Ramblin' with Roger

2015 in review

All men and women living on the Earth.
Ties of hope and love,
Sister and brotherhood,
That we are bound together

This is the thing that Jaquandor does on December 31, but I do on January 1.

Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

If I made one, it was to do less. I failed miserably, except when I had to because of the hernia operation, which felt really good, actually.

Did anyone close to you give birth?

Not that I recall.

Did you attend any weddings?

Affirmative: Ron and David, just a couple of weeks ago.

Did anyone close to you die?

Well, yes, three people in the first six weeks of the year. Jimmy Rocco, who was in my church choir, and Bonnie Deschane, who cleaned our house for a while, and Robert Yates, my mom’s first cousin, who was closer in age to me than her. I think it made the winter far more difficult. And the average of 12F in February, cf the normal of 19F, didn’t help.

What countries did you visit?

None and I would like to change that someday.

What would you like to have in 2016 that you lacked in 2015?

World peace. Or some approximation thereof.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Surviving November.

What was your biggest failure?

Not finding someone to whom I could delegate a specific task.

What was the best thing you bought?

Marvel Masterworks book of The Defenders comic book, written by Steve Gerber.

Whose behavior merited celebration?

Anyone who acts with caring and compassion in the midst of fear and paranoia.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

And speaking of fear and paranoia, let’s just put it this way: I’m more distressed by the political supporters of a particular political candidate than I am with the candidate.

Where did most of your money go?

The house, specifically the bathroom renovation.

What did you get really excited about?

Learning new stuff, often through this here blog.

Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?

I have to admit, sadder.

Thinner or fatter?

Yo-yo much of the year.

Richer or poorer?

Richer, marginally. We had pledged a chunk of money for our church’s elevator, and that is paid off.

What do you wish you’d done more of?

Reading books.

What do you wish you’d done less of?

I’d like to say “watching the news”, but I don’t want to be beholden to false narratives, so I watch more, from various sources.

How did you spend Christmas?

Christmas Eve means singing at church, so that. Eventually, we go to the in-laws.

Did you fall in love in 2015?

You betcha.

How many one-night stands?

Jaquandor: “Now, that’s not the kind of question a gentleman answers! (Another stock answer!)”

What was your favorite TV program?

The Good Wife, CBS Sunday Morning, JEOPARDY!

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Hate hurts the hater. Now, intense dislike, I have a few.

What was the best book you read?

The Heart of Christianity by Marcus J. Borg. This will require a review, eventually. But kudos to Jaquandor for Stardancer.

What was your greatest musical discovery?

I blame someone from church, who put two Bruno Mars songs on a mixed CD, one of which was Uptown Funk. But more important, and on the same mix, is the song Glory, from the movie Selma. The more I listen to it, the more I appreciate it. Some lyrics:

The biggest weapon is to stay peaceful
We sing, our music is the cuts that we bleed through
Somewhere in the dream, we had an epiphany
Now we right the wrongs in history
No one can win the war individually
It takes the wisdom of the elders and young people’s energy
Welcome to the story we call victory
Comin’ of the Lord, my eyes have seen the glory

What did you want and get?

Out of Corporate (frickin’) Woods, and working downtown.

What did you want and not get?

An office with a door, which was bitterly disappointing beyond belief.

What were your favorite films of this year?

Selma; Love & Mercy; Inside Out.

What did you do on your birthday?

I thought I would have written about this, but I can’t find it. I had my annual hearts game with friends Broome, Mary, and Orchid. Lifelong friend Karen came up because of work that evening, regaling us with stories about Johnny Cash, Paul McCartney, and elevators.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2015?

See these stories. This is about five minutes longer than what I care about in terms of fashion.

What kept you sane?

My dads’ group in church.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, George Takei.

What political issue stirred you the most?

Congress couldn’t even limit guns to those on terror watch lists, because FREEDOM, which epitomizes my despair that ANYTHING will happen to make guns less available to people who ought not to have them.

Who did you miss?

Madre, padre.

Who was the best new person you met?

