Ramblin' with Roger

Just back from conference #2 of the month. I presented there too.

I had this friend I went to school with from about 2nd to 9th grade named Ray. His mother was the den mother when we were Cub Scouts together. I was in Ray and Pam’s wedding in October 1976. Pam just sent me this newspaper clipping from 1961, which, if you can’t read it, indicates that I was helping with the packing for supplies for a “Negro tent community in Tennesssee”. No doubt that my apparel was my father’s idea.
You may notice that they gave full street addresses for the girl Penny and for me; they don’t do THAT anymore, do they? You will also note that they misspelled my last name as Greene. Even then, I hated it when they screwed up my moniker.
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My friend Judy, who drove me to Boston to be on JEOPARDY! in 1998, is taking the show’s test in NYC tomorrow. Another friend called me to give pointers to a colleague who is also taking the test. They are all Albany librarians, so I wish them the best of luck.

Got this e-mail recently:

Got plans for May 19, the day that the movie The DaVinci Code is slated to open? If not, go to the movies. If so, then go to the movies sometime that weekend before May 21. Just don’t go to The DaVinci Code.

That’s the advice being given to Christians by Christians who know how Hollywood works and know the best way to get the bean-counters in Hollywood to
listen:

“May 19th is the date the Da Vinci Code movie opens. A movie based on a book that wears its heresy and blasphemy as a badge of honor.

“What can we as Christians do in response to the release of this movie? I’m going to offer you the usual choices — and a new one.

“Here are the usual suspects:

“A) We can ignore the movie.

“The problem with this option: The box office is a ballot box. The only people whose votes are counted are those who buy tickets. And the ballot box closes on the Sunday of opening weekend. If you stay home, you have lost your chance to make your vote heard. You have thrown your vote away, and from Hollywood’s point of view, you don’t count. By staying home, you do nothing to shape the decision-making process regarding what movies will make it to the big screen.

“B) We can protest.

“The problem with this option: It doesn’t work. Any publicity is good publicity. Protests not only fuel the box office, they make all Christians look like idiots. And again, protests and boycotts do nothing to help shape the decisions being made right now about what movies Hollywood will make in the next few years. (Or they convince Hollywood to make *more* movies that will provoke Christians to protest, which will drive the box office up.)

“C) We can discuss the movie. We can be rational and be ready with study guides and workshops and point-by-point refutations of the lies promulgated by the movie.

“The problem with this option: No one’s listening. They think they know what we’re going to say already. We’ll lose most of these discussions anyway, no matter how prepared we are, because the power of story always trumps the power of facts (why do you think Jesus taught in parables?!). And once again: rational discussion of history does nothing to affect Hollywood’s choices regarding what movies to make.

“But there’s a fourth choice.

“On May 19th, you should go to the movies.

“Just go to another movie.

“Save the date now. May 19th, or May 20th. No later than Sunday, May 21st — that’s the day the ballot box closes. You’ll get a vote, the only vote Hollywood recognizes: The power of cold hard cash laid down on a box office window on opening weekend.

“Use your vote. Don’t throw it away. Vote for a movie other than DVC. If enough people do it, the powers that be will notice. They won’t have a choice.

“The major studio movie scheduled for release against DVC is the DreamWorks animated feature Over the Hedge. The trailers look fun, and you can take your kids. And your friends. And their friends. In fact, let’s all go see it.

“Let’s rock the box office in a way no one expects — without protests, without boycotts, without arguments, without rancor. Let’s show up at the box office ballot box and cast our votes. And buy some popcorn, too.

“May 19th. Mark your calendars now: Over the Hedge’s opening weekend. Buy a ticket.

“And spread the word. Forward this e-mail to all the Christians in your address book. Post it on your blogs. Talk about it to your churches. And let’s all go to the movies.”

Spread the word. And go to the movies on May 19.

So, if Over the Hedge becomes an unexpected box office smash, you’ll know why.

Truth is, I’m one of the 14 people in the country who hasn’t read the DaVinci Code, haven’t been compelled to read it, haven’t purchased it with the intent to read it, and wasn’t that interested in seeing the movie. The e-mail makes me more eager to see the film, especially on the first weekend. The reality is, I haven’t seen ANY movie this calendar year, and I doubt either this OR Over the Hedge will be the first.
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I feel fortunate that the two NYC tabloids have have a firm grasp on theology, judging by their headlines last week, when Moussaouri got life, rather than death. (A more typical headline: “No Way Out” on the Troy Record.) Personally, I was touched by some of the families of the 9/11 victims who testified, essentially for life over yet one more death.

There are a bunch of resorts in the Catskills north of New York City that were built in the late 1940s and early 1950s that, for a time, became destinations for the well-to-do, but later became obsolete, as tourism dollars started going elsewhere – trips to the Caribbean and elsewhere. I (and many of my colleagues) could have sworn that one of those places was the Friar Tuck Inn, where we had our conference. So I was shocked, SHOCKED to learn that it didn’t even open until Memorial Day weekend 1971, with Duke Ellington playing.

Some of my relatives have suggested that it was built in anticipation of legalized gambling that was proposed but never came to the area. The rumors at the time was that there was illegal gambling going on, run by the underworld.

The lobby is dark and eclectically designed. The lights on the ceiling seemed to have a Moroccan design. The room has a large-screen TV, often set on PBS classroom learning, though I did see the Red Sox beat the Yankees there one evening.

One of the many peculiar features is that the main building and some of the attached buildings, named Camelot I and Camelot II, were on different levels. One could go from the 3rd floor of one building and be on the 2nd floor of another.

The hallways were bizarre mazes where people were STILL getting lost three days into the conference. One was never sure that one was traveling the most efficient path. I always found what I was looking for, but I often felt as though I were traveling from LA to San Francisco…via Denver.

