Day: January 19, 2005

Maybe they should recruit a few language and history students to help with the name

From The Albuquerque Tribune:

High Tech High Albuquerque is the new name of the charter school Mayor Martin Chavez sponsored.

The Albuquerque Board of Education is scheduled to approve the name today.

The tech school – originally called MAST High – is planning to open on schedule in August with 90 ninth-graders, Principal Robin Troup said. MAST is an acronym for math, science and technology.

High Tech High. Other secondary schools in Albuquerque include El Dorado, Manzano, Sandia, Cibola, La Cueva, Rio Grande.

Acadia National Park …

was established on this date in 1929. From the National Park Service:

Acadia.jpg

Located on the rugged coast of Maine, Acadia National Park encompasses over 47,000 acres of granite-domed mountains, woodlands, lakes and ponds, and ocean shoreline. Such diverse habitats create striking scenery and make the park a haven for wildlife and plants.

Entwined with the natural diversity of Acadia is the story of people. Evidence suggests native people first lived here at least 5,000 years ago. Subsequent centuries brought explorers from far lands, settlers of European descent, and, arising directly from the beauty of the landscape, tourism and preservation.

Security blanket

Snow Causes Traffic Problems Across Region (washingtonpost.com):

The weather, in a city that quakes at flakes, also threatened to further complicate the coming and going of traffic in a downtown already locked down for the most secure inauguration — perhaps the most secure anything — in the history of the nation’s capital.

More than 100 square blocks of Washington will be closed for the inauguration, some starting this afternoon.

Fine film

NewMexiKen watched the film Before Sunset this afternoon and recommends it highly. (There are, however, no shootings, crucifixions or car chases.)

Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy played a young couple during a brief romantic encounter in Vienna in the 1995 film Before Sunrise, a warm telling of boy-meets-girl. (I haven’t seen that film.) This is the sequel — they meet again in Paris, now in their early 30s. The film, shot as if in real time, is essentially their conversation over about 75 minutes as they walk through Paris (they also have coffee, take a boat ride, ride in a car). The dialogue is simply superb as they analyze love and life.

Five ristras on the NewMexiKen scale (five being the best).

Your Music Dot Com

From a correspondent at Altercation:

Your Music Dot Com

Interesting business model: Like Netflix, you set up a queue, only it’s comprised of CDs instead of DVDs. They have a fairly extensive — though by no means comprehensive — list. In fact, YourMusic.com is owned by BMG, and the selection is quite similar is to that of BMG record club.

Each month, the next CD in your queue gets mailed to you, for $5.99, including mailing. That’s a very reasonable deal. That’s right, all CDs are $5.99, and there is no charge for shipping or handling. Even better, the DVD/CD combos are also $5.99, And best of all, any of the many boxed sets are sold for (all together now) $5.99 per disc. From simple 2 disc sets, to all of the Led Zeppelin sets, to most of the Sinatra multi disc sets, to the wonderful and complete Ella Fitzgerald Songbooks (16 CDs!), are all $5.99 per disc. That is a fabulous deal.

You can always buy any disc from their catalog at any time, independent of the queue. You can add, delete and rearrange the queue at anytime.

The catch is that if you do not have a disc queued up, you get billed $5.99 anyway. When I set mine up, I added 57 CDs, so I won’t have that problem until 2010. They have a decent collection of Jazz (Sinatra, Ella, Armstrong, Coltrane, Miles,) — again, nothing exhaustive, but good starters and fill ins. Same for rock and pop.

I suspect that some of the A-list newer releases aren’t available for very long. The Best of Sheryl Crow disappeared, and so I moved Modest Mouse’s Good News For People Who Love Bad News up to the front of the queue.

So far, I received my first CD — came on time, and I was charged $5.99 (plus tax). This looks promising for those of us who like our digital music in a higher fidelity than MP3 or AAC.

Choking

Kottke has found an older interview with the ever insightful writer Malcolm Gladwell at ESPN.com. Well worth reading on baseball and drugs, including this, the best description of choking I’ve seen.

For example, if you gave me a picture of blank keyboard and asked me to write in appropriate letters in the right places, I’d have to think really hard before I could do that accurately. My conscious knowledge of a keyboard is pretty weak. But right now I’m typing at perhaps 40 words per minute, and I’m having absolutely no trouble finding the right letter on the keyboard without thinking at all.

That’s my unconscious knowledge system at work, and in that mode I’m a great typist. These two systems are quite separate. And on tasks that we are good at — like typing, in my case, or throwing a baseball in, say, Derek Jeter’s case — our unconscious systems are way better than our conscious system. But sometimes under pressure, we get forced out of unconscious mode. And what are we left with? We’re left with painstakingly going over the keyboard, trying to remember what button goes with what letter. This is what choking is. It’s when you get jolted out of unconscious mode. You start thinking too much.

