May 2009 - Page 3 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

Why I Blog

Sometimes, when I get the blogging melancholy – you know, nobody comments, et al. – I get some positive feedback. All of these e-mails came between April 17 and 22.

One was a message from a new salon that noted my mention in a blog post.

Another was a message from a former high school history teacher of mine who became a county executive and now heads a statewide nonprofit. I’m not clear which assessment he’s referring to, but it’s accurate: “Many thanks for your assessment of me as one of your teachers. Being included with Helen Foley is good company, indeed. Glad to see that you haven’t lost your interest in world affairs. At what library in Albany do you work, or have I misread the information on your blog?” Helen Foley, BTW, was my public speaking teacher, and, not incidentally Rod Serling’s beloved teacher in junior and senior high school.

A third was someone who “met Raoul Vezina in 1983 in a comic store in Albany NY. I have #1-4 signed Smilin Ed comics and a 1983 Fantacon poster signed by Raoul as well. He was a gentle person and very talented. I remember you too. You worked at the comic store…am I correct? My boyfriend at the time…purchased comics at your store. You may remember him. I’m sure you don’t remember me. LOL! [He] and I are not together now. I found your e-mail address on the web when I was looking up Raoul Vezina on my computer. I found Raoul’s Smilin Ed comics when I was cleaning out a drawer. I’d completely forgotten about them. When I saw them, it brought back so many wonderful memories. I have Raoul’s obituary clipping from the Times Union. I don’t know why I saved all this stuff, but I did. As I looked at the comics and the clipping, I wondered if anyone would appreciate them after I’m gone. I decided that no one would, except another person who knew Raoul. My daughter will probably will consider it garbage, not aware that Raoul was a special person and a talented artist. So, saying that, I’d like to ask you if you’d like them. I will send them to you at no cost to you, if you’d like. Let me know.”
Yes, I do remember her boyfriend, but alas not her, but she was most kind.

Also Raoul-related is the first comment to this post.

Always nice to get the psychic, and occasionally, actual goodies.
ROG

R is for Rome

Don’t you just hate it when you can’t remember things? There was this TV show I used to watch regularly. I remembered just about everything about it: the producer -David E. Kelley; the cast, the network (CBS), the locale (the fictional town of Rome, Wisconsin), just about everything but its name: Picket Fences.

Before this program, Kelley may have been best known as the creator of a show about a doctor living with his family. Pretty standard fare, except that the doctor is not yet 21 and is conflicted between having fun with his teen peers and learning from his medical peers. This would be Doogie Howser, M.D., an ABC-TV sitcom starring Neil Patrick Harris. Kelley was also the head writer on L.A. Law., taking over from Steven Bochco, and introduced the memorable character of Rosalind Shays, played by Diana Muldaur.

Kelley, though, really got weird with Picket Fences, which dealt with small town life. The main characters were Jimmy Brock, the sheriff and his wife Jill, the town doctor, with their three children. Bizarre crimes and other odd things, including spontaneous human combustion take place in this seemingly idyllic place. Quoting an imdb contributor: “It seems that all the crimes that have occurred in the whole of the United States have at one point or another happened in Rome and they have to deal with it in their own quirky way.”

The show is the forerunner of Chicago Hope (1994-2000), Ally McBeal (1997-2002), The Practice (1997-2004), Boston Public (2000-2004), and Boston Legal (2004-2008).

I’ve noticed that many of the actors either continued working with Kelley and/or on something odd:
Tom Skerritt played sheriff Jimmy Brock. He was on the current show Brothers and Sisters; his character drowned on the first episode yet he still shows up occasionally.
Kathy Baker, played physician Jill Brock. She was the “hook lady” on Boston Public for about a dozen episodes and also appeared on episodes of other Kelley shows.
Holly Marie Combs played their oldest child, Kimberley. She’s best known for playing Piper on Charmed.
Lauren Holly played deputy Maxine before turns on Chicago Hope and NCIS.
Ray Walston was the town’s judge; he had a long and varied career, but is still best known as My Favorite Martian.
Fyvush Finkle was pain in the side defense attorney Douglas Wambaugh; he later played pain in the side teacher Harvey Lipschultz in Boston Public.

This is also the place I discovered Don Cheadle, who played D.A. John Littleton for a couple seasons before moving on to film fare such as Boogie Nights, Hotel Rwanda, and the Ocean’s Eleven franchise.

I have not seen this program since it first aired. Season 1 is available on DVD. I remember the show fondly, but will it still hold up?
***
And now, for something completely different, discussion of a different Rome:

Here’s the text.
***
Happy birthday to the Okie.

ROG

Roger-ology

This is one of those Facebook thingies that Kelly Brown did.

