctor’s office DID give me a flu shot. All indications from the Southern Hemisphere are that it will be a nasty season. I’ve been getting this shot annually for about a decade and a half after having influenza, which kept me out of work for a week.

Imgur as a source of information

Martha’s Vineyard immigrants

In late September, I was perusing a friend’s Facebook page who had posted, “I stand with the Iranian protests.” One of their friends indicated that they had gotten their information about it from TikTok and Imgur because they didn’t trust news outlets.

Oh, I’ll own it. I had no freaking idea what Imgur was. It “is an image hosting and sharing site, favoured by users of social media and social news sites including Reddit, Twitter, and Digg because of its ease of use and flexibility.” At first glance, it looks so… random. Pets, ads, dance videos, and various tweets.

I searched Iran and #Iran, but found nothing pertinent. But Iranian gave me 118 hits, only some of which were relevant.

Still, this fascinated me. I had seen several pieces in the New York Times, such as this one. Women Take Center Stage in Antigovernment Protests Shaking Iran. “Women have been casting off their legally required head scarves, forming the primary image of the protests. But grievances against a repressive regime go far beyond the hijab.”

This is not to say that one can’t find important stories almost anywhere. I just don’t see myself using Imgur as my go-to for the latest news.

DeSantis

On the other hand, Imgur is the answer to the question, “How did an image of a fake Massachusetts flag end up in a brochure for Martha’s Vineyard migrants?”

From the Boston Globe. Two summers ago, Will Bodine of Pittsfield, MA whipped up a flag redesign in “‘upwards of 10 minutes’ on his computer. The concept was simple: a blue shield emblazoned with the official state flower — the mayflower — encircled by six blue stars, all splashed against a white backdrop.

“Bodine… shared it on Facebook. He also uploaded it to Imgur, an image-hosting website, where, until recently, it had only been viewed a few times.

“Before nearly 50 migrants arrived from Texas on planes chartered by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, lawyers said they were handed brochures containing erroneous information about cash assistance and other benefits they would receive in Massachusetts.

“While it remains unclear who created the pamphlets, they included a rudimentary map of the state, a picture of a lighthouse, a photo of a sign reading ‘Massachusetts Welcomes You’ — and Bodine’s obscure reimagining of the state flag, rather than the real one.”

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver noted this event in the first five minutes of his 9/25/22 program.

I suppose this gets to my point about checking reliable sources of information. As Bodine noted, “’No one had seen this flag until some idiot staffer for DeSantis or whoever’ stumbled across it… ‘I cannot fathom why they would use the wrong one.'”