January 2023 - Page 2 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

Lydster: Learning from my daughter

television

There are always things I’m learning from my daughter.

She has been following online Maxwell Frost, the newly-elected member of Congress from Florida. I knew who he was because I had been getting contribution requests from his campaign.

He was supposed to be sworn in on January 3. So he wrote about that the day before. But as the drama over selecting a Speaker of the House of Representatives dragged on, no one could be sworn in. So Frost reposted that January 2 post, followed by the word “SIKE!”

Quickly, he was scolded by some folks who thought a Member of Congress should know how to spell Psych! But, as my daughter noted, people of her generation have been spelling it as SIKE forever.

Did I mention that Frost is the first Gen Z Congressperson? “At 25, [he] will be the youngest member of Congress. He’s also in debt after maxing out credit cards to win Florida’s 10th Congressional District seat.”

Influencer

My daughter told me that Andrew Tate was arrested. I said, “Who’s that?” “He’s a former kickboxer and TikTok influencer.” I muttered, “I don’t care about some social media influencer.”

But a couple of days later, after I read about him on Reuters and other mainstream sources, I knew WAY more about him than I wanted. He is a brutal misogynist. The Romanian anti-organized crime agency DIICOT alleges he created with his brother and others “an organized crime group in early 2021 ‘with the purpose of recruiting, housing, and exploiting women by forcing them to create pornographic content meant to be seen on specialized websites for a cost.'”

His feud with Greta Thunberg revealed that he was in Romania when a box from Jerry’s Pizza, a Romanian chain, was in his video response to her, which facilitated his arrest.

So my daughter, once again, was ahead of my curve.

Dick Wolf

During her winter break, my daughter watched a bit of television. Two shows were in the Dick Wolf franchise, Chicago Fire and FBI International. She seems to like to watch and dissect them.

In the one episode I watched, Chicago Fire had characters lying for no good reason. For instance, one firefighter tells a pregnant woman married to another firefighter that she’s “fine” seconds before she is rushed to the hospital. In another scene, the woman in a couple avoids telling her Significant Other she’s buying a door with another firefighter, which becomes obvious two scenes later.

The FBI scene involves the officers coming up to a suspect and saying, from ten feet away, “FBI.” The suspect runs away and eludes capture. Now I know what “hate-watching” is because my daughter does it.

I love learning how my daughter’s mind works.

Lucinda Williams is turning 70

Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You

On January 26, musician Lucinda Williams will turn 70. The Associated Press called her “arguably one of the music world’s most articulate and introspective performers.”

I first heard her perform in the mid-1990s in Washington Park in Albany, NY. The next time I saw her was at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center as part of the 1998 Newport Folk Festival. She had played at least twice in my area in the past decade, but I missed her programs.

She put out one of my Top Ten albums of the 1990s, Car Wheel On A Gravel Road. I’ve subsequently purchased about a dozen of her CDs, including some of the music she put out during the pandemic, covers of the Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, and Christmas songs, among others.

Lucinda Williams experienced a health scare, a stroke, on November 17th, 2020. “Doctors discovered a blood clot in the right side of Lucinda’s brain, which affected the function of the left side of her body. They treated her for the blood clot, and she was transferred to a rehabilitation facility where she spent nearly five weeks, until December 21st, when she was discharged.

“Luckily, Lucinda suffered no aphasia, meaning the stroke did not affect her speech or ability to sing. It has affected her ability to play guitar, and walking is still a little difficult for her.”

But she was back on the stage by mid-2021. She opened for Jason Isbell in 2021 and Bonnie Raitt in 2022.

In the book

Now she’s about to put out a memoir. “The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter has a deal with Crown for ‘Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You,’ scheduled for April 25. Williams… will look back to her wandering childhood, when she lived in 12 different places by age 18, and trace her rise in the music business…

“’For decades now, I’ve shared my innermost thoughts and experiences via my songs,’ Williams said in a statement… ‘After years spent toying with the idea, I’ve decided to finally tell my stories more fully. But this won’t be a sugar-coated memoir; I want people to really see the truth of my life.’” I’ll probably buy it.

I listened to all of her music I had to put together my favorite or her best songs. Nah, Here’s the NPR list, which contains the title song and Joy from that album. The list from The Boot has those and a couple of songs from World Without End that I was considering. Holler County has a different song list.

Here are just a few covers of her songs. There are a lot of them.

Changed The Locks – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Passionate Kisses – Mary Chapin Carpenter

Joy – Betty Lavette

Something I recently heard again:

You’re Still Standing There – Steve Earle with Lucinda Williams

Buying the next World Series?

Bad for baseball?

