November 2010 - Page 2 of 6 - Ramblin' with Roger

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving: thanks to the Census Bureau.

The “event became a national holiday in 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a national day of thanksgiving. Later, President Franklin Roosevelt clarified that Thanksgiving should always be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the month to encourage earlier holiday shopping, never on the occasional fifth Thursday.”

We are thankful that FDR provided that extra shopping period. Otherwise, Thanksgiving would have been a week later in 2000, 2006 and 2007, and would be a week later in 2012, 2017, 2018, 2023, 2028, 2029…

Seriously, I am thankful for all sorts of good things, not the least of which is music:

Sam & Dave – I THANK YOU.
Led Zeppelin – THANK YOU.
Sly and the Family Stone – THANK YOU FALETTINME BE MICE ELF AGIN.

My daughter’s current favorite joke:
Why did the turkey cross the road?
Because it was the chicken’s day off!

Beatles Island Songs, 193-184

Hmm, those early Harrison vocals, this one again on a cover, are taking a beating on this list.

The rules of engagement

193 The Long and Winding Road from Let It Be, a perfectly adequate song from McCartney, but the epitome of funereal, from a Beatles POV.
192 Do You Want to Know a Secret from Please Please Me (US), Introducing the Beatles/the Early Beatles (US). A Lennon and McCartney original, with a weak, though endearing, Harrison vocal.
191 Don’t Pass Me By from the white album. Its most famous attribute may be its place in the “Paul is dead” myth: “You were in a car crash, and you lost your hair.” Written and sung by Ringo.
190 Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand” the German version of “I Want to Hold Your Hand”; released in the US on Something New. It’s fine; I’ll wait for the English translation. This probably ranks higher than the other German song from sheer exposure.
189 All Together Now from Yellow Submarine. Sounds like a kiddie song, but with lyrics like “Can I take my friend… to bed?”
188 Devil in Her Heart from With the Beatles (UK), Beatles’ Second Album. Hmm, those early Harrison vocals, this one again on a cover, are taking a beating on this list.
187 Oh! Darling from Abbey Road. A McCartney insincere blues, as opposed to, say Helter Skelter.
186 For You Blue from Let It Be. An insignificant Harrison song from that last released album.
185 Your Mother Should Know from Magical Mystery Tour. One of several McCartney dance hall songs. Don’t dislike it, just find it disposable. Though I do like it in the context of the TV movie
184 Dig a Pony from Let It Be. Unfortunately, the cliche about digging for a pony through a particular muck was stuck in my head re this Lennon song. ‘Nuff said.

S is for Sorry…and Second Chances

How DO we give someone a second chance after an apology?

An interesting article in the Wall Street Journal recently: I’m Very, Very, Very Sorry … Really? We Apologize More to Strangers Than Family, and Why Women Ask for Forgiveness More by ELIZABETH BERNSTEIN. Fascinating stuff. Also intriguing is this graphic indicating the hierarchy of apologies, from most to least effective.

There was a sidebar called “Saying ‘I’m Sorry'” which declares, “A ‘comprehensive’ apology is more likely to win forgiveness, researchers say. There are eight elements,” according to the University of Waterloo:
Remorse
Acceptance of responsibility
Admission of wrongdoing
Acknowledgment of harm
Promise to behave better
Request for forgiveness
Offer of repair
Explanation

Probably the apology I hate the most is the one that goes, “I’m sorry if you’re feeling bad,” (or whatever) as though it is MY fault that THEIR inappropriate behavior bothered me. In general, a bad apology – usually followed by the sentence, “Let’s move on” – is about as bad as no apology at all.

So how DO we give someone a second chance after an apology? I think about this, a lot.

Eliot Spitzer was governor of New York State. As state Attorney General and as governor, he slept with expensive call girls; he was designated as “Client 9.” He had to resign as governor, not because he cheated on his wife, but because the “sheriff of Wall Street” was a hypocrite, prosecuting the very laws he was breaking. They’ve even made a movie called “Client 9”: The Eliot Spitzer case: How we were bamboozled. “An intriguing new movie dissects the thicket of money, lies, and rumors around the governor’s downfall.” Now he has a TV news show with Kathleen Parker. Should he be given a second chance? I say: Yes. He apologized and lost his office. And from sources I trust, he is good at what he does.

