October 2024 - Page 5 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

Arias in the Afternoon

geothermal infrastructure

At the end of September, my wife and I attended a fundraiser entitled Arias in the Afternoon. It celebrated the Underground Railroad Education Center, which has been researching and sharing, through conferences and public presentations, the story of the Underground Railroad in Albany and beyond for the past two decades.

A key element of the exploration has been the discovery of the former residence of Stephen and Harriet Myers, prominent leaders of the Underground Railroad in Albany during the 1850s, at 194 Livingston Avenue, which is currently the base of operations of UREC.

UREC “needs more space to expand its empowering interpretive programs and community engagement opportunities, and to develop new programs and ways to interact with the community far and wide.” Also, the Stephen and Harriet Myers Residence could be restored “to its period of historic relevance.”

Here’s a description of the forthcoming Interpretive Center. After attending the groundbreaking ceremony a few months ago, I discovered that the building’s construction is environmentally sound. “The Center will contain a geothermal infrastructure and be designed according to Living Building Challenge of Sustainability standards for green buildings, which focuses on a regenerative built environment, aligning with and meeting the zero-greenhouse gas emission standards set by New York State’s Gov. Hochul. The building will incorporate surrounding green spaces… deliberately designed to enhance health benefits in the neighborhood.”

Argus Hotel

The Arias event was at the Argus Hotel. I’ve only lived in Albany since 1979, so I hadn’t heard of The Argus Hotel. Where is it? 8 Thurlow Terrace, that one-block road from Western Avenue near the downtown SUNY Campus to just before Washington Park. I’ve SEEN that big old house, but I didn’t know it was a hotel.

As stated in the bulletin, Arias in the Afternoon’s “event champion ” was the honorable Patricia Fahy. Pat Fahy is my assemblyperson for the 109th district in the New York State Legislature. She’s currently running for the New York State Senate in my district. She has been a champion for the Interpretive Center.

The event ran from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. I arrived after church, around 12:30, so I missed Pat Fahy’s opening remarks and the first round of singing by Daniel Pascoe Aguilar, though I did listen to him later. There was also a pianist, Paul Cronin, who I did hear. If you would like to support the construction of the Interpretive Center, go to the bottom of this page.

After my wife, who arrived after a church rehearsal, and I left, we went to the Upper Madison Street Fair, one block from our house featuring music, food, and more. I even got a massage.

At both events, I saw several people I knew, some for the first time in a while. The day gave me that good Albany feel.

Not editing a book

time is not fungible

I’m not editing a book.

A few months ago, a friend asked me if I would edit a book written by the adult child of a famous deceased person. The parent is a name that at least some of you would instantly recognize.

I said yes. This was probably a mistake because I had not read the book before I agreed to edit it. The writer was also peculiar in that they were very concerned about the possibility that I or somebody else might exploit them based on their parent’s name. It was a weird interaction.

As I started editing the book, I had far less time to work on it than I anticipated. In the summer of 2023, my wife worked almost the entire summer; I think she took off perhaps a week or so. My daughter also worked several hours a week at a clothing store.

Different this time

In the summer of ’24, my wife took off for eight weeks, which was good and proper. But we had lots of projects to do in the house that needed to happen because of some insurance issue that is more in the weeds than I need to get into here. My daughter was working fewer hours than she hoped at the new store she was working at. Moreover, we went on vacation, a week at Chautauqua and a week in DC.

So, the time I thought I had available to work on this project did not exist. Still, it became very difficult for me because I was fussy enough to want to fulfill the obligations.

After talking to a couple of people, I contacted the person who asked me to edit the book, and they said OK, we don’t want you to go crazy. Then I had to talk to the author. I sent them an e-mail, which they obviously didn’t see. So I texted – one does not just call – and they wrote back: “Book seems like a curse. No one finished it. Crazy.” Did I mention I was not the first to take on the book? The notes from a previous editor were still in my version.

Reboot

But this episode got me thinking about the other things I’m doing in my life, the things that are working for me, what I really want to do, and what I don’t.

I want to work on genealogy, which I have not spent enough time on. My sister Leslie had talked to both our third cousin on our mother’s side and my father’s first cousin and did a lot of work when she was in Binghamton in July, filling in some holes in our genealogy. The problem is that I haven’t even had time to enter some of the records that I have or the 1000 cues that ancestry.com has provided me.

I want to sing in the church choir. Our choir will sing the Bach Magnificat on Friday, December 6th, at 6:00 PM at First Presbyterian Church in Albany. You should come.

My wife and I are going to see plays and movies.

So, other things have to go off the table. I’ll just have to, in the words of Nancy Reagan, just say no. It won’t be easy at times, but my sanity requires it.

Finnish kids recognize fake news

AI manipulation

On CBS Sunday Morning, which continues to be one of my favorite programs, there was a September 30 segment about how Finnish kids recognize fake news. “Being able to identify hoaxes, avoid scams, and debunk propaganda is a civic skill required in today’s information society. That’s why the curriculum of students in Finland includes media literacy lessons, aimed at safeguarding a precious resource: the truth.”

