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October Ramblin’

Tegan and Johnny Bacardi have been blogging EIGHT years!

From a friend of a friend:

Today I don’t have to think about those who hear “terrorist” when I speak my faith.
Today I don’t have to think about men who don’t believe no means no.
Today I don’t have to think about how the world is made for people who move differently than I do.
Today I don’t have to think about whether I’m married, depending on what state I’m in.
Today I don’t have to think about how I’m going to hail a cab past midnight.
Today I don’t have to think about whether store security is tailing me.
Today I don’t have to think about the look on the face of the person about to sit next to me on a plane.
Today I don’t have to think about eyes going to my chest first.
Today I don’t have to think about what people might think if they knew the medicines I took.
Today I don’t have to think about getting kicked out of a mall when I kiss my beloved hello.
Today I don’t have to think about if it’s safe to hold my beloved’s hand.
Today I don’t have to think about whether I’m being pulled over for anything other than speeding.
Today I don’t have to think about being classified as one of “those people.”
Today I don’t have to think about making less than someone else for the same job at the same place.
Today I don’t have to think about the people who stare, or the people who pretend I don’t exist.
Today I don’t have to think about managing pain that never goes away.
Today I don’t have to think about whether a stranger’s opinion of me would change if I showed them a picture of who I love.
Today I don’t have to think about the chance a store salesmen will ignore me to help someone else.
Today I don’t have to think about the people who’d consider torching my house of prayer a patriotic act.
Today I don’t have to think about a pharmacist telling me his conscience keeps him from filling my prescription.
Today I don’t have to think about being asked if I’m bleeding when I’m just having a bad day.
Today I don’t have to think about whether the one drug that lets me live my life will be taken off the market.
Today I don’t have to think about the odds of getting jumped at the bar I like to go to.
Today I don’t have to think about “vote fraud” theater showing up at my poll station.
Today I don’t have to think about turning on the news to see people planning to burn my holy book.
Today I don’t have to think about others demanding I apologize for hateful people who have nothing to do with me.
Today I don’t have to think about my child being seen as a detriment to my career.
Today I don’t have to think about the irony of people thinking I’m lucky because I can park close to the door.
Today I don’t have to think about memories of being bullied in high school.
Today I don’t have to think about being told to relax, it was just a joke.
Today I don’t have to think about whether someone thinks I’m in this country illegally.
Today I don’t have to think about those who believe that freedom of religion ends with mine.
Today I don’t have to think about how a half-starved 23-year-old being a cultural ideal affects my life.
Today I don’t have to think about how much my life is circumscribed by my body.
Today I don’t have to think about people wanting me cured of loving who I love.
Today I don’t have to think about those who view me an unfit parent because of who I love.
Today I don’t have to think about being told my kind don’t assimilate.
Today I don’t have to think about people blind to the intolerance of their belief lecturing me about my own.
Today I don’t have to think about my body as a political football.
Today I don’t have to think about how much my own needs wear on those I love.
Today I don’t have to think about explaining to others “what happened to me.”
Today I don’t have to think about politicians saying bigoted things about me to win votes.
Today I don’t have to think about those worried that one day people like me will be the majority.
Today I don’t have to think about someone using the name of my religion as a slur.
Today I don’t have to think about so many of the words for me controlling my own life being negatives.
Today I don’t have to think about still not being equal.
Today I don’t have to think about what it takes to keep going.
Today I don’t have to think about how much I still have to hide.
Today I don’t have to think about how much prejudice keeps hold.
Today I don’t have to think about how I’m meant to be grateful that people tolerate my kind.
Today I don’t have to think about all the things I don’t have to think about.
But today I will.

What happens when you point the Hubble Space Telescope to a seemingly blank patch of sky? A view that takes you to the edge of the universe!

Salon writes about The viral genius of “Sesame Street”; With its clever riffs on popular culture, the 41-year-old children’s show has become hipper than ever. And in that vein, Renaissance Geek did five Muppet-related posts the week of October 11-15, including not one, but THREE versions of “Manha, Manha”. Curse you, Eddie!

