February 2011 - Page 2 of 6 - Ramblin' with Roger

Beatles Island Songs, 73-64

JEOPARDY! answers (questions at the end)

9-LETTER WORDS $400: A collection of stories, or a collection of Beatles songs
NUN SENSE $500: A convent’s top nun, she’s told to “Jump the Gun” on the Beatles’ “White Album”
___ AND ___ $400: The Isley Brothers & the Beatles sang, “Shake it up, baby”, do this
POP MUSIC $200: In 1985 this performer bought ATV, owner of much of the Beatles’ catalogue, for over $40 million

The ‘Top 10 Best Rock Bands Ever’ Are…

The rules of engagement

73 Things We Said Today from A Hard Day’s Night (UK), The Beatles’ Second Album. Love this from the intro to what I think is double-tracked McCartney hatrmony vocals.
72 Every Little Thing from Beatles for Sale (UK), Beatles VI (US). Always thought this was a cover of the Everly Brothers or Buddy Holly, but it’s McCartney in that mode.
71 Come Together from Abbey Road. The hook on this Lennon song is the instrumental that comes up even before the vocal. Strange lyrics, some apparently stolen from Chuck Berry.
70 Birthday from the white album. I had the peculiar notion at the time that this Macca/Lennon song would replace Happy Birthday as THE celebratory tune.
69 And Your Bird Can Sing from Revolver (UK), Yesterday and Today (US). Another of the Lennon songs stolen from UK Revolver.
68 I Should Have Known Better from A Hard Day’s Night. From the Lennon harmonica, a winner.
67 The End from Abbey Road. If this McCartney song were together with Golden Slumbers and Carry That Weight, it’d be about #4 on this list. As it is, a Ringo drum solo and trading off guitar solos are great.
66 All My Loving from With the Beatles (UK), Meet the Beatles (US). Among the charms of this McCartney song is the jaunty, almost country, bridge.
65 I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party from Beatles for Sale (UK), Beatles VI (US). Told you I was a sucker for Beatles VI.
64 A Taste of Honey from Please Please Me (UK), Introducing The Beatles/The Early Beatles (US). The great thing about this cover is how goes from 3/4 to 4/4 and back.

JEOPARDY! questions-
What is Anthology?
Who is Mother Superior?
What is twist and shout?
Who was Michael Jackson?

F is for Firefighters

I have always lived in locations with paid firefighters. Yet, “volunteers comprise 71% of firefighters in the United States.

One of the most riveting events in my early life was the massive fire that took place at an apartment complex known as the Rogers block, four wooden structures just down the street from my grandmother’s house. While the building were a total loss, I don’t recall any casualties. Moreover, the firemen – they were all men in those days – managed to contain the fire to those buildings, not allowing it to reach the nearby homes.

So fires have long fascinated me. According to the National Fire Protection Association, the The 2009 U.S. fire loss clock
•A fire department responded to a fire every 23 seconds.
•One structure fire was reported every 66 seconds.
•One home structure fire was reported every 87 seconds
•One civilian fire injury was reported every 31 minutes.
•One civilian fire death occurred every 2 hours and 55 minutes.
•One outside fire was reported every 49 seconds.
•One vehicle fire was reported every 146 seconds.

I have always lived in locations with paid firefighters. Yet, “volunteers comprise 71% of firefighters in the United States. Of the total estimated 1,148,100 volunteer and paid firefighters across the country, 812,150 are volunteer.” Moreover, “the majority of fire departments in the United States are volunteer. Of the total 30,165 fire departments in the country, 20,857 are all volunteer; 5,099 are mostly volunteer; 1,752 are mostly career; and 2,457 are all career.”

In 2009, US firefighter fatalities included 47 volunteer firefighters, 36 career firefighters, and 7 part-time or full-time members of wildland or wildland contract fire agencies.

Is the fire protection in your locale career or voluntary firefighters?

How Do I Become A Volunteer Firefighter?

US Fire Administration

ABC Wednesday – Round 8

Presidents Day

“Other than Ronald Reagan, who is your political hero?”

