Dustbury Archives - Page 29 of 34

February Rambling: niece Rebecca Jade in a movie

My niece, Rebecca Jade, appears as a singer (typecasting, that) in a film called 5 Hour Friends, starring Tom Sizemore,

From Jeff Sharlet, who I knew long ago: Inside the Iron Closet: What It’s Like to Be Gay in Putin’s Russia. In 2010, Jeff wrote about the American roots of Uganda’s anti-gay persecutions. He notes: “Centrist media sources dismissed my reporting as alarmist; The Economist assured us it would never pass. [This week], Ugandan President Museveni is signing the bill into law.”

There was no Jesse Owens at Sochi.

Arthur’s letter to straight people: why coming out matters; read the linked articles therein, too. (Watch that Dallas sportscaster on Ellen.)

So Dangerous He Needs a Soo-da-nim. Racist homophobes who comment on Sharp Little Pencil’s blog.

With conversations about shipping potentially dangerous liquids through my area, here’s a recollection of a train wreck 40 years ago.

If you knew you were going blind, what would be the last thing you would want to see before everything went dark?

The mess of an answered prayer and talking about mental illness.

A Hero’s Welcome after World War II. On a lighter note, The Margarine Wars.

This school is not a pipe, or pipeline.

An alto’s-eye view of choral music.

Who the heck was Ed Sullivan. Plus, Meet the Beatles and what it replaced, and What the critics wrote about the Beatles in 1964, and Introducing the Beatles to America.

Evanier’s experiences with Sid Caesar. Evanier wrote a brace of followup stories here (which also talks about Howie Morris) and here. Also, Dick Cavett reviewed one of Caesar’s two autobiographies, plus an article about the ever-foldable Al Jaffee of MAD.

Leonard Maltin on meeting Shirley Temple.

There are several Harold Ramis films I haven’t seen yet, but the ones I DID view – Animal House, Ghostbusters, Analyze This – I really enjoyed. Groundhog Day was among the first movies I ever purchased on VHS. And his SCTV stuff was fine, too.

A reminder that this is why we are so touched by Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death, from Anthony Lane. As someone put it, “It’s not his celebrity but his art.”

An audio link to a 46-minute lecture by Charles Schulz.

My niece, Rebecca Jade appears as a singer (typecasting, that) in a film called 5 Hour Friends, starring Tom Sizemore, a 97 minute comedy/drama/romance. “A lifelong womanizer gets a taste of his own medicine.” It was made in 2013, but not widely released, if at all. It will be in theatrical release in San Diego March 28-April 4th. Here’s the trailer, in which Rebecca can briefly be both seen and heard singing.

After only an 18-month hiatus, Tosy and Cosh are back ranking every U2 song.

Why Tom Dooley was hanging his head. Plus hangman John Ellis.

That is NOT the way Dustbury remembers that song, and I don’t either. Plus the history of Unchained Melody.

Mark Evanier’s teacher from hell.

Lefty Brown’s Valentine’s Day post to Kelly. “The Married Gamers – Play Together. Stay Together.”

Maypo Cereal Commercial (1956) Yes, I DO remember it, so there.

The five-second rule, expanded. Very true.

One can count on SamuraiFrog for all things Muppet: Getting to the Big Game and Miss Piggy’s response, plus a meta ad for the upcoming movie and Rowlf getting ice cream and saying good night to Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night; I hear Fallon’s gotten another job. Fallon, BTW, went to school at the College of Saint Rose, about five blocks from my house.

Yet another version of Bohemian Rhapsody.

Frog still torturing himself with 50 Shades of Smartass: Chapter 13 and Chapter 14 and Chapter 15 and Chapter 16. When I typed the title, I accidentally wrote “50 Years…”; read into that what you will.

GOOGLE ALERTS (me)

And now for the AmeriNZ section: Arthur’s linkage, in which he calls my Everly Brothers post “diabolical.” Arthur’s Law restated, tied to my Facebook unfriending. The law is a ass.

