Tag: Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing: Easter F.A.B.

Mull of Kintyre

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

Since it’s Easter weekend, we’re going to keep this simple. We stole this from a blogger named Idzie, who called this the F.A.B. (film, audio, book) meme.

 Easter F.A.B.

F. Film: What movie or TV show are you watching? 

‘Paul McCartney: Man on the Run’ is a documentary about the decade following the Beatles’ breakup. Obviously, it covers the Wings period.

The New York Times review notes: “The director Morgan Neville… takes a lightly unconventional approach. The narration comes from new and archival interviews with McCartney, as well as various members of Wings, family, friends, and, of course, his wife, Linda McCartney, who is key to the story. But we never see any of the interviewees; they supply only voice-over. Instead, archival video, including some rare and previously unseen footage, tells the story visually.”

I liked it more than I thought I would. Maybe this is true: “So this is really a movie for hard-core McCartney (or Wings) fans who want to see all of the rare archival footage — or, conversely, for curious newbies who want a fast-paced introduction to one of the most talented songwriters of all time. For those who fall somewhere in the middle, it’s less satisfying.” 

Obviously, I’m in the former category. I learned a few things that I didn’t know, especially about the early Scottish farm period. And the setup for Mull of Kintyre was oddly affecting. Here’s the trailer. 

On TV, I’m watching High Potential – Kelly likes it pretty much for the opposite reason than I do. 

Music

 A. Audio: What are you listening to?

Because it’s April, I’m listening to May birthday artists such as Judy Collins (La Chanson Des Vieux Amants – The Song of Old Lovers); Lesley Gore (You Don’t Own Me 2005 remake); Pete Seeger (Who Killed Davey Moore), and Frankie Valli/The Four Seasons (December, 1963 -Oh What A Night!)

I’m also listening to a lot of movie soundtracks, such as Cry Freedom (The Funeral – Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika, September 25, 1987); In the Name of the Father (title song); and I Am Sam (Revolution).

B. Book: What are you reading?

Still reading Mona’s Eyes, which I’m reviewing in nine days. As of this writing, I’m only a little over halfway through it. Necessity can be a real mother.

Oh, I had been voting for Rebecca Jade for a couple of San Diego music awards; we won’t know the results until sometime in May. 

I also participated in the fan vote for the Rock Hall of Fame. Collectively, the fans only get one vote, but I played anyway. Early on, Phil Collins was leading by 50,000, but New Edition caught up early. The Hall announcement is due on April 13. 

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

Sunday Stealing – Random Revelations

SCRABBLE or bowling?

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

This week’s meme was inspired by a post at My Random Randomness. That gentleman shared random thoughts about himself. His revelations have been turned into questions.

Random Revelations

1. Is your phone Apple or Android? What about your laptop?

My last two phones were Apple. Previously, I avoided them for philosophical reasons, not the least of which is some incompatibility when new products come out. But it seems to interact better with other Apple phones. I’ve only had non-Apple computers and don’t see myself changing. 

2. Can you say “thank you” in more than one language?

Only in French, German, and Spanish. I took French in high school, and I used to watch Hogan’s Heroes on TV when I was a teenager. 

3. What do you draw when you doodle?

Random geometric shapes, because my skills as an artist are nil.

4. Which do you enjoy more, Scrabble or bowling?

I have done both a LOT in the past, but haven’t done either in quite a while. I’ve written more about bowling because it’s tied to my mom. But I played SCRABBLE a lot as a kid and much later. My college roommate painted me a SCRABBLE board, which I still have. It’s a toss-up.

5. Can you juggle?

I assume juggling two items isn’t REALLY juggling! No.

6. Have you ever worn pajamas in public?

Only to bring in the garbage cans from the curb early in the morning, and only a handful of times.

School daze

7. Was your best subject in school the one you enjoyed the most?

My BEST subject was probably spelling, but I didn’t love it. I was good at social studies/history, and I enjoyed it. The topic I most enjoyed was probably mathematics because Math Is Everywhere .

8. When you’re offered the senior discount before you ask for it, are you offended or grateful?

It never bothered me. I like a bargain.

9. Do you agree that with age comes wisdom?

I can think of certain people – one in particular -who are clearly more stupid every day. That said, for those people who learn not to sweat the small stuff as they get older, then sure.

10. Do you consider Sunday the first day of the week or the last day of the weekend? 

I’m pretty catholic about it. My calendar growing up in the US was Sunday to Saturday. When I took high school French, I discovered the week ran from lundi to dimanche. (Shrug)

 
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Sunday Stealing Feels Distinctly Adolescent

live wire

Welcome to Sunday Stealing, which feels distinctly adolescent. Here, we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

This week’s Sunday source is Minnesota Mom, who loves baking (especially cookies). She stole this meme from Esther, whose blog is no longer available, so the trail has gone cold.

These questions require just a yes or no, but you can answer at length if you’re in the mood. The choice is yours! 

Litter

But before we get to that, here’s what happened very late Sunday night/very early Monday morning, March 15/16. I was downstairs watching TV about 11:45 pm when the doorbell rang. That’s really unusual. Was there an accident? Is my house on fire? No, the guy said he really needed money to get something to eat. He promised to pick up the litter from my lawn.

Let’s talk about litter. My wife is assiduously dedicated to keeping the trash from our yard. Yet, a day after she’s done, you would not have known of her efforts. It’s not just the schoolkids nearby; it’s the wind.

So I tell the guy at the door. “Sure, whatever,” give him a $5 and quickly close the door. BTW, he does pick up some of our litter.

Electric

About a half hour later, I’m in my office, which is on the second floor at the front of the house, playing Wordle. By now, the rain is pouring, and the wind is gusting so much, perhaps 50 miles per hour/80 kilometers per hour, that the walls are shaking.

