Putting all those pennies to work

Visit Pictures of Pennies and scroll down.

And I think I have too much time on my hands.

The Crooner

Harry Lillis Crosby was born on this date in 1903. Known as “Bing” from a childhood nickname, he was:

[W]ithout doubt, the most popular and influential media star of the first half of the 20th century. The undisputed best-selling artist until well into the rock era (with over half a billion records in circulation), the most popular radio star of all time, and the biggest box-office draw of the 1940s, Crosby dominated the entertainment world from the Depression until the mid-’50s, and proved just as influential as he was popular. Unlike the many vocal artists before him, Crosby grew up with radio, and his intimate bedside manner was a style perfectly suited to emphasize the strengths of a medium transmitted directly into the home. He was also helped by the emerging microphone technology: scientists had perfected the electrically amplified recording process scant months before Crosby debuted on record, and in contrast to earlier vocalists, who were forced to strain their voices into the upper register to make an impression on mechanically recorded tracks, Crosby’s warm, manly baritone crooned contentedly without a thought of excess. …

His influence and importance in terms of vocal ability and knowledge of American popular music are immense, but what made Bing Crosby more than anything else was his persona — whether it was an artificial creation or something utterly natural to his own personality. Crosby represented the American everyman — strong and stern to a point yet easygoing and affable, tolerant of other viewpoints but quick to defend God and the American way — during the hard times of the Depression and World War II, when Americans most needed a symbol of what their country was all about.

John Bush for the All Music Guide

And, of course, he’s the artist with the best-selling record of all time: White Christmas.

Bush-whacked

• The president knew in advance [the First Lady] was going to speak, but he never saw the material. Basically, same way he handles his intelligence briefing.

• President Bush said today that the social security is going bankrupt. The good news is that won’t happen for at least 50 years and by then you won’t have to worry about social security because the temperature will be 158 degrees!

Jay Leno

Watch the banners change

The National Parks Conservation Association has a great new look to their home page. Worthy of a click.

Join while you’re there.

Rich states, poor states

On The American Street Kevin Hayden lists the states from top to bottom by “Median Income for 4-Person Families.” Number one is New Jersey at $87,412. The U.S. median is $65,093. The last state is, ta-da, New Mexico at $45,867.

It’s an interesting list with interesting commentary.

Ah, yes, the politicians of the Old Dominion

Billmon at Whiskey Bar has close tabs on Virginia’s Senators:

Back in the early ’80s, when I lived in Virginia, one of our Senators (not John Warner, but a senile old fart named Scott) was voted the dumbest man in the U.S. Senate. As it happened, I actually had met Scott once or twice, and I can’t say the honor was undeserved.

Nor was it unusual. The Old Dominion has been producing politiicans of very little brain for many years now — a case of reversion to the mean, I suppose, after giving the nation the likes of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

Even by the state’s contemporary standards, though, Allen is a dunce. One of the few politiicans, in fact, who could make people refer to John Warner as “the smart one.”

Which, needless to say, could make him a hot prospect for the GOP presidential nomination.

Click on the link above to see what Allen said and the Whiskey Bar parry.

May 3rd is the birthday …

… of Pete Seeger. The writer of “Turn, Turn, Turn” and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” is 86. (Of course, the lyrics to “Turn, Turn, Turn” are from Ecclesiastes.)

… of James Brown. The Godfather of Soul is 72.

… of Greg Gumbel. He’s 59. (Brother Bryant is 56.)

… and of Dulé Hill. That’s Charlie on West Wing. He’s 30.

Doom and gloom

Andrew Tobias has some scary thoughts: Are We Lagging Technologically? Here’s his concluding words:

And what are we to make of the notion that our kids go to school 180 days a year, while our competition’s kids go to school 240 days a year? Can this bode well for our relative prosperity 20 and 40 years from now?

Or of the more recent Tom Friedman column in which he quoted Bill Gates — “American high schools are obsolete . . . [E]ven when they are working exactly as designed, they cannot teach our kids what they need to know today.” Friedman translated Gates’s comments this way: “If we don’t fix American education, I will not be able to hire your kids.”? And he noted that “neither Tom DeLay [nor] Bill Frist called a late-night session of Congress — or even a daytime one — to discuss what Mr. Gates was saying. They were too busy pandering to those Americans who don’t even believe in evolution.”

Which perhaps brings me to the last bad sign of late — according to an NBC news poll, about 65% of us do not believe in evolution.

Have I mentioned frequently enough that any equity portfolio should include international index funds as well as domestic?