Author: NewMexiKen

Get the lead out

The Washington Post reports that a Study Concludes Beethoven Died From Lead Poisoning:

By focusing the most powerful X-ray beam in the Western Hemisphere on six of Ludwig van Beethoven’s hairs and a few pieces of his skull, scientists have gathered what they say is conclusive evidence that the famous composer died of lead poisoning.

The work, done at the Energy Department’s Argonne National Laboratory outside of Chicago, confirms earlier hints that lead may have caused Beethoven’s decades of poor health, which culminated in a long and painful death in 1827 at age 56.
…

Among the possibilities are his liberal indulgence in wine consumed from lead cups or perhaps a lifetime of medical treatments, which in the 19th century were often laced with heavy metals.

Willa Cather

It’s the birthday of the novelist Willa Cather, born in Back Creek Valley, Virginia (1873)…. Her family settled in Red Cloud, Nebraska, and she fell in love with the Nebraska landscape. She wrote, “Elsewhere the sky is the roof of the world; but here the earth is the floor of the sky.”

She went off to college, got involved in journalism and eventually moved to New York City to edit McClure’s magazine. After living in New York for fifteen years, she quit her job and took a trip back home to Nebraska. Standing on the edge of a wheat field, she watched the first harvest that she had seen since her childhood. When she got back to the East, she began her first great novel, O Pioneers! (1913), about Alexandra Bergson, the oldest daughter of Swedish immigrant farmers, who struggles to work the family farm after her father dies. Cather went on to write many more novels about the westward expansion of the United States, including My ??ntonia (1918), The Professor’s House (1925) and Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927).

Willa Cather said, “We come and go, but the land is always here. And the people who love it and understand it are the people who own it—for a little while.”

Source: The Writer’s Almanac.

You may hear Garrison Keillor tell the above and more by clicking here [RealAudio].

Delaware

… was the first state to ratify the Constitution, on this date in 1787.

Named for Thomas West, Lord De La Warre, colonial governor of Virginia.

Nicknames: First State, Diamond State.
Motto: “Liberty and Independence.”
Song: “Our Delaware.”

Capital: Dover.
Total area: 2,489 sq. mi (49th), incl. 536 sq. mi. inland water.
Population: 807,385 (45th) (2002 est.).

Delaware Tag

Bird: Blue hen chicken.
Fish: Weakfish.
Flower: Peach blossom.
Insect: Ladybug.
Rock: Sillimanite.
Tree: American holly.

It’s the birthday

… of Eli Wallach. Tuco is 90. “Hey Blondie, do you know what you are? You’re a stinking son of a….” [Theme starts.]

… of Ellen Burstyn. Alice is 73. Ms. Burstyn has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress five times, winning for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore in 1975. She was also nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for The Last Picture Show.

… of Johnny Bench. The Hall of Fame catcher is 58.

… of Larry Bird. The Basketball Hall of Famer is 49.

… of T.O., Terrell Owens. He’s 32 going on 12.

Bandidos

From a report in The Albuquerque Tribune:

The proudest man in Albuquerque this weekend might be a 57-year-old Peruvian with an eye for talent and a knack for teaching.

Three of the four teams still kicking in the College Cup [the NCAA Division I men’s championship] have Albuquerque natives who played club soccer for the Classic Bandidos, coached by Ricardo Beraun. …

Three of the four were part of Beraun’s core of original Bandidos, formed when the players were 9 years old. Albright joined the team when he was 13. …

Beraun, who briefly played in Peru, focused much of his coaching on technical skill. Each practice began with about 30 minutes of juggling exercises, and Beraun awarded players with special soccer pins if they reached certain milestones.

Those incentives were so strong that the ex-Bandidos still remember their best juggling performances. Ashwill once juggled a ball 2,000 times without it hitting the ground. Moss reached 1,000. Albright said his personal high is about 500.

C’deBaca is precise; his record is 1,029. …

Two of the four play for the New Mexico Lobos, the third for Clemson and the fourth for Maryland. SMU is the other team in the soccer final four.

Beraun, the coach, is a thermal scientist at Sandia National Laboratories.

Update: The New York Times also reports on UNM and Classic Bandidos.

No, not Geico’s gecko

PORT JERVIS, N.Y. – A 19-year-old man was behind bars Tuesday after allegedly biting the head off a gecko as part of a bet.

Derrick Ford was being held in the Orange County Jail after being charged with felony animal cruelty, police said.

Ford was at a friend’s home Sunday when someone bet him $10 that he wouldn’t bite the head off a gecko, the Times Herald-Record of Middletown reported.

Though Ford won the bet, it wasn’t long before police showed up and placed him under arrest, the newspaper said.

Ford, who also was charged with violating parole, is now awaiting further court action.

AP via Yahoo! News

This seems like a decidedly unnecessary act, but illegal? And a felony?

