Author: Roger

I'm a librarian. I hear music, even when it's not being played. I used to work at a comic book store, and it still informs my life. I won once on JEOPARDY! - ditto.

Sunday Stealing: 15 Questions

iptical olasion

This iteration of Sunday Stealing was purloined from a site called 200 Questions, but there are only 15 questions. If they steal another 15 questions, I don’t know WHAT I’ll call that post.

1. What shows are you into?

CBS Sunday Morning, 60 Minutes, Abbott Elementary, JEOPARDY! I record a lot of stuff but don’t get around to watching it. So when people say, “You should watch…” I nod knowingly. But I know I’m not going to add it to the queue.

2. What’s your claim to fame?

I suppose #1 is being on JEOPARDY! in 1998. Also, as my friend ADD noted recently,  “August 28th marked the anniversary of the opening of the legendary FantaCo Enterprises, a wondrous and much-missed comic book store in Albany, NY,” where I worked from 1980 to 1988. This decade, people STILL recognize me. Somehow, I’ve become the keeper of the FantaCo flame.

3. How often do you play sports?

Not all. I used to play racquetball regularly from 1983 to 2010, when the local Y closed.

4. Are you early or late?

I used to be late, but you can’t be late when you take buses. So unless I’m with someone who is late, I’m slightly early.

5. What quirks do you have?

See this blog, 2005-2024. I like to say certain words and phrases incorrectly, such as iptical olasion instead of optical illusion. Sometimes I can break into speaking like an old black minister.  The music I play has a particular order, tied to artists’ birthdays, holidays, award shows and the like.

People

6. How often do you people watch?

Constantly. On Friday, I went to the Capital District Transportation Authority office to get a new bus pass. The guy in line in front of me wanted a discounted card because he has Medicaid. He went into copious detail about how he had been in Denver and Reno, but he never got a license when he was there because he didn’t live there long enough. While he dug through his belongings, the woman helped me, but the card took about five minutes to print. So she helped the guy while finding some assistance for the people behind me who needed bus route info. Then she came out and gave me my card, my ID, and the $3 of change I was due; she was a very well-organized worker!

7. What’s your favorite drink?

A mix of cranberry and orange juice.

8. What do you hope never changes?

I have no expectations of things never changing.

9. What’s your dream car?

A self-driving vehicle powered by solar panels and stored battery energy.

10.  Where would you rather be from?

I was where I was supposed to be.

11. What songs have you completely memorized?

Lots, but The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel immediately came to mind. But not that lame verse: “After changes upon changes, We are more or less the same.”

12. What would you rate 10/10

Massage

13. What job would you be terrible at?

Repairman

14. What skill would you like to master?

Time management

15. What movie title best describes your life?

Defending Your Life

1974 country and AC: LOTS of #1 hits

lots of pop/AC crossover

Just as in the primary Billboard singles charts, the sheer number of 1974 country and adult contemporary #1 hits is astounding.  There were 40 #1 country hits. I like doing these chart posts, but not THAT much.

So I will only list the ones that charted for two or more weeks. I’ve noted I Can Help recently and wrote about it in 2015.

Skipping the one-week #1 country songs means I miss several well-known songs. Dolly Parton has four songs in the category, including Jolene and I Will Always Love You.

A Very Special Love Song – Charlie Rich, three weeks at #1; #1 for two weeks AC, #11 pop

The rest of the list was #1 for two weeks:

I Love – Tom T. Hall, #2 AC, #12 pop

Another Lonely Song – Tammy Wynette

There Won’t Be Anymore – Charlie Rich; #15 AC, #18 pop

He Thinks I Still Care –  Anne Murray; I’m surprised it didn’t cross over because I heard it a lot in the day

Rub It In – Billy “Crash” Craddock; #15 AC, #16 pop

Please Don’t Tell Me How The Story Ends – Ronnie Milsap; #95 pop

I See The Want To In Your Eyes – Conway Twitty

Adult contemporary

There were 34 AC #1 hits in 1974. Once again, I’m ignoring the ones that were #1 for a single week. I already listed A Very Special Love Song today. 

Annie’s Song and Sunshine On My Shoulders by John Denver; I Honestly Love You by Olivia Newton-John; The Way We Were by Barbra Streisand;  Love’s Theme by Love Unlimited Orchestra; TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia) by MFSB featuring The Three Degrees; Sundown by Gordon Lightfoot;  Feel Like Makin’ Love – Roberta Flack;  Laughter In The Rain by- Neil Sedaka; and Mandy – Barry Manilow were listed last month.

Last Time I Saw Him – Diana Ross, three weeks at #1; #14 pop, #15 RB 

The rest of the list was #1 for two weeks:

Keep On Singing – Helen Reddy; #15 pop

You Won’t See Me – Anne Murray; #8 pop

Back Home Again – John Denver, #5 pop, #1 CW for one week

EOS 2024 health report

From head to… knee

Here’s the EOS 2024 health report. EOS means end of summer, so no matter whether you think autumn begins on September 1st or September 22nd, you’ll agree we are getting to a change of seasons.

