Ramblin' with Roger

1. If you’re old enough, what do you remember about the Beatles on Sullivan? If you’ve seen it on video or DVD, what’s your impression of it now?

2. Why were the Beatles such a big deal? Talent? Luck? Timing? Many historians peg the JFK assassination and a national need for something “frivolous” as part of the reason. Do you agree?

3. The JFK funeral, the Beatles on Sullivan were American community events. As more media outlets become available, there’s been a lack of that “American community”, except probably 9/11. Is this a good or bad thing, and why? Or does it not matter?

http://www.therememberingsite.org/ Sharing our collective memories. Friend Sarah’s little passion project.

LET”S GO TO THE VIDEO

An Okie I knew sent a link to a video of PURE DC doing a little guerilla belly dancing at NCOR. “Like one of our drummers said, we anarched the anarchists!!! I’m in there , way in the back of the line in the processional and pretty visible in the circle.”

http://www.funnyplace.org/ Source of the “funniest videos.”

NEWS

National Grid Surcharge: Don’t want my utility company to suffer because January was so warm. (9 degrees F above normal in Albany.)

The great “Grampa” Al Lewis age controversy here and here (Feb 8).

TECHNOLOGY

How Invisibility Cloaks Work

If you’re tired of dealing with IVR (interactive voice recognition) systems rather than humans when what you need is actual customer service, check this out.

Top 10 Net Hoaxes / Urban Legends of 2005

On voting:
BradBlog.com: truly the best up-to-the-minute coverage on electronic voting
BlackBoxVoting.com: another excellent site that provides insight into electronic voting
BlackBoxVoting.org: a non-profit organization also focused on electronic voting irregularities
Article about Ranked voting: Less money, more turnout

Periodically, Mark Evanier posts something called “There’s No Such Website!” He lists five preposterous-sounding websites, four of which are actually legit. Usually, I find the bogus one on the third pick, but this week, for the first time, I got the fake one on the first pick! Check back through his site for other examples of this game.

Friend Daniel writes: “Let me know if this works, OK? And be sure to hold that cell phone real close to your head….”

Is your internet connection slower than a snail? These guys actually tested to find out.

Cyberpal Chris “Lefty” Brown used to have his blog here on Blogger, but it somehow got taken over by other forces (and not very interesting ones at that). So now he’s here on Blogger until he can be at his own site here. All of which got me wondering if I should get MY own URL. Ponder. Ponder.
Oh, and the term “cyberpal”: don’t know what else to call the man. I’ve never met him, never heard his voice. I read what he writes (and apparently, vice versa), we e-mail back and forth, and I’ve participated in his music exchanges. I care for his well-being (and that of his wife Kelly, who’s recovering from surgery to – it is hoped – relieves her chronic pain). So what DO you call someone who fits that description?

Lefty may relate to this one: Effects of Domain Hijacking Can Linger

RELIGION

Lefty may also appreciate this:

Jesus Radicals aspires to be a resource for those who believe that the Christian Gospel is primarily a message of love and peace, and that militarism, capitalism and the state are idols that stand in stark contrast to the rejection of power by Jesus in favor of a personalist way. If you are questioning the church’s involvement in these idols and wonder if there is a better way to follow Jesus:

You are not alone.

American evangelical Christians tackle global warming

CENSUS

I’ve discovered this website: http://www.epodunk.com/ – it’s a good collection of data about a place. I’ll particularly use the link to religious adherents by county, greatest concentration of ancestries, and some of their surveys indicating the places that are most liberal, best home town (stability in population), most Starbucks-addicted place, most friendly town when you’re gay and 50, and much more.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1551127
Changing Census Rules in Prison Towns: currently, prisoners are counted in the prison towns. What would changing that formula mean?

Historical Census Statistics on the Foreign-Born Population (#81) and others

2004 State Government Finances – Alaska traditionally leads the country in per capita revenue and expenditure. Whether that trend continues can be found in this latest report for the 50 state governments. Detailed data is revealed on revenue by type and source, such as taxes, charges and federal aid; expenditures by function (e.g., police, fire and education); and cash and security holdings.

http://www.fcw.com/article92079-01-24-06-Web
The U.S. Government Printing Office last month introduced a new database called the Registry of U.S. Government Publication Digitization Projects at its GPO Access Web site. The database “will serve as a locator tool for identifying federal document
collections that are being digitized.”

POLITICS

Another item sent to me by a former comic book artist:

The 23rd Qualm

I didn’t have the Vee Jay album Introducing The Beatles (’63) or
or the A Hard Day’s Night (’64) on United Artists album quite possibly until 1969.

It’s obvious (as I think back on it) why I didn’t have them earlier: I belonged to the Capitol record club! With the money from my paper route, I entered the world of the LP. My first album was Beatles VI, and I worked backwards and forwards, including The Beatles Story. So I had Something New relatively early and the similar HDN relatively late. I remember getting Meet the Beatles in STEREO, which was a problem, because I only had a mono player! (I didn’t play it for weeks, then I did, and it SEEMED to play OK…) I also got Daydream-Lovin’ Spoonful, Pet Sounds-Beach Boys, Herman’s Hermits’ Greatest Hits, and, of course, BIG HITS FROM ENGLAND AND USA: one side two songs each from BEATLES, BEACH BOYS, and PETER & GORDON, the other side, 2 songs by NAT KING COLE and CILLA BLACK, plus “Tears and Roses” by AL MARTINO. I probably still have it upstairs in the attic.