Ira Gershwin

… one of America’s great lyricists, was born on this date in 1896.

Summertime
And the livin’ is easy,
Fish are jumpin’
And the cotton is high.
Oh yo’ daddy’s rich
An’ yo’ ma is good lookin’
So hush, little baby,
Don’t you cry.

[with Dubose Heyward]

*****

You’ve made my life so glamorous
You can’t blame me for feeling amorous.
Oh! ‘S wonderful! ‘S marvelous!
That you should care for me!

‘S wonderful! ‘S marvelous!
That you should care for me!
‘S awful nice! ‘S paradise!
‘S what I love to see!

*****

The way you wear your hat,
The way you sip your tea,
The mem’ry of all that —
No, no! They can’t take that away from me!

The way your smile just beams,
The way you sing off key,
The way you haunt my dreams —
No, no! They can’t take that away from me!

It’s the birthday

… of Steven Wright. He’s 50.

  • I bought some batteries, but they weren’t included.
  • If you shoot at mimes, should you use a silencer?
  • What’s another word for Thesaurus?
  • If toast always lands butter-side down, and cats always land on their feet, what happens if you strap toast on the back of a cat and drop it?

… of Dave Brubeck. Dave’s taken five for 85 years.

… of Tom Hulce. The actor who played Mozart in Amadeus is 52. (The film came out in 1984.)

The Cinderella Man, James J. Braddock, was born 100 years ago today.

Nikon — not good enough

Nikon has issued a recall on some of its battery packs for the D100, D70 and D50 cameras.

The battery pack can experience a short circuit causing it to overheat and possibly melt, posing a potential hazard to consumers. There have only been four confirmed reports of incidents of the problem worldwide, and while no injuries have taken place, Nikon Inc. has initiated this recall of the affected lot numbers as a reflection of its commitment to safety and product quality. We are asking that owners of the affected battery packs return them to Nikon Inc. for a free replacement.

Fair enough, things happen.

But there is one big problem. Nikon wants the camera owner to register on the internet, wait for packing and postage to be sent, then return the defective battery before Nikon sends the new battery. Only once Nikon has the old battery will they will send a replacement — “within approximately 7-10 days.”

Excuse me! What if you want to use your camera in the next few weeks while all this shipping back and forth is going on — say for Christmas photos. No luck — unless you buy a new battery at retail ($40 or more) in the meanwhile. Nikon warns you (in bold), “If you have an EN-EL3 battery pack with one of the lot numbers listed above, you should immediately stop using it and remove the battery pack from the battery compartment.”

If I have a camera registered with Nikon (I do) and I claim to have one of the potentially dangerous batteries (I do), I think they should send me a new battery as soon as I sign-up for it, along with the packing and postage to return to old one.

Here’s the list of recalled batteries.

Update: Nikon will charge your credit card for the new battery ($49), send it with the return packaging, and then credit your account when the old battery is received. That seems reasonable, though I will leave my rant above as written.

Top 10 Tips for Great Pictures

Do you wish you were a better photographer? All it takes is a little know-how and experience. Keep reading for some important picture-taking tips. Then grab your camera and start shooting your way to great pictures.

1. Look your subject in the eye
2. Use a plain background
3. Use flash outdoors
4. Move in close
5. Move it from the middle
6. Lock the focus
7. Know your flash’s range
8. Watch the light
9. Take some vertical pictures
10. Be a picture director

From Kodak, which has brief details on each of the tips.

Edison was a tough grader

Thomas Edison would give prospective employees a general knowledge test before he would hire them. The National Park Service has compiled two versions from original Edison questions — one of 150 questions (like the original) and another of 30 questions. They’ve made each substantially easier than Edison did by providing multiple-choice answers.

NewMexiKen just tried the longer test and scored 78%. I thought I was doing well, but by Edison’s standards I failed. Screw it, I didn’t really think the job was a good match anyway.

The tests follow an introduction. This will take you a little while.

Oh yeah, Edison’s home was designated Edison Home National Historic Site on this date 50 years ago today. It was later combined with his laboratory into Edison National Historic Site.

Alito the red-nosed reindeer

Report from The New York Times:

It is the time of year when bedtime stories and television specials often recall the plucky reindeer and the little girl of Whoville who managed to save Christmas. This year, some conservative groups are hoping to add a new name to that pantheon of heroes: Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., the Supreme Court nominee.

“Liberal groups like People for the American Way and the A.C.L.U. have opposed public Christmas and Hanukkah displays and even fought to keep Christmas carols out of school,” declares a radio commercial paid for by the conservative Committee for Justice beginning Monday in Colorado, Wisconsin and West Virginia, states whose senators are considered pivotal votes on Judge Alito.