And I love how the Sesame Street video I Love My Hair has gone viral. ABC News even did a story about Sesame Street head writer Joey Mazzarino, (pictured) who adopted a little girl from Ethiopia named Segi, who hated her hair. “She was going through this phase where she really wanted like the long, blonde hair. … She would look at Barbies and really want the hair.”

Felix culpa, which translated means “happy fault.”

Ken Levine is an Emmy-winning writer who has written/directed and or produced for shows such as MASH, CHEERS, FRASIER, THE SIMPSONS, WINGS, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, BECKER, and DHARMA & GREG. He wrote a review of the new movie The Social Network, and someone asked in the comments whether he thought the movie was sexist. The writer of The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin, answered the question in Levine’s blog. Why has the great Sorkin deigned to respond to a query on someone’s Blogspot blog, the less informed in the blogosphere wondered? Levine notes the fallout.

Speakings of The Simpsons, here’s the Banksy opening. Am I the only person who has NO idea who Banksy is?

Dick van Dyke sings the theme to the Dick van Dyke Show, as well as telling us what he knows about Dicks, vans, and dikes.

The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company. All proceeds from the sale of the products go directly to support the free writing and tutoring programs at 826NYC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.

Stan Lee Discusses SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK
When Captain America Throws His Mighty Shield, he’ll be played by Chris Evans, formerly The Human Torch in The Fantastic Four. That’s two Marvel superheroes and two Jack Kirby characters for one career. (Thx to JF for the comics-related stuff.)

ADD reviews Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Human Sexuality. Incidentally, I found this amazingly sensual.

BTW, ADD is having a Trouble with Comics’ Emergency Rent Sale.

10 Unluckiest Musicians In Rock History.

Stayin’ Alive In The Wall (Pink Floyd vs Bee Gees Mashup)

Singer Janice Whaley is covering every Smiths song by the end of the year, using just her voice and some digital trickery.

NASA is in the process of selecting a “wake-up” song for space exploration. The Star Trek theme has fallen to #2! Guess what’s #1.

Tegan has been blogging EIGHT years, as has Johnny Bacardi, which I find incredible.

RepubliCorp™, Buying Democracy, one race at a time.

When Eisenhower took office in 1953, a group of conservative Republicans claimed that the outgoing Democrats had been stealing gold deposits from Fort Knox. Bowing to pressure from the DAR, Ike had the gold counted. Sure enough, it came up ten bucks short: The depository contained only $30,442,415,581.70.

I’m trying to drink more water, so I really needed to know why ice cubes fuse together in water.

A palindrome reads the same backward as forward. This video reads the exact opposite backward as forward. Not only does it read the opposite, but the meaning is also the exact opposite. Make sure you read as well as listen…forward and backward. This video, less than two minutes long, was submitted in a contest by a 20-year old. The contest was titled “u @ 50” by AARP.

Music Copyright QUESTION

Martin Mull did a song called Licks (Off of Records), parodying the musical trend.

Two of my favorite topics are music and copyright law. When they converge, I’m utterly fascinated. Ann from New Zealand wrote about Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree, a children’s song I learned from a songbook in my elementary school. What I discovered from Ann was that the song was not in the public domain, as I had assumed, but was written in 1934 and is still under copyright. More to the point, the Australian group Men at Work have been successfully sued for lifting bits of Kookaburra and putting it on their 1982 international hit Down Under, where I first heard about vegemite.

But the theft wasn’t discovered until a judge on some TV music show misidentified Down Under as Kookaburra fairly recently. I find this hysterical because I recognized the flute bit as a swipe of Kookaburra right away, but I didn’t think it was substantial enough to be a copyright violation if in fact it was taken from a copyrighted song.

I hear a lot of licks off records, especially on live albums. In fact, Martin Mull did a song called Licks (Off of Records), parodying the trend.

