Ramblin' with Roger

Sunday Stealing — Interview with Gale

Barbados

Richard, Otis, Eddie, Melvin, Glenn, David, Dennis

Why Interview with Gale for Sunday Stealing? “Back in 2007, a blogger named Harmonica Man posted five questions for Gale at This Was Me. Well, now we’re turning the tables and interviewing you.”

1. What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done? Did it take physical or emotional courage?

I wrote about it here, starting with A Story. But briefly, “I started climbing up [a mountain] just to get a better view” in Alta, UT, in the fall of 1994. I got to the top.

“Now the descent. I tried to brake myself from going too fast. I got maybe a third of the way down, and I began sliding. But I wasn’t too worried until my left leg got caught in a hole, while the rest of my body weight was going downhill.

“My left knee started hurting, a LOT. Somehow, I crawled the rest of my way down, then the few dozen meters to where we were staying.”

This was not courageous. It was stupid, borne of the pain of a deteriorating relationship. Then I had REAL physical pain, which I experience to this day.

2. Where did you meet the love of your life?

At church. I was probably chair of the Council of Ministries, and she was the Membership Chair.

3. What brand/flavor of coffee are you drinking these days?

I don’t drink coffee. As I’ve noted in the past, I don’t make coffee either. When I was assigned to the rotation at work to make coffee, the product was so awful that I was excused thereafter.

Caribbean

4. What’s the coolest place you’ve ever visited, and how did you get there (car, plane, motorcycle, etc.)?

I wrote about this here. It was Barbados in May 1999 on our honeymoon:

“It was just grand to go to any all-inclusive resort for six nights, especially as a prize for coming in second on JEOPARDY on my second episode…

“The ocean was gorgeous… There were three different places to eat dinner, and the food was fabulous. We bought a rum cake to take home; it was extraordinarily delicious. We enjoyed having tea at 4 p.m.

“Everything was interesting to us, from the way the news was far more international to the wall-to-wall coverage of cricket.

“When we returned to the States… Somehow, we were bumped to first class on the five-hour flight home.”

The eighties

5. What’s the best concert you ever attended?

It’s long been two: The Temptations Reunion tour, where Eddie and David joined Dennis, Otis, Glenn, Richard, and Melvin. “I saw this performance at the Colonie Coliseum in Albany County in 1982. First, they sang together, then in groups of five. They started with the first classic lineup, with Richard replacing the late Paul. Then Dennis went in for David, then Glenn supplanted Eddie. They closed by singing together.” And it was a close-up view with no bad seats in the house.

The other was the August 1983 performance of Talking Heads at the Saratoga Performance Arts Center on the Stop Making Sense tour. I finally saw the Jonathan Demme Stop Making Sense movie in 2023. “The first half of the movie transported me back four decades, with the attendant awe, from Byrne’s solo Psycho Killer to the pieces with the full band, including Alex Weir, Bernie Worrell, and Steve Scales. Honestly, I was joyfully exhausted by the band and backup singers Edna Holt and Lynn Mabry’s energy.”

Lydster: telling her about Christy

Christy Harris D’Ambrosio

Among the most terrible things I had to do regarding my daughter was telling her about Christy Harris D’Ambrosio, who died on Tuesday, April 8. Christy was the youth director at our church when my daughter was active growing up in the church. She directed several plays that my daughter participated in, including The Prince of Egypt, Once on This Island, The Lion King, an iteration of Assassins called Shooters, Bethlehemian Rhapsody, a performance using Beatles music, and even a piece that required the kids to write their own content. Christy was also a long-time member of our choir.

When I heard on the Sunday before she died that she was not expected to make it, right after church, I rushed to a parent of another kid who had been in my daughter’s confirmation class. I said, How are you telling your kid? How am I going to tell MY kid, who is in South Africa?

The day after Christy had passed, I tried to set up a WhatsApp meeting with my daughter. It didn’t work, so we communicated on Facebook Messenger, which meant that I couldn’t see her face, just her photo. I spent about 20 minutes discussing almost anything except the news I needed to share with her. When I told her that Christy had died, the first thing she said was “What?”

