May 2008 - Page 3 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

Genesis 1, the polar bear and the space alien

Two news stories caught my attention this week, and both of them are tied to the Creation story in Genesis 1. I should note that I’ve read Genesis 1 a lot, not so much because of its specific significance as much as it is, well, “in the beginning.” I have endeavored to read the Bible all the way through a number of times, but succeeded only twice; in 1977, the King James version; and 1995-1996, the Revised Standard Version.
Those failed attempts are not unlike those nine-cent first volumes of the encyclopedias that supermarkets used to sell, which, of course, contained everything one needed to know about the aardwolf and the abacus; I owned a lot of A sections.
In fact Genesis 1, and the first three and a half verses of Genesis 2, made up the lectionary for this past Sunday. The lectionary, in case you are not familiar, is a methodology that the Church devised to read through much of the Bible over a three-year cycle.
So, I don’t think it was mere coincidence that the Vatican scientist suggested last week that there is no conflict between believing in God and in the possibility of “extraterrestrial brothers”. In other words, or more correctly, in other worlds in this vast universe, there may be similar Creations, with a similar contract between Creator and the life forms there, the Vatican scientist posits.
Not so incidentally, it was in this most recent reading, in context with the Vatican pronouncement, that I fully realized just how much the Creation story implies an earth-centered universe. Verse 16 (NIV): “God made two great lights — the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.” No wonder the views of Copernicus, greatly amplified by Galileo, seemed so heretical. In fact, it wasn’t until 1998 that the Roman Catholic Church acknowledged it had been wrong about Galileo.
The other news story was about the polar bear being added to the threatened species list in the U.S. If the Creator gave dominion of the creatures to humans, it came with responsibilities as well. Unfortunately, as a practical matter, the listing may mean little, since the White House says that pronouncement was not intended to address greenhouse gas emissions, apparently the polar bear’s real enemy.
***
Make wearing a flag pin the 28th Amendment.
***
Oh, no! I find myself largely agreeing with Pat Buchanan!

ROG

Very short takes

Today is the day folks go to the polls in many locations in New York State, everywhere except in the largest cities and vote for the school budget and the school board members. For some reason, the city of Albany only votes for the budget now, and the school board in November. More on that and Rex Smith speaking at the Friends of the Albany Public Library annual meeting this eveninghere.
***
Don’t care about Dancing with the Stars, but I do care about my wife, and SHE cares about DWTS. So I got the phone number from the end of the taped performance and tried to call in a number of times, but kept getting a busy signal. Then I went online to do so, but it required to be registered with ABC.com. Lo and behold, I WAS registered with ABC.com, though I don’t recall why. Five votes for Kristi Yamaguchi & Mark Ballas, who got 60 out of 60 points from the judges (the competition got 51 and 52 votes.)
***
I haven’t sent out my mixed CDs yet because I saved them to the drive, then the burner failed to put the data on the disc. I have figured out a workaround, but can’t get to until this weekend; sorry. It is sequenced and I do like it; Gordon will recognize the inspiration immediately. So far got mine from Gordon (like it), Tosy (listened to about half), and Lefty (haven’t played yet). Details to follow.
***
Best wishes to Edward Kennedy after his medical episode. I was looking at my Bushisms calendar, where W. referred to him as Theodore, one of the more understandable mistakes in the gaffe-filled daily.
***
The Subway series played out this past weekend. For me, the excitement is tempered, maybe because they are, at least so far, two mediocre teams, though the Mets, who swept, less mediocre than the Yankees.
***
The only parts of the NBA playoffs I have watched has been when I’ve taped ABC World News and the game has run over. For instance, I saw the last 18 seconds of the Celtics Game-Seven win over Cleveland, which took about 10 minutes, with all the fouls and timeouts.
***
Happy birthday, PixieNona!Are you sure it was a cold and not allergies? Your symptoms were very similar to mine last week.
***
In answer to a comment to this story DNA cleared them, but they’ll never feel free and some of the comments: “There’s particular disdain for the prosecutors of these crimes because, often, the prosecution withheld evidence that could have exonerated the defendant, esp. in Dallas County, TX. At least some of these people were home and with their families or at work; the assertion that ‘people doing the right thing don’t get mixed up in this stuff’ is simply inaccurate much of the time. There is also mistaken identity by witnesses far more often than most people realize. With all that, there’s no way to blame the juries, who can only weigh the evidence presented.”
ROG

One

This is one of these quizzes that Jaquandor did. Four of our answers match.

Yourself: Disconbobulated.

Your Partner: Wiser.

Your Hair: Missing.

Your Mother: Enigmatic.

Your Father: Deceased.

Your Favorite Item: DVR

Your Dream Last Night: Sensual (Well, it was! So there!)

Your Favorite Drink: Juice.

Your Dream Home: Unknown.

The Room You Are In: Messy.

Your Fear: Quagmire.

Where Do You Want to be in 10 years: Anywhere.

Who You Hung Out With Last Night: Daughter.

What You Are Not: Thin.

Muffins: Blueberry.

