“Some people who grew up in high altitude areas think the dip in collapsed cakes was designed as a reservoir for frosting.”
Found at Whole Foods High Altitude Baking & Cooking page.
Month: August 2008
Just wondering
How come the price of a barrel of oil is down 20% since its peak, but the price of gasoline is only down 10% from its record high five weeks ago?
The other Walt
… was born on this date in 1913 — that’s Walt Kelly, creator of Pogo. The tribute to Kelly at The International Museum of Cartoon Art Hall of Fame, now The National Cartoon Museum, reads:
Like a number of other successful newspaper cartoonists of his day, Walt Kelly learned his craft as an animator at the Walt Disney Studios between 1935 and 1941, and the Disney style was always evident in his work. After a brief stint as a comic book artist and an editorial cartoonist, Kelly launched his masterpiece, Pogo, in 1949. The strip featured a colorful cast of furry and not-so-furry creatures who inhabited the Okefenokee Swamp, including Pogo, Albert, Howland Owl, P.T. Bridgeport, Beauregard and Churchy la Femme. Out of the mouths of these innocent animals came everything from profound musings on the human condition to downright nonsense. The superb artistry, satirical humor and playful language of Pogo enchanted millions of readers and even now, years after his death in 1973, Kelly still has a loyal following.
According to the web site I Go Pogo:
Walt Kelly first used the quote “We Have Met The Enemy and He Is Us” on a poster for Earth Day in 1970. … In 1971, he did a two panel version with Pogo and Porky in a trash filled swamp.
Double O 78
Sean Connery is 78 today.
Van Johnson is 92 and “Let’s Make A Deal” Monty Hall is 87.
Regis is 77.
Tom Skerritt, “Viper” in Top Gun, is 75.
Baseball hall-of-famer Rollie Fingers is 62.
Rollie Fingers’ 17-year career epitomized the emergence of the modern-day relief ace. After watching him post inconsistent results as a starter, the A’s moved Fingers to the bullpen. He excelled quickly and frequently in his new role. Relying on a sharp slider, Fingers went on to notch 341 career saves. Known for his handlebar mustache, Fingers became a familiar site during the post-season, appearing in 16 World Series games. He won both the American League MVP and Cy Young Award with the Brewers in 1981.
Academy Award nominee for supporting actress in Fatal Attraction Anne Archer is 61 today.
Gene Simmons is 59.
The more talented Elvis, Elvis Costello, is 54 today.
Born Declan Patrick McManus, Costello had the audacity to adopt “Elvis” as a stage name (at manager Riviera’s suggestion) and the talent to live up to such a seemingly scandalous appropriation. Greil Marcus profiled him in 1982: “He combined the brains of Randy Newman and the implacability of Bob Dylan, the everyman pathos of Buddy Holly and the uniqueness of John Lennon.”
Director Tim Burton is 50.
Hannah Montana’s dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, is 47.
Rachel Ray is 40.
Claudia Schiffer is 38.
Leonard Bernstein, “one of the most prodigally talented and successful musicians in American history,” was born on August 25th in 1918. The quotation is from his obituary in The New York Times.
Best political ad of the day, so far
When you care enough to send the very best
From Pharyngula:
It seems that Hallmark Greeting Cards are peddling a line of gay-friendly cards, which irks poor little Donald Wildmon something fierce. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because they’re cute, stylish, and witty, but at the same time he’s afraid to mail a coming-out card to his Mom?
Anyway, Wildmon is asking his flock to send negative letters to Hallmark. How about taking a moment to send the very best to thank Hallmark for being non-discriminatory? Use the AFA’s form, or email directly to Donald J. Hall.
You gotta go read and see what he suggests as your Bonus action! It’s perfect.
Most interesting line of the day, so far
“Relative to McCain, whose promised spending cuts are extremely vague, Obama does indeed look like a fiscal conservative.”
David Leonhardt in an in-depth analysis of Obama’s economic policy in The New York Times Magazine.
Washington burns
The invading British burned the public buildings of Washington on this date in 1814.
On August 24, 1814, as the War of 1812 raged on, invading British troops marched into Washington and set fire to the U.S. Capitol, the President’s Mansion, and other local landmarks. The ensuring fire reduced all but one of the capital city’s major public buildings to smoking rubble, and only a torrential rainstorm saved the Capitol from complete destruction. The blaze particularly devastated the Capitol’s Senate wing, the oldest part of the building, which was honeycombed with vulnerable wooden floors and housed the valuable but combustible collection of books and manuscripts of the Library of Congress, then located in the Capitol building. Heat from the intense fire reduced the Senate chamber’s marble columns to lime, leaving the room, in one description, “a most magnificent ruin.”
