“Heidi Klum may be a rich supermodel, reality TV star, wife of wealthy musician, but that doesn’t mean that she’s going to do her toy shopping anywhere other than Target.”
There’s photos at POPSUGAR.
Author: NewMexiKen
The answer is yes
AmericaBlog picks up on this ABC News report on the Virginia Tech shooter that says there may have been a gap in the federal database regarding his medications:
Some news accounts have suggested that Cho had a history of antidepressant use, but senior federal officials tell ABC News that they can find no record of such medication in the government's files. This does not completely rule out prescription drug use, including samples from a physician, drugs obtained through illegal Internet sources, or a gap in the federal database, but the sources say theirs is a reasonably complete search.John asks, what database? Does the Government keep a list of all of our prescriptions?
The answer is yes.
Glenn Greenwald has even more.
April 19th is the birthday
. . . of TV’s Wyatt Earp. Hugh O’Brian is 82.
. . . of Elinor Donahue. Donahue has nearly 100 credits listed at IMDB, but foremost she was the oldest daughter on famed 1950s sitcom “Father Knows Best.” Betty “Princess” Anderson is 70.
. . . of Ashley Judd, 39.
. . . of Oscar-nominee (2001) Kate Hudson. More than almost famous at 28.
. . . of Oscar-nominee (2005) Catalina Sardino Moreno. She’s full of grace at 26.
. . . of Maria Sharapova, 20.
Ole Evinrude was born on this date in 1877. Guess what he invented.
Eliot Ness was born on this date in 1903.
Ever since Eliot Ness first published The Untouchables in 1957, the public has fallen in love with the adventures of this authentic American hero. His book was a runaway best seller because it was the exciting true story of a brave and honest lawman pitted against the country’s most successful gangster, Al Capone. The television series that followed in the 1950’s and the Kevin Costner movie in 1987 built fancifully on the same theme.
Vera Jayne Palmer was born on this date in 1933. We know her as Jayne Mansfield.
Grace Kelly became Her Serene Highness Princess Grace on this date in 1956.
By 1956, Grace Kelly was calling it quits after a movie-acting career of only five years—but what a career it was. Her 11 films included the 1952 classic High Noon, the 1956 musical High Society, and the Alfred Hitchcock-directed masterpieces Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, and To Catch a Thief. She had won an Oscar for her role in 1954’s The Country Girl—and all this before her twenty-seventh birthday.
The shot heard ’round the world 232 years ago today
At Lexington Green, the British were met by 77 American Minute Men led by John Parker. At the North Bridge in Concord, the British were confronted again, this time by 300 to 400 armed colonists, and were forced to march back to Boston with the Americans firing on them all the way. By the end of the day, the colonists were singing “Yankee Doodle” and the American Revolution had begun.
Indeed, if actions spoke louder than words, today would be Independence Day.
It was
… 12 years ago today that a bomb was exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City killing 168 people, and injuring 500.
Stylized chairs representing some of the public servants and others (including 19 children) who lost their life that day (Oklahoma City National Memorial).
Real Estate Roller Coaster
US Home prices 1890-2006 adjusted for inflation plotted as a roller coaster graph. It’s a long ride, but gives you some interesting perspective.
Roller Coaster from Speculative Bubble via Freakonomics Blog.
Using a reader
Do you check many of the same websites every day? Looking for a better, quicker way to find out if they have anything new — or anything you’re even interested in? You need a reader.
Most websites that update often (such as blogs and news outlets) publish a striped-down version of their content in a form known as RSS. A “reader” uses this “RSS feed” to keep up with changes in content.
The best way is to show you. The images below were taken from my computer screen while using the free web-based Google Reader (web-based means I can access my personal content from any computer just by logging in, as with web-based email).
In the first image (click to enlarge) the left column lists those sites I have subscribed to (three in this example) and indicates how many items are current (unread) for each. In the larger, right window each post from the subscribed sites is listed, one line per post.
In the second image, or expanded view, you are able to see just the first few posts. (Some websites, such as NewMexiKen, publish the full content, others abbreviate their feed so that you need to access the site to read the whole item.) With the Google Reader you scroll down (the spacebar will move you between items) and quickly skim (or read in full) all the current posts.
