Rebecca Jade Archives - Page 16 of 16

Breakfast post: the weather, my niece’s new Kickstarter album

My niece Rebecca Jade is doing a Kickstarter for her new album!

My friend Dan has more than once labeled Ramblin’ with Roger as a “breakfast blog.” I still don’t know what that means, precisely. But I think the following post is more in keeping with what he’s talking about.

It was weird: the death toll in the Moore, OK tornado went from 37 to 51 to 91 to…24? I was watching a live feed on the Tuesday morning after the event from the OKC NBC-TV affiliate – the magic of the Internet – and they gave the 91 number, based on info they had gotten from the medical examiner’s office. Saw a lot of comments on Facebook about how the media was ghoulishly upping the numbers. I’ve often criticized them. but I don’t think that happened here, just a lot of multiple recordings of the same decedents by someone – the M.E.’s office perhaps. Then I get to see, Thank goodness, “ONLY 24 dead;” THAT is weird to read.

It’s interesting, too, that I actually worried a bit about people I don’t even know, such as Cheri and Dustbury, who are both fine.
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The forecast in Albany Tuesday was for severe weather. I was at Corporate (frickin’) Woods at the northwest edge of Albany and saw nothing. But people downtown were chatting about downpours and hail; we’re talking a distance of three miles away. I HAVE seen that before, where it’s dry at the Albany airport, but evidently had been pouring at my house. They had canceled my daughter’s soccer 5:30 pm practice, probably because of a severe weather watch from 1:40 pm to, I think, around 10 pm.

10 pm, practically on the dot, I heard rumbles of thunder, heavy-duty rain. The lightning and thunder at 1 a.m. woke me from a dead sleep, but happily, the Daughter can sleep through almost anything.

Wednesday, got to work late because I had my monthly allergy shot. The power was mostly out until after 11 a.m. No computer, no Internet, no phones. Nasty weather in the midday, but amazingly nice to and from work.

We are preparing our living room to be painted by my father-in-law starting on Thursday, with help from my wife on Friday, and eventually me on the weekend. The key now is moving all the stuff, a job in itself, and something I prefer to paint, which I hate because I just can’t see the difference while I’m working between, say, an off-white and a pale yellow.

My wife and her father painted the dining room three years ago. The three splotches of test colors have been on our living room wall ever since. I’ll miss them, almost.

If I had my druthers, we’d move out for four days while painting; the smell of even the newer paints bug me at night. Oh, well.
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My niece Rebecca Jade (pictured) is doing the Kickstarter thing for her new album. You can read all about it here. If I were to tell you she was really good, I would sound biased. But she is! Check out this review of a recent live performance of hers.

A Jade Element December Rambling

Carried Away by The Jade Element- My eldest niece is the lead singer.

There was some anti-gay marriage pledge that the GOP candidates were supposed to sign this month. Of course, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum agreed to it, as one would expect. But the third was Mitt Romney. Not only is his position unfortunate, but it also cements that “pandering” problem he has. Beyond that, pandering didn’t work in 2008, and in fact, backfired. Oh, and this was widely circulated, but I still like it: the best message for marriage equality.

Where Roger Ebert stands on the Occupy movement, which is not dissimilar to my position. Or Ken Jennings’. Still, it’s impressive/amazing that Occupy Albany was still going strong earlier this month, a model operation; it has gotten permits from the city and everything. Then it got closed down – badly, as these things usually are. Expect the energy will not dissipate.

Bertrand Russell’s Liberal Decalogue, courtesy of Chris Black

When Blackwater, or Xe, or ACADEMI changes its name again.

Harry Morgan died on Pearl Harbor Day. Here’s his New York Times obit. I’m old enough to actually remember him in December Bride and its spinoff, Pete and Gladys. Of course, I watched him in Dragnet, where he was a great counterpoint to the dry Jack Webb. But of course, he’s best known for playing Colonel Potter in MASH. He was one of those you look familiar people who actually had an earlier role on the show as a crazy colonel, before showing up as the MASH commander a season later. Ken Levine remembers Harry; he wrote for MASH and its lesser sequel AfterMASH.

When I was watching MAS*H a couple of decades ago, Col. Potter seemed to be particularly bad spirits. It turned out that he was “the last survivor among several of his World War I U.S. Army buddies, and thus inherited a confiscated bottle of French cognac.” That was the very first time I remember hearing the word tontine, which generally refers to an investment plan.

I must admit knowing Christopher Hitchens more for his fight with cancer than his previous writings; still, an interesting guy. Arthur comments here, and Kevin Marshall provides a number of written and visual reflections of the man.

How to talk to someone with cancer, something I’ve had some experience with.

A fond farewell to the hard-wired phone; from “Superman” to “I Love Lucy,” a look back at the role this outdated device played in television and film

Mark Evanier remembers Batman artist (and much more) Jerry Robinson and one of the first superstars of comics, Joe Simon, as well as the 100th anniversary of the birth of Spike Jones; I forgot to bring my kazoo.

I’m sad Vaclav Havel died; he headed a free Czechoslovakia, and, just as remarkably, its division without bloodshed.

Music video Carried Away by The Jade Element. My eldest niece is the lead singer.

The Uffizi and Upside-down

Re: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – Surely Joan Jett deserves to be there. I’m still hoping that Chaka Khan gets in sans Rufus. My real problem is that they, and Heart, all predated three of the male groups that got in: GnR, Beastie Boys, and the Chili Peppers. Unfortunate. But happy about Freddie King in as early influence, and Donovan and the sole woman, the late Laura Nyro.

