Tag: Rebecca Jade

September rambling: ‘Subsidizing Suicide’

Rebecca Jade in London


CDC Issues Emergency Response for Florida Dengue Outbreak.

Ahead of Biodiversity Summit, UN Chief Warns Countries Are ‘Subsidizing Suicide’ by Backing Fossil Fuels. “I urge governments everywhere to end these handouts once and for all, and to use the savings for people and planet instead,” said António Guterres.

Voters in Oil-Rich Alberta Strongly Reject Leaving Canada.

In Virginia, Racism and Redlining Are Fueling a Flock Camera Backlash.

Expedia amazoned hotel rooms. 

Smart Answers to Stupid Comments About Slavery – Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie.
Dolores Huerta, Labor Leader and Force for Civil Rights, Has Died. She co- founded the United Farm Workers.

Tom Skerritt has died at age 93. I watched him in many movies and TV shows, but my favorite was his run on Picket Fences.

Walter Koenig, Chekov From ‘Star Trek,’ Has Died. As the Russian navigator of the U.S.S. Enterprise, he was a mainstay of the original television series and seven films. He was 90.

Christiane Amanpour Says She Is Leaving CNN After 43 Years.

The Dominican Baseball Factory – A teenage prospect’s family was promised $1.8 million, and most of it was gone within a few years thanks to the moneylenders who circle young players.

A Final Scream at the End of the Movie. Not quite an end credits scene, but worth the wait. 

Churn and Burn

140 Horror Scripts to Download and Study – Share.

What does it mean when someone says, “Roger that”? Incidentally, as of this writing, ROGER is still available for Wordle. 

LOWER AND LOWER

‘I don’t ramble,’ as he sinks to new levels of delusion.

Ohio’s Republican Governor Calls on Vivek Ramaswamy to Take Down Attack Ad. It features the estranged mother of Ramaswamy’s Democratic opponent, Dr. Amy Acton, and has drawn widespread criticism, though FOTUS strongly defended it.
Could House Republicans refuse to seat Democrats? FOTUS might try
FOTUS Signs Order Exempting Russia From Sanctionss Law. The sanctions were part of a measure that was named after Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who died in July.
“I’d Like to Report a Theft”: Bernie Mocks FOTUS’s  Anti-Fraud Tipline. “A man inside our government illegally spent nearly $22 million in taxpayer dollars on bogus campaign ads praising himself. He now resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”

902 pregnancy-related prosecutions in three years after Dobbs. Pregnancy Justice found that most cases involved child neglect or endangerment charges

FEMA tells states to handle disasters on their own

Women are disappearing from top roles in the regime

CMS rescinds nursing home voting guidance

Musk chose to restrict Ukraine’s access to SpaceX satellite network
Most of Ken Paxton’s Money Can Be Traced to Elon Musk. The world’s richest person, who has become the biggest known midterm donor, gave $158 million to a group that quickly spent that much to help Mr. Paxton’s Senate bid in Texas.
MUSIC

The Smooth Jazz Show on The Soul Of London Radio– Thursday 15th October 2026. The “Album Of The Week” is the latest from vocalist Rebecca Jade. Released in 2022 and entitled “A Shade Of Jade”, Paul Russell features several tracks from the Album on the show. The interview came ahead of her LIVE performance at The Indigo @ The O2 on Friday, 16th October.

The RFK Jr. Lament – A Randy Rainbow Song Parody

Symphony No.10 in F minor “In Autumn” by Joachim Raff

Coverville 1597: The Chuck Berry 100th Birthday Cover Story and 1598: The Hall & Oates Cover Story IV

Favorite Songs by Favorite Artists (Series Four) #12: The Smiths and  #13: Moxy Früvous 

expectations – Olivia Rodrigo (feat. Chappell Roan); video appearance by David Byrne

Bette Davis Eyes – Kim Carnes

Show Me– Pretenders

Ingrid Bergman – Billy Bragg and Wilco

It Never Entered My Mind – Dawn Upshaw

Cinnamon Girl – Los Lobos

Nicole Kidman – ADÉLA

Burning House – Cam 

When I Think Of You – Janet Jackson

From Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot – the title song and If Ever I Would Leave You

Fiddler: A Miracle Of Miracles | Documentary, which I saw at the Spectrum Theatre in 2019; recommended. 