YouTube and AIDS deniers.

Not in an upstate New York State of mind

I REALLY liked Madison, Wisconsin when I was there in 1988. Always appreciate the state’s progressive tradition.

LONG-time blogger Dustbury asks a question for this round of Ask Roger Anything:

If a purely arbitrary decision was handed down to the effect that you could no longer remain in upstate New York, where would you first consider going?

I’ve thought on this a lot, actually. It’s pretty much a process of elimination.

Not moving to anywhere there is no fresh water, so desert states such as Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico are definitely out. California – well, is the big earthquake still coming?

I’d like to be out of direct range of hurricanes, which eliminates Florida, not that I wouldn’t have passed on it for other reasons; and the parts of the states on the Gulf coast and southern part of the Atlantic are unlikely.

Not Texas, because Texas is Texas.

I’m wary of being in tornado alley, which seems to encompass much of the center of the country from Oklahoma to Ohio.

Places I had considered before I’m now rethinking; I worry about Washington and Oregon after the Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown in Japan, maybe not enough to eliminate them, but it’s a factor. I wouldn’t pass on all the states along with the flood-prone Mississippi River, but any place that’s flooded in the last 15 years, I can imagine flooding again.

I hear the Deep South is more enlightened than it used to be; not sure I’d want to move there.

I REALLY liked Madison, Wisconsin when I was there in 1988. Always appreciate the state’s progressive tradition. Don’t love the current governor, though.

Do I want somewhere warmer? Certainly NOT colder, which eliminates Minnesota and Maine.

Ultimately, it would be either in a small college town or a larger college town with decent mass transit in New England, but probably not Connecticut, which often feels like suburbia. Rhode Island is a possibility. I’m fond of Northampton, Massachusetts.

My pick, all things being equal, is southern Vermont. After all, Vermont was part of New York, before it was broken off to become the 14th state. Both New York and Vermont have a maple syrup tradition. And, in spite of damage from some recent hurricanes, both tend to be out of hurricane alley.

The Normblog questions answered by Dustbury

People who are wealthy and think they did it all by themselves tend to annoy me.

practicingCatholic — Stolen from normblog

A couple of months back, Dustbury wrote about Norm Geras, who died in October of prostate cancer, again belying the narrative that no one dies from it; my father did.

Chaz wrote: “In the online community, however, he may be best remembered for the normblog profile, in which he sent four dozen or so questions to leading bloggers and asked them to answer any thirty of their choice.” Here is a list of all the hundreds of bloggers who answered the call.

I had opted to answer the questions that Norm posed to Dustbury that Chaz deigned to answer.

Well, except that the next day, Chaz wrote Norm’s instructions:

“Please NB that you should not answer all 50 questions, but (as requested on the document itself) just 30 of them — enabling you to select those questions most congenial to you and leave out any that aren’t.”

Chaz added: “The wisdom of this practice really didn’t dawn on me until I’d submitted my answers when I realized that this was how Norm knew what you really valued above all else.” Which means I’m going to chuck *Which English Premiership football team do you support? since it is NOT in my area of expertise.

But I will add some questions answered by John Green, but NOT by Dustbury, just because.

*Why do you blog?

Therapy is too expense.

*What has been your best blogging experience?

Getting comments about my grandfather, who died in 1980, years after I wrote about him.

*What has been your worst blogging experience?

Some haranguing guy at my Times Union blog who was complaining every day about something I wrote.

*What would be your main blogging advice to a novice blogger?

Find a schedule and try to stick with it. Once a week or twice a day, but be consistent. Three posts in a day, then nothing for three days isn’t as good as once a day.

*What are you reading at the moment?

Xerox Ferox, which is a thick book of essays.

*Who are your cultural heroes?

Ben Franklin and Paul Simon? John Lennon and Thomas Jefferson? Actually, my first thought was Mohandas K. Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

*What is the best novel you’ve ever read?

11/22/63 by Stephen King has supplanted A Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

*What is your favourite poem?

