questions Archives - Page 5 of 24

Roger Answers Your Questions, Scott and Jaquandor

Queries from veteran Roger queriers,

First up is the noble Scott:

Is there a team you are rooting for to win the Super Bowl?

Besides the Giants, who just don’t deserve it this year (41-9 loss to Carolina yesterday?), gotta be the Saints. Partly it a parochial hope that a Super Bowl appearance will once again point out the aftermath of Katrina and how much is yet undone in the recovery. Also, can’t help but think it would give the city a real boost; they’ve already postponed some Mardi Gras events in anticipation of getting to the big game. And yes, I thought losing to the Cowboys was probably a good thing; get the loss out of their system. (So naturally they lose to Tampa Bay yesterday.) The perfect season was a curse for the Patriots a couple seasons back, so the loss to the Jets – who are still in playoff contention – theoretically will help the Colts. Or not.

What is your favorite Christmas family tradition?

I’m still grasping at any kind of tradition. We had a tree the last three years, but not the previous two. What we eat varies; this year it was lasagna! And while I sing on Christmas Eve, it’s hardly a FAMILY tradition, since my wife and daughter weren’t there. In fact, I didn’t see my daughter at all on Christmas Eve, though I did talk with her twice on the phone. The tree decorations I used to have seem to have disappeared. So it’s not so much tradition; it’s jazz improv, and it’s all good.

Do you do a lot of decorating inside and outside your house for the holidays?

Outside, not at all. Inside, the Christmas cards – and we got a LOT of Christmas cards this year, more than ever – go around the entryway to our living room. In fact we had so many, we put a few on the other side, the entryway back into the hallway. There’s the tree. There’s red garland on the railing heading upstairs. We do have a creche.

The daughter constructed a snowman from paper, which we hung up. She also made some drawings that got put around the house.

What Christmas gift made the most lasting impression on you?

That would be the Beatles in Mono box set that I got in…2009. It wasn’t just that I got the music; it was something I wanted and Santa delivered that singular package that was more than Santa is inclined to spend on a one item.

What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child?

Seriously, a Johnny Seven OMA (One Man Army); I played with that forever and STILL turned out as a pacifist. Tom Hanks got one as a kid, he once told Leno.

Although the family getting a color TV in 1969, when I was 16, was huge, too; we literally saw the world in a different way. Watching the Wizard of Oz the next year, in particular, was a revelation; a “horse of a different color”, indeed.

Merry Christmas to you and your family, Roger!

You too, Scott.

The best of the west, western NYS, that is, Jaquandor asks:

Do you cook? If so, what? Do you have a favorite ethnic cuisine? If so, what?

I did cook. And I was functional, not inspirational, at things like chicken. But I don’t particularly enjoy it, Carol’s better at it, and I get home close to 6:30 pm. I tend to make eggs, pancakes, oatmeal, grilled cheese sandwiches, those kinds of things on the weekends.

My favorite ethnic cuisine is lasagna, which I used to make in the winter, though the recent Christmas meal in fact was made by the wife and mother-in-law; I shredded the mozzarella. I also used to bake, but likewise Carol’s more ept and I, rather inept. Damn, I just remember a time I confused baking powder with baking soda in a pancake recipe; it was AWFUL.

And do you have a strong opinion one way or the other on Governor Paterson?

Notice that David Paterson’s positives have gone from the low 20s to the mid 30s. Still not great, and still losing to Andrew Cuomo by 40 points, should the attorney general run in a primary against him. But perhaps there is a recognition that he’s at least TRYING to balance the budget, whereas the state legislature is unable/unwilling to. I wonder if those television ads, like this one are having an effect.

I have a question for you; do you think those Saturday Night Live parodies hurt him with the electorate? I’ve been under the impression that the NYS voters and SNL watchers are not that linked, but I could be wrong.

I can/do argue with some of his choices; his cuts to education and libraries seem particularly short-sighted. But I haven’t written him off politically, especially if Rick Lazio, who ran a TERRIBLE campaign against Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate race in 2000, turns out to be the GOP nominee, rather than Rudy Giuliani.

ROG

Roger Answers Your Questions, Sherry, Jay, Autumn Belle, magiceye

Answers, we got ’em for our contestants, all newbies:

Sherry asked:
I must know, “What will you do in 2010? Will you still play in the ABC Meme. Is there life on Mars?”
Maybe a nice glass of Eggnog will help you get into the spirit of the season and a cookie.

