The National Museum of Ben Nighthorse Campbell

Timothy Noah doesn’t much like the new National Museum of the American Indian:

The new museum stubbornly refuses to impose any recognizable standard of scholarship, or even value, on the items in its galleries. Precious artifacts are mingled with present-day kitsch, with few if any clues provided about what makes them significant. The museum’s curators regard the very notion of a Native American cultural heritage as anathema because it clashes with the museum’s boosterish message that Native American culture is as vibrant today as it ever was. This isn’t a museum; it’s a public service announcement.

NewMexiKen hasn’t been to NMAI, so I don’t know what to make of Noah’s criticism (other than it has been a common lament among the published critics). Indeed, one wonders what the reaction was when the National Museum of American History first opened — perhaps all new museums need a time to mature. Whatever, Noah’s essay is worth reading.

It’s the birthday

… of Charlton Heston. Moses is 80 today. Heston won the best actor Oscar for Ben-Hur (1959).

… of Susan Sarandon. The five-time nominee for best actress (she won for Dead Man Walking) is 58 today.

Win some, lose some

It’s the birthday of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, 19th President of the United States. Hayes was born in Delaware, Ohio, on this date in 1822.

As the Library of Congress tells it:

Rutherford B. Hayes became…president in 1877 after a bitterly-contested election against Democrat Samuel J. Tilden of New York. Tilden won the popular vote, but disputed electoral ballots from four states prompted Congress to create a special electoral commission to decide the election’s result. The fifteen-man commission of congressmen and Supreme Court justices, eight of whom were Republicans, voted along party lines deciding the election in Hayes’s favor.

Prodigy

Story from Harvey Penick’s Lessons and Teachings from a Lifetime in Golf:

Ben [Crenshaw] came to see me when he was about 8 years old. …

There was a green about 75 yards away. I asked Ben to tee up a ball and hit it onto the green. He did. Then I said, “Now, let’s go to the green and putt the ball into the hole.”

“If you wanted it in the hole, why didn’t you tell me the first time?” little Ben asked.

Worth noting between now and November 2nd

In his convention address in New York, President Bush announced a new $1 billion initiative to enroll “millions of poor children” in two popular government health programs. But next week, the Bush administration plans to return $1.1 billion in unspent children’s health funds to the U.S. Treasury, making his convention promise a financial wash at best.

From The Washington Post, September 25, 2004

Jeopardy!

Hey, “Blogs” was a category of Jeopardy! — last Friday during the Tournament of Champions. Here’s the answers; click on each for the question.

Link via Kottke.

Definite Frasier-like qualities

From Wonkette:

At one point, Kerry seemed a little irony-challenged. He greeted a young man in a “Titanic Swim Team” t-shirt and asked what events he swam. The embarrassed kid said he was actually on his high school track team. “So you stole the shirt?” Kerry joked. “I thought you were on the swim team. You faked me out there.”

Nothing remarkable

The General, A 10 on the Manly Scale of Absolute Gender, fears his shortcomings have been revealed. Funny story, worth a click.

The General tells us, “At first they thought it was my heart, but they later attributed my chest pain and tightness to some kind of virus in my chest wall–in other words they couldn’t figure it out.” Sounds all too familiar to NewMexiKen.