Author: NewMexiKen

Frances Ethel Gumm

… was born 84 years ago today. We know her as Judy Garland. She was just under 5-feet tall and the need for weight-control lead her to drugs, which controlled much of her adult life. She died of a barbiturate overdose at age 47.

Ms. Garland was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for A Star is Born (1955) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Judgment at Nuremberg (1962). She won a special “Juvenile Oscar” for The Wizard of Oz (1940).

Doggy do

From Discovery News:

Language skills once thought exclusively human are also within the reach of dogs, say German researchers studying a nine-year-old border collie that has a 200-word vocabulary. …

In a game where Rico is told to fetch an unfamiliar object with a name he hasn’t heard before, Rico runs into a room where the new object is on the floor among several familiar objects, of which he already knows the names. Rico reliably figures out that the new word must go with the new object in a single try. Then, after a month of not seeing the new object or hearing the new word, he remembers them.

What’s scary is that he’s 9, which means 63 in human terms, right? I’m younger than that and I can go into a room and forget what I went into it for.

First posted June 10, 2004. Link no longer active.

Veronica in Training

Veronica, official daughter-in-law of NewMexiKen, is training for the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco on October 22. She is running the race as a member of Team In Training, a division of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Click on the link to help Veronica raise money to support research and patient services. Your tax-deductible contribution will be helping cancer patients and their families.

An Inconvenient Truth

“In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to.”

Roger Ebert

Donald Duck

Donald Duck… is 72 today. He debuted in the Disney Silly Symphony cartoon “The Wise Little Hen” on this date in 1934. (Donald Duck is one of three Disney characters with an “official” birthday. The others are Mickey and Minnie, who debuted on November 18, 1928.)

Donald Duck actually appeared in more theatrical cartoons than Mickey Mouse — 128. Donald’s middle name is Fauntleroy.

Q: Why does Donald Duck wear a towel when getting out of the shower when he usually doesn’t even wear pants?

A: Donald puts a towel when he gets out of the shower to dry off! When he gets out of the shower he’s pretty wet and doesn’t want to drip water all over the bathroom floor.

Seriously, Donald Duck was created as a human-like character. He reacts to many situations the same way that a man would. Since a man would normally wrap a towel around his waist when stepping out of the shower, so does Donald.

Q: What are the names of Donald Duck’s nephews? Who was their mother?

A: Donald’s nephews are Huey, Dewey, and Louie. They made their debut in the Donald Duck Sunday comic page on October 17, 1937, and first appeared on film in “Donald’s Nephews” in 1938. Huey wears red, Dewey wears blue, and Louie wears green.

Their mother was Donald’s sister, Dumbella Duck.

Disney Online

It’s the birthday

… of Lester William Polfus, who is 91 today. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as Les Paul.

The name Les Paul is synonymous with the electric guitar. As a player, inventor and recording artist, Paul has been an innovator from the early years of his life. Born Lester William Polfus in 1915 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Paul built his first crystal radio at age nine – which was about the time he first picked up a guitar. By age 13 he was performing semi-professionally as a country-music guitarist and working diligently on sound-related inventions. In 1941, Paul built his first solid-body electric guitar, and he continued to make refinements to his prototype throughout the decade. He also worked on refining the technology of sound, developing revolutionary engineering techniques such as close miking, echo delay and multitracking. All the while he busied himself as a bandleader who could play both jazz and country music.

… of Dick Vitale. He’s 67, baby! Not exactly a diaper dandy.

… of Michael J. Fox — 45.

… of West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin — also 45.

… of twice nominated for the Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar (in two remarkably disparate roles) Johnny Depp. He’s 43.

… of Queen (aka Princess) (aka Senator) Padmé Naberrie Amidalais. She’s also known as Evey Hammond (V for Vendetta), Sara (Cold Mountain), Sam (Garden State) and Alice (Closer). That’s Natalie Portman. She’s all of 25.

Travelin’ men

NewMexiKen has been in 25 states and the District of Columbia since last August.

4,600 car miles on this recent trip. (Dad gets another 950 for the roundtrip from Tucson to Albuquerque.)

Gasoline readily available everywhere — we paid anywhere from $2.54 to $3.00 a gallon for regular. Cheapest gas was in Arkansas; most expensive is in New Mexico.

Dad’s 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix averaged 28.4 miles per gallon for the entire trip (not counting his drive to Tucson today).

Info you can use

There is a speed trap on I-68 westbound as you approach Cumberland, Maryland. The limit decreses from 65 to 55 as you approach downhill. Repeat, downhill.

Written for 64 in a 55 zone. $70.

Freeway speed limit in Maryland: 65. Freeway speed limit in New Mexico: 75. I guess Maryland knows just how skillful its drivers are.

Ticket followed (within minutes) by flat tire. Probably got it while pulling over to get ticket. Talk about adding insult to injury.

Three tickets issued while we were there. It wasn’t about safety, or law enforcement. It was about revenue. 9am Sunday morning, good conditions, light traffic. Two cops with radar.

Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah)

… was designated a national monument on this date in 1923. It became a national park in 1928.

Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon, famous for its worldly unique geology, consists of a series of horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters carved from the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in southern Utah. The erosional force of frost-wedging and the dissolving power of rainwater have shaped the colorful limestone rock of the Claron Formation into bizarre shapes including slot canyons, windows, fins, and spires called “hoodoos.”

Bryce Canyon National Park