Month: July 2006

Is it art, or is it abuse?

Steal a toddler’s lollipop and he’s bound to start bawling, was photographer Jill Greenberg’s thinking. So that’s just what Greenberg did to elicit tears from the 27 or so 2- and 3-year-olds featured in her latest exhibition, “End Times,” recently at the Paul Kopeikin Gallery in Los Angeles. The children’s cherubic faces, illuminated against a blue-white studio backdrop, suggest abject betrayal far beyond the loss of a Tootsie Pop; sometimes tears spill onto naked shoulders and bellies.

The work depicts how children would feel if they knew the state of the world they’re set to inherit, explained Greenberg ….

Read more from the Los Angeles Times.

Here’s the exhibition.

The Sinking of the Andrea Doria

Fifty years ago today, on July 25, 1956, two large passenger liners off Massachusetts were steaming toward each other through the night at a combined speed of 40 knots. In spite of ample room to maneuver, in spite of the radar that let them spot each other from a distance, and in spite of clear rules intended to avoid collisions, the Stockholm crashed into the Andrea Doria and ripped the luxurious ship open amidships. It was to be the last great drama of the age of transatlantic passenger liners.

Read more from American Heritage.

A 14-year-old girl aboard the Andrea Doria survived in the wreckage on the Stockholm.

Coffee May Be a Healthy Way to Start Your Day

(HealthDay News) — Your morning cup of java may be one of the healthiest beverages in your diet, as more studies show the health benefits of coffee.

Two cups a day of coffee may promote heart health, decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes, and reduce leg pain related to exercise in many people, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Researchers have also been investigating the possibility that coffee could protect against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The beverage is one of the richest sources of antioxidants in the American diet.

The USDA says the levels and benefits of antioxidants seem to be equal in both caffeinated and non-caffeinated coffees. However, watch your intake of cream and sugar, as well as mixed coffee drinks that may be high in calories and sugar.

Yahoo! News

It’s the birthday

… of Cosmo Kramer. Michael Richards is 57 today.

… of Wonder Woman. Lynda Carter is 55.

… of Barry Bonds. He’s 42.

… of Kristin Chenoweth. The Tony award-winner is 38.

… of J Lo. Jennifer Lopez is 36.

… of Anna Paquin. An Oscar winner at age 11, she’s now 24.

Oh, this makes sense

“Estate tax lawyers are the most productive tax law enforcement personnel at the I.R.S., according to Mr. Brown. For each hour they work, they find an average of $2,200 of taxes that people owe the government.”

“Over the last five years, officials at both the I.R.S. and the Treasury have told Congress that cheating among the highest-income Americans is a major and growing problem.”

“The administration plans to cut the jobs of 157 of the agency’s 345 estate tax lawyers, plus 17 support personnel, in less than 70 days.”

Source: The New York Times (quotations out of sequence).

Frances Perkins

In NewMexiKen’s copy of the Sunday New York Times an article about Senator Elizabeth Dole states she was the “first female cabinet secretary.” I wonder how many times the authors of the article, Adam Nagourney and Kate Zernike, have driven or walked by the Frances Perkins Building in Washington. That’s the headquarters for the Department of Labor, which Ms. Perkins headed from 1933-1945. She was the first woman cabinet member (and thereby the first woman ever in the presidential line of succession).

The online version of the story about Mrs. Dole has been corrected to read “the secretary of both transportation and labor.” It points out that the Senator is not doing well as head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. That may be due to the temper of the public, but the word on Mrs. Dole in Washington always was “all style, no substance.”

Frances Perkins, by the way, went to court to maintain the right to keep her surname when she married in 1913.

ICE

NewMexiKen learned this week that emergency personnel (police, fire, EMT) search a victim’s cell phone contacts for the “ICE” contact — In Case of Emergency.

So, right now when you’re thinking about it, get your cell phone and, even if your emergency contact is already listed, enter their number again under the name ICE.

Besides, ICE (short for Iceman) always was a better nickname than Maverick or Goose.

Makes no sense to me

While the oil companies are recording record profits and oil-producing nations are awash in cash, the income from the oil and gas you own (if you are an American citizen) is up just 8% from 2001-2005. (About one-third of all the oil and gas produced in the U.S. comes from federal land.)