Another question from Kelly:

As I write this, the owner of the New York Mets has spent WILDLY in an attempt to pretty much buy [the] next World Series. Just ONE contract he handed out this year is larger than the entire payroll of the Pittsburgh Pirates–cumulatively, since 2010. Is this bad for baseball? How does baseball fix this, if it even wants to?

First, I know that you know you can’t guarantee a World Series. You can secure the best players based on previous performance, but the players could get injured. Indeed, the Mets were getting balky about Carlos Correa’s ankle, the same issue that kept the San Francisco Giants from signing him, and as you know, he ended up back in Minnesota.

Players also have off-years. Rookies on other teams in their division could be outstanding.

Still, your broader point is well-taken. The Pirates, since 2010, had a few decent years (2013-2015) but lost 101 and 100 games the past two seasons. This is a terrible outcome for a team who played in the first World Series in 1903 and existed for two decades before that.

Is this bad for baseball? I think so. No matter how much Major League Baseball rejiggers (dilutes) the playoffs, those teams with nothing to play for by Labor Day depress the whole MLB product.

One fix would be shared revenue of television revenues. This won’t happen because those large-market teams, such as the Mets, are advantaged by the imbalance.

An easier fix, at least logistically, would be a hard salary cap. That means a team can’t just pay a “luxury tax” and spend to their heart’s content. In the NFL, the salary cap is tied to league revenues; if the league does well, everyone benefits.

Minor leagues

MLB had ticked me off recently when they gutted their minor league affiliations. This Mother Jones article at the end of 2020 describes it well. The minor leagues are inefficient. “There were more effective ways to, say, add velocity to a teenager’s fastball or improve a hitter’s launch angle than playing games—this kind of work could be done at closed-door facilities and any time of year.”

But I’d argue it’s the thing that makes people develop an affinity for the major league team that farm system teams develop. I grew up watching the Triplets in the Triple Cities of upstate New York in the 1960s. Later, Al Downing played for the New York Yankees.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Albany-Colonie Yankees had players such as Andy Pettite, Jorge Posada, and future Hall of Famers Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.

From MJ:

“It should go without saying that one of the teams driving this movement—though by no means the only one—was the Houston Astros:

[T]he Houston Astros, a model of modern player development, bucked that trend a few years ago. After the 2017 season, they reduced their affiliate count from nine to seven clubs. The Astros believed they could become a more efficient producer of talent with fewer farm clubs.

One of those teams that lost its affiliation with the Astros was the Tri-City Valley Cats, who play in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro. The Astros won the 2017 World Series with five former Valley Cats, which I wrote about here; we won’t get into the subsequent signal-stealing scandal.

Compare and contrast

It occurred to me that the drafts of college football players to the NFL and college basketball players to the NBA can create players with instant impact on a team at the pro level. College baseball, not really.

That player coming up from the minors to play in The Show is exciting for fans who saw them when. I think MLB should spend MORE money on Minor League Baseball, not less. But I don’t see MLB going in this direction.

One last question from Kelly:

And finally, something mundane: Do you have bird feeders? If so, how many and what kinds?

Sort of. My daughter made one from a plastic, half-gallon milk carton. She made the openings and painted the rest. It was hanging in a tree for a time, but it came down. We need to reconnect it and put the feed in again.

How Can I Participate in Library Advocacy Day?

Share YOUR story!

Library Advocacy Day in New York State is February 28th, 2023.

The New York Library Association (NYLA) has a game plan for participating.

You can:

Attend an In-person OR Virtual Legislative Office Visit with your fellow #LibraryAdvocates.
Be a Social Media Advocate. Learn more about how to get involved in social media advocacy in the “Leverage Your Network” Section.
Send a Letter/Email to your Elected Officials. Not social media savvy? No worries. NYLA has both letter and email templates for you to customize and send to your elected officials.
Share Your Story. Tell everyone about how #nylibraries have been important to your communities on social media! Use the hashtags #LAD23, #LibraryAdvocate, and #nylibraries to tell your story. NYLA will retweet/reshare your post throughout the day!
Submit a Video for NYLA’s “I Am A #LibraryAdvocate” Campaign. NYLA is asking #LibraryAdvocates to share via video why #nylibraries are important to you! “Whether you are a seasoned library advocate or this is your first Library Advocacy Day – NYLA wants to hear from you. These videos will be shared via NYLA’s social media channel.”

Locally, the Friends and Foundation of the Albany Public Library (FFAPL) is looking for people to table in February on Tuesdays at Washington Ave or another day at another branch based on your availability.

And if you’re not from New York State, I’m sure there are similar activities in your area.

Libraries under attack

Here are some articles that NYLA has recently posted.

