Ramblin' with Roger

In celebration of summer, here’s your chance once again to Ask Roger Anything. And he has to answer! The answers might even be true! E-mail me or leave it in the reply space.

The other day, Chris Black asked “Are you following the World Cup?” Well, I haven’t actually SEEN any of it, though I read the write-ups in the paper (and see a very occasional ESPN SportsCenter) enough to fear the Brazilians. I think it’s because I don’t find soccer (or futbol) to be a great TV sport; it’s MUCH better live, when you can see the whole field, and the strategies the players employ. (Whereas football, American-style, is a great TV sport, because the action is more limited.)
I’ve also discovered that, for me, hockey is better live than on TV, pretty much for the same reason; TV hockey feels like “follow the puck.” Oh, congratulations, ‘Canes.

So, Roger, what new acronym do we need to adopt? IYT. The acronym already has a couple definitions, but needs another: An “Inapplicable ‘You, Too’ ” as described in the 5/23 edition of Pearls Before Swine

It is SO true. Sunday, my wife said to two of our male neighbors, “Happy Fathers Day.” They replied in unison, “You, too.” Then they grinned sheepishly.

Add IYT to the lexicon!

I thought I’d list, not so much my favorite Beach Boys songs, but the ones that have affected me the most. Truth is, I could probably pick seven songs from Pet Sounds for the Top Ten, but what fun would THAT be?

1. Sail On Sailor – from my freshman year in college; the first time I really listened to post-Pet Sounds Beach Boys.
2. God Only Knows – damn, this is so beautiful, I could practically cry.
3. Our Prayer – ditto.
4. I Get Around- the first Beach Boys song I ever owned. The instrument-only version from the box set merely enhances my enjoyment.
5. Help Me Rhonda – the BAW BAW BAW BAW version with the “Help me Rhonda, yeah” in harmony, not the other, inferior version.
6. Don’t Talk – “Listen. Listen, listen, listen.”
7. In My Room – beautiful, but sad.
8. ‘Til I Die – beautiful, but REALLY sad. “I’m a cork on the ocean.”
9. Darlin’ – just because.
10. Feel Flows – from my college days, reinforced by Cameron Crowe.
11. Wouldn’t It Be Nice – a specific personal reference.
12. When I Grow Up – I was a sucker for the years going by: “14, 15, 16, 17”.
13. All Summer Long – from American Graffiti. Always thought the instrumental bridge was out of tune.
14. You Still Believe In Me – another Pet Sounds track.
15. Barbara Ann – great sing-a-long song.
16. Caroline, No – the single listed as by Brian Wilson.
17. Don’t Worry, Baby – the other first song in my collection.
18. Be True to Your School – another song with multiple versions; I like the one without the female background singers. A JEOPARDY reference.
19. I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times – sometimes, I could relate to the title.
20. Transcendental Mediation – I loved the irony: a relaxed title with fairly raucous music.
21. Break Away – it was a VERY minor hit in 1969 (#63); I didn’t hear it until the mid-1970s.
22. Good Vibrations – probably would have ranked higher except that it was savagely overplayed.
23. Surf’s Up – I have no idea what most of the lyrics mean, but it has that classic BB vocalese ending.
24. Let’s Go Away for Awhile – instrumental from Pet Sounds.
25. Surfer Girl

And, Friends, if I were to Do It Again, under the Warmth of the Sun, I might have picked a dozen other songs and rearrange the order.

When George Orwell wrote 1984 back in 1949, I imagine it seemed that 1984 would reflect a none too distant future for this New Society to take hold. Of course, a version of Newspeak has been around ever since the first euphemism was devised.
(I think the degree to which it took hold in that title decade was epitomized by the lyrics from Tracy Chapman’s 1987 Why?
Why, when there’s so many of us are there people still alone?
Why are the missiles called peacekeepers, when they’re aimed to kill?…
Love is hate, war is peace, no is yes,
We’re all free…but, somebody’s gonna have to answer, the time is coming soon.
Amidst all these questions and contradictions there’re some who seek the truth. )

Science fiction has long sought to reflect on the future, possibly most notably in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Prince’s 1999 may have seen out of reach in 1983, or maybe it was just the apocalyptic nature of the penultimate year of the 20th Century that was so attractive to the songwriter.

I can’t help remembering (again) how I wish MY dad could have met Lydia. Interestingly, both of my sisters send me Father’s Day cards. It surprises me, but maybe it’s a function of me being the alpha male in the family. (Heck, except for my niece’s husband of a year and a quarter, the ONLY male in the Green line.) Certainly, I seldom (or maybe never) sent THEM Mother’s Day cards, but then our Mom is still around. My friend Mark called me last night (his daughter is 10) to wish me a Happy Father’s Day. What really surprised me is that my friend Sarah Kim sent me a Father’s Day card, handmade.

I should note that my father-in-law Richard has been great. His 70th birthday was last month, and we had a surprise birthday party for him yesterday, with his kids converging in Oneonta from Albany, Catskill, and southeast Pennsylvania, along with a few dozen of his friends and relatives. He’s coming up to Albany, so he and I can go to the season opener of the New York-Penn League game Tuesday between his Oneonta Tigers and my Tri-City Valley Cats (a Houston Astros farm team). He’ll feature in the Tales of Lydia a week or so hence.

Still, there’s some fatigue-driven melancholy – I finally fall asleep around 4 a.m. yesterday morning, only to be awakened by my favorite daughter 30 minutes later, so even though I slept last night, I’m still running on fumes – and I’ve found there is only one cure for me: listening to music. Which will be a post unto itself soon. Amazon, do you still have my credit card on file? (Answer, at least at work, no, because we have a new IP address.)

I was thinking about Bill Gates, the epitome of nerdy technogeek, having donated through the Gates Foundation $10 billion in 11 years, and how he’s getting out of the rate race and, like Andrew Carnegie, another “richest man in the world”, is dedicating the rest of his life to even more philanthropic work.

Meanwhile, the technopress has been having a field day with the “Microsoft after Gates” story. One loving story was a slide show of Microsoft’s Top 10 Flops. So, the questions:

1. If you came into money, real money, maybe lottery or inheritance money, beyond taking care of the needs (and wants) of yourself, family and friends, what cause or causes would you spend the money on? There are any number of charities I’d like to give $1000 to outright, then evaluate further.

2. What WILL Microsoft look like post-Gates? To tell you how little I know about this, of the 10 flops, I remember only 2.

3. How much money would you want to have in order to say, “I’m done with working”? With a 2-year old going to college in only 16 years, and with an aging mother and an even more aging house, I’m guessing…$10 million?