What I’ll do in 2010? I never know what tomorrow will bring. That said, if the ABC Wednesday meme continues, I’ll still participate; already have an A, B and V(!) in mind. Do you know if it’ll stick around?
Of course there’s life on Mars. I’m a David Bowie fan.
While trimming the tree on December 23 had eggnog with Amaretto. Thanks for the suggestion.

Jay got excited:
Hmmm. Ask you anything? *Rubs hands together* Well then…

Uh.

OK, why do I think you’re an ordained minister?

Well, I think it’s because when I was about 11 or 12, I thought I would be an ordained minister. Just about everyone at church thought I’d be an ordained minister. I had my “saved” experience when I was nine, watching Billy Graham on television. I was very pious; I say that without irony. I went to Bible study every Friday night (except in the summer) for about seven years.

The problem I developed in my mid teens were twofold: 1) the notion that everyone who didn’t follow Jesus, such as a pious Hindu in India, was going to hell conflicted with my belief in a just God; and 2) sex. OK, that’s an oversimplification, but not incorrect.

So, I fell away from church and Christianity for over a decade, though I would dabble in all sorts of things from the Unitarians to the Moonies. Finally, in 1982, my grandmother died. I sang in the choir at her funeral, and it moved me, slowly and cautiously, back to church and Christianity, in that order.

So now I am actively involved with Bible study. The certainty of my youth has been replaced by, I hope, a more broad understanding of my faith. And I am always looking at other faith traditions to see what seems consistent with my evolving beliefs. You may have read that Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life study that said that nearly six in 10 Americans blend their faith with New Age beliefs. This is unsurprising to me. The one good thing I got from the Unitarians is the idea that we create our own religion. Whether it’s American Catholics who ignore the Pope on birth control or my rejection of the “literal” interpretation of Genesis 1 (the “six days” creation), I recognize that God has given us reason for a purpose.

http://mymalaysiadailyphoto.blogspot.com/ asked:
Did you have a White Christmas?

Yes. we got a dusting a couple days before Christmas, and it stuck around, to clean the extant stuff.

magiceye wants to know: why the stress during holidays meant for destressing? it is distressing!

Well, I can’t speak globally, but for me, this year in particular was tricky. Days I was going to take off to do Roger things I ended up watching the sick daughter, who was ill three separate times. As a result, I violated my own tradition, which was to take off from work a weekday 7 to 10 days before Christmas and do all my hands-on shopping. I deluded myself into thinking that since I did so much purchasing online, I didn’t need the carve-out time; false. I needed it even to go to the library and shop online – my home computer is increasingly as cranky as I was becoming. So next year, I’m taking off Thursday, December 16 to shop; someone hold me to that.

ROG

My Solstice Tradition: ASK ROGER ANYTHING!

I’m trying, really trying, to get into the spirit of the season. I’ve been checking out Polite Scott’s Advent Calendar Comic Book Cover Countdowns and Jaquandor’s Daily Dose of Christmas and Tegan’s LEGO Advent Calendar, the Tournament of Carols (Bing will definitely win) and most of all, Fred Hembeck’s The Many, Many, Many, Many, Many, Many, Many, Many, Many, Many, Many, Many, Many, Many, MANY Faces of Santa Claus!

Yet, I’m still felling the seasonal stress. Sunday, in particular, made me very…grumpy. Sunday, I was Christmas shopping. There IS a correlation, though shopping wasn’t the only frustration that day. The neck is sore, for some reason. And my left heel has a cut on it, probably from chafing while wearing some boots when it snowed a couple weeks ago. (But NOT this past weekend, as it turns out.) The one thing that did make me laugh was an e-mail from some cruise line that had the heading, ” There’s Still Time to Give the Gift of Cruising!”

So, to cheer me up, it is your opportunity to Ask Roger Anything. Anything at all; nothing is off limits. These are the exciting rules:
1. You can ask Roger anything.
2. He must answer.
3. He must stop referring to himself in the third person.
4. My answers must be true. Now it can be the truth without being the WHOLE truth, but the discerning questioner will pick up on this.

And starting on Sunday, I will answer your questions. If you want me to answer a question or three, you can leave a comment – I love comments – or you can find my e-mail on the sidebar and you can e-mail it to me.

