Play: Three Mothers

playwright Ajene D. Washington

On a very busy  Saturday, my wife and I saw the new play Three Mothers at Capital Rep in Albany, NY. If you’re of a certain age, as I am, you may remember the names James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman and even recall their pictures in the newspapers.

It’s a piece of American history that is baked into my brain as much as the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing in Birmingham, AL in 1963 or any number of atrocities of the era.

But if you’re somewhat younger, you may not recall that on June 21, 1964, the three young men, were tortured and murdered by the Ku Klux Klan near Philadelphia, Mississippi. They had the audacity to help Black Americans to register and vote. Chaney was Black and local, from Meridian, MS, the others Jewish from the New York City metro area.

Three Mothers is inspired by a 1964 photo of their bereft mothers leaving the final funeral together. The play imagines the conversation afterward, “in Carolyn Goodman’s home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan when the three women forged an unbreakable bond and commitment to the Civil Rights Movement.”

Before the 90-minute production of Three Mothers with no intermission, Producing Artistic Director Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill noted that she, playwright Ajene D. Washington, and director Petronia Paley continued to tweak the piece as late as opening night, the day before we saw it.

The cast, Judith Lightfoot Clark, Trisha Jeffrey, and Cheryl Stern, was excellent. Even though the production is heart-wrenching, it was also occasionally, and surprisingly funny, as the three women portrayed negotiate how to move forward.

Freedom Summer

I spoke briefly to local thespian and former news anchor Benita Zahn. She mentioned how she had moderated a pre-play talk with author Julie Kabat about “her new book ‘Love Letter from Pig,’ based on her brother’s personal journals, which describe 1964’s Freedom Summer and the Freedom Schools.” Unfortunately, my wife and I missed that.

But I’m seriously considering attending the pre-show conversation with  “Kabat, Andreesa Coleman, and Dorothy Singletary about their experience within the 1964 Freedom Schools in Mississippi” on Sunday, May 12 at 12:30 p.m.

Incidentally, I looked at the government page for Meridian, MS, and discovered that most of the current city council is Black. The mayor of Philadelphia, MS is black. That would have been unimaginable six decades ago.

He Was My Brother – Simon and Garfunkel. Andrew Goodman was a classmate of Paul and a friend of the duo. 

April rambling: when democracies fall

Sporadic Acts of Journalism

History shows there are no “one-day” dictatorships. When democracies fall, they typically fall completely.

A Different Take on Retro Conservative Fantasy

Mike Johnson Is No Hero

Anita Hill on Harvey Weinstein Reversal: “Our Movement Will Persist”

John Oliver Confesses to “Sporadic Acts of Journalism.” Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Medicaid and UFOs and Executions

Republicans Scramble to Contain Their Abortion Disaster.  William Claude Jones (c. 1815 – March 3, 1884) was an American politician, poet, fabulist, and “pursuer of nubile females,” who authored the 1864 Arizona abortion bill.

The Manhattan case against djt is strong but The Supreme Court is breaking America’s faith in the law

Census Bureau: Wealth by Race of Householder

The endless quest to replace alcohol

On the Romance of Old Maps

The Cloud under the Sea (Internet Cables)

Williams-Sonoma Will Pay Record $3.17 Million Civil Penalty for Violating FTC Made in USA Order

The Average Body Temperature Is Not 98.6 Degrees

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Updated charity ratings from Charity Watch

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Step into the chilling world of CBS Radio Mystery Theater—with nearly 1400 episodes from 1974 to 1982, guaranteed to give you goosebumps, hosted by the commanding voices of E.G. Marshall and Tammy Grimes

Fantastic Trina Robbins remembrance by Andrew Farago
Kelly does a quiz
Now I Know: The Wife, Husband, and Ex-Husband Nuclear Family and The Environmental Intervention That Backfired
MUSIC

Spiegel im spiegel (Mirror in the mirror) by Arvo Pärt and how he tintinnabulates

Better Oblivion Community Center – Dylan Thomas

Favorite Songs By Favorite Artists: Fairport Convention

St. Vincent – Broken Man

Coverville 1484: The Soul Asylum Cover Story and 1485: The Cure Cover Story V

Deep Field by Eric Whitacre

Margo Guryan: Moon Ride (1956)

Peter Sprague Plays You Won’t See Me and Serrado, each featuring Allison Adams Tucker

Chappell Roan – Good Luck, Babe!

Against All Odds – Phil Collins

The Analogues – The Beatles tribute – Salle Pleyel – ARTE Concert

Arthur’s Law and Taylor Swift

I can say my jeans are long, but I can’t say …

Jerry Seinfeld is 70

Nothing

Likely, the first time I saw Jerry Seinfeld was on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. I thought he was rather funny.

I relate to a bit from his IMDb page: “A recent survey stated that the average person’s greatest fear is having to give a speech in public. Somehow, this ranked even higher than death, which was third on the list. So, you’re telling me that at a funeral, most people would rather be the guy in the coffin than have to stand up and give a eulogy?”

“I’ve learned that “his father was of Hungarian Jewish descent, while Jerry’s maternal grandparents… were Syrian Jewish immigrants (from Aleppo).” He got married the same year as I did but on Christmas Day.

