Sunday Stealing: The Pen Company

The Good Book

Here’s the new Sunday Stealing, The Pen Company. But before I get to that, a couple of Independence Day announcements in Albany, NY.

 

First, the July 4 oration will take place at the Stephen and Harriet Myers residence, 194 Livingston Avenue in Albany, NY, sponsored by the Underground Railroad Education Center (UREC). Music by Magpie, who will be joined by Kim Harris.

 

Second, Sheila E. will be performing at 8 pm at the Empire State Plaza. One of her singers cannot make it, so subbing will be Rebecca Jade, who is my niece. Rebecca was backing Sheila when my wife, daughter, and I saw them at the New York State Fair in Syracuse back in September 2019.
Onto the show
1. If your house was on fire, which three items would you save?

A metal box in my office that has my birth certificate, my father’s death certificate plus other important documents. A box of photos. My laptop.

 

2. What is the strangest or most awkward date you’ve ever been on?

Oddly, it wasn’t my date. My ex-girlfriend was going to the Washington (NY) County Fair with her new boyfriend c 1996/97. She invited a friend of ours and me to attend as well, because we were all “mature” people. It was…weird. Interestingly, they broke up, I got back together with my gf, and we’ve been married 24 years.

 

3. What are your biggest fears?

The loss of freedom and justice in the United States, based on the actions of several governors and state legislatures, the rhetoric of several candidates for the 2024 Presidency, and recent Supreme Court decisions.

 

4. How do you spend your time when you are procrastinating?

Usually playing double deck pinochle or backgammon on my phone.

 

5. What has been your most memorable birthday so far, and why?

Probably my 50th because I had a big party at my church. I made a mixed CD that I gave out.

 

6. What is your favorite snack?

Fig Newtons with milk.

 

7. What was your first pet?
Peter the cat. He was very smart. When he wanted to come in, he’d jump onto a piece of furniture and rattle the door knob.
I am where I am
8. What’s your favorite city in your country?

It might be Albany, NY because that’s where I decided to live. My favorite place to visit might be Galveston, TX; I’d go out to he pier at 5 a.m., watching the tide from the Gulf of Mexico come in.

 

9. Do you have a garden?

We have a garden. But I have little or nothing to do with it.

 

10. What is your favorite thing about your home town?

My hometown was Binghamton, NY. It was small enough – and my school was tiny enough – that I can to this day name most of the kids in my 9th grade class. And I’m still friends with three of them. Oh, and went to kindergarten with them too.

 

11. What was the last book you read?

A Century of Pop Music bt Joel Whitburn.

 

12. What is the best book you have ever read?

Quite possibly, The Good Book: Discovering the Bible’s Place in Our Lives by Peter J. Gomes. Here’s a reader recommendation from Thrift Books:

“Gomes takes the Bible off its pedestal and presents it to us as a tool for Christian living. This book is a must read for any Christian struggling to read and understand the Bible in modern terms. He explores many of the controversial topics of the Bible, including race, homosexuality, women’s roles, anti-Semitism, wealth, and more. [This is definitely true.]

 

“He challenges the reader to accept the Bible as an interpretation of fantastic religious events with historical and sociological significance. He teaches the reader to deal with contradictions within the Bible, even within individual books of the Bible… This book challenged my beliefs in positive ways and taught me to never ‘idolize’ the Bible again.”
Roger that
13. Who is your favorite author?

It might be Roger Ebert, whose movie essays I enjoyed greatly. His autobio, Life Itself, is the book I would liked to have written, if I had the skills.

 

14. Is there a food that you hate?

Olives. Black olives, green olives.

 

15. Do you get along with your neighbors?
The neighbor to one side, Al, is great. Now, the property on the other side is owned by an absentee landlord, so the quality of the tenants has varied. I’ve written about not great ones here and elsewhere, and the best ones here. But by far, the WORST thing that happened from that house was created by the landlord himself. What a schmuck.

I wrote about terrible neighbors across the street, but thankfully, they’re gone.