It’s Presidents Day, so I post oddball factoids about the guys that have held the office that I’ve come across in the past couple of months.

But first, a recent Final JEOPARDY! answer: Of the 20 presidents elected to a second term, 2 of the 3 who failed to complete that term. (Question at the end.)

#1- George Washington
He Came
During the American Revolutionary War, George Washington was riding on his horse one day when he passed by a group of soldiers who were busily engaged in raising a beam to the top of some military works. It was a difficult task, and the voice of the corporal in charge of the men could often be heard shouting, “Now you have it!”
“All ready! Pull!”
Unrecognized by the corporal and the other soldiers, Washington asked the corporal why he didn’t help his men.
“Sir,” replied the angered officer “do you not realize that I AM the CORPORAL?!?”
Washington politely raised his hat, saying, “I did not realize it. Beg your pardon… Mr. Corporal.”
Washington dismounted his horse and went to work helping the men until the beam was raised.
Before leaving, he turned to the corporal, and, wiping the perspiration from his face, said, “If ever you need assistance like this again, call upon Washington, your commander-in-chief, and I will come!” *

*Adapted from “An Anecdote of Washington” by Mara Pratt in American History Stories You Never Read in School But Should Have as qtd. by Jason Jackson in Stronger Than Ever (Christian Courier Publications; Stockton, CA; 2008.)

#3- Thomas Jefferson

#10- John Tyler
Jaquandor found this fascinating information about Old Tippecanoe’s Veep and longevity.

#16 Abraham Lincoln
Interview with Ronald C. White, Jr., author of A. Lincoln: A Biography

The ALA Public Programs Office, in partnership with the National Constitution Center (NCC) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), is pleased to announce a large-scale tour for the traveling exhibition “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War.” Funding for the exhibition and tour is provided by a major grant from NEH’s We the People initiative.
Two hundred sites will be selected to host the 1,000 square foot exhibition for a period of six weeks each from September 2011 through May 2015. All showings of the exhibition will be free and open to the public.
Using the U.S. Constitution as its cohesive thread, “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War” offers a fresh and innovative perspective on the Civil War that brings into focus the constitutional crises at the heart of this great conflict. The exhibition identifies these crises—the secession of the Southern states, slavery, and wartime civil liberties—and explores how Lincoln sought to meet these political and constitutional challenges.

But the big Lincoln news is that an altered Lincoln document is at the National Archives, where someone changed the date on a pardon from April 14, 1864, to April 14, 1865, the day Lincoln was shot. Worse, the comments, especially in the New York Times piece seem to desire to refight the Civil War.

#17- Andrew Johnson
The Presidential dollar coming out this month is of the first U.S. President ever to be impeached. Impeached means indicted by the House of Representatives; the Senate tries the case, and Johnson missed being convicted by a single vote.

Incidentally, I recently discovered that the mint mark (P for Philadelphia, D for Denver) is not on the face of the coin, but on the edge.

#18- Ulysses S. GrantA Great Bronze Tarnished by Neglect.
The most artistically accomplished memorial in Washington, D.C.—as well as the most overlooked—is that of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. It celebrates not just its namesake but the brave men who carried out his orders in the face of danger and death. Shorn of the allegory and sentiment common to so much commemorative art, it vividly and unsparingly depicts what Kathryn Allamong Jacob calls, in “Testament to Union: Civil War Monuments in Washington, D.C.,” “the harsh face of war in the awful beauty of richly detailed men and horses rushing to battle.”

#34- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight Was Right about the military-industrial complex, says Michael Moore

#35- John F. Kennedy
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the John F. Kennedy inauguration, the JFK Library unveiled a large digital archive. Interesting story on CBS NEWS Sunday Morning about the anniversary.

However, the History Channel has decided to yank its miniseries on the Kennedys, citing its lack of historical accuracy.

