Month: July 2006

Al Gore and Love Story

Another of the media myths about Al Gore was that he wrongly claimed to have been the model for Oliver Barrett IV in Erich Segal’s wildly successful book (and the Oscar-nominated best picture that followed) Love Story. This was made out as one more example of Gore’s tendency to lie, or at least exaggerate. Gore himself claimed only to have said during a conversation with reporters on a late-night flight in 1997 that a reporter for The Nashville Tennessean had gotten Segal to acknowledge a connection to Gore during a book tour. Whatever Gore actually said, the media told the story through the 2000 election as if it was totally off the wall.

But it wasn’t. In late 1997 Melinda Henneberger in The New York Times, reported:

Those reports were half-true, Mr. Segal said: The character of the preppy Harvard hockey player Oliver Barrett 4th was modeled on both Mr. Gore and his college roommate, the actor Tommy Lee Jones.

But it was Mr. Jones who inspired the half of the character that was a sensitive stud, a macho athlete with the heart of a poet, Mr. Segal said. The author attributed to Mr. Gore only the character’s controlling father and feeling that his family was pressuring him to follow in Dad’s footsteps.

According to Henneberger, Segal stated that, though he knew her, Tipper Gore was not model for the book’s Jenny Cavilleri (played in the film by Ali MacGraw).

Do you remember learning during the 2000 election cycle that the story was in any way true?

What Gore actually said about the internet

In light of Ken Jennings’ comment (previous post), in jest one presumes, here is what Al Gore actually said, from the Transcript: Vice President Gore on CNN’s ‘Late Edition’ – March 9, 1999:

During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet.

Without doubt, within the Congress, Gore was a leader, instrumental in legislation that helped establish what we now know as the internets. According to Bob Somerby, via Nexis, the first mention of the word “Internet” in The Washington Post was in November 1988. Gore had already introduced his legislation in the Senate. According to Newt Gingrich in 2000, “Gore is the person who, in the Congress, most systematically worked to make sure that we got to an Internet.”

It seems clear that “During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet” is a truthful statement by Gore. He did not say he invented the internet. The media did.

Ken Jennings — He’s Back

No, not back on Jeopardy! He has a blog (well, of course). And a few days ago he suggested some updating for the venerable quiz show. Indeed, his spoof was taken literally by some. What do you think? Here’s an excerpt, but really go read the whole thing.

First up, the categories. Maybe when Art Fleming was alive, America just couldn’t get enough clues about “Botany” and “Ballet” and “The Renaissance,” but come on. Does every freaking category have to be some effete left-coast crap nobody’s heard of, like “Opera,” or, um, “U.S. History” or whatever? I mean, wake me up when you come up with something that middle America actually cares about. I think it would rule if, just one time, Alex had to read off a board like:

  • PlayStation
  • The Arby’s 5-for-$5.95 Value Menu
  • Reality TV
  • Men’s Magazines
  • Skanks from Reality TV Who Got Naked in Men’s Magazines
  • Potpourri

Yesterday Jennings noted, “Making goofy jokes about TV shows isn’t ‘bashing.’ I believe it’s the whole reason Al Gore invented the Internet.”

It’s the birthday

… of Mick Jagger. He’s still can’t get no satisfaction, even at 63.

… of two-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey. He’s 47. Spacey won for best supporting actor for The Usual Suspects and leading actor for American Beauty.

… of Sandra Bullock. From Arlington, Virginia, she’s 42. Ms. Bullock has been an Academy Award presenter.

Two great comediennes were born on this date — Gracie Allen in 1895, 1897 or 1902 (her birth certificate was destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake) and Vivian Vance in 1909.

Because George Burns lived to be 100 and managed to stay in show business nearly until then (playing God in one film, no less), Gracie, who died in 1964 has been largely forgotten. She was the true comedic talent of the two, however. On their radio and television programs George was the straight man, Gracie had the good lines.

At the end of their show, George Burns would say, “Say goodnight, Gracie.” Urban myth has it that she said, “Good night Gracie,” but, in fact, she always just said “Goodnight.”

“Were you the oldest one in the family?” “No, no, my mother and father were much older.” — Gracie Allen

“They laughed at Joan of Arc, but she went right ahead and built it.” — Gracie Allen

“When I was born I was so surprised I didn’t talk for a year and a half.” — Gracie Allen

Vivian Vance was two years older than her long-time co-star Lucille Ball, though many thought Vance to be much older because her I Love Lucy character Ethel Mertz was married to Fred, played by actor William Frawley, who was 18 years older. Miss Vance died of cancer in 1979.

Pu`uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park (Hawaii)

… was authorized as City of Refuge National Historical Park on this date in 1955. It was renamed in 1978.