It’s the birthday

… of Jean Stapleton. Edith Bunker is 82.

… of Tippi Hedren. The actress in The Birds is 75. As it’s her birthday NewMexiKen won’t say how bad she was in that role.

… of Phil Everly. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee (with older brother Don) is 66.

… of Shelley Fabares. Donna Reed’s television daughter is 61.

… of Desi Arnaz Jr. Little Ricky is 52.

… of Katey Sagal. The Married…With Children mom is 48.

… of Drea de Matteo. The actress who was whacked on The Sopranos last season is 32.

Paul Cezanne was born on this date in 1839.

Ei Baa Hashne’

From the Flagstaff Arizona Daily Sun:

Tribal leaders lashed out Tuesday at efforts by some state lawmakers to enact English as the official language of Arizona.

Vivian Juan-Saunders, chairwoman of the Tohono O’odham nation, told a special joint session of the Legislature that English will continue to be the primary language of this country.

“Our children learn it in our schools and we have no desire to change that,” said Juan-Saunders, who also is president of the Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona. She said native Americans want their children to learn English.

“However, making people use only English in government-transacted business is reminiscent of the boarding-school era for American Indians when speaking one’s own language, which resulted in physical and verbal abuse administered by teachers and employees of the school,” she told lawmakers during the annual event at the Capitol.

Kathy Kitcheyan, chairwoman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, was more blunt.

“In plain English … to the state of Arizona, we don’t like it and we don’t want it,” she said to legislators. “We as the first Americans never asked our visitors to speak a specific language.”

… [Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa,] said, it simply requires “official functions of the government” to be conducted in English. That, however, includes not only laws, public proceedings and regulations, but also publications, orders, actions, programs and policies.

“If you’re going to come here and be successful, you have to assimilate,” Pearce said. “You can’t come here from another nation and demand services in that language.”

Yeah!

From The Albuquerque Tribune:

A common and unruly trespasser might finally be chained in its own yard if an Albuquerque ordinance passes.

That intruder isn’t an animal, but light, which under vague laws can legally stray from the sides of backyard floodlights into the bedrooms and living spaces of disgruntled neighbors, said Josh Skarsgard, an assistant city attorney who just finished writing a proposed light pollution ordinance.

The ordinance would clamp down on that type of light, called “light trespass.” It will make it illegal for people to have outdoor lights stronger than 75 watts – unless they are fully shielded so the light doesn’t reach other’s homes, he said.

… “If this goes through, in about three years even places like Downtown Albuquerque will be significantly changed,” Skarsgard said. “People will be able to see more shooting stars, the Milky Way, the Big Dipper – all the things we used to see when we were kids on camping trips. You’ll even be able to see most of that Downtown. That’s the plan.”

Four backyard flood lights downslope distract from NewMexiKen’s view of the city lights. And I could read in bed by the light from the motion-activated floodlight in the driveway across the street. Why don’t people point these things toward the ground?

The ‘Vette

Dan Neil finds things to like in the new Corvette — once he’s past the legend.

[The Corvette has] always been a big, audacious slab of a car for an audience that can be fairly described likewise. It’s always been America’s Sports Car, for those who would sooner down a wine-tasting spit bucket than drive a foreign-nameplate car like Porsche 911 or Acura NSX.

… Build quality is excellent. Compared to Corvette interiors of a decade ago, which chirred and rattled like Ricky Ricardo’s percussion section, the new Corvette is as solid as a steamer chest.

… top speed is a very creditable 186 mph, should your commute include a dry lakebed.

… The new Corvette is an Ivy League education in driving at state college tuition: The test car priced out at $52,795, which puts it in a class of exactly one. Nothing can touch it at anywhere near that price. For another 20 grand or so you can own a Viper; should you feel such a masochistic impulse, seek professional attention.

A jury of your peers

From CNN.com, the jury pool from hell:

Right after jury selection began last week, one man got up and left, announcing, “I’m on morphine and I’m higher than a kite.”

When the prosecutor asked if anyone had been convicted of a crime, a prospective juror said that he had been arrested and taken to a mental hospital after he almost shot his nephew. He said he was provoked because his nephew just would not come out from under the bed.

Another would-be juror said he had had alcohol problems and was arrested for soliciting sex from an undercover officer. “I should have known something was up,” he said. “She had all her teeth.”

Another prospect volunteered he probably should not be on the jury: “In my neighborhood, everyone knows that if you get Mr. Ballin (as your lawyer), you’re probably guilty.” He was not chosen.