10 Speeches and News Conferences by JFK Now Available on iTunes via U. of North Dakota

#37- Richard M. Nixon
I had decided to create a new narrative about Dick, noting his accomplishments with the environment, et al. But then, information came out about ethnic slurs and other unsavory comments. Sigh. Same old Nixon.

#39- Jimmy Carter
Carter appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, promoting his book, White House Diary.

#40- Ronald Reagan
Reagan exhibited signs of Alzheimer’s while still in White House his son Ron claimed in his book, titled “My Father at 100,” was to mark what would have been President Reagan’s 100th birthday on Feb. 6, 2011. President Reagan died in June 2004. Ron’s half-brother Michael, who has a book of his own, hotly denies that claim.

The Republican National Committee picked a new chair last month. But what I thought was telling was one of the questions to each of the candidates, which was something like, “Other than Ronald Reagan, who is your political hero?” Reagan was listed as a given.

A Reagan Litmus Test for 2012 GOP Hopefuls

American Dad – Oliver North song, which I saw when I experienced insomnia this month.

#41- George H. W. Bush
Medal of Freedom Recipients: George H.W. Bush, Bill Russell, Yo-Yo Ma, and Others

#43- George W. Bush
Description of W’s book from Human Events: “Decision Points is no conventional political autobiography. In gripping, never-before-heard detail, President Bush gracefully brings readers inside the Texas Governor’s Mansion on the night of the hotly contested 2000 election; aboard Air Force One on 9/11, in the hours after America’s most devastating attack since Pearl Harbor; at the head of the table in the Situation Room in the moments before launching the war in Iraq, and behind the Oval Office desk for his historic and controversial decisions on the financial crisis, Hurricane Katrina, Afghanistan, Iran, and other major events that have shaped the first decade of the 21st century.”

JEOPARDY! question: Who were Lincoln, McKinley, Nixon? (any two) Both my wife (Lincoln, McKinley) and I (McKinley, Nixon) got it right; NONE of the contestants did.

The Readers Reply to the Racism Question

“It seemed to me that everyone was so very quick to disown racism that none of us had anything to really work on. It made me think that if the Church is going to effectively bring healing in this area it is going to have to make a distinction between racism as an ideology that some subscribe to, and racism as the fear, suspicion, or broken attitudes that blight all of us to various degrees as a result of being fallen creatures in a broken world.”

About six months ago, I laid out a scenario, about a white woman going into a halal shop, and asked, “Is it racist?” I was unconvinced that it was, although I recognized a likely ethnic-based discomfort.

And I got three really fine, and well thought out answers:

Francisca, a “white woman living in Asia” noted that “most of the time what I get is profiling to my advantage (it helps that I’m the smiling type and people generally like my face). The scene is complicated by my Chinese-born husband, who regularly gets mistaken as my driver, my interpreter, or my employee…and gets treated accordingly…”

Uthaclena said: “I think that the use of language has become very sloppy; my 15-year old informs me that ‘racism’ is used for ALL SORTS of discrimination, incl. what I myself would identify as sexism. Racism implies to me more of a power-based form of discrimination: ‘I will actively prevent you from obtaining something that is your due because of your race or ethnic background.’ I think that there is far more BIGOTRY than there is out-and-out racism, ASSUMING something about a person because of their stereotypical traits.”

Then there was Anthony: “I think I read somewhere in the writings of N.T. Wright that when Paul speaks of Christ dismantling the barrier between Jew and Gentile, implied within that idea is that Jesus overcame the forces that contribute to tribalism, ethnocentrism, nationalism, etc.” I would specifically add sexism. My Biblical scholarship is lacking, but I recall Jesus being called out by a woman about his sexist attitude.

“This idea is also associated with Christ’s cosmic work: the overcoming of the powers and principalities which distort God’s creation and the healthy functioning of social institutions.

“I mention this, because a number of years ago I was at a Christian college where I and various staff members were involved in a study on racial reconciliation by Raleigh Washington & Glen Kehrein called ‘Breaking Down Walls,’ and it seemed to me that everyone was so very quick to disown racism that none of us had anything to really work on. It made me think that if the Church is going to effectively bring healing in this area it is going to have to make a distinction between racism as an ideology that some subscribe to, and racism as the fear, suspicion, or broken attitudes that blight all of us to various degrees as a result of being fallen creatures in a broken world.”