There’s a similar story on CNA. Finland’s war against fake news starts at a young age. “With an ever-growing number of people getting their news online, being able to work out what’s true – and what’s not – has never been more important. In a world of digital disinformation, one country is often held up as the benchmark for having a media-literate population. Finland has topped the Media Literacy Index for the seven years the ranking system has been in existence.”

In 2019, CNN reported on the topic. “Finland is winning the war on fake news. What it’s learned may be crucial to Western democracy.”

I will state the obvious here: we need this in the United States, and not just for children. As a citizen and a librarian, misinformation, and especially disinformation, distresses me.

I posted on Facebook a visual about the myth when people say, “Do your own research!” This post is credited to Linda Gamble Spadaro, a licensed medical mental health counselor in Florida. “You didn’t research anything. You read or watched a video, most likely with little or no objectivity. You came across something in your algorithm-manipulated feed, something that jived with your implicit biases and served your confirmation bias, and subconsciously applied your emotional filters and called it proof.”

My buddy J. Eric Smith wrote about this topic 14 years ago, and it’s still dead on.

Looking for nonsense

I pulled out my phone on October 2 to check my Facebook feed.

Rock Music World: “Ringo Starr turns 84 today!” No, he didn’t. He is 84, but his birthday is July 7. At least 78 people shared the post. Various feeds list the birthdays of actors and musicians, but they are often incorrect. You may think of this as inconsequential, but I guess I’m old-school enough to think that FACTS MATTER, especially easily verifiable ones. (Ssh: I’ve been known to use books.) A Google search would get you to Ringo’s website, but every other source in the search, such as Modern Drummer, confirms the real date.

Some guy from New Jersey is sharing something I’ve seen before: [SIC] “I’m no mathematician, but I’m not bad at math. Can someone please explain? AOC went into office broke and in five years she’s worth $29 million. on a $155K salary??? When does her investigation begin?” Never. Check out FactCheck, Politifact, USA Today, and other sources.

Then there was the photo showing djt in a lifejacket helping storm victims in floodwaters after Hurricane Helene. One Facebook user posted of the picture, “I think we should all repost it!!!!” Another person added, “‘He lives and cares for people, all people!” And “I don’t think Facebook wants this picture on Facebook. They have been deleting it.” The post received more than 150,000 shares in just 16 hours.” And it’s FALSE. “Odd-looking hands and fingers are one sign of AI manipulation in photos.”

Some folks need to make a minimum of effort to verify before they share.

The worst

Unfortunately, the biggest purveyor of falsehood, particularly in light of the Hurricane Helene disaster, is the 45th president. He lies about how money has been funneled from potential hurricane victims to immigrants. Not only does he harm the people who could use the help, but he also foments despair and immigrant phobia.

Extracted from Heather Cox Richardson, “Letters From an American,” 9/27/2024:

“Republican governor of Virginia Glenn Youngkin told reporters that he was ‘incredibly appreciative of the rapid response and cooperation from the federal team at FEMA.’ Asheville, North Carolina, mayor Esther Manheimer told CNBC, ‘We have support from outside organizations, other fire departments sending us resources, the federal government as well. So it’s all-hands-on-deck, and it is a well-coordinated effort, but it is so enormous….’”

And the lies persist.

But my favorite bit of nonsense, because it’s so obvious, was in my email, with an attachment I did not open. “Good morning. When there are ambiguous conditions around a contract, Agreement-Number… can be used in the event that it is difficult to determine whether it was created, expired without being resolved, or is no longer valid as a result of the contract having expired. so long”

National Museum of African American History and Culture

A Fool’s Errand

On Tuesday, August 5, we took the DC Metro from Alexandria, VA, to the primary goal of the trip, the National Museum of African American History and Culture. I had supported the museum financially since before it opened, but neither my wife nor I had been there. Conversely, our daughter had been there twice before. We ordered tickets online about a month earlier. They were free but scheduled for a specific time of entry.

I won’t describe the first display now because it requires a longer discussion. After I read a book I bought about it, maybe I’ll have a better handle on it.

I spent a lot of time looking at the sports section. It showed how complex the arena was. For instance, world heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson fought former champ James F. Jeffries, the “Great White Hope,” in 1910 in “The Fight Of The Century.” After Johnson won, several dozen black people in various communities were killed because white people were rioting in America.

Conversely, Joe Louis needed to give champ James Braddock ten percent of his earnings for a decade to fight Braddock for the championship in 1937, a fight which Louis won.

Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience. was very powerful. To no surprise, I was intrigued by Musical Crossroads.

How did this get built?

Other aspects of that museum were interesting, including the story of its very existence.

Not coincidentally, just before our trip to DC, a friend gave us a copy of A Fool’s Errand: Building the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the Age of Bush, Obama, and Trump by Lonnie Bunch, the founding director of the facility and now the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian. After visiting the place, she appreciated the detailed narrative in the book more.

I saw Lonnie Bunch interviewed by Gayle King at the Apollo Theater in NYC in 2019.