K-Chuck Radio: When it was more than tainted love

How Bernie Taupin and Elton John Became The Greatest Songwriting Duo – Rick Beato interviews Taupin

Sept rambling – Bust Unions

Whispers from the Great Beyond, featuring Rebecca Jade

Amazon Is Deploying AI to Spy on Its Workers and Bust Unions Before They Form

The Secret Service: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

The Nobel Peace Prize announcement is that this year’s award went to Navi Pillay, a person of “exceptional courage” who has led accountability efforts against apartheid, prosecuted war crimes, and upheld international law for decades.  The Norwegian Nobel Committee honored Pillay, who early in her career served as a judge on South Africa’s High Court, her native country.

Being Heard Is Not Enough. As the Cornell 7 case reminds us, institutional accountability is a must

A Photo of Mussolini’s Corpse Led Page 1. How It Got There Is a Tale.

When Your Charity Dollars Go Overseas, Can You Follow the Money?

Where to Take Your Unwanted Prescription Meds – The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) has an online tool that lets you find the closest kiosk by entering your ZIP code.

Eva Marie Saint, from the movie North by Northwest, and an Oscar winner for On the Waterfront, is dead at 102

Mike Ditka has died. He and the Bears won the Super Bowl in 1986, and after coaching, he became one of the sport’s most visible and enduring talking heads. He was 86.

70 Up and saying goodbye to the greatest documentary series of all time

Toadstools and Toxins, what’s in those “magic mushroom” gummies?

UGH

The U.S. Supreme Court granted the regime’s request to resume third-country deportations, issuing an unsigned stay of a lower-court injunction. The Court added the case to its docket and scheduled oral arguments for December.

FOTUS wrote that the White House sees anyone who says “artificial intelligence” instead of “super intelligence” as “THE ENEMY”.

FOTUS’s decision to hold an international summit at his private golf club, an idea he rejected in his first term, shows how much he has shattered norms.

He personally told an aide to use taxpayer money for TV ads praising him

The regime’s allies have sought to prove a “grand conspiracy” through a sprawling Justice Department inquiry. It has buckled under staffing shake-ups, internal disputes, and trouble finding evidence.

A scorecard from MAHA activists suggests the regime has broken most of its promises to the movement on food, agriculture, and environmental health.

GOP senator’s gotcha question blows up in his face

MUSIC

This Land Is Your Land/Power to the People – Tom Morello leads an all-star finale featuring Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez, Dave Grohl, Dave Matthews, Stephen Stills, and more, performing live at the Power to the People Festival 2026! The whole 10-hour concert✊

My Minnesota Home – Gail Sparlin. I heard her sing this at the Reader’s Theater event in Albany, NY, on October 5, benefiting the Wizard’s Wardrobe tutorial program.

Peter Sprague Plays Whispers from the Great Beyond, featuring Rebecca Jade

Autumnal Sketch by Sergei Prokofiev

The main theme from the score to Dangerous Beauty by George Fenton

Kansas City – The New Basement Tapes

Dolly Suite by Gabriel Fauré

Teardrops – Womack & Womack

On the radio, I heard Leyenda by Albeniz. IDK who was playing, but here’s Andres Segovia. It reminded me of Spanish Caravan – The Doors

Coverville 1596: Album Anniversaries for XTC, ELO and Simon & Garfunkel

The Fall of the Leaf by Gerald Finzi

Surreptitious – Romy

Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels) – Jim Croce 

Peter Sprague Plays The Kiss featuring Allison Adams Tucker

Favorite Songs By Favorite Artists (Series Four) #11: Elton John

NYT: My Favorite Phone Songs

Remembering when there were ‘Stax’ of soul musicians in Memphis

What Makes This 50’s Fender Precision Bass So Rare! The insane story of how Joe Bonamassa helped solve Rick Beato’s 50-year-old family mystery.

