Ramblin' with Roger

Director Eric Laneuville turns 70

L.A. Law, Lost, NYPD Blue, Dream On

One of my favorite television programs was the MTM program St. Elsewhere (NBC, 1982-1988). And one of my favorite characters was Luther Hawkins, played by Eric Laneuville, who appeared in 128 of 137 episodes. Initially, Luther was a hospital orderly, but he became a certified paramedic and eventually a student physician assistant.

Eric was born in New Orleans, LA. His first prominent acting roles were in the science-fiction film The Omega Man (1971) with Charlton Heston and on the TV program Room 222 (1970-1974). But he has had but two acting credits since 1996, and none since 2014.

That’s because he’s in demand as a director. He started this path by directing 20 episodes of St. Elsewhere, starting in 1984. He has also helmed multiple episodes of Midnight Caller; Doogie Howser, M.D.; Everybody Hates Chris; Girlfriends; Ghost Whisper; CSI: NY; The Mentalist; Grimm; NCIS: Los Angeles; Blue Bloods; Chicago Fire; and the current iteration of The Equalizer.

(St. Elsewhere was up against the earlier version of The Equalizer on CBS on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. for three seasons. I’d watch St. Elsewhere but catch The Equalizer in reruns.)

Eric was nominated for Emmys (Dream On, I’ll Fly Away, the Directors Guild of America awards (Lost, NYPD Blue), and both (L.A. Law).

I’ll Fly Away

In 1992, Eric won both an Emmy and a Director’s Guild Award for the All God’s Children episode of I’ll Fly Away. I LOVED that program, which ran from 1991 to 1993 on NBC, plus a TV movie on PBS.

“Forrest Bedford [a pre-Law and Order Sam Waterston] is a Southern lawyer in the late 1950s, generally content with his privileged life. But the winds of change are blowing, and he becomes increasingly involved with civil rights cases. Meanwhile, Lilly Harper [Regina Taylor], who cares for his children, is on her own journey of political and personal awareness.” The kids were played by Jeremy London as Nathan, Ashlee Levitch as Francie, and John Aaron Bennett as John Morgan

Here’s the All God’s Children episode of I’ll Fly Away.

About the game show JEOPARDY!

45-14

I’ve had several questions from various people about the game show JEOPARDY!, on which I appeared in 1998.

When will you be on again?

Never. Unless you make it to the Tournament of Champions, you’re done when you lose in the Alex Trebek era, which started in 1984. This means, technically if you had played in the Art Fleming era, you could theoretically participate again. Fleming last hosted in 1979, so someone 21 then would now only be 64. But most would be far older.

Frankly, I wouldn’t want to be on again. The social media buzz about contestants’ sexual orientation, gender identity, income, personality quirks, et al. is irritating.

And the hosts seem to focus a lot on the statistics, especially the players who win a number of games and become dubbed “super champions.” “Chris won answered 34 questions, getting 31 correctly.” It’s like hearing too many baseball stats: “Smith batted .412 against lefties in day games.” You can find the numbers on the website.

Speaking of the hosts, a lot of social media chatter about Mayim Bialek’s apparel and Ken Jenings’ alleged haughtiness. Ken Levine complained about this here. Some of it I think is correct, such as accepting incomplete answers, such as 90210 for Beverly Hills 90210.

Regardless, I look forward to the selection of a permanent host. Or hosts, probably, since there is going to be an hour-long Celebrity JEOPARDY once a week on ABC.

It’s a young person’s game

Trebek was fond of saying that he knew about 70% of the answers. However, a younger player would always beat him, he declared, because his response rate would be slower. Watching the show daily, I know this to be true. It might be a clue about a movie I’ve seen, but I can’t retrieve the title in the allotted time.

So I’m excited when I actually get a response correctly and quickly that NO ONE gets right, or even rings in. From one game:

IT’S A “SYN” “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” is one way of explaining it. What is synergy? (I blame Weird Al for knowing this.)

BODIES OF WATER The Conchos River, the longest in the state of Chihuahua, is a tributary of this one. What is the Rio Grande?

