Arthur@AmeriNZ Archives - Page 25 of 49

December rambling #2: American Routes

Agent Orange is on target to violate the Constitution the moment he takes the oath of office<

Sift quotes of 2016

Amy Biancolli: words words words words words words words

This was from mid-November: John Oliver talked about how 2016 sucked, especially in the NSFW ending, starting at 23:23.
versus
99 Reasons Why 2016 Was a Good Year

S.2943 – National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 includes in Section 1287, the GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT CENTER, which, some fear, will allow the government to decide what is ‘truth’

The Jim Crow election effect

Homer and Harold – “Stories abound of present-day prosecutors who have lost their way, who do anything to win a conviction, who place politics above principle.” This is a fascinating story of the exact opposite

Hmm: The My Lai Massacre Inspires an Opera One of the most horrific episodes of the Vietnam War is being made into an opera; also, Larry Colburn died; he helped stop the massacre

My affection for the late Carrie Fisher ran well beyond her bad-ass Star Wars appearances, most notably Postcards from the Edge, for which wrote the screenplay; but also as a script doctor, plus her whole life narrative writ large. “Going through challenging things can teach you a lot, and they also make you appreciate the times that aren’t so challenging” – recollections from SamuraiFrog and Mark Evanier and Ken Levine, plus artists’ tributes

Presbyterians rank oldest, Muslims among youngest in new Pew survey

Epidemic of mall brawls spreads across US on day after Christmas

Jewish family flees Lancaster County after wrongly being blamed for Christmas play cancellation

The late Cindy Stowell won a total of $103,801 during her six-episode run on JEOPARDY!, some of which was donated toward cancer research

Money is pouring into immunotherapy research for cancer, but most of the patients who get into experimental trials are white

Black children see more TV ads for junk food than white kids

Cities across the country are cutting public transportation because they think ride-hailing services will fill the gap; they’ll regret it

Arthur answers my questions about podcasting and his female crush and murder in virtual reality and politics and Facebook

Holiday doll shopping yields far more diversity this season than in years past

World’s oldest woman turns 117

Work fact of the month: in Moldova, Moldovan is spoken by 58.8% (official; virtually the same as the Romanian language), Romanian 16.4%, Russian 16%, Ukrainian 3.8%, Gagauz 3.1% (a Turkish language), Bulgarian 1.1%, other 0.3%, unspecified 0.4%.

The very impressive SNL stage crew

The Midnight Ride of Sybil Ludington and Blanketing the Maternity Wards and You’ve Got the Right Stuffed and Japan’s Lucky Break

Is ‘Die Hard’ a Christmas movie? (I am agnostic on this)

What Flirting Looked Like in 2016

Chuck Miller’s most prolific commenters

Man’s Golf Shot from Frozen Hazard Goes Terribly Wrong

NOT ME: Minister Rev. Roger Green has stepped down from his role at Briercliffe Road Baptist Methodist Church after what he described as many happy years in the post

Agent Orange

Christmas (NOT HOLIDAY) Yule Log – the Daily Show

The Year of “This Can’t Be Happening”

The Danger of the “Just Campaign Rhetoric” Excuse

On target to violate the Constitution the moment he takes the oath of office

Russian registry

Private security force ‘playing with fire’

In hiding

The First Amendment Gives Too Much Protection For Press

An ardent supporter wonders: why do progressives assume I am an uneducated low intelligence neanderthal?

Jump in US, Brit migrants to New Zealand after Brexit, AO win

Music

American Routes is a weekly two-hour public radio program produced in New Orleans, presenting a broad range of American music — blues and jazz, gospel and soul, old-time country and rockabilly, Cajun and zydeco, Tejano and Latin, roots rock and pop, avant-garde and classical. Now in our 15th year on the air, American Routes explores the shared musical and cultural threads in these American styles and genres of music — and how they are distinguished.

Carla Ulbrich -on owning the rights to the F-word

Ringo Starr & Carrie Fisher – You’re Sixteen taping session for the 1978 TV special “Ringo” – 1978 version with CF vocals here or here, the original 1973 version here

Eddie Holland came up with some dandy 45s

Cheese And Onions – THE RUTLES (1969)

Neil Sedaka is still back

Ronnie Spector: For Every Kiss You Give Me, I’ll Give You Three

Hours of Popcorn

It’s Not a Rumor, recorded in 1980 by The Nu-Kats, song co-written by Demi Moore

Obit for pop star Laura Branigan corrected, 12 years later – I was disappointed by those who said, “Why bother?”

