Author: NewMexiKen

Redux post of the day

First posted here four years ago today.

Malcolm Gladwell from an exchange with ESPN’s Bill Simmons:

As for your (very kind) question about my writing, I’m not sure I can answer that either, except to say that I really love writing, in a totally uncomplicated way. When I was in high school, I ran track and in the beginning I thought of training as a kind of necessary evil on the way to racing. But then, the more I ran, the more I realized that what I loved was running, and it didn’t much matter to me whether it came in the training form or the racing form. I feel the same way about writing. I’m happy writing anywhere and under any circumstances and in fact I’m now to the point where I’m suspicious of people who don’t love what they do in the same way. I was watching golf, before Christmas, and the announcer said of Phil Mickelson that the tournament was the first time he’d picked up a golf club in five weeks. Assuming that’s true, isn’t that profoundly weird? How can you be one of the top two or three golfers of your generation and go five weeks without doing the thing you love? Did Mickelson also not have sex with his wife for five weeks? Did he give up chocolate for five weeks? Is this some weird golfer’s version of Lent that I’m unaware of? They say that Wayne Gretzky, as a 2-year-old, would cry when the Saturday night hockey game on TV was over, because it seemed to him at that age unbearably sad that something he loved so much had to come to end, and I’ve always thought that was the simplest explanation for why Gretzky was Gretzky. And surely it’s the explanation as well for why Mickelson will never be Tiger Woods.

Most interesting but least surprising line of the day

“The internet has surpassed newspapers and radio in popularity as a news platform on a typical day and now ranks just behind TV.”

Pew Internet & American Life Project

  • 78% of Americans say they get news from a local TV station
  • 73% say they get news from a national network such as CBS or cable TV station such as CNN or Fox News
  • 61% say they get some kind of news online
  • 54% say they listen to a radio news program at home or in the car
  • 50% say they read news in a local newspaper
  • 17% say they read news in a national newspaper such as the New York Times or USA Today

We like us some hockey

More Americans watched yesterday’s Olympic hockey game LIVE than watched all but two nights of NBC’s Olympic primetime shows (one night of which was the opening ceremony).

Half the population of Canada watched the game, the most viewed program in Canadian TV history.

All my gripes about Olympic TV coverage

… were proven correct on the last day. Phil Mushnick puts it best at NYPOST.com. An excerpt:

Many of us sat down for Sunday dinner after that fabulous game, almost like the Nelsons, the Cleavers, the Waltons, the Huxtables, the Munsters.

When’s the last time you could say that about a World Series game or an NBA final? The CBS-leased NCAA basketball championship now tips at 9:22 on a Monday night. Baseball’s Opening Day, sold at auction to ESPN, is now at night, this year’s first pitch after 8 p.m. in Boston — on April 4.

If NBC, or any commercial network, yesterday had been able to shuffle and deal, Canada-USA would have begun at about 9 p.m. ET to maximize coast-to-coast primetime ad revenues.

And NBC would have much preferred that we watched the game alone — more TV sets tuned in, that way — certainly not in groups.

In other words, NBC (and CBS, ESPN/ABC, Fox) would have preferred that we watched from the same place we now watch most games of national interest: that same chair or from bed, lights out, pillows up.

I watched with friends in a crowded bar where people cheered (for Canada, too). It’s a whole different and vastly better experience to share moments like these. (Ten of us watched the Super Bowl together at Jill’s. Same phenomenon — a wonderful shared experience.)

Drive

Malcolm Gladwell has selected the New Yorker book-of-the-month for March. It’s Daniel Pink’s Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. An excerpt from Gladwell’s brief introduction to the month-long discussion that begins today:

But Pink follows though on their implications in a way that is provocative and fascinating. The way we structure organizations and innovation, after all, almost always assumes that the prospect of financial reward is the prime human motivator. We think that the more we pay people, the better results we’ll get. But what if that isn’t true? What the research shows, instead, is that the great wellspring of creativity is intrinsic motivation—that is, I do my best work for personal rewards (out of love or intellectual fulfillment) and not external motivation (money).

Olympic photos, part 2

Seventeen days after it began, the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver are now complete. A total of 258 medals were awarded, with the United States, Germany, and Canada collecting the most medals. The second half of the games went much smoother than the glitchy first week, with many memorable performances by athletes from all over the world. Last night, a crowd of 60,000 filled BC Place in Vancouver for the Closing Ceremony, which took place shortly after the final event – a Gold Medal win by host nation Canada’s ice hockey team over the U.S. The Olympic flame will next pass to London, England in 2012 for the Summer Games, and to Sochi, Russia in 2014 for the next Winter games. Collected here are photos from the second half of this year’s events in Vancouver (see Part 1 for the first half). (45 photos total)

The Big Picture – Boston.com

Some great photography.

