Ramblin' with Roger

Judge Tom Keefe

How much of the Tom Keefe situation involves alleged misconduct and how much may be politically motivated?

Let me get my bias out there right off: I’ve known Thomas Keefe since 1979. I met his future wife Judy Doesschate in 1975. I’ve carried nominating petitions for both of them, for his first run for judge, and for her first run on the school board. And I HATE carrying petitions.

I was saddened, then, to discover that Tom Keefe will no longer be serving as Albany City Court Judge, agreeing to resign on September 30, rather than fight for perhaps another year and a half.

It’s my belief that his desire was to find resolutions in his courtroom that were fair and just. From what I know, he has been quite creative in this endeavor, time and time again. It is the city’s loss.

Unfortunately, some of the press coverage was less fair than Tom Keefe tended to be. The New York Daily News article, which I will not link to, is particularly egregious in this regard.

I recommend that you read these articles instead:
New York Law Journal: City Judge Resigns After Probe of Bias Against Prosecutors or HERE
WAMC: Albany City Court Judge Thomas Keefe To Resign After Misconduct Investigation

These articles shed more light on the circumstances surrounding the Tom Keefe situation, how much involves alleged misconduct, and how much may be politically motivated.

Judge for yourselves.

F is for Fireworks

Recently, I’ve been satisfied watching fireworks on TV.

Colorful fireworks lighting the night sky

I’m OK with a modicum of fireworks on the 4th of July. I’m less thrilled with them on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of the month, and I heard LOTS of fireworks in my neighborhood before Independence Day. I’m with Ken Levine when he says, “Why the hell do people buy home fireworks?”

A recent change in New York State Penal Law now allows for the sale and use of a specific category of consumer fireworks known as Sparkling Devices, ground based or handheld devices “that produce a shower of colored sparks and or a colored flame, audible crackling or whistling noise and smoke” of a certain size.

“Sale and use of Sparkling Devices will be legal only in counties and cities that have enacted a local law…” Albany County was the 37th county to pass such an ordinance in May 2016. This explains the display at the local CVS pharmacy of late, which did not used to be the case.

Recently, I’ve been satisfied watching fireworks on TV while The Wife and The Daughter travel 75 miles to my in-laws’ house in Oneonta and watch the festivities there. But because they were home this year, traveling two days later, the Daughter wanted to see pyrotechnics.

We all went out, hearing the explosions, but unable to see any fancy colors except the local illicit models. The Wife went home, but the Daughter and I found a field with a fairly decent view of the fireworks from the Empire State Plaza from behind the high school.

But the more local items blowing up were LOUD. A series of items that sounded like gunfire. In fact, if someone WANTED to commit murder, it’d be a decent time.

As we got closer to the school, we noticed what I initially thought was a furnace I had never seen before. But no, it was a fully-engulfed Dumpster fire. And the adjacent shack was smoldering. Fortunately, the Fire Department arrived before I was able to call.

On our walk home, we saw a young couple with her toddler daughter, throwing something out on the street. When cars would ride over the area, it sounded as they had blown a flat tire. Often, the driver would swerve from being startled; I’m glad no one got hurt.

I was ready to go home. I was most worried about someone detonating something and deafening me or my daughter.

The best way I could describe it was as a fairly civilized war zone.

ABC Wednesday – Round 19

August rambling #1: Dystopian Reader

Tony Bennett is 90!

Alan David Doane’s new blog The Dystopian Reader; see, in particular, the lead story here

Arthur@AmeriNZ’s political notebook #1 and #2 because otherwise this post would be filled with these links.

The Latest Beaverkill Sinkhole, On South Lake Avenue in Albany

Please read this before you post another RIP on social media

Why George W. Bush stood there and took the wrath of a soldier’s mom

Donald Trump: stop calling him crazy, even as his Assassination Dog Whistle Was Even Scarier Than You Think; NBC’s Katy Tur: My crazy year with Trump

DJT Parody: Trump tore into the media for what he called their “extremely unfair practice” of reporting the things he says and he would only use nuclear weapons in a sarcastic way and Robert Crumb and friends flush him down the toilet (1989)

No, the Pope did NOT endorse Hillary Clinton

Survey Reveals a Startling Truth About White Christians

ESPN’s John Saunders, RIP at age 61

1968 Olympics: The White Man in That Photo

Goodbye to ‘Honeys’ in Court, by Vote of American Bar Association

If Walls Could Talk: Albany’s Historic Architecture: Myers Residence

Western New York Love Letter: Adventures in the 716

The Jedi religion of Australia

Kliph Nesteroff interviews writer Merrill Markoe about the ’70s Laugh-In revival, which introduced Robin Williams to American TV

A great Stan Freberg story

Buck O’Neil for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020

Godfather of Gore H.G. Lewis to host a marathon of his splatter classics – I met him once, nice guy

Obits: Kenny Baker, 81; played R2-D2 in ‘Star Wars’ and David Huddleston, 85, ‘Big Lebowski’ actor and Emmy-Winning Stage and Screen Star Fyvush Finkel Dies at 93

What is Bulldada? What is NOT?