Ever since I learned it was parody, it’s probably The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.

*Who is your favourite composer?

Mozart, though I am quite fond of Beethoven.

*Can you name a major moral, political or intellectual issue on which you’ve ever changed your mind?

When I was 14, I supported the Vietnam War; when I was 15, I opposed it. I’ve gone through lots of changes involving religion, from fundamentalist fervor to rejection of religion to my current, always evolving beliefs.

*What philosophical thesis do you think is most important to disseminate?

Being civil and decent does not mean weakness.

*What philosophical thesis do you think is most important to combat?

Yelling the loudest does not make you correct. I think people confuse clever retorts with sound policy, which scares the heck out of me.

*If you could effect one major policy change in the governing of your country, what would it be?

There needs to be a chance for third parties, and given the way the Republicans and Democrats rig the rules, we need another way to cast the ballot, such as Instant Runoff Voting.

*What would you do with the UN?

The problem with the UN is that the things it does well, in health care, e.g., is largely invisible. It probably should not put out the presumption that it can do peacekeeping.

*What do you consider to be the main threat to the future peace and security of the world?

Global warming, which will affect the availability of water (too much or too little, it appears), cost of fighting natural disasters, from mudslides to fire.

*Do you think the world (human civilization) has already passed its best point, or is that yet to come?

I’d like to be positive; not sure that I am.

*What would be your most important piece of advice about life?

Don’t be a schmuck.

*Do you think you could ever be married to, or in a long-term relationship with, someone with radically different political views from your own?

Probably not, because she would keep saying stuff that would inevitably tick me off.

*What do you consider the most important personal quality?

The pursuit of honesty.

*What personal fault do you most dislike?

Self-absorption.

*In what circumstances would you be willing to lie?

Interesting question. As I’ve noted here before, I’ve been hugely influenced by the book Lying by Sissela Bok. Would I lie to protect someone? Maybe. But what if I lied and said someone was in the closet when I thought he was in the kitchen, in order to protect him, but he had actually moved to the closet?

*Do you have any prejudices you’re willing to acknowledge?

People who are wealthy and think they did it all by themselves tend to annoy me.

*What is your favourite proverb?

“A stitch in time saves nine.” I’m lazy by nature.

*What would you call your autobiography?

Rambling with Roger. Actually, I have no idea.

*What would your ideal holiday be?

A rail pass to places where they play Major League Baseball.

*What talent would you most like to have?

Play the piano. THAT’S not going to happen.

*What would be your ideal choice of alternative profession or job?

Teaching remedial math to adults, but not using that ugly Core Curriculum stuff they’re using in New York State.

*How, if at all, would you change your life were you suddenly to win or inherit an enormously large sum of money?

I’d spend some time working on genealogy, working more with the Friends of the Library, and maybe volunteering for the Red Cross.

*What animal would you most like to be?

Golden retriever. I’m not a dog person, but I do like them.
**
Who would play you in the movie about your life?

Forest Whitaker. As a child, I have no idea.

*What is your most treasured possession?

A copy of Abbey Road allegedly signed by four Beatles.

*If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to?

Labyrinth.

*Who is your favourite comedian or humorist?

Bill Cosby. Or Bob Newhart.

*Who are your sporting heroes?

Muhammad Ali, Willie Mays, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

*If you could have one (more or less realistic) wish come true, what would you wish for?

Truth serum in the Washington, DC water supply, so we’d know for sure that Lobbyist A owns Congressman B, et al.

*If you could have any three guests, past or present, to dinner who would they be?

I must have answered this a half dozen times and never tire of it: John Lennon, René Magritte, and Jack Kirby, for no particular reason, except to see if Magritte would complain about the appropriation of his apple for the Beatles’ Apple Records; I suspect he would not care. They could talk about art from different perspectives.

November Rambling: Candy, Poetry, and 50 Shades

SamuraiFrog, bless his heart, is writing 50 Shades of of Grey, as Summarized by a Smartass.

