Albany Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

Sunday Stealing: Memememe — Part 2

the 1913 Binghamton factory fire

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

Impetua is the blogger who delivered us this mother lode of meme questions. They were originally stolen from someone named Mel, whose blog no longer exists. We took 50+ queries and made it 20 questions over two weeks. (Boy, are they ever random!)

Memememe — Part 2

11. You can build a dream house anywhere in the world. Where would it be located?

Given the vagaries of climate change, I’d say right where I am right now in Albany, NY. It’s not perfect, but it works for what I need to happen.

Photo booth

12. Have you ever taken a photo in a photo booth?

Yes. Quoting me:

“These pictures were undoubtedly taken at a Woolworth’s, not terribly far from Binghamton Central High School, which is now and has been Binghamton High School since 1982. This is Michele, Steve, and I doing what one does in a tiny room, the camera flashing every ten seconds or so. I probably never saw these since they popped out of the side of the booth over 45 years ago.

“In the era of the selfie, if you have never had a photo booth picture taken at a Woolworth’s or similar venue, I should explain this process. There’s a booth with a curtain, and you would get three or four photos for 25 or 50 cents. For years, they were always in black and white, though the latter years had color. It didn’t take long to process, although the three minutes waiting seemed like an eternity.

“And the pictures were unique. “There are no copies, no negatives. Photo booths use a direct positive process, imprinting the image directly to the paper — creating a one-of-a-kind artifact.”

Steve sent these to me about a decade ago. Undoubtedly, I took many other photo booth shots, including at a Friends and Foundation of the Albany Public Library gala only a few years ago, but I don’t know where the pics are.

13. What’s your favorite kind of mustard (dijon, spicy brown, bright yellow)?

In order: Dijon and spicy brown.

14. What did you do on New Year’s Eve?

To the best of my recollection, I stayed up until midnight, hugged whoever was up—probably my daughter, unlikely my wife—and then went to bed.

School daze

15. Did your parents ever share memories of their high school days?

I don’t remember specifically—certainly not my father, who, I gather, hated school at the time. My mom went to the same high school and, for that matter, elementary school that my sister Leslie and I attended. I’ve seen pictures of her in elementary school; one is here.

16. What’s the most famous thing to happen in your hometown?

Most folks will probably note that Rod Serling, the creator of the famous TV show The Twilight Zone, grew up in Binghamton, NY. There’s a new statue of him in Recreation Park in the city.

But, and I guess more infamous, was the 1913 Binghamton factory fire, which occurred on July 22, “on the premises of the Binghamton Clothing Company… It destroyed the Wall Street building in less than 20 minutes, killing 31 of the more than 100 people inside. Though not as deadly as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911, it put even more pressure on New York officials to strengthen life safety codes, increase funding for more inspectors, and increase penalties for violations.“

From Atlas Obscura: “The monument is at the top of the hill on the south side of Spring Forest Cemetery. Enter through the Mygatt St. entrance and bear left through the valley and up the hill. The stones stand in a clearing and are easily visible from the path.”

It’s weird, then, that despite spending my first 18 years in Binghaton and having visited that cemetery several times, even this decade, I did not hear this story until 2025. Here’s a link to the documentary The Devil’s Fire by WSKG Public Television and filmmaker Brian Frey. The book Return to the Embers of Tragedy by David A. Bogart was published in August 2025.

The short answers

17. Did you ever have a MySpace page?

Probably, but I surely didn’t know what to DO with it.

18. Will you eat a cookie today?

If it’s oatmeal raisin, yes.

19. Who is the last person you spoke to – not texted with – on the phone?

My wife. She was coming home late, which is not unusual.

20. Do you play poker?

As a kid, I played penny ante, but not really. Still, I taught my daughter how to play while going on college excursions, as described here.

The 2025 Pride Parade -ALB

throngs of people

**This was from the 2024 event. The church won the Brillance Award for the “float” in the Albany Pride Parade, with the canoe on the roof of a car.**

The 2025 Pride Parade in Albany on Sunday, June 8, felt different to me from the beginning. For one thing, when I arrived at my church, which is located near the parade route, there were numerous garbage trucks at most intersections. They were there undoubtedly because of the New Year’s Eve/Day attack on people in New Orleans, plus several other vehicular assaults in Europe.

But it was also different because it felt like there was a lot more energy, as though the current regime’s attack on LGBTQ+ folks demanded a response.

After I helped set up communion, we had choir rehearsal, and then the service, which is always less well-attended because many folks, including one of the pastors, are decorating the “float” and then positioning the vehicle in Washington Park. By the end of the service, we can already hear the parade. After church, I need to clean up the communion stuff and put away my music.

By the time I got outside, I wasn’t feeling the energy to walk to the park where our First Pres contingent would have been starting. Walking the route seemed unwise, given that my Achilles was still untreated.

