Sunday Stealing is FAB

laundry detergent

For Sunday Stealing: “Since it’s Easter weekend, we’re going to keep this simple. We stole this from a blogger named Idzie, who called this the FAB. (film, audio, book) meme.”

There is such a blurring of the lines between movies and television shows that it’s challenging for me to categorize them. Also, I find it interesting that some people watch TV and films on their phones; I find this utterly unsatisfactory. I don’t wanna be tied to my phone. Adriana Diaz on CBS Mornings talked about watching a horror movie on her phone, occasionally covering her eyes. In my opinion, that’s no way to watch a movie. I want to watch a film on the big screen; failing that, on a television screen. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I watched many films on my laptop; it was an extraordinary time.

F.A.B.

F. Film: What movie or TV show are you watching? 

Most of the movies I watch, I’ve blogged about on this site. 

I watch CBS Sunday Morning, 60 Minutes, CBS Saturday Morning, Jeopardy, Abbott Elementary, Finding Your Roots, Grey’s Anatomy (been watching since the beginning), and Elsbeth (who was a character on the TV show called The Good Wife, which I used to watch religiously).  I still watch JEOPARDY! and enjoy it when I get a clue that none of the contestants know: MYTHOLOGY $800: Stronger than dirt, this great warrior eventually went mad & killed himself. 

A. Audio: What are you listening to?

Most of what I’m listening to, aside from the Coverville and AmeriNZ podcasts and the Heather Cox Richardson Substack, are YouTube videos, which I watch as well as listen to.

For instance, I watch Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, which is on HBO,  but I don’t watch it on HBO, but on YouTube a day or three later on my laptop.

I always watch Vlogbrothers. Sometimes, I watch The Legal Eagle, The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart, Trae Crowder Liberal Redneck, and Rick Beato.

I do a lot of grazing. Upstate Uncovered by Chuck D’Imperio. Searching for Solid Ground, a memoir by Reggie Harris. A bunch of reference books.

Part 2 of the 1935 #1 hits

Rodgers & Hart

Here is Part 2 of the 1935 #1 hits.

“In 1934, two separate top 20 charts began: one for best-selling records (based primarily on the record label charts and Murrells, supplemented by other sources such as Kinkle and Ewan) and one for Your Hit Parade and radio airplay. The latter charts were based solely on radio airplay in 1934 and early 1935. Starting in April of 1935, Your Hit Parade and radio airplay rankings were weighed together for”  The Century of Pop Music Charts.  Thus, the charts show 77 weeks of #1 hits.

Two weeks at #1

East Of The Sun (And West Of The Moon) – Tom Coakley, vocals by Carl Ravazza (Victor) From the Princeton Triangle Club’s production “Stags At Bay.”

It’s Easy To Remember – Bing Crosby with George Stoll and his orchestra (Decca), “‘Mississippi’ was one of  Crosby’s finest Paramount musicals” and boasted several Rodgers & Hart songs

What’s The Reason (I’m Not Pleasin’ You)? – Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians, vocals by Carmen Lombardo (Decca)

Life’s A Song (Let’s Sing It Together) – Ruth Etting (Columbia)

Lullabye of Broadway – Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, vocals by Bob Crosby (Decca) Warren & Dubin tune from “Gold Diggers of 1935” 

The Object Of My Affection – Boswell Sisters with Jimmie Grier and his orchestra  (Brunswick). This was also a 1934 #1 hit by Jimmie Grier with Pinky Tomlin

Let’s Swing It – Ray Noble and his orchestra, vocals by  The Freshman (Victor) from  Earl Carroll’s “Sketch Book of 1935”

Red Sails In The Sunset – Bing Crosby with Victor Young and his orchestra (Decca)

A Little Bit Independent – Fats Waller and his Rhythm (Victor)

A single week at #1

On Treasure Island – Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra, vocals by Edythe Wright (Victor)

Rhythm Is Our Business – Jimmy Lunsford and his orchestra, vocals by Willie Smith (Decca) Written by Sammy Cahn (his 1st credit) / Jimmie Lunceford / Saul Chaplin

Soon – Bing Crosby withn George Stoll and his orchestra (Decca), another Rodgers & Hart song from “Mississippi” 

And Then Some – Ozzie Nelson and his orchestra (Brunswick). Yes, the guy from The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. 