Boy, did I relate to THAT! Organizing Black History Month in predominately white churches, I have definitely seen that. Not incidentally, this notion of a post-racial country in the US, because the country elected a black President, I always thought was absurd. Our tribalism runs deep. We may not all be racist, but we aren’t finished creatures, either.

I recommend you read all three excellent comments.

The Wisdom of Homer Simpson

Beatles, Led Zeppelin, the Band, Aretha, the wah-wah Temptations.

Wednesday Wickedness is “like other memes in that we will ask you ten questions each and every Wednesday. But our little ‘twist’ is that each week we will pick a famous person and pick ten of their quotes. Each of our questions will be based on the quotes.”

1. “Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It’s what separates us from the animals … except the weasel.”
What was the last thing that you weaseled out of?

I’m sure it has something to do with housecleaning. It just doesn’t give me the goodies other tasks do.

2. “If they think I’m going to stop at that stop sign, they’re sadly mistaken!”
What was the last thing that caught your eye that you stopped for?

Other than sunsets, I actually can’t recall. Well, unless it was some particularly bad and/or rude driving, which I undoubtedly kvetched about. In fact, it was probably in Charlotte: this woman was parked in a parking space in a mall. She was on her cellphone, started the car, went forward onto the curb, then went back to the space, banging the grille. Then opened her car door and threw out some litter before reparking to cover two parking spaces.

3. “You can’t keep blaming yourself. Just blame yourself once, and move on.”
When was the last time that you blamed yourself?

OK, I don’t REALLY blame my mom’s death on the fact that I came down to Charlotte, thus making me the last of her children to visit her in the hospital; ditto my father’s death, BTW.
I guess I’m not really into self-blame; not sure it serves a purpose.

4. “Here’s to alcohol, the cause of, and solution to, all life’s problems.”
Does alcohol play an important role in your life?

Not anymore. It did in my early twenties, but these days, I can go weeks or months without a drink.

5. “All right, let’s not panic. I’ll make the money by selling one of my livers. I can get by with one.”
Would you ever donate a kidney or another organ to someone?

Probably my wife, daughter, sisters, or niece.

6. “Bart, you’re saying butt-kisser like it’s a bad thing!”
Have you ever thought you were a butt-kisser?

Possibly in the past. But these days, in fact, there have been times when I suppose I should have been more politic.

7. “Everyone knows rock n’ roll attained perfection in 1974; It’s a scientific fact.”
What do you consider rock ‘n roll perfection?

I was always fond of 1969. Beatles, Led Zeppelin, the Band, Aretha, the wah-wah Temptations.

8.“Hey, he’s not happy at all! He lied to us through song! I HATE when people do that!”
How seriously do you take an artist’s lyrics?

Depends on the quality of the artist. Paul McCartney didn’t know an Eleanor Rigby. On the other hand, some singers are clearly writing autobiographical stuff. Doesn’t matter; only matters if it’s good.

9. “If something’s hard to do, then it’s not worth doing.”
What was the last thing that you did despite the fact that it was hard?

Bury my mother.

10. “The Internet? Is that thing still around?”
Can you imagine being in a time without the internet?

Yes. I still have my horse-drawn carriage in my backyard. Seriously, I was a librarian before we had access to the Internet, and it certainly has changed my job tremendously, some for the better, but not entirely. The biggest downside actually is the expectation by others that EVERYTHING is available on the Internet, but we librarians just haven’t found it yet.
***
“Watson has lots in common with a top-ranked human Jeopardy! player: It’s very smart, very fast, speaks in an uneven monotone, and has never known the touch of a woman.” – Ken Jennings.

Scott answers my questions

Jaquandor recognizes my honesty, if not my usefulness.

My ENDLESS thanks intro for ABC Wednesday.