Still movin’

NewMexiKen is still away and doesn’t have convenient internet access. Stay tuned.

Earliest recordings preceded Edison’s

Researchers said Friday that they have played back the oldest audio recording ever made, a 10-second snippet of singing made 17 years before Thomas Alva Edison patented the phonograph.

Using technology originally designed to play records without touching them, a team at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was able to convert a series of squiggly lines etched onto smoked paper into an ethereal voice singing “Au Clair de la Lune, Pierrot répondit,” a refrain from a French folk song.

Los Angeles Times

On the road again

As my regular seven readers — many of whom are where I am — may have guessed, NewMexiKen is away for a few days.

Bear with me, the usual blogging will return one of these days.

Lost and found

Jill, official oldest daughter of NewMexiKen, reports on Reidie, who turned two last Sunday:

As most of you know, I lost my cell phone 11 days ago when the baby got into my purse and spread its contents all over the kitchen area. I’ve asked the boy probably 50 times since then “Where is Mommy’s phone?”

Well, about half an hour ago he walked up and handed it to me, out of the blue.

March 28th

Today is the birthday

… of Russell Banks, 68.

He was an exceptionally bright student and won a scholarship to Colgate, the first in his family to go to college. But he dropped out after only eight weeks, feeling that he, a poor boy, didn’t fit in among the privileged preppies, “the sons of the captains of American industry,” as he called them. He left the North for Mexico and Florida and intended to join Castro’s rebellious army, but he ended up in Florida fishing, writing, and working as a gas station attendant. By his early 20s, he was married and had a daughter, but the relationship ended in divorce when he was 22. He later called this period “the terrible years.”

When he was 24, he went back to college, entering the University of North Carolina, and this time around he felt well adjusted was a good student.

He wrote a novel, Hamilton Stark (1978), in which he experimented with narration techniques and perspective, using shifting points of view to frame the novel. His novel Continental Drift (1985) was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and called by Atlantic reviewer James Atlas “the most convincing portrait I know of contemporary America: its greed, its uprootedness, its indifference to the past. This is a novel about the way we live now.”

Since then, Banks has written several more novels, including Affliction (1989), The Sweet Hereafter (1991), Cloudsplitter (1998), and most recently, The Reserve (2008).

The Writer’s Almanac from American Public Media

… of two-time Oscar winner Dianne Wiest. She’s 60. Ms. Wiest won supporting actress Oscars for Hannah and Her Sisters and Bullets Over Broadway. She was nominated for the same award for Parenthood.

… of Reba McEntire, 53.

McEntire was the single most successful female country vocalist of the ’80s and ’90s, scoring a consistent stream of Top Ten singles and a grand total of 18 number one singles. (allmusic)

… of Vince Vaughn. He’s 38.

… of Julia Stiles. Bourne’s Nicky is 27.

August Anheuser Busch Jr., “the master showman and irrepressible salesman who turned a small family operation into the world’s largest brewing company” was born on this date in 1899. Quotation is from his Times obituary.

Bandleader Paul Whiteman was born on this date in 1890.

. . . There he soon became the best-known American bandleader, particularly with his recording of Whispering and Japanese Sandman (1920), which sold more than a million copies. By the early 1920s his lush orchestral style was widely copied on countless bandstands at home and abroad.
. . .

Whiteman was a key figure in American popular music. While jazz purists accused him of diluting the character of early jazz for commercial purposes, less biased observers applauded the high polish and versatility of his orchestras, which had to be as comfortable in the concert hall as at a college dance. He employed a number of talented musicians: in the original arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue three of his reed players were required to play a total of 17 instruments. Although his dance music tended to be sedate, there were occasional jazz solos from musicians such as Bix Beiderbecke, Frankie Trumbauer, Eddie Lang, Bunny Berigan, and Jack Teagarden.

JAZZ A Film By Ken Burns

And, of course, it’s the birthday of Jason, official youngest child of NewMexiKen. Happy Birthday Jason!

Glorieta Pass

New Mexico’s very own “important” Civil War battle began on this date in 1862. As they do so often, The Edge of the American West has good background.