So I resigned myself to watching the festivities as the paraders passed by our church, as many of our congregants do every year. It’s always interesting to see which politicians attend; I saw three of the four mayoral candidates and two of the three people running for city auditor, but I might have missed the others because the event lasted for quite a while.

He’s so spontaneous!

As the First Pres group came by the church, they were on a flat-bed truck. I suddenly impulsively thought, “If I don’t have to walk this thing, maybe I will ride on this thing.” Several people got on. I had trouble maneuvering up the narrow stepladder, but I ultimately managed to get on and shuffle towards the front of the cab. This was cool! Actually, the temperature began to rise very quickly.

One of my favorite moments every year is being most of the way down Lark Street and turning around and seeing the throngs of people still marching. This time I was already facing the back, but it was nevertheless very moving. But I saw people I knew who didn’t see me because the balloons obscured me; oh, well.

Sun/Son

I was sitting next to the Jesus cardboard figure that was wearing a purple “God Is Genderfull” T-shirt. At some point the Jesus was starting to topple over. Since I was right next to it, I was holding it (Him?) up with my left arm, but I got tired quickly, so I used my cane, which was much easier.

Someone from the crowd yelled, “Christ is risen!” Indeed. At the end of the route, as we undecorated the truck, I decided to carry the Jesus through the park back to the church, which got all sorts of fascinating comments, almost all positive.

At some point on the truck, I realized I hadn’t even told my wife that I was going to the parade. I thought to call her and tell her I could take the bus home, so she wouldn’t have to wait. But then I remember that she had left her phone at the EMPAC the night before. It turned out she was at church, waiting for me, which was very nice.

Concert: No Doubt, 10 July 1997

MxPx, The Selecter

Reading the book 60 Songs That Explain The ’90s by Rob Harvilla reminded me of a concert by the group No Doubt on 10 July 1997 at the arena in downtown Albany. It used to be the Knickerbocker Arena, and now it’s the MVP Arena, but I believe that it was the Pepsi Arena at the time.

I had a friend who was widowed shortly after her first child was born, her husband dying of Agent Orange in the early ’80s. So I occasionally babysat the girl. When the teen wanted to see No Doubt, her mother suggested that I accompany her and four of her friends. I was familiar with the group. My friend dropped us off.

The first group was called MxPx. The sheer constant audio assault was unnerving to me, but the audience seemed to enjoy it.

Then came an English 2-tone ska revival band, The Selecter – I misremembered that it was The Specials, but they had similar roots. I thought they were excellent. Still, a goodly number of the audience literally turned their back on them; they did not like this music. (Here’s Too Much Pressure.)

Not only did I think it was disrespectful, but they were also oblivious to the fact that the roots of the music that No Doubt was playing came from ska. It would be like if, in the 1960s, a white Blues musician such as Eric Clapton in Cream or Keith Richards in The Rolling Stones were the headliners, with the opening act being B.B. King or Albert King, and the audience turned their backs on them. This ticked me off greatly.

Stefani and company

The main act came out, and they were entertaining enough. I remember very distinctly that Gwen Stefani, the lead singer, wanted the boys to sing the line, “I’m just a girl.” Some were uncomfortable, but most did so.

Harvilla says in his book regarding the group, “…which brings us to the sell-out adjacent song that’s only.005 ska… No Doubt is a great many things: zippy new wave monolith worthy of Cyndi Lauper, the Go-Go’s, or the B-52s. [It’s] a delivery system for lead singer Gwen Stefani, the blindingly sunny pop star and wildly out-of-pocket cultural appropriator who combines the appeal of Jessica Rabbit, Olive Oyl, Cher from Clueless…

“It’s not entirely that the band abandoned its roots on this record, but the roots are no longer a focal point. Maybe with Just A Girl, it’s best to imagine No Doubt as a space shuttle with the rocket boosters’ burnout detachment. She’s a true superstar orbit, and in this case, those abandoned rocket boosters just happen to be labeled ska, and everyone in the band, other than Gwen. “

All that said, I’ve never been all that fussy about selling out or “authenticity,” having seen the movie A Complete Unknown about Bob Dylan. The notion of selling out can be pretty darn fuzzy.

BTW, here’s the likely No Doubt playlist of the concert:

Tragic Kingdom
Excuse Me, Mr.
Different People
Happy Now?
Just a Girl
The Climb
End It on This
Total Hate ’95
Hey You
The Imperial March
Move On / Ghost Town
Don’t Speak
Sunday Morning
Spiderwebs
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Oi to the World

Trinity UMC is closing

At Lark and Lancaster in Albany

Trinity UMC is closing. From the Times Union: “Church members voted May 4 at a Special Charge Conference to discontinue Trinity United Methodist Church, the last Methodist church in Albany.” I knew it was coming, but it still hurts, even though I left there a quarter of a century ago.

