Ramblin' with Roger

The first railroad in New York sign

Steam!

Here’s a picture of the sign designating the first railroad chartered in the US. As you can see, the sign had been there since 1940.

“The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad was the first railroad built in the state of New York and one of the first railroads in the United States. It was so-named because it linked the Mohawk River at Schenectady with the Hudson River at Albany. It was conceived as a means of allowing Erie Canal passengers to quickly bypass the circuitous Cohoes Falls via steam-powered trains.

“The railroad was incorporated on April 17, 1826, as the Mohawk and Hudson Company and opened for public service on August 9, 1831. On April 19, 1847, the company name was changed to the Albany and Schenectady Railroad. The railroad was consolidated into the New York Central Railroad on May 17, 1853.”

This sign was located along historic Route 20 in Albany on Madison Avenue near Allen Street, just two blocks from my house.

That’s not the same sign!

I would not have mentioned this except for one thing. The sign has been replaced, apparently in 2021, though I never noticed until mid-May 2022.

Notice the more definitive wording. Not “near here,” but here. Yet it’s narrowed the scope of the accomplishment.

The other noteworthy element is who paid for the sign. “The William G. Pomeroy Foundation is committed to supporting the celebration and preservation of community history, and working to improve the probability of finding appropriate donor matches or other life-saving treatments for blood cancer patients.”

Here’s the description of this sign.

“In August of 1831 the first steam-powered passenger train in New York State, powered by the locomotive DeWitt Clinton, traveled between this place (junction of Railroad and Great Western Turnpike, now Western Avenue in Albany) on the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad line and Schenectady.”

“From the August 2, 1831 edition of Morrisville’s Republican Monitor:

We learn that the company have decided on using steam power only; and there is probably no road in this country or Europe more admirably calculated for locomotive engines…The Mohawk and Hudson rail-road has an important advantage over other roads, in being perfectly straight, and consequently less liable to lateral pressure; and the engines placed upon it will not be retarded by any intervening inclined plane, as they will be employed upon the level between the hills at Albany and Schenectady.“

History

The Pomeroy Foundation, which began in 2005, “is interested in opportunities to partner with 501(c)(3) organizations, nonprofit educational institutions, and local, state, and federal government entities that have identified a unique and historically significant project that could incorporate physically placed roadside markers.”

I’m fascinated by this in part because something that I had taken for granted, sitting by the nearby bus stop for decades, had changed, and I missed it until now. Also, I’m interested in entities that will provide signage designating historical places to not-for-profit entities, but also to the governments.

Stolen from Sunday Stealing

free and unexpected

stollen

Sunday Stealing had these questions. But they were stolen. (Not to be confused with stollen.) And with any luck, someone will steal it from me.

The best story your parents or grandparents tell about the good ole days.

No obvious narrative comes to mind from my parents, ESPECIALLY my father, who I don’t believe thought in terms of the ole days being all that good. It’s probably a story from my maternal grandmother, usually about building X used to have business Y. I don’t know if the stories weren’t that engaging or if I was too impatient to hear them. Probably both.

Now, my mother did tell stories, like the red wig tale, but it wasn’t historic when she first told it, but contemporaneous. The oldest story I can recall involved me singing the ad for Pamper Shampoo, when I was a toddler, about which, of course, I have no recollection.

The best things in life are…

Both free and unexpected. My wife, my daughter, and I went to an ice cream place on Memorial Day. My wife was going to talk with a couple of people about who they should hire for a position. I just wasn’t that interested in being a part of that conversation. Fortunately, I saw a friend from my church I hadn’t talked with for months. They, their Significant Other, and I had a great conversation about information access, privacy, television, and much more. It was grand.

Guano crazy

Things that drive me batty

Broken politics. For instance, Congressman Chris Jacobs, a Republican from near the mass shooting in Buffalo supported a federal assault weapons ban and a limit on high-capacity magazines. A week later, threatened with a primary and a dressing down by DJT Jr, he’s no longer running for reelection.

