Ramblin' with Roger

Give up?

I got this e-mail from a friend last month. I called him back that weekend and tried to give him some encouraging words, like a couple W political losses at that time. But I’m not certain how well I did. Do YOU folks have some ideas?

You know, I actually don’t know anyone else I could discuss this meaningfully with; most of my friends are either apolitical or cynical to the point of absurdist caricature (with some nihilism thrown in for that extra value added).

At what point do we give up?

As I do every [public radio] fund drive, I donate $100, and heck, I get a CD out of it…Maurice Hinchey on the History of War with Iraq, Scott Ritter on the Myth of WMD in Iraq. This time, there is Bill Moyers’ address to the National Press Club at which he reads from Orwell, and talks about the evolution of journalism into consensus-forming rather than investigative reporting.

Then, since I now have cable Internet, I can watch video feeds, and caught William Rivers Pitt of Truthout addressing the Progressive Democrats of America (who, since I’ve become aware of the Congressional caucus of them, I tend to think of as “Green Democrats”).

Then I thought of a birthday card you sent me shortly after we graduated from college, and it said “It’s You and Me Against the World…” and inside, “…and frankly, I think we’re gonna be crushed.”

Amidst my disgust and rage at the corporate masters and the Fundie Dominionists, a voice keeps popping up in my head saying “Your side has LOST.” And much of the evidence seems to point to that. Our belief, and social progress we’ve been made, appears under shock & awe attack on, well, just about EVERY front that is important to me.

And I do love my country and the founding principles, but when does one cut and run? ‘Cuz it’s not just me. I’ve got a family to consider, and I don’t want my child to grow up in this sort of Empire. And Canada, far from a perfect utopia (seal pups and native Americans, and Roman Catholicism, after all), is at least not a warmongering imperialist, their culture is not alien, and the border is so close…

I’m gritting my teeth and will try to endure thru the 2006 elections (but I really don’t know if I can vote for Hillary again, even if I hold my nose), but if the fix is in, or the Cows just stand around chewing their cuds…well, THEY may deserve the slaughterhouse they will be lead to. But WE don’t.

Any words of wisdom? ‘cuz I’m tapped out, my friend.

Peace,

Send profound (or mundane) observations to me, please. Because, while I’m not at my friend’s point, I surely know what he means.

Roots

In the fall of 1678, a 14-year old cabin boy named John Olin, who had been forced into service on the British ship Man-O-War, jumped ship in Boston harbor, swam ashore, stealthily traveled inland for about a week, and ended up in the care of the Narragansett Indians for eight years. He became an indentured servant to a Samuel Gorton until 1700, when he became a freeman. John married Susannah Spencer on October 4, 1708, (Was she one of THOSE Spencers from which Lady Di came? Maybe.) and had four known children, Joseph, John, Henry and Eleanor. Or so it is generally believed.

[For the next paragraph, there may be other children, but they’re not relevant to this particular discussion. The numbers indicate generation.]
Joseph Olin (2) begat Joseph Olin or Olden (3), who begat Reuben Olin (4), [this is starting to sound like Matthew, Chapter 1] who begat John Olin (5), who begat Earl Olin (6), who begat Orva Lee Olin (7), [or maybe the first third of 1st Chronicles] who begat George Omar Olin (8). George married Leona G. Ruland, and they had 8 children (all of whom are still alive, BTW), the sixth of whom was Ann Joyce (9). Joyce married Richard Powell and had four children, the second of whom is Carol Ann (10). Carol married Roger Green (hey, that’s me!) and had a daughter Lydia (11).

The books

So, on Lydia’s maternal grandmother’s side, we can trace Lydia’s heritage 10 generations back. I know this in large part because Carol’s uncle, and Joyce’s eldest sibling, Warren, has written not one, but two volumes of 300 Years of Joseph Olin and His Descendents, edited by Joyce.

I’ve found the first volume of Warren’s book listed in the Mormon library. The Mormons are really into genealogy, incidentally, because of their belief in one’s status in the afterlife. (The link to which I’ve misplaced.)

The branches of the Olin family in New York/Pennsylvania (Binghamton), Ohio (Ashtabula), Ontario, and Washington state have held reunions for decades. They’ve also decided to have international reunions once every five years, in Fargo, ND (all right, I hear all those Frances McDormand imitations!), 1996; Binghamton, 2001; and somewhere in Washington state, 2006. The annual Binghamton reunion is this weekend.

