For what it’s worth

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.

Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart

… 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.

January 27th

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.”

The Writer’s Almanac (2008)

Who Should Progressives Root for in the Super Bowl?

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.

MoJo Blog

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.

Best line of the day, so far

“It’s customary to say that someone will be missed. In Updike’s case it’s more important that he will be remembered.”

James Fallows

Coffee break

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?”

Still not blogging

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.