Let others know a little more about yourself, re-post this as your name followed by “ology” Then tag 20 people of your choice. Once you have been tagged you must do it and then tag the person that tagged you!

Well, I ain’t tagging nobody. (That being a double negative, does that mean that EVERYBODY’s tagged?)

FOOD-OLOGY

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
Justin’s in Albany. I proposed to Carol there, and we go once a year.

What food could you eat for 2 weeks straight and not get sick of it?
Cheerios and Shredded Wheat for breakfast.
Apple and cottage cheese for lunch. Dinner – can’t think of anything; well, spinach.

What are your pizza toppings of choice?
Mushrooms and onions

What do you like to put on your toast?
Butter and strawberry jam

TECHNOLOGY

How many televisions are in your house?
2, 1 of which will be dysfunctional on June 12.

What color cell phone do you have?
Silver

What does the first text message in your inbox say and who sent it?
I have no idea – never use it.

Who was the last person to call you?
My sister Leslie a year ago; I don’t give out the number.

BIOLOGY

Are you right-handed or left-handed?
Righty.

Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
Four wisdom teeth. My left knee was scoped.

What is the last heavy item you lifted?
When I change the water bottle at work.

BULL CRAP-OLOGY

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
No way

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
Barack Obama. Let the confusion ensue.

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
Probably.

DUMB-OLOGY

How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
Probably none

Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
I work very hard not to have run-ins with cops. Some cops had words for a group of us at an antiwar demonstration in NYC in Feb 2003, but wouldn’t call it a run-in.

Last person you talked to in person:
Carol, my wife.

Favorite Month?
March

CURRENT-OLOGY

Missing someone?
My father

Mood?
Reflective.

What are you listening to?
Earth, Wind and Fire

Watching?
ABC World News

Worrying about?
Not getting enough sleep.

RANDOM-OLOGY

Last movie you saw?
Sunshine Cleaning

Do you smile often?
I have no idea. But evidentally I laugh.

Do you always answer your phone?
No. I have call ID and I screen.

It’s four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it?
No one knows to text me.

If you could change your eye color what would it be?
I wouldn’t. My wife likes my brown eyes.

What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic?
Never been to Sonic. What IS Sonic?

Do you own a digital camera?
I bought one for my wife for Christmas, 2007. It is unused.

Have you ever had a pet fish?
As a child.

Favorite Christmas song?
Coventry Carol

What’s on your wish list for your birthday?
My birthday’s 10 months away. Some music, I presume.

Can you do push ups?
Yes, with effort.

Can you do a chin up?
No. I could not when I was a kid, either. Bane of my childhood existence.

Does the future make you more nervous or excited?
Yes

Do you have any saved texts?
Don’t understand. You mean save a Word document? Books? Well, yes and yes.

Ever been in a car wreck?
Twice. Once went to the hospital for 40 hours.

What is the last song to make you cry?
Crying by Roy Orbison and k.d. lang

Plans tonight?
Same as it ever was

Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?
Not really.

Name three things you bought yesterday.
Milk, a muffin, a soda.

Have you ever been given roses?
Once or twice.

Do you have an accent?
People from Binghamton apparently have a Midwest accent. Among other things, they say melk for milk.

Current hate right now?
Intolerance. (OK, that was a silly joke, but it does bug me.)

Met someone who changed your life?
Several, actually.

Name three people who might complete this?
Scott and Gordon, and, er….maybe Jaquandor?

What were you doing 12 AM last night?
Sleeping
***
A clever (and sadly true) financial twist on West Side Story

ROG

Siblings

Reading Arthur’s post about his sister’s memory reminds me yet again of an incontrovertible fact: in the main, the sibling is the longest relationship one will have. Longer than parent/child or spouses. Probably longer than most friendships.

Here’s a picture of the Green children of 5 Gaines Street, Binghamton, NY, which my sister Marcia came across and sent to me in the last month. I recall that it was taken when I was 10, Leslie was 9 and Marcia was 5. But some notation on the back of the picture suggests that it was shot earlier. Frankly, I can’t believe that Marcia could have been 3 when this photo was taken. This was considered the “good” picture, compared the “ugly glasses” photo taken three (or five) years later.

I was talking to Marcia a month or two ago about a trip Lydia and I will be taking to visit her, our mother and Marcia’s daughter Alexandria in North Carolina. As I’ve noted, Lydia is afraid of dogs. In this conversation, my sister notes that they had to put their dog down. Now, previously, I might have offered some sentiment of condolence. But I was so focused on how this would affect my daughter, I felt – this is not admirable, but it is true – a sense of “Well, THAT issue is resolved.”