The Boston Globe had a piece, What drives mass shooters? Grievance, despair, and anger are more likely triggers than mental illness, experts say. Yet mental health and schools that are more fortress-like are the only things Senate Minority Leader McConnell even mentions.

To that end, I’m reminded of this segment from the Daily Show, Switzerland: So Many Guns, No Mass Shootings.

A place I’d like to live and why

Here (Albany, NY). Given the vagueries of climate change, this, or similar settings are fine.

Simply the best

The best thing I’ve ever found

I’ve found some great books and CDs at discount stores and library sales.

The best thing that happened recently is…

My wife’s retirement party. despite not knowing most of the folks, I nevertheless had a decent time. Or the wine-and-cheese art opening at the Pine Hills branch of the Albany Public Library, with music by the Albany High School Jazz Ensemble. Or talking with a friend for nearly two hours.

I admire people who…

Are optimistic without being Pollyanna-like

What makes me special

I don’t think it’s a single thing. It’s the odd admixture that is me.

I am looking forward to…

My daughter going to college.

Things that scare me

The loss of American democracy, and all that entails.

Complaints I have

People who seem to believe the rules don’t apply to them because they are too busy or too important.

I could never live without…

Music. But you knew that.

Things that make me laugh

They tend to be situationally funny, often involving wordplay.

1952 #1 songs: They liked Ike

Shine, little glow-worm.

Considering I was not born yet, I remember the election of 1952 quite well. Adlai Stevenson looking all erudite. VP candidate Richard Nixon’s Checkers speech. Dwight Eisenhower, less than a decade after WWII, went from supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe in 1943 to being elected as the 34th President less than a decade later.

If you do the math, you’ll note that there are 78 weeks’ worth of #1 songs. That is because there were three different charts in those days: Best Sellers, Juke Box, and Disc Jockey (radio airplay). By 1958, there was only one Billboard pop chart.

I’m fascinated that I have a number of the #1 big band songs of 1942, as well as the pop hits of 1962. But I own NONE of these tracks, save for the annoying Xmas cut.

You Belong To Me – Jo Stafford with Paul Weston and his orchestra 12 weeks at #1

Wheel Of Fortune – Kay Starr, 10 weeks at #1, gold record
I Went To Your Wedding – Patti Page, 10 weeks at #1, gold record

Auf Wiederseh’n Sweetheart – Vera Lynn, 9 weeks at #1, gold record. The singer fascinated me. I wrote about her around her 100th birthday in 2017. She died in 2020.

Kiss Of Fire – Georgia Gibbs, 7 weeks at #1, gold record

Liars’ Club?

Why Don’t You Believe Me – Joni James, 6 weeks at #1, gold record. She died in February 2022.

Blue Tango – Leroy Anderson (instrumental), 5 weeks at #1, gold record

The Glow-Worm -Mills Brothers, 3 weeks at #1, gold record. This tune I had heard, possibly as a children’s song
Half As Much – Rosemary Clooney, 3 weeks at #1, gold record
Here In My Heart – Al Martino, 3 weeks at #1
Slow Poke – Pee Wee King and His Golden West Cowboys, featuring Redd Stewart, 3 weeks at #1, gold record. I remember this as an oldie on the radio.

It’s In The Book (Parts 1 and 2) – Johnny Standley (comedy), 2 weeks at #1, gold record. A sermon on Little Bo Peep and other topics.
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus – Jimmy Boyd (Christmas novelty), 2 weeks at #1, gold record. Even as a child, I was not a fan.

Wish You Were Here – Eddie Fisher
Delicado – Percy Faith (instrumental)
A Guy Is A Guy – Doris Day

The complicated act of voting in NYS

two primaries this summer

Voting has become a complicated act in 2022. I’m not talking voter suppression, which I’ve mentioned before.

First, congratulations to Sarah Macinski, a member of my church, who was elected to the Board of the Albany Public Library Trustees on May 17 in a ten-person race. The five-year terms of the three candidates with the highest number of votes begin in July. But Sarah, as the fourth-highest vote-getter, starts her four-year term immediately.