Pu`uhonua O Honaunau

Pu`uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park preserves the site where, up until the early 19th century, Hawaiians who broke a kapu or one of the ancient laws against the gods could avoid certain death by fleeing to this place of refuge or “pu`uhonua”. The offender would absolved by a priest and freed to leave. Defeated warriors and non-combatants could also find refuge here during times of battle. The grounds just outside the Great Wall that encloses the pu`uhonua were home to several generations of powerful chiefs.

Pu`uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park

The Immutable President

Maureen Dowd begins Wednesday’s column:

It’s too bad President Bush spurns evolution — both in his view of the universe and his view of himself.

Scientists see more and more evidence that human evolution not only exists but is ongoing, as people adapt to changing circumstances with shifts in everything from skin color to the protein structure of sperm.

But with W., it’s more a matter of survival of the stubbornist.

Regarding the previous president, Dowd adds:

Bill Clinton, the Mutable Man par excellence, evolved four times a day; he had a tactical and even recreational attitude toward personal change.

Flying With Children

From an article about Flying With Children (Yours or Theirs):

On another occasion, a woman who was among the last to board could not find space in the overhead bins for her bulging carry-on bag. “When she opened the compartment and saw my kids’ backpacks, she pulled them out and said, ‘Children don’t need overhead space,'” Ms. Reiss said. She managed to settle the matter quietly — which, I might add admiringly, is more than I would have done in a similar situation.

Long Tall Abe

Lincoln at Antietam

NewMexiKen ran across this photo of Lincoln at Antietam taken just days after the battle in 1862. Look at those arms. If Lincoln lived in the late 20th century, he wouldn’t have been president, but he would have been a great rebounder.

That’s Allan Pinkerton and General John McClernand with Lincoln, October 3, 1862.

Click photo to view a larger version.

Nature vs. nurture pendulum swings once again

An excerpt from After the Bell Curve in The New York Times Magazine:

A later study of French youngsters adopted between the ages of 4 and 6 shows the continuing interplay of nature and nurture. Those children had little going for them. Their I.Q.’s averaged 77, putting them near retardation. Most were abused or neglected as infants, then shunted from one foster home or institution to the next.

Nine years later, they retook the I.Q. tests, and contrary to the conventional belief that I.Q. is essentially stable, all of them did better. The amount they improved was directly related to the adopting family’s status. Children adopted by farmers and laborers had average I.Q. scores of 85.5; those placed with middle-class families had average scores of 92. The average I.Q. scores of youngsters placed in well-to-do homes climbed more than 20 points, to 98 — a jump from borderline retardation to a whisker below average. That is a huge difference — a person with an I.Q. of 77 couldn’t explain the rules of baseball, while an individual with a 98 I.Q. could actually manage a baseball team — and it can only be explained by pointing to variations in family circumstances.

Taken together, these studies show that the issue has changed: it is no longer a matter of whether the environment matters but when and how it matters. And poverty, quite clearly, is an important part of the answer.

Living To 100

A thorough life-expectancy calculator from Living To 100.

This will take a few minutes and probably not tell you anything you don’t know (or suspect), but maybe it will motivate you to do better, keeping in mind that living to 100 is one thing, living well and able while you live is quite another.

The power of incumbency

Democratic incumbent Sen. Jeff Bingaman has nearly $1.8 million stockpiled for his re-election campaign, providing him with a large fundraising advantage over his Republican challenger, Allen McCulloch.

McCulloch, a Farmington physician, had a cash balance of $2,487 in his campaign account at the end of June, according to the latest federal campaign finance reports.

AP via The Albuquerque Journal.

Thanks to ‘Burque Babble, who has a good post on the power of incumbency and some “interesting” suggestions for what the Senator could due with the money.

Top 100 Music Videos of All Time

How much time do you have?

Stylus Magazine lists its 100 top music videos and has the video — and commentary, like this:

I’d always been puzzled to see “Addicted to Love” consistently included on Greatest Videos of All-Time lists. And yet here we are including it. And here I am writing about it. The video itself contains slightly more motion than a still picture—the sexless “sexy” mannequins scissor their legs and bop in place slightly, Palmer looks like he’s thinking about a latte or his doctor’s appointment, and the camera “work” consists of focusing in on small details of the non-event. Occasionally. “Hey, look her fingers are really touching those bass strings.” Yes, now if only the thing were plugged into the amp. At the time, people found this offensive. Today it’s just vapid and lacking in any kind of eroticism—but therein lies its greatness. Any time we’re indulging in character-destroying nostalgia for the era, all we need to do is see this video and we’ll quickly remember everything awful about the 80’s. Consider it thy medication and be cleansed.