That’s eight percent at the same time the price of oil is up 90% and the price of natural gas up 30%.

Presumably production from federal lands is down 20% and that explains the small increase in income.

Sure.

Are Cyclists Destroying the Earth?

Karl T. Ulrich, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, has put forth a provocative theory. Traveling by bicycle, he argued in a recent paper, may cause more environmental harm than driving around in pollution-spewing, fossil-fuel-swallowing cars and sport utility vehicles.

How can this be? Bicyclists are healthier, he wrote, so they live longer. Over their lifetimes, they consume more energy than they save.

The New York Times

I’m beginning to think

That it wasn’t the war we protested in the sixties. It was just the draft we didn’t like.

Because if we disliked war we sure as hell should be in the streets today protesting this war — not just Iraq, but our country’s acceptance and support for the destruction of Lebanon — watching while Israel throws the babies out with the bath water and our elected government rushes them more bombs.

Sorry, don’t mind me, it was just the photo of some poor Lebanese grandpa’s infant Sweetie with its head blown off that got to me.

Tourist Remover

At first I thought this would be good, especially on trips to Santa Fe, but I find out it’s just for photos. Pretty cool, though, and free.

Remove moving objects such as tourists or passing cars from your photos. Take multiple photos from the same scene and the «Tourist Remover» blends them into a composite photo without any interfering elements.

Tourist Remover

Chasing the Perfect Taco Up the California Coast

A travel article from The New York Times just in time for lunch.

I’VE never met a taco I didn’t like. Weaned on Taco Bell and my Lebanese mother’s Old El Paso tacos, I’m not terrifically choosy. High-end, low-end, commercial, authentic — even a bad taco is better than no taco.

But things change. Deep, obsessive love begets connoisseurship, and a more refined understanding is sought. The plan? A trip along Highway 1, between Los Angeles and San Francisco — among the most beautiful stretches of road in the country, and possibly the hottest taco crawl outside of Mexico. My boyfriend, Taylor Umlauf, will take the wheel and help sample the goods — generous spirit that he is — with hours between to soak in the scenery. The hum and buzz of 380 miles of winding open road await — heady visions of rustic farm towns unfolding into sun-bleached fishing villages, the sun, the salt, the fresh California air. This will be our storied and scenic backdrop. But our raison d’être? Five days, 28 taquerias, 49 tacos.

And this, The Great Taco Hunt, “A guide to the Los Angeles taco scene,” just to demonstrate the greatness of the internets.

It’s the birthday

… of jazz pianist Billy Taylor. He’s 85.

… of Janet Reno, the first woman attorney general of the United States. She is 68.

… of actor Edward Herrmann. He is 63.

… of Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau. He’s 58.

… of Mork. Robin Williams is 55. Williams has been nominated for the best actor Oscar three times without winning. He did win the best supporting actor Oscar for Good Will Hunting.

… of Jon Lovitz. He’s 49. Fresh!

Paired With Faldo, Woods Seeks the Last Word (and gets it)

When Woods steps on to the first tee of the 135th British Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on Thursday, he will stand next to Nick Faldo, who was among a chorus of golf commentators who criticized him as he adapted to a swing change last year. Once word got back to Woods, a distant relationship grew even less amicable.

New York Times

Perhaps Faldo should shut up and work on his swing. Woods beat him by 10 strokes Thursday (5-under vs. 5-over).

[Woods shot 7-under Friday, to go 12-under for the first two rounds.]

Asinine (and counter productive)

NewMexiKen had to show ID last night at the Isotopes baseball game to purchase beer. Now I am 61 years old, have four children in their thirties and six granchildren. I was of legal age 40 f***ing years ago. There is no way, much as I might feel young on the inside, that I look like I could be under 21.

What kind of foolishness requires servers and vendors to check the age of every customer? Doesn’t that obvious overkill actually undermine the legitimacy of the liquor laws? (Sort of like “drug free zones” near schools — drugs are illegal but they’re really, really illegal around schools.)

When I was 17 or 19 I would have had no problem getting alcoholic beverages. I’m fairly certain today’s 17 or 19 year olds have little trouble if they really want it. What mis-guided moron thought up the policy of checking the IDs of grandparents?