Eric Clapton famously lifted Blue Moon and put it in the guitar solo on Cream’s Sunshine of Your Love, apparently without repercussions. Likewise, Bill Cosby swiped Purple Haze for the title song from his Hooray For The Salvation Army Band! album, apparently without legal action.

What songs have you heard that seem to steal from other songs without attribution, either music or lyrics? Note that Weird Al and MC Hammer, among others, always credited their sources.

John Lennon Would Have Been 70

“No short-haired, yellow-bellied son of Tricky Dicky”

The Beatles were my favorite group, and John Lennon was my favorite Beatle. As I stated on Ringo’s 70th, I decided I would list my 10 favorite songs of each Beatle on his 70th birthday, or what would be his 70th. Here’s my JL list, with YouTube links throughout.

Crippled Inside – Frankly, I have lots of #10 choices, but this one jumped out at me this month playing all my Lennon CDs. Maybe it’s because of the juxtaposition between the title and the jaunty melody.

Mind Games – “Love IS the answer.”

Happy Xmas (War Is Over) – I had a girlfriend who thought this was the silliest Christmas song ever. (Had she heard Macca’s Wonderful Christmastime?) But I’m very fond, though I tended to cry when I heard it in December 1980. “War is over if you want it.” Idealist? Naive? Don’t care.

Cold Turkey – with its blistering guitar line, it FELT like drug withdrawal.

Love – very simple, some say simplistic, song.

Gimme Some Truth – I like this so much that I tend to sing harmony vocals, mostly a third above the melody, in the “No short-haired, yellow-bellied son of Tricky Dicky” section. Those particular lyrics always amused me.

Nobody Told Me – I wasn’t really paying attention. When Double Fantasy came out in 1980, I thought that was going to be it for John’s musical output. Then Milk and Honey came out posthumously in 1983, and I felt happy. And I can relate: “Nobody told me there’d be days like these.”

How Do You Sleep? – from the generally mellow Imagine album, it is a really nasty song directed as his friend and former writing partner. Long before the smackdowns rappers were doing on records, John was dissing Paul, and doing it so well! Love the strings; I even forgive the rhyme of Yesterday and Another Day, since it namechecks a couple of Macca songs. What did it mean that George appeared on the track?

(Just Like) Starting Over – the first single from Double Fantasy in 1980, I was so glad to hear John having fun after his five-year self-imposed musical exile. Of course, after he died, the irony of this tune became quite unbearable for a while. Now I think of it fondly, though the other, posthumous singles from this album (Watching the Wheels and Woman, et al) I just never listened to enough to really appreciate.

Instant Karma – always thought it was just the perfect single, from the first two notes, followed by the drum fill. In fact, the little drum solos through I rather like as well. Feels like a follow-up of sorts to the Beatles’ Ballad of John and Yoko.

You’ll note that Imagine did not make the list. I’m afraid that it suffers in my heart from massive overplaying, not just his version but many others, from the 9/11 tribute album to the Glee soundtrack. I’ve just ODed on it, though I always liked the piano part before the vocals come up.

Oh, and happy 35th birthday to John’s son, Sean, who I saw perform a couple years ago.

Picture courtesy of Google
LENNONYC – Preview Excerpt
Watch a clip from the AMERICAN MASTERS: LENNONYC, a new film that takes an intimate look at the time Lennon, Yoko Ono and their son, Sean, spent living in New York City during the 1970s. The film premieres nationally Monday, November 22 at 9pm on PBS.

Salon review: Sundance: John Lennon, angry young man; British hit “Nowhere Boy” delivers a compelling family melodrama about the future Beatle’s Liverpool teen years

Mitch Miller & The Gang – Give Peace A Chance

What if the Beatles were on Motown Records?: an imaginative fiction.