Link via Functional Ambivalent.

Edgar Allan Poe …

was born in Boston on this date in 1809 but moved to Richmond as a small child. According to the Poe Museum

After attending schools in England and Richmond, young Poe registered at the University of Virginia on February 14, 1826, the second session of the University. He lived in Room 13, West Range. He became an active member of the Jefferson Literary Society, and passed his courses with good grades at the end of the session in December. Mr. Allan [Poe’s foster father] failed to give him enough money for necessary expenses, and Poe made debts of which his so-called father did not approve. When Mr. Allan refused to let him return to the University, a quarrel ensued, and Poe was driven from the Allan home without money. Mr. Allan probably sent him a little money later, and Poe went to Boston. There he published a little volume of poetry, Tamerlane and Other Poems. It is such a rare book now that a single copy has sold for $200,000.

The Poe Museum biography continues the story.

Robert E. Lee …

was born in Stratford, Virginia, on this date in 1807, the son of Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee and Ann Hill Carter Lee.

In 1810 the Lee family moved to Alexandria, then in the District of Columbia. The Lee’s lived first at 611 Cameron, but from 1811 or 1812 at 607 Oronoco.

Lee graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1829, second in his class and reputedly the only cadet to this day to have no demerits on his record. Lee married Mary Anna Randolph Custis, great granddaughter of Martha Washington, at Arlington House in 1831. Arlington House was in the District of Columbia from the time it was constructed until 1847 when the Virginia portion of the District of Columbia was receded to Virginia.

So, although Lee supposedly supported preservation of the Union that his father and uncles had helped create and opposed slavery, and although his residence had been in Virginia no more than 17 of his 54 years, in 1861 he turned down command of the Union forces to remain loyal to Virginia. I suggest that nullified his record of no demerits.

Appropriately enough Lee’s strategic vision was limited to the Virginia theater. This shortcoming, common among the Confederate leadership, contributed significantly to the rebellion’s ultimate failure.

After the surrender at Appomattox Court House Lee was a prisoner of war but paroled. He returned to Richmond. He was indicted for treason but, with the support of Grant argued that the parole superseded any prosecution. On June 13, 1865, Lee wrote to General Grant about the parole and to President Johnson to request a pardon under the requirements of Johnson’s amnesty proclamation.

Richmond, Virginia, June 13, 1865.

Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant, Commanding the Armies of the United States.

General: Upon reading the President’s proclamation of the 29th ult., I came to Richmond to ascertain what was proper or required of me to do, when I learned that, with others, I was to be indicted for treason by the grand jury at Norfolk. I had supposed that the officers and men of the Army of Northern Virginia were, by the terms of their surrender, protected by the United States Government from molestation so long as they conformed to its conditions. I am ready to meet any charges that may be preferred against me, and do not wish to avoid trial; but, if I am correct as to the protection granted by my parole, and am not to be prosecuted, I desire to comply with the provisions of the President’s proclamation, and, therefore, inclose the required application, which I request, in that event, may be acted on. I am, with great respect,

Your obedient servant,
R. E. LEE.

Richmond, Virginia, June 13, 1865.

His Excellency Andrew Johnson,
President of the United States.

Sir: Being excluded from the provisions of the amnesty and pardon contained in the proclamation of the 29th ult., I hereby apply for the benefits and full restoration of all rights and privileges extended to those included in its terms. I graduated at the Military Academy at West Point in June, 1829; resigned from the United States Army, April, 1861; was a general in the Confederate Army, and included in the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, April 9, 1865. I have the honor to be, very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,
R. E. LEE.

Possibly due to clerical error concerning the requirement for a loyalty oath (Lee’s 1865 oath was lost until 1970) Lee was never individually pardoned. Nor was he prosecuted for treason. His citizenship was restored in 1975 in conformance with his original appeal to Johnson.

Lee was offered and accepted the presidency of Washington College (now Washington and Lee) and served from September 1865 until his death in October 1870.

Lee’s letter accepting appointment to United States Military Academy.

Matthew Brady photo of Lee a few days after the surrender.

From Douglas Southall Freeman’s 4-volume biography of Lee.

General Lee was returning to his camp and was close to it when he met a cavalcade in blue and was greeted with a cheery “good morning, General” from a bearded man, who removed his cap as he spoke. For the moment Lee did not recognize the speaker, but the latter recalled himself as none other than George Gordon Meade, commanding the Army of the Potomac, and an old friend of kindly days.

“But what are you doing with all that gray in your beard?” Lee asked.

“You have to answer for most of it!” Meade magnanimously replied.