Go Ask Alice

Alice Green is running as the Green Party candidate for mayor of Albany, NY. I’m quite pleased, even though we’re not related.

For those of you from out-of-town, a very quick, very light primer in Albany politics. Remember the Democratic machine of Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago? (I mean the elder Mayor Richard Daley; his son is the mayor now.
Well, Albany’s kinda like that. The last time a Republican was elected mayor was around the time Prohibition STARTED.

Like Chicago, this city was run by a powerful machine. For instance, one man, Erastus Corning, was mayor for over 40 years. And for most of that time, he wasn’t even the most powerful guy in the city. That would have been Dan O’Connell, the Democratic Party chair. I shan’t bore you with tales of the corrupting effect of one-party politics.

Erastus died in a Boston hospital in 1982 was replaced by a guy named Thomas Whalen, who seemed to try to make moderate changes in the system.

Then in 1993 came Jerry Jennings, who ran as an “outsider” and won. But soon he became the ultimate insider, and was challenged in the Democratic primary by a state assemblyman named Jack McEneny in 1997. Jerry beat Jack, and being the vindictive sort that he was, Jerry made sure that someone ran in the primary for the Assembly seat against Jack the next year. (Jack prevailed.)

In 2001, NO ONE ran against Jerry in the primary, and in this city, the primary IS the race.

In 2005, two guys with little name recognition are running against Jerry in the primary, and they haven’t a prayer. The Republican challenger is perennial candidate Joe Sullivan (think Harold Stassen.)

Now, Alice Green, long-time activist in issues of law and justice and a very familiar figure in these parts, comes out as a minor party challenger. It’s EXTREMELY unlikely that she will win either, but her entry will almost certainly mean that there will be a real campaign put forth by the incumbent, perhaps even with debates in the fall, and in THIS city, that’s progress.

For information on all the races, go here

ROG

Jim Aparo, comic book artist

In my mind’s eye, when I think of a Batman cover, it’s not the 1960’s Go Go Checks, Bam/Pow cheesy Batman. Nor is it even the fine Frank Miller Dark Knight. It’s the clean, expressive work of Jim Aparo, who died early yesterday. You can see a couple of his covers here and here (July 19) and doubtlessly, many other places.

Of course he worked on a lot more than the Caped Crusader, and my friend, intrepid reporter Fred Hembeck (July 19), who broke the story to much of the comic book world, can tell you more.

My condolences to the Aparo family.

ROG

Stop USA PATRIOT Act Renewal

What’s the point of having a blog if you can’t agitate occasionally?

The e-mail I got today read: “I know you have been sent several action alerts on this topic, but this one is probably the most important to which to respond. This is the beginning of the end for reform of the USA PATRIOT Act and it is vital that you let Congress hear your voice. Please act on this alert as soon as you can. Thanks.”

I happen to think that the so-called USA PATRIOT Act is pretty vile, and one of my Senators is on the Senate Judiciary Committee, so I’ll need to contact him tomorrow.

So if you’re interested in the topic, go here.

ROG

Arena Football update

Forgot to mention the game we went to Friday between the Albany Conquest and the Green Bay Blizzard.
After the first quarter, it was Conquest 35, Blizzard 21.
At the half, it was Blizzard 55, Conquest 54.
After the third quarter, it was Conquest 75, Blizzard 62.
After the fourth quarter, it was Conquest 82, Blizzard 82.
Almost five and a half minutes into the overtime period, it was finally over: Conquest 88, Blizzard 82.
It was, according to the paper, “the highest-scoring game in arenafootball2’s six-year history.”

We went home at the half.

Unbeknownst to me, Carol had told the babysitter that we’d be home by 9:30, and since it WAS her birthday, who was I to argue?

Weird things about this particular game. Green Bay scored two touchdowns when THEY kicked off. One kick hits this bizarre metal part of the backing net and the ball careens into the field where the Blizzard player just runs it in.

