birthday Archives - Page 27 of 50

Mitt Romney turns 70

When I was growing up in the 1960s, there were plenty of Republicans that fair-minded citizens could consider.

There was a Vanity Fair article about Mitt Romney back in February 2012. Michael Kranish and Scott Helman’s piece was “an adaptation from their new book, The Real Romney, to find that the contradictions, question marks, and ambivalence go deeper than his politics.” It couldn’t have helped that Willard Mitt Romney’s real first name is the same as a movie rat.

The real trouble with the 2012 Republican Presidential campaign is that most of the pundits assumed the same thing would happen in 2016. Mitt Romney was losing to, at different points, Michele Bachmann, Herman “9-9-9” Cain, and Newt Gingrich, among others, before the party let one of grownups become the nominee. The supposition was that the same thing would happen again in 2016, that the bellicose businessman might be the flavor of the month, but surely fade, leaving someone such as Jeb Bush or John Kasich with the nomination.

Surely, Mitt Romney wasn’t as bad as some of his GOP counterparts, faint praise, I suppose. He did enact a predecessor to the Affordable Care Act when he was governor of Massachusetts. Yet he was perceived as the out of touch millionaire businessman, largely because of the 47% quote. Yet his successor as the Republican nominee, whom Romney rightly criticized as a phony, had a broader appeal as “genuine.”

It’s peculiar, politics in this century. When I was growing up in the 1960s, there were plenty of Republicans that fair-minded citizens could consider. Both of the US Senators from New York, Jacob Javits and Ken Keating, were Republicans, as was governor Nelson Rockefeller. William Scranton was governor of Pennsylvania, and George Romney, father of Mitt, was governor of Michigan.

There was a time in my voting lifetime when the vast majority of Republicans were people I would at least consider casting a ballot for. And I do know that if Mitt Romney had won in 2012, I would not be having the sleepless nights I’ve had since November 8, 2016.

I WAS disappointed when Romney suggested Betsy DeVos is a “smart choice for education secretary.” Still, I hope he finds ways to challenge this presidency; don’t know how much he’d be heard, but I’d love to see him use whatever clout he may still have.

Roger is 64

“Misery depresses you. Ignorance depresses you. Persecution depresses you. Violence depresses you. Corruption depresses you.”

A picture from the 1980s, when I was working at a certain comic book company in Albany.

Anyway, it’s my birthday, when I don’t blog. But I rather liked this quote a friend of mine posted on her Facebook page several months ago, from a book I read and movie I saw (1.5 times – long story.) You can muse how much of it is actually applicable to me.

“You have deep-seated survival anxieties. And you don’t like bigots, bullies, snobs or hypocrites. Subconsciously there are many people you hate.”

“Consciously, sir, consciously,” Yossarian corrected in an effort to help. “I hate them consciously.”

“You’re antagonistic to the idea of being robbed, exploited, degraded, humiliated, or deceived. Misery depresses you. Ignorance depresses you. Persecution depresses you. Violence depresses you. Corruption depresses you. You know, it wouldn’t surprise me if you’re a manic-depressive!”

“Yes, sir. Perhaps I am.”

“Don’t try to deny it.”

“I’m not denying it, sir,” said Yossarian, pleased with the miraculous rapport that finally existed between them. “I agree with all you’ve said.”

― Joseph Heller, Catch 22

David Bowie would have been 70

David Bowie did not “go with the flow of the times.”

Right after David Bowie died, almost a year ago, I went to buy his then-new album Blackstar on Amazon. But it was SOLD OUT. Bowie’s first #1 album in the United States, which I purchased a couple of weeks later, is a fitting ending to an eclectic career.

About a month following his death, I was doing some research on how to market oneself as an artist. I came across this article about David Bowie. Well, more his response to comments about his previous article about David Bowie.

A commenter wrote that Bowie is “one of the most brilliant marketers in the history of rock ‘n’ roll,” adding, “He is all about the money and he goes with ‘flow of the times.'” And the writer largely agreed: “Bowie tailored his music to fit each era, embracing styles from folk to glam rock to soul to electronic music and ‘drum and bass.'”

That didn’t sit well with me at all. He did not “go with the flow of the times,” he helped INVENT the flow of the times, which is why he was revered and is missed.