An Opinion Piece On A Controversial Topic. “Pretty awesome meta.”

Gettysburg Address at 150.

Heidi Boghosian joins Bill Moyers for a conversation on what we all need to know about surveillance in America. “Spying on democracy,” indeed.

The defense should not be permitted to refer to the prosecutor… as “the Government.” It might sound… prejudicial.

Texas Man Sued for Defamation by Fracking Company that Contaminated his Water Supply.

“You could get better if you wanted to.” “You should just try harder.” “You’re being lazy.” “You need to be more motivated.” “You’re so needy.”

Methodist Pastor Has 30 Days to Renounce His Gay Children or Be Defrocked; it’s a matter of right and wrong.

Always Go to the Funeral.

Exclusive excerpt from Art Spiegelman’s Co-Mix retrospective. Some lifetime ago, before Maus Continue reading “November Rambling: Candy, Poetry, and 50 Shades”

Looking for the commonality

One can seize on our differences, or celebrate the commonality.

This is a response, of sorts, to my post a while ago about avoiding conflict. I think that, in addition to what I said then, I look for the things in people that we share in common, rather than go after our differences. There will ALWAYS be differing POVs, and belaboring the point, most of the time, I don’t find particularly beneficial to me, or to them.

Take Dustbury, e.g. He’s this guy whose politics are ~~probably~~ more conservative than mine, though I have noticed that I’ve agreed with him recently on some governmental overreach issues. AND he knows more about My Little Pony than my daughter does. But I celebrate with him a love of music. He’s noted that two of my favorite albums of the 1950s were albums in his regular work rotation. He endorsed my Rock and Roll Hall of Fame picks. I came across him when I found his list of the Warner Brothers Loss Leaders of the late 1960s and 1970s; in fact, I even added to it. He’s a magpie like I am. Also, he’s from Oklahoma, and I like Oklahoma, at least conceptually. He’s been blogging for nearly two decades, and I’m impressed as heck by that.

When Jaquandor, that fine blogger from Buffalo, writes about fixing the Star Wars prequels, I tend to skim over the posts, since I only saw the first film – and HATED it. But it’s no big deal because I like his Wednesday questions, his fine linkage, his affection for space travel, the music he shares on Thursdays, his sense of justice, and especially his struggles to write not one, but (it seems) a half dozen books. I’m also jealous as all get out by his skills with tools, possibly because I have almost none. Not sure I get the pie in the face thing, but his unbridled joy about it is infectious.

I could go on like this, but I hope the point is clear: one can seize on our differences, or celebrate the commonality. Someone suggested to me that some people seem to thrive on conflict, and I’m sure that’s true. It seems to give their life meaning, a sense of engagement. That’s not me. I have my sometimes strong opinions, and I state them, and I’m good with that. If it convinces you, or confirms what you already believe, swell. If not, oh, well.

Here’s an example of what I consider unnecessary conflict: you put out a list of your favorite songs or movies or books, and someone comments, “How could you possibly like THAT?” Responses like that are intentionally provocative. I don’t make them, and people making such comments to me, or to others are definitely diminished in my eyes. “Yes, I like it because I DO. Please SHUT UP.”

When I wrote about my hatred of the N-word, my terrestrial friend Dan wrote to me that the discussion appeared to be annoying me – it never was – and that it was not his intention to do so – and I didn’t think it was. I DO think dialogue is useful, but not all things can be “solved” in an everyone’s-a-little-unhappy sort of way. Still, I feel safer posting to THIS blog than the Times Union blog because the people who come here are, in the main, WAY more reasonable than there; that I would discuss it at all is a reflection of the decency of the folks who visit HERE. (And it’s interesting: I did note that post on Facebook, but I didn’t get any trolls, which is NOT a complaint.)

Guess I’m saying that communications may be like a Venn diagram. Some, like me, try to go for the stuff in the middle when possible, whereas others seek to go along the edges.