Author: NewMexiKen

The evil empire

NewMexiKen lived through The Sopranos without cable, but Deadwood, which returned last night on HBO, pushed me to the brink. I need HBO and I need it now.

So I called my dealer, Comcast. They had sent me an advertisment for cable at “$25 off per month for 16 months!” Sounded good.

“But sir, you have to be an existing dish customer. This is a ‘Dump the Dish’ marketing campaign.”

“But it doesn’t specifically say that,” I reply.

“But that’s what we intended,” I hear back. “It’s a “Dump the Dish” campaign.”

The supervisor who eventually came on the line (not unlike Ernestine for those who remember Lily Tomlin’s telephone operator) pointed out that the mailer does say “Some restrictions may apply.” And so they do.

I’m going to buy a dish.

Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

1939 Baseball Hall of Fame

Sixty-seven years ago today.

Back row: Honus Wagner, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Tris Speaker, Nap Lajoie, George Sisler, Walter Johnson.
Seated: Eddie Collins, Babe Ruth, Connie Mack, and Cy Young.
Ty Cobb is missing from the photo; he had missed a train and arrived late.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was officially dedicated in colorful ceremony on June 12, 1939. The game’s four ranking executives of the period — [Kenesaw M.] Landis, [Ford] Frick, [William] Harridge and William G. Bramham, President of the National Association — participated in the ribbon-cutting. Of the 25 immortals who had been elected to the Hall of Fame up to that point, 11 were still living; and all of them journeyed to Cooperstown to attend the centennial celebration. A baseball postage stamp commemorating the occasion was placed on sale that day at the Cooperstown post office, with Postmaster General James A. Farley presiding.

Origins of the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Check out the Babe’s socks. He was into the low-cut sock look long before anyone else.

Best conversation of the day, so far

Woman: Who do you think would win a fight between Ann Coulter and Maureen Dowd?

Man: A fight?

Woman: Yeah, you know, a death match.

Man: I’m gonna go with Ann Coulter.

Woman: You think? They both wear long, spikey heels. They could put each other’s eyes out pretty fast.

Man: But Ann Coulter would be like, “Rock on, I’m in a death cage!” And Maureen Dowd would be like, “Wait, what am I doing in a death cage?”

–Alt.Coffee, Avenue A

Overheard in New York

A Ring Tone Meant to Fall on Deaf Ears

From an article in Monday’s New York Times:

In that old battle of the wills between young people and their keepers, the young have found a new weapon that could change the balance of power on the cellphone front: a ring tone that many adults cannot hear.

In settings where cellphone use is forbidden — in class, for example — it is perfect for signaling the arrival of a text message without being detected by an elder of the species.

“When I heard about it I didn’t believe it at first,” said Donna Lewis, a technology teacher at the Trinity School in Manhattan. “But one of the kids gave me a copy, and I sent it to a colleague. She played it for her first graders. All of them could hear it, and neither she nor I could.”

The Times has the sound file. Can you hear it?

Good Scout

Garrison Keillor has written an absolutely wonderful review of ‘Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee,’ by Charles J. Shields.

This biography will not disappoint those who loved the novel and the feisty, independent, fiercely loyal Scout, in whom Harper Lee put so much of herself.

By all means read the review if you’ve ever read To Kill A Mockingbird, or, for that matter, In Cold Blood, or seen Capote. Then buy the biography.

Timothy McVeigh

… was executed on this date five years ago for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.

Dig him up and do it again.

World’s funniest joke, so far

Via Hit and Run, who sets it up this way:

According to the London Telegrah, via Arts & Letters Daily, Science–with a capital S–has determined that the world’s funniest joke was written by Spike Milligan, “Comic Genius!” and goes something like this:

Two hunters are out in the woods in New Jersey when one of them collapses. He doesn’t seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed.
The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps ‘My friend is dead! What can I do?’ The operator says: ‘Calm down, I can help. First, let’s make sure he’s dead.’ There is a silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says ‘OK, now what?’

Funnier version: Dick Cheney and another guy are out in the woods when the other guy collapses. …

Harley’s Angels

Dan Neil on the Harley culture and Memorial Day. A must read that includes this:

The trappings of Harley culture—the leather jackets with club colors, the Kaiser-style helmets, the tattoos, the beards like Arizona tumbleweeds—were established in the ’50s and ’60s, the heyday of outlaw motorcycle clubs such as the Hells Angels, which are still around and whose members, may I state clearly, are exemplary young men for whom I have nothing but the greatest admiration and fear.

The first bikers I ever met were, in fact, Angels, and they were total bad asses, the sort of guys who, after firmly planting the knife in your head, would attempt to kick the handle off.

New host

NewMexiKen is moving. Ultimately this should be transparent to you.

NewMexiKen may be unavailable briefly while the domain is transferred. Do not fret. Like MacArthur, NewMexiKen shall return.

When this entry is no longer at the top you will know you are at the new server. It may be a day or two or three.

In the meanwhile, everything works fine including comments.

Airplane nonsense

At Freakonomics Blog, Steven D. Levitt has some commentary that most frequent fliers will appreciate. It includes this:

Finally, when they read the safety instructions at the beginning of the flight, they go through the whole song and dance about “in the unlikely event of a water landing…” and all the precautions in place to deal with that happening. My friend Peter Thompson did some research on this. At least going back to 1970, which by my estimation encompasses over 150 million commercial airline flights, there has not been a single water landing!

NewMexiKen particularly appreciates the water landing silliness on flights from Albuquerque to Phoenix, or to Denver, or to Dallas.

Vince Lombardi

… was born on this date in 1913.

Lombardi is the legendary football coach. You know — the one the Super Bowl trophy is named for.

Some Lombardisms:

  • “If winning isn’t everything, why do they keep score?”
  • “If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm.”
  • “Show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a loser.”
  • “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”

Vince Lombardi died in 1970 at age 57.

Cumberland Gap National Historical Park (Kentucky)

… was authorized on this date in 1940.

Cumberland Gap

Throughout the ages, poets, songwriters, novelists, journal writers, historians and artists have captured the grandeur of the Cumberland Gap. James Smith, in his journal of 1792, penned what is perhaps one of the most poignant descriptions of this national and historically significant landmark: “We started just as the sun began to gild the tops of the high mountains. We ascended Cumberland Mountain, from the top of which the bright luminary of day appeared to our view in all his rising glory; the mists dispersed and the floating clouds hasted away at his appearing. This is the famous Cumberland Gap…” Thanks to the vision of Congress, who in 1940 authorized Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, visitors today can still bask in its beauty and immerse themselves in its rich history.

The story of the first doorway to the west is commemorated at the national park, located where the borders of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia meet. Carved by wind and water, Cumberland Gap forms a major break in the formidable Appalachian Mountain chain. First used by large game animals in their migratory journeys, followed by Native Americans, the Cumberland Gap was the first and best avenue for the settlement of the interior of this nation. From 1775 to 1810, the Gap’s heyday, between 200,000 and 300,000 men, women, and children from all walks of life, crossed the Gap into “Kentuckee.”

Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

NewMexiKen and Dad visited Cumberland Gap on our recent trip — it’s an inspiring and beautiful site. The highway through the Gap was removed in 1996 (replaced by a tunnel). One can now walk the Wilderness Road through a forest much as the migrants moving west did from Daniel Boone on.