“Some courts and judges have supported this radical agenda, but not Judge Sam Alito,” it continues. “Throughout his career, Judge Alito has consistently upheld the Constitution’s protection of free religious expression.”

Christianity and the Christmas story (in some form) have survived nearly 2,000 years. These modern American Christians are sure having a crisis of faith if they believe only Sam Alito can save Christmas.

But of course I may have it backwards. It’s certain political leaders that are having the crisis of faith. They believe only Christmas can save Sam Alito.

Good for each other

From a story in the Los Angeles Times:

The elderly woman, white hair brushed and tidy, peach lipstick matching her velour jogging pants, isn’t quite sure why she goes to the adult day-care center in Van Nuys, and can’t remember how long she’s been going there.

“My memory isn’t so good anymore,” says Irene Overlee, 88, of North Hollywood.

But she remembers every word of “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” and that’s all that matters right now to the half-dozen wild-haired toddlers in the center of a circle made up of Overlee and four other seniors. The children are dancing and clapping as the seniors chant the spider ditty — until, on cue, Overlee and the others reach the line about the rain coming down. In unison, they upturn the contents of a paper bag, causing crumpled, colorful tissue paper to rain down on the floor.

The toddlers squeal with delight. They want to do it again and again. They pick up the papers and refill the bags held open by the five senior citizens, their fun undiluted by the fact that the adults around them have canes, walkers, hearing aids and, in some cases, mild to moderate dementia. These things are all very familiar, for the seniors and youngsters attend day care at the same site.

Why this idea has been so slow in coming in our society is beyond me.

Key fact:

Today, 45% of grandparents live more than 200 miles from their most distant grandchild, according to a survey by AARP. Not coincidentally, that’s exactly the percentage of grandparents who say they don’t see their grandchildren often enough.

NewMexiKen lives more than 1,000 miles from my nearest grandchild. What’s wrong with this picture?

Best line of the day, so far

Since Wallace Stegner’s death, there is perhaps no one better qualified to make sweeping statements on Western culture and history than Larry McMurtry. From his familial background (Texas homesteaders) to his own experiences in cowboying, bookselling, writing and research, McMurtry is pedigreed like nobody’s business. This is a book he should have been able to write in his sleep.

Maybe he did.

— Allen M. Jones reviewing Larry McMurtry’s Oh What a Slaughter for New West Network.

Of course, Jones is disappointed because McMurtry can write at the highest level:

His best novels — Terms of Endearment, The Last Picture Show, All My Friends Are Going to be Strangers — are all ambushes of emotion, everyman oomphs of grief and redemption. No flourishes of purple prose, no narrative strutting. Here’s just a handful of people you can care about, and here are some of the bad (and good) things that happen to them. His life’s masterpiece, the Pulitzer Prize winning Lonesome Dove, is a staggering achievement of invisible research and camouflaged, authorial labor. Anyone who can read about the death of Augustus McCrae without threatening tears has a chunk of vulcanized rubber for a heart.

Oh What a Slaughter is a short, nonfiction survey of several western massacres.

The Joyless Economy

Excerpt from Paul Krugman in today’s New York Times:

Behind the disconnect between economic growth and family incomes lies the extremely lopsided nature of the economic recovery that officially began in late 2001. The growth in corporate profits has, as I said, been spectacular. Even after adjusting for inflation, profits have risen more than 50 percent since the last quarter of 2001. But real wage and salary income is up less than 7 percent.

There are some wealthy Americans who derive a large share of their income from dividends and capital gains on stocks, and therefore benefit more or less directly from soaring profits. But these people constitute a small minority. For everyone else the sluggish growth in wages is the real story. And much of the wage and salary growth that did take place happened at the high end, in the form of rising payments to executives and other elite employees. Average hourly earnings of nonsupervisory workers, adjusted for inflation, are lower now than when the recovery began.

So there you have it. Americans don’t feel good about the economy because it hasn’t been good for them. Never mind the G.D.P. numbers: most people are falling behind.

Krugman goes on to say it’s “harder to explain why.”

Wages and median family income often lag behind profits in the early stages of an economic expansion, but not this far behind, and not for so long. Nor, I should say, is there any easy way to place more than a small fraction of the blame on Bush administration policies.

America’s Most Literate Cities

The Top Ten

1. Seattle, WA
2. Minneapolis, MN
3. Washington, DC
4. Atlanta, GA
5. San Francisco, CA
6. Denver, CO
7. Boston, MA
8. Pittsburgh, PA
9. Cincinnati, OH
10. St. Paul, MN

“A total score was tallied for each city across six different literacy categories: Booksellers; Educational attainment; Internet Resources; Library Resources; Newspaper Circulation; and Periodical publications. All categories were compared against the city’s total population.” Central Connecticut State University

Sixty-nine cities with more than 250,000 people were surveyed. Complete rankings.

36. Albuquerque