Roger O Green

Sister Marcia should do a movie blog

Ritz

It occurred to me that sister Marcia should do a movie blog. I love watching movies, but she devours them. And often the old ones, many of which I still haven’t seen, but she has viewed multiple times. And she’s very conversant about them.

We remember seeing West Side Story with our mom and sister Leslie. It must have been in a second-run theater because she’d have been too young to see the film in 1961. Still, I recall that the ticket taker was concerned that the violence would be too much for her. This was before the movie ratings were implemented in 1968. And maybe it was too “adult” for her, but she loved it.

As kids, we would occasionally get taken to the drive-in, often the one near the airport after the one on Upper Front Street closed in 1963. I don’t remember any of the films except The Dirty Dozen, and that is only because former NFL great Jim Brown was in it. Marcia likely remembers a lot more of them.

Trauma

She occasionally reminds me of when I was mean to her. I was supposed to take her to the Ritz Theater, a second-run cinema on Clinton Street. This was so traumatic that she remembers exactly where we were, in the shortcut from Gaines Street to Oak Street. Reportedly, I asked her what movie we going to see, and if she couldn’t identify it, I wouldn’t take her. She got very upset. Her memory is such that this story is probably true.

The Strand and the Riviera were theaters on Chenango Street in downtown Binghamton. Our mother used to work first at McLean’s Department Store, then at Columbia Gas, both of which were nearby. I imagine we saw a bunch of non-animated Disney fare or safe comedies such as With Six You Get Eggroll.

When I visited my family in Charlotte, NC in the 1970s and 1980s, I’d see movies with my mom Rocky, Star Trek IV, and Dreamgirls – it’s so weird that I remember these without prompts – and I imagine Marcia attended these as well.

But she has embraced Turner Classic Movies and various other platforms over the years. If I need a recommendation for a film in a particular genre, I know who to ask.

Happy birthday, sister Marcia.

Songs: All Night Long

or All Nite Long

In response to a query, I’ve checked Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles, 1955-2018, and discovered several songs entitled All Night Long, which are not covers but are said to be distinctly different. I found two more in Whitburn’s Pop Memories, 1890-1954.

I’ve never heard of most of them.

Ada Jones and Billy Murray, #7 in 1913

Faith Evans, #9 in 1999, was also #3 RB for two weeks. The track features Puff Daddy and samples “I Hear Music In The Streets” by Unlimited Touch.

Joe Walsh, #19 in 1980

Rusty Bryant, #25 in 1954; “This rockin’ ‘live’-sounding performance of the famous Jimmy Forrest tune by jazz saxman Bryant was first issued in 1953 on the Carolyn label under the title ‘Nite Train,’ but was later picked up by Dot and retitled ‘All Nite Long’ for their 1954 reissue.” This song is familiar.

Sandy Nelson, #75 in 1962. Also familiar.

Billy Squier, #75 in 1984. Co-produced by Jim Steinman

Jo Stafford, #99 in 1956

Mary Jane Girls, #101 in 1983

Rainbow, #110 in 1980

Demi Lovato, #124 in 2011

Jerry Lee Lewis, classic in 1957

Motown

The best-known version is more accurately called All Night Long (All Night)

Lionel Richie, #1 in 1983. It went from #14 to #7 on October 15, then to #5, #3, and #2. Then, it switched places with Islands In The Stream by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton on November 12, staying at #1 until it was supplanted by Say Say Say by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson. It remained in the Top 10 through the January 7, 1984 charts.

Arthur wrote about this song last year, from which I shall purloin the following:

“The official music video was produced by Mike Nesmith (formerly of The Monkees and an extensive solo career.) It was directed by American film director Bob Rafelson who was also a creator of The Monkees TV series….

“All Night Long (All Night)” reached Number One in Australia, Number One in Canada (Platinum), 4 in New Zealand, 2 in the UK (Platinum), and Number One on the USA’s “Billboard Hot 100” [for four weeks], “Hot Black Singles” [for seven weeks], and “Adult Contemporary” [for four weeks] charts, as well as Number One on Cash Box “Top 100”; it was certified Gold in the USA.

Then there is the spelling variation on the theme, All Nite Long, none of which received much chart action on the pop, country, RB, or AC charts.

Billy Vaughn, #102 in 1959. This IS the same tune as the Rusty Bryant song!

