Ask Roger Anything Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

Concert survey

Rebecca Jade

In the spirit of Ask Roger Anything, a concert survey.

First concert: MAYBE Jonathan Edwards at SUNY New Paltz? Did I see Pete Seeger earlier? I THINK Billy Preston was slightly later, but I am unsure.

Last concert: The last pop concert would be the New Edition/Boyz II Men/Toni Braxton concert in the Boston Garden on February 15. But the last concert was on March 14, when my wife and I saw and heard the Albany Symphony Orchestra play Francisco del Pino: Ritual; Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4; and Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 7.

Next concert: I haven’t bought tickets, but maybe Alison Krauss and Union Station, whom we saw in 2003.

Best concert: I’m convinced it was Talking Heads at SPAC, and seeing (finally!) the Stop Making Sense movie in 2025 codified that. But it could also be the Temptations at the Colonie Coliseum during the Reunion tour, both from back in the 1980s.

Worst concert: Diana Krall in 2023.

Loudest concert: MxPx opened for No Doubt in Albany in 1997. The sheer constant audio assault was unnerving.

MOSTEST

Seen the most: This is a tricky question, because I’ve probably seen Pete Seeger more than two dozen times. Were they “concerts”? Mostly, no. His show at Page Hall in the UAlbany downtown campus in the early 1980s, and possibly his performance on the Clearwater. But most were at political rallies of some sort.

I MAY have seen Lucinda Williams thrice, two times in Albany and once at SPAC. Pete Droge, I MUST have seen at least thrice, once opening for Tom Petty and once (or twice) elsewhere in Albany. I definitely saw him in the Boston area the evening after I had taped my JEOPARDY appearance in September 1998.

But, I’m going to go with Rebecca Jade, whom I saw perform in San Diego in 2018, in Syracuse in 2023, and in Horseheads, near Elmira, NY, in August 2024. Additionally, I saw her perform on Dave Koz’s Christmas shows in 2021 and 2024. Moreover, during COVID, she performed online more than a dozen times, both at home and with Peter Sprague. This doesn’t count her backup singing for Sheila E. in 2017 and 2019.

Most surprising: I saw Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, and Amos Lee in ALB in 2007. Lee and Costello sounded great; Dylan’s sound was muddy.

Wish I could’ve seen: The Rolling Stones and The Who, both were in town at different times.

Concert where the support act became huge: I saw Seals and Crofts, November 12, 1971, in New York City, Boz Scaggs opening.

Act you would like to see still touring: n/a

Celebrating the Sestercentennial

also: Ask Roger Anything

Usually, for the beginning of spring, I ask you to Ask Roger Anything. You still may – I encourage it – but I also want to turn the tables a bit. What, if anything, are you doing to celebrate the sestercentennial of the United States?

No, I hadn’t heard of the word before either. My spellcheck does NOT like it. As far as I know, the prefix is a Latin term meaning “two and a half.” It also has other definitions. I’ve been using semiquincentennial (half of five hundred years) or quartermillennial because I find it easier to use.

Anyway…

I remember the bicentennial in 1976 with much more enthusiasm than I have for this year’s model. Reenactments and the Tall Ships were events I watched on television.

For 2026, the “United States Semiquincentennial Commission is the congressionally appointed body in charge of promoting and coordinating” the events. The calendar seems rather sparse, but maybe I missed something. There IS a Water Lantern Festival in Albany, NY on June 27. The New York State Museum in Albany will open a huge exhibit this summer to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The process was a political football for a while. Then the politicization got worse as FOTUS, in 2025, “created the White House Task Force on Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday to also promote and plan the events.”

Daily Kos notes the UFC fights on the White House South Lawn on June 14 and an Indy Car race around DC. Naturally, there will be a lot of Trump 250 merch available.