Best bracket lines of the day, so far

Courtesy of Sideline Chatter (where my “sports movies” got mentioned, too):

• Memphis coach John Calipari, to FSN, on star freshman Derrick Rose and the lure of the NBA: “If he wants to do what’s right for him and his family, he’ll go pro … If he wants to do what’s right for me and my family, he’ll stay.”

• Larry Stewart of the Los Angeles Times, on why TV Land executives are pulling for a North Carolina-West Virginia title game: “Andy Griffith’s alma mater versus Don Knotts’ alma mater.”

• Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, on predicting Georgetown would be in the Final Four: “Like I said: North Carolina-Memphis-UCLA-Davidson.”

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost was born on this date in 1874.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

March 26th

Today is the birthday

… of Sandra Day O’Connor. She’s 78.

… of Leonard Nimoy. Mr. Spock is 77.

… of Oscar-winner Alan Arkin. He’s 74. Arkin was twice nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role — for The Russians are Coming, the Russians Are Coming and The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. He won the supporting actor Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine.

… of James Caan and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. They’re 68 today.

… of Erica Jong, 66.

… of former journalist Bob Woodward, 65.

… of Diana Ross, once Supreme. She’s 64.

… of Johnny Crawford. He was the kid on The Rifleman and he’s now 62.

… of Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, 60.

Aerosmith were America’s feisty retort to hard-rocking British groups like the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, the Who, Cream, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. Almost alone among American bands, Aerosmith matched those British legends in power, intensity, and notoriety. Moreover, they’ve long since surpassed many of their influences in terms of longevity and popularity. In the words of vocalist Steven Tyler, “We weren’t too ambitious when we started out. We just wanted to be the biggest thing that ever walked the planet, the greatest rock band that ever was.”

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

… of Martin Short, 58.

… of Marcus Allen and the person who used to look like Jennifer Grey. They’re 48.

… of Michael Imperioli. Tony’s nephew Christopher is 42.

… of Kenny Chesney. He’s 40.

… of Keira Knightley, 23.

Condé Montrose Nast was born on this date in 1873. His earliest magazines were Vogue, Vanity Fair and House and Garden. Nast died in 1942, but the company that bears his name now publishes more than two dozen magazines.

Robert Frost, long thought of as the New England poet, was born in San Francisco on this date in 1874.

“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.”

Quote found at The Writer’s Almanac from American Public Media, which has more about Frost.

Tennessee Williams was born on this date in 1911.

He was brilliant and prolific, breathing life and passion into such memorable characters as Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski in his critically acclaimed A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. And like them, he was troubled and self-destructive, an abuser of alcohol and drugs. He was awarded four Drama Critic Circle Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He was derided by critics and blacklisted by Roman Catholic Cardinal Spellman, who condemned one of his scripts as “revolting, deplorable, morally repellent, offensive to Christian standards of decency.” He was Tennessee Williams, one of the greatest playwrights in American history.

American Masters

Beethoven died on this date in 1827. He was 56.

Edith Wheeler

… was born in New York City on this date in 1900. On her father’s side Edith was descended from John Wheeler and Agnes Yeoman who emigrated from England in 1634 on the ship Mary & John and settled in Massachusetts. Edith’s mother’s father, Andrew Jackson Hutchinson, served with the Union Army during the War of the Rebellion.

Edith Wheeler had four children and sixteen grandchildren of whom NewMexiKen is the oldest.

Hello, anyone home?

First posted here two years ago thanks to Amy.

The boss of a big company needed to call one of his employees about an urgent problem with one of the main computers, dialed the employee’s home phone number and was greeted with a child’s whisper.

“Hello.”

“Is your daddy home?” he asked.

“Yes,” whispered the small voice.

“May I talk with him?”

The child whispered, “No.”

Surprised, and wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, “Is your mommy there?”

“Yes.”

“May I talk with her?”

Again the small voice whispered, “No.”

Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message, the boss asked, “Is anybody else there?”

“Yes, “whispered the child, “a policeman.”

Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee’s home, the boss asked, “May I speak with the policeman?”

