Weird Al Yankovic Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

Fatherhood

a different lovely person at each age of her life so far

A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled onto an NPR YouTube video, “‘Weird Al’ Yankovic on ditching architecture for music, fatherhood, and staying weird.

At about 7:15, he talked about daydreaming about his daughter’s childhood, showing her old pictures on his phone – “Remember this when you were eight?” I THINK I try not to do that too much, although I do wonder what she remembers when she was younger.

Rachel Martin asked,” Did you always know you wanted to be a parent?” He said that, honestly, no. But he got married in his late thirties and became a dad to Nina in his early forties. Now, “I wouldn’t have it any other way”.

I’m feeling essentially the same, although I first became a dad in my early fifties. There were times in the early 1990s when I hoped it would happen, but it didn’t. And I was okay with it. It wasn’t meant to be.

Besides, I had nieces. I babysat some of my friends’ kids. But having your own kid was a different animal. For me, it mainly was hoping I didn’t screw her up too badly.

My father believed in corporal punishment. Well, we’re not going to do THAT. But I didn’t want to spoil her either.

Many different persons

Al talked about remembering her at different ages, and I do with my child, hopefully not wallowing in it. It seemed, at least at church, that she initially gravitated towards the older kids, then later took care of the younger ones.

I recall that she went through phases of ballet, soccer, and playing the clarinet. None of these “stuck,” but I think they were all useful. She was, as one commenter said about Al’s recollection and a high school play he saw, being “a different lovely person at each age of her life so far.” It is “how one can be almost entirely different personalities, and how each of those stages of life is still a part of her, whether she barely consciously remembers them or not.”

Happy Father’s Day.

EOS 2024 health report

From head to… knee

Here’s the EOS 2024 health report. EOS means end of summer, so no matter whether you think autumn begins on September 1st or September 22nd, you’ll agree we are getting to a change of seasons.

ITEM: I had cataract surgery on August 27th (left eye) and September 4th (right eye). It was a lengthy process. I had to go to the surgeon’s office and have several tests done about a month earlier. Then I had to get clearance from my primary care physician to note that I’m healthy enough to have the surgery.

The surgery itself which is actually relatively quick and efficient, probably no more than a couple hours per each eye. After each event, there’s a followup with the surgeon the following day.

I’ll still need reading glasses,albeit a different prescription, but I won’t have as many shadowy things. It’s interesting that there were two options, one of which would have fixed my nearsightedness. Both would have required me to have glasses still. One of them was covered by my insurance in its entirety, and one would have cost $3500 per eye. Frankly, the difference didn’t seem to be worth seven grand.

The fact that we had laid out money for our daughter’s wisdom teeth removal and our cat’s medical tests shortly before he died might have colored my decision.

Drops

it was the worst part about the experience is applying the eye drops, two or three different products thrice a day for four weeks for each eye. My wife has some dry eye issues so she’s become expert at eye drops. I wasn’t so good at it, but I got better at it. I’m not expert, and it occasionally stings a little.

The eye process actually began back in January when I saw my ophthalmologist. They suggested that I needed to get a couple series of tests. Because insurance is what it is, the simpler tests she could do and then bill it to my vision insurance. The more complicated ones she had to do six months later, in July, so she could bill it to my medical insurance. Everything is about insurance

What?

ITEM: I had a hearing test in the late spring. They determined that my hearing is actually quite decent. When they would test me for words, I could repeat them back clearly. The problem I am having is at the upper range of pitch, I might not hear certain things as well. That said, I can usually discern when my wife’s cellphone makes that buzzing sound when a new call comes in and we’re both 10 feet away.

Regardless, I am considered a “good candidate” for a hearing aid. I’ve been reading a lot of literature about the ties between hearing loss and cognitive decline. I probably will get a hearing aid early next year

ITEM: I was having one of those First World Problems where I can’t use my electric toothbrush because it’s not working anymore. “My Sonicare won’t recharge, now I gotta brush my teeth like a neanderathal.” It’s true that I don’t brush as long as I should with a manual device. The electric toothbrush goes on for two minutes and I’m triggered to do that twice a day. It was worth buying a new toothbrush for another fifty bucks.

I know, sad.

Pain in the…

ITEM: My knees, as I’ve indicated before, are both bone on bone. My ortho doctor suggested back in June that I ought to do physical therapy for six weeks and see how that goes. If I decide to have knee surgery, the PT will make the recovery from a possible surgery much better.

I must admit that the physical therapy – heck, even setting up the PT – fell right off the table because of a bunch of other things, including vacations, the eye surgery, and other things mentioned here.,

So I postponed the follow up exam, but this fall I need to do PT on my knees in anticipation of having knee surgery, probably my left knee first since it is the one that hurts more.

ITEM: I am in the midst of figuring out how to either offload certain things or not worry about them. They haven’t necessarily gone away but I’ve recontextualized a little, More on that eventually.

ITEM: I got a COVID shot on August 28th at my local CVS. I’ve recently mentioned COVID in this blog at least a couple of times, and I am taking it seriously. Several people I know people IRL have experienced it in 2024, so I’m not one of those who’s pooh-poohing it. I’m pushing my wife and my daughter to do the same.