ROG

Apology QUESTION

I came across a podcast that addressed the question about what makes a good apology and what does not. Can’t find it at the moment, but what’s interesting to me is that I tend to remember the negatives:
DON’T use the word BUT. An example would be, “I’m sorry, BUT you started it.”
DON’T use the word IF. My least favorite apology: “I’m sorry IF you’re offended.” The clear implication is that you really SHOULDN’T be offended, but I better say it anyway.
The one DO I recall: Do say the word. “I apologize” or “I’m sorry.”

I was at a wedding once, and all the family members on my side, even people less close to the bride than I was, were included in the program. except me. This, I believe, was an honest mistake. The person who put it together spent about five minutes apologizing without apologizing, saying, finally, “I just don’t apologize,” as if that were some soerrt of badge of honor.

And the idea of the public apology, which we seem to have seen lots of, utterly fascinates me. Mark Sanford. David Letterman. Kobe Bryant. Eliot Spitzer. Tiger Woods, sort of; I mean the apology was “sort of”. It’s such a cliche they’ve made a TV drama about it: the Good Wife on CBS.

Of course, there are instances where one may be afraid to say I’m sorry for legal reasons. Canada has bandied about having legislation allowing people to say “I’m sorry” without assuming legal responsibility for their actions.

In other words, saying you’re sorry can’t be used against you later as evidence in civil court. “The goal of the legislation is to encourage sincere apologies,” said the Ontario Attorney General. “Saying sorry for a mistake or wrongdoing is the right thing to do.”

Proponents of the law say the ability to make an apology without legal consequences will help ease hard feelings, resolve disputes, and reduce the number of lengthy, costly lawsuits.

The Apology Act is partly based on the actions of more than 30 states across the U.S. where apology laws have been enacted specifically to make it easier for doctors to say “I’m sorry” instead of “See you in court.” Under those laws, an apology for a medical mistake is inadmissible in court.

My questions:

1. What are we the public, not the wronged party in their marriage, due from celebrity screw-ups? Is there some formula that I can plug in, tallying their level of fame, whether they are government officials, the number of times they appear on the cover of national magazines, the frequency and length of the indiscretion. Whether the guy – it’s usually a guy – refers to the “other woman” as his “soul mate”.

2. Should we have laws allowing for apologies for, say medical malpractice, without that apology be admissible in court?

3. How are you at apologizing to your smaller, more private flaws? I THINK I’m pretty good, but I could be mistaken, oblivious to some opportunities to say “I’m sorry” more often.

Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot QUESTION

Here’s the 2010 Hall of Fame ballot, with their 2009 votes noted; those with no 2009 votes are eligible for the first time.

Roberto Alomar
Kevin Appier
Harold Baines 32 (6%)
Bert Blyleven 338 (63%)
Ellis Burks
Andre Dawson 361 (67%)
Andres Galarraga
Pat Hentgen
Mike Jackson
Eric Karros
Ray Lankford
Barry Larkin
Edgar Martinez
Don Mattingly 64 (12%)
Fred McGriff
Mark McGwire 118 (22%)
Jack Morris 237 (44%)
Dale Murphy 62 (12%)
Dave Parker 81 (15%)
Tim Raines 122 (23%)
Shane Reynolds
David Segui
Lee Smith 240 (45%)
Alan Trammell 94 (17%)
Robin Ventura
Todd Zeile

1. Who do YOU vote for, and why?
2. Who will get selected, if any? 75% required for enshrinement.
3. Who will get the lowest votes and not be eligible next year? “Candidates may remain under consideration for up to 15 years provided they are named on at least five percent of the ballots cast.”

1. Dawson and Blyleven should have gotten in years ago. Alomar and Larkin are strong middle infielders. I vote for Raines because he played well on a mediocre team (Expos). And though I wouldn’t have voted for McGwire in his first year of eligibility, I would now. And why doesn’t Lee Smith, who is or at least was the career saves leader for a time, back when saves weren’t always 3 outs, get more love?

2. From most likely to least: Roberto Alomar, Barry Larkin, Andre Dawson, Bert Blyleven. McGwire doesn’t get in unless/until he shows some contrition over the steroids thing.

3. From most likely to reach the 5% threshold to the least:
Ellis Burks, Eric Karros, Todd Zeile, Ray Lankford. Kevin Appier, Pat Hentgen, David Segui, Shane Reynolds, Mike Jackson

ROG