On my maternal grandmother’s side, I was able to go back only five generations, to the early 1800s. Unfortunately, my information was lost on a computer that was replaced last year. Fortunately, a family Bible is still around and a cousin of mine has done some work in this area.

Prior to Roots, many black people avoided seeking out their lineage, for fear that they would run into their slave history, but Alex Haley’s portrayals (and the powerful miniseries that followed) changed this dynamic tremendously expanding what was possible for people of all races and ethnicities.

For more on the roots of the Olins, go here.

JEOPARDY! Part 7

Continued from Saturday, July 2

I’m standing at the middle lectern between Tom, the one-day champion with $10,500, and Amy, wishing I could be back in my red sneakers rather than these suddenly uncomfortable shoes. The lights come up on my face.

Alex comes out. I’ve noticed that some of the contestants in the past have applauded him, but none of us did. Too “Wheel of Fortune,” maybe. The host, still with his trademark moustache, announces that this is the LARGEST studio audience ever to see JEOPARDY! (Gee, thanks a lot.) Then he notes that the longer he talks, the less time there is for us to win money. (Well, thank you for THAT.)

The categories were Mountains; Songs by the Numbers; Old Testament Women; The Brady Bunch; Beans; and Body Talk. I’m thinking that I’ll be strongest at Songs, OT Women and Mountains, in that order.

Songs for $100 -“ I know that! But so did Tom- 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
Songs for $200- the song that spent 16 weeks at #1. First thought, One Fine Day, no, wait that’s not it. I OWN this song. It’s by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men. What’s the title? No one got One Sweet Day.
Sidebar: a variation on this question came up a couple of years later during the Regismania version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – The song longest at #1. It was a $250,000 clue. The contestant picked I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston (which was correct at the time, in 1993), and lost all but $32,000. Talk about screaming at one’s TV set!

Songs for $300-Amy beats me to Knock Three Times.
A couple more questions go by that I know but don’t get the opportunity to answer.
Then Brady Bunch for $200- Like lots of JEOPARDY! categories, this one is a bit misleading. It has NOTHING to do with the 1969-1974 TV show, which is good, because I NEVER saw it in the first run, and only rarely in syndication. The category was about people named Brady.
“Unlike his horse, his sidekick, Pat Brady isn’t mounted for display.” I ring in first: “What is Roy Rogers?” Alex replies, “WHO is Roy Rogers?” and I nod, but the answer is CORRECT. This means that I will not go on JEOPARDY! then answer no questions. Of course, the only reason that the others didn’t get it, I figure, is that they’re both too young to REMEMBER Roy Rogers. Ah an advantage of age.
I get a couple more, as does Tom, but Amy seems to be in control.

At the first commercial, it’s Tom $800, Roger $1100, Amy $1900. However long the commercials are at home is how long there are in the studio. I got some water, but again, couldn’t keep it. Jennifer had to re-powder my forehead because I was “shiny.”

While one sees the scores in front of the players when watching on TV, the players here don’t have such luxury. If the scoreboard is at 12 o’clock, and Alex at 1, then the scoreboard is at 10:30. I never saw it except at the daily doubles and the first commercials, and at the end of the rounds.

The interview segment: Alex asks about my music collection. I note that I had 1200 LPs, 1000 CDs and a couple of hundred cassettes. He asked if I had any specialties, and I replied, “I have an extensive Beatles collection.” Wasn’t a riveting piece, but it was OK.

During the practice session, we were told they would be using a lot of video clues. There was a $200 clue in the Beans category. The monitor seemed about a light-year away. I squinted and said Orson Bean, which was correct. (Later, one of the contestants who had not yet played said that he didn’t want to play me because of THAT answer.)

So we get to Old Testament Women, one of the categories I expect to do well in.
$100- Delilah which Amy got.
$200- for reasons unclear, I said Delilah! I KNEW it was Bathsheba but the brain just picked up Amy’s response.
She asked for OT Women for $300 and I’m still literally shaking my head, beating myself up for this gaffe. “Roger!” I intoned to myself. “Come back to the game!” I never even heard that clue, and I KNEW the answer was Jezebel. But no one else got it, either. The mortification finally passed and I did get the $500 clue, which was Sarah.

Tom hits the Daily Double in Mountains, bets $900, but misses it. However, he comes back. The score after the JEOPARDY! round, Tom $2100, Roger $2000, Amy $2800.

