Ask Roger Anything Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

Ask Roger Anything, especially this

blogging on a pizza

Yeah, I’m asking you to Ask Roger Anything because I do. But I’m seeking, especially this particular wrinkle. I would like you to list the names of bands or solo musicians, as many as you like. And I must name the ONE or maybe two or three favorite songs from the artist or group, and why.

I hope that your choices include folks from whom I know more than one song. Don’t ask me about Dexys Midnight Runners because I don’t know any other tunes, though I have heard some in the past.

It’s interesting to me that music, most of which I have heard before, is now more likely to make me emotional. Sometimes, it’s sadness but more often, it’s joy. One example is the end section of Surf’s Up by the Beach Boys, originally scheduled for the Smile album, but which appeared at the end of the Surf’s Up album.

Books

I linked to a meme on Facebook. “Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, had this to say about home libraries: ‘It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones…

“‘If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the ‘medicine closet’ and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That’s why you should always have a nutrition choice!'”

So you could make me cut my 2,000 or 3,000 books – I didn’t count them – down to (ouch!) 100. What would I keep? You could ask that.

Or whatever

There was an item on Quora recently. “Can you answer this question: ‘Can you explain the process of blogging on a pizza?'” I was tempted to respond that I tend to blog on media slightly more permanent than a pizza, but I didn’t know how helpful that would be.

But you can ask anything else as well. I will answer, more or less truthfully, in the next month. Please make your requests in the comments section of this post, email me at rogerogreen (AT) Gmail (DOT) com, or contact me on Facebook. Heck, I’m still on Twitter as ersie, more out of inertia. (This is why I don’t call it whatever.) Always look for the duck.

The spring equinox is March 19?

Ask Roger Anything

To my surprise, this year in the Northern Hemisphere, the spring equinox is March 19 at 11:06 p.m. EDT. “If you thought that the spring equinox only ever occurred on March 21, you may be dating yourself. The civil calendar date of the equinox continues to shift every year.”

The wonderful website Time and Date notes: “The March equinox can happen on March 19, 20, or 21. The last time the March equinox was on March 21 (in UTC) was in 2007. It will happen again in 2101.” That last point also surprised me.

“Now, the really important question. Q: Does Spring Begin on March 1 or on the Equinox? A: Well, both. The answer depends on your definition of ‘spring.’ Both dates are accurate; they’re just from different perspectives. We’ll explain …

“Astronomically speaking, the first day of spring is marked by the spring equinox, which falls on March 19, 20, or 21 every year. The equinox happens at the exact moment worldwide, although our clock times reflect a different time zone. And, as mentioned above, this date only signals spring’s beginning in the Northern Hemisphere; it announces fall’s arrival in the Southern Hemisphere…

“Meteorologically speaking, the official first day of spring is March 1 (and the last is May 31). Weather scientists divide the year into quarters to make it easier to compare seasonal and monthly statistics from one year to the next. The meteorological seasons are based on annual temperature cycles rather than on the position of Earth in relation to the Sun, and they more closely follow the Gregorian calendar. Using the dates of the astronomical equinoxes and solstices for the seasons would present a statistical problem, as these dates can vary slightly each year.”

So the Meteorological version is march time, while the Astronomical version is more like jazz.

Ask Roger Anything

So now that I’ve shared with you the vagueries of the vernal equinox, I was hoping you would share with me some questions that you have always wanted to know. This is the exercise in which you ask me… the technical term is stuff. I will find some retired librarian to answer them.

You may ask anything your heart wants to know. I am required, per the retired librarians’ creed, to reply as well as I can in the next month or so.

You may make your requests in the comments section of this post, email me at rogerogreen (AT) Gmail (DOT) com, or contact me on Facebook. Always look for the duck. Yes, THAT duck.

One last thing: I’ve never dated myself. I believe that others are more interested to me.

Bringing holiday cheer: ARA

…purpose (nia), creativity (kuumba), and faith (imani)

This is the season of bringing holiday cheer. Hanukkah has already come and gone. But Festivus is coming up on December 23. I’m not sure we need the opportunity for the “airing of grievances,” as a fair amount of that has been going on of late. An apology often follows it.

Kwanzaa is coming up, starting on December 26. Each of the seven days of the celebration is dedicated to one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa: unity (umoja).” The idea appeals to me. This story about “teenagers help[ing] seniors learn how to use technology — and form friendships along the way” warms my heart. I saw a similar story recently about teens visiting seniors, and playing chess, Scrabble, and dominoes with them.

Also, “self-determination (kujichagulia), collective responsibility (ujima)” – what a grand idea! – “cooperative economics (ujamaa), purpose (nia), creativity (kuumba), and faith (imani).”

In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice is the 21st or the 22nd, depending on the time zone.

Then there’s another event coming up – what is it again? I have HEARD there’s a “war” against it, but I’m just not seeing it. A war against books, against certain ethnic groups, but… Christmas?

Ask Roger Anything

And whether there is such a conflagration, there’s one sure remedy: Ask Roger Anything. You can ask him about said wars, purpose, creativity, faith, and/or grievances. It would make a lovely holiday gift and won’t cost you a dime. Wotta deal!

And you can also ask Arthur anything. In fact, you can ask us the same questions. However, if you ask us how it is living in New Zealand, his answers will probably be more useful since I’ve never been there.

