Tag: Ask Roger Anything

Comments: Ask Roger Anything

ask away!

commentboxI recently received this comment from a Canadian yahoo calling themselves Mr. Comment; the email came from a yahoo.ca address. They wrote: “Saw you wrote some bs about moderating comments on Levine’s blog today, dude you’ve had like 3 comments in 7 years, LOL.”

What I had written to Ken Levine was “I’ve approved comments on my blog since 2010. Some people tell me I’m violating their First Amendment rights if I don’t approve of their scurrilous ranting. Their understanding of the Constitution is… somewhat lacking.”

I’m fascinated by this person. As far as I know, they are a stranger to me, and yet they would see my comment on another blog and decide to make a snarky comment on mine. So now I have 4 comments in 7 years.

For the record, I replied to yahoo something like, “It depends on the topic. I got a few on my anniversary post and more on the sitcom piece. And I got one from you today, so I can walk under ladders.” That’s a Joan Armatrading reference, BTW.

Now, I do get more comments on my Facebook links to my blog posts than the actual site. And I get fewer comments on the blog than I did a decade ago. Some of those were fascinating when two commenters would argue with each other while I’d sit back.

And I did get a lot more responses when I was participating with ABC Wednesday from 2008 through 2019.

But I suppose that’s not the purpose of the exercise.

That said…

I reckon that I do the Ask Roger Anything regularly so that I might have some dialogue on the blog. Yet I will answer your questions, generally within a month, no matter how you transmit them. You may leave your questions, suggestions, and interpolations in the comments section of the blog, of course, but you can also do so on Facebook or Twitter. On Twitter, my name is ersie. Always look for the duck.

Do you prefer to remain anonymous? OK but you’d better tell me that. E-mail me at rogerogreen (AT) gmail (DOT) com, or send me an IM on FB and note that you want to be unnamed. Otherwise, I’ll attribute the queries to you.

 

Trinity A.M.E. Zion Church, Binghamton

telethons

cropped-Roger.singing.TrinityAMEZ.BNG_.jpg
O Come, All Ye Faithful. December 1959

For my request to  Ask Roger Anything, Carla, my friend from the high school choir asks:

Write more about your early memories of your church and school and your family!! I love those stories.

My, that’s tough. There are SO many tales. OK. I was baptized at my church, Trinity A.M.E. Zion Church in downtown Binghamton, NY in August 1953. No, I don’t remember this.

But my church moved when I was a kid to the corner of Oak and Lydia Streets. I took a search on Newspapers.com. “Bishop Walls…senior bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, will rededicate the former Plymouth Methodist Church as the new church edifice of Trinity.” This was in a story in the 8 June 1957 edition of the Binghamton Press. I vaguely remember him. 

It’s fascinating the detail given not just in this story, but all of the religious goings-on in the area. “The present Trinity Church at 35 Sherman Place recently was purchased by St. Mary’s Assumption Church as part of a site as a planned recreational center.”

Ultimately, Columbus Park was built on that site, right across the street from the Interracial Center at 45 Carroll St, where my father Les would often volunteer. Not incidentally, the park has been informally renamed for Assata Shakur.

One-tenth of a mile

The new church location was two really short blocks from our house at 5 Gaines Street. And we’d cut through the parking lot at Gaines and Oak, making the trip even faster. So we really were at church all of the time. I participated in the children’s choir, directed by Fred Goodall, who seemed to be there forever.

WNBF-TV, Channel 12 (now WBNG) used to have telethons. It was either the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon on Labor Day weekend or the March of Dimes or maybe both. In any case, our choir appeared on the station more than once. In fact, between those appearances and being on the kids’ shows, I was on local TV at least a half dozen times.

My paternal grandmother Agatha – emphasis on the second syllable, not the first – was my Sunday school teacher. She and her husband McKinley also lived upstairs from us at 5 Gaines Street. So I saw her a lot, often playing canasta at her kitchen table, until she died in May 1964. She was the first person I knew and loved who passed away.

My father Les would run off the bulletin on that mimeograph machine. I can still recollect in my mind’s nostrils that specific smell. Besides singing in the senior choir, dad also began directing the youth choir he dubbed the MAZET singers, based on the initials of the church, It included the organist’s younger daughter Lauren, my cousin Debra, my sister Leslie, and me. I recollect that we were pretty good.

OK, Carla, maybe I’ll try this again sometime.

Yogi Berra and March madness

Segregated by Design

Yogi BerraA quick Ask Roger Anything response for my old colleague Walter:

Here’s a baseball question for you, Rog. Someone supposedly asked Yogi Berra if he had been to a favorite restaurant lately. His reply was, “ Nobody goes there anymore because it’s too crowded.” Did he really say it?

He did, and repeatedly. But he didn’t say it first.

Per Quote Investigator, a site I recommend; “Berra has stated on multiple occasions that he did make this remark.” But check out a New York newspaper humor column called Sparklets from the December 1907 edition. “Oh, don’t go there on Saturday; it’s so frightfully crowded! Nobody goes there then!”

Yogi Berra was describing a restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Or maybe New York City or St. Louis. The key term might be “popular” or “crowded,” depending on Yogi’s recollection at the time.

BTW, I was very angry when the Yankees fired him as manager when the team lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1964 World Series.

Links

Race in US History: 4 Facts Every American Should Know

Segregated by Design, a 17-minute video narrated by Richard Rothstein explaining the concepts of his book about redlining, The Color of Law.

Colorado’s Boebert Slammed for Invoking God After Mass Shooting Then Fundraising Off Their Deaths.

Prison Laborers Are Paid Pennies to Maintain the Prisons They’re Incarcerated In.