“Cases are surging in most areas of the country; emergency room visits are rising and hospitalization rates remain elevated, especially among adults 65 and older, the CDC says.”

That’s it for now.

Weird; Godspell; The 39 Steps

Day By Day

Here’s a roundup of some entertainment I’ve seen recently.

The first and only thing I’ve gotten around to seeing on my newish Roku set is the movie Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, starring the unlikely but oddly convincing Daniel Radcliff. I’m a big Weird Al fan, owning at least 90% of his work on LP or CD.

I imagine that familiarity with not only the music but the backstory of the creation of the songs and the launching of this career would enhance the appreciation of the storyline. The movie was written by Al and director Eric Appel, and it is a parody of biopic films about musicians.

It’s often funny, definitely silly, and inevitably excessive, especially in the second half, featuring Madonna (Evan Rachel Wood), when the pace sags for me.

The pool scene featuring Dr. Demento (Rainn Wilson), Wolfman Jack (Jack Black), and several well-known icons is my favorite. I also liked the resolution involving Al’s father (Toby Huss). And Al is convincing s the record producer who wants to have nothing to do with Weird Al.

The film sometimes seems rushed, probably because of its 18-day shooting schedule, but I’m glad I saw it.

Theater!

My wife and I had said in the spring that we might see three or four shows at Mac-Haydn Theatre in Chatham, NY, over the summer. Suddenly, it was Sunday, August 13, and the final day of the third or fourth show. She said, do you want to go see Godspell?

I love Godspell. In 1976, I was in a production in New Paltz. I’ve seen the movie starring Victor Garber.

But this Godspell was sublime. Check out this review: ” This Godspell, this gospel according to [director Trey] Compton, is an edgy, piercing, gritty, brilliant piece of theatre… “

This is how the show starts: “Cue the Gospel. As the ensemble cast of eight enters, each clutches a cell phone in his or her hand as if they are the last lifelines to their very existence. The soon-to-be disciples are quite literally separated one from another by virtue of Compton’s sharp and intentional staging, scattered about the theatre like the wandering souls they are at this moment.

“Looking for all the world like a world-weary crowd gathered on a dark subway track awaiting the last train of the day, they begin to deliver the Prologue/Tower of Babble, a number not always included in every production, but thankfully included here…

“[It] is a truly unique, brilliant, thought-provoking, cutting-edge work of theater art.” That says it all.

Hitchcock

My wife wanted to know if I wanted to go to the Spectrum Theatre to see the film The 39 Steps (1935). I had never seen it, so absolutely.

What I liked is that the protagonist, Richard Hannay (Robert Donat), a Canadian vacationing in London, didn’t believe the mysterious agent Annabella Smith (Lucie Mannheim) and her fanciful tale about an international spy ring involving something called the “39 steps.”

That is, until Smith ends up dead in Hannay’s apartment, with him as the only suspect. Hannay has to elude those chasing him while trying to figure out the truth behind the secret. His life becomes entangled with Pamela (Madeleine Carroll), his unwilling accomplice, who doesn’t believe Richard any more than Richard initially believed Annabella.

The chase is a bit improbable, as the pursuers are mainly inept. It’s also a very humorous and early rom-com.

Incidentally, I did see The 39 Steps before, but it involved shadow puppets.

September rambling: perfect Yiddish word

Rebecca Jade interview, Middle Earth debate

An Ode to Oy — the Perfect Yiddish Word

And speaking of which: Rings of Power Cast Slams Racist Threats Against Performers: “Middle-Earth Is Not All White.” This hurts my head. Someone wrote, and I’ve misplaced the attribution, I’m afraid: “When did we stop being able to just sit down and enjoy something that’s been created? Just take all shows and movies as fan fiction of any book that they take it from and enjoy the creators’ stories.”

Sah Quah: More than twenty years after the American Civil War, an enslaved Alaskan walked into a Sitka courtroom and sued for his freedom

The Church Left on the Curb: A chance trash-day encounter reveals a 170-year institutional history

Bernard Shaw, CNN’s First Chief News Anchor, Dies at 82

Anne Garrels, the longtime foreign correspondent for NPR, dies at 71

Culcha

In Memorium Video from this year’s Emmys and going about a decade back

Jazz Pianist & NEA Jazz Master Ramsey Lewis Dies at His Chicago Home, September 12, at the age of 87

“Weird Al” Yankovic on the Long, Hard Road to Bring His Mock Biopic to the Big Screen

Ken Levine ends his blog, but his podcast will continue

At 100, Norman Lear Looks Back (And Ahead)

Whiz! Bang! Boom! Energetic Ads Hold Viewers’ Attention

Real Money, Fake Musicians: Inside a Million-Dollar Instagram Verification Scheme

Quentin Tarantino, Miramax Settle ‘Pulp Fiction’ NFT Legal Battle

Flin Flon: One Book’s Unlikely Survival

Has a computer ever passed the Turing test?

