Month: February 2006

I’m sorry

… I know this isn’t the kind of high-quality blogging you expect from NewMexiKen. But a laugh is a laugh and this made me laugh.

Chick: …And she just lets him in!

Guy: And you’re asleep?

Chick: I’m asleep, and he comes over, and she opens the door for him.

Guy: And she leaves?

Chick: Yeah! So we’re alone, right, and he comes and, like, crawls into bed with me!

Guy: Whoa.

Chick: And I sleep naked, right?

Guy: Right.

Chick: So I’m like, what the fuck?

Guy: You should fire her as a roommate.

Chick: Naw, it sort of turned out all right.

–Brittany Hall Residence elevator, East 10th Street

Overheard in New York

Court Allows Church’s Hallucinogenic Tea

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday that a small congregation in New Mexico may use hallucinogenic tea as part of a four-hour ritual intended to connect with God.

Justices, in their first religious freedom decision under Chief Justice John Roberts, moved decisively to keep the government out of a church’s religious practice. Federal drug agents should have been barred from confiscating the hoasca tea of the Brazil-based church, Roberts wrote in the decision.

AP via The Washington Post

Praise the Lord.

23 real simple steps to making your Internet life much better

From the Chicago Tribune:

OK, come along folks.

It’s time to take your relationship with the Internet to the next level, and I’m here to tell you how to do it in 23 short, easy steps (see below) with as little jargon as possible.

Those who already use “feed” technology should just move on along, as there’s nothing new for you here.

The rest of you, who may have heard of “feeds” but been put off by those geeky letters people throw around when talking about it and felt confused about where and how to start, welcome.

Vicksburg National Military Park (Mississippi)

Vicksburg

Vicksburg National Military Park was established by Congress on February 21, 1899, to commemorate one of the most decisive battles of the American Civil War, the campaign, siege and defense of Vicksburg.

The Vicksburg campaign was waged from March 29 to July 4, 1863. It included battles in west-central Mississippi at Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hill, Big Black River and 47 days of Union siege operations against Confederate forces defending the city of Vicksburg. Located high on the bluffs, Vicksburg was a fortress guarding the Mississippi River. It was known as “The Gibraltar of the Confederacy.” Its surrender on July 4, 1863, coupled with the fall of Port Hudson, Louisiana, divided the South, and gave the North undisputed control of the Mississippi River.

Today, the battlefield at Vicksburg is in an excellent state of preservation. It includes 1,325 historic monuments and markers, 20 miles of reconstructed trenches and earthworks, a 16 mile tour road, antebellum home, 144 emplaced cannon, restored Union gunboat-USS Cairo, and the Vicksburg National Cemetery.

Vicksburg National Military Park

Detained for receipt check

Earlier today NewMexiKen read a report by an individual who — several years ago — essentially refused a Best Buy Receipt Check. He was challenged repeatedly to the point of having his car blocked from leaving. His report led to an apology from Best Buy and correspondence from others interested in the issue.

According to the author, a store has no legal right to check your receipt. Once you pay for an item it is yours and you may leave the premises. Any attempt to detain you can only be based on an accusation of shoplifting. And, of course, a false accusation of shoplifting is cause for a tort. (NewMexiKen wonders whether a membership store such as Costco has a different legal standing to check receipts. I was pursued at Costco once for blowing off the receipt check.)

I’ve been kind of bored lately and I have business to transact at Best Buy. I think I’ll experiment.

Nine Lives

NewMexiKen enjoyed the film Nine Lives last evening. As the title suggests, the film touches on the relationships of nine characters, all women. It does so in nine separate, and essentially unrelated vignettes. Indeed, the movie is like watching nine short stories — and, as is often the case with short stories, the viewer feels as if they’ve entered each story in the middle. Moreso, one feels as if they’re leaving in the middle, too.

The nine lives include performances by such stars as Robin Wright Penn, Holly Hunter, Sissy Spacek and Glenn Close.

Good. Provocative. Recommended.

Looking out for our best interests

The following happened in the United States of America on Feb. 9 of this year.

The scene is the Little Falls branch of the Montgomery County Public Library in Bethesda, Md. Business is going on as usual when two men in uniform stride into the main reading room and call for attention. Then they make an announcement: It is forbidden to use the library’s computers to view Internet pornography.

As people are absorbing this, one of the men challenges a patron about a Web site he is visiting and asks the man to step outside. At this point, a librarian intervenes and calls the uniformed men aside. A police officer is summoned. The men leave. It turns out they are employees of the county’s Department of Homeland Security and were operating way outside their authority.

From a column by Leonard Pitts

Any use of the term “homeland” just makes NewMexiKen shiver.

The Benefits of Bozo

From Slate, Proof that TV doesn’t harm kids. It’s a brief article worth reading but here’s the key finding:

They looked for evidence that greater exposure to television lowered test scores. They found none. After controlling for socioeconomic status, there were no significant test-score differences between kids who lived in cities that got TV earlier as opposed to later, or between kids of pre- and post-TV-age cohorts. Nor did the kids differ significantly in the amount of homework they did, dropout rates, or the wages they eventually made. If anything, the data revealed a small positive uptick in test scores for kids who got to watch more television when they were young.

