March 2008 - Page 4 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

Pray without Ceasing

During Lent, our adult education classes on Sundays and our Lenten devotional classes on Thursdays have been devoted to prayer. Sometimes, the lessons actually stick, such as the idea of praying when I turn on the computer when I get to work in the morning, then praying again when I turn it off. Of course, the way my work computer is acting lately, probably I SHOULD pray for its continued operational well-being. The worksheet also suggests setting up a screen saver with a meaningful Bible verse or enter a password of religious import. The latter I almost certainly WON’T do, only because I’m having trouble keeping track of the eight I’m rotating through as it is.

I’ve also embraced the notion of praying the newspaper, the idea of praying for those who have suffered that I read about, but also for the writer of the story who may have some residual pain over having to convey the bad news. One of the things I’ve been doing in Albany for decades is stopping when I see an emergency vehicle approach an intersection, for thrice I have seen accidents of drivers not yielding, twice at the same corner; I suppose offering up a prayer in that case couldn’t hurt.

The one thing I have embraced, surprisingly, is putting together some beads on a string with a list of things that are important. I was surprised because I suppose that it felt a little papist. (Of course, some Unitarians I used to know probably think the candle that is lit in the beginning of every session to remind us of the presence of Jesus is probably papist.) In any case, one can put together four beads for the four seasons or for the four directions. It could be seven for the days of the week or ten for the Commandments.

Somehow, mine came from a Bible verse that I memorized, WAY back in the day when I used to do that for my Friday night Bible club, which was when I was 10 to 16 years old. The one (or technically, ones) that popped out: Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” That’s the King James Version. The New International Version might make more linguistic sense: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” However, I remember it in the KJ version, so that’s what I use, moving a bead with each of the nine words starting with love.

I think that perhaps the seeming rigidity of organized religion has rendered certain activities void of meaning for many people. To that I say, start your own ritual with whatever is meaningful for you.
***
My church choir is performing the Duruflé Requiem Good Friday, March 21, 2008.

ROG

Getting To Know You

Three people played my little quiz last week. One, Scott, answered in his blog. One, M., answered by e-mail, and the third, Uthaclena, answered in the comments.

So, now, beware: it’s my time to turn the tables and see if I can answer the same questions about them.

Where did we meet (can be electronically – if so, how did you come to this blog, and if applicable, how did I come to yours)?
S: Actually, I think he linked to my blog, or at least cited my blog, I noticed in Technorati. So I went to his blog, liked what I saw, and voila.
M: At church, mid-to-late 1980s.
U: September 12, 1971 in the basement of Bliss Hall, State University College at New Paltz, probably in a food line.

Take a stab at my middle name.
S: No idea. Bet it starts with a consonant.
M: Starts with L. Louise? No idea.
U: Starts with A.
Yes, my middle name is Owen.

Do I smoke?
S: The rare cigar.
M: No.
U: Nothing legal.
No, I don’t.

Color of my eyes.
S: Look bluish in photos.
M: Brown
U: Brown.
Mine are brown.

Do I have any siblings? If so, where am I in the birth order?
S: Fortunately, you answered that here. You’re the eldest, as am I.
M: Seems as though I’ve met a brother who I think is older.
U: You have two younger brothers.
I have two younger sisters, Leslie and and Marcia.

What’s one of my favorite things to do?
S: Listen to music.
M: Listen to music.
U: Listen to music.
Whereas I NEVER listen to music, he lied.

What’s my favorite type of music?
S: Prog rock.
M: At your wedding, you had someone play Ripple, so I’m going with the Dead, though you certainly like your Beatles.
U: While you like your 1960s music, you also appreciate progressive jazz.
My tastes are fairly eclectic, though 1960s Motown and Beatles are important.

Am I shy or outgoing?
S: Comfortable in your own skin.
M: Shyly outgoing.
U: Depends on the situation.
I’m probably more shy than people think.

Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules?
S: Tries to keep to the rules, except when they don’t make sense.
M: Definitely knows the rules, will follow them if necessary.
U: Hates many of the rules, avoids them when he can, suffers them when he can’t.
ME? I subvert the stupid ones whenever possible.

Any special talents?
S: You know more about hockey than I will ever know.
M: You’re extremely talented at putting people at ease.
U: Your time as a bartender has served you well.
U identified my kazoo skills.

How many children do I have?
S: You are always making plans for Nigel.
M: One under 18, plus.
U: A daughter named after your middle name, but spelled differently.
I have Lydia.

