Ramblin' with Roger

Sunday Stealing from Shannon

drinking all day

Regular Sunday Stealer Shannon W. from Moments of Introspection took on 43 questions. The Gal Herself purports to be lazy, so she pared it back to 15. Actually, 14.

1. What book are you currently reading?

60 Songs That Explain the ’90s by Rob Harvilla. Actually, I read it a while ago, but I will be rereading it because I’m doing a book review of it on June 3 at the Washington Avenue branch of the Albany Public Library.

2. Have you ever smoked?

Yes, but probably one pack in my whole life, mostly in Charlotte, NC, in the first third of 1977 when I was pretty miserable; I wrote about it here.

3. Do you own a gun?

No, and I categorically will not. On Tuesday, March 25, I attended a book review about Empire of Guns: The Violent Making of the Industrial Revolution by Priya Satia. Jonathan Skinner, PhD, retired statistician and amateur classicist, reviewed it.

During the Q&A, there was a question of who in the audience would own a gun. I commented about the Good [Black] Guys With Guns phenomenon and how E.J. Bradford ended up dead for trying to do the right thing. As I wrote in 2017, the Philando Castile homicide wrecked me; I reread it, and it still does. So, hell no, it would not make me feel safer and could get me killed.

I Want Candy

4. What is your favorite candy?

A Mounds bar. Fortunately, I only got one for Christmas and my birthday. The second fave would be York Peppermint Patties.

5. Hot dogs: yay or nay?

Yay, but I tend to only have them – with mustard, of course – on July 4 and Labor Day.

6. Favorite movie?

This is always difficult. If it is my favorite, oughtn’t I see it more often? I loved Casablanca but haven’t seen it in half a century. Here’s a list I made in October 2024. I might add Conclave, which I liked well enough to recommend it highly to my wife.

7. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?

Every morning, I pass the refrigerator and see bottles of wine. I have a lot of booze in the pantry, yet it’s 1% milk that I consume most often.

8. What do you drink throughout the day?

Water, ginger ale, occasionally orange juice.

9. Do you do push-ups?

No, and I never really did, especially as a kid.

10. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry?

My wedding ring, though honestly I can’t think of another.

11. Current worry?

Authoritarianism

12. Current annoyance?

My messy office

13. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?

Not especially. They seem slippery and cold.

15. Can you whistle?

I was at a talent show at my old church, and I got to sing Anyone Can Whistle from a Sondheim musical I’ve never seen. So anyway, yes.

#1 hits of 1925

Irving Berlin

Here are the #1 hits of 1925. But before that, I want to quote something from Joel Whitburn Presents A Century of Pop Music. “For popular music, the most historic event of the 1920s was a switch from acoustic to electric coal recordings, which followed a year of experiments by engineers of Bell Laboratories in 1924-25. Instead of the acoustic process of singers and musicians performing directly into a recording horn, they were now able to record with a condenser microphone in a spacious studio.

“With the use of a vacuum tube amplifier and an electromagnetically-powered cutting stylus, the frequency range of recorded music expanded by two and a half octaves. The Associated Glee Clubs of America’s pairing of ‘Adestes Fideles’ and ‘John Peel’ became the first electrically-recorded hit in July 1925, and within months, every major label record label had gone electric.”

The Prisoner’s Song – Vernon Dalhart (Victor), written by Guy Massey, 12 weeks at #1, gold record

Yes, Sir, That’s My Baby – Gene Austin (Victor), written by Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson, “ukulele and jazz effects by Billy (‘Yuke’) Carpenter,” seven weeks at #1

I’ll See You In My Dreams – Isham Jones with Frank Bessinger (vocals) and Ray Miller’s Orchestra (Brunswick), listed as instrumental – seven weeks at #1

If You Knew Susie (Like I Know Susie) – Eddie Cantor (Columbia), written by B. G. Sylva – five weeks at #1

Harlem Globetrotters theme

Sweet Georgia Brown – Ben Bernie and His Hotel Orchestra (Vocalion), written by Bernie/Casey/Pinkard, instrumental, five weeks at #1. It shouldn’t be surprising, but I know these last four tunes, plus Tea for Two, astonishingly well, even though they are a century old.

