Day: January 30, 2006

Gives me chills just thinking about it

A British newspaper published an exclusive photo of Isabelle Dinoire, recipient of the world’s first face transplant, along with a story in which the 38-year-old French woman describes her life as she recovers from the revolutionary surgery. “Lots has been said about how happy I am, but this has not always been the case,” said Dinoire, whose face was destroyed by a pet dog after she passed out from a drug overdose. Slowly but surely, Dinoire is returning to a normal life: She’s gaining feeling in her new flesh, and she’s eating, which was difficult after the surgery. The photo in The Sunday Times shows Dinoire’s mouth sagging a bit. And while scars are evident at this early stage in her recuperation, “she certainly does not look like the living dead,” said one of her surgeons.

Wired News: Furthermore

Something to remember

Both New Mexico senators voted yes on cloture for the Alito nomination today. That was to be expected from Republican Domenici. It’s discouraging that it was also the case with Democrat Bingaman.

[Update: I forgot to note earlier that Bingaman is running for reelection this year. Apparently not as a pro-choice candidate.]

Here’s the vote (72 for, 25 against).

The 25 who tried (whatever their motives):

Bayh, Evan (D-IN)
Biden, Joseph R., Jr. (D-DE)
Boxer, Barbara (D-CA)
Clinton, Hillary Rodham (D-NY)
Dayton, Mark (D-MN)
Dodd, Christopher J. (D-CT)
Durbin, Richard (D-IL)
Feingold, Russell D. (D-WI)
Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA)
Jeffords, James M. (I-VT)
Kennedy, Edward M. (D-MA)
Kerry, John F. (D-MA)
Lautenberg, Frank R. (D-NJ)
Leahy, Patrick J. (D-VT)
Levin, Carl (D-MI)
Menendez, Robert (D-NJ)
Mikulski, Barbara A. (D-MD)
Murray, Patty (D-WA)
Obama, Barack (D-IL)
Reed, Jack (D-RI)
Reid, Harry (D-NV)
Sarbanes, Paul S. (D-MD)
Schumer, Charles E. (D-NY)
Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI)
Wyden, Ron (D-OR)

Stumbling Tourist Smashes Rare China Vases

A visitor to a British museum tripped on his shoelace, stumbled down a stairway and fell into a display of centuries-old Chinese vases, shattering them into “very small pieces,” officials said Monday.

The three Qing dynasty vases, dating from the late 17th or early 18th century, had been donated to the Fitzwilliam Museum in the university city of Cambridge in 1948 and were among its best-known artifacts. They sat on the window sill beside the staircase for 40 years.

AP via Yahoo! News

Kind of puts that dish you chipped at a friend’s house into perspective, doesn’t it?

Harper Lee, Gregarious for a Day

A little bit about Harper Lee from The New York Times An excerpt:

The recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in 1961, “To Kill a Mockingbird” remains the only book Ms. Lee has written. It is difficult to overestimate the sustained power of the novel or the reverence with which Ms. Lee is treated here: it is not uncommon to find live staged versions of the story, hear of someone who has devoted his life to playing Atticus Finch in road shows, or meet children named Scout or ones named after the author herself.

At a book signing after the ceremony on Friday afternoon, a little girl in a velvet dress approached Ms. Lee with a hardback copy of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” announcing that her name was Harper. “Well, that’s my name, too,” Ms. Lee said. The girl’s mother, LaDonnah Roberts, said she had decided to make her daughter Ms. Lee’s namesake after her mother-in-law gave her a copy of the book during her pregnancy. Another girl, Catherine Briscoe, 15, one of the essay contest winners, had read the novel six times. She trembled and held her hand to her heart as she spoke of its author: “It was breathtaking to meet the most important person in my life.”

Sandra Bullock plays Ms. Lee in the upcoming Truman Capote flick “Infamous.”

The Lone Ranger rides again

The radio program The Lone Ranger debuted on WXYZ radio, Detroit, on this date in 1933. The show became so popular it was one of the reasons why several stations linked together to share programming on what became the Mutual Broadcasting System.

Several characteristics were unique and central to the premise of this western, and the initial episode which explained the legend was occasionally repeated so young viewers would under-stand how the hero gained his name and why he wore a mask. The Lone Ranger was one of six Texas Rangers who were ambushed while chasing a gang of outlaws led by Butch Cavendish. After the battle, one “lone ranger” survived, and was discovered by Tonto, a Native American who recognized the survivor as John Reid, the man who had saved his life earlier. Tonto thereafter referred to the ranger as “kemo sabe,” which is translated as “trusty scout.” After Tonto helped him regain his strength, the ranger vowed to hide his identity from Cavendish and to dedicate his life to “making the West a decent place to live.” He and Tonto dug an extra grave to fool Cavendish into believing all six rangers had died, and the ranger donned a mask to protect his identity as the single surviving ranger. Only Tonto knows who he is … the Lone Ranger. After he and Tonto saved a silver-white stallion from being gored by a buffalo, they nursed the horse back to health and set him free. The horse followed them and the Lone Ranger decided to adopt him and give him the name Silver. Shortly thereafter, the Lone Ranger and Tonto encountered a man who, it turns out, has been set up to take the blame for murders committed by Cavendish. They established him as caretaker in an abandoned silver mine, where he produced silver bullets for the Lone Ranger. Even after the Cavendish gang was captured, the Lone Ranger decided to keep his identity a secret. Near the end of this and many future episodes, someone asks about the identity of the masked man. The typical response: “I don’t rightly know his real name, but I’ve heard him called… the Lone Ranger.”
— From the Encylopedia of Television

The show remained on radio for 23 years.

“A fiery horse with the speed of light! A cloud of dust and a hearty ‘Hi-Yo, Silver!’ The Lone Ranger!”

It’s the birthday

… of Gene Hackman. The Oscar-winning actor is 76. He won Best Actor for The French Connection and Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The Unforgiven. He has received three other nominations.

… of Dick Cheney. The Vice President is 65. Retirement age.

… of Phil Collins. The singer is 55.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

was born on this date in 1882.

First of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.