“No, he’s busy”, whispered the child.

“Busy doing what?”

“Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the fireman,” came the whispered answer.

Growing concerned and even worried as he heard what sounded like a helicopter through the earpiece on the phone the boss asked, “What is that noise?”

“A hello-copper” answered the whispering voice.

“What is going on there?” asked the boss, now truly alarmed.

In an awed whispering voice the child answered, “The search team just landed the hello-copper.”

Alarmed, concerned, and even more then just a little frustrated the boss asked, “What are they searching for?”

Still whispering, the young voice replied along with a muffled giggle:

“ME.”

Europe as seen from Asia

Click image (of Istanbul from across the Bosporus) for larger version and to learn more.

One of NewMexiKen’s favorite places.

You deserve a break today

Let’s eat out.

Idea from Lauren.

Best line Monday night

“Oh, did you hear about this? Two State Department employees were fired – this is a bit of a scandal – because they were looking at Barack Obama’s passport file. Not only that, but the same person was also looking at John McCain’s Civil War records.”

David Letterman

Ten things you don’t know about the Milky Way Galaxy

Tom linked to this but it’s pretty interesting anyway.

From the Bad Astronomy Blog, Ten things you don’t know about the Milky Way Galaxy.

The Yuppiest person in America

“Wil Shipley, a Seattle software developer, uses his iPhone at the Whole Foods fish counter to check websites for updates on which seafood is the most environmentally correct to purchase. He quizzes the staff on where and how a fish was caught. Because he carries the Internet with him, “I can be super-picky,” he said.”

Stuff White People Like

Thanks BTW to Veronica for telling me about this website. I haven’t linked to it before (that I remember) but I have been enjoying reading it.

March 25th

… ought to be a national holiday. It’s Aretha Franklin’s birthday. The first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is 66 today.

Aretha Franklin is the undisputed “Queen of Soul” and the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She is a singer of great passion and control whose finest recordings define the term soul music in all its deep, expressive glory. As Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun observed, “I don’t think there’s anybody I have known who possesses an instrument like hers and who has such a thorough background in gospel, the blues and the essential black-music idiom.…She is blessed with an extraordinary combination of remarkable urban sophistication and of the deep blues feeling that comes from the Delta. The result is maybe the greatest singer of our time.”

Franklin was born in Memphis and grew up in Detroit, where her father, Rev. C.L. Franklin, served as pastor at the New Bethel Baptist Church. One of the best-known religious orators of the day, Rev. Franklin was a friend and colleague of Martin Luther King. Aretha began singing church music at an early age, and recorded her first album, The Gospel Sound of Aretha Franklin, at fourteen. Her greatest influence was her aunt, Clara Ward, a renowned singer of sacred music. Beyond her family, Franklin drew from masters of the blues (Billie Holiday), jazz (Sarah Vaughn) and gospel (Mahalia Jackson), forging a contemporary synthesis that spoke to the younger generation in the new language of soul.

Aretha signed with Columbia Records in 1960 after A&R man John Hammond heard a demo she cut in New York. She remained at Columbia for six years, cutting ten albums that failed to fully tap into her capabilities. Paired with pop-minded producers, she dabbled in a variety of styles without finding her voice. Franklin was never averse to the idea of crossover music, being a connoisseur of pop and show tunes, but she needed to interpret them in her own uncompromising way. In Hammond’s words, “I cherish the albums we made together, but Columbia was a white company who misunderstood her genius.”

Jerry Wexler was waiting in the wings to sign Franklin when her contract with Columbia expired. With her switch to Atlantic in 1966, Aretha proceeded to revolutionize soul music with some of the genre’s greatest recordings. Her most productive period ran from 1967 through 1972. The revelations began with her first Atlantic single, “I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Loved You),” a smoldering performance that unleashed the full force of Franklin’s mezzo-soprano. Offering call-and-response background vocals on this and other tracks were Carolyn and Erma Franklin (Aretha’s sisters) and Cissy Houston.