I was a fan of the TV show Seinfeld early on. I’m probably an outlier in that I enjoyed the first seasons when it really WAS about “nothing.” The quintessential show was about being unable to find the car in a parking garage. The Chinese Restaurant, The Boyfriend with Keith Hernandez and the “second spitter,”  and The Contest are classics.

I suppose I got tired of these people who, as intended by co-creators Seinfeld and Larry David, never really evolved. The episode in which George’s finance died irritated me greatly. The shows about trying to make a sitcom out of their lives might have been too meta for me. Constanza working for Yankee owner George Steinbrenner was funnier in concept for me.

And yet I kept watching,  thanks to the VCR, through the unpleasant ending.

Commercials

Oddly, given my general disdain for ads, I liked the American Express commercials that Jerry did. I could relate to failing to open the plastic bag in the produce section or trying to hit the exact dollar amount at the gas pump. And I haven’t watched them since they first aired.

I enjoyed the Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee series, and I don’t care about cars or coffee. I didn’t catch every episode, but I enjoyed the ones I saw, especially the show with well-known comedian Barack Obama. 

If I get a chance, I’d like to watch the film Unfrosted, a fictionalized development of Kellogg’s Pop Tarts.   

Happy birthday, Jerry (said in the voice of Newman!)

Sunday Stealing: the best thing

irrational

Once more, Sunday Stealing is purloining from How Far Will You Go?

1.    What’s the best thing to inherit other than money?

Good health, I suppose. I would say a long life, but if one’s health were awful, that wouldn’t be so great.

2.    What one thing would you most like to happen tomorrow?

I’d like to write a blog post. I’m falling behind and my reserves are rapidly shrinking. What should I write about?

3.    Who is the person with whom you’ve been most infatuated?

I wrote a whole blog post about this in 2008. And I’m sure there were others, not to mention the ones I knew personally; we won’t get into THAT!

4.    In what part of the day does time go slowest and fastest?

It ALL goes pretty fast. My list of things to do doesn’t seem to shrink.

5.    Whose thoughts would you most like to read?

djt. What’s really going on there?

6.    Who is the person you’d least like to touch?

Odd question. What are they, lepers? I suppose the person others think they ought not to touch would be the person I would be most compelled to touch.

Genes

7.    What is the best quality you inherited from your parents?

My father had a good musical ear. My mother was very kind.

8.    Who is the friend you most often disagree with?

There is one, who I am not going to name. This week, I shared what I thought was an interesting upcoming musical release but it was pooh-poohed. Whatevs.

9.    What’s the best ritual of your daily life?

It’s playing Wordle (485-game streak) and Quordle.

10.    What is the most useful job you’ve ever had?

I’ll pick working at FantaCo (May 1980-November 1988), a comic book store/publisher/convention place that became a “third place” for many patrons. I balanced the checkbook, helped order products, wrote and edited a few magazines, et al. A lot of things I learned were useful in being a business librarian (1994-2019).

11.    In which year of your life did you change the most?

Lessee, 1972. Or 1974, 1977, 1978, 1983, 1991, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004. If pressed, I’ll pick 1978. 1977 was the year I bounced from New Paltz, NY to Charlotte, NC to NYC, and back to New Paltz to Schenectady, NY. In 1978, I got a job I liked at the Schenectady Arts Council in a metro area I have lived in ever since.

12.    What’s the best thing you’ve ever gotten for free?

A trip to Barbados, courtesy of the game show JEOPARDY! It wasn’t totally free in that I had to pay taxes on the value of the trip; the trip’s value was $2100, if I remember correctly.

13,    What is the thing you are best at?

I can connect numbers with events, such as those years in question 11.

I can walk under ladders

14.    What was the luckiest moment in your life?

I don’t know about THE luckiest, but I thought of this event recently. As a college student in New Paltz, NY in the 1970s, I often hitchhiked from my hometown of Binghamton to school and back. Once, I walked just outside  New Paltz village and found a white and orange metal sign with 17 on it. To get home, I would take NY-299 W to US-44 E to NY-52 W to NY-17 W to Binghamton. I put up the sign, and about five minutes later, a guy from the CIA picked me up and dropped me at Exit 72 just above my grandma’s house in Binghamton.  BTW, the guy was from the Culinary Institute of America, not the Central Intelligence Agency.  

15.    What is the single most important thing you have ever learned?

People are irrational, motivated by factors they don’t always understand themselves. This week, a person in my neighborhood drove past a Road Closed sign. They must have thought, “Surely, if I can drive past the sign, I should be able to get down the block.” Nope, the road construction was at the end of the road. They had to turn around in someone’s driveway and return to the main street. I got just a soupçon of delight from this.

2024 National Recording Registry Listing

Also, rock hall

The 2024 National Recording Registry includes 25 items as usual. For me, the real find is the Kronos Quartet’s Pieces of Africa, which I will probably buy. The McFerrin track’s inclusion amused me since he had said years ago that he would never sing it again.

Links in the left column are to the single or the whole album. Links in the right column are to a song from the album. * means I own it.

