. . . if the Large Hadron Collider started up on Wednesday morning (U.S. time) as planned and it did create a black hole here on Earth as some crackpots fear and we were all sucked into it?
Day: September 7, 2008
Red or Green?
Even the lobo has stopped howling
In my 10th year in Albuquerque, NewMexiKen buys season tickets to University of New Mexico football. And what happens? Two of the six home games have been played already and the Lobos are 0-2. And not that good.
First, a 26-3 loss to TCU, then yesterday a 28-22 defeat by a mediocre Texas A&M team. And two of yesterday’s New Mexico scores came in the last six minutes when the game was likely out of reach. Earlier two interceptions led to two A&M TDs; a fumble lead to another. Ugly.
And the crowds have been small (70% of capacity yesterday) and listless (as one might expect in games where the home team is down 16-0 and 14-0 early. Some dental group sponsors shots of fans flashing their smiles during breaks in the action. Any UNM fans smiling yesterday should have been tossed from University Stadium.
This Saturday a third home game, this time against NewMexiKen’s very own alma mater, The University of Arizona, off to its best start in years. I’ll be wearing red again this week, but it’ll have an A on it, not a NM.
(A little boy about 5 or 6 sat in front of me yesterday with his dad. The kid watched the action on the large TV on the end zone scoreboard. To my knowledge he didn’t look at the field once. A few more games like the first two and that may be true for all of us.)
Mindset List
This month, almost 2 million first-year students will head off to college campuses around the country. Most of them will be about 18 years old, born in 1990 when headlines sounded oddly familiar to those of today: Rising fuel costs were causing airlines to cut staff and flight schedules; Big Three car companies were facing declining sales and profits; and a president named Bush was increasing the number of troops in the Middle East in the hopes of securing peace. However, the mindset of this new generation of college students is quite different from that of the faculty about to prepare them to become the leaders of tomorrow.
Here’s some of the 60:
For these students, Sammy Davis Jr., Jim Henson, Ryan White, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Freddy Krueger have always been dead.
Harry Potter could be a classmate, playing on their Quidditch team.
They have always been looking for Carmen Sandiego.
GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available.
Coke and Pepsi have always used recycled plastic bottles.
Shampoo and conditioner have always been available in the same bottle.
Gas stations have never fixed flats, but most serve cappuccino.
Electronic filing of tax returns has always been an option.
Girls in head scarves have always been part of the school fashion scene.
All have had a relative–or known about a friend’s relative–who died comfortably at home with Hospice.
Films have never been X rated, only NC-17.
The Warsaw Pact is as hazy for them as the League of Nations was for their parents.
Clarence Thomas has always sat on the Supreme Court.
Schools have always been concerned about multiculturalism.
We have always known that “All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.”
There have always been gay rabbis.
IBM has never made typewriters.
McDonald’s and Burger King have always used vegetable oil for cooking french fries.
The Tonight Show has always been hosted by Jay Leno and started at 11:35 EST.
Authorities have always been building a wall along the Mexican border.
Lenin’s name has never been on a major city in Russia.
Employers have always been able to do credit checks on employees.
Personal privacy has always been threatened.
Caller ID has always been available on phones.
Living wills have always been asked for at hospital check-ins.
The Green Bay Packers (almost) always had the same starting quarterback.
They never heard an attendant ask “Want me to check under the hood?”
Iced tea has always come in cans and bottles.
Soft drink refills have always been free.
They have never known life without Seinfeld references from a show about “nothing.”
The Hubble Space Telescope has always been eavesdropping on the heavens.
98.6 F or otherwise has always been confirmed in the ear.
Off-shore oil drilling in the United States has always been prohibited.
Radio stations have never been required to present both sides of public issues.
Signs o’ the times
This photo was taken along US 285 between Alamosa and La Jara, Colorado, in 2004. My thinking at the time was this was a small — but determined — group.
Community organizers possibly.
Grandparents Day
Today is Grandparents Day. Cash, checks and fine wines accepted.
Grandparents Day was the brainchild of Marian McQuade of Fayette County, W.Va., who hoped that such an observance might persuade grandchildren to tap the wisdom and heritage of their grandparents. President Jimmy Carter signed the first presidential proclamation in 1978 — and one has been issued each year since — designating the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day. The first official observance was Sept. 9, 1979.
Wisdom and heritage R us.
September 7, 2008
Elizabeth was born on September 7th in 1533. The queen Virginia is named after.
Anna Mary Robertson was born on September 7th in 1860. Grandma Moses lived until 1961, and only started painting at age 76.
Two-time best director Oscar winner, Elia Kazan was born on September 7th in 1909. Kazan won for Gentleman’s Agreement and On the Waterfront. He had three other directing nominations.
David Packard was born on September 7th in 1912. The “P” in HP.
Senator Daniel Inouye was born on September 7th in 1924. He’s 84 today.
Tenor saxophonist Theodore Rollins — Sonny Rollins — was born on September 7th in 1930. He is 78 today.
Buddy Holly was born on September 7th in 1936. Just 22 when the music died.
Gloria Gaynor was born on September 7th in 1949. Still surviving at 59.
Go on now go walk out the door
just turn around now
’cause you’re not welcome anymore
weren’t you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye
Did you think I’d crumble
Did you think I’d lay down and die
Oh no, not I
I will survive
Oh as long as i know how to love
I know I will stay alive
I’ve got all my life to live
I’ve got all my love to give
and I’ll survive
I will survive (hey-hey)
Julie Kavner was born on September 7th in 1951. NewMexiKen liked her best in Awakenings, but we all know her as the voice of Marge Simpson. She’s 57 today.
W. Earl Brown was born on September 7th in 1963. He’s Dan Dority of Deadwood and 45 today.
Now that’s a hall monitor with some street cred
NewMexiKen just posted this last year, but I believe in recycling to help protect the planet.
NewMexiKen has been reading Angie Debo’s excellent 1976 biography of Geronimo. I recommend it. Here’s a couple of trivial items I thought were interesting.
When Geronimo’s and Naiche’s (son of Cochise) bands were consolidated at Mount Vernon Barracks, Alabama, in 1887 and 1888, the post doctor was Walter Reed. Yes, THE Walter Reed.
A school was eventually set up at the Alabama camp, where the Apaches were prisoners of war — men, women and children. Geronimo reportedly monitored the children’s attendance and deportment, walking up and down the aisles with a stick.
I’m thinking many of our schools today could use Geronimo patrolling their classrooms.
The Apaches were relocated to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in 1894.
Update: Finishing the biography, amused to learn when that Geronimo traveled he would sell photos and autographs and even the buttons off his coat. He’d sell the buttons to people gathered to see him come by at the train station, then before the next station he’d sew on a new set of buttons.
Geronimo also rode in Teddy Roosevelt’s inaugural parade in March 1905. The Apache would have been about 75, nearly 76. It was said he could still vault onto his pony. This NewMexiKen post has a photo of Geronimo taken at the St. Louis Fair in 1904. He died in 1909, about age 80.
Special Public Service Announcement
With the election just 8 weeks away NewMexiKen wanted to pass along this public service announcement. Because of difficulties counting ballots in Florida after the 2000 vote, and in Ohio after the 2004 vote, and in New Mexico after any vote larger than for 8th grade class president, there has been a change of procedures nationwide.
All who wish to vote for Barack Obama for President are still supposed to vote on November 4.
All who wish to vote for John McCain for President are supposed to wait and vote on November 6.
Remember, November 4th for Obama, November 6th for McCain. Don’t show up on the wrong day.