Our acting presbyter, and a young woman at a church dinner.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2015:

Doing the right thing sometimes backfires.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

After the Charleston shooting, James Taylor sang Shed A Little Light in Columbia, SC. The lyrics:

And recognize that there are ties between us,
All men and women living on the Earth.
Ties of hope and love,
Sister and brotherhood,
That we are bound together
In our desire to see the world
Become a place in which our children
Can grow free and strong.
We are bound together by the task
That stands before us
And the road that lies ahead.
We are bound and we are bound.

December #2: Famous Monsters Chronicles, & EOY

The Great Songs :”Overlooked tracks from artists you know, obscure tracks from artists you may not know…

Weekly Sift explains the US polarized body politic: Small-government Freedom vs. Big-government Rights. Plus the Yearly Sift.

New York Times: For the Wealthiest, a Private Tax System That Saves Them Billions.

Deadliest U.S. mass shootings | 1984-2015.

Short video: A Conversation With Police on Race. Also, the Ferguson cop says life is ‘ruined’ after pointing AR-15 at journalists.

No Charges in the Murder of Tamir Rice and Why white people see black boys like him as older, bigger, and guiltier than they really are.

A girl narrates a letter to her dad as she grows up, and it makes rape culture obvious.

Shooting Parrots is blogging again! Why we’re hard-wired to believe conspiracy theories?

Latest Sunrise and Sunset Forecast in the US.

The city of Albany’s budget crisis.

Everyone on Earth is actually your cousin.

George Clayton Johnson, R.I.P. He was known for writing on the original Twilight Zone TV series, for co-writing the novel Logan’s Run and for writing the first-aired episode of the original Star Trek, among many things.

TEDx Grand Rapids talk: ‪”Valuable Bodies” by artist Riva Lehrer.

Second impressions By Tara Whittle.

Now I Know: The Jumping Frenchmen of Maine and How Panama United Great Britain and the derivation of the word “dude”.

The grilled cheese sandwich; you’re probably making it wrong.

Explain to me how it is that people who’ve been dead, usually exactly three years, seem to cycle up again in FB as recently deceased? Ravi Shankar and Dave Brubeck, just this month. Before that Andy Griffith. With Bob Denver, it was 7 years, so the feedback loop is shrinking.

Wide receiver Edgar Allan Poe.

Instagram Journalism, Internet Fame, & How to Think About Exercise, the former with Jeff Sharlet.

I wrote “Heaven forfend” to someone. My spellcheck does not like forfend?!

Kickstarter: The Official Famous Monsters of Filmland Chronicles Book from FantaCo.

Arthur celebrates the end of the year in search and words and phrases.

I LOVED to watch Meadowlark Lemon play with the Harlem Globetrotters.

The passing of Berowne of Savage Reflections at the age of 94, one of our regular ABC Wednesday contributors. He had a very rich life, but I’ll miss his weekly reflections.

A legendary Jerry Lewis film is reportedly about to join the National Film Registry.

Why West Coast Drivers Add ‘The’ to Their Freeway Numbers. “It’s not an affectation of the car-obsessed—it’s history.”

Satire

Make America Great Again.

How to Misrepresent Global Warming in One Graph, for Dummies.

Lawyer for Martin Shkreli Hikes Fees Five Thousand Per Cent.

Parents Outraged Schools “Indoctrinating” Students Into Islam With Arabic Numerals.

Single Woman With 3 Young Children Unaware She Subject Of 984 Judgments Today.

Chuck Miller

Seven Star Wars movies in one day. And the British weather forecast.

What’s Japanese for “You’re so stupid”?

A TV show I barely heard of called Galavant returns; clips of the musical numbers makes me want to check it out.

Music!

The niece! Rebecca Jade & the Cold Fact – Gonna Be Alright.

From imgur: Hosanna in Excel Sheets

The Carole King tribute at the Kennedy Center Honors.

End of year musical mashups.

The Coverville Countdown: Best Covers of 2015, Part 1 and Part 2.

Pantheon Songs is dead. In its ashes: The Great Songs – “Overlooked tracks from artists you know, obscure tracks from artists you may not know, masterpieces, and other curios I’d play if I were an overnight DJ.”