Julian and Sean Lennon Come Together; Having Grown Up Separately in the Shadow of a Beatle, the Half-Brothers Discuss Their Careers and Their Close Bond (CBS Sunday Morning)

Podcast: Coverville 710: The John Lennon Cover Story III

John Lennon: Working Class Mythmaker. I really like this piece. Interestingly, it has a clip about the Beatles and Jesus controversy; the subsequent clip noted the influence of the Ku Klux Klan in the protests.

Tagged, with a twist

When I was about 16, I was among a group of people somehow recruited to sing at a retirement dinner for some minister named Larry something-or-other who I barely knew, if at all.

LisaF at peripheral perceptions tagged me a couple of weeks ago. It’s a short meme, and I’ve got a bad cold, so this matches up well.

If you could have one superpower what would it be?

I think I’ve answered this before with the power to transport myself, a la Samantha Stevens in Bewitched. But I think I’ve changed my mind to flying at superspeed. Even going fast, I’d want the experience of moving. Not an apt comparison, but sometimes when I’m riding my bike downhill into Corporate Woods, I like to feel the wind in my hair – if I had hair and if I weren’t wearing a helmet.

Who is your style icon?

Jughead Jones of the Archie Comic strip. Actually, I have no icon. But I DO have a mantra. Form over function – never! (Unless required by the situation, such as wearing a tie to certain events.) If it looks good but feels awful, it generally isn’t worth it. I was thinking about this when I came across a post on ABC Wednesday about kinky boots.

What is your favorite quote?

“If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” – Yogi Berra. Makes sense to me. I think I’ve experienced this at some points in my life. And you end up like David Byrne of the Talking Heads, saying And you may ask yourself, well, How did I get here?

What is the best compliment you ever received?

My wife said – in response to me helping someone who needed help when no one else was assisting – “You’re a good man, Roger Green.” Which reminded me of You’re a good man, Charlie Brown – same scansion and everything – but that’s OK.

And here’s a total sidebar:
When I was about 16, I was among a group of people somehow recruited to sing at a retirement dinner for some minister named Larry something-or-other who I barely knew, if at all. We never actually had a rehearsal together; I was just given these lyrics to memorize, swiped from the title song of the musical You’re a good man, Charlie Brown.

You’re a good man, Larry U
You’re the kind of reminder we need
You have humility, nobility, and a sense of duty
That is very rare indeed.

You’re a good man, Larry U
And we know you will go very far
Yes it’s hard to believe
Almost frightening to conceive
What a good man you are.

You are kind to all parishioners
And every little child
With a heart of gold
You believe what you’re told
Even if it is a little wild

You bravely face the Presbytery controversy
So they say
Your thought-provoking sermons
Have us thinking, every minute, every hour, every day.

I have NO idea what the heck the “Presbytery controversy” was. The kicker is that I got quite sick that Friday night and never DID sing the thing. Yet I have these 40-year-old lyrics that were obviously still buried in my brain.

What playlist/CD is in your CD player/playing right now?

It’s October so it’s heavy with October birthdays: Paul Simon (solo), Sting (solo), Tom Petty (solo and with the Heartbreakers, Mudcrutch, and Traveling Wilburys), John Lennon (solo and with The Beatles), plus whatever strikes my fancy.

Are you a night owl or morning person?

I used to be a night owl, but getting married, and especially since having the child, I’ve been forced to the a.m. side, unfortunately.

Do you prefer dogs or cats?

I’ve only had one dog when I was a kid, that bit me, which was OK BY MY PARENTS, but not with me. Then he (Lucky Stubbs, an Alaskan husky) bit the minister’s daughter, and he was given to a local farmer. I used to ride my bike down a dead-end street when I was a teenager, which would be a magnet for barking dogs, several of them at a time. So I was wary of dogs. I can think of two – one being a golden retriever (?) named Randle J. Dog who I actually loved.
And my daughter is VERY wary of dogs.

Whereas we had a lot of cats as a kid. My grandmother had several black cats in succession, all called Lucky. But I’ve had no pets since the mid-1980s. But I’d say cats.

What is the meaning behind your blog name?