Animated Comic Covers by Kerry Callen

GOOGLE ALERTS

Christmas Jumper: Name of beer leaves a bad taste
Head brewer Roger Green insisted the name had been a complete coincidence after the beer started life with a pump clip showing Santa in a big woolly pullover. However, that explanation failed to stop the dark ale from making headline news… Roger Green, of the Beachy Head Brewery in East Sussex, insisted there was no malice behind the title and that its meaning had been misconstrued. Relatives of people who have died at the notorious 530ft (162m) suicide spot near Eastbourne…

On the fifth day of Christmas my council gave to me….5p a mile Tribute was paid to the late Councillor Roger Green of Wisbech who had advocated the extra 5p a mile for councillors on official business. “One of the amendments that the late Cllr Green had made great play of was that the mileage had been held at 40p.”

Plane-parts suppliers charged in $6M Ponzi scheme in Fort Lauderdale
Victor Brown, 54, of Hollywood [Florida], and Roger Green, 78, of Stuart, were taken into custody Wednesday on charges of racketeering and conspiracy to commit first-degree racketeering, authorities said. [A bunch of variations on this story.]

It was the sixth time in eight days the Roger Green-coached Lady Tigers have won.

Create a harvesting plan for retirement assets, by Roger Green
Retirement planning does not end at retirement. The need to grow assets for income remains important for most – especially those who have not accrued enough assets to last them throughout today’s longer retirement periods.

June Rambling

Democracy is not freedom. Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to eat for lunch. –LA Times editorial 1/12/92

Here I am with my good buddy Walter, who works at one of the SBDC centers. Shortly after this picture was taken, I started having trouble with my knee. Walter’s been having trouble with HIS leg, and I called him to tell him that, whatever he has, it’s contagious!

An ad hominem argument is any that attempts to counter another’s claims or conclusions by attacking the person, rather than addressing the argument itself.

Why Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Must Go, which, as a couple of commenters note, does not go far enough. And another article re Thomas.

Japan Earthquake Swarm Google Earth Animation. And the controversy over Surviving an Earthquake.

The Pink Triangle: Never forget.

I used Twitter more often last week than in the previous six months combined, mostly keeping track of our state legislature. Here’s my favorite tweet: “Democracy is not freedom. Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to eat for lunch. –LA Times editorial 1/12/92”

My niece Rebecca is having her debut CD Release Party with her band, “The Jade Element”, Friday, July 8th, 2011 at Anthology ~ 1337 India St, San Diego, CA 92105 (in Little Italy). Doors open at 9:30 pm.
You can purchase tickets at www.AnthologySD.com or at the door. You can check out a couple of their songs on the website, www.TheJadeElement.com.

Another Kickstarter project that caught my eye: the Winsor McCay Resurrection Project.

How Books Were Made in 1947: Interesting ten-minute film on YouTube. Warning–for print lovers only.

I’m not much of a hockey fan, but I am a hockey traditionalist, I guess. Score One for the Ghosts of History: As Another ‘Original Six’ Team Vies for a Stanley Cup, Classic Franchises Are Flexing Their Muscles.

The Green with Envy movie trailer. And the REAL Muppet Movie trailer.

Schoolhouse Rock: The Next Generation? Renaissance Man.

Music video by “Weird Al” Yankovic performing Perform This Way, a parody of “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga, which in turn was a ripoff of Madonna’s Express Yourself. Also from Weird Al: Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me.

Star Trek KFC.

From the pages of LIFE magazine: MAD Magazine: A Semi-Secret History. And check out the MAD Magazine blog!

From the New York Times: Marvel Superheroes and the Fathers of Invention re “the battle now being waged between Marvel and the heirs of the legendary comic artist Jack Kirby, who breathed life into such pop culture icons as the X-Men, the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Thor and the Silver Surfer.”

Great comic book artist Gene Colan, R.I.P.

Actor Peter Falk died. He’s remembered for his role in The Princess Bride, and of course, as Columbo (I remember this!)

Actor James Arness obit.

Something from someone’s Facebook page:

The GOOGLE ALERT section

la.donna.pietra, woodendreams: (by Roger C Green Photography)

Ryan Page and Christopher Pomerenke, the writing and directing team… have signed to William Morris Endeavor for exclusive representation with agents Mike Esola and Roger Green heading up Team Page/Pomerenke.

Roger Green, chairman of the Friends of St Peter, said: “I had my doubts about what the effect of the new lighting might be but I must admit I am impressed.”

I’ve stopped following Roger Green Racing bets at the beginning of May. This was after what’s been a poor year for me following this service.

Roger Green, R.I.P.

30 Day Challenge – Day 30: Whomever You Find Most Attractive In This World

Rebecca and Rico were dubbed “Lightning” and “Thunder”, respectively.

Jeez, Louise. I started this thing on May 6. I posted Day 29 on November 14. 30 days? HA!

This picture of my wife and daughter is from April of 2008 in Virginia, probably Jamestown or Norfolk, someplace near Williamsburg.

Oh, my niece Rebecca, who had one of those Kickstarter things to raise the $3000 to put together a music album reached her goal! It was interesting because, with less than a week to go before the Christmas deadline, she seemed stuck at about $2350. Got $1000 in the last week.

And speaking of my niece Rebecca, did I mention that she and her husband Rico both appeared on a peculiar TV competition program called Wipeout back in September? It’s Season 3, Episode 16: Food Fight. Annoyingly, I cannot find it either on the ABC.com site or on Hulu.com, though other episodes can be found there. Oddly, though, there is a transcript of the show.

The hosts try to create artificial tension between Rebecca and another woman over Rico’s affection. Also, Rebecca and Rico were dubbed “Lightning” and “Thunder”, respectively. Though Rico was the third to cross the Shape Shifter (don’t ask), and the first to cross without riding in a shape, he was eliminated in the first round. Rebecca made it to the finals, where she ultimately came in second.