And yet…

At the point when I might be [might be? That’s understating it!] feeling discouraged, I heard a recommendation for a book. The Beginning Comes After the End: Notes on a World of Change by Rebecca Solnit. It “surveys a world that has changed dramatically since the year 1960. Despite the forces seeking to turn back the clock on history, change is not a possibility; it is an inevitability…

“While the white nationalist and authoritarian backlash drives individualism and isolation, this new world embraces antiracism, feminism, a more expansive understanding of gender, environmental thinking, scientific breakthroughs, and Indigenous and non-Western ideas, pointing toward a more interconnected, relational world.”

On The View, Ken Burns reiterates that his latest project, The American Revolution, is his most important yet. It dissects how the internal conflicts of “all men are created equal” played out. And, implicitly, still does.

I think I need to go to the next No Kings rally on March 28.

Still, you CAN Ask Roger Anything

If you have a question for me, you may just Ask Roger Anything. I’ve yet to reject a query. You can test the limits of my tolerance. Moreover, I’ll likely answer it sooner rather than later.

You may leave your questions in the comments section of this blog, in my email, referenced elsewhere on this blog, or on my Facebook page (Roger Owen Green); always look for the duck.

Blog-specific edition of Ask Roger Anything

SCOTUS

This is the blog-specific edition of Ask Roger Anything. People have asked me general questions, sometimes in person, some via email or Facebook. I’ve often gotten them enough that I should address them.

One is: Why do I do the quizzes, notably Sunday Stealing? There are two basic reasons. One is that they are easy; I can do them quickly. I sort of free-associate when I’m writing, and I don’t have to fact-check them because they’re all from my own experience.

The other reason is that I tend to get more responses to them than to many of my other blog posts. And it’s not just from the people participating in the quiz but also from people who email me and say, “We’re following your posts.” I guess because they’re more relatable.

Another question is Why do I write about politics all the time? As I’ve said repeatedly, I hate talking about it. On the other hand, I don’t want people to think that the stuff that’s going down is OK. I don’t want my silence to signify consent to what Public Citizen calls the “unilaterally, unconstitutionally, and unlawfully dismantling the federal government — our government — from Cabinet-level departments… to smaller agencies that go largely unnoticed as they do the routine, unheralded work that makes for a functioning country.”

Math is everywhere

I had a great time drinking with a friend and their friend last month. We had this wonderful, weird conversation about why math is everywhere. I mentioned this question from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which was fun for those who like numbers and terrifying for those who don’t, such as contestants Helen Hunt and Daniel Bucatinsky. The $250,000 question:

“The judicial handshake is a US Supreme Court tradition in which all nine justices shake hands with each other once for a total of how many handshakes.”

The choices were 18, 25, 36, and 57.

The AI says: “You can find the answer by using the formula for triangular numbers, N * (N-1) / 2, where N is the number of people (9 in this case), so 9 * 8 / 2 = 36.” Well, yeah, but that’s too mathy. Since you don’t shake your own hand, one could add 8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1, which also equals 36.

This is why figuring out fractions should be done with pie charts, or preferably, actual pies, instead of talking about multiplying the numerator and the denominator. (More pies, Kelly!)

The ask

If you have other queries, you can Ask Roger Anything. Roger loves to answer almost any question, no matter how absurd. He will respond in a few weeks. It takes time to be true and accurate!

You can leave your questions in the comments section of this blog, in my email, referenced elsewhere on this blog, or on my Facebook page (Roger Owen Green); always look for the duck.

What do I know? Ask Roger Anything

Save Our Republic

What do I know? Sometimes less than I think I do.

I was working on Wordle:

Wordle 1,448 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 AROSE
⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ TULIP
🟨🟨🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

The third word I used was DEIGN. I was trying to remember the name of that Christian hymn that used that word, but I couldn’t recall it. So I Googled it, and it was “Beneath the Cross of Jesus,” a hymn I hadn’t sung in a good while. However, the word was FAIN; I totally misremember this.

Deign means to condescend reluctantly and with a strong sense of the affront to one’s superiority that is involved: stoop.

Fain, by contrast, means with pleasure, by preference. Here are the lyrics to the hymn and a recording. Oh, the Wordle word was EDIFY; this was an edifying experience.

model for Edna ‘E’ Mode

I was watching JEOPARDY Masters. The Jeopardy! Category Is… Costume Design With Paul Tazewell, the Tony winner and 2025 Tony nominee, joined the TV game show for an entire category of fashionable answers.