All Alone – Al Jolson with Ray Miller and His Orchestra (Brunswick), written by Irving Berlin, five weeks at #1

Manhattan – the Knickerbockers (Columbia), from a Rodgers and Hart musical Garrick Gaieties, instrumental, four weeks at #1

Oh, How I Missed You Tonight – Ben Selvin’s Cavaliers (Columbia), instrumental, three weeks at #1; scratchy sound, unfortunately

Tea for Two – Marion Harris (Brunswick), from No, NO, Nannette, three weeks at #1

All Alone – Paul Whiteman and his orchestra (Victor), instrumental, written by Irving Berlin, three weeks at #1

All Alone – John McCormick (Victor), two weeks at #1

Oh, Katharina! – Ted Lewis and his band (Columbia), instrumental, written by Fall and Gilbert, one week at #1

Remember – Isham Jones Orchestra (Brunswick), instrumental, written by Irving Berlin, one week at #1

The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide

assuming there’s still any democracy left…

Kelly tabbed The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide. It was “published in social media in January 2017 in a series of improvised, spontaneous tweets, which reached 3 million views within one month.” The piece also resides here. It was compiled in 2018 by Martin Mycielski, the Vice President and Executive Director of the Open Dialogue Foundation in Brussels. This is an extensive, annotated excerpt, with the guide in italics.

They will come to power with a campaign based on fear, scaremongering, and distorting the truth. Nevertheless, their victory will be achieved through a democratic electoral process. But beware, as this will be their argument every time you question the legitimacy of their actions. They will claim a mandate from the People to change the system.

From the Guardian (who I give money to, BTW): “The world’s most admired democracy is being held hostage by a clique of far-right thugs. It would be a mistake to placate them.” Watch Jon Stewart’s Daily Show intro from 24 March.

They will divide and rule. Their strength lies in unity, in one voice and one ideology, and so should yours. They will call their supporters Patriots, the only ‘true Americans.’

I read this even more from the supporters of FOTUS. “DOGE is saving you money. Why aren’t you grateful?”

They will subjugate state media, turning them into a propaganda tube. Then, through convoluted laws and threats, they will attempt to control all mainstream media and limit press freedom.

See the ABC News capitulation to FOTUS, the AP ban at press conferences, et al.

They will create chaos, maintain a constant sense of conflict and danger.

You have likely said, “I can’t keep track of these things; it’s coming holus-bolus.” There have been over 100 executive orders.

Liars!

They will distort the truth, deny facts, and blatantly lie.

Watching the national security team lie before Congress about the Yemen attack leak was remarkable. “Nothing to see here! ” FOTUS LIED 30,000 times in his first term, and he lies now. The LA Times noted on 26 March, “Elon Musk has benefited from his close alliance… as [FOTUS] has ousted federal officials who had overseen departments investigating the billionaire’s multiple companies.”

They will propose shocking laws to provoke your outrage. You will focus your efforts on fighting them, so they will seemingly back off, giving you a false sense of victory. In the meantime, they will push through less ‘flashy’ legislation, slowly dismantling democracy.

You have noticed announcements about everything, especially tariffs, start and stop. What’s the rule now?

“When invading your liberal sensibilities, they will focus on what hurts the most – women and minorities. They will act as if democracy was majority rule, without respect for the minority. “

All of the anti-DEI crap.

They will paint foreigners and immigrants as potential threats.

Tom Homan, head of Homeland Security, says all of the Venezuelans sent out of the country were thoroughly investigated and shown to be in gangs. Since they often lie, I remain unconvinced. Not incidentally, the CECOT prison in El Salvador is awful.

They will challenge women’s social status, undermine gender equality and interfere with reproductive rights.