As I’ve almost certainly told before, I didn’t attend church much from when I left for college in 1971 until 1982. My grandmother Gertrude Williams had died on Super Bowl Sunday in Charlotte, NC, but her funeral wasn’t until May, held at the Trinity AME Zion Church in Binghamton, NY. I sang in the choir and realised I missed singing in a church choir.

So, I started church shopping with my girlfriend at the time. In December 1982, a tenor from the choir named Gray Taylor stood in front of the congregation and announced that the choir was seeking more people. I said, “That’s what I was waiting to hear. ” In January 1983, I joined the choir.

Music

It was a good group, with 25-30 people singing. We’d participate in Christmas caroling sponsored by the local Business Improvement District. Many of us have kept in touch with each other even after I left the church in 2000. Indeed, a couple of them followed me to First Presbyterian.

I distinctly remember Eric Strand, a choir director in the early ’90s. We watched the Today Show when Bobby McFerrin performed a few songs from the Medicine Man album. A couple of years later, he had three of us sing the 23rd Psalm from that album. It was high in my range, so I sang it in falsetto; my now-wife said that somebody thought I must be gay, which I thought was absurd.

The administrative board decided to have an “interest” fair at the church, trying to get people to join small groups: knitting, card playing, or whatnot. Most of them didn’t stick, but one that did was a book club which lasted about a decade, once a month, ten months a year. I read many books I might not have; specifically, I chose A Handmaid’s Tale when we had to read a novel. Most of the group were women, mostly a generation older than I, whom I was very fond of.

Once we had an intergenerational dance event. It must have been in the late ’80s, because I remember from some of the latter music included Bobby Brown’s My Perogative, with all the young kids, who are now about 50, dancing to it. I bought that Bobby Brown CD primarily in honor of that event.

Cathedral

I served as a docent for that building at least a few times. It’s a great building, and there are some very historic stained glass windows there. I learned a lot about the history of Methodism, from the racially tinged Central Jurisdiction to the 1968 merger of the Methodist Church and the United Brethren Church to form the UMC.

I was very involved in the lay leadership, serving on the Pastor-Parish Relations Committee. For a time, I was vice-chair of the Administrative Board; then the chair resigned, and I became chair. At a different point, I chaired the Council on Ministries, which served as the engine of outreach activities. Our church would table on Lark Street at various events.

We occasionally engaged in different types of services. There was a Taize series, which is a very meditative format. The church had two different Spanish language congregations there in the ’90s, which the church wanted, but the cultural divide became problematic.

There were several opportunities for Bible study, often led by Jim Kalas. I also participated in something called Disciple, which was held at my then former girlfriend/now wife’s apartment, during which I read the entirety of the Bible in 34 weeks; reading the whole thing wasn’t required, but if you if you’re gonna read 48 chapters of Genesis you might as well read the other two, right?

Food, of course

A social group called the Ogden Fellowship met monthly, which featured a speaker; local newspeople Chris Kapostasy Jansing and the late Ed Dague spoke at a couple of them. Fran Allee was that event’s chief cook, although she encouraged others to prepare food. Twice, my future wife and I prepared Shepherd’s pie for 40.

I experienced love and marriage at Trinity more than once. For certain, there’s a lot more I could share.

I stopped attending Trinity in 2000 over the Troubles, though I returned to Trinity one last weekend, singing at the funeral of campus minister Frank Snow on a Saturday. The next day, the weather was such that First Pres was closed, but Trinity, two blocks away, was open, so I sang there.

Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye

When there was a FOCUS service – First Pres and Trinity were both members – and it was held at Trinity, it was a tad awkward early on. Apparently, my choir music slot (#6, I was told) still had my name on it. Three and four years after my departure, people kept asking me when I would return to Trinity; that would never happen.

But I still feel enormously sad at the church’s demise. “On June 22, the church will host its last Sunday service, accompanied by a farewell video that members are encouraged to add to and share their favorite memories from the church.”

What Albany winters used to be

no singing?

December 17, 2020 – Albany, NY – Albany digs out after an early winter storm. (Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)

Having lived in the New York State capital since 1979, I recall what Albany winters used to be: colder and snowier. Here’s a February 2024 news article about another mild winter.

Most of this winter wasn’t terrible, but February 2025 sucked. On February 9th at church, the education classes were canceled, and the choir didn’t sing in anticipation of a forecasted snowstorm. It wasn’t that bad in Albany. I ended up reading the prayers of people.

The following weekend, choir and education hours were canceled again, less because of the snow but the threat of ice. I ended up being an usher. Somebody said after the service, “Isn’t it nice having time off from choir?” NO! I miss the singing.

The ice continued throughout the week all over the city, with high winds and subzero wind chills. When I had to go to a drugstore, trying to climb over the intersections of solid ice was treacherous. If not for using my cane, I would surely have fallen more than once.

I take pride in keeping my sidewalk clear, but it took two days and multiple applications of deicer to get down to the pavement. It didn’t matter much since most of the rest of the walks weren’t clear for several days when it finally reached freezing.

Tag: Albany