 

16. Do you have any tattoos or piercings?
Nope. And I was never seriously interested in doing so.

Favorites: Prince (2018-2020)

I blame SE and RJ

PrinceCertainly, I started listening to Prince anew after he died in April 2016. But he launched into my favorite songs from my favorite band territory because of Sheila E. and the niece Rebecca Jade. Surely, I don’t have to worry about J. Eric Smith’s band requirement. Prince led, for a time, the Revolution, and other times he’s playing 27 instruments.

Sheila sang at a club in New York City in August 2017. Rebecca was one of the background singers. They performed a half dozen Prince songs, including an RJ solo on Raspberry Beret. Then I saw them at the New York State Fair in Syracuse in early September 2019. More Prince tunes.

Let’s Go Crazy: The GRAMMY Salute To Prince was filmed at the Los Angeles Convention Center on January 28, 2020, two days after The 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards. The all-star lineup of artists performed songs from the catalog of “the 38-time GRAMMY® nominee and seven-time GRAMMY winner.” Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and Sheila E. were pegged to be the musical directors. Rebecca Jade was a last-minute replacement for another back-up singer.

The tribute concert, originally aired Tuesday, April 21, the four-year anniversary of the superstar’s passing, and was rebroadcast on Saturday, April 25 on CBS. Rebecca Jade was singing with about half of the artists, including Earth, Wind, and Fire; Foo Fighters; Gary Clark Jr.; St. Vincent; Miguel; Juanes; and of course, Sheila E.

Songs

I own all of the Prince albums from the 1980s on vinyl or CD. 1999, Purple Rain and Sign O’ the Times are my favorites. Making YouTube links prior to 2016 was… a challenge. Song list is vaguely leading to my favorite.

Starfish and Coffee – it’s a song I saw on The Muppets
It’s Gonna Be a Beautiful Night – live, and it does that Wizard of Oz thing
Kiss
Uptown

The Cross
Raspberry Beret
Controversy
Purple Rain

Delirious
Little Red Corvette
When Doves Cry
I Would Die 4 U/Baby I’m a Star -I always hear these together

Nothing Compares 2 U, featuring Rosie Gaines
1999
Sign o’ the Times
Let’s Go Crazy. I have the 12″ of this, too.

The time we met Sheila E.

The Glamorous Life

Rebecca Jade.Lynn Mabry.Sheila E
Rebecca Jade.Lynn Mabry.Sheila E

If you go to the New York State Fair, there will be structures filled with animals. Lots of animals. We saw none the day before, so off to the cattle barn on Sunday, September 1. We went into the dairy barn. Nearby was the dairy products building, where the butter sculpture, which looked like two sockhop teens at a diner, was located.

We saw the aquarium and saw all the 4-H setups. Most counties were represented in the 4H area. Also, my daughter got her hair done and she decided to buy some product with her own money.

Mostly, though, we were vamping for time until Sheila E.’s 2 pm performance. I bought what was purported to be a chicken spiedie. A kid from Binghamton, NY knows what a spiedie looks like and tastes like. Was this marinated at all? And it was baked or boiled, certainly not grilled.

The Chevy Court, the outdoor venue where the performance would take place already had about one hundred people in the space by 1 pm for a 2 pm program, so we took our seats just behind a section designated for folks in wheelchairs.

My niece, Rebecca Jade, and I texted back and forth. She came out from backstage just after she arrived, around 1:30, and we got to get hugs.

SHOW TIME!

The show started on time with the Funky National Anthem: Message 2 America. Some folks stood. This segued into some covers of what sounded like Parliament/Funkadelic and, of course, Prince.

Leader of the Band was a song by Pete Escovedo, Sheila’s dad. For the first time, she performed the new song No Line, featuring Snoop Dog’s prerecorded vocals.

Sheila had audience members dancing onstage to something called Bailar. Lynn Mabry (I’ll Take You There) and Rebecca each got solos. This was in part because, though you couldn’t tell by looking at her, the star wasn’t feeling well, from some bad seafood the day before.

Still, Sheila circumnavigated the grounds, singing with her guitar. I couldn’t actually SEE her because everyone was standing, but I did see her instrument as she walked around the handicapped area.

She ended with a medley that includes her version of America, plus a bunch of Prince songs, including Baby I’m A Star. Naturally, she concluded with The Glamorous Life and a drum solo. Some of the songs were the same as two years ago, but hardly all.