For $600: “In her 50+ year career, this person won a record eight Oscars for costume design.” She was pictured, but I could not remember her name. The animated film The Incredibles (2004) featured a character based on her. Maddening. Of course, it was Edith Head.

This is making me feel a little less savvy, but then I started at some of the recent regular JEOPARDY games from the first week in June. There were some questions on there that nobody got right, but I knew instantly.

Smooth Singers

A 1990s “SNL” sketch called “Coffee Talk” praised this singer for having a voice “like buttah”

Louis Armstrong’s rasp contrasted beautifully with her sweet honey sound, dueting on songs like “Cheek To Cheek” (pictured)

Women on Stamps

Thank you for being a friend—in March 2025, this beloved TV entertainer was honored on a stamp

Geographic nicknames

An abundance of sediment gives the Missouri River the nickname “Big” this

Reelin’ In The Years

5 guys get busted at the Watergate; Harrison Schmitt is one of 2 to be the last to walk on the Moon (but not to moonwalk)

Colleges and universities

Think your school’s got tradition? Thomas Aquinas got a degree & taught theology on the Left Bank at the U. of this city.

The same letter Three Times

Matthew 6:24 warns, “Ye cannot serve God and” this personification of wealth.

The article

A cousin of mine sent me this article from the New York Times from Ken Jennings: Trivia and ‘Jeopardy!’ Could Save Our Republic. “Facts may seem faintly old-timey in the 21st century, remnants of the rote learning style that went out of fashion in classrooms (and that the internet search made obsolete) decades ago. But societies are built on facts, as we can see more clearly when institutions built on knowledge teeter.

“Inaccurate facts make for less informed decisions. Less informed decisions make for bad policy. Garbage in, garbage out.” I was discussing this very issue with a librarian; Google is not always the answer. Some of the current “factoids” generated by an AI-like machine are often terrible, which Jennings addresses.

Working through my existential trauma, you could provide a salve if you would Ask Roger Anything. I intend to reply within the month. I work really hard to make sure it’s accurate; it may even be true!

You can leave your questions in the comments section of this blog or on my Facebook page (Roger Owen Green); always look for the duck.

Oh, the responses: Barbra Streisand; Ella Fitzgerald; Betty White (my wife purchased me a set of these stamps!); Big Muddy; 1972 (contestants guessed 1974 and 1973); Paris (a contestant guessed London); mammon.

Ask Me Anything because it’s too much

Maybe

It’s all too much. That Beatles song, written by George Harrison, appeared on Yellow Submarine. But the lyrics are far more optimistic than I’m feeling.

“It’s all too much for me to take
The love that’s shining all around you
Everywhere, it’s what you make
For us to take, it’s all too much”

The changes in the government in the last two months are too much to keep track of. I might hve an inclination to write about A or B, but when there’s A to XXX to talk about, how do I focus on one thing?

This is where you come in. Asking you to ask me anything will narrow the parameters, especially if it’s about politics, government, or racism. (Note to JAF: You can specifically ask about the latter.)

I want you to narrow it down to a specific thing you might want to know. I have a couple of theories that I might want to try out, but I need your help deciding which direction to take.

Alternately…

Or I could talk about my cat, a music topic, or something I don’t know about. Specifically, I’m looking for quizzes I could do on Sundays in case Sunday Stealing goes by the wayside. I could raid some older ones, but developing a community is more interesting.

As I’ve noted, writing a daily blog post narrows my focus without feedback. Your role in this is quite important and, not incidentally, more fun for me.

I will endeavor to respond when you ask something in the next few weeks. My response will be as honest as possible. (Do I lie to myself? Maybe.)

You can leave your questions in this blog’s comments section, on my Facebook page (Roger Owen Green), or on my BlueSky page (roger green.bsky.social); always look for the duck. But don’t leave it on my Twitter page, which I deleted. Or I believe I did; the owner is… problematic.