One of Your Wish Items: Maid.

Time: Evaporating.

Last Thing You Did: Sleep.

What You Are Wearing: Pajamas.

Your Favorite Weather: Springtime.

Your Favorite Book: Almanac.

Last Thing You Ate: Chicken.

Your Mood: Contemplative.

Your Best Friends: Helpful.

What Are You Thinking About Right Now: Work.

Your Car: Dirty.

Your Summer: Busy.

What’s on your TV: News.

What Is Your Weather Like: Nice.

When Was the Last Time You Laughed: Yesterday.

What is your relationship status: Blessed
ROG

Baby Sister Has a Birthday

And it’s significant, which means it’s divisible by 5. And I wonder how that came to be?

No matter.

Since she was younger than me, and my sister Leslie, I didn’t have as much one-on-one time with Marcia when we were growing up as I did with Leslie. Leslie and I sang with my father and did other things together. In fact, I sang once for her kindergarten class.

One thing I did do with her was to play The Man from U.N.C.L.E. I was Napoleon Solo, the American (played by Robert Vaughn) and she was Russian Illya Kuryakin (the David McCallum character).

I also tried to be the peacemaker between my two sisters. Triangulation: no fun, that.

Leslie and I were already in college when my father got a job in Charlotte, NC in 1974, so my mother and Marcia ended moving down later that year. For some reason, the pronunciation of her name changed from MAR-sha in Binghamton to mar-SEE-ah in Charlotte.

When I was adrift in 1977, I ended up staying with my parents and my sister for four months. She felt was invading her turf and we had our rows, but by the end of my tenure there, we had really bonded in a way we hadn’t before.

There are other tales to tell, but I’ll leave it at that. I love you, baby sister.

ROG

Best "Greatest Hits" Albums QUESTIONS

Yahoo had this list of “best of” albums last week. I’ll note if I have ’em. Do you? Or perhaps another album by that artist. Maybe you have suggestions not on the list at all. I’d inclined to have Aretha Franklin and Randy Newman represented.
25) Nirvana–Nirvana:
I have three or four Nirvana albums, but no GH.

24)Greatest Hits—Eagles:
Yes, I have it. And I’m not ashamed. The best selling album of all time in the U.S, if you believe the RIAA figures.

23) The Best Of Blondie–Blondie: Yup.

22) Back To Mono—Phil Spector & Various Artists: This is actually a box set – 3 CDs plus the Christmas album -of music of the Ronettes, Crystals, Righteous Brothers, and much more. Got it.

21) Meaty, Beaty, Big And Bouncy—The Who: Actually have this on vinyl. While I have a more comprehensive Who GH on CD, I do like this one better.

20) The Kinks Kronikles—The Kinks:
No, I have The Ultimate Collection.

19) The Motown Box—Various Artists: “It’s not just any label that can release a boxed set of their best acts and establish both group identity and label identity. Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Four Tops all carved out their sound within the confines of a Detroit recording studio and the overhearing ears of Berry Gordy Jr.” Got it AND its follow-up.

18) Chronicle Vol. 1—Creedence Clearwater Revival: “Creedence Clearwater Revival had the distinction of scoring a string of #2 hit singles. Not #1. Someone else always hogged that spot for themselves. But Creedence did manage 19 hit singles that are collected here…” And I have it.

17) Echoes—Pink Floyd: Actually, no. though I must have a half dozen Floyd albums.

16) Staring At The Sea–The Cure: Have only one or two Cure albums and this isn’t one of them.

15) Louder Than Bombs—The Smiths: Have some Smiths and Morrisey solo, but not this.

14) The Chess Box—Chuck Berry: No, I have Golden Decade.

13) We Sold Our Souls For Rock N’ Roll—Black Sabbath: Actually own no Black Sabbath at all, except on compilations.

12) The Very Best Of—Prince: Not this, but I have a two-CD collection. I have quite a bit of His Purpleness, actually.

11) The Very Best Of The Doors (2CD)–The Doors: Not this 2007 collection, but another one.

10) The Top Ten Hits—Elvis Presley: I have these two CDs, but frankly I’m surprised they didn’t go for that #1s album, which I ALSO own.

9) Mania—Ramones: Recently bought a different Ramones compilation.

8) Smash Hits–Jimi Hendrix: Have it on vinyl, and a different compilation on CD.

7) Greatest Hits, Volume 2—Bob Dylan: Have it on vinyl.

6) Greatest Hits—Al Green: Have it.

5) Decade–Neil Young: One of those things I bought twice, once the 3 LPs, then the 2 CDs.

4) Greatest Hits–Sly And The Family Stone:. I’ve long had this album as a contender for my island albums. Some people seem to think that bringing a GH to the island is sacrilege, but at least three of these songs never made it to 33 1/3 until this collection.

3) Star Time–James Brown:Not this 4-CD box, but a single disc.

2) Hot Rocks–The Rolling Stones: Have on LP. Have all the songs in some digitized form, though.

1) 1–The Beatles: No. I own every American LP and British CD in the canon. Why do I need this?
ROG