Whatever you ask, I promise to answer more or less honestly and within the next month or so. Please put your requests in the comments section of this post, email me at rogerogreen (AT) Gmail (DOT) com, or contact me on Facebook. As always, look for the duck.

Do I prefer spam or Ask Roger Anything?

“your electric company”

Why are they wasting my time? Since I have used my cellphone more frequently, the number of spam calls has exploded. The only reason it hasn’t been worse is that I don’t always carry it around when I’m at home.

Because I’m old, a LOT of these calls are from “Medicare” – yeah, right – or even more hilariously, “your electric company.” National Grid is never going to call me up and say that. Most are purportedly from my area code, 518, and many are marked Scam Likely.

Sometimes, when I miss a call, I dial the number. “The number you have dialed is almost always not in service.”

Email

Every damn politician, it seems, wants money. As an old poli sci major, I know cash can be the lifeblood of campaigns. But I’m annoyed to get an email solicitation from someone I never even heard of.

Here’s one from a Democratic candidate for Congress in 2024 that I received last month. “Roger, have you been getting my emails recently? If not, let me explain why I’m reaching out. My campaign has established an August fundraising goal of $12,000…”

I opt out of these things, but they’re too prolific. Obviously, they have sold my info to the next candidate. And by the way, it’s not just the Democrats. Because I get a lot of conservative publications, I get the pleas for money to save the country from the godless, baby-killing, left-wing Antifa anarchists.

What I prefer

I’d much rather be getting messages from people such as yourselves. You all can be the antidote for my spamola inundation. All you need to do is Ask Roger Anything. Anything at all, especially if you have a music theme, which I might use some Saturday.

And I will most likely answer to the best of my ability in the next 30 days. Please make your requests in the comments section of this post, email me at rogerogreen (AT) Gmail (DOT) com, or contact me on Facebook. Always look for the duck.

Unexpected stuff, plus ARA

Deep Throat

One of the vagueries of blogging involves unexpected stuff, like this image from NASA.

I received this email on May 28: “As you may know, our Community Guidelines describe the boundaries for what we allow– and don’t allow– on Blogger. Your post titled “Antoinette” was flagged to us for review. This post was put behind a warning for readers because it contains sensitive content; the post is visible at
http://rogerowengreen.blogspot.com/2005/06/antoinette.html. Your blog
readers must acknowledge the warning before being able to read the
post/blog.” We apply warning messages to posts that contain sensitive content.

“If you are interested in having the status reviewed, please update the content to adhere to Blogger’s Community Guidelines. Once the content is updated, you may republish it at [URL]. This will trigger a review of the post.” For more information, please review the following resources: Terms of Service: https://www.blogger.com/go/terms
Blogger Community Guidelines: https://blogger.com/go/contentpolicy

Sincerely,The Blogger Team”

So I looked at the article, which was about the Tony Awards. I assume the offending part is: “My buddy Fred Hembeck has been extolling the wonderfulness of one Mark Evanier for some time, and Mark has a lot to say about the Tonys that I found interesting… He also writes about medical marijuana (6/6) and Deep Throat (6/3), topics covered recently on this page, and how the rich get richer, and the myth of the “death tax” (6/6), which I would have written about had I had something cogent to say.”

Could it be a passing reference to Deep Throat, which was not about the 1972 movie but about the guy who fed information to Woodward and Bernstein about Watergate?

Resolution

After musing about this for three days, I decided to submit the piece for approval, unaltered. The response?

“Hello.

We have re-evaluated the post titled “Antoinette” against Community
Guidelines https://blogger.com/go/contentpolicy. Upon review, the post has been reinstated. You may access the post at
http://rogerowengreen.blogspot.com/2005/06/antoinette.html.

Sincerely,The Blogger Team”

At some level, the situation is comical. There’s no THERE there. And it did not prevent you from seeing a blog post I wrote EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO.

Conversely, I’m troubled by the kneejerk reaction of some anonymous person, or bot, who decided that something I wrote was salacious/pornographic without even understanding the context of Deep Throat. It’s the dumbing down of America.

Another matter: A guy wrote, “I’m working on cleaning my website, and I need your help in removing a link from your site. Your site is probably perfectly legitimate, but I’m just trying to eliminate as many links as possible.

Here’s the page on your site with the link: https://www.rogerogreen.com/2022/04/27/april-rambling-shadow-docket/

“Once you’ve removed the link(s), please send me a quick note so I can create a record of it. Thanks in advance! I hope to hear from you soon.”

This was one of my linkage posts, so sure. Whatever. It’s good to know my blog is “probably legitimate.”

I almost forgot: Ask Roger Anything!

The initial motivation for this post was to get you to Ask Roger Anything. I’m particularly looking for musically thematic pieces to write.

Now when I say Anything, maybe you should make sure that the questions don’t use the words ass (an animal) or bitch (an animal) or Uranus (a planet). God knows, I mean Allah knows, not that, I mean heaven knows SOMEONE will misconstrue my intent.

I’ll answer your questions in the next month or so. And I have received a few questions already. Please pose your questions in the blog’s comments section, email me at rogerogreen (AT) Gmail (DOT) com, or contact me on Facebook. Always look for the duck.