Here are 16 Bowie songs. The fact that many are in a different order than the last time I put together such a list shows how fluid my affection is for different songs, depending on what I heard most recently. Links to all, #s indicate US Billboard highest position. .

16. Let’s Spend the Night Together (From Aladdin Sane, 1973) – I like how reads the title lyric, compared with the Rolling Stones original
15. Starman, #65 (The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, 1972) – my favorite album, still
14. Life on Mars? (Hunky Dory, 1971) – from the first Bowie album I ever got, won from WNPC radio station in a phone contest
13. TVC15 (Station to Station, 1976)- because I like the vocal

12. Rebel Rebel, #64 (Diamond Dogs, 1974) – love the guitar on this
11. Suffragette City (Ziggy Stardust) – the dialogue is the first hook
10. DJ (Lodger, 1979)- “I am the DJ, I am what I play” used to mean something
9. Lazarus (Blackstar, 2016) – such an honest final statement

8. Fashion (Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), 1980)- beep, beep
7. Young Americans, #28 (Young Americans, 1975)- I believe he performed this on Soul Train. “Do you remember your President Nixon,” whose birthday, BTW, is tomorrow.
6. Fame, #1, and #21 soul (Young Americans) -the original, not the lesser Fame ’90 remix that I have on the Pretty Woman soundtrack. Co-written by John Lennon. LOVE the scales of “fame, fame, fame, fame…”
5. Panic in Detroit (Aladdin Sane)- “looks a lot like Che Guevera”, plus great background singing

4. Star (Ziggy Stardust)- rock and roll!
3. Golden Years, #10 (Station to Station)- the kids on Soul Train didn’t know what to make of the Thin White Duke, but they liked the song
2. Changes, #41 (Hunky Dory)- even my college roomie Ron liked THIS song
1. Space Oddity, #124, then #15 in 1973 (David Bowie – in the UK; Man of Words/Man of Music, 1969) – this song became more acutely painful after Bowie’s death

Oh, and in its own category: Under Pressure, with Queen, #7 in 1981 – a bass line so good, even Vanilla Ice sounded (relatively) good…

Director Steven Spielberg turns 70

Spielberg won the Academy Award for Best Director for Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan.

He’s Steven Spielberg, for crying out loud, one of the most consequential movie directors and producers of all time, and certainly of the past half-century. I was fascinated to see all the work he’s done in the 21st century that I have NOT seen.

Early on, Spielberg also directed episodes of TV shows that I watched, often religiously, such as Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law; Columbo; The Name of the Game; Night Gallery; and Marcus Welby, M.D., all in 1969-1971, but since I didn’t KNOW it was Spielberg, I’ll pass on those.

1968 Amblin’ (director of the Short) – I saw this well after Steven Spielberg became successful. Not much happens here. A couple of hitchhikers, no dialogue. But it’s from whence he named his productions from Amblin Entertainment

1974 The Sugarland Express (story, director) – This I also saw much later, much more fully realized
1977 Close Encounters of the Third Kind (written by, director) – I saw this in at least two different iterations; not sure the expanded version is better, but I was very fond of the original

1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark (director); 1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (director) – no, I never saw the second film. I think I liked the third film more than the first in some ways because the Sean Connery character made Indiana more real
1981 Continental Divide (executive producer) – I recall this John Belushi/Blair Brown comedy was savaged at the time, but I liked it, and current critics seemed to warm to it
1982 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (producer/director) – I loved the suburban kid angst, and just about everything about the movie until the bike scene at the end, which I found sappy
1983 Twilight Zone: The Movie (producer, director of segment 2) – saw this movie in Binghamton, NY
1985 Back to the Future 1989 Back to the Future Part II 1990 Back to the Future Part III (executive producer of all) – I should write about all of these, but liked the 1st, was depressed by that tricky middle act and thought the western motif in the 3rd was a hoot
1985 The Color Purple (producer/director) – a lot of good things, and its flaws were minor compared with the angst over a white guy directing this. Is this still the movie with the most Oscar nominations that won zero awards?