Source: U.S. Senate Art & History
After 26 hours in Washington, the British moved toward Baltimore, where they met with resistance and the Star-spangled banner still waved.
Now that the Olympics are over
. . . you might be looking for some good movies to watch. Until a few years ago, NewMexiKen was unaware there had been a 1997 remake of the 1957 classic 12 Angry Men, a movie which tells the story of jury deliberations in a murder trial. The original is superb. Directed by Sidney Lumet (Network, Serpico, The Pawnbroker) and starring Henry Fonda as the protagonist, it is well written, exceptionally well acted, and a film worth seeing again and again.
Reginald Rose’s screenplay remains remarkably intact 40 years later in the 1997 version. Produced for the cable network Showtime, the film was directed by William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection) and stars Academy Award winners Jack Lemmon and George C. Scott. It is a surprisingly fine film in its own right, made even more compelling by comparisons with its predecessor.
|
1957 |
1997 |
|
| Juror #1 | Martin Balsam | Courtney Vance |
| Juror #2 | John Fiedler | Ossie Davis |
| Juror #3 | Lee J. Cobb | George C. Scott |
| Juror #4 | E.G. Marshall | Armin Mueller-Stahl |
| Juror #5 | Jack Klugman | Dorian Harewood |
| Juror #6 | Edward Binns | James Gandolfini |
| Juror #7 | Jack Warden | Tony Danza |
| Juror #8 | Henry Fonda | Jack Lemmon |
| Juror #9 | Joseph Sweeney | Hume Cronyn |
| Juror #10 | Ed Begley, Sr. | Mykelti Williamson |
| Juror #11 | George Voskovec | Edward James Olmos |
| Juror #12 | Robert Webber | William L. Petersen |
Breakfast of Champions
Woman #1: What we gonna eat for dinner?
Woman #2: How ’bout Popeyes Chicken?
Woman #1: Nah, I had that fo’ breakfast.
–Coney Island Boardwalk
Live, Local, Meaningless
First posted here two years ago, but more true every day.
Some 40 years ago in Tucson NewMexiKen lived across the street from a small supermarket. At the rear of the store they parked a large, flatbed trailer with a wire cage on it. As they stocked the store’s shelves they’d toss the empty cardboard boxes into the cage. Once-in-awhile someone would come by, drop off a new trailer and haul the full one away.
One afternoon around three the boxes caught fire. It was a pretty spectacular bonfire for about five minutes and during that brief time a local news guy happened by (he must have had a scanner to hear the fire call). He took a few seconds of film. We laughed, but sure enough that night on the news there was film of cardboard boxes in flame. If I remember right, it was the lead story.
It wouldn’t happen that way anymore. Oh, TV news would still cover a cardboard box fire, but here’s what we’d see.
A news crew would show up, more than likely after the fire was out. They’d videotape a few seconds of fire engine lights flashing, a firehose leaking, and a soggy, charred mess of cardboard. They’d interview a guy in a tank top, who’d say it was the biggest box fire he’d ever seen.
Then, at 10PM, they wouldn’t just use the video like Channel 13 in Tucson did all those years ago. No, they’d send a reporter and van out to the now deserted store, hours after the fire. The reporter would stand in front of a now even soggier mess and introduce the seven hour old video.
Live, local, late breaking.
If you don’t believe me, I just saw a live shot of an empty trash container tipped over by flooding earlier today.
Best line of the Olympics, so far
“Pete McEntegart of SI.com, on Olympic sprint sensation Usain Bolt: ‘He’s so fast, he’s literally invisible to American viewers until 13 hours after he finishes.'”
The Extraordinary Lives of the World’s Tallest People
From Mental_Floss, brief stories about people, women and men, 7-foot-7, 8-foot-11, 7-foot-8, 8-foot-5, etc.
Maryland My Maryland
“Katie Hoff, with her three swimming medals, and Michael Phelps, with his eight golds, call the same Baltimore suburb home,” pointed out Bob Molinaro of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot. “If Towson, Md., were a country, it would rank among the top 20 medal winners.”