Alex says, “Roger, you’ll go first in Double JEOPARDY!”

Continued on Saturday, July 16

RM

You know those folks who can’t come up with a cohesive concept for a column, so they compose these little snippets of unrelated ideas and throw them together? This is one of those pieces. Not only that, unless I find some extra time somewhere, there will be another one next week!
***
Earlier this month, I praised Sandra Day O’Connor for her dissenting opinions in two highly controversial cases. Right after that, she announces that she’s leaving the Court. Coincidence…or conspiracy?
***
Been in the attic again. Trying to figure out what I can prepare ahead of time for those days when I’m out of town, or don’t have Internet access (or even a word processor), I hit upon an answer. I found this folder with a personality profile of me from six years ago, and an astrological reading of me from about 20 years ago. I found them to be surprisingly accurate, and somewhat interesting. So, when I’m stuck, I’ll be going to that well, including at least once next week.
***
There was this “contest” last year to see who would be on the cover of Metroland, the alternative newsweekly around these parts. I didn’t win, but I was a runner-up, and they actually did a story about me which appears about 4/5s of the way down. Such narcissism.
***
As I was checking out some blogs to see if my Mixed CD got reviewed (it wasn’t), I saw a reference to a “racist Mexican stamp”, which led me to another blog, which led me to this news report. The story then was mentioned briefly in Metroland yesterday. Do I think the stamp is racist? At the risk of sounding too PC, do you really have to ask? Mexican President Vincente Fox has NOT acquitted himself well in the situation, either.
***
The United Church of Christ has taken a strong, affirming stance with regard to gay and lesbian members. As my delighted UCC friend Jenny noted, “It will bring considerable challenges for those churches who have not been welcoming to gay and lesbian members.” Probably NOT the end of this issue in the UCC or any of the mainline Protestant churches, including my (Presbyterian) denomination.
***
Venus Williams was a Wimbledon underdog. I like this story of this once dominant player, who, due to injury and other interests, slid down to 14th in the women’s tennis rankings, but came back to win an amazingly hard-fought battle against Lindsay Davenport, part of which I had a chance to watch.
***
The most poignant irony about the horrific London blasts is that people could seek safety in the tunnels during the German bombing in World War II, but that in this case, some of the bombs were IN the trains in the tunnels. I’ll always remember the date as Ringo Starr’s 65th birthday, just like I remember September 11, 2001 as Moby’s 35th (and I imagine how crummy they must feel). About.com reports that bloggers have played an important role in getting out news about the bombings yesterday. Ultimately, I relate pretty well to what my buddy Fred Hembeck (July 8) has to say. My prayers go out to those affected.

He’s the greatest

I was watching the Father’s Day episode of CBS Sunday Morning the following Saturday morning. That’s not an unusual situation for me, time-shifting TV programs.

This particular show had a segment about Ringo Starr and the postcards he kept that had been sent to him by the other Beatles. I had seen the segment before but decided to watch it again, and I’m glad I did. For one thing, the producers added material to the piece including an art retrospective of Ringo’s artwork that premiered the day before the show aired. It also highlighted Ringo’s new album, Choose Love, with guest singer Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, as well as the previous album, Ringorama. So, an old piece, spruced up with new material, was actually more enjoyable to watch than the original segment.

Postcards

The part about the postcards highlighted these cards:

“You’re the greatest drummer in the world. Really.” – from Paul at a point in early 1969 when Ringo briefly quit the Beatles. Ringo thought the other three were tight and that he was the odd man out, but he went to John and he told Ringo that he thought that HE (John) was the odd man out. Similarly, Paul told Ringo that HE (Paul) was the outsider.

“Hello, Toots.” – Ringo has no idea.

“I never thought it would come to this.”- John (& Yoko) after the breakup.

George and his wife Olivia also sent a card from Hawaii.

The volume contains about 100 postcards and the drummer’s commentary. The proceeds from the Postcards from the Boys book are going to charity.

Richard Starkey, the oldest Beatle, turns 65 today. Barbara Bach STILL needs him, Barbara Bach STILL feeds him. Though it didn’t always come easily, he’s still the greatest. While he can tire of taking a sentimental journey (and has to wrack his brain for those lost pieces of history), it seems that the tango all night bad boy of the 1980s has drifted away; he gave it all up. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.