How playing an instrument benefits your brain – Anita Collins

Chuck Berry Invented the Idea of Rock and Roll By Bill Wyman

Chuck Close Immortalizes Lou Reed, Philip Glass and Others in 2nd Avenue Subway

A Yuletide tradition: Ask Roger Anything

I’ve been surprised that seldom does anyone ask me anything particularly uncomfortable. Uncomfortable is OK.

I have written in my blog EVERY DAY for – what is it now? – 11 and two-thirds years, roughly. I always say I write for myself, and that IS true. But it IS nice that someone actually reads what I write.

I was at breakfast with my pastors and a bunch of the Bible guys. I was talking about something to one of my pastors, the one with the light Virginia accent, and she said, “Oh, I read that in your blog!” And I said to myself that this pleased me.

So I guess I’m NOT so pure of heart as to be happy writing a daily blog that no one reads. One of the best things I figured out was how to post my blogs automatically to Twitter and Facebook, and that one act has made my blog accessible to a lot more people.

Do you know what else makes me happy? When someone like Arthur appropriates something from my blog in his. Earlier this month, the AmeriNZ guy did it ’s ‘Ask Arthur’ time again thing. This engaged me at a level beyond what I would have expected. It’s some sort of validation. And I ~~think~~KNOW that sometimes I need that more than others. Right now, I seem to need it a lot.

And speaking of need, I NEED you to Ask Roger Anything. I’ve been surprised that seldom does anyone ask me anything particularly uncomfortable. Uncomfortable is OK. I mean that you may ask me ANYTHING at all and I promise to respond, generally within a month.

I will answer your queries to the best of my ability, though know that memory is an imperfect beast. I practically GUARANTEE a bit of obfuscation, because you know you want me to.

You can leave your comments below. If you prefer to remain anonymous, that’s fine; you should e-mail me at rogerogreen (AT) gmail (DOT) com, or end me an IM on Facebook (make sure it’s THIS Roger Green, the one with the duck) and note that you want to remain unmentioned; otherwise, I’ll assume you want to be cited.

December rambling #1: 21st Century Schizoid Man

New York Times investigation: Guards punish black inmates more severely than whites inside New York State prisons

The Essential Selfishness of School Choice

Why didn’t Andrew Cuomo’s special-session wish list include closure of LLC loophole?

Reagan press aide’s response to AIDS crisis

John Key departs as New Zealand prime minister, and the civility of opposition leader Andrew Little was stunning, compared with American politics

The long history of the U.S. interfering with elections elsewhere

John Glenn Dies At 95. He was the first American to orbit the earth, before his political career. He was a Presbyterian ruling elder, for whom one of my pastors was named.

Faux news

From Richard S. Vosko: Benjamin Corey, who studies theology and culture said, “the problem isn’t that people write things that are untrue, but that so many people are quick to believe things that are untrue.”

Fake news is like Jessica Rabbit and No facts? What does that mean?

Weather Channel: Note to Breitbart: Earth Is Not Cooling, Climate Change Is Real and Please Stop Using Our Video to Mislead Americans

Despite social media outrage, the “Fisher Price Happy Hour Playset” is not real

Fake Or Real? How To Self-Check The News And Get The Facts

Revealing fakery – and stupidity

I was telling one of my sisters, just this weekend, what a pain this “fake news” is for a librarian, who deals with the dispensing of information every day.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but don’t all Americans live in their own little worlds?

DJT

The Trump Dump: Tracking the New Administration’s People and Policies

If Hollywood designed the perfect candidate to represent the anti-Christ for evangelicals, he would be thrice married, twice divorced, a builder of casinos, a sexual predator (unless the women are ugly), a liar and a man so in love with himself that his fondest wish is to die in his own arms.
– From an Oklahoma pastor

Demagogue in Chief

ADAPTING TO TRUMP’S LIES

War Is Peace. Freedom Is Slavery. Trump Won In A Landslide.

