Day: August 16, 2008

Netflix without the mail

Stream movies directly to your TV from Netflix with Netflix Online Movie Rentals.

  • Movies you watch instantly are included in a Netflix membership – no additional costs.
  • The Netflix Player by Roku is the first in a series of Netflix ready devices.
  • Choices in your instant Queue will be available to watch instantly on your TV via the Netflix ready device.
  • This device communicates with Netflix directly via the internet, allowing us to stream movies instantly to your TV.
  • $99.99 one time for the Roku.

NewMexiKen’s neighbor told me about it. He certainly seemed enthusiastic.

It is just a subset of Netflix DVDs, about 12,000 titles they say.

Santa Fe Indian Market

Next weekend.

Each year the Santa Fe Indian Market includes 1,200 artists from about 100 tribes who show their work in over 600 booths. The event attracts an estimated 100,000 visitors to Santa Fe from all over the world. Buyers, collectors and gallery owners come to Indian Market to take advantage of the opportunity to buy directly from the artists. For many visitors, this is a rare opportunity to meet the artists and learn about contemporary Indian arts and cultures. Quality is the hallmark of the Santa Fe Indian Market.

SWAIA: Southwestern Association for Indian Arts

Most irritating line of the day, so far

“Cannot play media. Sorry, this media is not available in your territory.”

BBC SPORT

That’s what you see if you try and watch the video of say Jamaica’s Usain Bolt winning the 100m in world record time UNTIL NBC IS GOOD AND READY FOR YOU TO SEE IT. Bastards.

A race of less than 10 seconds and he’s cruising with a big lead. Awesome.

Bolt

Bolt, is that the greatest name ever for the “world’s fastest human,” or not?

Republicans win

A Republican friend (I have more than one) writes of a symbolic victory — symbolic being all Republicans are likely to have this year.

But, I just found out I have to go to Denver on 26th-28th of August. Went to book my hotel only to find that every single Marriott within 60 miles of Denver is sold out due to the stupid Democratic convention. No problem though, I was able to use my status to kick some poor unsuspecting Democrat to the curb. We may not win the election, but I at least will have the satisfaction of kicking some poor slob out for two nights. How dare they go where I need to go? Higher taxes??? Sleep on the curb, beeyatch!!!

Is Kansas as flat as a pancake?

Two geography professors did the research.

In this report, we apply basic scientific techniques to answer the question “Is Kansas as flat as a pancake?”

While driving across the American Midwest, it is common to hear travelers remark, “This state is as flat as a pancake.” To the authors, this adage seems to qualitatively capture some characteristic of a topographic geodetic survey. This obvious question “how flat is a pancake” spurned our analytical interest, and we set out to find the ‘flatness’ of both a pancake and one particular state: Kansas.

Improbable Research

Answer: Yes.

August 16th

… is the birthday of Fess Parker, the actor who played Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone. He’s 84.

Parker and NewMexiKen have at least one thing in common. We had the same Russian language professor in college; Parker at Texas, NewMexiKen at Arizona. He was Professor Arthur Coleman and, as I remember it, he was the very first American Ph.D. ever in Slavic languages. By the time he showed up at Arizona in the early 1960s, Coleman was more-or-less retired, staying just one year as a visiting professor — as much character as educator, which is why we learned he’d taught Fess Parker.

Actor Robert Culp is 78 today. He was Bill Cosby’s sidekick (or Cosby was his) in the first TV series to feature an African-American, I Spy.

Frank Gifford is 78 today. Kathie Lee Gifford is 55 today.

One-time Oscar nominee for best supporting actress, Lesley Ann Warren is 62 today.

Oscar-winner James Cameron is 54. Cameron won, of course, for Titanic — writer, director, best picture.

Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone is 50.

Best actress Oscar nominee Angela Bassett is 50 today too.

Supporting actor Oscar-winner Timothy Hutton is 48.

Steve Carrell is 45.

Emily Robison of the Dixie Chicks is 36. Originally Emily Erwin (Robison is her married name), she and her sister Martie (now Maguire) founded the group with two other classmates. The other two left and the group added Natalie Maines as the lead singer in 1995.

Football coach Amos Alonzo Stagg was born on this date in 1862. Stagg, Skull and Bones at Yale, was on the first All-America team ever (1889). He coached most famously at the University of Chicago, 1892-1932. Stagg developed the man-in-motion and the lateral pass — and developed basketball as a five man game. He is in both the college football and basketball halls of fame.

Elvis Presley died 31 years ago today, he was 42. Margaret Mitchell died 59 years ago today, at age 48. Babe Ruth died 60 years ago today, he was 53. Robert Johnson died 70 years ago today, he was 27.

The first issue of Sports Illustrated was published 54 years ago.

Little Farm on the Suburb

Jill, official oldest daughter of NewMexiKen, reports:

Mack and Aidan went to Fair Camp this week (at the county fair). Part of the week is creating a potato scene and entering it for judging in the fair. At Mack’s urging, his group did an Olympics swimming theme and dressed the potatoes in little caps and swim suits. They won third place and all the team members got ribbons. So now Mack and Aidan have 4-H county fair ribbons. I think they should tell people it is for raising hogs.