There are many, many readers, web-based and application software, free and not free ($30±). Here I am simply suggesting you give readers a try. Long-time NewMexiKen visitor Annette did so this week and she told me: “I am now set up with Google Reader. It’s awesome! I should have set up something like this a long time ago.”
Google Reader – Tour. (You will need a free Google account to set up your own Google Reader.)
[FYI Google is not my usual reader. I am simply experimenting with it. My reader is NetNewsWire, application software for the Mac. I subscribe to about 200 feeds.]
Don’t miss Amy’s comment
Best line of the day, so far
“NY Times writer bravely fights global warming by hanging a clothesline. Clothes dry that much faster in the wind generated by patting herself on the back.”
Here’s the actual article by Kathleen A. Hughes, or as Fark.com puts it “Some Windbag.”
Best line of the day, so far
“The idea that NBC…was ‘offended’ by the use of the word ‘ho’ is beyond preposterous. Until [the Imus] incident, I would have wagered very good money that ‘ho’ would be in the title of at least one NBC-produced reality pilot within the next ten years.”
Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone assessing the hypocrisy of the reaction to Imus. It’s good stuff.
“They’re all full of shit, all of them. With very few exceptions almost everyone who jumped onto the Don Imus pigpile was a shameless opportunist whose mind was made up years before this incident even happened . . .”
The End of a 1,400-Year-Old Business
The world’s oldest continuously operating family business ended its impressive run last year. Japanese temple builder Kongo Gumi, in operation under the founders’ descendants since 578, succumbed to excess debt and an unfavorable business climate in 2006.
39 generations of your family run the business. How would you like to be the guy that screws it up?
Context
Said to be Michael Lewis’s last paragraph in a article written for the first issue of Portfolio, a new magazine:
At this point, the soul of professional sports is beyond worrying about: Athletes are frantically self-interested; marvelously self-absorbed; always looking for any edge, however unfair; and forever leaping from team to team in search of a few more dollars. In other words, the jock market already has the morals of the stock market.
Lewis was reportedly paid $12 a word for the article, so that paragraph was worth $636 (depending on how you count hyphenated words).
Via Gawker.
Best line of the day, so far
“Hollywood is a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.”
Attributed to Marilyn Monroe.
April showers . . .
Daily Show video.
This Daily Show video with fishing captain Sig Hansen is interesting.
Feedback
How about a little conversation folks?
Did you like the My Generation video? How about that Pearl? What coffee do you like? How have the “best lines” stacked up lately? Any crazy business processes you’ve dealt with? Any significant birthdays I’ve missed? How’s Marcia Brady look, better or worse than you’d expect? Read any of the Pulitzer winners? Plan to? Think you’d survive 35 years in solitary confinement?
Well, this blog feels like solitary confinement to me lately.
And my great fear is that some time soon I will end up here.
Dickens World
“Dickens World features one of Europe’s largest dark boat rides, the Haunted house of Ebenezer Scrooge, a state-of-the art animatronic show, Victorian School Room, 4D high definition show and Fagin’s Den.”
Pearl
You’ve seen the Will Ferrell video, right? Here’s more from Pearl.
How old are you, Pearl?
I 2 years old. But when I wear my Dora shirt I look one-and-a-half.
What are some of your favorite things to do when you not hassling people for the rent?
I like to put my hands in the fountain. I watch Wonderpets. I like to buy old houses and flip them for a profit so I can buy boxes of Gallo wine.
Are you always so angry?Will Ferrell no pay rent. I want my money. That’s why I mad.
Editing comments
NewMexiKen has had some compatibility issues with the code that allows you to edit comments. It’s back in place now. For the first 30 minutes after you post a comment you should be able to edit that comment.
NewMexiKen, of course, can edit or delete any comment at any time.
Best line of the day to remember next year while voting
“Republicans in the Senate blocked a proposal to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for millions of older Americans, a practice now forbidden by law.”
Doonesbury in Vermont
Satire at its finest.
Most significant line of the day, so far
“Throughout, the opinion refers to obstetrician-gynecologists and surgeons who perform abortions not by the titles of their medical specialties, but by the pejorative label ‘abortion doctor.'”
Justice Ginsburg in her dissent. She is referring to the majority opinion issued today in Gonzales v. Carhart.