Air Canada to start charging for emotional baggage in 2017

They Have A Word for It

Now I Know: The Man Who Bounced Around A Bit and The Thin Red Deer Line and A Moist Upsetting Word

Derrick Boudwin and retinitis pigmentosa: Ever Dimming Room

Tony Bennett is 90!

Chuck Miller: The Monks’ “Black Monk Time” is an Album I Want to Be Buried With

Playing for Change: Fumaza | Live Outside

Coverville 1136: The 50th Anniversary Tribute to The Beatles’ Revolver

The Beatles: A New Video For While My Guitar Gently Weeps (LOVE version)

Several versions of Up The Ladder To The Roof

Glenn Yarbrough, Folk Singer With the Limeliters, Dies at 86 Glenn Yarbrough, Folk Singer With the Limeliters, Dies at 86

Obscure Winnipeg band reverberates on eBay a half-century later

The Atlantic: The Electric Surge of Miles Davis

Google alert (me)

My buddy Eddie Mitchell, the Renaissance Geek wrote nice things about me, and Smilin’ Ed. Not incidentally, the Smilin’ Ed book of collected stories and additional stuff is available from Amazon. I do believe it is the first book for which I have a credit.

Google Alert (not me)

The Lubbock ISD Ag Farm has received a donation of over 15 goats after the dog attacks that killed 10 more of their goats Monday morning.

“This is the agriculture community coming together,” Ag farm manager Roger Green said. “They will all jump in to help you out.”

The Pro Football Hall of Fame

The NFL was something I experienced with others, initially with my father.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016, Canton, Ohio

Last year, when we knew we would be going to the Olin Family Reunion in Ashtabula, Ohio, I proclaimed that one of the other activities I REALLY wanted to do is to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This is football as in the American game, not what Americans call soccer.

I’m a sucker for a good HoF. I’ve been to the Basketball one in Springfield, MA with The Wife (and infant Daughter); the surprisingly enjoyable Horse Racing HoF in Saratoga Springs, NY, with The Wife; and the Baseball HoF in Cooperstown, NY, which I’ve been to several times, going back to my childhood.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame provided a very entertaining time for me, as I was captivated about the history, from the 1920s, with highlights from each decade. On one wall was the won-loss record of every team, current or defunct, for every season.

The social impact of the sport was on display, from the reintegration of the NFL in the 1940s to Joe Namath’s pantyhose commercial.

And checking out the information about the players was fun. It’s true that I don’t much follow the National Football League much these past several years, and couldn’t tell you who won the Super Bowl two or three years ago. But I could tell you who was in the first five of them.

The NFL was something I experienced with others, initially with my father, watching the New York Giants each week of the season, then various friends. (I remember specifically that a now-ex of mine fell on the black ice the day the Buffalo Bills came back from the largest playoff deficit ever.)

Alas, it wasn’t nearly as much fun for The Wife and The Daughter. They were on some Xbox, trying to play. But they know so little about the fundamentals of the game that they kept getting “delay of game” penalties.

In fact, the Daughter’s favorite thing was noticing this utility poll very near the building, and recognizing it as a goalpost.

We did get lunch there – it wasn’t outrageously expensive – and heard on the NFL newsfeed that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s four-game suspension would be reinstated. Good or bad news, depending on one’s rooting interests.

I recommend the Pro Football Hall of Fame for even the casual NFL fan or former fan, but not so much for those who don’t care about the game at all.

Music Throwback Saturday: Am I Asking Too Much

R Dean Taylor had an unlikely Motown hit of his own, Indiana Wants Me

One of the earlier compact discs I bought was The Never-Before-Released Masters by Diana Ross and the Supremes. It was definitely a mixed bag of songs from 1961 through 1969 that represented both major iterations of the group: Mary Wilson and Diana Ross with the late Florence Ballard, and after the group name change, with Cindy Birdsong.

Among other things, the album contains recordings for the unreleased album Diana Ross & The Supremes Sing Disney Classics, not my favorite section of the collection. And the cover of the Classics IV hit Stormy is unnecessary. I do enjoy some of the covers of other Motown artists.

My favorite song on the album is Am I Asking Too Much. It was written by R. Dean Taylor and Deke Richards, R Dean Taylor had an unlikely Motown hit of his own, Indiana Wants Me, #5 pop on the Billboard pop charts in 1970. Deke Richards died of esophageal cancer on March 24, 2013, at age 68.

The songwriting credits immediately suggested the Diana/Mary/Cindy period, since most of their earlier hits were by Holland/Dozier/Holland. Indeed, Taylor and Richards were co-writers on the #1 hit Love Child. Am I Asking Too Much was recorded on March 26, 1968, according to the Don’t Forget The Motor City website.

Listen to:

Am I Asking Too Much – Diana Ross and the Supremes HERE

Sweet Thing (William Robinson-Terry Johnson-Al Cleveland) – Diana Ross and the Supremes HERE or HERE

Indiana Wants Me – R. Dean Taylor HERE or HERE