ITEM: I had cataract surgery on August 27th (left eye) and September 4th (right eye). It was a lengthy process. I had to go to the surgeon’s office and have several tests done about a month earlier. Then I had to get clearance from my primary care physician to  note that I’m healthy enough to have the surgery. 

The surgery itself which is actually relatively quick and efficient, probably no more than a couple hours per each eye. After each event, there’s a followup with the surgeon the following day.

I’ll still need reading glasses,albeit a different prescription, but I won’t have as many shadowy things. It’s interesting that there were two options, one of  which would have fixed my nearsightedness. Both would have required me to have glasses still. One of them was covered by my insurance in its entirety, and one would have cost $3500 per eye. Frankly, the difference didn’t seem to be worth seven grand.

The fact that we had laid out money for our daughter’s wisdom teeth removal and our cat’s medical tests shortly before he died might have colored my decision.

Drops

it was the worst part about the experience is applying the eye drops, two or three different products thrice a day for four weeks for each eye. My wife has some dry eye issues so she’s become expert at eye drops. I wasn’t so good at it, but I got better at it. I’m not expert, and it occasionally stings a little.

The eye process actually began back in January when I saw my ophthalmologist. They suggested that I needed to get a couple series of tests.  Because insurance is what it is, the simpler tests she could do and then bill it to my vision insurance. The more complicated ones she had to do six months later, in July, so she could bill it to my medical insurance. Everything is about insurance

What?

ITEM: I had a hearing test in the late spring. They determined that my hearing is actually quite decent. When they would test me for words, I could repeat them back clearly. The problem I am having is at the upper range of pitch, I might not hear certain things as well. That said, I can usually discern when my wife’s cellphone makes that buzzing sound when a new call comes in and we’re both 10 feet away. 

Regardless, I am considered a “good candidate” for a hearing aid. I’ve been reading a lot of literature about the ties between hearing loss and cognitive decline. I probably will get a hearing aid early next year

ITEM: I was having one of those First World Problems where I can’t use my electric toothbrush because it’s not working anymore. “My Sonicare won’t recharge, now I gotta brush my teeth like a neanderathal.” It’s true that I don’t brush as long as I should with a manual device. The electric toothbrush goes on for two minutes and I’m triggered to do that twice a day. It was worth buying a new toothbrush for another fifty bucks. 

I know, sad.

Pain in the… 

ITEM: My knees, as I’ve indicated before, are both bone on bone. My ortho doctor suggested back in June that I ought to do physical therapy for six weeks and see how that goes. If I decide to have knee surgery, the PT will make the recovery from a possible surgery much better.

I must admit that the physical therapy – heck, even setting up the PT – fell right off the table because of a bunch of other things, including vacations, the eye surgery, and other things mentioned here.,

So I postponed the follow up exam, but this fall I need to do PT on my knees in anticipation of having knee surgery, probably my left knee first since it is the one that hurts more.

ITEM: I am in the midst of figuring out how to either offload certain things or not worry about them. They haven’t necessarily gone away but I’ve recontextualized a little, More on that eventually.

ITEM: I got a COVID shot on August 28th at my local CVS. I’ve recently mentioned COVID in this blog at least a couple of times, and I am taking it seriously. Several people I know people IRL have experienced it in 2024, so I’m not one of those who’s pooh-poohing it. I’m pushing my wife and my daughter to do the same.

“Cases are surging in most areas of the country; emergency room visits are rising and hospitalization rates remain elevated, especially among adults 65 and older, the CDC says.” 

That’s it for now.

Project 2025: LGBTQ rights

Climate change

“Project 2025 takes extreme positions against LGBTQ rights, seeking to eliminate federal protections for queer people and pursue research into conversion therapies in order to encourage gender and sexuality conformity. The policy book also lays out plans to criminalize being transgender and prohibit federal programs from supporting queer people through various policies.”

From GLAAD: The Heritage Foundation’s “stated support for freedom and limited government does not extend to LGBTQ Americans, as evidenced by decades of waging losing battles against:

“Project 2025 aims to gut protections for the LGBTQ community, which its organizers believe exists in opposition to the ‘traditional American family’ and its Christian nationalist underpinnings. The Project would prioritize families ‘comprised of a married mother, father, and their children’ and would eliminate any federal policies that promote LGBTQ equality or that assist single mothers.”

From GPAHE: “Under the banner of “Restoring the Family,” Project 2025 aims to gut protections for the LGBTQ+ community… The Project would privilege ‘family authority, formation, and cohesion as their top priority and even use government power, including the tax code’ to favor traditional families…  Unfortunately, family policies and programs under President Biden’s HHS are fraught with agenda items focusing on ‘LGBTQ+ equity,’ subsidizing single-motherhood, disincentivizing work, and penalizing marriage. These policies should be repealed and replaced by policies that support the formation of stable, married, nuclear families.'”

Of course, you don’t have to read the document to know the position of the National Republican Committee. Just watch Day 1 of the convention.

Climate change

“Project 2025 would eliminate environmental protections and further delay climate action. In the foreword, Heritage President Kevin Roberts calls environmentalism a ‘pseudo-religion,’ claiming ‘environmental extremism is decidedly anti-human’ because it promotes ‘population control and economic regression’ by ‘regarding human activity itself as fundamentally a threat to be sacrificed to the god of nature.'”

