NewMexiKen
Half Wisdom • Half Whimsy • Half Wit

Archive for July 29, 2009

Hair-raising experience

Click image for close up version

Click image for close up version

Sweeties Kiley (6) and Alex (4) had a hair-raising experience with static electricity yesterday at the Ontario Science Museum in Toronto.

Idle movie thought

I had never seen Lawrence of Arabia, usually proclaimed as one of the great films. I watched it last night and this evening.

It’s not.

Important Safety News

According to information at The New Yorker Blog, it’s 34 times riskier to drive while playing the accordion.

What is it about South Carolina?

“S.C. man accused of sex with horse — again”

On Deadline – USATODAY.com

Most definitely correct line of the day

“Some genius at Newsweek thinks George W. Bush should be Obama’s Middle East envoy.

“There really is something wrong with our elite journalistic institutions.”

Atrios

How To Hijack ‘Every iPhone In The World’

“If you receive a text message on your iPhone any time after Thursday afternoon containing only a single square character, Charlie Miller would suggest you turn the device off. Quickly.”

Forbes has the story.

My very own congress person

is a hottie. Not just a hottie, mind you, but the number one hottie on Capitol Hill.

Stay with it to the end

Thanks to Veronica for the link.

At least he wasn’t texting

The last time police arrested Waldo Baca for drunken driving, an officer found him passed out cold in his truck by the side of Interstate 25 near Santa Fe.

It took the officer several minutes to rouse him, but even then Baca was too intoxicated to speak, according to a state police report. The officer found a mostly empty bottle of whiskey, an empty whiskey bottle and an empty beer can inside Baca’s truck, the report says. Later, after refusing to take sobriety and breath-alcohol tests, Baca told a nurse who was drawing his blood at the hospital that alcohol, marijuana and cocaine would be found in his blood, the report states.

His blood-alcohol level at the time was later determined to have been .24 — three times the legal driving limit, according to a spokeswoman for the Department of Health, which oversees the blood testing.

The arrest — which occurred about 6:30 p.m. June 26 — marked the ninth time in the last 17 years Baca, 40, has been taken into custody by police officers from Santa Fe to Los Lunas for drunken driving, according to court records and statistics kept by the DWI Resource Center in Albuquerque.

The New Mexican has more on how Mr. Baca has skirted the system.

Someone just like him may be alongside of you the next time you take the kids to soccer.

Click if only for the mug shot.

News Quiz

“Tomorrow night, beers will be hoisted in the White House. Match the drinkers…with their preferred brews…”

Hendrik Hertzberg has the drinkers, the beers and the answers.

Best one sentence story of the day

“Last night I saved a guy’s life using the Heimlich Maneuver and after he calmed down, finished eating, and had dessert he left me thirteen percent.”

One Sentence

Vin Scully

One of the great moments in baseball — not just the story, but the storyteller. Go listen to baseball’s best broadcaster describe the last inning of Koufax’s perfect game in 1965.

Scully talks about virtually nothing but the action in front of him. Even allowing for the drama of this moment, compare and contrast to most current broadcasters who seem incapable of keeping their eye on the ball. And Scully says nothing for 40 seconds after the last pitch. He allows you to savor the moment. It’s not about him.

Link via a fine tribute to Scully at the Bats Blog.

Lightning

A weather front rolls in from the horizon, storm clouds darken the sky, and (at least 1.3 billion times a year) lightning strikes. Last month, the National Weather Service promoted their Lightning Safety Week, with information designed to call attention to safe practices, helping people avoid lightning strikes which kill an average of 100 people every year. While the exact nature of the initial formation of lightning remains a subject of debate, what is known is that lightning strikes are caused by electrical imbalances present in the clouds. Those imbalances correct themselves suddenly, with an often spectacular light show – which I’ve tried to show here, with a handful of recent photographs of lightning from around the world. (26 photos total)

The Big Picture – Boston.com

Facebook

I’ve cut back my Facebook friends to just immediate family. If this means you were unfriended, please don’t take it personally.

Best line of the day, so far

“Also, pro golfers, unlike baseball, football or basketball players, have no fixed salaries. They eat what they kill.”

Tom Friedman in an appreciation of Tom Watson.

“Play one round of golf with someone and you will learn everything you need to know about his character.”

July 29th ought to be a national holiday

Don Carter is 83 today.

The Milky Way Over Devils Tower

devilstower_pacholka_big

Click image for larger version (and you should see this) and to learn more.

Once again I can’t help thinking that one of the worst ways we’ve polluted our planet is with light. Look at the magnificence we miss.

Idle thought

Just about half the people in the United States have below average intelligence.