The reversal of Roe v. Wade continues to resonate. Plus all of the anti-DEI crap, et al.

Disorder in the courts

“They will try to take control of the judiciary. They will assault your highest court. They need to remove the checks and balances to be able to push through unconstitutional legislation.”

FOTUS Ramps Up Attacks On Judges, Calls Out Justice John Roberts

They will try to rewrite history to suit their needs and use the education system to support their agenda.

Judge Orders Administration to Stop Deleting January 6 Videos. See also FOTUS suggesting taxpayers may compensate the pardoned J6 criminals with taxpayer dollars. And the anti-DEI crap.

They will alienate foreign allies and partners, convincing you don’t need them. They won’t care for the rest of the world, with their focus on ‘making your country great again’ while ruining your economy to fulfil their populist promises. They will omit that you’re part of a bigger world whose development depends on cooperation, sharing, and trade.

See recent US attitudes towards NATO, Canada, Greenland, Mexico…

They will eventually manipulate the electoral system. They might say it’s to correct flaws, to make it more fair, more similar to the rest of the world, or just to make it better. Don’t believe it. They wouldn’t be messing with it at all if it wasn’t to benefit them in some way.

The executive order, PRESERVING AND PROTECTING THE INTEGRITY OF AMERICAN ELECTIONS, does neither.

Oppose any changes to electoral law that an authoritarian regime wants to enact – rest assured it’s only to help them remain in power longer.

With love, your Eastern European friends

There is a helpful “authoritarian checklist” in The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide.

6 RULES for Survival under an Authoritarian Regime

Don’t stay indifferent. Expose their scaremongering and show flaws in their arguments. Organize protest movements, mobilize civil society. Don’t let them DIVIDE you into different classes of citizens, “true Americans,” “patriots” vs “traitors,” “enemies of the state.” Don’t hope it will pass; it WON’T.

If you don’t get them to back off or to step down, you better make goddamn SURE that when the next elections come, assuming there’s still any democracy left, NO ONE will vote for the same bastard(s) again!

Look for your nearest Indivisible chapter.

7 RULES on Approaching Authoritarian Supporters

What if your neighbour, friend, or family supports the authoritarian regime?

Don’t look down on or patronize them, even if you know what they’re saying has no factual basis or you find it offensive. Don’t get emotional, and don’t get provoked into heated arguments. Focus on what you have in common. Use their language. Don’t block their news sources or turn away from their leaders and authority figures. Pinpoint the practical, adverse effects of their side’s actions, ones that affect them directly. If all else fails, don’t turn away, don’t abandon your friends and family, and don’t shun your neighbors.

I will admit that the last one, especially, is mighty tough. You should read the entirety of the original document.

Best Documentary Short

Instruments of a Beating Heart; Incident; I Am Ready, Warden;The Only Girl In The Orchestra; Death By Numbers

The Oscar-nominated Best Documentary Short films I saw, naturally, at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany just before the Academy Awards.

Instruments of a Beating Heart (Japan, 23 minutes) – Children moving from first to second grade in a Tokyo public school audition to be in a rudimentary orchestra to perform “Ode to Joy” for the incoming first graders. They SO want to perform well, and are rooting for their friends in their audition process. The teachers work hard to motivate. Sweet. Watch at the New York Times website.

Incident, (United States, 30 minutes): A police shooting of a black man in Chicago in 2018 is told through footage from security cameras and police body cams. Director Bill Morrison makes the viewer uncomfortable. Was the man going for his gun, for which he had a permit, or did the probationary officer overreact? Are the cops protecting themselves by rationalizing and covering up what happened? The community around the event is rightly furious; this was the local barber, not a gangbanger. The viewer feels powerless, which might be the point. Watch on the New Yorker website.