My wife, daughter and I left, with a plan to pick up the niece 30 minutes after she got to her hotel. But as we got about a quarter-mile away, I checked my phone. Rebecca texted that Sheila wanted to meet us! We scurried back.

We went backstage with a couple of my sister Leslie’s friends, Cathy and John. John was the guitarist for sister Leslie’s first band in Binghamton, Crystal Ship. Kathy was the longtime significant other of Bobby, Crystal Ship’s late drummer.

Sheila and Lynn both came out from behind the curtain to the dressing area. Sheila hugged us all. Someone, maybe Lynn, said I looked like Leslie with a beard, which I suppose is an insult to Leslie.

We ended up at the hotel where she was staying. Rebecca, all showered, went out with us for dinner. She explained trying to balance her own gigs in the San Diego area with being on the road with Sheila. She now has some entity to arrange her agenda. It was a great time seeing the niece for more than five minutes after the show.

After we dropped Rebecca off, my wife drove us back to Albany, frequently during a driving rain.

2017 in review: my passport is in order

They’re doing it all: killing health care, lowering taxes on the rich, destroying the environment, taunting other world leaders


This is that thing that Jaquandor does on December 31, but I do on January 1.

Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Ya know, it wasn’t a New Years’ resolution, per se, but my wife and I swore this year (and for about ten years previous) that we would make a will, and we finally did this summer. You should probably do that too.

Did anyone close to you give birth?

My friends Susan and Anna had babies

Did you attend any weddings?

Don’t think so.

Did anyone close to you die?

Shockingly, no

What countries did you visit?

None, but my passport is in order, just in case.

What would you like to have in 2018 that you lacked in 2017?

To live in a just country.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

The aforementioned will.

What was your biggest failure?

Failing to create more Roger time, which can generate stress.

What was the best thing you bought?

A smartphone, my first. And I got that ONLY because I lost my flip phone that I had had for a decade or more.

Whose behavior merited celebration?

A lot of people, actually:
Robert Mueller
Those who went on the Women’s March on January 21
The #MeToo women and men
The folks loosely called the Resistance
The comedians, including John Oliver, Seth Meyers, Samantha Bee, Trevor Noah, the folks at Saturday Night Live, and, surprisingly, Jimmy Kimmel, who I did not particularly like heretofore
Those who helped the people dealing with the weather disasters of Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma in Florida and especially Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico
Those who helped the people dealing with the human-made disasters of explosions, mass shootings, and weaponized cars

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Supreme Court justice Neil Gorsuch, who appears to be as terrible as promised
The US Congress, passing legislature, passing legislation contrary to the needs and the will of its constituents
The US Cabinet who have the mission to negate all the success their agencies have achieved
The White House liars-in-chief, such as Kellyanne Conway and Sarah Huckabee Sanders
The litany of sexual predators, starting with Harvey Weinstein
And most of all, the terrible guy who promotes awful legislation, negates the progress of previous administrations, tells big fat lies, AND who is a sexual predator

Where did most of your money go?

The house, though we had no big projects.

What did you get really excited about?

The idea of retiring someday; also seeing Sheila E with Lynn Mabry in NYC in August

Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?

Only a little sadder, but really pissed off

Thinner or fatter?

About the same

Richer or poorer?

Richer, marginally

What do you wish you’d done more of?

Sleeping, writing, thinking

What do you wish you’d done less of?

Thinking about Agent Orange

How did you spend Christmas?

Christmas Eve means singing at church, so that. Eventually we go to the in-laws

Did you fall in love in 2017?

Sure

How many one-night stands?

Jaquandor: “Now, that’s not the kind of question a gentleman answers! (Another stock answer!)”

What was your favorite TV program?

Finding Your Roots, CBS Sunday Morning, CBS This Morning Saturday, JEOPARDY!

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Hate is such an ugly word. But I certainly loathe the behavior of a whole lot of people; see above

What was the best book you read?

Inventing America: Rockwell + Warhol from the Norman Rockwell Museum

What was your greatest musical discovery?

There’s a group called Spoon I saw on CBS This Morning Saturday who I really liked

What did you want and get?

The new Hess truck

What did you want and not get?

Clarification of what I’m supposed to do about Medicare if I’m not retiring yet

What were your favorite films of this year?