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNERS: 1961: this Swedish Secretary-General of the U.N., posthumously. Who was Dag Hammarskjöld? (Some answers I get BECAUSE I’m older than the players.)

9-, 10-, and 11-LETTER WORDS: From German and Yiddish, it’s the act of offering unsolicited advice to someone who’s playing a game. What is kibitzing? (BTW, I HATE kibitzing.)

The ToC

I’m on record opposing the loss of the limit of five days as champion. In particular, someone who dominates a game is boring for me to watch. It’s like seeing a 45-14 football game.

That said, this fall’s Tournament of Champions is going to be really interesting. That’s because a lot of these players have already faced each other.

Jonathan Fisher (11 wins) beat Matt Amodio (38)
Eric Ahasic (6) beat Ryan Long (17)
Megan Wachspress (6) beat Eric Ahasic
Zach Newkirk (6) beat Brian Chang (7)
Amy Schneider (40) beat Andrew He (5)

When they’re seeded, I’m sure the JEOPARDY producers will make sure these pairs do not meet in the first round.

Check Ken Levine’s interview with Suzanne Stone who spent 38 years working at JEOPARDY here and here.

Susan Easton; Mary Backus Dye

kindergarten

Susan Easton was a core member of my church choir. By that, I mean she was almost always present, doing her part to keep the altos on track. If someone were sick or had a family member die, or had a baby, you know she was actively involved with making sure they felt cared for.

Susan was an excellent cook. She wasn’t a flashy type and was seemingly reserved. Though she could puncture her placid demeanor when dealing with nonsensical people. In another life, she probably could have been an air traffic controller, such was her attention to detail.

Somewhere in this house, I still have the champagne split celebrating her 40th wedding anniversary with Al back in 2003. Al is also in the choir, a tenor, and in my Bible group.

My wife told me this story only recently. Sue was a fill-in at a doctor’s office my wife was using and called with the appropriate information. And my wife knew that Sue would be the appropriate model of discretion.

Her funeral will be at First Presbyterian Church Saturday, January 16. The choir is singing. I mean, of COURSE, the choir is singing. It is the fourth choir funeral in 2022. My condolences to Al, their children, her church family, and all who cared for her.

DSD

Back in 2015, I got a Facebook comment from Mary Backus Dye. “Roger Green – I think I went to school with you. Daniel S Dickinson … we were young, but I remember you. I have thought about you for years. You helped me on my very first kindergarten day [in 1958!] and for some reason, I wasn’t afraid when my mother left.

“You were my very first crush. Am pretty sure we started kindergarten together. Her name was Miss Cady.” I remembered her as well, though I didn’t remember the crush. “I kissed you on the cheek in kindergarten and your eyes got big and you ran from me LOL. Miss Cady moved my seating and I was sad. We were buddies all through grade school until I moved.

“I haven’t seen you since we were young, but you made quite an impact on my life. You were my very first buddy. And at that point in our lives, we surely needed a buddy.”

But she doesn’t seem to recall that we kissed under the mistletoe when I was about 13. Was that a false memory of mine? It doesn’t matter.

She told about singing with a six-piece R and B group, and about her family.

I discovered a Backus in my genealogical research. I asked, “Was there a Frances Marie Backus in your family who married Morris Sheldon Walker in 1938 in Susquehanna, PA?” Mary said, “Yes she was my father’s sister.” Morris was my grandmother’s brother and my father’s uncle. So Mary and I are somehow related. I sent her the wedding license of Morris and Frances.

Mary had some health issues since at least 2020 and passed away recently. The funeral’s on July 30 in Cottonwood, AZ. I’ll probably attend it remotely.

Has “The American Experiment” failed?

SECESSION

Uthaclena is asking:

Do you think that “The American Experiment” has failed? How likely do you think it is that the United States is headed for a breakup?

I am increasingly concerned about this. The single item that most triggered this worry is the 2022 Texas GOP Platform. It runs about 40 pages, with 275 paragraphs of positions. It also includes two resolutions, one against the gun bill brokered in part by their own Republican senator John Cornyn. I thought the bill was weak tea, though better than nothing. But they have discerned that gun control is a violation of their “God-given rights.”