My father did go out and buy us an album in 1964. Unfortunately, it was this one:

My sister Leslie and I tried to hide our disappointment, but in fact were horrified that he had made such an obvious error. Later, I learned that lots of parents in America made the same mistake.

The first LP I ever bought not from the club was “Yesterday”…and Today for $2.99 at the Rexall. Probably the second album I bought at a store was Sgt. Pepper, for the outrageous cost of $3.67, at W.T. Grant. (Why do I remember these amounts? I don’t know.)

Thrice a year, I play all of my Beatles CDs, in February, June and October, which, not coincidentally are the birth months of Messrs. Harrison, McCartney and Lennon, respectively. I also play the solo artists in their respective months. But what of poor Ringo, you ask? Well, his birthday is in July, terribly close to Macca’s, so during that month, in addition to solo Starr, I listen to Beatles cover albums. I love Beatles cover albums. I have quite a few.

***
Friend Fred noted a source of some downloads recently. For the record (as it were), I have owned Bill Cosby doing the title song from Sgt. Pepper for decades on vinyl; it appears on the Hooray for the Salvation Army Band album. It also includes Funky North Philly and other parodies, and I believe is scheduled for rerelease on CD this year.
***
Don’t know how long this 1968 LA Times article about the Beatles getting cheated at the Grammys will stay up.
***
Johnny B. has news about the health of Beatles sideman Billy Preston.

Then, for Fred Hembeck’s tribute to Black History Month last year, he did an extensive and interesting piece on the the comic book adaptation. I learned a great deal from it. Read it now – go down to February 25. I’ll wait.

But the reading created more questions. Specifically, I was even more confused about one aspect – why is the term “Uncle Tom” pejorative? For it was really Sambo and Quimbo who were what would later be called “Uncle Toms”. So, why is Uncle Tom such a derisive term? Seeking to shed a little light on the subject, I found a National Geographic article that I hoped would shed some light. Quoting it:

Meanwhile, the public persona of Uncle Tom was undergoing a dramatic change. Instead of the symbol of a strong, spiritual man, whose disobedience to his master caused his death, Uncle Tom became a metaphor for a submissive, weak black person who wanted to be white.
By 1919 prominent African-American leaders began using “Uncle Tom” as a pejorative term to stigmatize blacks who betrayed the cause of their race, said Stephen Railton, an English professor at the University of Virginia. Railton maintains an exhaustive online archive dedicated to the book’s role in U.S. culture.

By the time the civil rights movement was marching along, the term Uncle Tom easily overshadowed the reality of the book.

But this still doesn’t explain WHY. It’s VERY interesting how the meaning of terms change over time, but this metamorphasis I found most peculiar.

My theory, and it’s only that, is that it has to do with Josiah Henson, the model Harriet Beecher Stowe used for her 1852 book. Henson was born in 1789. He and his mother were sold to Isaac Riley about five years later. According to an Associated Press story, “In his 1849 autobiography, Henson recalls how his mother pleaded with Riley to purchase both her and her child, and was beaten by Riley as she clutched to his legs.”

Eventually, Josiah Henson became manager of Riley’s farm. When Riley fell into debt, he had Henson lead a group of slaves to his brother’s Kentucky farm, passing through the free state of Ohio, but Henson decided against running away to keep his word to Riley. Stowe cited this action not to flee as some of her fodder for the dutiful slave Uncle Tom.

However, when Riley reneged on HIS promise to free Henson, Henson and his family escaped to Ontario, Canada in 1830 through the Underground Railroad.

Recently, Uncle Tom’s cabin, or more specifically, Josiah Henson’s, was for sale, and was purchased by Montgomery County, Maryland, lest it become a dentist’s office.

In any case, check out the National Geographic article link, for it describes the decline the book’s sales. Thus, I was fascinated that Julie Hembeck’s class was reading the book last year. Surprised, and oddly pleased. Information, rather than supposition, is a good thing. Guess that means I have to go out and read the book…

Yes, I know it’s silly. I’ve watched pretty much every State of the Union for decades. I did decide to pass on last year’s festivities, however, fearing that it would upset my delicate sense of propriety. (Translated: I thought I would start swearing at the TV screen.) Then my wife says to me how I have a “responsibility to be an informed citizen.” Where did she GET such nonsense? Oh. From me, the old poli sci major. Hoist by my own petard. So, I didn’t watch, but the TV was on, and I got the gist, and was therefore suitably irritated.

I’ve watched the ad the Democrats ran that night. And I read the news accounts with the Democrats’ standing O re: Social Security, the headline about our jones for oil. I’ve read what Chianca had to say. I’ve seen Lefty’s comments, which make me feel that maybe it won’t be so bad. No one has encapsulated my frustration about what the man says (vs. what he actually does) better than Mark Evanier. Meanwhile, Eddie’s response is to post a picture that I also received, but chose not to post, for reasons of taste. Obviously, I’m not adverse to linking to it.

Speaking of snarky, someone sent me this:

Coincidence

This year, Groundhog Day and the State of the Union Address
fall very close together.

Consider this irony: One involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication.
The other involves a groundhog.

But my FAVORITE Presidential response appears on the pages of friend Fred (February 1). I think it’s OK to let that birthday thing go to your head a little. (Wait until next month for MY wretched excess.)