The first 29 minutes of play took about 75 minutes, which I thought was reasonable. The clock doesn’t stop even after the touchdown, only after the point after. The only other times that the clock stopped were on penalties.
But the last minute of the half took 15 minutes! The clock stopped for incomplete passes, first downs, just about everything, including the three touchdowns scored (2 by GB).

I’d go again next season (that was the last home game this year), but I think Carol would prefer that I go with someone else. ANYONE else. But she was a good sport about it.
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And speaking of last, we watched the final episode of The Scholar, which we really enjoyed. The executive producer of the show, who appeared briefly in last night’s segment, is writer/actor/Tut expert Steve Martin.
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Oh, and this is my 100th post. E-mail me cake.

ROG

What’s in a (Band) Name 2

Still in a music groove. (The pun wasn’t intended, and might have been missed had I not noted it.) I’ve been musing again about whether bands can legitimately use their name after members leave and years go by.

The Lovin’ SpoonfulThe current group features Joe Butler (father of actress Yancy Butler) and Steve Boone from the original group, plus Jerry Yester, who replaced Zal Yanovsky in 1967. So the group has the historic right to lay claim to the name. Still, it’s hard to recognize them as such without John Sebastian. Not so incidentally, the group is playing tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Empire State Plaza in Albany.

The Temptations– I’ll make the point up front: when Otis Williams, the last original Temp retires or dies, I believe this will STILL be a legitimately named group. You started with Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, Paul williams, Otis, and Elbridge Bryant. David Ruffin replaces Elbridge, Dennis Edwards replaces David, Richard Street replaces Paul, Ricky Owens replaces Eddie. And on and on. Think Mormon Tabernacle Choir; people come and go, but it’s still the MTC. (An odd analogy sure, but it makes the point.)
The 1980-1 lineup was Otis, Melvin, Dennis, Richard, and Glenn Leonard, augmented by the briefly returning David and Eddie. I saw this septet perform; one of the two or three best concerts I ever saw. They performed as seven, but also as various permutations of the five that were on that particular recording that they were singing (Richard took the Paul parts, Paul having commited suicide in 1973.)

One of the things I liked about the Jefferson Airplane is that when they changed musically, they changed their name, to Jefferson Starship, then Starship. As a consumer, I always appreciated that. (I have no Starship.)

The Who – I really love the music of the Who. When Keith Moon died in 1978, and was replaced by Kenny Jones, there were people who wondered if they were still the Who. But when John Entwhistle died in 2002, and Pete Townsend and Roger Daltry performed a few days later, it was clear the SURVIVORS thought they were still the Who. I just don’t think so, though the Townsend website refers to Who activities in 2004.
Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham died in 1980, and LZ broke up. Robert Plant and Jimmy Page have since performed together, but as Page/Plant, which I consider a good model. Here’s an Onion piece about the Who and commercials.

The Dave Clark Five got together, decided to call a day in 1971 (although Mike Smith and Dave played with others as “Dave Clark & Friends” for a time for contractual obligation reasons.)

The Supremes – a tricky case. The Supremes (nee the Primettes) were Diane (later Diana) Ross, Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, and Barbara Martin, who left before fame struck. Flo left in 1967 (and died in 1976), replaced by Cindy Birdsong, as the group became Diana Ross and the Supremes. Diana left in 1969 for a solo career and was replaced by boxer Ernie Terrell’s sister Jean. To the surprise of many, the group continued to have hits. Cindy left in 1972, replaced by Lynda Lawrence. Eventually, the group consists of Mary, Cindy and Freda Payne’s sister Scherrie. In 1978, after the hits stopped, Mary toured with two other women. In 2000, Diana toured with Scherrie and Lynda, Mary’s old cohorts! Reportedly, there’s still bad blood between Mary (who had, but lost the rights to the “Supremes” name) and Diana. Oy! When Mary came to Albany last month, there was no pretense that it was the Supremes, only a Supreme. It’s likely that there never will be a Supremes again.

ROG
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