The other resolution indicates that Joe Biden isn’t actually president. If we can’t agree on the manner in which we operate and oversee our elections, the whole process falls apart. I mean, I DESPISED Biden’s predecessor, but I never believed he wasn’t president, no matter I wanted it to be otherwise. And this isn’t some blowhard commentator saying this, it’s a major political party in our second-most-populous state.

Among the other positions taken by the TX GOP:

The repealing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which had already been gutted by the Supreme Court back in 2012.
Leaving the U.N.; check out paragraph 273
Banning income tax (repealing the 16th amendment) and ending the direct election of US Senators (repealing the 17th Amendment, return to the appointment of Senators by the state legislatures).
Disallowing same-sex marriage
Banning sex education – search the document for the word sex
SECESSION (paragraph 33)

BTW, Kelly covers some of this same territory.

SCOTUS

I’m of the generation where the Supreme Court EXPANDED the rights of those who were minorities and/or less powerful, less fortunate. This court has decided that the state’s right to control guns within its own borders (10th Amendment) is superseded by the right to have guns (2nd Amendment).

Some commentators suggested that we ought not to worry that other rights might be abrogated, as Clarence Thomas suggested in his concurring opinion striking down Roe. The votes in SCOTUS aren’t there, presently. But several others pointed out, including the SCOTUS guy for ABC News, Terry Moran, an opposing view that makes more sense to me. Thomas’ opinion questioning same-gender marriage and contraception, et al. is actually more consistent with Alito’s flawed argument that there is no Constitutional right to abortion.

I came across this Neil Gaiman tweet of an NPR piece, Throughline’ Traces Evangelicals’ History On The Abortion Issue by By Rund Abdelfatah. You should read the whole thing; it’s not long. It totally surprised me.

“The Southern Baptist Convention… actually passed resolutions in 1971, 1974, and 1976 – after Roe v. Wade – affirming the idea that women should have access to abortion for a variety of reasons and that the government should play a limited role in that matter… The experts we talked to said white evangelicals at that time saw abortion as largely a Catholic issue.” It was desegregation that started the sea change.

What a country!

Look at maternal mortality rates by country (per 100,000 live births). The US stands at 17.3, worse, FAR worse than any industrialized country. Or child poverty, where the US is well above average. Rare among industrialized nations: no paid maternity leave.

The notion that the US is saving lives by overturning Roe is laughable. Quoting the late George Carlin: “No neonatal care, no daycare, no head start, no school lunch, no food stamps, no welfare, no nothing. If you’re preborn you’re fine; if you’re preschool you’re f###ed… And then they turn around and say, ‘we’re pro-life.'”

How does each of the states’ anti-abortion laws apply, anyway? As I heard or read from multiple sources, ambiguity is a design, not a flaw. How do interstate companies respond?

Vanity Fair states the decision was “a result that was born not of careful decision-making and analytic rigor, but of power.” Despite the majority of Americans feeling otherwise.

My buddy Greg Burgas thinks the Republicans have overplayed their hand; that’d be nice, but I remain unconvinced.

Thus

We have Americans who believe the President who was elected in 2020 wasn’t elected. Many others now find the Supreme Court to be an illegitimate entity. And of course, everyone hates the do-nothing… OK, do very little… Congress. It’s not as though these issues will be resolved if we just vote in November.

Alan Singer, who I have met, incidentally, writes about fascism in Russia, the US, and elsewhere. “The United States now has a significant bitter Ethno-nationalist white Christian movement that considers itself aggrieved by Jews, Blacks, Latinos, and immigrants who they claim to want to replace them as the dominant group. It has a political party and cult-like figures who manipulate this group to hold onto power and block any attempts to address major social and economic issues…

“Corporate interests support the cult figures and their efforts to stir up mass support because it is in the interests of these wealthy capitalists to cut taxes and eliminate government regulations… It includes armed groups that threaten military action in the name of 2nd Amendment rights.”

