May Rambling

Susannah Spencer is somehow an ancestor of Diana Spencer, who married Prince Charles, who had two sons, William and Harry.

When Blogger was down for about 24 hours earlier this month, it really threw off my blogging rhythm. For reasons mundane (I’m used to it) and functional (it’s a backup system), I still compose my blog in Blogger, THEN copy and paste into this WordPress format. And the day it was down was a Thursday, which meant I actually HAD time to post for an hour between work and choir. Or go to other people’s blogs, or leave comments on other people’s blogs, but I couldn’t do that either. Then when Blogger finally came back up, I realized that none of the blogposts that I had Scheduled actually saw the light of day, so I had to repost them. Oh, well. Arthur, and others whose primary blogs are on Blogger, had it worse than I.
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Went to see HAIR this month.
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The eldest niece’s website.
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Gordon at Blog This, Pal! has been blogging for seven years, which is amazing. He’s the only out-of-area blogger I’ve met through blogging, when we went to a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field in 2008. Naturally, the home team lost.
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Who hit the most home runs during the 1960s? More than Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson, or Willie McCovey. That would be Harmon Killebrew, whose goodbye note to his fans was very touching, and who died this month of cancer at the age of 74. He was probably my father-in-law’s favorite player. Incidentally, my father-in-law’s 75th birthday was this week.
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Samoa will lose a day! And willingly, no less. Gotta mess up birthdays, astrological charts…
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A Berlioz Requiem sampler of the Albany Pro Musica concert. The “Dies irae” and the “Lacrymosa” are only fragmentary parts of the longer originals, due to uploading limits.
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The National Jukebox, from your Library of Congress.
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Did you know Jack Kirby had an alternate design for Captain America, created for some purpose he couldn’t remember, that never appeared in a comic book?
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I feel as though I really need to see the movie Thor. It got a 70%+ positive rating from Rotten Tomatoes, but a real negative one from Roger Ebert. Something about his take, though, 1) compelled him to respond to his critics and 2) makes me think that I might like it anyway.
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Addresses of Marvel Superheroes in New York City.
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Fight the Rebellion! Darth Vader is countng on you!
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This is an interesting video. I’ve subsequently found more people doing this on other videos, but this pair seem to be the best.

Roger Answers Your Questions, Scott and Anne-Marie

DADT is toast; it just doesn’t know it yet. When is that report coming out that’s supposed to assess the impact of openly gay personnel in the military?

My good buddy Scott, who I’ve never met, the blogger at Scooter Chronicles, has several questions:

1. Now that the baseball playoff teams (except for the NL West) are pretty well set, who do you see getting to the World Series and who wins it?

I can’t help but think the teams will be from the East. But which teams? Minnesota has been hot, but I think they can be beaten; likewise the Rangers. So I’m saying Tampa and the Yankees in the ALCS. I’ll pick the Yankees, but I’m by no means certain.

Look for Cincinnati to get to the NLCS, and lose to the Phillies. Yankees over the Phillies. Or Tampa over the Phillies. Whoever wins the AL EAST over the winner of the NL EAST.

2. How long have you been reading/collecting comics?

Well, I’m pretty much not anymore, though I pick up some on Free Comic Book Day in May, and inevitablty buy SOMETHING. I started in 1971 – it was his fault – and sold my collection in 1994. but I still have some collections, and even bought some Marvel Masterworks just this year.

3. If you still read them often, is there a new series that really interests you?

Well, no. But I would recommend to you Saga of the Swamp Thing collection by Moore, Bissette, and Totleben, and not just because Steve Bissette is my buddy who I HAVE met. I know you just read The Watchmen. This is a different thing, of course, but very good.

4. Of the comic book superheroes, who do you think has the coolest logo?

Well, Superman’s is iconic, of course. I’ll pick Green Lantern because it’s…green. And because even I could draw it.

5. What do you think the eventual outcome will be for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the DREAM Act?

DADT is toast; it just doesn’t know it yet. When is that report coming out that’s supposed to assess the impact of openly gay personnel in the military? The Republicans need political cover to overturn it. If the report comes out before the election, it could be overturned after the election. If not, it’ll be more difficult, but it WILL happen.

Whereas I just can’t see the DREAM Act passing at all. The GOP won’t touch it because it rewards “bad behavior” of children, CHILDREN (were they supposed to stay home without their parents?) who came to the United States illegally, want to be productive members of US society through college and/or the military. It’ll happen only when we have a “comprehensive immigration policy” and THAT’S not going to happen anytime soon.

6. If you could go back in time and choose a different career, would you and what would it be?

There was nothing else I’d do as well. I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, but I hated my pre-law course, which really did throw me off for quite a while.
I always wanted to be a Pip. Background singer. Don’t like singing melody, but love singing harmony.

7. A bit cliche, but I can’t remember anyone asking this before, if you could have dinner with three other people, whether they are currently living or have already passed on, who would they be and why?

Jesus, Mohammed and Thomas Jefferson. The first two because I’d be curious about what they thought of things being said in their respective names. Jefferson because he was an interestingly complicated dude who wanted freedom, owned slaves and apparently slept with one, was a theist but not in the traditional sense, and was a book guy. BTW, have you seen Tea Party Jesus, which was described in the Huffington Post a couple months ago. It puts “The words of Christians in the mouth of Christ.” Well, purported Christians, anyway.

Picture from Tea Party Jesus. Used by permission.
The words above describe some politician I described here.


Anne-Marie with a Dash from Montreal – I need to go back there someday – asks:

When should someone retire from a job? Should we wait till we are physically too tired to perform or retire early while we still have some life left in us?

The great philosopher Neil Young once said, It’s better to burn out than fade away. This is a complicated question, based on your economic situation, your prospects and training for another position, your interest in something else.

That said, I think life is too short to work until one is too tired to perform. You do yourself a disservice, your employer and customers a disservice. I wrote on Thursday about leaving a job – I didn’t have one to go to, but it just was time to go. But I was single then, living in an apartment; I’m married with a child and a mortgage now, and probably wouldn’t make the same choice. Your situation will mitigate your decision. But you need joy in your life.

You and your husband are in a small apartment in Qatar right now; I’m guessing that it might be lucrative being there. But you don’t seem to love, or even like(?) being there; it’s too hot except at night, you probably don’t get enough sleep and I’m guessing you’re tired constantly. Short of working nights, if that were possible, I’d leave if at all feasible.



SamuraiFrog gave me an award, and all I have to do is pass it along to 10 others. Well, I can’t give it to SF, obviously, or to Jaquandor, because SF gave the award to him.

Berowne
Witch Reviews
Witch Blog
photowannabe
The Pedalogue (Leslie, not my sister)
Anthony North
Mrs. Nesbitt’s Space
peripheral perceptions (Lisa)
Bringing Up Salamanders (Nydia)
Rose DesRochers – World Outside my Window

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