Sen. Raphael Warnock: “Politicians Are Trying To Cherry-pick Their Voters”

 The Radicalization of Kevin Greeson – How one man went from attending President Barack Obama’s inauguration to dying in the mob protesting Donald Trump’s election loss during the Capitol insurrection.

What Makes a Good Conspiracy Theory?

Why you can’t compare Covid-19 vaccines.

Krispy Kreme giving away free donuts for showing vaccination cards.

 Our Taxes Subsidize as Much as 74 Cents of Every Dollar Donated by a Billionaire

Is an Intelligent Cancel Culture Discussion Possible?

 Weeping with WandaVision. 

Yaphet Kotto, Magnetic Actor With A Long And Varied Career, Dies At 81.

 Marvelous Marvin Hagler, middleweight boxing great, dies at 66.

 JEOPARDY guest hosts so far, including Oz. 

Masked Singer’s The Snail unmasked.

I Am Tola (short story).

The lost tourist, who thought Maine was San Francisco.

Tadpoles: The Big Little Migration.

Now I Know:   A Unique Way to Get Some Jewelry on the Cheap and Long Distance  Love Birds and  A Wales of a Mistake and  A Fishy Way to Get a Free Meal.

Self-Help

The No-BS Guide to Setting Healthy Boundaries in Real Life and How to Set Healthy Boundaries: 10 Examples + PDF Worksheets.

 How to Deal With Difficult People: 11 Steps.

 Change Your Home to Boost Your Mental Health.

 Eat Healthy on a Budget.

Wash Dishes For Better Brain Health.

Vlogbrothers:  How Will Post Pandemic Behavior Change?

MUSIC

Reworking the ‘Hamilton’ Track to Promote Vaccines. I’m Not Throwing Away My Shot and Not Gonna Delay My Shot! and Parody: Pro-Vax vs Anti-Vax.

Journeys by Linda Robbins Coleman.

Amanda Jones. 

 Marine Band Showcase.

Coverville 1350: Covers of Bands Born in 1971 and 1351: Alice In Chains Cover Story and Alice in Wonderland.

Sir Eglamore – Kate Rusby

Train In The Distance – Paul Simon.

The Spirituality Of Van Morrison.

In the Mood  – Henhouse Five Plus Two.

Philosophy of the World  – The Shaggs  (full album, 1969). Is this the  WORST  album ever made?

Misattribute quotes to Ask Roger Anything

Lincoln Internet quoteOne recent Sunday night, I fell into this rabbit hole about a quote attributed to the late comedian George Carlin. “Political correctness is fascism pretending to be manners.” Did he actually say it, or not? I’m still unsure, though I tend to lean against it.

Fascism is a very specific word. It’s not one that I’d think Carlin, who used the language quite deliberately, would throw around in such a casual manner.

More broadly, I hate it when people misattribute quotes to people who did not actually say them. There was this curmudgeon on the CBS News show 60 Minutes named Andy Rooney, who was born in Albany, NY. For years, including for three or four years after his death in 2011, there were Internet memes crediting some damn saying or other to him.

The exception to my general disdain is the Abraham Lincoln quote about the Internet. There are several variations on it, actually, but the one pictured is my favorite.

All of this to say…

I hereby make the request that you would Ask Roger Anything. It could be about misattributed quotes, political incorrectness, or why it was really Benjamin Franklin who invented the Internet. He did, didn’t he? Or you can ask about anything your heart desires to know, as long as it doesn’t involve calculus or Bob Dylan’s new unlisted phone number.

Per usual, I shall answer your fine queries, generally within two fortnights hence. Please leave your questions, suggestions, and interpolations in the comments section of the approximate blog, or on Facebook or Twitter. On Twitter, for reasons obscure, my name is ersie. Always look for the duck.

If you prefer to remain anonymous, sure, why not? But you’ve got to tell me that. E-mail me at rogerogreen (AT) gmail (DOT) com, or send me an IM on FB and note that you want to be unnamed. Otherwise, I’ll attribute the queries to you.

Ask Roger Anything, or 2020 won’t end

Bring on 2021

AskThe Boston Globe listed the 20 best shows on television this year; I have seen NONE of them. I’ve done no sourdough bread baking. How is it that I now have MORE books to read than I did last year at this time?

Earlier this month, the NYS Council of Churches had its Gala, the recording of which is here. There were various speakers and presentations. The CoC sponsored a Youth Leadership Seminar in DC, which my daughter attended. Their info is at about the hour and 25-minute mark of the video. About 10 minutes later, see a pic of a chance encounter with our US Senator, Kirsten Gillibrand.

What’s weird is that the Seminar was in February of THIS year. You know, as people get older, they are always amazed at how fast time goes by. Yet, I would have thought that trip was two years ago, at least. It’s a 2020… what’s the opposite of a miracle?

Or else

In order to purge myself of this particularly infinite year, I’ve determined that you can Ask Roger Anything. You really should. If you don’t, 2020 won’t end. Or so I’m told. If they say it, it must be true. You may ask about 2020, or 2021 if it ever arrives. I’m not a big believer in the apocalypse. But fires, floods, pestilence, strife…

As always, I’ll even answer your queries, generally within the month. You are invited to leave your questions, suggestions, recipes, predictions of end times in the comments section of this here blog, or on Facebook or Twitter. Hey, if you send it to me on Instagram, I might actually have to go there. On Twitter, my name is ersie. Always look for the duck.

If you prefer to remain anonymous, that is permitted. However, let me know if that’s your intent. E-mail me at rogerogreen (AT) gmail (DOT) com, or send me an IM on FB and note that you want to be unnamed. Otherwise, I’ll assume otherwise.

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