Book bans in K-12 schools have escalated recently. Many “of the books on the list were written by Black or LGBTQ authors.”

So a breakup isn’t inevitable. But I think it’s way more likely now than I did in 2019. Jeff Sharlet, a contributing editor of Vanity Fair, who I’ve known for years, has had his journey into “the far-right world of January 6 insurrectionists, QAnon-ers, and Trump cultists—who they are, what they’re saying, what they believe, and what their still-growing movement might portend (including the specter of civil war in America). Such a prospect, says Sharlet, is ‘scarier than it’s ever been.'”

Add inflation, crime, and global warming influenced extreme weather, and who knows? Of course, it would be an ugly, difficult breakup. The 1947 partition of India and Pakistan along religious lines was extremely costly, monetarily and in terms of about two million lives lost. Since we’re the USA, it’d be even worse.

Would you Rather? Sunday Stealing

Barenaked Ladies

For this Sunday Stealing, Would you Rather?

1. Would you rather eat pizza every day or never eat pizza again?

Pizza, and pie generally, is so variable that I could have pizza daily. White broccoli today, sausage and mushrooms tomorrow. Heck, I’ll even try pineapple!

In fact, this New York Times article recommends you get a good plain pie. “You might dress a green salad and arrange it over the pie, or fry a bunch of eggs and slide them on top. You could examine your refrigerator as you might in advance of making a charcuterie board, and use what cured meats and interesting cheeses you have to adorn the sauce. Sautéed spinach on your pizza? Chinese sausage? Pickled jalapeños? Honey and red-pepper flakes? Sure. Whatever you like. “

2. Would you rather stay forever at your current age or be 10 years younger?

I could stand being my current age forever because Science will be able to fix my various ailments, if not now then in the future.

3. Would you rather have too many friends or too few?

Too many, clearly, though the word “friend” can be pretty fuzzy. I have 2000 “friends” on Facebook. A few of them who interact with me I consider friends, even if I have never met them. A LOT of them were friends in the past, and. absent some major blowout, they still matter to me.

Vlogbrothers

4. Would you rather have no taste buds or be blind?

No taste buds. Maybe then I can eat canned beets without gagging. In fact, you should watch “Sad COVID Boy Hank Green Eats Foods He Hates but Can’t Taste,” because there are things he generally hates, such as black licorice, that he likes because he can’t smell them, which, of course, is a huge part of taste.

5. Would you rather never hear music again or lose the ability to read?

Now we have a tough one. Lose the ability to read because I would listen to audiobooks. Not listening to music, OTOH, would not be a life worth living.

6. Would you rather speak “whale” or read babies’ minds?

I don’t know that anyone should want to read babies’ minds. Where is the joy and frustration of parenting in THAT?

7. Would you rather be the richest person or the smartest?

Clearly, the smartest, because I’ve ALWAYS wanted to know more stuff.

8. Would you rather create history or delete it?

People spend way too much time trying to delete history, to our collective detriment; I’m agin it. So make history, for sure.

A Picasso or a Garfunkel

9. Would you rather create a great piece of art and not get credit or get credit for a piece of art you didn’t create?

The moral choice is obvious to me. I could stand to be uncredited. I could NOT bear to take credit for something I didn’t create.

10. Would you rather age from the neck up, or from the neck down?

The neck up. There’s more below the neck that hurts.

11. Would you rather see the world but live in poverty or stay in one place and live rich?

See the world; that’s an enriching experience.

12. Would you rather become famous or powerful?

Powerful. I think being famous would kind of suck.

13. Would you rather be a creative person or a technical person?

Hmm. I’m mildly creative, more than a technical person, so creative.

14. Would you rather get a paper cut whenever you touch paper or bit your tongue whenever you eat something?

Easy. Paper cuts. I can avoid paper but not eating.

15. Would you rather wake up in the morning looking like a giraffe or a kangaroo?

Kangaroo. I’m reminded of the Randy Newman song Political Science. “We’ll save Australia. Don’t want to hurt no kangaroos.”