Ramblin' with Roger

Section: LIFE & LEISURE Page: C1
Date: Saturday, August 16, 1997
REMEMBERING ELVIS RECOLLECTIONS OF THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF THE KING ARE SWEETENED THROUGH THE AGES FOR LOYAL FANS

I wrote this long essay, only a small portion of which made it into print.

My father hated Elvis. He resented this white artist stealing/exploiting/ profiting from performing black music. (But then half of the musicians in the ’50s and ’60s from Pat Boone to Led Zeppelin “borrowed” from black music). So I never owned any Elvis music as a child or teenager.

— Roger Green, Albany.

Subsequently, I egained more and more respect for the music of the artist, who is one of the richest dead men in the world.

Are you male or female: Lonely Man
Describe yourself: A Mess of Blues
How do some people feel about you: Anyway You Want Me (That’s How I’ll Be)
How do you feel about yourself: Teddy Bear
Describe what you want to be: King of the Whole Wide World
Describe how you live: Flaming Star
Describe how you love: Burning Love; Surrender; Wear My Ring Around Your Neck
Share a few words of wisdom: Don’t Be Cruel; Follow That Dream; Let Yourself Go

So what do I DO with a large prime number?

LIBRARIANS RULE!

“The Hollywood Librarian: Librarians in Cinema and Society,” now in production, will be the first full-length film to focus on the work and lives of librarians in the entertaining and appealing context of American movies. American film contains hundreds of examples of librarians and libraries on screen — some positive, some negative, some laughable and some dead wrong. Films such as Sophie’s Choice, Philadelphia and It’s a Wonderful Life show librarians as negative stereotypes. The librarians in Lorenzo’s Oil, Desk Set and The Shawshank Redemption, on the other hand, are competent and professional. Dozens of interviews of real librarians will be interwoven with movie clips of cinematic librarians and serve as transitions between the themes of censorship, intellectual freedom, children and librarians, pay equity and funding issues, and the value of reading.”
Here’s a video clip of Ann Seidl, writer and director, in an address to the California Library Association, November, 2005.
Some related sites:
HERE
HERE
HERE
HERE
AND HERE

I’m forever getting CHAIN LETTER e-mails:
“A directory of cell phone numbers will be published soon.” This is partially true. “This opens the door to solicitors calling our cell phones using up our minutes.” Well, no. As a librarian, I’m compelled to get to the bottom of these things.

And speaking of librarians, remember The LIBRARIAN ACTION FIGURE. Remember, librarians kick butt.

POLITICS

An American hero died last week. My Lai Pilot Hugh Thompson, who helped stop the massacre during the Vietnam war, was 62.

Friend Dan finally got off his butt and started his own political blog. As he said, “About effing time.”

But before he did, he sent me Astonishing architecture. Of course, he had something to say: “Astonishing to the point of idiocy. Like, with all this glass, who is supposed to pay the energy bills? What about privacy, especially at night? How can acrophobiacs live in these places? Who lets their kids play on a spiral staircase with no risers? And why is there a black and white TV in the fireplace?”
(It reminds me me of that National Lampoon Christmas song about a glass-bottom boat. “I don’t want to fish looking up my dress.”)

Dick Morris and his wife, Eileen wrote a new book: Condi vs Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race and he’s autographed a number of them. He writes: “The premise of the book is simple: Only Condoleezza Rice can effectively stop Hillary Clinton from winning the presidency! The book explains why and sets out a plan to draft her for the nomination.” A pox on both THOSE houses, but if you’re interested: Eh.

A children’s book, with sample illustrations on the web site: “Why Mommy Is a Democrat!”

Katrina Will Make Proving Where You Live Difficult in 2006:
Annette Watters’ article raises some interesting issues about the Census Bureau’s population estimates, especially for subcounty areas, and the impacts of disasters of various kinds. It suggests that just when the need for accurate estimates tends to be greatest (periods of unusual and rapid changes), is when they become least accurate.

Republican wants to change Census count

Meanwhile, Rep. Maloney Says Constitutional Amendment to Remove Non-Citizens From Census Is Counter to American Ideals and Impractical

MUSIC

Nellie McKay, one of Fred Hembeck’s favorite artists, has been dropped by her label over artistic differences.

Of course, his big hit was “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine”, one of only two Lou songs I own, but he put out dozens of albums, and appeared in several movies and TV shows, often doing voice work.

I knew him second best for his charitable work, which included telethons that helped the United Negro College Fund raise nearly $200 million. He was ABC News’ person of the week, although they said he was born in 1935 and was 72 years old, his age was apparently the source of much confusion.

But, I’ll always remember him best for a TV commercial that appears on this album. It’s one of the best performed songs from commercials ever. I reckon there are worse things to be remembered for.

2. Not gonna ask you who’s gonna be nominated for the Oscars. I’d rather know: Why do we care? I care, and I’ve seen fewer films this year than in a very long time. I will almost certainly have my rooting interests.

3. What do think is the worst (most embarassing, most inept) Oscar moment that you’ve seen or heard about?

BONUS QUESTION: The Washington Post notes: “The board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has chosen the co-star of ‘Death to Smoochy’ and ‘Big Daddy’ to host its prestigious Academy Awards ceremony, which this year will again be broadcast on ABC.”
But if Jon Stewart should suddenly become unavailable to host the Oscars, how about “Fred Hembeck”? Not Fred Hembeck, but “Fred Hembeck”, experienced host of the Fantastic Four Roast?

One of my least favorite tasks at work is something called case reading. Those of us in the Central office have to proofread the information electronically sent to us from the centers across the state. It is an incredibly boring thing to do, made worse by the fact that the centers think I’m just a librarian-in-a-bun fussbudget. I didn’t ask for this task. At the end of the weekly “joy” I invariably say, “There’s an hour/90 minutes/two hours of my life I’ll never get back.”

Until recently, I had to tell the MIS folks that I had completed the venal job. But rather than just write, “Done with casereading”, I would, as my own personal protest, take some music I was listening to, probably something I got from Fred Hembeck, and alter the title with a form of the word casereading. It’s very Loganian. (Loganesque?)