March 1st

Harry Belafonte is 83 today. Here is a little of what Bob Dylan wrote about Belafonte in Chronicles:

To Harry, it didn’t make any difference. People were people. He had ideals and made you feel you’re a part of the human race. There never was a performer who crossed so many lines as Harry. He appealed to everybody, whether they were steelworkers or symphony patrons or bobby-soxers, even children—everybody. He had that rare ability. Somewhere he had said that he didn’t like to go on television, because he didn’t think his music could be represented well on a small screen, and he was probably right. Everything about him was gigantic. The folk purists had a problem with him, but Harry—who could have kicked the shit out of all of them—couldn’t be bothered, said that all folksingers were interpreters, said it in a public way as if someone had summoned him to set the record straight. He even said he hated pop songs, thought they were junk. I could identify with Harry in all kinds of ways. Sometime in the past, he had been barred from the door of the world famous nightclub the Copacabana because of his color, and then later he’d be headlining the joint. You’ve got to wonder how that would make somebody feel emotionally.

And Belafonte was about the best looking man on the planet too.

Ron Howard is 56 today. He’s been on TV and in the movies for more than 50 years and, of course, won an Oscar for best director for A Beautiful Mind. Howard has been married to Mrs. Howard since 1975 and is the older brother of TV and film character actor Ron Howard’s brother.

Today is also the birthday

… of Roger Daltrey. “Who?” you say. “Of The Who,” I say. He’s 66 and far too old for half-time shows.

… of Catherine Bach. “Who?” you say. “Daisy Duke of TV,” I say. She’s 56.

… of Oscar-winner and currently at least Penelope Cruz winner Javier Bardem. He’s 41.

… of Chris Webber, the basketball player who called timeout when his team had none left and down by just two points in the 1993 national championship game. That would be a technical foul. Two shoots. Both made. Down four. Oops. He’s 37 today.

Well-known Americans of the 20th century born on this date include band-leader Glenn Miller (1904), author Ralph Ellison (1914), poet Robert Lowell (1917), Mad magazine publisher William M. Gaines (1922) and NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle (1926).

Also on March 1st, the Lindbergh infant son was kidnapped (1932), Richard Wright’s Native Son was published (1940), the Peace Corps was established (1961), Johnny Cash married June Carter (1968) and the Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to execute an individual who had committed their crime before age 18 (Roper v. Simmons, 2005). They’ll reverse that one soon enough.

Lee, official brother of NewMexiKen, circumnavigator of the globe, Pacific Crest Trail thru-hiker, and pretty darn good guitar player and woodworker celebrates his birthday today. Happy birthday, Brother.

Saguaro National Park (Arizona)

… was first proclaimed Saguaro National Monument on this date in 1933. It became a national park in 1994.

Saguaro National Park

This unique desert is home to the most recognizable cactus in the world, the majestic saguaro. Visitors of all ages are fascinated and enchanted by these desert giants, especially their many interesting and complex interrelationships with other desert life. Saguaro cacti provide their sweet fruits to hungry desert animals. They also provide homes to a variety of birds, such as the Harris’ hawk, Gila woodpecker and the tiny elf owl. Yet, the saguaro requires other desert plants for its very survival. During the first few years of a very long life, a young saguaro needs the shade and protection of a nurse plant such as the palo verde tree. With an average life span of 150 years, a mature saguaro may grow to a height of 50 feet and weigh over 10 tons.

Saguaro National Park

Yellowstone National Park

AN ACT to set apart a certain tract of land lying near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River as a public park.

Yellowstone Act

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the tract of land in the Territories of Montana and Wyoming, lying near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River . . . is hereby reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale under the laws of the United States, and dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people; and all persons who shall locate or settle upon or occupy the same, or any part thereof, except as hereinafter provided, shall be considered trespassers and removed therefrom.

Yellowstone Canyon

SEC 2. That said public park shall be under the exclusive control of the Secretary of the Interior, whose duty it shall be, as soon as practicable, to make and publish such rules and regulations as he may deem necessary or proper for the care and management of the same. Such regulations shall provide for the preservation, from injury or spoliation, of all timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities, or wonders within said park, and their retention in their natural condition.