Addicted to Love is number 96. Or like number 34:

There is no shortage of music videos filmed in black and white because the creators thought it was an easy way to seem cool or serious. There is a severe shortage of music videos filmed in black and white because the creators understood how it could underscore and enrich the minimalism in the music. From Busta Rhymes to Lil’ Jon, rap videos have often assaulted the eyes with 90 frames-per-minute of sugar-fried madness, a kitchen sink style that certainly has its charm. But it can look a little childish and silly compared to “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” a series of images so serene and smooth that it feels like drinking champagne while sitting on a velvet piano bench around a frozen swimming pool on the deck of a penthouse overlooking the city at midnight during winter.

And the antidote to Walk the Line (the film), number 2:

“You stay the hell away from me, you hear?” Even before American Recordings proved it beyond all doubt, JC’ was a man with two careers in parallel: one bringing the poignancy, the other novelty tunes like “One Piece at a Time,” and that one where he does an impression of a guy being hung. So how better to close his career than by dovetailing the two: a novelty cover version paired with a video featuring poignancy laid on so thick as to crush your heart through sheer persistence. Cash as Jesus, Cash as the pouting rebel, Cash the American, Cash as America personified, Cash the husband, Cash the man in black, Cash the guy who sold records in their droves, Cash the lonely, scared, dying old man. It’s hard to imagine there could have been a better way to close the piano lid on his career.

It’s always in the genes

Seven years ago, biochemist Zheng Cui of Wake Forest University was conducting a routine experiment, injecting test mice with a strain of cancer cells so aggressive it caused a 100 percent death rate. Oddly, one of the mice wouldn’t die. Thinking he had made an error, Cui injected the mouse with a million times the lethal dose, but it still lived.

Cui was intrigued. He bred the mouse and found that 40 percent of its offspring share a remarkable resistance to many forms of cancer. When the animals’ immune systems identify a cancer cell, a genetic tweak allows their bodies to launch a massive attack of white blood cells that kills the budding tumor.
…

Even more promising, Cui has sampled a group of human volunteers and found that 10 to 15 percent have similar super cancer-fighting white blood cells.

Read more from Discover.

It’s the birthday

… of Estelle Getty. The “Golden Girl” is 83. Ms. Getty won both a Golden Globe and an Emmy for her portrayal as Bea Arthur’s mother. (Bea Arthur is actually two months older than Estelle Getty.)

… of Academy Award nominee Barbara Harris. The actress is 71. Ms. Harris was nominated for best supporting actress for Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?

… of basketball hall-of-famer Nate Thurmond, 65 today.

… of Joey. Matt LeBlanc is 39.

And …

Thomas Eakins, Baseball Players PracticingIt’s the birthdate of painter and photographer Thomas Eakins, born on this date in 1844. “Esteemed for his powers of characterization and mastery of technique, Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) is recognized as one of America’s foremost painters, a master draftsman and watercolorist, and an especially gifted photographer.” The Metropolitan Musuem of Art (source of the preceding quote) had an exhibition of Eakins’s work in 2002, which fortunately remains on line. Click the painting to see the exhibition.

The longshoreman philosopher Eric Hoffer was born on this date in 1902.

It’s the birthday of writer and philosopher Eric Hoffer…, born in New York City (1902). He spent most of his life working on the docks as a longshoreman, and he wrote philosophy in his spare time, including The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (1951). Eric Hoffer said, “When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.” (The Writer’s Almanac)

The alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges was born on this date in 1907.

One of the most distinctive solo voices in jazz, Hodges was inextricably bound up with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, which he first joined in [M]ay 1928, remaining for most of the rest of his life, apart from a brief venture into bandleading from 1951-5. His plaintive blues playing was as memorable as his haunting ballad playing, and although he was capable of producing a tone of incredible beauty and intensity, he could also add a jazzy edge to his sound, and play in a jumping swing style. (BBC – Radio 3 Jazz Profiles)

Here’s a too brief but lovely sample of Hodges from iTunes. And another.

It’s also the birthday of NewMexiKen’s dad. Happy Birthday, Dad!

Tuzigoot National Monument (Arizona)

… was established on this date in 1939.

Tuzigoot National Monument

Crowning a desert hilltop is an ancient pueblo. From a roof top a child scans the desert landscape for the arrival of traders, who are due any day now. What riches will they bring? What stories will they tell? Will all of them return? From the top of the Tuzigoot Pueblo it is easy to imagine such an important moment. Tuzigoot is an ancient village or pueblo built by a culture known as the Sinagua. The pueblo consisted of 110 rooms including second and third story structures. The first buildings were built around A.D. 1000. The Sinagua were agriculturalists with trade connections that spanned hundreds of miles. The people left the area around 1400.

Tuzigoot National Monument