Franklin’s greatest triumph - and an enduring milestone in popular music - was “Respect.” Her fervent reworking of the Otis Redding-penned number can now be viewed as an early volley in the women’s movement. …

Working closely with producer Jerry Wexler, engineer Tom Dowd and arranger Arif Mardin, Franklin followed her triumphant first album with recordings that furthered her claim to the title “Queen of Soul.” Her next three albums - Aretha Arrives (1967), Lady Soul (1968) and Aretha Now (1968) - included “Chain of Fools,” “Think,” “Baby, I Love You,” “Since You’ve Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby),” and a soulful rendering of Carole King’s “A Natural Woman.”

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

I Never Loved A Man, Respect, Baby I Love You, A Natural Woman, Chain of Fools, Think, The House That Jack Built, I Say a Little Prayer, Bridge Over Troubled Water — all great, but for NewMexiKen give me Aretha Franklin’s version of You Are My Sunshine.

Elton John is 61 today. Gloria Steinem 74. Astronaut Jim Lovell (the Apollo 13 commander) 80.

Marcia Cross is 46 and Sarah Jessica Parker is 43.

Author Flannery O’Connor was born on this date in 1925.

When she was five, she became famous for teaching a chicken to walk backward; a national news company came to town to film the feat and then broadcast it all around the country. She said, “That was the most exciting thing that ever happened to me. It’s all been downhill from there.”
. . .

When she was 25, she was diagnosed with lupus, and she moved in with her mother on a farm in Georgia. The lupus left her so weak that she could only write two or three hours a day. She was fascinated by birds, and on the farm she raised ducks, geese, and peacocks. She traveled to give lectures whenever she felt well enough, and she went once to Europe where, because of a friend’s plea, she bathed in the waters at Lourdes, famed for their supposed healing powers.

She wrote two novels, Wise Blood (1952) and The Violent Bear It Away (1960), and two short-story collections, A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories (1955) and Everything That Rises Must Converge (1965). She died at the age of 39 from complications of lupus.

She said, “The writer should never be ashamed of staring. There is nothing that does not require his attention.”

The Writer’s Almanac from American Public Media

‘We never exceeded 175 mph’

Last week Sports Illustrated opened its 53 years of archives (or “Vault” as they call it) with free access. A particular favorite article of mine was Brock Yates’s 1972 “From Sea to Speeding Sea,” — “The Cannonball was an out law auto race—unsanctioned and definitely unwise—but off they went, roaring their way toward L.A.” Yates drove the winning Ferrari with racer Dan Gurney from NYC to LA in 35 hours and 54 minutes.

A couple of excerpts:

Determined to find a car to race in the Cannonball, the three men had looked in the Times classifieds in search of a “driveaway” deal—an arrangement where one drives another’s car to a destination for nominal expenses. This is a common tactic used to transport personal cars by people who don’t like to drive long distances. The Long Island gentleman wanted his new Cadillac Coupe deVille driven to California. Opert & Co. obliged, nodding hazily at his firm orders that his prized machine not be driven after nine o’clock at night, not before eight o’clock in the morning and not run faster than 75 miles an hour. Naturally, all the regulations would be violated before the car left Manhattan.

A yellow 4-4-2 Oldsmobile Cutlass appeared in the rearview mirror. It was running fast, coming up on me at an impressive rate. Two guys were on board and I sensed that they were looking for a race. They drew even and we ran along for a way nose to nose. I looked over to catch eager grins on their faces. I smiled back and slipped the Ferrari from fifth to fourth gear. We were running a steady 100 mph when the Olds leaped ahead. I let him have a car-length lead before opening the Ferrari’s tap. The big car burst forward, its pipes whooping that lovely siren song, and rocketed past the startled pair in the Oldsmobile. I glanced over at them to see their faces covered with amazement. Like most of the populace, they had no comprehension of an automobile that would accelerate from 100 mph that quickly. The Ferrari yowled up to 150 mph without effort, leaving the Olds as a minuscule speck of yellow in the mirror.

I slowed again and turned up the volume on the stereo. Buck Owens and his Buckaroos were sonorously singing I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail. I laughed all the way to Las Cruces.