I Am Not Your Negro; Hidden Figures; Kedi; The Big Sick; Fences

What did you do on your birthday?

I took off the day from work and…oh, who knows?

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2017?

I still don’t get those pajama-like items being worn in public

What kept you sane?

Yet again I argue the premise of the question. That said, my dads’ group in church. seeing my best college friend more than once.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Surprisingly, Ariana Grande (who I disliked from her Disney shows), who showed up in Birmingham, England only a couple weeks after her show was disrupted by a bomb

What political issue stirred you the most?

Here’s the thing: lots of people said THEY are doing THIS to DISTRACT you from them doing THAT. I don’t believe it. They’re doing it all: killing health care, lowering taxes on the rich, destroying the environment, taunting other world leaders (unless they’re thugs, such as the guy in the Philippines), etc, etc. That said, immigration, and our restrictive policies is doing large and possibly irreversible damage to our economy, is probably my core issue. It’s hurting education, tourism, farming…

Who was the best new person you met?

Some new church members.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2017:

The trouble with normal is it always gets worse.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

From Funky National Anthem: Message 2 America by Sheila E.

“That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness”

December rambling #1: Sheila E. turns big 6-0

Rebecca Jade [the niece], Ashling Cole, Sheila E., Lynn Mabry before taking the stage at the Paramount Theatre of the Arts in Oakland, CA during 60th birthday month of Sheila E., Dec 2017
How Facebook Figures Out Everyone You’ve Ever Met

“Apocalyptic” Melting Transpires in Antarctica as Earth Wraps Up a Scorching Year

The Environmental Protection Agency wipes climate change from its website

Huge Bubble of Hot Rock May Be Rising Under New England

Atheists are nicer to Christians compared to the other way around

The Jerusalem Issue, Explained

Joe Biden to Anita Hill: “I Owe Her an Apology”

Arthur voted for John Anderson

Inspirational news stories that are anything but

With 2020 Census Looming, Worries About Fairness and Accuracy

American prisons end face-to-face visits – and families suffer

Why Verizon’s insurance plan covers… nothing

Congratulations, Australia!

Racism, Fundamentalism, Fear and Propaganda

Americans receive ‘threatening’ automated calls telling them to stop criticising Trump

SATIRE! Palestinians recognize Texas as part of Mexico and World to recognize Moscow as capital of the United States

A president… unfit to clean toilets in Obama’s presidential library or to shine George W. Bush’s shoes

Former ‘Son of Sam’ at Albany Med for heart ailment

On SNL, Santa’s Tricky Moment With Savvy Kids

Derivative Sport: The Journalistic Legacy of David Foster Wallace

Colonoscopy…..is such a lonely word – as I heard a comedian say recently, life is like a colonoscopy prep

Once in a while the pessimist is wrong

Why we need art

in praise of second fiddle

Levidrome – a series of letters that yields up a word in one direction and a wholly different word in the other

Mark Evanier’s blog post #25,000

The Complicated Legacy Of A Panda Who Was Really Good At Sex

Now I Know: The Largest Man-Made Accidental Explosion and What Do You Do With 10,000 Pounds of Spoiled Mayo? and How NASA (Almost) Got Its Rock Bag Back and The Problem With Five-Cent Hot Dogs and The Surprising Way to Get Rejected

Talking about Kevin

MUSIC

Que je t’aime – Johnny Hallyday; and A million take to Paris streets for his funeral

Pat DiNizio, lead singer and songwriter of The Smithereens died at age 62

Happy Harry Chapin Day and Coverville 1196: Cover Stories for Billy Bragg and Harry Chapin

Trump vs Talking Heads – Swedemason

Coverville 1195: The Jimi Hendrix Cover Story IV

The Alan Parsons Project: If you believe in the power of magic…

More of the Whitney Avalon Show!

BBC: Perfect Day and God Only Knows

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of 2018 inductees. Performer Category: Bon Jovi (inevitable), The Cars (voted for), Dire Straits (would have voted for if there weren’t 19 candidates for five slots), The Moody Blues (my pick), Nina Simone (worthy but hardly rock – see Baez, Joan). Award for Early Influence: Sister Rosetta Tharpe (should never have been on the competitive ballot; just put her in!)

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