WHY SCIENTISTS ARE SCARED OF TRUMP

Trump to Remain Executive Producer on ‘Celebrity Apprentice’

The president-elect is issuing statements to world leaders that benefit his family’s corporate empire

Fox’s Shepard Smith Debunks Trump’s False Claims Scrubbing Russia Of Involvement In The US Election

This is what happens when Donald Trump attacks a private citizen on Twitter

Saturday Night Live Is Basically Just Reciting Facts About Donald Trump Now

Only a ‘Love Army’ Will Conquer Trump

It’s difficult to deny his incredible impact on the news this year ― for better or worse

Will Ivanka Trump Be the Most Powerful First Daughter in History? If she weren’t doing the family business, I’d have no problem with her unpaid advising her father in govt. It’s, as Big Brother and the Holding Company noted, The Combination of the Two that’s the REAL problem.

1843 Magazine/The Economist: The Scientists Who Make Apps Addictive

Altruistic People Have More Sexual Partners

Metric matters

Will Lacey was just a baby when doctors diagnosed a rare form of cancer and told his family there was only one end. Nobody then could imagine the journey ahead

Chaz Ebert: A BAKER’S DOZEN: 13 MORE MUST-SEE FILMS OF 2016

Denzel Washington reunites with his childhood librarian for her 99th birthday

Medieval graffiti ‘peacock’ discovered in Sudbury church

NOT ME: One of those held hostage was Roger Green, who said he spent the entire time praying

Now I Know: Ring Around the Lunar Orbit and NASA-L and When Your Brain Nose Something Is Missing and Home Sweet Apartment Building

Color of 2017: Greenery

How is ketchup made?

Music

Greg Lake, Emerson, Lake & Palmer Co-Founder, Dead at 69 – the first Greg Lake vocal I recall: 21st Century Schizoid Man – King Crimson ; also from that album, Epitath; Welcome Back My Friends – Emerson, Lake and Palmer

Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize in Literature was accepted on his behalf by the musician Patti Smith -it was transcendent; Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

Ravel, Bolero

Cantina Auditions

Ain’t No Sunshine

Come Together With More High-Caliber Beatles Analysis

The Definitive List of the 41 Best-Selling Cast Recordings of All Time

What if, instead of writing and starring in Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda et al. had instead done Sweeney Todd

The Secret Jewish History of Robbie Robertson and The Band

Leon Russell in the Dark

The Four Functions of a Church Choir

The Great Guitar Drought of 1960-1963

Always look on the bright side of life

Hey, I’m working on it, looking for the moments with a positive outcome. I got the idea from Ken Levine’s post, Those little pleasures, about which he notes: “Especially now, I’ll take all the pleasures – little or otherwise – that I can get.” Especially since Post-election stress is a big problem (and not just for liberals).

ITEM: My friends Broome and Penny became grandparents last month. Anna, who is partially named after me, and Will , are proud parents of Connor, born November 18.

ITEM: I’ve mentioned my late friend Vito Mastrogiovanni, who died from AIDS back in 1991. His sister Lisa befriended me on Facebook. We started reminiscing about her brother, and Vito’s friends Jane, Harry, and Donna all chimed in with Vito stories.

She mentioned that she and Vito had seen me in Boys in the Band back in 1975 in Binghamton. The director was named Charlie, but none of us could remember his last name. I posted the question to a Binghamton FB site and a guy came up with Charles Dietrich, who is now a professor of theater at Baruch College in New York City. I befriended Charles on FB and sent him my recollection of being in the play.

ITEM: Melanie is a blogger I’ve been following for a time. In mid-October, she wrote to me privately that, to her surprise, she has found somebody who wants to share his life with her. I wrote back and noted how wise and honest her blog is.

Then, about a month later, she wrote Because.

ITEM: I was crossing Madison Avenue in Albany, heading for the CVS drug store. This car was trying to make a right-on-red turn onto Main, but once he saw me in the crosswalk, he apologized profusely. I said it was cool, but he insisted that blocking pedestrian access in the crosswalk was unacceptable.

After he parked, he saw me IN the CVS and apologized one more time. Totally, unnecessary, and it made me laugh.

ITEM: SiriusXM Agrees to Pay Up to $99 Million to Settle Turtles-Backed Copyright Suit. I know it’s a complicated issue, involving differing state and federal copyright laws prior to 1972, but I don’t care. It made me happy. (Obligatory Happy Together link.)

ITEM: Arthur@AmeriNZ is posting a lot of holiday ads from around the world. I particularly enjoyed a Coke ad for three different countries, similar in format.

