Apparently there is some possibility the Postal Service may have to cut back to 5-day delivery. I’ve been wondering ever since I carried the mail during summers when I was in graduate school why they didn’t eliminate Saturday delivery.
Anyone care if they have to wait until Monday for the Bed, Bath & Beyond coupon?
From Newsweek.com:
It’s common knowledge that a glass or two of red wine a night will do more than enhance a great meal or put you to sleep: it can reduce production of “bad” cholesterol, boost “good” cholesterol and reduce blood clotting, all of which will help reduce the risk of heart disease. But recent studies are showing that wine aficionados may also reap even more benefits, from inhibiting tumor development to helping form nerve cells. Here’s a roundup of four recent studies that might encourage you to uncork that bottle of merlot …
Coffee in the morning (see yesterday’s post), nap in the afternoon (see earlier post today) and red white wine in the evening. Life is good.
What exactly does the phrase “’tis of thee” mean? You know, as in “my country ’tis of thee.” I never have understood it.
The Library of Congress, by the way, has a page about the song. The music is from the national anthem of the United Kingdom, “God Save the Queen” (or King as might be), published as early as 1745.
Here’s Aretha.
“A slew of recent studies have shown that naps boost alertness, creativity, mood, and productivity in the later hours of the day.”
The secret of life is finding the balance between the health benefits of naps and the health benefits of caffeinated coffee.
“My children’s school was canceled today, because of what? Some ice,” Obama said, and all at the table started laughing.
“As my children pointed out, in Chicago school is never canceled,” he continued. He said that in their old hometown, “you’d go outside for recess in weather like this. You wouldn’t even stay indoors.”
I posted an item titled “Don’t miss commuting on the Metro one bit” here four years ago today. (It was lifted from tequila mockingbird which seems to have stopped blogging in 2007.)
If you’ve ever commuted via mass transit I think you’ll be amused.
For my part, I thought getting a free parking place at my federal office building was about the best thing that ever happened, and environment be damned I never took the Metro to work again.
The only problem I ever had parking at work was once when I didn’t realize what the guards were saying and I attempted to pull into the garage by cutting off Secretary of State Albright’s town car and chase vehicle.
From the Wall Street Journal’s The Wallet, all about retirement coaches.
When I was ready to retire I was more interested in getting a retirement couch.
NewMexiKen does not usually have an income tax refund coming — I prefer not to loan money to the government interest free — but for various reasons this year was different.
So I went ahead and got my taxes done using TurboTax, deciding for the first time (because it was free and I had money coming) to use e-file. I filed my federal return electronically around 10:30 this morning.
At 6:30 this evening I got a confirmation that my return had been accepted by the IRS and my refund would be deposited in my checking account next Friday (the 6th).
Cool.
… was born in Salzburg on this date in 1756. Theophilus—or Gottlieb—or Amadé means “loved by God.” As an adult Mozart signed Wolfgang Amadé Mozart or simply Mozart. In the family he was known as Wolfgangerl or Woferl.
It seems wrong to write about an immortal’s death on his birthday but the facts are more complex, of course than the movie Amadeus. According to a December 2003 article at Guardian Unlimited:
…Mozart’s death, as one respected musical journal wrote, was almost certainly caused not by poison but by “arduous work and fast living among ill-chosen company”.
It was only after Mozart’s demise that Salieri began to have any real reason to hate him. Unlike that of any before him, Mozart’s music kept on being performed. Cut down at the peak of his powers – and with the added frisson of whispered rumours that he might have been murdered – he became the first composer whose cult of celebrity actually flourished after his death.
Salieri, however, had outlived his talent. He wrote almost no music for the last two decades of his life. Instead he spent time revising his previous works. He did have an impressive roster of pupils: Beethoven, Schubert, Meyerbeer and Liszt – not to mention Franz Xaver Mozart, his supposed adversary’s young son. But the composer who had once been at the vanguard of new operatic ideas was not necessarily teaching his students to be similarly innovative…
So how did this respected musician become the rumoured murderer of the great Mozart? Nobody knows for certain. But in his final weeks Mozart is reported to have believed he had been poisoned, and had gone so far as to blame hostile Italian factions at the Viennese court. People put two and two together and pointed the finger at Salieri. And who could resist a story this good? Certainly not his fellow composers. There are mentions of it in Beethoven’s Conversation Books. Weber, Mozart’s father-in-law, had heard it by 1803, and cold-shouldered Salieri ever after. And 20 years later it was still doing the rounds; Rossini joked about it when he met Salieri in 1822.