Michael Vick was the very talented quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football League. “In April 2007, Vick was implicated in an illegal interstate dogfighting ring that had operated over five years [some of it on property he owned]. In August 2007, he pleaded guilty to federal felony charges and served 21 months in prison, followed by two months in home confinement.” He has subsequently: filed for bankruptcy, and has been picked up as the Philadelphia Eagles’ backup quarterback, playing as the starter (when healthy) after the Eagles traded former starter, Donovan McNabb, to Washington. Should he be given a second chance? I say: Yes. He has also been mandated to be involved in making others aware of the wrongness of animal cruelty.

I’m sure there are other examples, such as actor Mel Gibson, who got booted from the movie The Hangover 2 because of several incidents, some involving him seeming to threaten the mother of his youngest child, that you can discuss. From a purely business decision, they might have thought Gibson would have been box office poison.

What do YOU think, about these and any other examples you can think of?

ABC Wednesday – Round 7

The Time Traveler Meme

I’m now a Presbyterian, not a Methodist.

I found this particular Sunday Stealing rather interesting.

Emily’s Rules:

1. Depending on your age, go back 10, 15, 20, or even more years.
2. Tell us how many years back you have traveled and why.
3. Pretend you have met yourself during that era, and tell us where you are.
4. You only have one “date” with this former self.
5. Answer these questions.

Okay, as we start, what year is it and how old are you?

My sense is that younger people are picking smaller numbers, so I’ll randomly pick 25 years ago, which would be November 1985; I’m 32. As it turns out, that’d be the year in which the movie Back to the Future is set. We probably met at a comic book show.

1 . Would your younger self (YYS, from here) recognize you when you first meet?

Not sure. My skin, specifically my face, is much lighter because of the vitiligo. Given the fact that sometimes I don’t recognize myself now, quite possibly not.

2. Would YYS be surprised to discover what you are doing job-wise?

Well, no. He’d say, “THAT’S what you should have gone to grad school for in the first place. What WERE you thinking with that Public Administration detour?”

3. What piece of fashion advice would you give YYS?

Actually, none. He didn’t care about fashion, and neither do I.

4. What do you think YYS is most going to want to know?

Would I ever find love? Would I get married? Would I ever have children? Would I ever WANT children? And if I DID have children, would I be any good as a father?

5. How would you answer YYS’s question?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Surprisingly, yes. I guess so.

6. What would probably be the best thing to tell YYS?

Well, assuming it wasn’t things like which baseball teams to bet on in 1986 – “The Mets over the Red Sox in the World Series. Really.” – I suppose I’d counsel more patience in affairs of the heart.

7. What is something that you probably wouldn’t tell YYS?

About my father’s death.

8. What do you think will most surprise YYS about you?

That I’m a father. And that I own a house; I was always a renter. And that I’ve written SOMETHING for public consumption – on this blog, as it turns out, every day for 5.5 years; he didn’t think I had that much discipline, and frankly, neither did I, even 5.5 years ago. And that I’m now a Presbyterian, not a Methodist. Oh, all sorts of things.

9. What do you think will least surprise YYS?

That I’m a librarian.

10. At this point in your life, would YYS like to run into “you” from the future?

Yes, but he’d be surprised how much more patient I am now.
***
And speaking of time travel, read my recent posts about going to the Peter and Paul concert, post-Mary; and the Beatles, Again? – don’t forget LENNONYC on American Masters tonight on PBS.

The important theological question of our time

Many Christians know of the “pagan” history of Christmas trees, Easter eggs, wedding rings, funeral flowers and Odin’s day, I mean Wednesday without having to give them up.

I found this interesting: Yogatta be kidding me –

…”Christians who practice yoga are embracing, or at minimum flirting with, a spiritual practice that threatens to transform their own spiritual lives into a ‘post-Christian, spiritually polyglot’ reality.”

Then others…took it a step further, calling Yoga “absolute paganism”: “Should Christians stay away from yoga because of its demonic roots? Totally. Yoga is demonic… If you just sign up for a little yoga class, you’re signing up for a little demon class.”

…Shawn Groves [in] “Death of Discernment”…made some great points about many things that we do that have some pagan roots. Things like tortillas, Halloween… even paper and Thursday (the day of the week).

Maybe it’s just me, but I found the controversy not only slightly silly but having the capacity of making Christians collectively look ridiculous – which I suppose is better than them looking venal. Surely, many Christians know of the non-Christian history of Christmas trees, Easter eggs, wedding rings, funeral flowers, and Odin’s day, I mean Wednesday, without having to give them up. (Actually, I’d give up Wednesday for an extra Saturnday.)

Image from Christian Yoga magazine.