Even Leonardo had attention issues

The following was written when Leonardo Da Vinci was 55:

Begun at Florence, in the house of Piero di Braccio Martelli, on the 22nd day of March 1508. And this is to be a collection without order, taken from many papers which I have copied here, hoping to arrange them later each in its place, according to the subjects of which they may treat. But I believe that before I am at the end of this [task] I shall have to repeat the same things several times; for which, O reader! do not blame me, for the subjects are many and memory cannot retain them [all] and say: ‘I will not write this because I wrote it before.’ And if I wished to avoid falling into this fault, it would be necessary in every case when I wanted to copy [a passage] that, not to repeat myself, I should read over all that had gone before; and all the more since the intervals are long between one time of writing and the next.

Page 4, The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci

The power of American Idol

The new number one tune in the land is Taylor Hicks’s “Do I Make You Proud.” Hicks won Idol season five.

Four other Idol competitors have made it to the top spot:

“A Moment Like This,” Kelly Clarkson (Oct. 5, 2002)
“This Is the Night,” Clay Aiken (June 28, 2003)
“I Believe,” Fantasia (July 10, 2004)
“Inside Your Heaven,” Carrie Underwood (July 2, 2005)

And four of the five Idol number ones (all but Clarkson) entered the Hot 100 as number one. (Eleven other tunes have done so in the nearly 50 years the list has existed.)

The 100, Make That 43, Greatest Americans

A year ago last month NewMexiKen provided a take on the AOL-Discovery Channel list of 100 Greatest Americans. This week for some reason I pulled the various posts together and put them on one page — The 100, Make That 43, Greatest Americans.

Should have given these guys a red car

Autobahn? Try auto gone.

Two English soccer fans couldn’t locate their rental car after a World Cup game in Cologne, ananova.com reported, even though they’d alertly copied down the street name where they’d parked — “Einbahn Strasse” — to avoid just such a problem. They learned the folly of their ways when they asked a policeman, who pointed out that “Einbahn Strasse” is German for “one-way street” and that every other street in inner-city Cologne boasts such a sign.

They finally found the car, with the help of police, a few hours later.

The Seattle Times: Sideline Chatter

I know you are , but what am I

Mark Cuban sums up.

TurnHere

A video about Albuquerque’s Nob Hill from TurnHere, a great site with informative and interesting videos about tourist locations everywhere.

World Cup

Blame the refs if you want, but I believe you have to score more than one goal in three games to advance.

(The goal in the tie vs. Italy was an own goal by an Italian player.)

Update: The U.S. had four shots on goal in three games.

Uncommon Carriers

After reading the review last week of John McPhee’s latest book, Uncommon Carriers, and posting about it, I ordered it. The book arrived yesterday morning and I spent the afternoon reading it.

If you’ve ever been interested in trucks or trains, or river barges, or how UPS works, you will, I think, find this fascinating reading. And no one writes this kind of stuff better than John McPhee.

The World’s Fastest Indian

NewMexiKen watched the DVD of the Anthony Hopkins film The World’s Fastest Indian last evening and found it totally enjoyable. The film tells the true story of Burt Munro, a sixty-something grandfather from New Zealand, who set speed records in the 1960s with a rebuilt 1920 Indian motorcycle — or, as he says, “motorsicle.” Hopkins is terrific as a nitro-pill taking, eccentric, hard-of-hearing, muddled, but obsessed and endearing codger. Most of the people he meets between Invercargill (“we sometimes spell it with just one l to save ink”) and Bonneville are endearing too.

Tom: Aren’t you scared you’ll kill yourself if you crash?
Burt Munro: No … You live more in five minutes on a bike like this going flat out than some people live in a lifetime.

It’s the birthday

… of Ralph Waite. Papa Walton is 78.

… of Meryl Streep. The 13-time Oscar nominee is 57. She has been nominated ten times for leading actress, winning for Sophie’s Choice, and three times for supporting actress, winning for Kramer vs. Kramer. She’s been married nearly 28 years and has four children.

… of Graham Greene. He’s 54. Greene was nominated for the best supporting actor Oscar for Dances with Wolves.

… of Cyndi Lauper. A girl of 53, just wanting to have fun.

… of Dan Brown. The author of The Da Vinci Code is 42. The book has sold an estimated 60 million copies.

Prince William Forest Park (Virginia)

… was renamed from Chopawamsic Recreation Demonstation Area on this date in 1948. The trails and campsites were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Established in 1936, the 15,000 acre Prince William Forest Park is the largest protected natural area in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region. The park is the largest example of Piedmont forest in the National Park System. The park also protects the Quantico Creek watershed and is a sanctuary for numerous native plant and animal species.

A variety of recreational opportunities are available, which include wildlife viewing, 37 miles of hiking trails, and 21 miles of bicycle accessible roads and trails.

Prince William Forest Park