The Sound of Silence- Disturbed.

The Artist Formerly Known As Terence Trent D’Arby.

At 90, Dick Van Dyke sings “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” with Conan O’Brien and The Vantastix.

NPR: In memoriam, 2015.

Frank Sinatra’s Drummer Tells the Story of His Final Concert.

New Yorker: The Discovery of Roscoe Holcomb and the “High Lonesome Sound”.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees. No YES? NO!

Animated

New group I joined on Facebook: Stephen R. Bissette, writer-artist. NOT started by Steve, BTW.

Evanier on Mel Blanc. Mark has been blogging for 15 years.

Extinct Attractions: Thurl Ravenscroft Documentary (2004) – Grinch, Haunted Mansion, Tony the Tiger.

Trouble with Comics: Favorite Holiday Comics.

I supported the Kickstarter for the documentary I Am Big Bird, but I did NOT know the BINGHAMTON connection of the early career of Caroll Spinney.

Today’s Video Link

Google alerts (me)

Like any rational person, Dustbury LOVES Pet Sounds. I’d love to see Brian Wilson at Tanglewood in June 2016.

How Arthur@AmeriNZ blogs.

Google alert (not me)

Roger Alin Green, 74, died Sunday, December 13, 2015, at his home in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton’s powder horn is up for auction.

I’ve become obsessed with Alexander Hamilton for a while now. He was married to Elizabeth Schuyler, a member of First Presbyterian Church in Albany (my current church!), in 1780. When Aaron Burr killed Hamilton in an 1804 duel, First Presbyterian Albany minister Eliphalet Nott wrote a persuasive sermon that led to the demise of dueling in America.

It definitely intensified with that campaign by some group to put a woman on the $20 bill, replacing Andrew Jackson, something I fully supported.

But then I heard about the Treasury Department’s plan to put a woman on the $10 bill, replacing Hamilton, our first Treasury secretary, and the greatest immigrant among the founders of the country. That plan was tweaked to keep Hamilton on the bill somewhere.

Hamilton’s greatness has become clear as I started listening to the soundtrack of the Broadway musical Hamilton, an extraordinary work by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Here’s the introductory piece. The production is quite influential among some folks; for instance, I found an article titled ‘Hamilton’ Makes Me Want to Be Great.

My family has given three copies of the soundtrack to the musical as Christmas presents this season, and I finally got a copy myself. Getting a ticket to the show is much more difficult, though President Obama has seen it twice, once in previews.

This is a prediction, based on nothing but a gut feeling, and the unexplained postponement of the $10 redesign. Obama decides that the $10 won’t be replaced after all, because, in his feisty last year, he wouldn’t do that to old Alex. Instead, he dumps Jackson, an opponent of the banking system. He suggests a woman, a black woman, maybe Rosa Parks, but I’m hoping Harriet Tubman.

Chuck Miller points out that Alexander Hamilton’s powder horn is up for auction on January 11, 2016.

Y is for the Year 2016

Aug 29 , 1966– The Beatles end their US tour with a concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

I realize I did a similar thing last year around this time. And why not? But this time, I got a tad carried away. Of course, no one knows all that will happen in 2016, besides a leap day on February 29.

Super Bowl 50 (no Roman numerals) will be held on February 7, 2016, at Levi’s Stadium, in Santa Clara, California, broadcast in the US on CBS-TV. The 2016 Summer Olympics will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. August 5–21, followed by the Paralympics, September 7–18. And of course, the 45th President of the United States will be voted on November 8.

These anniversaries will also be noted.

950th (1066)
Oct 14 – Battle of Hastings – The Norman forces of William the Conqueror defeat the English army and kill King Harold II of England.

400th (1616)
Mar – Work of Copernicus banned by the Congregation of the Index.
Apr 23- William Shakespeare, English writer and actor, died.

350th (1666)
Sept 2-4 – The Great Fire of London breaks out and burns for three days, destroying 10,000 buildings including St Paul’s Cathedral.

250th (1766)
Dec 5 – James Christie holds the first sale at Christie’s auction house in London.