Polarizing and Isolating Americans is Good Business for Media Monopolies
The Real News Network

America’s Public Libraries Reflect the Systematic Failures and Social Inequality of Our Country
Electric Lit

School Librarians Are in the Crosshairs of Right-Wing Book Banners and Censors
Truthout

What Book Bans Are Doing to School Library Purchases
Education Week

Sunday Stealing: High school, music

an eclectic mix

The Sunday Stealing for this week is nominally about high school. There are a lot more questions about music and recreation, thank goodness.

To that end, I have a great fondness for this song, High School by MC5.

1. You are back in high school… what are you doing after school lately?

Usually, walking my friends home, which involves a circuitous route before I get home. It usually was the friends I walked home with in junior high.

2. Do you do homework early or late? Do you really study?

I did the homework I liked (geometry, trigonometry, history) early. The rest was at the last moment.

3a. Do you go to the games? Football? Basketball.. what is your favorite to attend?

I went to an occasional football game because, because as president of the student government, I felt a vague obligation to go. But the field was across town, so it was more of a pain to get there. Basketball was at my school, and I knew a more significant percentage of the players, including the center, David, who I went to kindergarten with.

b. Do you go to dances? Prom? (what’d you wear?)

I went to a few dances. And I attended two proms, I believe.

prom

That’s me, left rear.

4. Lunch! What are we having today? What is your favorite lunch?

There is a yearbook picture of me on the General Organization (student government) page drinking one of those half-pint containers of chocolate milk with a straw. Beyond that, I have zero recollection of the cafeteria food.

Impossible to answer

5. What kind of music do you like the best?

I have over 2500 compact discs. It is an eclectic mix.

6. Does the radio play in your car, and if so, what station or kind of music plays? Does music play in your home often?

Occasionally there’s music in the car, often dictated by my daughter, who plays music from her phone.

Music plays in my house often. When I am writing – like at this very moment, listening to Volume 3 of The Buddah Box, or I’m cleaning the house, or doing almost everything except eating, watching television, or sleeping, there’s music on.

7. What do you think of the music played in restaurants or stores? Do you find it relaxing or annoying?

It depends on the store. Restaurant music usually puts me to sleep.

It IS my life

8. What part has music played in your life? What kind of music was played at your wedding or at parties you have been to?

I have written about 6500 blog posts. Approximately one-third of them have mentioned music. I sang I Love You Truly at more than one wedding when I was still a boy soprano. Music from Mrs. Joseph started with fourth grade. My failed piano lessons. The MAZET singers at church. The Green Family Singers. Sitting in the stairwell singing with Candid Yam. Church choir as an adult.

I’ve been to lots of concerts, especially before I got married.

Back in 2007, I wrote a post about the rules of playing music. This is to say that if you have north of 2500 CDs, you ought to play most of them at least annually. Now 2500/365 is 6.82, and I don’t always play seven albums a day. But absent meetings and other distractions, I come close on many days.

What kind of music at parties? Again, eclectic.

Green Acres: not the place to be

9. Is the farm for you? How about a ranch, a village or a city? Which is your choice and why?

I’m a city kid. Small cities are fine. I like to walk or bus to the store and to the movies.

10. A short auto trip for the weekend with friends or a long vacation? Where would you go?

I’ve taken weeklong vacations and weekend trips. My wife wants to go to all of the 252 towns in Vermont; they established a new town recently.

11. The quiet life at home with a cuppa and TV or a good book or a night out with friends? Which sounds good today?

I hardly go out much at night. My DVR is about 47% full, so I suppose I should watch or delete some programs.

12. You have a choice of dinner and a movie or a game of cards and snacks at the neighbors’. Where are you going tonight?

I have a hearts game almost every year. But if COVID would ever go away – high transmission in Albany County AGAIN this week – I’d opt for a movie OR dinner, but probably not both in the same evening.

Friendly neighborhood…

13. Is there a hero or character on TV, in a book or a movie .. or even in all three that you especially like? What do you find attractive about them?

I always related to Spider-Man. Or, more likely, Peter Parker, who felt misunderstood. I edited an issue of a magazine about Spider-Man.

14. Was there a book that was better in movie form? How about a movie you thought didn’t live up to the book?

Admitting I never got through the book, The Bridges of Madison County was a better movie. Catch-22 was the better book; there are lots more of those examples.

15. When you choose a book, program, or movie, which subject is it most likely to be: science fiction, mystery, romance, comedy, documentary, etc.? What draws you to a particular book or movie?

Books/movies: history, politics. Film: Documentary. A good review helps in any case because there are lots of books, many movies, and more new television programming each year than anyone could ever watch.