If you and I were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing that I would
bring?
S: Some tome.
M: A first aid kit.
U: Sufficient firewood.
Me? A World Almanac

AND for a bonus question, you can share any other factoid you deign to share, as long as it’s about me, and it’s truthful. Preferably not mean.
S: He has a very spiritual side, quite possibly more than he realizes.
M: She used to be a party animal!
U: About the only person who could actually blackmail me.

ROG

Are the banks open?

On the January 11, 2008 episode of JEOPARDY!, the $600 clue in the category Math Rocks was this:
Kate Bush sang over 100 digits about this symbol, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. The question makes me hungry already.

Happy π Day!

I must admit a certain fascination with other people’s fascination with what I learned in high school as 22/7, but which is a lot more precise than that, such as
this one:

or especially this one, which lets me know that “the string 19530307 occurs at position 20,376,164 counting from the first digit after the decimal point.” Of course, it does.

Personally, I’ve never bothered to learn pi past the fifth digit after the decimal (3.14159), because then I’d have to worry about rounding errors. I didn’t know that definition of π was implied in the Bible, though with all that calculating of the cubits, I should have guessed.

No, I’ve never seen the movie.

“In celebration of the day, feel free to take a moment to contemplate and enjoy the mathematics in nature (or just draw a circle).” (Stolen from my friend Annie, as was the title of the piece.)

ROG

Q is 75

To an audience who may know Quincy Jones best as the father of actress Rashida Jones, formerly of the television show The Office, I wanted to write about the massive impact that Q has had on popular music. I went to the Wikipedia post, which was a good start, but the discography was sorely lacking. This Rolling Stone discography isn’t bad, but is missing vital elements. The CBS Sunday Morning story from this past weekend, which currently isn’t even online, just touches on his importance.

Personally, I own a wide range of Q’s output, from some of those Frank Sinatra sides he arranged such as “Fly Me to the Moon”, to those Lesley Gore hits such as “It’s My Party” that he produced, the Q-production for the Brothers Johnson album that contains “Strawberry Letter #23, composer for the “Sanford and Son” theme, cat-wrangler for the “We Are the World” session, the composer/arranger for soundtrack for the television event “Roots”, and possibly my favorite, the production of Michael Jackson’s “Off the Wall” album. Oh, yeah, and its obscure follow-up, the album known as “Thriller”.

I also own a couple albums with Quincy listed as artist, Q’s Jook Joint (2004), and Back on the Block (1989), both star-studded extravaganzas. If not totally successful, they show the range of the the man, from rap lite with Melle Mel and Ice-T intertwined with Tevin Campbell’s Zulu chant, snatching a piece of the Ironside theme, which Q wrote; to a funky tune featuring Chaka Khan and Q’s very old friend Ray Charles; to an introduction to Birdland by rappers and jazz artists; to the most successful take, an “a cappella groove” with Ella, Sarah and Bobby McFerrin, among others. Undoubtedly, there are other jazz sides and soundtracks that I’m not even aware of.

I even own some oversized photo-bio of the man. So Happy birthday, Q, and thanks for the wide range of great music.
ROG

MOVIE REVIEW: Elizabeth: the Golden Age

One night a couple weeks ago, I couldn’t sleep. So I got up and watched a DVD of the follow-up to Cate Blanchett’s Oscar-nominated role playing Queen Elizabeth I from nine seasons prior. I had really liked the earlier film, which I had seen in a place around here that serves food before the film. I was interested in the intrigue, and Blanchett was marvelous.

She’s still very good in this film, but the intrigue this time was so byzantine or so boring – I’m not sure which – that I didn’t much care. Geoffrey Rush’s Sir Francis Walsingham is skulking around on who knows what side of the issue.

I did rather enjoy Clive Owen as Sir Walter Raleigh and Abbie Cornish as Beth. In fact, it was when Raleigh first appears that I came out of my stupor.

If I remember correctly, the the number 1585 come up on the screen even before the title of the film. “I’ll bet that an event takes place three years hence will be in this movie,” I thought, and so it was, but it had a “I’ve seen it all before” quality.

I’m convinced that if you come into the movie with low expectations – the critics were generally unkind – then you might enjoy it for what it is, but it’s definitely a lesser epic.
***
I’ve now managed to see all five Best Actress performances for 2007. Historically, this is not all that unusual, but lately, it’s extraordinary. And if I were voting, I would have picked Julie Christie for Away From Her. Marion Cotillard lost points because she was lip-synching, quite well, to Edith Piaf and to Piaf sound-alike Jil Aigrot. My second favorite performance actually was Ellen Page in Juno.

ROG