As the rumour gathered strength, all denials only served to reinforce it. Then, in 1823, Salieri – hospitalised, terminally ill and deranged – is said to have accused himself of poisoning Mozart. In more lucid moments he took it back. But the damage was done. Even if few believed the ramblings of a confused old man, the fact that Salieri had “confessed” to Mozart’s murder gave the rumour some semblance of validity.
Wolfgang Amadé Mozart is a delightful Mozart website.
Chief Justice John Roberts 54 today is. If Roberts had only informed Obama he was going to talk like Yoda, they might have gotten through the oath of office OK.
The actor James Cromwell is 69. Among his many roles, Cromwell was the farmer in Babe. The role earned him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. Who was the lead in that film — the pig?
Mikhail Baryshnikov is 61.
Keith Olbermann is 50.
Sultry-voiced Margo Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies is 48.
Peter Fonda’s daughter Bridget is 45.
Jerome Kern was born on this date in 1885.
Kern and his wife returned to America, where he enhanced the scores of European musicals and worked as a rehearsal pianist. Then he met Oscar Hammerstein II, who became a lifelong friend, and the two collaborated on Show Boat in 1927. This musical gave us the songs “Ol’ Man River” and “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man.” In 1933, Kern and Hammerstein produced Roberta, which included the famous song “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.”
Kern moved to Hollywood in 1935, and he enjoyed success there. He wrote “The Way You Look Tonight” for the movie Swing Time, and the song won an Academy Award. In 1941, Kern and Hammerstein wrote “The Last Time I Saw Paris” because Paris had just been occupied by Nazi Germany, and that song also won an Academy Award.
Kern died in 1945 with Hammerstein at his side. At the memorial service, Hammerstein said of his friend Jerome Kern, “He stimulated everyone. He annoyed some. He never bored anyone at any time.”
So you’re not a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and you’re not an Arizona Cardinals fan, but you’ve been invited to a Super Bowl party and you need to know who to root for. Before you pick the Cardinals because you’re a progressive and you love underdogs, I urge you to consider a few facts.
Dan Rooney, the 76-year-old owner of the Steelers and a lifelong Republican, endorsed Obama and stumped for him not just in Pennsylvania but in the surrounding swing states. He did so despite the fact that Obama’s promise of increased taxes on the wealthy forced Rooney’s family to restructure the ownership of the team. Head coach Mike Tomlin is a vocal Obama supporter. At a recent press conference he said, “Barack is selling hope. And I’m buying.” Steelers players have spoken out about how they hope to win the Super Bowl in part because it would mean they would be the first championship sports team to visit Obama’s White House. (Also worth noting: Barack Obama grew up a Steelers fan and is rooting for the Steel Curtain on Sunday.)
The Bidwell family, longtime owners of the Cardinals, are major Republican donors. Their donor history can be found on opensecrets.org, but to save you time, I’ll point you to a couple links. The LA Times reports that team President William Bidwell and Vice President Michael Bidwell each gave $50,000 to Republicans this past election season. Politico adds that as fundraisers for McCain, they bundled upwards of $350,000 for the Republican presidential candidate.
Mull that over as you tip back your favorite adult beverage on Sunday evening. I think your choice is clear.
Seemed worth repeating in full to me.
I’ll be watching the Super Bowl with someone who knew Mike Tomlin the Steelers coach when they were in college.
“It’s customary to say that someone will be missed. In Updike’s case it’s more important that he will be remembered.”
Via The Huffington Post:
Drinking coffee may do more than just keep you awake. A new study suggests an intriguing potential link to mental health later in life, as well.
. . .After controlling for numerous socioeconomic and health factors, including high cholesterol and high blood pressure, the scientists found that the subjects who had reported drinking three to five cups of coffee daily were 65 percent less likely to have developed dementia, compared with those who drank two cups or less.
Coffee, for some is an acquired taste they haven’t acquired. You might want to acquire it — or are you already demented?