Paris In The Spring – Ray Noble and his orchestra, vocals by Al Bowlly (Victor). The title song from a 1935 Paramount movie 

“the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five”

“you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere”

In March, John Rowen reviewed The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America by Kostya Kennedy for a Friends and Foundation talk. My introduction referenced  “the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five.” I mentioned this to my wife at dinner that night and was surprised she didn’t recognize it instantly.

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

From National Park Service: “The opening lines of ‘Paul Revere’s Ride’ are perhaps the best-known words today of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poem, with its galloping measure and steady rhyme, take the reader through Paul Revere’s urgent ride on the eve of the battle of Lexington and Concord. When it was published in Tales of a Wayside Inn (1863), the poem became ‘The Landlord’s Tale,’ with the proprietor of the old inn in Sudbury telling the local history.”

Sort of correct

It is interesting, though, that only Revere and not his compatriots caught Longfellow’s attention. “Though based on historic events, the poem should be read as a myth or tale, not as a historical account. Many historians have dissected the poem since 1860 and compared it to Revere’s account of the ride in his own words and other historic evidence. Of the several inaccuracies, three stand out:

  • Revere knew the British route before he left Boston. Though two lanterns were held aloft in the Old North Church tower, Revere was not waiting on the Charlestown shore to see them. Instead, they were a fallback plan in case he could not get out of Boston.
  • Revere was captured by patrolling British Regulars in Lincoln, just past Lexington, and never arrived in Concord.
  • Revere did not ride alone that night. He was one of two riders to leave Boston, and one of many messengers spreading the alarm.

The Kostya Kennedy book notes that Paul Revere borrowed a horse named Brown Beauty from John Larkin, a Charlestown merchant and patriot sympathizer. Rowen believes that this new book fills in many gaps that previous tellings had not addressed. He wrote this Goodreads review, based on reading a PDF but only received a physical copy via UPS on the day of the talk!  

What about Dawes?

“The omission of other riders was a particularly sore point for some. Henry Ware Holland, a descendant of William Dawes, self-published a history in 1878 titled William Dawes and His Ride with Paul Revere. He sent a copy to Longfellow, who wryly remarked that it was ‘a very handsome book… in which he convicts me of high historic crimes and misdemeanors.'”

So why not Dawes, who was as courageous as Revere? “Longfellow owned the 1832 New England Magazine featuring a biography of Paul Revere with an account of his ride, and was able to provide it as a reference to a correspondent in 1877.” Moreover, Revere wrote of the adventure multiple times and controlled the narrative. 

My question: Do YOU recognize

On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year

I graduated from Binghamton Central High School in 1971, but I heard at least the poem’s first part well before then. 

And now?

From Weekly Sift on Reclaiming the Spirit of ’75: “Over the next 15 months, a lot of 250th anniversaries are going to roll around. I hope we use them to reclaim the true spirit of American patriotism from the fascist posers who so often usurp that legacy. Let us rededicate ‘our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor’ to the cause of the inalienable rights of all people, and resist all attempts to impose one-man rule on these hallowed shores.”

Welcoming the Stranger vs. MAGA Jesus

none was a ‘Christian’ takeover of government to force its way upon people

I came across some articles while contemplating Holy Week—one cohort linked to Welcoming the Stranger vs. MAGA Jesus. 

A chapter was A Migrant 4 Life Journeys to the New Tower of Babel: Christianity and Immigration by Craig B. Mousin from DePaul University, written in April 2024. “This chapter focuses on two opposite interpretations, categorizing them as restrictionists and receptionists.

“The chapter contrasts how each group interprets Genesis’ Tower of Babel story to restrict immigration or welcome the stranger. The restrictionists, represented by MAGA Jesus, interpret the Tower of Babel story as calling for individual nations to protect borders. In that pursuit, they distinguish between lawful strangers a nation welcomes and those who constitute the enemy who should be excluded or deported. The receptionists, those welcoming the stranger, are represented by Jesus, the Migrant 4 Life. For them, the Tower of Babel cautions against authoritarian government and, instead, welcomes diversity” (44 pp)

Another by Mousin discusses Ruth and the daily trial of innocence, “Nonrefoulement: Responding to Asylum-seekers Through the Prism of Subversive Stories: A Study of Three Trials of Innocence.”  (37 pp.)

Leap of Faith

David French in the NYT writes: “America needs to nail 95 theses to the megachurch door.