August rambling: Guinnevere

A David Crosby song from the first CSN album

Maps and Images Show the Devastation in Nepal’s Flooding
What the Measles Betting Market Does Not Measure. Polymarket is currently running a $7.8 million betting option on the number of measles cases in the U.S. in 2026. It runs a detailed analysis of the bets. It does not measure the real impact of those numbers.
Texas became a powerful magnet for American Muslims seeking affordable homes, good schools, and thriving congregations before Islamophobia’s rise there.
Police Chief in Mississippi Regularly Used Racist Slurs, Private Texts  Reveal. Exchanges obtained by reporters show troubling messages sent by the chief of a Mississippi police department facing an uproar over the fatal shooting of a 1-year-old boy in June.
Flock Cameras. Canoodling Lawyers. How Much Surveillance Are We Comfortable With?
States Claim to Invest in “Humane” New Prisons — But Prisons Were Never Humane
A Manhattan-Sized Ice Island Just Broke Off Greenland
Fetal Personhood and Subscriptions: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The biggest home shutout in 141 years
NFL eliminating Pro Bowl Games, but will still name Pro Bowlers
Sartorial observations from the Erie County Fair
Don’t Use This “Random” Password
The regime

The millstone of $40 trillion in national debt is a major contributor to the national affordability crisis. Economists Blame It on GOP Ineptitude and Tax Cuts for the Rich

The Average ACA Marketplace Deductible Grew by About $1,000 Per Person in 2026, With More Enrollees Shifting to Higher-Deductible Plans as Enhanced Tax Credits Expired. Marketplace Enrollment Could Fall to About 17.5 Million in 2026

The Pentagon Fired the Editor and Publisher of Stars and Stripes, which also claimed a Middle East correspondent. They are the Pentagon’s latest effort to diminish the news outlet’s editorial independence.
The regime is planning to remove the name of an aircraft carrier meant to honor a pioneering Black military hero, a report from CNN revealed.  The USS Doris Miller is currently under construction, but Navy leadership is reportedly discussing removing the name and possibly using FOTUS’s name on the ship instead.
Purge of Top Generals Leaves the Army Rudderless. The leadership vacuum comes as the Army is trying to adapt to a new kind of war dominated by deadly drones.
Tacky Superstore closes because the economy sucks for MAGA too
New album by Peter Sprague features Rebecca Jade

Peter Sprague Plays Guinnvere. The title track of the new album features Rebecca Jade, the first niece. Sprague: “In learning to play Guinnevere, I got a closer look into how they came up with such a unique sonic vibe. The main guitar part is played in a special ‘tuning’ that delivers gorgeous chords that aren’t available in standard tuning. I call them ‘magic chords,’ and it happens when most of the strings are not fretted and instead are ringing free. Mix that in with a few fretted notes that rub against the other notes in a good way — cluster chords as they’re known, and the whole sum sparkles in the air.  The Guinnevere recording is available at all of the streaming services, including: Spotify, Apple Music,  PS Online Store, and YouTube Music 

MORE MUSIC

I Do The Rock – Tim Curry. Tim Curry, Star of ‘Rocky Horror’ and Much More, Dies at 80

Johnny Angel – Shelley Fabares. Shelley Fabares, ‘Donna Reed Show’ Actress, Dies at 82. She also starred in Elvis Presley movies and the sitcom “Coach.”

