… was first designated a national monument on this date in 1937. It became a national park in 1971.
The Waterpocket Fold, a 100-mile long wrinkle in the earth’s crust known as a monocline, extends from nearby Thousand Lakes Mountain to the Colorado River (now Lake Powell). Capitol Reef National Park was established to protect this grand and colorful geologic feature, as well as the unique historical and cultural history found in the area.
Eight-time Oscar nominee for best actor, Peter O’Toole is 76 today.
Director-writer-producer Wes Craven is 69.
Kathy Lennon of the Lennon Sisters is 65.
Eddie Munster, aka actor Butch Patrick, is 55.
Emmy-winner, for Angels in America, and Weeds star Mary Louise Parker is 44 today. Parker played Amy Gardner on West Wing.
Actress Myrna Loy was born on this date in 1905. IMDB has her listed for an incredible 138 roles, beginning with silent films when she was the femme fatale, but more famously as the witty, urbane Nora Charles in The Thin Man movies. NewMexiKen liked her in The Best Years of Our Lives, a film everyone should see. It won seven Academy Awards in 1946.
Author James Baldwin was born on this date in 1924.
After writing a number of pieces that were published in various magazines, Baldwin went to Switzerland to finish his first novel. GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN, published in 1953, was an autobiographical work about growing up in Harlem. The passion and depth with which he described the struggles of black Americans was unlike anything that had been written. Though not instantly recognized as such, GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN has long been considered an American classic. Throughout the rest of the decade, Baldwin moved from Paris to New York to Istanbul, writing NOTES OF A NATIVE SON (1955) and GIOVANNI’S ROOM (1956). Dealing with taboo themes in both books (homosexuality and interracial relationships, respectively), Baldwin was creating socially relevant and psychologically penetrating literature. (American Masters | PBS)
James Butler Hickok was killed while playing poker in Deadwood 131 years ago today. American Heritage has An Interview with Jeff Morey, an expert on Wild Bill and the frontier.
Today the Pueblo of Jemez (Walatowa) is celebrating “Nuestra Senora de Los Angelas Feast Day de Los Persingula” with a feast and corn dances. The Pueblo, which is normally closed, is open to the public.
Jemez is pronounced “Hay-mess” or traditionally as “He-mish”.
The events today originated with the pueblo at Pecos, which was abandoned in 1836 when its remaining residents moved to Jemez.
Jemez Pueblo publishes this guide about feast day etiquette:
* Enter a Pueblo home as you would any other – by invitation only. It is courteous to accept an invitation to eat, but do not linger at the table, as your host will probably want to serve many guests throughout the day, thank your host, but a payment or tip is not appropriate.
* Pueblo dances are religious ceremonies, not performances. Please observe them as you would a church service, with respect and quiet attention. Please do not interrupt non-dance participants by asking questions or visiting with friends.
* During a dance is not the time to conduct business or loudly socialize. Many Pueblo members only have a chance to see certain dances once a year and may have traveled many miles to participate.
* Please refrain from talking to the dancers. Do not approach dancers as they are entering, leaving or resting near the kiva.
* Applause after dances is not appropriate.
Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of web sites are crashing in Internet Explorer due to something the statistics counter SiteMeter did. I have removed SiteMeter from NewMexiKen, at least for now.
But my question to you is, why are you using Internet Explorer? It’s a non-compliant, crappy piece of software — and unsafe to boot. There are better choices for FREE.