“Last month, Paula White, one of President Trump’s most faithful and powerful evangelical supporters and a senior adviser to his new White House Faith Office, began offering “seven supernatural blessings” for the Easter season.

“If you ‘honor God’ during the period of Passover and Easter, ‘God will assign an angel to you, he’ll be an enemy to your enemies, he’ll give you prosperity, he’ll take sickness away from you, he will give you long life, he’ll bring increase in inheritance, and he’ll bring a special year of blessing.’

“The suggested price for these extraordinary gifts is an offering to Paula White Ministries of $1,000 or more…

“After almost 10 long years during which Trump has captured evangelical hearts more than any other president of my lifetime, I am forced to admit that Trump may have been better attuned to conservative evangelical culture than any other Republican president in the modern era.

“His bond with evangelicals isn’t just a result of flawed theology. It’s a result of the broken culture that flawed theology helped create. And in some parts of American Christianity, the theology is so flawed, and the culture is so broken, that evangelicals don’t see Trump contradicting their values at all — he’s exactly like the men and women who lead their church.”

Read the whole thing.

Render unto Caesar

Another piece is There is no Jesus in MAGA by Earl Chappell, a longtime Bible study leader and teacher at First Baptist Church of Norfolk VA. “In no place in the New Testament does Jesus instruct us to take over government or to even align ourselves with government authorities. He modeled the existence with which his followers may be associated with the governing authorities, none of which was a ‘Christian’ takeover of government to force its way upon people. In Romans, Paul exhorts Christians to obey the governing authorities, essentially as they administer the laws over the geography of their influence.”

I imagine the GOP Jesus video will be incendiary. But in my experience, it’s often, though not always, true. 

Finally, a short piece, Jesus at the MAGA rally, by Martin Thielen, retired minister, ex-megachurch pastor, bestselling author, and founder and author of www.DoubtersParish.com. It begins: “Several weeks ago, I had a strange and troubling dream. In my dream, I attended a massive rally. Thousands of people flocked to the stadium to hear their hero speak. As throngs of people entered the stadium, Jesus quietly entered and sat near the back. Nobody noticed him.

“In the dream, the speaker rose to the podium. He spoke a long time about himself, his greatness, and how he alone could save America from doom. He told one falsehood after another, but nobody seemed to care.”

It has an ending entirely appropriate to Maundy Thursday.

What to do?

I’ve been attending events and reading up on the issue. “The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) is an umbrella policy & advocacy organization that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York.” Because of events that have recently taken place in my own city and county, this will probably consume chunks of my time in the coming weeks and months. What will that look like? I’m not sure yet… 

More bathrooms!

CPKC

I may be slightly obsessed with the topic, but we need more bathrooms!

When my wife and I went to Proctors Theatre a couple of times in the last month, I was pained by the fact that the guys (e.g., I) could walk past the line of about 15 women waiting to go into the bathroom and got right into the men’s room. When they (e.g., I) came out, there were 20 women in line.

 

This is so not right.

 

My church is discussing getting more bathrooms on the main floor, which currently has one unisex bathroom and one women’s bathroom. Every time people visit the church, usually for weddings or funerals, the guys wander around trying to find another loo. There’s a men’s room on the second floor, but there may be more.

 

Albany Public Library’s Washington Ave. branch needs more bathrooms. I swear it used to have more, but only two unisex rooms exist presently. When one of them is broken down, the line outside the door gets long.  One time, a guy got impatient and started pounding on the door. I didn’t share with him that it would have slowed my progress from leaving if I had been in the bathroom and someone was pounding on the door. It’s not unlike what happens when I’m crossing the street with the light in my favor, and some car comes up about three feet from where I’m crossing at the crosswalk and beeps at me; I suddenly become 102 and take forever to get across the street.

The local Dunkin requires a purchase before access is allowed. A recent patron complained, “I have to buy a doughnut so I don’t pee my pants?”
Women’s Soccer

“In October 2023, CPKC proudly announced an agreement with the KC Current for naming rights to the first stadium in the world purpose-built for a professional women’s sports team.

“Located near downtown Kansas City, Mo., CPKC Stadium is a seven-acre site at the east end of Berkley Riverfront Park. The 11,500-seat stadium opened on March 16, 2024, with the Kansas City Current’s home opener.”

CBS News had a crew there for the National Women’s Soccer League finals a few months ago. They noted that the stadium was sustainable, accessible, and, not incidentally, had enough bathrooms.

Ramblin' with Roger
Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial