Author: NewMexiKen

March 26th is the birthday

… of Sandra Day O’Connor. She’s 77.

… of Leonard Nimoy. Mr. Spock is 76.

… of Oscar-winner Alan Arkin. He’s 73. 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 recently won the supporting actor Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine.

… of James Caan and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. They’re 67 today.

… of Erica Jong, 65.

… of former journalist Bob Woodward, 64.

… of Diana Ross, once Supreme. She’s 63.

… of Johnny Crawford. He was the kid on The Rifleman and he’s now 61.

… of Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, 59.

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 Marcus Allen and the person who used to look like Jennifer Grey. They’re 47.

… of Michael Imperioli. Christopher is 41.

… of best actress Oscar-nominee Keira Knightley, 22.

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.

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

Battle of Glorieta Pass

The Battle of Glorieta Pass began on this date in 1862.

Glorieta Pass was a strategic location, situated at the southern tip of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, southeast of Santa Fe, and on the Santa Fe Trail. In March 1862, a Confederate force of 200-300 Texans under the command of Maj. Charles L. Pyron encamped at Johnson’s Ranch, at one end of the pass. Union Maj. John M. Chivington led more than 400 soldiers to the Pass and on the morning of March 26 moved out to attack. After noon, Chivington’s men captured some Rebel advance troops and then found the main force behind them. Chivington advanced on them, but their artillery fire threw him back. He regrouped, split his force to the two sides of the pass, caught the Rebels in a crossfire, and soon forced them to retire. Pyron and his men retired about a mile and a half to a narrow section of the pass and formed a defensive line before Chivington’s men appeared. The Yankees flanked Pyron’s men again and punished them with enfilade fire. The Confederates fled again and the Union cavalry charged, capturing the rearguard.

The American Battlefield Protection Program

The battle resumed on March 28, the federal troops ultimately forcing the rebels back into Santa Fe, in effect ending Confederate efforts in the southwest.

The rule of law

Once again a summary of why attorney-gate is important from Joshua Micah Marshall. You should read it all, but a key point:

What we seem to see are repeated cases in which US Attorneys were fired for not pursuing bogus prosecutions of persons of the opposite party. Or vice versa. There’s little doubt that that is why McKay and Iglesias were fired and there’s mounting evidence that this was the case in other firings as well. The idea that a senator calls a US Attorney at home just weeks before a federal elections and tries to jawbone him into indicting someone to help a friend get reelected is shocking. Think about it for a second. It’s genuinely shocking. . . .

So what you have here is this basic line being breached. But not only that. What is equally threatening is the systematic nature of the offense. This isn’t one US Attorney out to get Democrats or one rogue senator trying to monkey around with the justice system. The same thing happened in Washington state and New Mexico — with the same sort of complaints being received and acted upon at the White House and the Department of Justice. Indeed, there appears to have been a whole process in place to root out prosecutors who wouldn’t prostitute their offices for partisan goals.

So You Picked the Final Four?

[T]his will be the first Final Four since 1993 with no team seeded lower than No. 2.

. . . Last year at this time, of the 3.1 million entries in ESPN.com’s bracket pool, only four chose the correct Final Four teams. This year, 161,869 of 3.3 million entries have the Gators, the Buckeyes, the Bruins and the Hoyas still alive.

The New York Times

That’s still just one in twenty who got all four, so congratulations Jill. You did good.

See also here for some Final Four team summaries. And the NCAA has its Official 2007 Men’s Final Four Records Book available as a pdf file.

Final Four

UCLA is in its 17th NCAA Final Four. It’s Ohio State’s 10th trip, Georgetown’s 5th and Florida’s 4th. There have been 69 final fours counting this year (276 teams).

Others with a lot of appearances but not going this year:

North Carolina 16
Duke 14
Kentucky 13
Kansas 12
Indiana, Louisville 8
Arkansas, Cincinnati, Michigan, Michigan State, Oklahoma State 6

UCLA was in the Final Four for 10 consecutive years, 1967-1976.

UCLA has won the championship 11 times, Kentucky 7, Indiana 5, North Carolina 4 and Duke 3. Eight other schools have won twice.