Robert Parker, #113 in 1959

A.L.T., #121 in 1994 – parental advisory

There are also at least four songs called All Night, an All Nite, and an All Nite (Don’t Stop).

Feed the cats

pâté

This is called Feed The Cats because, according to my wife, when I prepare meals for our felines, I sing those words to the tune of Edelweiss from The Sound Of Music. And I thought I always sang the chorus to Cat Food by King Crimson.

In any case, the feeding ritual had been the same for well over eight years. Give them each a quarter can of wet, shredded cat food and some dry food, his in a toy to slow him down. Then, I watch them as Midnight, after wolfing down his wet food, attempts to eat Stormy’s food. This was a process that took about ten minutes twice a day.

In the past few months, however, Midnight started to become thinner. From 13 or 14 pounds to around 10. He was drinking far more water, even going into the shower.

Meanwhile, Stormy, who had been 10 or 11 pounds, is now heavier than Midnight. The exact numbers are difficult to come by because one is weighing them while my wife is attempting to hold them. Nevertheless, even visually, one can see the difference.

So we started feeding him pâté, a somewhat drier wet food, a half can per meal. Putting out the dry food for him was pointless except to fatten Stormy.

They get fresh water at least twice daily because Midnight sticks his litter-box-laden front paw into each bowl.

More food

After my daughter looked up some remedies, we attempted to feed him a scrambled egg now and then. He eats it occasionally but ignores it other times. Ditto with an extra quarter can of pâté at lunchtime.

This begs the question: what is wrong with Midnight? If we could take him to the veterinarian, we would. But after the last visit, that’s a non-starter, as he could not be lured from the cage. His increased water consumption suggests diabetes, perhaps.

The upside is that he’s usually a bit more mellow. He is more affectionate. For a time, his meow was more like a mouse squeak, but it irritated him when I replicated his sound, which I was annoyingly good at. Now he’s back to his full-throated obnoxious-sounding self.

Cat lovers: if you have any insight, please share.

A quarter century married

stop fretting

My wife and I have been a quarter century married. I find this fairly remarkable, given some of my previous relationships. Heck, we went out for 18 months in the mid-1990s then broke up. Then we got married three years later. I’m trying to explain how.

At least part of it is that we have negotiated over the years the fact that we don’t process information the same way. She’s WAY better than I am in terms of remembering names. When we meet someone on the street who recognizes me, she often introduces herself to the person because she knows there’s a 50/50 chance that I can’t remember their names, even though I know HOW I know them.

Our filing systems are not compatible. She files with the tab in the front and I put it in the back. But mostly, it’s the categories. She files documents by year, so if I wanted to find the warranty on the refrigerator, I’d have to look in the file for 20… ; I have no idea. I would have put it in an appliances folder. So she files and retrieves that stuff.

She’s watched the news far more than she had before I met her. I used to be stunned that she was unaware of several stories of significance. I’m not talking one-day news but ongoing narratives. When I would observe how the new story Y is like or unlike previous story X, she said she had never heard about story X. Hmm.

We have someone do our taxes. This is to ensure domestic tranquility because doing our taxes was… fraught. I was a 1040A/1040 EZ guy before. She itemizes heavily. We have bank/credit union accounts that are hers, mine, and ours. This is a very good thing.

Moving

A massively important thing is that we moved a year after we got married. She owned a two-family dwelling. I moved in, getting rid of a lot of my stuff, including a clock radio, the first item I ever purchased with a credit card, from Sears. Only two years earlier, I had bought a piece of real furniture, a love seat, but there was no room for that.

She said she was making room for her stuff. But it felt that she was creating space for MY things in HER place. I should give props to our then-pastor at our then-church who advocated for us to get OUR place.

We seem to have different roles in terms of raising the daughter, and increasingly, it’s the daughter deciding who is most qualified to address said topic.

I have learned to stop fretting that when she says we’re leaving church, or wherever, it’s not really when we’re going. I’ve brought reading matter for this very purpose. She’s made a concerted effort not to be late, especially when she sets the time.

Increasingly, she finds me funny. I mean ha-ha funny. Either my material is better or she’s more indulgent.

But mostly, we’re married this long because of alchemy. Heck, I don’t know.

May rambling: unchallengeable political power

Florida man?