Christy had been very ill several times in the last four or five years with cancer. Still, she tended to rally and get better. She even made it back into the choir for a brief time. The news was a surprise, yet not. I could hear my the upset in my daughter’s voice and I felt helpless in doing anything about it, which frankly sucked.

Obit, augmented

I’m going to steal from the obit on her Facebook page:

“She was the Youth Director at the First Presbyterian Church of Albany for over a decade.” The kids adored her. My daughter and two of her compatriots made what I guess was a memory box. Christy said it was her favorite gift ever.

“Served as the Albany Presbytery Coordinator for the National Presbytery Triennium for Youth in 2013, 2016, and 2019.” Oh, yeah, she accompanied the First Presbyterian youth group, including the daughter, in 2019, and even got me to volunteer as one of the chaperones on a round-trip bus trip to West Lafayette, IN.

“Coordinator for the New York State Council of Churches Youth Leadership Conferences in both New York City and Washington, DC.” My daughter went on trips to those cities.

“In 2014, Christy coordinated a GroupCares national work camp in Albany, organizing over 400 youth from across the nation to paint and/or repair 30+ homes in the South End, Arbor Hill, and West Hills neighborhoods, as well as the PYHIT Schuyler Inn facility in Menands.” Oh, yeah, our whole family participated in this.

“Christy was honored by the NYS Council of Churches in 2017 for Excellence in Christian Formation and received a Community Service Award from the Cameroonian Association of the Greater Capital District in 2019.

“Christy also worked as an Administrator for Albany Pro Musica and volunteered at Music Mobile, Wizard’s Wardrobe, and Children at the Well (With Our Voices).” Wizard’s Wardrobe is a tutoring program located in the South End, where my wife works. It was Christy who came up with the idea of a Readers Theater, which has been one of the most successful fundraising efforts.

Services

“Relatives and friends are invited to visit with Christy’s family on Friday, May 2, 2025, from 4:00 to 7:00 pm at McVeigh Funeral Home, 208 North Allen Street, Albany, NY 12206. Please enter the funeral home from the rear parking lot entrance only. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, May 3, 2025, at 2:00 pm at First Presbyterian Church, 362 State Street, Albany, NY 12210.” Of COURSE the choir will be singing, because. “Interment will follow at Our Lady of Angels Cemetery immediately following the Service. To leave a message for the family, please visit www.McveighFuneralHome.com

“Donations can be made in her memory to Wizard’s Wardrobe, PO Box 61, Albany, NY 12201 (wizardswardrobe.org) or With Our Voices, PO Box 271, Latham, NY 12110 (withourvoices.org).

Beatles songs not on US Capitol albums

adding songs to the CDs?

Every February, I play the American versions of the Beatles albums. Why is that? George was the first Beatle to visit the United States when he visited his sister Louise before Beatlemania broke. George’s birthday is in February.

Anyway, I’m reminded again of The Beatles songs, which were not on the US Capitol albums while the group was still together. I grew up on the Capitol and later Apple albums; for the former, it was what I got with my Capitol Record Club membership in 1966 and 1967.

I’m not talking about different versions of the same song, such as the single Love Me Do or even Sie Liebt Dich, the German version of She Loves You. The latter song appeared in the Rarities versions (1978-UK, 1980-US).

Misery and There’s A Place were both on the first UK album, Please Please Me, and the US Vee-Jay album, Introducing the Beatles. I heard them in the Beatles cartoons. But they didn’t make it onto The Early Beatles, Capitol’s belated version of Introducing. They finally showed up on the US Rarities.

From Me To You – a bust of a Vee-Jay single in the US in 1963, though it got up to #41 in ’64. Its B-side, Thank You Girl, was on The Beatles’ Second Album. From Me To You is not on The Early Beatles, either. It appears on the Red album (1973), functionally a greatest hits album for 1962-1966. It is the Beatles song I have the most difficult time recalling.

Movie non-soundtrack

A Hard Day’s Night—The movie soundtrack for the first Beatles movie was on the United Artists label in the United States. Capitol could use some of the songs – they did on the Something New album – but could not label the collection a soundtrack. I Should Have Known Better and Can’t Buy Me Love finally appeared on the Beatles Again/Hey Jude album. A Hard Day’s Night is first on the Red album.