The Twisted Life of Clippy, Microsoft’s annoying paperclip. Its developers never imagined the virtual assistant would become a cultural icon.

Some good advice from John Green

Of Elbows and Tables

Best State Capitals to Live In – 2022 Edition. Albany, NY, is #9.

The Small Town In New York With More Historic Buildings Than Any Other

Can Something Be “Very Unique”? Modifying Absolute Adjectives

Now I Know: What About Bob (dot com)? and The Wisdom of Crowds of Sports Fans? and The Almost-War Over a Bear’s Missing Privates

Polly ticks

President and Mrs. Obama Become a Part of White House History with Reveal of Official Portraits, and Barack Obama just won the Emmy

How deranged anti-Obama conspiracy theories led America to Donald Trump

Fascist is a description, not an insult, and “Semi-Fascism”: The Shoe Fits

Judge Cannon’s Incredibly Flawed Trump Special Master Ruling

The faulty premise of the ‘2,000 mules’ trailer about voting by mail in the 2020 election

How Many Of ‘Her Emails’ Were Classified? Actually, Zero

Thomas, Barrett will further delegitimize SCOTUS when they fail to recuse on key cases

The Battle for Voters’ Imaginations over Abortion. Pete Buttigieg was correct.

When We Rose to Fight COVID, We Were Deliberately Turned Against Each Other

The Return of the Bitter Politics of Envy

UN Report Highlights Ongoing Racism in the US

Nebraska HS newspaper and journalism program shut down over student-written commentary on LGBTQ+ issues. The shutdown of the prize-winning student newspaper after 54 years occurred because an edition in June contained student-written commentary on LGBTQ+ issues, the origins of Pride Month, and the history of homophobia, material members of the local school board considered inappropriate.

Demographics

U.S. life expectancy drops sharply, the second consecutive decline

Most and Least Ethnically Diverse Cities in the U.S.

Demographic divide – the key differences in media and entertainment that continue to evolve between younger and older Americans.

New Data Reveal Inequality in Retirement Account Ownership

When and How Often People Marry Changes by Birth Cohort

MUSIC

Behind the Beats article about Rebecca Jade by the Smooth Jazz Network!

The In Crowd – the Ramsey Lewis Trio

The Comedians – Dmitry Kabalevsky. The second section, The Galop, is EXTREMELY familiar to me.

Wade In The Water – Ramsey Lewis

Jonchaies by Iannis Xenakis

Coverville 1412: The Clash Cover Story III and 1413: The Squeeze Cover Story III

Conductor Seiji Ozawa leads the Vienna Philharmonic in Strauss’s overture to Die Fledermaus

Hang On Sloopy – Ramsey Lewis Trio. I still have the Hang On Ramsey album on vinyl

If You Could Read My Mind – Gordon Lightfoot

Essentially v. for all intents and purposes

lie/lay/lain; lay/laid/laid

For All Intents One of my Facebook friends, a guy in my neighborhood, posted the graphic above. I’d never seen “supposably,” though I suppose I might have heard it.

But I’m fascinated by “for all intents and purposes.” Why would one say that at all these days, when you could use “essentially” or “in effect”? Let’s go to the dictionary.

“In a 1546 Act of Parliament, the phrase ‘to all intents, constructions, and purposes’ was used to convey that King Henry VIII had unlimited power to interpret laws. Apparently, the people of England took a liking to the phrase—just not the ‘constructions’ part.

“Thereafter, the phrase began appearing in legal documents and other writings in forms such as ‘to all intents’ and ‘to all intents and purposes.’ Nowadays, the latter phrase has survived—chiefly in British English—and ‘for all intents and purposes’ was popularized in American English.”

So it’s an American variation on a British Parliament concession to a monarch’s overreach of power. Got it.

“It is often mistaken as ‘for all intensive purposes’ because when spoken aloud these two phrases sound very similar. These mistakes, where incorrect words and phrases are replaced but the meaning remains the same, are known as eggcorns.”

I’d come up with my own intentional eggcorns for this phrase, just for fun. “For all in tents and porpoises,”, e.g.

As for the others

Regardless Of What You Think, ‘Irregardless’ Is A Word. That was the title of an article just this month. So irregardless, something I say intentionally as a joke to my wife, is a word. Even before the designation, it was always “a word.” Just not a very good one.

Certain phrases I just avoid. “I could care less” is one. This and the “expresso/espresso” bit both show up in Weird Al’s Word Crimes.

Googling pacifically, I found I Love My 30s, a bit from Gina Brillon: Pacifically Speaking. My spellcheck doesn’t even complain.

“I seen it” is something that I usually hear in extemporaneous speech, and it doesn’t distress me. “I’ve seen it” is what they meant, right?

Did you know that upmost is a variant of uppermost, meaning “highest in location, farthest up”? “My office is on the upmost/uppermost floor of the building.” Whereas of upmost importance suggests “highest” in a non-physical sense.

Finally, the lie/lay thing is nuts. The past tense of lie is lay. The past tense of lay is laid, which is also its past participle. Now the past participle of lie is lain, which almost no one uses at all. Let’s call the whole thing off.