Also check out Coverville 1486: Covers of 2024’s National Recording Registry.

Eclectic
Clarinet Marmalade
(single)
Jim Europe’s 369th Band
Additional Information
1919 2024 Pop (Pre-1955)
Kauhavan Polkka
(single)
Viola Turpeinen & John Rosendahl
Additional Information
1928 2024 Folk
Wisconsin Folksong Recordings
(collection)
Various
Additional Information
1937-46 2024 Field
Rose Room (single) Benny Goodman Sextet with Charlie Christian
Additional Information
1939 2024 Jazz
Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer*
(single)
Autry, Gene
Additional Information
1949 2024 Pop (Pre-1955)
Tennessee Waltz*
(single)
Patti Page
Additional Information
1950 2024 Country/Bluegrass
Rocket “88”*
(single)
Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats
Additional Information
1951 2024 Pop (Pre-1955)
Catch A Falling Star*/Magic Moments
(single)
Perry Como
Additional Information
1957 2024 Pop (1955-1975)
Chances Are*
(single)
Johnny Mathis
Additional Information
1957 2024 Pop (1955-1975)
The Sidewinder
(album)
Lee Morgan
Additional Information
1964 2024 Jazz; The Sidewinder (1st track)
Surrealistic Pillow*
(album)
Jefferson Airplane
Additional Information
1967 2024 Pop (1955-1975); Comin’ Back To Me
Ain’t No Sunshine*
(single)
Bill Withers
Additional Information
1971 2024 Pop (1955-1975)
This is a Recording
(album)
Lily Tomlin
Additional Information
1971 2024 Comedy/Novelty; The Bordello
J. D. Crowe & the New South
(album)
J.D. Crowe & the New South
Additional Information
1975 2024 Country/Bluegrass
Arrival
(album)
ABBA
Additional Information
1976 2024 Disco/Dance; Dancing Queen*
Parallel Lines
(album)
Blondie
Additional Information
1978 2024 Disco/Dance
The Cars
(album)
The Cars
Additional Information
1978 2024 Pop (1976-1996); Good Times Roll*
El Cantante
(single)
Héctor Lavoe
Additional Information
1978 2024 Latin
La-Di-Da-Di
(single)
Doug E. Fresh & Slick Rick
Additional Information
1985 2024 Rap/Hip Hop
Don’t Worry, Be Happy*
(single)
Bobby McFerrin
Additional Information
1988 2024 Pop (1976-1996)
Amor Eterno
(single)
Juan Gabriel
Additional Information
1990 2024 Latin
Pieces of Africa
(album)
Kronos Quartet
Additional Information
1992 2024 Classical; Mai Nozipo (“Mother Nozipo”)
Dookie*
(album)
Green Day
Additional Information
1994 2024 Pop (1976-1996); Longview
Ready to Die
(album)
Notorious BIG
Additional Information
1994 2024 Rap/Hip Hop; One More Chance
Wide Open Spaces*
(album)
Dixie Chicks
Additional Information
1998 2024 Country/Bluegrass’ Wide Open Spaces
Rock Hall

About 24 hours before the fan ballot for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame closed,  I captured the tally. I was curious how closely the “will of the people” jibed with the final inductee decision.

  1. Dave Matthews Band 564,296. IN, I didn’t vote for.
  2. Foreigner 507,349. IN, I didn’t vote for. But I like songs with sax solos. Urgent
  3. Peter Frampton 507,091 IN, I voted for. Show Me The Way (Live)
  4. Ozzy Osbourne 464,364 IN, I didn’t vote for.
  5. Cher 329,649 IN, I voted for. Just Like Jesse James
  6. Lenny Kravitz 300,319 NOT IN, I voted for occasionally. A friend of mine sent me this fun video labeled Cool Church Choir’s Unexpected Guest from 2010
  7. Kool & the Gang 277,231 IN, I voted for. Hollywood Swinging. The top 7 was the collective fan ballot.
  8. Mariah Carey 243,282 NOT IN, I didn’t vote for. Early on, Carey was ahead of Kool but fell further behind by the week.
  9. Sinéad O’Connor  163,901. NOT IN, I voted for
  10. Oasis 162,307 NOT IN, I didn’t vote for
  11. Sade 157,892 NOT IN, I voted for
  12. Jane’s Addiction 137,229 NOT IN, I didn’t vote for
  13. Mary J. Blige 110,874 IN, I occasionally voted for. Real Love
  14. A Tribe Called Quest 86,672 IN, I Voted for. Scenario
  15. Eric B. & Rakim54,250 NOT IN, I voted for
Also

I was more excited about the other awardees.

Musical Excellence

Jimmy Buffett: Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes

MC5 (who I’ve voted for): Over and Over

Dionne Warwick, a recent Kennedy Center honoree:   A House Is Not A Home

Norman Whitfield, songwriter/producer for Motown’s Temps, Pips, et al.:  War

Musical Influence

Alexis Korner: Get Off My Cloud

John Mayall: Room To Move

Big Mama Thornton: Hound Dog

Ahmet Ertegun Award

Suzanne de Passe – Motown executive and more

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