Go read it all.

Sports Illustrated Firsts

Good stuff from The mental_floss Blogs — the first Sports Illustrated covers of Woods (at age 15), Jordan, Gretsky, Madden Football, Tyson, etc.

Best line of the day that tells you about the real John McCain

“John McCain has officially broken the limits imposed by the presidential public financing system, according to spending reports filed last week by the campaign.”

The Boston Globe

Because he’s as bad as the rest, only he acts like he’s holier.

John McCain, a third Bush term.

4,000

Click image for larger version and to learn more.

March 24th

Today is the birthday

… of Annabella Sciorra. The actress is 44.

… of Peyton Manning. Number 18 is 32.

… of Keisha Castle-Hughes. The Oscar-nominated actress (Whale Rider) is 18.

Clyde Barrow was born 99 years ago today. He lived until 1934.

Two-time presidential candidate and loser (1944, 1948) Thomas E. Dewey was born on this date in 1902.

One of the most successful silent film actors, Roscoe Arbuckle was born on this date in 1887. In fact, Fatty Arbuckle had the first million dollar deal in Hollywood. Arbuckle died of a heart attack at age 46 just as his career was recovering from a scandal and trial in 1921 that had echoes in the recent Duke case. Charged with rape that lead to a woman’s death, he was acquitted in a third trial after two hung juries, but he had been convicted by the press and his career was slow to resume.

Eric Weiss was born on this date in 1874.

Whatever the methods by which Harry Houdini deceived a large part of the world for nearly four decades, his career stamped him as one of the greatest showmen of modern times. In his special field of entertainment he stood alone. With a few minor exceptions, he invented all his tricks and illusions, and in certain instances only his four intimate helpers knew the solution. In one or two very important cases Houdini, himself, alone knew the whole secret.

Houdini was born on March 24, 1874. His name originally was Eric Weiss and he was the son of a rabbi. He did not take the name Harry Houdini until he had been a performer for many years. Legend has it that he opened his first lock when he wanted a piece of pie in the kitchen closet. It is certain that when scarcely more than a baby he showed skill as an acrobat and contortionist, and both these talents helped his start in the show business and his later development as an “escape king.”

The New York Times

The Times’ obituary is really quite interesting.

You can fool some of the people all of the time

NewMexiKen posted this just a year ago but I enjoyed reading it again and thought you might too.

In 1938, wallet manufacturer the E. H. Ferree company in Lockport, New York decided to promote its product by showing how a Social Security card would fit into its wallets. A sample card, used for display purposes, was inserted in each wallet. Company Vice President and Treasurer Douglas Patterson thought it would be a clever idea to use the actual SSN of his secretary, Mrs. Hilda Schrader Whitcher.The wallet was sold by Woolworth stores and other department stores all over the country. Even though the card was only half the size of a real card, was printed all in red, and had the word “specimen” written across the face, many purchasers of the wallet adopted the SSN as their own. In the peak year of 1943, 5,755 people were using Hilda’s number. SSA acted to eliminate the problem by voiding the number and publicizing that it was incorrect to use it. (Mrs. Whitcher was given a new number.) However, the number continued to be used for many years. In all, over 40,000 people reported this as their SSN. As late as 1977, 12 people were found to still be using the SSN “issued by Woolworth.”

Interesting Facts About Social Security Numbers at Money, Matter, and More Musings

The 40,000 are the same sort of people that some politicians would have manage their own social security investments.

More movies we might have missed

The other day NewMexiKen linked to Yahoo’s selection of The 10 Most Historically Inaccurate Movies.

Then yesterday in Sideline Chatter Dwight Perry suggested a few more: The BALCO documentary “Honey, I Shrunk the Slugger,” and “Tampa With Success: The Year The Rays Won The World Series.”

Now I have some of my own.

“The UnNatural” — Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds pursue the home run record.

“Field of Bad Dreams” — The story of Wrigley Field and the Chicago Cubs.

And the remake of “North Dallas Forty” — Jessica Simpson visits Tony Romo and takes an IQ test.

Is it more or less where you pump?