200th (1816)
Apr 11 – In Philadelphia, the African Methodist Episcopal Church is established by Richard Allen and other African-American Methodists, the first such denomination completely independent of White churches.
Apr 21 – Birthday of Charlotte Brontë.

175th (1841)
Feb 4 – A first known reference to Groundhog Day in North America, in the diary of a James Morris.
Feb 10 – Act of Union (British North America Act, 1840) proclaimed in Canada; the next day, the two colonies of The Canadas are merged into the United Province of Canada.
Feb 18 – The first ongoing filibuster in the United States Senate begins and lasts until Mar 11.
Mar 9 – the United States v. The Amistad: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in the case that the Africans who seized control of the ship had been taken into slavery illegally.

150th (1866) – lots of post-US Civil War events
Jan 1 – Fisk University, a historically black university, is established in Nashville, TN.
Mar 13 – The US Congress overwhelmingly passes the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the first federal legislation to protect the rights of African-Americans; U.S. President Andrew Johnson vetoes the bill on March 27, and Congress overrides the veto on April 9.
July 28 – Birthday of Beatrix Potter.
Sept 21 – Birthday of Herbert George (H. G.) Wells.

125th (1891)
Jan 7 – Birthday of Zora Neale Hurston, Harlem Renaissance writer (d. 1960).
Feb 13 – Birthday of Grant Wood, American painter (d. 1942).
Mar 19 – Birthday of Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1974). I met him once; I need to write about that.
Apr 1 – The Wrigley Company is founded in Chicago.
Apr 1 – The London–Paris telephone system is opened to the general public.
May 5 – The Music Hall in New York (later known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with Tchaikovsky as guest conductor.
June 25 – Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective Sherlock Holmes appears in The Strand Magazine (London) for the first time, in the issue dated July.
Date unknown – James Naismith invents basketball.

100th (1916) – I emphasized this year, but didn’t mention all of the many World War I references
Jan 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled.
Feb 26 – Birthday of Jackie Gleason, American comedian, actor, and musician (d. 1987).
Feb 29 – Birthday of Dinah Shore, American singer (d. 1994).
Mar 29 – Birthday of Eugene McCarthy, U.S. Senator from Minnesota and Presidential candidate (d. 2005).
Mar -Einstein publishes his theory of relativity.
Apr 5 – Birthday of Gregory Peck, American actor (d. 2003).
Apr 20 – The Chicago Cubs play their first game at Weeghman Park (modern-day Wrigley Field), defeating the Cincinnati Reds 7–6 in 11 innings.
June 15 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America.
July 1 – Birthday of Olivia de Havilland, British-born American actress.
July 9 – Birthday of Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2005).
Aug 25 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs legislation creating the National Park Service.
Aug 31 – Birthday of Daniel Schorr, American journalist (d. 2010).
Sept 15 – World War I: Tanks are used for the first time in battle, at the Battle of the Somme.
Oct 14 – Birthday of C. Everett Koop, United States Surgeon General (d. 2013).
Nov 4 – Birthday of Walter Cronkite, American television journalist (d. 2009). I read his autobiography.
Nov 24 – Birthday of Forrest J. Ackerman, American writer (d. 2008).
Dec 18 – Birthday of Betty Grable, American actress (d. 1973).

90th (1926)
Feb 7 – Carter G. Woodson initiated the first National Negro Week. In 1972, it was renamed Black History Week and in 1976, it became Black History Month.
Aug 6 – Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim across the English Channel.