From The Hill: “The project… proposes chopping up several agencies. It called for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the nation’s oceans, weather, climate, and fisheries science agency, to be ‘dismantled.’

“NOAA is home to the National Weather Service (which the plan says should henceforth focus on commercial operations), as well as the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (which the plan says should be ‘downsized,’ with much of its climate research “disbanded”).

“The plan would also eliminate offices within the Energy Department that focus on renewable energy, climate technology and energy technology research.”

Watch the Legal Eagle piece on Project 2025: A Hellish Legal Vision For America ft. Liz Dye, which touches on the whole 900-page document.

CHQ: Ballet, opera, and more music

Hansel and Gretel

Angel Kotev

Ballet is not something I attend very often. But when in Chautauqua, do as the Chautauquans do.

My wife and I attended a musical event at 8:15 p.m. each weeknight except for the Wednesday opera at 7:30 p.m. (The music I linked to is NOT the performances we heard.)

Monday, July 22

“The Music School Festival Orchestra and the School of Dance come together for an amazing night of song and dance under the baton of guest conductor Rebecca Tong.” The orchestra is more or less below the dancers, though people in the front row can see them.

Rhapsodic Dances – Choreography by Sasha Janes

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 – Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943) -Sean Yang, pianist

This looks like what I expect ballet to look like.

Summer Camp – Choreography by Sasha Janes

Symphony No. 38 in C major, Hoboken I/38, 1768 – -Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809) I. Allegro di molto II. Andante molto

This does NOT look like what I expect ballet to look like. The dancers are wearing contemporary clothes. Someone’s even riding a skateboard. This was a lot of fun.

For the Trees – Choreography by Kara Wilkes

Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 – -Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) II. Allegretto

This expresses the natural motif of the title, with lots of greens and browns and dancers portraying seed, soil, sand, mycelium, and other elements. Effective. And the music is among my favorites of all time.

Intermission

Rubies – Choreography by George Balanchine; Staged by Patricia McBride

Capriccio, 1929 – Igor Stravinsky (1882 – 1971) I. Presto II. Andante rapsodico  III. Allegro capriccio so ma tempo giusto. Spencer Myer, pianist

“This performance of Rubies, a Balanchine® Ballet, is presented by arrangement with The George Balanchine Trust and has been produced in accordance with the Balanchine Style® and Balanchine Technique® Service standards established and provided by the Trust.”

The lead male’s face was very expressive.

Dvorak 8
Tuesday, July 23.

Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra:  Chia-Hsuan Lin, conductor

Program

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912): [Not to be confused with Samuel Taylor Coleridge] Petite Suite de Concert, Op. 77 (1911) La Caprice de Nanette; Demande et réponse; Un sonnet d’amour; La tarantelle frétillante

Tyzen Hsiao (1938–2015): The Angel from Formosa (1999)

Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904): Symphony No. 8 in G major, B. 163, op. 88 (1889). Allegro con brio; Adagio; Allegretto grazioso; Allegro ma non troppo

“Hailed by the Virginia Gazette as a ‘rock solid’ and ‘animated’ conductor, Chia-Hsuan Lin (pronounced ‘jah-shwen’) delights audiences throughout the world with her trademark energy and command. The Associate Conductor of the Richmond Symphony, Lin also debuted in 2023 with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra and returns to conduct concerts with the Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Williamsburg Symphony, and Fort Wayne Philharmonic this year.”

Opera!

Hansel and Gretel, an opera by Engelbert Humperdink (English), [not to be confused with Engelbert Humperdink]

It was more enjoyable than I thought it would be. Even though the dialogue was in English, it was superimposed onto the screens above. The screens also showed scenes of moving through the forest from nightfall to daybreak, looking like a large Jacquie Lawson ecard. It was also used to great effect to show the terrified cookies. 
The program, which I failed to copy, noted that the woman playing the mother would also play the witch. However, the woman playing the witch was not the woman playing the mother; the mother in Act 1 differed from the mother in Act 2. I THINK the woman playing the mother in the first act sang the witch part in the second act offstage while the original witch pantomimed the role.
Living composer

Thursday, July 25

Rossen Milanov, conductor

Program

Samuel Barber (1910–1981): Essay No. 1, op. 12 (1937)

Angel Kotev (b. 1951): Rhapsody No. 3 ‘Fateful’ –  American premiere

It was lovely to see Kotev beaming after the performance. He and his wife have been coming to CHQ for 5 or 6 years

Béla Bartók (1881–1945): The Miraculous Mandarin Suite, BB 82, op. 19 (1927)

1 act in 8 sections:
Beginning—Curtain rises
First seduction game
Second seduction game
Third seduction game—the Mandarin enters
Dance of the girl
The chase—the tramps leap out
Suddenly, the Mandarin’s head appears
The Mandarin falls to the floor

This time, we decided to sit behind the orchestra. It was great to see the conductor’s face and to note that 47 of the 50 musical scores I could see were paper, not electronic. The downside is that we could not see the horns or percussion.

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