Super Hero
(six-year-old boy tries to cross street against traffic)
Father, grabbing boy’s hand: Whoa, little man! That’s dangerous!
Six-year-old boy: Daddy, I eat danger for breakfast.
–Ocean & Newkirk, Brooklyn
August 23rd is the birthday
… of Barbara Eden. “Jeannie” is 74.
… of Linda Thompson. The folk/rock musician, who with then husband Richard made one of the great rock albums — Shoot Out the Lights, is 61 today. She was voted best female singer of 1982 in Rolling Stone.
… of Shelley Long. The star of Cheers and numerous films is 59. Long received six Emmy nominations for her portrayal of Diane Chambers, winning once.
… of Kobe Bryant. He’s 30.
Gene Kelly, the wonderful singer/dancer/actor, was born on this date in 1912. Kelly is most famous for Singin’ in the Rain but received his sole Oscar nomination for best actor for Anchors Aweigh. He died in 1996.
A credit to his race, too
I think Obama chose Biden because he’s “articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”
No wait, that’s what Biden said about Obama.
Dollar Bill
Earlier this week the Daily Howler suggested, just maybe, Obama’s VP choice was three-term U.S. senator, NY Knicks star, Rhodes scholar and Princeton All-American Bill Bradley.
The more I think about it, the better and more plausible it seems.
What sport does Obama play? Where did Michelle Obama (and Michelle’s brother) go to college? Bradley is originally from a swing state, Missouri. He’s mature (65 last month), but not old. Bradley even has an Olympic gold medal (basketball, 1964).
And Bradley endorsed Obama last January, when it mattered.
Update: Or not.
1-2-3-4
Like I said, it doesn’t matter to me how many properties they own, but this is funny.
NBC sucks
Once again NBC shafts half the nation by tape-delaying the USA-Argentina basketball game.
It’s live, but only in the eastern time zone.
Best line of the day, so far
At FunctionalAmbivalent, Tom feels he could do a “viciously satirical blog” just with comments from Squidley (who used to lurk around these parts too).
Here is Tom’s example of Squidley’s insight:
“Many Americans feel, for reasons that have nothing to do with racism™, that a black man is an inappropriate choice for POTUS.”
That’s rank
US News and World Report has published its 2009 college rankings. Harvard is at the top. The highest ranked public university is Cal Berkeley at 21st; Virginia is 23rd, UCLA 25th, Michigan 26th, UNC 30th and William & Mary 32nd. California and Virginia are fine places to live.
NewMexiKen’s alma mater, The University of Arizona, is rated 96th among national universities — about the same overall then as its football team.
National universities according to USNews “offer a full range of undergraduate majors, master’s, and doctoral degrees.” Liberal Arts Colleges, such as Amherst and Swarthmore, are ranked in a separate list.
TGINSD
Not only is it Friday, but in Britain it’s also National Slackers Day.
Yes folks, Friday 22nd August is National Slackers Day, and for the sake of your health, you’re strongly advised to do whatever it takes to avoid any work whatsoever – whether it’s going into the office, doing the hoovering, going to the supermarket or even feeding the kids. It may sound harsh, but if it makes you happier and less stressed, we think you’ll agree it’ll benefit everyone in the long run.
Cedar Breaks National Monument (Utah)
… was proclaimed as such 75 years ago today. This from the National Park Service:
A huge natural amphitheater has been eroded out of the variegated Pink Cliffs (Claron Formation) near Cedar City, Utah. Millions of years of sedimentation, uplift and erosion have created a deep canyon of rock walls, fins, spires and columns, that spans some three miles, and is over 2,000 feet deep. The rim of the canyon is over 10,000 feet above sea level, and is forested with islands of Englemann spruce, subalpine fir and aspen; separated by broad meadows of brilliant summertime wild flowers.
Enjoying the sunset
A little anthropomorphism from Garret — or is he right?
I’ll go out to water between 7 and 8 o’clock, and all the trees are populated with birds. Not flitting about, as you might imagine, calling to each other and busily making baby birds. No, they’re sitting perched on the tops of the highest trees. Sitting still. Every one of them facing west, watching the sunset. I only see them doing this on days when there’s a middling to spectacular sunset. They never sit there for the cloudy, dull ones. Nor the completely clear ones.
Every so often, they’re accompanied by a rabbit or three. Facing the same direction. Never chewing grass or leaves. Just sitting, watching.