On the same day, school boards across the state were elected. The issues are more urgent than ever. Sandi Sonnenfeld from the board of the Mid-Hudson Arts Education Alliance sounds the alarm. “Of the 1,145 novels and nonfiction books currently banned in one or more public schools in the United States, 74 percent of them feature protagonists of color or LGBTQ protagonists? Another 22 percent examine racism and other forms of social injustice.”

While only a handful of candidates won on anti-Critical Race Theory, and anti-LGBTQ platforms locally, two people won on Manhasset, Long Island, as Alan Singer reports.

ALSO: Albany Public Library names new Executive Director, Andrea Nicolay

VOTING-New York State

As Daily Kos noted, “a Republican judge in upstate New York ordered the implementation of a new court-drawn congressional map that radically redraws the state’s existing districts and has already sparked widespread political upheaval.

“The final map is in most respects similar to the draft proposed earlier… by court-appointed expert Jonathan Cervas, who appears to have prized compactness and competitiveness above other considerations, such as preserving communities of interest.” I must admit that, as an old poli sci major, I too support “compactness and competitiveness.”

Moreover, the Democrats had chosen to approve “maps that were shameful in their egregious bias. They overreached, with hubris both obvious and ugly.” The gerrymandering of certain districts, especially in New York City, was terrible.

Thus, New York State will be having 2 primaries this summer, at double the cost. Well, unless a lawsuit consolidates them. The second primary on August 23 will just be “for Congress and the state Senate, which saw its map struck down on the same grounds. Candidates for the Assembly and statewide office, however, are continuing to run in the original June 28 primary.”

One of the candidates in NY-10 downstate may include Elizabeth Holtzman. Should she succeed in her comeback attempt, her 42-year gap between periods of service in Congress would be the longest in history by far.

ALSO: Federal Elections results in Australia

SNL- PSA: Vote

Downton Abbey: A New Era

the south of France

My wife said during the Memorial Day weekend, “Do you want to see Downton Abbey: A New Era?” We go to few enough movies that the answer is almost always YES.

So we got in the car to head to the Spectrum Theatre when she noticed that it was also showing at the nearby Madison Theatre. Should we go there? Nah, the Spectrum popcorn is better, and there’s more room at the Spectrum.

As it turned out, there were more folks at a Friday matinee than I have seen in a long time. Every row on both sides had at least a party of two, and often more, from the back to the fourth row from the front, where we sat.

As I noted in my review of the first film, I had/have never seen a full episode of the TV show, even though the DVDs are in the house. An imperfect analogy: it would be like watching the last two Avengers movies without having seen any of the other films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You might get the gist of the story, but pieces would be missing.

What is necessary

So I’m responding to what I know. There were two basic plotlines taking place in the early 1930s. One involved an offer from a company to make a film at the mansion. While the initial offer was rejected outright by Robert Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), others, notably Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) noted that the building is in disrepair, including a leaky roof, and that the family really could use the infusion of cash.

Fortunately, some of the family had another place to go, to the south of France, to a villa given to the Countess of Grantham (Maggie Smith) back in the 1860s, by a gentleman of her brief acquaintance, much to the dismay of that man’s widow. Although he wasn’t really needed, Mr. Carson (Jim Carter) came along to help the family.

I enjoyed the film – and my wife even more so – in meeting up with the familiar cast. In particular, the issue of making a silent film when the talkies were starting to take hold was a lot of fun. Ah, that’s Hugh Dancy as the film director; isn’t he in the new Law and Order?

The downstairs people – the staff, in general, I find more interested than most of the “passive income earners.” And I think their stories were more compelling. I laughed aloud at least a half dozen times, especially at what I should have anticipated but did not.

I often look at negative reviews, though 85% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. There was a bit of “it’s not cinematic enough” and “another (longer) episode of the show.” Since I didn’t watch the series, it’s impossible for me to assess those aspects. But having seen too many movies on television over the past two years, I’m having a bit more difficulty figuring out what that even means anymore.