. . .

s / Ulysses S. Grant, March 1, 1872

Document photo, National Archives. Yellowstone Canyon photo, NewMexiKen 2002. Click images for larger versions.

Witch way did they go?

The examination of witnesses at the Salem Meeting House began on this date in 1692. Before the 17-month ordeal was over, 25 had died — nineteen executed by hanging, one man tortured to death, and five who succumbed to conditions while in jail. More than 160 people were accused, most jailed and many deprived of property and legal rights. Those who confessed and accused others were saved; those who maintained their innocence were executed.

Oh, Canada

In light of the great Olympic hockey game Sunday, it seems to me the National Hockey League is missing a sure-winner by not having its annual all-star game be Canadian All-Stars vs. America/European All-Stars.

Canadians make up half of the approximately 740 players in the NHL. About 20 percent are American. The Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland contribute another 20 percent. The remaining 10% are from other European countries.

The Ligue nationale de hockey or National Hockey League was established with two Montreal teams, an Ottawa team and a Toronto franchise in 1917. The Boston Bruins joined in 1924, making the league’s name somewhat misleading. The Rangers, Red Wings and Black Hawks joined in 1926.

The NHL consisted of just six teams from 1944-1967 — the Canadiens, the Maple Leafs, the Bruins, the Rangers, the Red Wings and the Black Hawks. There are now 30 teams. You’d have to be a real fan to name all 30 cities and the team nicknames. (24 are in the U.S., six in Canada.)

Redux post of the day

This was posted here three years ago today. A sad prediction come true.

Although SeaWorld Adventure Park has done a good job of preparing its trainers to work with killer whales, it is “only a matter of time” before a whale kills one, state investigators have concluded after examining a November incident in which a trainer was dragged under water and nearly drowned.

“The trainers recognize this risk and train not for ‘if’ an attack will happen but ‘when,’ ” says a report by the state Department of Industrial Relations’ Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

Los Angeles Times

B & O

On February 28, 1827, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad became the first U.S. railway chartered for commercial transportation of freight and passengers. Investors hoped a railroad would allow Baltimore, the second largest U.S. city at that time, to successfully compete with New York for western trade. New Yorkers were profiting from easy access to the Midwest via the Erie Canal.

Construction began at Baltimore harbor on July 4, 1828. Local dignitary Charles Carroll, last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, laid the first stone.

The initial line of track, a 13-mile stretch to Ellicott’s Mills (now Ellicott City), Maryland, opened in 1830. The Tom Thumb, a steam engine designed by Peter Cooper, negotiated the route well enough to convince skeptics that steam traction worked along steep, winding grades.

Library of Congress

The railroad finally connected Baltimore to the Ohio River (at Wheeling) in 1852. In the modern U.S. Here & Now version of Monopoly, the B&O has been replaced with John F. Kennedy Airport.

The last day of February

… is the birthday of

… Gavin MacLeod. The captain of the Love Boat and Mary Tyler Moore’s wisecracking news writer is 79.

… Dean Smith. The hall-of-fame basketball coach is 79.

… Mario Andretti. He’s in the left lane with his blinker on at age 70.

… Bubba Smith. The football star turned actor is 65.

… Bernadette Lazzara, known to us as Bernadette Peters. The star of stage, screen and television (beginning at age 3) is 62 today. She’s won a Tony twice as Best Leading Actress in a Musical — “Song and Dance” and “Annie Get Your Gun.”

… Gilbert Gottfried, 55.

… John Turturro. The actor is 53.

… Colum McCann. The National Book Award winner for Let the Great World Spin is 45. According to The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor, “It’s a prize they’ve been giving out for 60 years, but he’s only the third non-American-born writer” to win. Click for more on McCann.

Linus Pauling was born on this date in 1901. Pauling won two Nobel Prizes.

Dr. Pauling received the prize for chemistry in 1954, as a result of his research into the nature of the chemical bond, the force that gives atoms the cohesiveness to form the molecules that in turn become the basis of all physical matter.

In 1962, at age 61, he received the Nobel Peace Prize. The award’s citation acclaimed him for his work since 1946 “not only against the testing of nuclear weapons, not only against the spread of these armaments, not only against their very use, but against all warfare as a means of solving international conflicts.”

Dr. Pauling was also said to have provided powerful impetus to others in achieving what many came to regard as the medical discovery of the century. That was the determination of the structure of DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, the genetic material in all living organisms.

To those who eventually won the race to solve DNA, Dr. Pauling was seen at the time as the closest rival. Had he been the victor, he, no doubt, would have been the recipient of a third Nobel Prize.

The New York Times