“The average price of a gallon of gas in the United States has risen to a record $3.26, and the cost of diesel fuel has soared to a record $4.06 a gallon ….”

Reuters

Important stuff from digby

Digby is one of the most worthwhile writers today on American politics and recent political history — but you knew that. Here’s an excerpt from a long — but important — post you should read.

But our nation has a past which should preclude any person who’s taken a high school level course in American history to believe what Andrew Sullivan claims to have believed prior to the invasion of Iraq. America has a long history of immoral deeds, done by men who at the time we all might have assumed were moral and upright too. Unless you think that Native American genocide, slavery, lynching, jailing without due process, apartheid, medical experiments on prisoners and military personnel, forced sterilization, wars of aggression etc are moral acts, you can’t possibly think that what Bush has done is unique to despoiling “the meaning of America.” The meaning of America has always been ambivalent and confused. (Thomas Jefferson, the writer of that great document about liberty and unalienable rights owned slaves, for gawds sakes)

Of course, Bush was capable of immoral acts. He’s a human being. That is why we should never blindly trust our leaders’ (mostly manufactured) “characters” and rely instead on the rule of law and the constitution. And it’s why we must be vigilant in defending ourcivil liberties and democratic processes even when we really, really love our leaders. Humans are flawed, power corrupts, leaders are stupid, shit happens. You can’t depend on powerful people’s good intentions. It’s more than a little bit silly that so many adults seem to need to maintain a romantic fiction that elected leaders are more prophet than politician, but many of them do.

Best line of the day, so far

“President George W. Bush confirmed today that his gutting of the Endangered Species Act is part of a broader plan to phase out the environment entirely by the time he leaves office in January of 2009.”

Andy Borowitz

Why is Easter today?

In Western churches Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the equinox.

The equinox was March 20th. The full moon was March 21st. Happy Easter!

Next year Easter is April 12th. Today, March 23rd, is the earliest Easter will occur in our lifetimes (unless you live until 2285 when it will be on March 22nd). April 25th is the latest Easter can be; the next time that happens is in 2038.

Easter Birthday

Reidie, the youngest of The Sweeties®, is two-years-old today. Next year on his birthday he may wonder where all the “special” birthday celebration went — you know, baskets, eggs, chocolate bunnies.

Easter will not occur again on Reidie’s birthday until 2160.

Keri Russell is 32 today. Amanda Plummer, unforgettable as Honey Bunny in Pulp Fiction, is 51.

Joan Crawford was born on March 23rd in 1905. Miss Crawford was nominated for the actress in a leading role Oscar three times, winning for Mildred Pierce in 1945.

Handel’s oratorio Messiah premiered in London on this date in 1743.

Full moon

Via Chantal at Duke City Fix, a collection of photos of the full moon over Albuquerque. Tonight’s is particularly beautiful — but because of the shade from the mountains here at Casa NewMexiKen, it wasn’t visible until after 8:15, a full half-hour later than the valley.

Poll: Obama Receives High Marks for Race Speech

Suprisingly encouraging news about the American people, though note the huge caveat in the first line.

A new national poll released Friday showed voters who heard or read about Barack Obama’s speech on his relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and race relations, broadly approved of it.

Seven in 10 said he did a good job talking about race relations and as many said he did a good job explaining his relationship with Reverend Wright, according to a CBS News poll conducted Thursday.

More than six in 10, moreover, said they mostly agreed with what he said about race relations in this country, including a broad majority of Democrats and independents, but fewer — four in 10 — Republicans.

The Caucus

Those “who heard or read about” the speech. What percentage do you suppose that is? The article doesn’t provide this essential information. And overall the issue has hurt him — the fraction who say Obama could unite the country had dropped from two-thirds to one-half.

The 10 Most Historically Inaccurate Movies

Gone with the Wind would make my list, but doesn’t crack Yahoo’s 10 Most Historically Inaccurate Movies. Still, an amusing list.

Thanks to Debby for the link.