UCLA (1980) and Michigan (1992 and 1993) have had Final Four appearances that were later forfeited (but counted above).

Best line of the day, so far

“Someone needs to open a combination shooting range and yoga studio.”

New gun enthusiast Patton Oswalt writing in The New York Times Sunday Magazine. He goes on to say:

“I believe in sustainable agriculture. I support gay marriage. I think war is a failure of diplomacy, logic and leadership. I’m embarrassed by the fact that it’s 2007 and my country is debating evolution. Pot should be legal. I dream of a world where punches are made of flowers.

“And, it turns out, I love guns.”

Thanks to Veronica for the pointer.

Wild America

NewMexiKen has been reading Return to Wild America: A Yearlong Search for the Continent’s Natural Soul by Scott Weidensaul. It’s a travel narrative detailing Weidensaul’s reprise, 50 years later, of the famous trip and book by naturalists Roger Tory Peterson and James Fisher. Wild America had inspired Weidensaul as a boy. At times he inspires us now.

Visiting many of the same places as the original, Return to Wild America brings us bad news but also much that is good: species that have recovered, land that is being preserved. Faithful to Peterson, we read descriptions of, frankly, more birds than I care about, but still the book conveys the wonder of North America that makes one want to throw the sleeping bag into the car and take off for Newfoundland, or the Everglades, or Kartchner Cavern.

Hand me downs

I don’t know what’s in those birthday packages but I hope one of them has jammies. It seems that Reid, celebrating his first birthday, is wearing pajamas his oldest brother wore about five years ago. Click either photo for a slightly larger version.

Reid Mack

Cute jammies nonetheless.

Update: Lest I be misunderstood, Grandpa was teasing. I love these particular jammies and had to search to find the photo of Mack I remembered with him in them. I’m hoping to get photos of middle brother Aidan in them, too. And cousin Alex.

It’s just 275 days until Christmas

NewMexiKen saw Zodiac last night. It was good; somewhat in the way the Law & Order is good, but that’s OK. It left a lasting-enough impression that Jake Gyllenhaal — or the character he played — or someone who looked like him — was in an uncomfortable dream I had early this morning.

Aretha Franklin is 65 today and Elton John is 60. Throw in Anita Bryant, who is 67, and Nick Lowe, who is 58, and March 25th is a pop music birthday bonanza.

Marcia Cross is 45 and Sarah Jessica Parker is 42.

I thought The Wisdom of Children was funny when I read it yesterday. Veronica sent the link a few hours later, so between the two of us it must be good.

Stupid is as stupid does

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.

Crossing the Rubicon

In a high school history book, the fall of the Roman Republic is usually dated to the point were Julius Caesar, in defiance of Senate “micromanagement,” ordered his legions across the Rubicon to end effective representative oversight. However, at the time, the Romans didn’t see it that way. They continued to call themselves a republic for years. Decades. Long after Caesar, they kept up the hollow pretense of a senate, marching in each day to pass laws that the executive of their day did not follow, and direct armies that moved only at the emperor’s command.

The Bush administration is waist deep in the Rubicon. The only question now is whether we will drive them back to the bank, or admit that we are only play-acting at democracy.

Devilstower at Daily Kos

But it’s Saturday

The big weather-related story in New Mexico this morning is the series of tornadoes that struck the eastern part of the state last evening. This is from AP via the Santa Fe New Mexican:

A series of storms, producing at least 13 tornadoes, destroyed buildings and injured at least a dozen people, several critically, in an area along New Mexico’s border with Texas, police said.

The worst damage was reported in Logan and Clovis, communities about 80 miles apart, police said.

The tornadoes, which were reported during a 5-hour period Friday, damaged several buildings, downed power lines and sparked a fire, Clovis police Lt. James Schoeffel said.

Thirteen people from that area were hospitalized at the Plains Regional Medical Center with injuries. Five were in critical condition with head trauma, said Liz Crouch, the center’s chief operating officer.

As of 10:27 AM see if you can find anything about the storms on The Albuquerque Journal web site home page. Click to enlarge.

Albuquerque Journal

Patriotism

Bill Maher has some moments of typical “over-the-top” in this video from last night, but his discussion of Valerie Plame a few minutes in is terrific.