I was told by two people, independently, that the hallways in the Camelot sections reminded them of the hallways in the Nicholson version of “The Shining”. One of these people said, “See the little girl? Redrum!” I said, “Shut up!”, because I could envision what he said.

There were a couple sections with Buckingham in the name. One of them, across the way, had little turrets.

The food was serviceable – a piece of dried-out cake here, a funky tuna salad there notwithstanding. More than one person noted that the breakfast bacon was cooked perfectly, not over- or undercooked. I assumed there would be a buffet, but instead we were served from limited breakfast, lunch and dinner menus by a largely energetic staff.

There was an outdoor pool area (not yet in use in this weather), and a nice indoor pool. The exercise room was small, with professionally done signage that indicated that management was not responsible “for it’s use”.

There was a pond nearby with two of the loudest geese I’ve ever heard. There were courts for shuffleboard and bocce. The bocce court was not a manicured lawn, but rather crushed stone, which was OK, except that it had weird grooves in it. The small ball, or the jack, was actually a golf ball. I played a couple times, once against center director Irene, and once with the new librarian Amelia against librarian Josee and counselor Lynn (we won 15-14). After that, I had to deny rumors that I was an old Italian man.

But the most peculiar thing about this place as the fact that there were no clocks. Anywhere, as far as I could see. None in the meeting rooms, dining room, lobby, hallways, or even our rooms. Maybe the people STILL want to make it into a casino.

When I was in my room, the only way to tell time was to turn on the TV to CNN. In fact, on the first day there, I discovered the TV wasn’t working because someone (a previous guest, one assumes) yanked the cable out. Someone replaced the cable – very quickly, actually.

This was, literally, a place out of time.
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Because I was out of town during the big immigration action last week, I missed some of the nuances of the story, such as the LA Times “facts” about immigration hoax.

I DID get to see the Today Show’s Katie Couric listen as Ann Curry announced the death of Louis Rukeyser last week. It was obvious that Katie hadn’t heard the news until that very second, and that it affected her emotionally. It wasn’t breaking news, so I thought she would have been told earlier of the passing of someone who worked prominently for a sister network, CNBC.

As I’ve indicated, I have participated in these music exchanges with fellow bloggers, in part to hear music that I wouldn’t have heard before, maybe hit onto some new, cutting edge artists. And I like quite a bit of what I’ve heard. (Sidebar: here’s what Lefty thought of my last disc.)

So what did I just add to my Amazon list?

Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris – All the Roadrunning
Released April 25, 2006.
My first albums by these artists:
Communique, Dire Straits, 1979
Elite Hotel, Emmylou Harris, 1976
(Picture from Knopfler’s website.)

Paul Simon- Surprise
Released May 9, 2006.
My first album by this artist:
Wednesday Morning, Three A.M., Simon & Garfunkel, 1966.

Bruce Springsteen- We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
Released April 25, 2006.
My first album by this artist:
Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., 1973
My first album by the subject of this album:
We Shall Overcome, Pete Seeger (live at Carnegie Hall), 1963

Neil Young, Living with War
Released May 8, 2006.
My first album by this artist:
Retrospective: Best of Buffalo Springfield, 1969 or
Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, Neil Young, 1969

The Beatles- The Capitol Albums Vol. 2
Released April 11, 2006.
The very first LP I ever bought, Beatles VI from 1965, is in this collection.

And I hear the late Johnny Cash will have a new album out this summer, and I’ll want that too.

So, I find myself still leaning on the reliable “brands”, in spite of myself. Well, there it is.

Paul Simon, who will be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live this week, was interviewed on CBS Sunday Morning in a piece that aired a couple days ago. Harry Smith asked him if he felt 64, and he noted that Paul McCartney called him up on his birthday last October and sang to him “When I’m 64,” so he knows it at some level.
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Friday’s Wall Street Journal had an article by John Lippman about why some TV shows haven’t put out a box set: music rights. WKRP in Cincinnati, The Wonder Years, and Beverly Hills 90210 are some of the shows cited. Ally McBeal has some “best of” programs, but the Vonda Shepherd covers would cost “multiple millions” of dollars.
When the sixth season of Dawson’s Creek was recently released on DVD, 49 of 204 songs in the 22 episodes were replaced.
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I put Music Shack out of business. OK, it wasn’t just me, but the local record store is closing next month, after 36 years in business, and as a former regular, I feel partially responsible. I haven’t been there in over two years. Coincidentally, I have a daughter who’s two. But it was also two years ago when they moved from the WAY-too-convenient-for-me location on the second block of Central Avenue in Albany, to the ‘burb of Colonie. The article is here, as of this writing, but will undoubtedly be in the back issues section come Thursday.

I was watching the news about the Duke lacrosse players, before two were indicted and subsequently arrested. One of the defense lawyers said: “In North Carolina, you can indict a ham sandwich.”

I wondered abou the origins of that phrase, but I didn’t have to look too far. Sol Wachtler, who was New York State’s top judge, once said district attorneys now have so much influence on grand juries that “by and large” they could get them to “indict a ham sandwich.” Specifically, he noted, “Even a modestly competent district attorney can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich.”

Interestingly, seven years after the former Court of Appeals Judge made this pronouncement in 1985, a grand jury indicted him for sexual harassment.

The phrase went into popular use after Tom Wolfe used it in the 1987 book, Bonfire of the Vanities.
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From Truthout e-mail of 5/4/06:
“Cindy Sheehan writes that she (and every single other individual on this planet working for peace and justice) is often accused of being “anti-American” for dissenting against her feral government that has gone wild with lawlessness and greed,…”
Feral government: typo or intentional barb? After all, feral means: Funereal; deadly; fatal; dangerous OR Wild; untamed; ferine; not domesticated. Oh, the article is here.