I’m Down – The B-side of the Help single appears on the Rock ‘n’ Roll Music Collection (1976), the only new song on the double LP. I knew the song existed from the live version on the TV broadcast of The Beatles at Shea Stadium. It would have fit nicely on the Yesterday and Today album.

The Inner Light, the B-side of Lady Madonna, and You Know My Name (Look Up the Number), the B-side of Let It Be appear on both Rarities versions.

All of them, save You Know My Name, could/should have been on The Beatles Again.

Ah, the Beatles CDs

Of course, everything is made right in the CD era, using the British LPs plus Past Masters 1 and 2. I remember when the CDs first came out. There was speculation that the singles would be added to the albums. But why would they do that, aside from the fact that the early CDs were less than 40 minutes long and had a capacity of more than 70 minutes?

Still, From Me To You/Thank You Girl and She Loves You/I’ll Get You would easily fit on Please Please Me. One could throw in Sie liebt dich.

I Want To Hold Your Hand/This Boy plus Komm gib mir deine Hand might have appeared on With The Beatles; the first two were on the US near-equivalent Meet The Beatles.

The EP Long Tall Sally/I Call Your Name/Slow Down/Matchbox could have augmented A Hard Day’s Night.

Add I Feel Fine/She’s A Woman to Beatles for Sale.

Yes, It Is (the B-side of Ticket To Ride) and I’m Down (the B-side of Help), along with the US-only Bad Boy (from Beatles VI), could be added to Help.

Also:

Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out to Rubber Soul

Paperback Writer/Rain to Revolver

Lady Madonna/The Inner Light to Magical Mystery Tour

Hey Jude/Revolution to the white album

Get Back/Don’t Bring Me Down and You Know My Name (B-side of Let It Be) to Let It Be

Ballad Of John and Yoko/Old Brown Shoe to Abbey Road

Or maybe those latter singles in that singles-heavy period needed their own collection.

Funny Girl; Hindustani violin

Albany Symphony Orchestra

My wife said to me, “Should we try to do both of these things, or is this really stupid?” I replied, “Yes, we should, and yes, it’s really stupid.” We had tickets to see Funny Girl at Proctors at 2 pm on April 5th as part of our subscription.

I’ve never seen Funny Girl, as a movie or as a musical. I did know that it was based on a real vaudeville performer named Fanny Brice, who was in Flo Ziegfeld’s Follies and became a big star on Broadway. Yet I know some of the music: If A Girl Isn’t Pretty, I’m The Greatest Star, and People. Don’t Rain On My Parade contains some of the most interesting chord changes I’ve ever heard.

I liked the first act. The second act seemed to have more focus on Fanny’s husband, Nick. It was less exciting, and the actor’s voice wasn’t consistently strong, cracking at least once.

The genuine local interest was that there was a former Albany High School young woman in the cast, Annabelle Duffy, an understudy for Fanny Bryce, as well as a couple of other characters, and also a swing. Melissa Manchester, known for songs like Midnight Blue, played Fanny’s mother. I’m glad I saw it, but I didn’t love it. I wonder if it was the end of the tour’s wear and tear, for the next stop, in Rochester, was the last for the touring company.

Next gig

We had obtained tickets from friends of ours who were under the weather to attend the Albany Symphony Orchestra concert at the Palace Theater in Albany that evening. After we got something to eat, we needed to pick someone up and take her to the Palace by the 6:30 pre-concert talk led by conductor David Allen Miller and composer Reena Esmail, who had written the Concerto for Hindustani Violin, a piece in five parts: Aakash (space), Vayu (air), Agni (fire), Jal (water), and Prithvi (earth) with an atonement postlude.

We learned that the soloist was Kala Ramnath, playing the Hindustani violin while seated on a platform with her legs crossed. It’s tuned lower than the standard violin, often using viola strings. She’s considered the Ravi Shankar of Hindustani violin. She was accompanied by her tabla player, Abhijit Banerjee.

The first piece of the program was Bolero by Maurice Ravel. We heard it by ASO 11 years ago. As I said at the time, Bolero is much better and more interesting than listening to recordings.