“Project 2025’s agenda, backed by more than 100 right-wing organizations, is detailed in Mandate for Leadership, a version of which Heritage has written as transition plans for each prospective Republican president since 1981. This year’s version is its most complete and toxic ever as it puts democratic institutions and democratic ideals on the chopping block by threatening civil and human rights, eliminating reproductive rights, infusing the government with Christian values, denying climate change, rounding up and deporting undocumented people, taking over the Justice Department, and intimidating journalists. The Project’s goal? Unadulterated, unchallengeable political power for decades to come.” Also, read Weekly Sift.

The Supreme Court is breaking America’s faith in the law.

There is a connection between seasonal allergies and mental health

The Rise of Mega Studios: How MGM Remade Hollywood 100 Years Ago

Denzel Washington Set for Retrospective at American Black Film Festival

Roger Corman, Giant of Independent Filmmaking, Dies at 98

Jeannie Epper, Legendary ‘Wonder Woman’ and ‘Romancing the Stone’ Stuntwoman, Dies at 83

The beekeeper who saved a baseball game

From MrBeast to Logan Paul: Why Wall Street Is Infatuated With Influencers

Three Whole Onions with Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Hank Green

“Thank you for paying your bill in full three months ago. Now pay us $240 more RIGHT NOW.”

Views of the northern lights from around the US; alas, I missed them

Now I Know: He Eight a Cheeseburger and A Different Type of Buried Treasure and When New York City Moved — All At Once and How To Become a Marvel Hero Without Being Furious About It and When It’s Better Not to Share Where Things are Made

Funner/funnest

Amendment XII

The presumptive Republican Party nominee for President in 2024. I wonder how the 12th Amendment to the Constitution will affect his choice of Vice-President.

The presumed candidates include Sen. Marco Rubio (FL), Sen. Tim Scott (SC), Sen. J.D. Vance (OH), Sen. Mike Lee (UT), Sen. Marsha Blackburn (TN), Gov. Doug Burgum (ND), Gov. Kristi Noem (SD), Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY), Rep. Byron Donalds (FL), Rep. Wesley Hunt (TX), Rep. Michael Waltz (FL), Sen. Tom Cotton (AR), former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson (FL), Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (AR), and Sen. Katie Britt (AL).

Amendment XII reads in part: “The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves.” The Constitution Center writes: “The Twelfth Amendment cannot be understood outside of the Electoral College, which was set out in the 1787 Constitution as the mechanism by which Americans select their presidents.”

Without getting too much in the weeds, the electors could not vote for both if two Floridians were running for President and Veep from the same party. Most likely, they’d vote for the president, but the Senate could decide the Vice-President. Since djt is now from Florida, I can’t imagine he’d pick Rubio, Donalds, Waltz, or Carson, since the state has 30 electoral votes.

But djt won’t make a selection until shortly before the RNC convention. It makes all of those potential selections better surrogates.

I think, at this moment, it could be Stefanik or Sarah Huck, though Scott grovels well, and Burgam has a lot of money. Frank S. Robinson sarcastically (I think) suggests a Trump-Trump ticket.

Writer’s Institute

From the New York State Writer’s Institute:

“You think it will never happen to you, that it cannot happen to you,

that you are the only person in the world to whom none of these things will ever happen,

and then, one by one, they all begin to happen to you, in the same way they happen to everyone else.”

– Paul Auster (1947-2024), from Winter Journal (2012)

Music

Beethoven 9 -BBC Proms 2012 and Chicago Symphony Orchestra in honor of its premiere 250 years ago. Locks of Beethoven’s Hair Offer New Clues to the Mystery of His Deafness

Century Rolls: I. First Movement (excerpt) – John Adams

Sleep by Eric Whitacre

Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – I Know | Challengers (Original Score)

Favorite Songs By Favorite Artists: Eagles and INXS and Red Hot Chili Peppers

K-Chuck Radio: The sweet sounds of The Executives

I Turn My Camera On – Spoon

Audra McDonald sings I Could Have Danced All Night from My Fair Lady

Ali Farka Touré – Ali Aoudy

Catch The Wind – MonaLisa Twins

Grand March from The Queen of Sheba by Charles Gounod

Thom Yorke – Suspirium

Duane Eddy, Twangy Guitar Hero of Early Rock, Dies at 86; Rebel-‘Rouser

Matadjem Yinmixan · Tinariwen

TRON suite -Wendy Carlos

Like A Prayer – Madonna

Peter Sprague Plays Dry Cleaner from Des Moines featuring Sinne Eeg

Bombino – Tar Hani (My Love)

Thou shalt not plagiarize Blotto