May 2011 - Page 5 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

The New Dishwasher

I was REALLY BAD at health, and the cleanliness of the fingernails was largely what we were graded on.

Our previous dishwasher, which was only about eight years old, stopped working last month for no particular reason. So my wife has ordered a new machine. Meanwhile, the dishwasher, primarily, is me.

Initially, this bugged me somewhat. It was just one more thing in an already busy day. But as I thought about it, it really wasn’t taking more time than the machine. After all, we’d load the washer and then almost all of the items on the lower level would get clean, but only about half of the things on the top, so someone -usually me – had to rewash them anyway.

Besides, I rather like washing dishes. Maybe it’s the Pisces in me that loves the warm water.

And as I was cleaning them this past weekend, I flashed back to my childhood, when washing the dishes was my primary household task besides cleaning my room. I was, even then, very good at it. And it had other values.

Back in fourth grade, our teacher used to check our fingernails to see if they were clean; even then, I thought this was bizarre. Mine usually were untidy from playing in the dirt. And she would send reports home along with our grades; I was REALLY BAD at health, and the cleanliness of the fingernails was largely what we were graded on. BUT if I had the chance to wash the breakfast dishes, then my fingernails would be satisfactory.

Come check my nails; they are REALLY clean these days.

Q is for Queens

“Five monarchies in Europe have eliminated male preference: Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark.”

The last couple of times for Q, I did Queen, the rock group, and Queens, the NYC county. Obviously, I’m stuck in a rut, because I’m doing queens again, this time referring to the monarchy.

Of course, there have been woman rulers for a long time, whether dubbed queen, czarina, or other titles.

I suppose I should differentiate between someone named as queen, wife (sometimes consort) of the king, and someone who serves as monarch. For instance, in Jordan, when American-born Lisa Halaby married King Hussein, she became Queen Noor when she converted to Islam. But when Hussein died in 1999, and his son by a previous marriage became King Abdullah II, Abdullah’s wife became Queen Rania, with Noor becoming queen dowager.

As far as I can tell – and please correct me if I’m wrong – there are only three current queen monarchs: Queen Margrethe II of Denmark (pictured above), Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (pictured to the right), and the one who just turned 85.

The rules of male primogeniture had been in place for many years in most countries, which meant that the only way a female could become a monarch queen is if her father had no sons whatsoever. This is, of course, the case for the world’s best-known current female monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, whose father George VI had two daughters, she and Margaret, and no sons.

The rules of primogeniture, though are changing. “Five monarchies in Europe have eliminated male preference: Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark.” However, the Norwegian change is not retroactive and therefore does not affect the current succession where a younger male is ranked over an older female.

Spain and the United Kingdom are also considering the change; however, for the latter, this would require changes in the law in not only the UK, but the 15 other Commonwealth realm countries of Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.

ABC Wednesday – Round 8

5000 Questions, Part 2

World Almanac. And a porta-potty.

26. Who has done something today to show they care about you?

Co-workers, folks on the bus, family.

27. Do you have a lot to learn?

Oh yeah. And then there’s the relearning of stuff I should have known.

28. If you could learn how to do three things just by wishing and not by working what would they be?

A How to speak many languages

B How to fly a plane

C How to play the piano

29. Which do you remember the longest: what other people say, what other people do or how other people make you feel?

Feel.

30. What are the key ingredients to having a good relationship?

Honesty, intentionality, communications, sensitivity.

31. What 3 things do you want to do before you die?

A Meet a US President

B Go to all 50 of the United States – 20 to go

C Go to a World Series game or the Super Bowl

32. What three things would you want to die to avoid doing?

Causing others extreme pain – stuff like that.

33. Is there a cause you believe in more than any other cause?

Justice.

34. What does each decade make you think of:

The 19…

20s: Illegal booze, Teapot Dome

30s: Depression, New Deal, the rise of Hitler

40s: WWII, A-bombs, desegregation of US military

50s: Montgomery bus boycott, Korean war, Brown v. Board of Education, red scare, Sputnik

60s: Beatles, Motown, Aretha, Beach Boys, JFK & MLK & RFK assassinations, Twilight Zone, some great Supreme Court rulings such as Loving v. Virginia

70s: College, bicentennial, punk rock

80s: Hair bands, Reagan, “Born in the USA”, “Thriller”

90s: Library school, the trips to Detroit, Cleveland, DC, Barbados, JEOPARDY!

2000s: Homeownership, the daughter

2010s (so far): Blogging

35. Which decade do you feel the most special connection to and why?

The 1960s…that time period, especially 1968, really began to define me as a person.