Sharp Dressed Man – ZZ Top.  Frank Beard, Beardless Drummer for ZZ Top, Dies at 77
That’s All I Want From You – Jaye P. Morgan (1954). Mutual Admiration Society – Eddy Arnold & Jaye P. Morgan (a song from 1956 that I actually remember). Jaye P. Morgan, a Jack-Of-All-Trades Entertainer Who Was a Pop and TV Star, Dies at 94.
Favorite Songs By Favorite Artists (Series Four) #10: Camper Van Beethoven
Concerto for Marimba ”The Crossed Sonar of Dolphins” by Takatomi Nobunaga (b. 1971) 
Coverville 1590: The Ben Gibbard Cover Story II and 1591: The Tanya Donelly Cover Story
Japanese Festival Dances by Yasuji Kiyose
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction – DEVO
K-Chuck Radio: Rare Pop Music from Western Australia
Until the Last Moment – Yanni, Live At The Acropolis, 25th Anniversary
Stairway To Heaven – Dolly Parton

Lydster: Prospect Park, Brooklyn, TWICE in a week

Cousins/nieces.

By Garry R. Osgood – Author’s own work; a composite of digital images composing a panorama, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=977796

My daughter and I went to Prospect Park in Brooklyn TWICE in a week in early June. More accurately, it was two times in four days to see two of her cousins, one each from her mother’s and father’s side, who are, of course, also two of my nieces.

In both cases, it involved my daughter driving us from our house in Albany to the Poughkeepsie railroad station, us taking the Metro-North to Grand Central Station in NYC, then a couple of subway rides to a 526-acre location that spans parts of five ZIP Codes. 

It’s a lovely setting, with lots of bicyclists riding around. My daughter and I swear some scenes of the various Law & Order TV shows that were shot in specific locations.  

Monday, June 1: One niece, Alexa, was getting engaged at c. 11 a.m. But the surprise for her partner was that their friends and family would be gathering for a large picnic lunch. This meant leaving our house at 6 a.m.

The couple has some very nice friends, who, with the relatives, collectively brought WAY more food and beverages than could be consumed.

The one major hitch was on the return trip. Both of our phones died; the drag of Metro North is that, unlike on Amtrak, there are no charging stations. So we found a place to eat while my daughter’s phone slowly charged. We got home about 8 pm.

BRIC

Thursday, June 4: We learned that BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn’s Opening Night, featuring Sheila E., Leon Knight, and DJ Spinna, was taking place at the Lena Horne Bandshell. Rebecca Jade would be performing with Sheila, as she has since 2017, off and on.

This time, we had our portable phone chargers, which we had purchased the night before.  When we got to Poughkeepsie in the early afternoon, getting across the Mid-Hudson Bridge was particularly difficult, with stop-and-go traffic. There were no parking spaces nearby, so the daughter parked in a place she THOUGHT would be okay (4-hour parking between 9 and 5, and it was after 1 pm). We bought tickets from the kiosk (the human ticket sellers were closed until 3), and made it on the train with about 30 seconds to spare. 

We eventually had Mexican food with Alexa at a local eatery. Then the Daughter and I walked for at least half an hour to the bandshell. The concert was free, but it allegedly required tickets, which weren’t checked.

We went to the musicians’ tent, saw RJ, and spoke to her briefly, but she had to get dressed for the performance. The opening act, the rocker Leon Knight, was okay.   DJ Spinna started his set without an introduction, keeping the crowd engaged.  

Sheila, Lynn, and Rebecca

When Sheila was about to begin, the Daughter and I moved from sitting on the lawn a distance away to standing as close as we could. She, the legendary vocalist Lynn Mabry, and Rebecca, along with the fine instrumentalists, were in great form.

Here’s just a snippet of the vocalists in Europe in 2019, which was the last time my wife, daughter, and I saw them perform. Sheila gave a couple of vocals to Lynn and RJ. Watch some short pieces of this show here and here.

Sheila is a very positive performer. When she said it was her birthday (that didn’t seem right, and it is actually December 12), she was suggesting that we should be celebrating each day.

As is often the case, she leaned into the Prince catalog. Her group would be performing in Minneapolis two days later, near his birthday, and a decade after he died.

Afterwards

We went to the tent. By then, we COULD hang with Rebecca and also another relative, the eldest child of my second cousin Anne, whom I had last seen on Thanksgiving 2013.