Passport files

George H.W. Bush fired the assistant secretary of state responsible for passports (Consular Affairs) when Bill Clinton’s passport file was sought inappropriately during the 1992 presidential election campaign. I remember because I inventoried the contents of the fired woman’s desk to determine what was hers and what was ours (she wasn’t even allowed to enter the building). Many are appointed by the president, few have the distinction of being fired.

It will be interesting to see if the current circumstances are political, and if so if Jr. will act as appropriately as his father did.

March 21st

Ferris and Rosie each turn 46 today.

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany, on this date in 1685. “Music…should have no other end and aim than the glory of God and the recreation of the soul; where this is not kept in mind there is no true music, but only an infernal clamor and ranting.”

Sad but fascinating

At the Freakonomics Blog Ian Ayres tells about a study into tipping habits. An excerpt:

1. African-American cab drivers, on average, were tipped approximately one-third less than white cab drivers.

2. African-American and Hispanic passengers tipped approximately one-half the amount white passengers tipped.

African-American passengers also seemed to participate in the racial discrimination against African-American drivers. While African-American passengers generally tipped less, on average they also tipped black drivers approximately one-third less than they tipped white drivers.

Hmmm, let me think about that while you put on your sweater

“The presence of a grandparent confirms that parents were, indeed, little once, too, and that people who are little can grow to be big, can become parents, and one day even have grandchildren of their own. So often we think of grandparents as belonging to the past; but in this important way, grandparents, for young children, belong to the future.”

— Fred Rogers, born 80 years ago today.

Around 35 years ago NewMexiKen (I was just Ken then) wrote Mr. Rogers a letter. I thought the way two elderly characters were portrayed on the show was silly, especially the old messenger Mr. McFeely (McFeely by the way was Rogers’s middle name).

I received back a five paragraph letter, apparently from Fred Rogers himself (and oddly not dated). The man took the time to respond to my criticism in a thoughtful way that — at least it seems to me — showed the type of class he evidenced in everything he ever did. Read for yourself his reply. Click each image for larger version.

March 20th

Today is the birthday

… of Carl Reiner. He’s 86. From the Encyclopedia of Television:

Carl Reiner is one of the few true Renaissance persons of 20th-century mass media. Known primarily for his work as creator, writer and producer of The Dick Van Dyke Show–one of a handful of classic sitcoms by which others are measured–Reiner has also made his mark as a comedian, actor, novelist, and film director.

… of Barney Miller, who’s 77. That’s Hal Linden.

… of Hockey hall-of-famer Bobby Orr, 60.

… of Marcia Ball, 59.

… of four-time Oscar nominee William Hurt, 58. He won best actor for Kiss of the Spider Woman.

The Fabulous Thunderbirds’ Jimmie Vaughan (Stevie Ray’s brother) is 57.

Two-time Oscar nominee Shelton Lee is 51. His mother called him Spike.

Holly Hunter is 50. Miss Hunter has been nominated for an Academy Award four times, twice for best actress and twice for supporting actress. She won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for The Piano in 1993. She has also won Emmys for Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom and Roe vs. Wade.

Fred McFeely Rogers was born 80 years ago today. It was always a beautiful day in his neighborhood, and what higher praise can you give any individual?

Equinox

Spring in the northern hemisphere begins tonight at 11:48 PM Mountain Daylight Time (your time may vary).

New NewMexiKen poll (well it started out that way)

A reader has written offline to ask that NewMexiKen delete a comment — “It’s not adding anything at all to anything, and it’s just ruining a nice post.”

As a blogger who encourages comments (and requires medication whenever comments are too few), I am troubled at the thought of deleting comments — though I do reserve the right to do so and have, on occasion, done so. (Rather arbitrarily I might add.)

I thought maybe I should ask you, my seven readers, what you think. Do you come to this website seeking diversity of discussion, or do you visit here because it is a sanctuary for correct, intelligent political thinking?

Update: I decided I wasn’t comfortable with the personalization of the poll and have deleted it. I think the comments to this post have been unusually good though, and hope there will be more. Sorry about the change of heart.

Best line of the day, so far

“Hillary ████████ to release █████████ of when she was a █████████ lady”

FARK.com