Or as WebMD puts it?
“Want a drug that could lower your risk of diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and colon cancer? That could lift your mood and treat headaches? That could lower your risk of cavities?”
Charles P. Pierce has a funny rant against sportscasters and makes a good case against the Arizona Cardinals. He begins:
I can tell you exactly when I began hating the Arizona Cardinals, and it wasn’t when they came to Foxborough in December, took one look at the falling snow, and decided they would commit public consumer fraud for the balance of the afternoon. No, it was sometime midway through the BCS national championship game between Oklahoma and Florida. For those of you who missed it, Fox television announcer Thom Brennaman treated Florida quarterback Tim Tebow in a fashion that I am absolutely sure violates the anti-stalking statutes in at least five states.
The article “The awfulness of Billy Joel, explained” by Ron Rosenbaum for Slate Magazine has been linked to by everybody on the internets but me, so here it is. It is amusing.
‘Burque Babble has a best line:
“With the steely eye of Death almost at hand, the small, furry creature known as Analog Television may perhaps be saved by brave Congresspeople and a new President with bold ideas that evidently include saving small, supposedly outdated entertainment options.”
And Steve Benen at The Washington Monthly has a best line too:
“The right howls, the media blares, Democrats decide it’s not worth the bother.”
And there’s Calculated Risk.. I just read it for the graphs. Go look. “In Phoenix, house prices have declined more than 40% from the peak.”
Personally housing prices in Phoenix will have to go down another 140% before I’d ever consider living in that hell hole.
The country’s new robots.txt file.
Thanks to Jason for that link.
Google Maps: Cheney’s Veil Lifted on Vice President’s Residence.
Thanks to James Fallows for that one.
NewMexiKen has no reason for not blogging. I am not traveling. I have a cold, but am no longer what could be called sick enough for a “sick day.” I’m not busy with anything else.
I just don’t want to.
(And I only posted this because when I am absent, a few of my seven regular readers sometimes wonder why.)
“It is tight. It is cramped. It is hot. It probably isn’t completely safe to have everyone go up, in any numbers, at any time. But the Park Service is full of slightly dangerous things you can do.”
Interior Secretary Salazar after climbing to the crown of the Statue of Liberty. As senator he supported reopening the crown to the public. (I’ve been there. It is tight. It is cramped. It is hot. It is also glorious!)
“A British man who murdered his wife after becoming enraged when she changed her relationship status on Facebook to ’single’ was jailed for at least 18 years late Thursday.
President Obama seems a little like Jeff Bridges in The Contender with the menu.
[Republican pollster Frank] Luntz found that Americans are prepared to pay (cue scary music) higher taxes for more infrastructure investment. Luntz was further shocked to find that three out of four Republicans would accept such a trade off.
Better yet, Luntz found that Americans “understand that infrastructure is not just roads, bridges and rails. In fact, they rated fixing energy facilities as their highest priority. Roads and highways scored second, and clean-water treatment facilities third.”
The 2009 Bloggies nominated these six blogs for Weblog of the Year.
Confessions of a Pioneer Woman
You can vote on all of the awards at Ninth Annual Weblog Awards: The 2009 Bloggies.
The Oscars aren’t the only awards in progress. Nominated for Best New Blog among the 2009 Bloggies are:
… but some of these guys need to be wearing orange jump suits and picking up trash alongside the highway.
Merrill CEO (now former CEO) John Thain lavished his office with $1.22 million worth of area rugs, wall sconces, chandeliers, and a $35,000 “commode” after inheriting a struggling investment bank that would have been liquidated had it not been for its shot-gun marriage with Bank of America.
Thain, according to documents reviewed by The Daily Beast, spent another $233,000 on a driver for the past year—more than twice as much as most CEOs. He personally signed off on the expenses, which were paid with company money. He did not reimburse the company for the expense, according to a person close to the firm.
“I won.”
President Obama after listening to Republican gripes about his stimulus package, as reported by Politico.com.
Video from 1970. Damn, she could sing.
Link via Ben Freeman at The New Yorker. Freeman has an interesting, brief critique of Ms. Franklin’s Inauguration performance, which she herself feels fell short.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Powered by WordPress.