80th (1936)
May 28 – Alan Turing submits On Computable Numbers for publication.
Dec – King Edward VIII of England signed the instrument of abdication; George VI accedes to the throne

75th (1941) – of course, LOTS of World War II anniversaries, far too many to list here
Mar 11 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the US, signs the Lend-Lease Act into law, providing for the U.S. to provide aid to the Allies.
May 15 – Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak begins as the New York Yankees’ center fielder goes one for four against Chicago White Sox; ends July 17.
July 1 – Commercial TV authorized by the FCC. NBC television begins commercial operation on WNBT on channel 1. The world’s first legal TV commercial occurs at 2:29 PM before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. The 10-second spot displays a picture of a clock superimposed on a map of the United States, accompanied by the voice-over “America runs on Bulova time.” As a one-off special, the first quiz show called “Uncle Bee” is telecast, followed later by Ralph Edwards hosting the second game show broadcast on U.S. TV, Truth or Consequences, as simulcast on radio and TV and sponsored by Ivory soap.
Aug 15 – Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 7:12 am, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for treason. This was the final question on JEOPARDY! in May 2015.
Sept – Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox batted .406 for the season, the last Major League Baseball player to do so.
Dec 7 – Attack on Pearl Harbor, and subsequent entry by the US into WWII.

70th (1946)
Mar 5 – Winston Churchill uses the phrase “Iron Curtain” in his speech at Westminster College, Missouri.

50th (1966) – lots of Vietnam War events
Jan – Indira Gandhi named Prime Minister of India. She wan’t the first female head of government in modern times; Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon was chosen PM of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, in 1960.
Jan 13 – Robert C. Weaver becomes the first African American Cabinet member, by being appointed US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
June 1 – The final new episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show airs (the first episode aired on October 3, 1961).
Aug 1 – Sniper Charles Whitman kills 14 people and wounds 32 from atop the University of Texas at Austin Main Building tower, after earlier killing his wife and mother. I wrote about this, briefly.
Aug 29 – The Beatles end their US tour with a concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. It is their last-ever live performance, except for the short “rooftop concert” at the Apple Corps offices in January 1969.

35th (1981)
Jan 20 – US embassy hostages, taken Nov 4, 1979, released from Iran, coincidentally, or not, the same day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as the 40th US President.

25th (1991)
Jan 16 – Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins with airstrikes against Iraq.
Mar 15 – Four Los Angeles, California police officers are indicted for the videotaped March 3 beating of Rodney King during an arrest.
May – The first Starbucks Coffee outlet is opened in California.
Dec 23 – Bohemian Rhapsody returns to the top of the British singles charts after 16 years, with the re-release’s proceeds being donated to the Terrence Higgins Trust, a British charity that campaigns on various issues related to AIDS and HIV.
Dec 25 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union, from which most republics have already seceded, anticipating the dissolution of the 74-year-old state.

20th (1996)
July 5 – Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.

5th (2011)
Apr 29 – Wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Kate Middleton.

ABC Wednesday – Round 17

MOVIE REVIEW: A Ballerina’s Tale

Misty Copeland’s potentially career-ending injury was also a major focus.

I was rather familiar with the story of Misty Copeland, largely from this 60 Minutes clip, about how the ballerina, who didn’t even dance until she was 13, became the first African-American woman to be named principal dancer of the legendary American Ballet Theater.

What was interesting about the documentary A Ballerina’s Tale was less about the dancer herself, and more about the social context of her achievement. It wasn’t just her race but her “muscular” body that had precluded someone who looked like her to be the swan. Her potentially career-ending injury was also a major focus, and she showed tremendous resolve getting through it.

I also enjoyed learning about the history of black ballerinas. Her interaction with the apparently legendary Raven Wilkinson – who I had never heard of – was fascinating, in part because Misty too was learning about her dance roots. A group of successful older black women took Misty Copeland under their wings and helped her feel less alone, and that was touching.

This was a Kickstarter film from Nelson George, who I know best as a writer of the book Hip Hop America, and Where Did Our Love Go?, a book about Motown. Before that, he was a critic of the black music scene for Billboard.

Here is the movie trailer.

A Ballerina’s Tale was playing at the nearby Madison Theatre. We thought the Daughter would want to see it the day before Thanksgiving, but she declined. So the Wife went to the 5 pm show, and I the 7 pm viewing; we were the ONLY persons to watch it, and that was a shame because it was worthwhile.

Yet there’s an arm’s length distancing from the film’s primary subject which made her somehow less compelling. The Variety review says it best: “She’s immensely humble and focused on her goals, which makes her an excellent performer and an equally strong ambassador for dancers of color, but a tougher nut to crack as a documentary subject.”