Day two

The daughter returned to Albany on Wednesday, but my wife returned to the museum and started literally at the bottom. It is a powerful and occasionally overwhelming history of African Americans in the United States. See how many people were enslaved by European countries.

The year 1808 was significant. ” “Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves” took effect in 1808. However, a domestic or ‘coastwise’ trade in slaves persisted between ports within the United States, as demonstrated by slave manifests and court records.” Breaking up families was even more likely.

We ate at the museum both days. Much of the food is quite good, though a bit pricey. To avoid the lines, get there as close as possible to the 11:30 dining opening.

The one minor disappointment was that the signs suggested a centennial celebration of James Baldwin, though the author was well-represented in this and other Smithsonian facilities.

The neighborhood and other questions

webslinger

Mary, who I know from two different churches, asks, in response to Ask Roger Anything:

What do you like about the neighborhood where you live? What do you not like? Ever think about living elsewhere?

One very snowy winter’s evening, probably in 1997, the power was out in parts of the city. I visited my then-ex-girlfriend, now my wife, on that stretch of row houses on Manning Blvd., about six blocks from where we live now. We found a nice restaurant to eat at—they had power!

When we bought this house in the Pine Hills section of the city, I recalled how much I liked the last block of Madison Avenue, filled with restaurants. Some have gone (Bruegger’s bagels), but others have replaced them (Kismet, the Mediterranean place).

I like that my bank, a branch of the Albany Public Library, and a Price Chopper grocery store are all within walking distance. At the junction of Madison, Allen, and Western, one can catch many buses going uptown and downtown. I can get to church, the uptown or downtown SUNY campus, the bus and train stations, two hospitals, the Capital Rep theater, and several other places with one bus, and many more with two buses.

When we moved into this house, we figured my daughter would go to the elementary school that was very close by, but they tore down the 99-year-old School 16 and built the Pine Hills Elementary School in its place. My daughter had a very, very short commute. She would get up 20 minutes before school started and still get to school on time.

However

But the bad thing about the neighborhood is that it’s changed, which neighborhoods do. The big two changes are the closures of the College of Saint Rose, where we attended concerts, and the Madison Avenue CVS. I hope the Madison Theatre really reopens.

When we first moved in, I knew my neighbors better. A few doors down were the Ellenbogans; I particularly liked Mrs. Ellenbogen, but they died tragically.

As you know, Harry and his family lived right next door, and I liked them. Then Harry died, and the family moved away. Now, that house is owned by an absentee landlord who is quite terrible. He picked some really bad tenants early on, some of whom I’ve written about. But he also pumped poop from his basement down our common walkway, which ended up on our sidewalk.

My wife is bugged by the fact that he hit her car while it was parked. He denies it, of course, even though there are a couple of witnesses. He’s not a pleasant person. I do not like him; the good thing is that I think he’s slightly afraid of me.

If we were to move somewhere else, it would almost have to be near the Delaware, Madison, or Central Avenue bus routes. My mother-in-law is living at the adult residence Beverwyck; I hate the idea of living there. The bus that goes near there runs extremely infrequently and stops a mile away. I lived off of Lark Street a lot when I first lived in Albany, at five different places, and I liked it. It’s not that far from church or downtown.

Fruit pie

Favorite desserts?

I like carrot cake and strawberry shortcake, though I haven’t had them in a while. My general go-to is fruit pie—apple, cherry, or blueberry—with vanilla ice cream.

Absolute top favorite superhero?

From fairly early in college, when I first started reading comic books again, it was Spider-Man. I related to Peter Parker or whatever iteration of Spider-Man was behind the mask. I managed to see all of the Spider-Man movies I had not seen before during the pandemic. I’ve seen the animated Spider-verse movies. Spider-Man is probably the only Marvel movie line I’ve managed to keep watching after The Avengers Endgame was over.

2025?

Your assessment of candidates for Albany’s next mayor?

I haven’t given great thought to the campaign, being more focused on the 2024 presidential elections, Congress, et al. There’s no info yet on Ballotopedia for the Albany mayoral contest.

In June 2025, there will be the Democratic primary for mayor. For those who don’t know, Albany has been a Democratic city for over a century. It hasn’t had a Republican mayor since 1921. I don’t think this is good, but there it is.

So, the primary will, in all likelihood, determine who will be the mayor in November 2025. The incumbent, Kathy Sheehan, is not running for a fourth four-year term.

Albany’s chief city Auditor, Dorcey Applyrs. was the first candidate to announce.

Dan Cerruti is a political newcomer who one of our mutual friends is very fond of.

Carolyn McLaughlin, a county legislator and former city council member, recently announced.

I’m vaguely surprised that I haven’t seen Corey Ellis, Albany City Common Council President, hasn’t announced. He’s raised a good amount of money already. Does he not want to challenge Applyrs and/or McLaughlin?

Andrew Joyce, who failed in his attempt to take the Assembly seat, or others might enter the race.

I have no strong political feelings yet about most of them. However, I didn’t warm up to one of them personally. So ask me again in March of 2025, and I’ll give you a better answer than this, especially after the lawn signs go up.