1986 The Money Pit (executive producer) – enjoyable enough, I think, but I don’t remember it well
1986 An American Tail (executive producer) – I was taken by the story
1985-1987 Amazing Stories (TV Series) (executive producer – 45 episodes, director – two episodes) – watched fairly regularly. As anthologies go, uneven, but worthwhile
1987 Empire of the Sun (producer/director) – I fell asleep in the movie theater; not necessarily a reflection on the film, just my fatigue
1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit (executive producer) – I loved that movie, but have not seen it since
1989 Always (producer/director) – it has Audrey Hepburn in her final role, and that’s enough for me

1991 Cape Fear (executive producer – uncredited) – never saw the original, but this was tension-inducing
1991 Hook (director) – somehow left me cold
1993 Jurassic Park (director) – one of the very few “popcorn movies” I’ve actually seen, and good for its genre
1993 Schindler’s List (producer/director) – profoundly moving. I think the two people I saw it with and I talked ABOUT it longer than the 195 minutes running time. Not sure that I ever want to see it AGAIN, but glad I saw it in the theater. It also engendered certain activism within Steven Spielberg to tell more Holocaust stories.
1993-1998 Animaniacs (TV Series) (executive producer – 99 episodes) – loved the self-referential schtick. a lot
1995-1998 Pinky and the Brain (TV Series) (executive producer – 60 episodes) – I lOVED this show. Probably didn’t find it until the second season

1996 Twister (executive producer) – serviceable film
1997 Men in Black 2002 Men in Black II (executive producer in both; actor – Alien on TV Monitor (uncredited) in 1st) – I surprisingly really enjoyed the first film, as it was very funny; the sequel I could have done without
1997 Amistad (producer/director) – a fascinating topic, important subject, I found the pacing rather slow, yet, by the end, I enjoyed it quite a bit
1998 Deep Impact (executive producer) – even within the genre, this seemed to be a preposterous story, told melodramatically

2001 Shrek (executive producer – uncredited) – I found it fun
2002 Catch Me If You Can (producer/director) – I liked this a lot, from the graphics to the characters well played by worldly Leo DiCaprio being pursued and hangdog Tom Hanks
2012 Lincoln (producer/director) – I know a lot of people thought this was a boring movie. I did not.

Steven Spielberg “won the Academy Award for Best Director for Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan, as well as receiving five other nominations… The unadjusted gross of all Spielberg-directed films exceeds $9 billion worldwide, making him the highest-grossing director in history… In 1987 he was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for his work as a creative producer.” Here’s his 2006 induction for the Kennedy Center Honors.

Mom would have been 89

I suspect that it was my mom who engineered the household’s purchase of the Encyclopedia Americana.

Musing about my next birthday coming up in a few months, I was wondering how I would remember how old I was, I realized that it would be easy: two to the sixth power, or 100000 base 2.

My mom was thrilled that I was learning base 2 when I was in fifth grade. You know base 2? Unlike base 10, which has ten digits, 0-9, base 2 only has two digits, 0 and 1.
1= 1 base 2
2= 10 base 2
3= 11 base 2
4= 100 base 2
5= 101 base 2
and so on

She was excited because, I was told, base 2 is used in COMPUTERS! 1 is on, 0 is off. So this would mean I could be a computer programmer!

As it turned out, the only thing I ever learned about computers is how to turn them on and off, and not always even that.

But I loved base 2 equivalent placeholders, and I could recite them – 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16384 – without even thinking about them. This seemed to please my mother.

But I have very few other recollections about her talking to me about my school work. She was a work-outside-the-home mom when most of my friends had their moms staying at home. That was time-consuming and must have been enervating.

Still, I suspect that it was she who engineered the household’s purchase of the Encyclopedia Americana. And it was her additional income that made it possible.

Since they were expensive for our family’s household income, I made sure they got well used. I’m not sure if anyone else used them much, but over two or three years, I read all 20-odd volumes all the way through. And my parents, at my urging, bought these annual updates, and I devoured them too.

Mom attended Daniel Dickinson school, as my sisters and I did; I’d written about it periodically, including here.

Anyhoo, mom would have been 89 today. And I think to call her, so I pick up the phone sometimes before I realize that I can’t. I am surprised I haven’t figured that out yet; she’s been gone nearly six years.

I have no idea where this picture was taken; she was probably single at the time.