Thanks to Veronica for the link.

Sidney Poitier

… is 79 today.

American Masters from PBS sums it up nicely:

More than an actor (and Academy-Award winner), Sidney Poitier is an artist. A writer and director, a thinker and critic, a humanitarian and diplomat, his presence as a cultural icon has long been one of protest and humanity. His career defined and documented the modern history of blacks in American film, and his depiction of proud and powerful characters was and remains revolutionary.

Lilies of the Field — with Poitier’s Oscar winning performance — has been one of NewMexiKen’s favorites since it was released more than 40 years ago. If you don’t know the film, you should.

Wouldn’t it be cool

… if the Olympic figure skating judges gave their opinions like Simon, Paula and Randy on American Idol?

This and some other ideas via Sideline Chatter:

SI.com’s Pete McEntegart says NBC could spice up its Winter Olympics ratings just by borrowing some other sure-fire TV tricks, such as:

• “More [events with] guns: If there’s anything to be learned from the vice president’s hunting accident, it’s that firearms are a ratings bonanza.

• “Allow competitors to vote each other out: We’re guessing that Bode Miller would be sent packing to his personal RV in less time than it takes him to chug a beer.

• “Don’t run from ‘American Idol’ — learn from it: Figure-skating judges [should] start giving their critiques out loud and on camera. Then we’ll really see some tears in the kiss-and-cry room.”

Washington’s Birthday

George Washington was born on February 11, 1731. In 1752, however, Britain and her colonies changed from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, the calendar we use today. The change added 11 days and designated January rather than March as the beginning of the year. Accordingly, Washington’s birthday was February 22, 1732.

The federal holiday was celebrated on February 22 until legislation in 1968 designated the third Monday of February the official day to celebrate Washington’s birthday. In 1971, when the 1968 Act went into effect, President Nixon proclaimed the holiday Presidents’ Day, to commemorate all past presidents, not just Washington and Lincoln. This was never intended or authorized by Congress; even so, it gained a strong hold on the public consciousness.

The states are not obliged to adopt federal holidays, which only affect federal offices and agencies. While most states have adopted Washington’s Birthday, a dozen of them officially celebrate Presidents’ Day. A number of the states that celebrate Washington’s Birthday also recognize Lincoln’s Birthday as a separate legal holiday.

iPod generation

The U.S. snowboarding team’s pinstriped uniforms are already wired for the machines, with a nifty iPod-size pocket, speakers in the hood and a control panel on the left sleeve that allows the athletes to select songs.
…

That’s where iPod scores big. Its small size and digital technology facilitate listening in extreme situations – such as being upside down, in the middle of a 1080 toe grab, during a once-in-a-lifetime Olympic routine.

Baltimore Sun

The ‘Public Intellectual’

From AP via Yahoo! News, a report on Jon Stewart’s prep for Oscar night. He’s very busy.

“What we’re hoping is, in my daughter’s first two weeks, she’s not going to remember a whole lot of this,” he says. “So instead of me being there, I just take my deodorant and jam it in her crib. She’ll have the faint smell of me but won’t really know I haven’t been an influence.”
…

But if he’s nervous, he’s not showing it.

“If I had to go out there and surf, that would be a problem,” Stewart says. “But you know, it’s just comedy.”

Winter Olympics thoughts

Amazing victory for speedskater Shani Davis. I don’t know how anyone can skate so fast with such a heavy chip on his shoulder.

Love the technological ability of NBC to match two skiers or ski jumpers (from individual runs) in one picture. I walked in while they were superimposing two ski jumpers and thought the Olympics had been moved to Brokeback Mountain.

Apolo Anton Ohno seemed gracious about winning just a bronze medal, but Bob Costas was awfully disappointed. If Ohno didn’t win, surely it most have been those nasty Korean tactics that denied him his due.

No ‘I’ in team

Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar each provide their take on Kobe’s 81.

The conclusion of each:

Oscar — I know, you’ve heard a lot of this from us old-school players. And you’ll continue to hear it. I, for one, care too much about the game to settle for the highlight reel that N.B.A. basketball has become today. I believe Kobe does as well.

Kareem — Kobe’s 81-point game should without a doubt stand alongside Wilt’s 100 as one of the greatest individual feats in league history, and who’s to say he won’t one day break Wilt’s 44-year old record? The world will be watching and waiting.

How do you say, ‘Do you believe in miracles?’ in Switzerland

The Swiss called their Olympic upset of the Czechs the biggest victory in their country’s history.

How wrong they turned out to be.

Switzerland stunned defending Olympic champion Canada on Saturday with a 2-0 victory that shook up the men’s hockey tournament at the Turin Games.

AP via The New York Times

Answer: Galuben Sie an Wunder? or Croyez-vous aux miracles?

(There are four official languages in Switzerland. About two-thirds speak German, 20% French, 8% Italian and less than one percent Romansch.)