36. What is your favorite oldie/classic rock song?
Impossible question. Pick one at random from what I recently listened to: Since You’ve Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby) by Aretha

37. What country do you live in and who is the leader of that country?

US, Obama

If you could say any sentence to the current leader of your country what would it be?

Overpromising and underdelivering is a tough strategy to accept.

38. What’s your favorite TV channel to watch in the middle of the night?

Though I’d probably just watch DVRed stuff, sometimes I wind up watching various permutations of Law & Order or ESPN Sportcenter, neither of which do I watch otherwise.

39. What Disney villain are you the most like and why?

Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. A bit of ego.

40. Have you ever been a girl scout/boy scout?

I was in Cub Scouts, but it didn’t hold my interest. And I wasn’t very good at it.

41. If you were traveling to another continent would you rather fly or take a boat?

I’d rather travel by boat, depending on available time.

42. Why is the sky blue during the day and black at night?

Sunlight.

43. What does your name mean?

It’s a color. Oh, the OTHER name – Spear bearer.

44. Would you rather explore the deeps of the ocean or outer space?

Outer space.

45. Word association

What is the first word that comes to mind when you see the word:

Air: Breathe

Meat: Puppets

Different: Strokes

Pink: Floyd

Deserve: Star

White: Stripes

Elvis: Costello

Magic: Johnson

Heart: Damn Yankees

Clash: Strummer

Pulp: Trees

46. If you could meet any person in the world who is dead who would you want it to be?

This week, Jackie Robinson.

47. What if you could meet anyone who is alive?

US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

48. Is there a movie that you love so much you could watch it every day?

I doubt there is such a movie.

49. You are going to be stuck alone in an elevator for a week. What do you bring to do?

World Almanac. And a porta-potty.

50. Have you ever saved someone’s life or had your life saved?

Yes, and possibly.

The new Mother’s Day reality

The running joke when I’d call or send a card is that I’d say or write that it was from her favorite son.

Someone sent me this picture some months ago. I thought it was rather funny. Specifically, it reminded me of the Paul Simon song Mother and Child Reunion, which is based on a chicken and egg dish that Simon had at a Chinese restaurant.

Then my mom died, and it’s my first Mother’s Day without her. The visual is still funny but in a more melancholy way. Melancholy humor.

I’ve discovered that Mother’s Day ads REALLY irritate me lately, more than Father’s Day ads did 10 years ago. Maybe it was because it was longer between when my father died until the next holiday (August to June) than it is for my mom (February to May). But probably it’s because I get more e-mail solicitations than I did a decade ago, and they are more difficult to ignore.

The picture above is of my mother with her favorite son many years ago in front of 5 Gaines Street, Binghamton, NY USA; the house and the trim, BTW, were green. The running joke when I’d call or send a card is that I’d say or write that it was from her favorite son. She was generally polite enough not to mention that I was her ONLY son.

Last Sunday, there was a Mass for Mom at the Mission San Diego Basilica de Alcala in San Diego. As my sister Leslie reported, it was “beautiful. It was the regular Noon Mass, but it was announced at the beginning that this Mass was for Trudy Green, mother of Leslie Green, who is a member of the Mission Choir.” I will be getting a copy of the event. “It was a packed house on a beautiful day.”

The bottom picture is of my daughter with her favorite mother. Carol is, among other things, a good mom.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you mothers, and all of you who have or had mothers.

Robert Johnson QUESTION

Eric Clapton, formerly of the aforementioned Cream, recorded a whole 2004 album of Robert Johnson songs.

I recently noticed that tomorrow would have been the 100th birthday of Robert Johnson. Don’t think you know him? I suspect that, if you listen to music, you probably do. He’s the guy who over a reasonably short period wrote and recorded a number of songs that became staples of rock and blues artists.

Probably the first Johnson song I heard was Crossroads by Cream a song a/k/a Crossroads Blues.

There’s also The Rolling Stones’ Love in Vain and Travelling Riverside Blues by Led Zeppelin. One standard is Sweet Home Chicago, here performed by Robert Lockwood Jr. Here’s a list of Johnson songs. My favorite may be Walkin’ Blues by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band; unfortunately, I can’t find a direct link, though if you follow this link, you can join some website for free for a week, which will let you hear it.

Eric Clapton, formerly of the aforementioned Cream, recorded a whole 2004 album of Robert Johnson songs called Me and Mr. Johnson. A version of a song from that album, They’re Red Hot.

This week’s cover story edition on Coverville features the songs of Robert Johnson, including a couple I’ve mentioned.

What are your favorite Robert Johnson recordings or covers?