The perfect cup of coffee
Periodically NewMexiKen smacks the carafe from the coffee maker against the side of the sink while washing it and cracks the glass. I shop around for a replacement carafe, eventually get frustrated at the impossibility of a good match, and just buy a new coffee maker. This happens about every three years and it happened again a few weeks ago.
This time I decided I would get fancy. I would get a stainless steel carafe rather than a glass one. And I would get a coffee maker with a built-in grinder. And so I did. I mean if you can spend $3 or $4 on a foo-foo coffee drink at Starbucks, I can spend $100 for a coffee maker, right? (And I know some people have $300 coffee makers.)
Two mornings in, I must say the coffee is very good, even if there are more steps than Henry Ford had on his assembly line. (There are a lot of parts.) But, bottom line, you add the beans, add the water, add a filter, and turn the button. Voila! In four minutes some really good coffee.
I learned that you should buy the beans every two weeks or less. If you need to buy them less often, freeze the beans in airtight containers in one or two week portions. Once you take them out of the freezer, keep them in an airtight container at room temperature. Putting beans or ground coffee repeatedly into the freezer or refrigerator is not a good idea. Condensation that damages the beans results every time you remove the container.
The coffee I am drinking today is New Mexico Piñon Coffee. As Cabeza de Vaca, the first European ever in these parts said, “There are in that country, small pine trees and the cones are like small eggs, but the seeds are better than those of Castille.” (The piñon nuts are added to medium roast coffee.)
And there is this:
“Drinking caffeinated coffee was found to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by as much as 60% in a newly published study that included people at high risk for the disease.” (WebMD)
Odd business model
NewMexiKen likes doing business with Amazon.com. I know, they’re killing the local bookstores, and that is indeed a loss — the real local stores like Bound To Be Read, not the Borders and Barnes and Nobles. But I’ve found Amazon usually gives good service at a very good price. (And I get a small kickback every time you use that Amazon link over in the far right column.)
But I thought this was strange.
Monday I was placing an order for my grandsons. Though I hadn’t completed the order, I checked the shopping cart and saw that the shipping address was mine, not Aidan and Mack’s. As soon as I changed the address, the order, and I have to say it this way, “placed itself.” It was gone and — in the few seconds before I could correct it — I was notified the order was being prepared and I couldn’t make changes. (Wrong address, one item not on the order.)
I tracked down an Amazon 800-number, itself no easy feat. Nothing they could do, I was told. The order would have to be shipped to me (in Albuquerque, rather than to the boys in Virginia). Blah, blah, etc. I would just have to return the books. Eventually the customer service rep said she would credit my charge card as soon as the order was shipped (not waiting until the books were returned in other words). I agreed to this.
And, indeed, the order has shipped to me, my card was charged, and then the charge was refunded. I just have to watch for UPS tomorrow and refuse delivery. But wouldn’t you think it would have been easier all around if they had a means to stop an order?
Oh, and here’s the kicker. I went back in and made the correct order for Aidan and Mack. And now the order is partly held up because they don’t have one of the books in stock. Guess what? I know where their last copy of that book is — it’s on its way to me.
April 18th is the birthday
. . . of Della Street. That’s Barbara Hale who played Della on 155 episodes of Perry Mason. She’s 85.
. . . of Pollyanna. Hayley Mills is 61.
. . . of two-time Oscar nominee James Woods. He’s 60.
. . . of Rick Moranis, 54.
. . . of Daphne Moon. Jane Leeves of “Frasier” is 46.
. . . of Conan O’Brien. He’s 44.
. . . of America Ferrera; she’s 23.
The first game was played at Yankee Stadium on this date in 1923.
War correspondent, and Albuquerquean, Ernie Pyle was killed by Japanese gunfire on the Pacific island of Ie Shima, off Okinawa, on this date in 1945.
Albert Einstein died at age 76 on this date in 1955.
And it was on this date in 1775 that Paul Revere and others rode to warn their countryman that British troops were mobilizing.
Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
Continue reading Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Best line of the day, so far
“Am I the only one who wonders how a person who borrows money he can’t repay, buys a house he can’t afford, and then stiffs his creditors, is allowed to play the victim?”
Michael Lewis on who’s to blame for the default crisis.