ITEM: This is sad, actually, but I’m glad she got her shot. ‘Jeopardy!’ contestant dies before show airs. Show scheduled to air Tuesday, December 13

As noted: Always look on the bright side of life, from my favorite Monty Python movie, Life of Brian.

OH, here are 7 breathing GIFs to help you calm down and take a moment.

November rambling #2: Book two of the trilogy

Albany by Roger Whitaker

1941 Dr Seuss cartoon illustrating the U.S. stance denying Jews safe haven from the Nazis. — 1941 Dr. Seuss cartoon illustrating the U.S. stance denying Jews safe haven from the Nazis.

From The Weekly Sift, November 21, 2016:

Like most people I know, I’ve been suffering occasional attacks of rage or depression. But it’s also oddly energizing sometimes. If you ever had fantasies of being a hero, well, gear up; the villains are taking the field. It feels like we’re in a trilogy, somewhere around the end of Book Two. Ancient evils have jumped out of history books and grainy newsreels, and are appearing on live TV. Their words and ideas are coming out of the mouths of our neighbors.

Who thought we’d have to deal with this in our lifetimes?

For some while now, everything that you can think to do about the situation is going to seem hopelessly inadequate. But it’s important that you do it anyway. That’s how it is at the end of Book Two.

You’re a hobbit with all of Mordor in front of you, or an Ewok facing a galactic empire. The idea that you’re going to turn things around is laughable. And a lot of the stuff that people think to do will come to nothing, just like it seems. But some of it won’t, and if anybody can say for sure which is which, I haven’t met them yet.

So anyway, today I plan to type a bunch of words onto a screen. It’s what I can think to do. You think that seems hopelessly inadequate? Tell me about it.

[I do SO relate!]

Also from the Weekly Sift: The Trump Administration: What I’m watching for and Should I Have White Pride?

Donald Trump and the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, explained

Farewell, America

Trump summons a monster he can’t control – “White supremacists are acting as if they’ve hit the swastika sweepstakes.” cf Why I Left White Nationalism

“Sore winner” syndrome: Why are Donald Trump’s supporters still so angry?

Through a Looking Glass, Darkly

Donald Trump — the Boy King

America first, Trump second

Donald Trump: Anyone who burns American flag should be jailed or lose citizenship

Welcome to the Trump kleptocracy, plus kakistocracy

Potential Conflicts Around the Globe for Trump, the Businessman President

More Weekly Sift, especially the section on corruption

An ethical double standard for Trump — and the GOP?

Professor predicts impeachment

Mike Pence’s top seven most homophobic moments (out of many)

79-Year-Old Trump Supporter Arrested for Allegedly Vandalizing Children’s Mural

Confederate States of America currency?

Rapp On This: As a Matter of Fact, the Sky Is Falling

TV News and Its Long Dark Night of the Soul, though, finally, The Associated Press has defined ‘alt-right’

Atlético Nacional, the Colombian team, asks that its opponent, Chapecoense of Brazil, be awarded the Copa Sudamericana soccer tournament title, after the plane crash which killed nearly all of Chapecoense’s players and coaches

The Kind of Christian I Refuse To Be

Aboard an overloaded ship carrying more than 500 refugees, a young woman becomes an unlikely hero

That disruption at a performance of Hamilton

The Bubble – SNL

They may well be sincere in what they say but they may just be buttering you up

Fidel Castro dead at 90;

Florence Henderson passed away – I never saw a single episode of the Brady Bunch during its original run but caught it in syndication occasionally. She played Florence Henderson at least a couple of times in later shows, but my favorite role of hers was as the wife in Amish Paradise by Weird Al.

The GREAT character Fritz Weaver died at the age of 90. Some know him for a few appearances in the original Twilight Zone, but he had a massive body of work

I know I liked Harris on Barney Miller because I didn’t often see the black intellectual on TV – RIP, Ron Glass

American comedy vs. British comedy

Internet Wading – Looking and listening

An interesting blog on family photo copyrights

Why can’t you go out and buy cashews in the shell?

Two Point Conversion Chart (football)

8 Memorable Comics Screw-Ups

Now I Know: The Spaceship Graveyard and A Def Vacation

“Hipster” nativity scene for the holidays

The Strange History of Microfilm, Which Will Be With Us for Centuries

Accidentally Closing Browser Window With 23 Tabs Open Presents Rare Chance At New Life