We briefly spoke with Sheila and Lynn about their trip to Albany on the 4th of July 2023, which was canceled when a last-minute lightning storm hit the Empire State Plaza.    

My daughter and I got to Grand Central at midnight. The next train was not until 12:48 a.m. It was a local, making all of the stops. Miraculously, my daughter slept through most of the trip.

We got to the car. The GPS directed her to state routes 9G and 23 before we finally reached the Thruway near Catskill. We got home at 4:45 a.m.  

These were two great trips, though I wished they had been spaced a bit further apart…

May rambling: Not Wisdom

RJ wins another SDMA

What I Can’t Show You (John Green visits Koidu Government Hospital and sees the Maternal Center of Excellence for the first time), and Despair is Not Wisdom (Hank Green).

The FDA withdrew studies showing that the Covid and shingles vaccines were safe.

Gas Station Drugs:  a world of questionable supplements and boner pills, and The Hadow Docket: a shortcut to the Supreme Court – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

I Was Told I Had 6 Months to Live. That Was 20 Years Ago. — Here’s what two brain surgeries taught me about public health and care access.

I caught myself thinking: “Some of these research papers are awfully good for what might be a student’s first effort.”

Some white nationalists swoop in after natural disasters, trying to soften their image while offering help (Lesley Stahl/60 Minutes)

8647

Demand destruction vs fuel-superseding infrastructure: Will FOTUS Hormuz us into the full Gretacene?
AI

Silicon Valley Is Bracing for a Permanent Underclass. AI is pushing millions of employees to the edge of a cliff as most sectors are racing to replace jobs with AI. As a wise friend of mine noted, “We need programs and plans to ensure everyone is active, connected, engaged with society when millions have no work. Some countries will get this right, while others will slide into a dystopian abyss of depression, isolation, and anger toward technology that will not bode well for a peaceful, productive humanity.”

I got punished for paying off my car loan two years early

A rare archaeological site in the Sonoran Desert was bulldozed by a DHS contractor involved in building the latest sections of the border wall.

Free Phone Calls Saved Incarcerated People and Their Loved Ones $622.5 Million

Young Boy Finds the First Ancient Greek Artifact Discovered in Berlin

New Musicals ‘Schmigadoon!’ and ‘Lost Boys’ Lead List of Tony Nominees

The Song That Puts You to Sleep (On Purpose) and The Cartoon That Shut Down Boston and Operation Mincemeat and The Part of Canada That Doesn’t Want You

MUSIC

Not Me No Way – Rebecca Jade, who won Best R&B, Funk or Soul Song  at the 35th Annual San Diego Music Awards

This Is How We Walk on the Moon – Arthur Russell

Rounds by Jessie Montgomery, for piano and strings, inspired by poet TS Eliot

Moonage Daydream –  David Bowie

Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words) – Bobby Womack

Peg – Steely Dan

 

At The Ballet – Audra McDonald, Megan Hilty & Kelli O’Hara

All You Need Is Love – Peter Sprague,  featuring Rebecca Jade

 

Suffolk Suite by Doreen Carwithen

If You Don’t Know Me by Now -Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
Man On The Moon – R.E.M.

Coverville 1579: Cover Stories for Lesley Gore and Christopher Cross

Horses and Divorces – Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert

This Year – the Mountain Goats

Favorite Songs By Favorite Artists (Series Four) #2: The Bonzo Dog Band and #3: Midnight Oil and

Bastards of Young – the Replacements

Moonshadow – Yusef/ Cat Stevens
Dream Walkin’ Mashup – Peter Sprague and Leonard Patton

Theme from The Love Boat – WDR Funkhausorchester

Everyone’s Gone to the Moon – Nina Simone

Common – Maren Morris featuring Brandi Carlile

Time – Tom Waits

I Wish I Was the Moon –  Neko Case

Addicted To Love – Robert Palmer

Man On The Moon – Megan Moroney

Aloha Bossa Nova – Peter Sprague, featuring Allison Adams Tucker

Eclipse – Pink Floyd