The Hindustani violin piece of music doesn’t adhere to standard Western music signatures. I’m not sure about this, but I could have sworn that Ramnath was looking offstage at composer Esmail to see when to come in. Whether that was true or not, it did seem to work.

Passion

After intermission, it was an early Berlioz piece, Symphony fantastique. The story that Miller told about Berlioz highlighted how he was inspired by his passionate feelings for Irish actress Harriet Smithson, whom he first saw in 1827 in the Paris production of Romeo and Juliet. She later became his wife in an unhappy marriage. The unconventional 55-minute Symphony was subtitled Episode de la vie d’un artiste (episode from the life of an artist).

Then my wife took TWO people home, making it an entertaining but exhausting day.

Re: Berlioz, check out Discovering Classical Music and a live recording by The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France conducted by Myung-Whun Chung.

Libraries are bellwethers

Libraries are bellwethers. “The mission of the American Library Association is to provide leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.”

In the current issue of the ALA magazine, American Libraries, there is an interview with John Green, whose latest book is Everything Is Tuberculosis.

You’re also a staunch supporter of the freedom to read. What would you say to those who are concerned about the future of book challenges, especially in this political landscape?

“I’ve never been so worried about it. I’ve never experienced attacks on my work like the ones I’ve seen in the last couple of years, and that’s even more true for authors of color and LGBTQ authors. It is really upsetting to live in a world where the freedom to read is at such risk, where so many kids are denied access to the breadth of literature because of activist parents going and trying to get books removed from libraries.

Power

“I think it speaks to the power of literature. I think it speaks to the fact that these books are important. But the old saw that it’s good news when your book gets banned because it’ll sell more copies, that’s just not true. At least it’s not true now. What’s true now is that there has been a fair amount of success at removing books from the hands of kids who would otherwise read and be transformed by those books, and that worries me a lot.”

Here are the Banned and Challenged Books data from the ALA. Also, check out the FAQ: Executive Order Targeting IMLS. On Friday night, March 14, an Executive Order was issued to dismantle the only federal agency dedicated to funding library services, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), as well as six other agencies.

Albany Public Library

As previously noted, there are Two Open Seats on the APL Board. Albany voters will select two trustees for the Albany Public Library Board in the May 20 election. Both positions carry full five-year terms, which commence on July 1.

Trustee nominating petitions, with at least 51 signatures, are due to the Clerk of the City School District of Albany by 5 pm on Wednesday, April 30. The library’s trustee election and budget vote are held in conjunction with the city school district. The library trustee candidates will be announced after the school district validates submitted nominating petitions.

I am aware of at least one trustee candidate whom I shall actively oppose. I won’t mention them here until after April 30, in case they choose not to run, although I’ve already seen their campaign literature, which appears to “oppose the property tax increase.” Nearly simultaneously, they’re also running for another public office, which I think is overly ambitious.

I haven’t voted AGAINST a candidate in over a decade, when a neo-Nazi was on the ballot. To show how nervous I was, I considered running myself.

The library is hosting the following public forum:

Meet the Trustee Candidates Forum and Library Budget Session

May 6 (Tue) | 6-7:30 pm | Washington Ave. Branch | 161 Washington Ave.

Talks!

Friends and Foundation of the Albany Public Library Author talks/book reviews in May, Tuesdays at 2 pm, 161 Washington Ave, large auditorium:

May 6 | Book Review | Babel: Around the World in Twenty Languages by Gaston Dorren. Reviewer: David Brickman, longtime writer & editor, language lover, and FFAPL treasurer.

May 13 | Book Review | Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty by Daron Acemoglu & James Robinson. Reviewer: Frank S. Robinson, JD, philosopher, author, & blogger.

May 20 | Book Review | Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make — and Keep — Friends by Marisa G. Franco, PhD. Reviewer: Hailey Hamias, FFAPL volunteer & community development professional.

May 27 | Book Review | Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Reviewer: Elaine Garrett, BFA, MA, STEM Outreach and Workforce Development, SUNY Research Foundation at NY Creates and the NYS Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology, UAlbany.