Of course, Marcia calls me on this, but she used this ancient example to make the point. She recalls that when I was about 12, each of us got a kitten. Mine was Tiger, Leslie had Taffy and Marcia had Tony. Somehow, Tiger got out and was run over by a car and killed. I was devastated and even more so because my sisters had taken some glee in this; children can be so cruel.

So in 2009, Marcia says, “Don’t you remember how badly you felt when you lost a pet?” and she’s correct, of course, but pulling out that 40+-year old example is something a sibling is most likely to have brought up.

I find it interesting that each of us has only one child.

Indeed, because she was the youngest, Marcia tends to remember almost everything. She can start a sentence, “Do remember when…”; many’s the time Leslie and I will say no, but the essence of the story and the details are so vivid that we accede to her recollection.

The sisters used to drive each other crazy, with me as the involuntary referee, but they’ve become closer over dealing with my mom. Whatever that childhood noise once was, we have more important things to do.
Marcia is the best at sending presents and cards for all occasions, something I’m lousy at and Leslie’s not much better. That is her arm holding a dress that she ultimately sent to Lydia for her last birthday, which Lydia likes to wear. (Cell phone picture taken by Alexandria.) She’s the one who sent the anniversary card to Carol and me.

When she lived in Binghamton, little sister’s name was pronounced MAR-sha, but since she moved south, it’s become mar-SEE-ah. Anyway, today’s Marcia’s birthday. Happy birthday, baby sister. Have I sent her a card yet? Er, it’ll be in the mail. Soon. I swear.

ROG

Concert Review: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

May 14, 2009, Times Union Center, Albany, NY

Maybe it was that I was tired from coming back from a conference, then got to see wife and child for only 20 minutes after three days away. Perhaps it was near-vertigo from climbing those Times Union Center steps to the very top row. More likely though, it was the 45-minute wait from the scheduled 7:30 start time to the actual commencement of the performance. But I was not ready to be just swept away by Bruce and the band playing “Badlands” as their first number; it was too obvious to me. Later in the show, maybe, as he did on a Barcelona performance that played on WMHT public television a couple months ago. I later discover that Badlands was the opening song on every performance on this tour so far, save for the first one.

But wait …that drummer is GREAT! Who the heck IS he? He’s a good 30 years younger than Springsteen. With the energy he’s playing, will he be burned out by the end of the second song, Radio Nowhere?

And Bruce finally captured me with that third tune, Outlaw Pete, which my friend the Hoffinator said was “ten times, 25 times better” than the studio recording on the current album. From then on, I was with the program; in other words, by “No Surrender” – where did those great backup singers come from? – I had. On “Out in the Street”, he faced those of us seated behind him and used his now shared standard bit of letting most of the band have a line. In “Working on a Dream” he preached, they doo wopped. “Johnny 99” was a magnificent rocking reimagining of the song from the stark Nebraska album.

Astonishing guitar work by Nils Lofgrin on “The Ghost of Tom Joad” was captured on a guitar cam. During “Raise Your Hand”, it seems that the people on the floor of the TU Center raised their signs, with Bruce musing over which ones to collect; this, I’m told, is a tradition that began during the latter stages of the band’s previous tour. “Thunder Road” and “Mony Mony”, the latter the Tommy James and the Shondells hit, were the first two requests played.

Some people complain when the artist leaves it to the audience to sing parts of the song. In this case, they were singly loudly already even when the E Streeters were as well; it was certainly true on the solidly performed “Promised Land” and the requested “Backstreets”.

“Kingdom of Days” was dedicated to Springsteen’s wife, Patty Scialfa, who is recovering from a horse-ring injury. I thought it was uncharacteristically flat; not so much emotionally but pitch-wise. But he ended strong with “The Rising” and that song generally abbreviated B2R.

The encore started with incredible shared vocals on Stephen Foster’s “Hard Times”, which was preceded by a pitch for the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York.

The best drawing from my vantage point that I saw and Bruce picked to sing was “Kitty’s Back”, a live staple for decades; the jazzy tune featured several tasty solos. It’s from The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle album, which I only have on vinyl and need to fix that. I was recently listening to ~~a bootl~~ an unauthorized recording of that tune from c. 1976.

The group looked like they were finishing with American Land, but then launched into the obligatory song from Born in the USA album, “Glory Days”, complete with the banter between Bruce and Little Steven reminiscent of the Super Bowl appearance.

Oh, and that drummer? He was 18-year-old Jay Weinberg, son of Max. The elder Weinberg, the usual drummer, is also Conan O’Brien’s bandleader and had to be in California while Springsteen was on tour. Bruce said, “This is the first time in 35 years” that someone other than Max sat at the drums. As you can tell from Michael Eck’s review in the Times Union, he more than kept the seat warm for dad.

ROG