Out my front window, in my periphery, I see a large spark. A tree branch has felled a power line that ran from a telephone pole on my side of the street to a house across the street. The large branch lands in the middle of the street, right next to what I assume is a live wire, beside my wife’s car.

I could have called National Grid, our power supplier, but I chose to ring the Albany Police Department’s non-emergency number. After all, they are only two blocks away. The dispatcher tells me that it’s very windy out there, which I acknowledged. But soon, there’s a fire truck blocking my street.

In the morning, the wire is wound up, the branch is gone, and a truck is parked in front of the house, doing SOMETHING, because it’s running 24/7. Two days later, four trucks, including a cherry picker, are out there fixing the situation.

But I wonder if the guy repairing something at the top of the pole somehow mucked up my Internet. It’s not OFF, but I can’t get to sites, or it’s very slow.

On to the quiz 

Have You Ever …

1) Skipped school?
The first time I remember doing so was when I had been legitimately sick for a day or two. I was feeling better, but I learned that the Beatles’ new videos were going to premiere on a show called Where The Action Is, which was, inexplicably, airing at 8:30 a.m. So I watched Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane. This must have been February of 1967.
The next time was when Julian Bond came to town in 1969.
2) Lettered in a school sport?
No, I never did school sports. I did show up one day at a football tryout, but the ill-fitting equipment and general vibe weren’t for me.
3) Made a prank phone call?
Probably, but I have no strong recollection.
4) Paid for a meal with coins?
Yes, definitely, in 1978 in downtown Schenectady. I went out to breakfast or lunch with a friend, but was short on cash. To be fair, I doubt the meal was more than $4, including the tip.

5) Laughed until some sort of beverage came out of your nose?

Possibly, but I don’t really remember.

Sunday Stealing: Cookie Day

hamantaschen

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

March 6 was National Oreo Cookie Day. So said Mary when she completed this meme, which she credited to Terri D (Your Friend from Florida), who used to host Wednesday Medley. So let’s take on these tasty questions!

National Oreo Cookie Day

1. Are you able to pass by a plate of cookies and not take one, or are you a bit of a “Cookie Monster”

Depends on the cookie. It would have to be “worth” the calories; an inferior cookie simply won’t do. For instance, I’ve had great black-and-white cookies, while others were quite inadequate.

I don’t like peanut butter, so I can always pass on those cookies. My daughter is allergic to peanut butter; I can usually smell and certainly taste peanut butter, so I became her tester.

2. Tell us about your favorite cookie. Have your tastes changed since you were a kid?

My favorite cookie is Grandma’s Oatmeal Raisin. I’m also fond of the Golden Oreo cookie. When I was a kid, I was a traditional Oreo cookie guy, but I also liked the Archway oatmeal, molasses, and sugar cookies.   Are bar cookies, such as brownies, cookies? If so, then yes for them both then and now.  

Tradition

I have an emotional attachment to hamentaschen. I was in a church play at my previous church, and I played the evil Haman. Purim just took place this past week. 

3. Enquiring minds want to know if you are a dunker and, if so, do you dunk in milk, coffee, or tea?

Not a dunker. I do like to drink milk, or occasionally hot tea with cream,  with my cookies. 

4. It is that time of year, and they are selling them on every corner and in front of every store!  Do you buy Girl Scout cookies, and if you do, which is your favorite?

I know a dad who is hawking his daughter’s GS cookies. I hadn’t purchased them in about a decade, but I’m likely to buy boxes of Thin Mints and  Samoas.

5. Raw cookie dough.  Yay or Nay?

Nay. 

Sunday Stealing Loves Surveys

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

This week’s astonishingly random questions were stolen from Love Me Some Surveys, who loves surveys.  

Survey Asks …

1. Did you/will you have coffee or some other form of caffeine today? 

I had hot tea with lemon when we went out for breakfast, which is fairly unusual. It was cold outside! 

Tell Me Something Good

2. Who did you last have a text conversation with, and what was it about? 

I almost never have text conversations; reading on my phone tends to make me cranky. BTW, do we REALLY need advice on how to send a sarcastic text?

Yet on February 25, I texted one of my oldest friends, who had been in the music biz for a long time, that it was the birthday of John Doe from the band X.   They had spoken favorably of him in the past. What I didn’t know is that John is a fellow Piscean, born the same year as we were. 

3. Are there regular trains in and out of your town/city? 

Technically, no, but functionally, yes. The Albany/Rensselaer station is across the Hudson River in Rensselaer County.

4. Have you ever been hospitalized due to dehydration?

No. But I avoid walking in deserts.

I Go To Sleep

5. Someone texts/IMs you just as you’re about to go to sleep. Do you reply? 

Not unless it is urgent. Then again, I’ve likely plugged in my phone downstairs before I go to bed upstairs, so I’d be unlikely to know about it until morning anyway.  My daughter knows that if she messages me and I don’t reply in an hour, I’m likely nowhere near my cellphone, the usual state of affairs if I’m at home. That’s why God created the landline.

6. Do you grind your teeth?  

Not to my knowledge.

7. When you listen to music with headphones, do you keep the volume low enough to hear surrounding noise, or do you blast it?

Definitely loud enough to drown out surrounding noise, though I wouldn’t say I BLAST it.

8. Are you wearing nail polish?

Not since Halloween 1978.

9. Do you have an ice maker in your refrigerator door?

Not in the door but in the freezer section, which I used this week.

10. Do you have a friend named James?

Definitely good acquaintances – a regular and occasional speaker at the FFAPL book reviews on Tuesdays, a guy I’ve known since grade school, a local author, a couple of guys at church,  a guy from Alaska who took me to lunch when he was visiting his daughter in my area, and probably others. My great-great-grandfather, James Archer, fought in the American Civil War. 

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

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