There is, and was, these radio guys named John Gambling, three generation’s worth, and the moniker was/is Rambling with Gambling. Also, my name is Roger, so it created an almost alliteration, and I’m inclined to ramble about whatever strikes my fancy.

Hey, you who haven’t blogged in the last few months: consider yourself tagged.

The Crocodile Song

I do not know the origins of The Crocodile Song, don’t know who wrote it or when, never heard anyone else sing it.

My father would have been 84 tomorrow. There’s a guy, Ray, who was my friend from second to ninth grade. He went to a different high school and moved to the Finger Lakes region of New York State. However, I was in his wedding in October 1976, and I got to escort his mother, who was the Den mother of our Cub Scout troop, down the aisle.

He’s now my Facebook friend. About a month ago, unbidden, he started sending these messages, a verse at a time:

“Sung by: Les Green
To the kids of the ‘50s and ‘60s at Daniel S. Dickinson, PS #9 School, Binghamton, NY

“The Crocodile Song”
First verse
Come gather around me children to tell the truth I’m bound
Here’s a story when I went to sea and the wonders that I found
Ship wrecked was I one lonely day and cast upon the shore
Now I decided to wonder way the country to explore, explore the country to explore
So I sang, toddle oddle oddle oddle oo I ey, toddle oddle oddle oddle oo I ey
Now, I decided to wonder way the country to explore

Second verse
Well, I had not long walked when there beside the ocean
I saw something move, like all the world in motion
Now I creep up beside the thing, it was a great big crocodile
From the end of his nose to the tip of his tail was about 500 miles, yes about 500 miles
So I sang, toddle oddle oddle oddle oo I ey, toddle oddle oddle oddle oo I ey
From the end of his nose to the tip of his tail was about 500 miles

Third verse
Now I could plainly see this was none of the common race
For I had to climb a tall tall tree before I could see his face
The wind was blowing so hard up there, it blow with a gale form the south
and I lost my grip on the big tall tree and fell smack dab in the crocodile’s mouth, yes smack dab in the crocodile’s mouth
So I sang, toddle oddle oddle oddle oo I ey, toddle oddle oddle oddle oo I ey
I lost my grip on the big tall tree and fell smack dab in the crocodile’s mouth

Fourth verse
Now I could see this crocodile was going to nab a victim….. me !
so I ran down his throat you see, and that’s the way I tricked him. see?
Now I wandered around for a year or two, until I reached his craw (that’s his stomach)
There was a rum case, not a few, and a thousand pullets (little chickens) in store in store, a thousand pullets in store
So I sang, toddle oddle oddle oddle oo I ey, toddle oddle oddle oddle oo I ey
There was a rum case, not a few, and a thousand pullets in store”

Final verse
Now the crocodile grew very very old and at a great long last, he died
It took him about six months to catch a cold he was so long and wide
His skin was about 10 miles thick, I think, or some where there about
For I was fully six months digging my way out, yes digging my way out
So I sang, toddle oddle oddle oddle oo I ey…, toddle oddle oddle oddle oo I ey
For I was fully six months digging my way out
and I got out just in time to come here and sing this song for you!

Ray wrote, “I think we all can remember every word of every song he sang.” Yes, twice a year, from when I was in kindergarten to fifth or sixth grade, my father came to our elementary school and sang songs to my class. Did the same for my sisters, the elder one for sure, since he often sang to each class on the same day. It was always slightly embarrassing when he sang Irene Goodnight, since there was a girl named Irene in the class, and the scuttlebutt was that I put him up to singing the song because I had a crush on her, which I did not.

I do not know the origins of The Crocodile Song, don’t know who wrote it or when, never heard anyone else sing it. There’s another Crocodile Song on the Internet, but it ain’t this one!

I know I sang at my baby sister’s class – specifically remember The Old Lady and the Fly – when she was in kindergarten and I was in 6th grade. Leslie and I also sang at our niece Alex’s class several years ago, part of the Les Green tradition.