I Am Ready, Warden (United States, 37 minutes): John Henry Ramirez committed a heinous murder in Texas and then escaped to Mexico. He is caught, convicted of murder, and sentenced to death. In prison, he becomes a changed man, with his adopted godmother, who he met pastoring him behind bars, believing in his transformation. The local district attorney has his doubts about capital punishment. The victim’s son, who was 14 when his dad died and now is the spitting image of his dad, is less forgiving. A balanced look at capital punishment. It’s available on Paramount +.

Instrumental

The Only Girl In The Orchestra (United States, 34 minutes). In 1966, Orin O’Brien was the only female in the New York Philharmonic, playing double bass, under the direction of Leonard Bernstein. Her parents were Hollywood actors George O’Brien and Marguerite Churchill, so she had a peripatetic upbringing.

She liked playing the her instrument because it wasn’t an instrument with a lot of solos, but rather an integral part of the whole. Conversely, she hated being the center of attention mainly because of her gender. A Time magazine article mentioned the fact that she was as curvy as her double bass back in the day; when that was noted, the audience audibly groaned.

She has retired after 55 years but is still busy teaching students and attending concerts. Her niece Molly O’Brien made the film about her aunt because Orin was the adult she most admired.

I SO adored this film, which illustrates the transformative power of music. It’s on Netflix.

Death By Numbers (United States, 33 minutes): A Parkland shooting survivor, Samantha Fuentes, contemplates life after the February 14, 2018 incident. The numbers in the title are the room number where she was shot, the number dead (17) and wounded (also 17), and so on. She is scheduled to testify at the sentencing phase of the trial. This allows her to confront her trauma while examining the nature of hate and restorative justice.

The story tends to meander, but Sam’s unflinching victim impact statement was compelling.

Lydster: go to the South African consulate

Happy birthday!!

Last we checked, my daughter and I were getting ready to go to the South African consulate in New York City in mid-January. She was there for about 45 minutes. Her father had to stay downstairs, as did a couple of other parents, and there were no chairs; they specifically did not want us to sit on the floor.

Everything seemed to be in place, but we still fretted a bit. That evening, we went to see Maybe Happy Ending with a niece and her Significant Other, the first Broadway show I had seen since Newsies in 2014, and also with my daughter.

Shockingly, her visa arrived in a week —yay!

Jersey

On February 5th, my wife, daughter, and I went to Newark. My wife rightly hated driving in New Jersey, and the closer we got to Newark, the worse. One particular car was in the right lane of three heading south while we were in the middle lane. The car from our right decided to be in the same space we were in, so my wife had to evade the vehicle, not even having time to see if a vehicle was in the left lane to avoid this fool.

We stopped at a hotel near the Newark airport and took a shuttle to the airport a couple of hours later. The shuttle driver’s driving made my wife nervous. “Jersey drivers” is an earned epitaph.

We arrived at the airport and went through all the processing more quickly than I anticipated. My daughter sat waiting for two hours before boarding, a bit annoyed that we got there so early.

Our daughter had a 14-hour direct flight from Newark to Cape Town, South Africa, and got a ride to her college. Before beginning classes, she experienced many cool and fun orientation stuff, including sightseeing. She seems to be enjoying herself.

School days

Classes began on February 17th, and she’s enjoying dance, history, and art. One of the things she mentioned about her art class was that most of her classmates have been attending classes together for the past two years. She’s the only American there, and they’re asking her questions—”Why does your country do THAT?”—but they’re otherwise pretty chill about it.

She has had a couple of allergy scares, one while eating pizza and the other a pasta dish. Food labeling is not as robust as it is in the United States. And she’s had some difficulty with her credit and debit cards, even though we called her banks before she left the country.

Last year, my wife and I went to her college in Massachusetts and spent time with her both before and after her birthday, although not on her birthday. This year, she’s 7,845 miles or 12,625 kilometers. We knew this was going to be the case. It’s a good thing she’s doing what she wants to: exploring the world.

Yet I feel a soupçon of melancholy that she’s so far away. Happy birthday, my dear daughter. Enjoy your special day.