Author: NewMexiKen

Dave Leitao’s new house

The under construction John Paul Jones Arena at The University of Virginia is running a cool $130 million. One man, a 1976 Virginia graduate named Jones, gave $35 million toward the costs. The full name is in honor of the donor’s father, not the naval hero.

The site linked above has all you’d want to know.

NewMexiKen’s oldest child is a graduate of UVa, which makes it one of my vicarious alma maters.

Dave Leitao is the new Virginia men’s basketball coach.

I’ve Been Everywhere Man

I was totin’ my pack along the dusty Winnemucca road
When along came a semi with a high and canvas covered load.
“If you’re going to Winnemucca, Mack, with me you can ride.”
And so I climbed into the cab and then I settled down inside.
He asked me if I’d seen a road with so much dust and sand.
And I said, “Listen, I’ve traveled every road in this here land.”

(Chorus)
I’ve been everywhere, man; I’ve been everywhere, man
‘Cross the deserts bare, man, I’ve breathed the mountain air, man
Of travel, I’ve had my share, man, I’ve been everywhere.

I’ve been to Reno, Chicago, Fargo, Minnesota,
Buffalo, Toronto, Winslow, Sarasota,
Wichita, Tulsa, Ottawa, Oklahoma,
Tampa, Panama, Mattawa, La Paloma,
Bangor, Baltimore, Salvador, Amarillo,
Tocopilla, Barranquilla, and Padilla
I’m a killer.

(Chorus)

I’ve been to Boston, Charleston, Dayton, Louisiana,
Washington, Houston, Kingston, Texarkana,
Monterey, Ferriday, Santa Fe, Tallapoosa,
Glen Rock, Black Rock, Little Rock, Oskaloosa,
Tennessee, Hennessey, Chicopee, Spirit Lake,
Grand Lake, Devil’s Lake, Crater Lake,
For Pete’s sake.

(Chorus)

I’ve been to Louisville, Nashville, Knoxville, Ombabika,
Shefferville, Jacksonville, Waterville, Costa Rica,
Pittsfield, Springfield, Bakersfield, Shreveport,
Hackensack, Cadillac, Fond Du Lac, Davenport,
Idaho, Jellicoe, Argentina, Diamontina,
Pasadena, Catalina,
See what I mean’a.

(Chorus)

I’ve been to Pittsburgh, Parkersburg, Gravellburg, Colorado,
Ellensburg, Rexburg, Vicksburg, Eldorado,
Larrimore, Atmore, Haverstraw, Chattanika,
Chaska, Nebraska, Alaska, Opelika,
Baraboo, Waterloo, Kalamazoo, Kansas City,
Sioux City, Cedar City, Dodge City,
What a pity . . .

(Chorus)

I’ve been everywhere.

Geoffrey Mack wrote this great song, originally for Hank Snow. Johnny Cash, heard in the current commercial, recorded it in 1996 for his album Unchained, backed by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.

Thanks to Terry at Coyote’s Bark for reminding me I had been intending to post these lyrics. And thanks to Jill for the Johnny Cash track.

Benjamin Franklin …

died on this date in 1790. He was 84.

In his twenties Franklin had written an epitaph for himself:

The body of
B. Franklin, Printer;
(Like the cover of an old book,

Its contents worn out,
and stripped of its lettering and gilding)
Lies here, food for worms.
But the work shall not be lost:
For it will, (as he believed) appear once more,
In a new and more elegant edition,
Revised and corrected
By the Author.

By the age of 84 he wished for something simpler. The marble over his grave simply reads: Benjamin and Deborah Franklin.

Information from Walter Isaacson’s superb biography of Franklin.

Nikita Khrushchev …

was born on this date in in 1894. Khrushchev was Soviet Premier from 1954-1964. The New York Times has posted its lengthy obituary from 1971.

One of the more infamous moments at the United Nations took place when Khrushchev visited there in 1960 and reportedly banged his shoe on the desk in a protest. Or maybe he didn’t. Read what NewMexiKen reported a year ago about this incident.

33

Jennifer Garner turns 33 today, but more importantly, so does Emily, official younger daughter of NewMexiKen. Happy Birthday Emily!

Holy moly!

Bobby Vinton is 70 today. Here’s hoping his roses are still red, my love.

Oh, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 58.

And, Peter Billingsley — you know, the kid who wants a BB-gun for Christmas so he can shoot his eye out — he’s 33.

More on Lincoln museum

Even when the historical record is unambiguous, the museum sometimes improvises. John Wilkes Booth famously declared “sic semper tyrannis” (Latin for “thus always to tyrants”) after assassinating Lincoln. That sounded too arcane for modern ears. So in one of the multimedia presentations, the script writers have Booth growling instead: “Vengeance shall be mine.”

The goal is to make Lincoln’s story accessible so both adults and children “feel the fascination of history down in their gut,” Rogers explained.

Los Angeles Times

Maybe they could even go Deadwood style and have Lincoln call Douglas a “c***sucker.”

Schlock

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum opens today with a silicone Lincoln posing in the rotunda and pundit Tim Russert introducing mock TV attack ads from the campaign of 1860.

In the Union Theater, an abolitionist roars “Lincoln was no friend of the black man” as hologram cannons boom to signal the start of the Civil War. Strobe lights flash; the plush seats jerk and rumble like a ride at Universal Studios. When Atlanta burns, the air feels hot.

This is history, Hollywood style: A $90-million look at Honest Abe’s life and times — with special effects created by Stan Winston Studios, the wizards behind Jurassic Park and Terminator 3.

Some call it the model of a 21st century museum. Others call it schlock.

From an article in the Los Angeles Times.

Hope you sold short

The day’s declines were the worst daily falls of the year, in percentage terms, for all three market gauges. And after three consecutive selloffs, the market slump was the worst weekly decline since August. For the year to date, the Dow is down 6.5 percent, the S.&P. 500, down 5.7 percent, and Nasdaq, down 12.3 percent.

The New York Times

As forecast here at NewMexiKen on January 31:

NewMexiKen adjusted my mutual funds today, moving from conservative to more adventuresome investments. Trust me, stock values of all kinds will crash soon.

All booked up

There is a meme going around among bloggers. (According to the totally reliable Wikipedia, a meme is a self-propagating unit of cultural evolution.)

Anyway this particular meme is about books.

  • You’re stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
    I take this question to mean, which book is your favorite rather than which book would be the best fire prevention tool. It’s difficult to pick one favorite, but Killer Angels, Michael Shaara’s Civil War classic, is right up there.

  • Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
    Sure, Sacagawea, Indian teenager (with child) who accompanied Lewis and Clark. This is cheating because she’s an actual person, but most accounts of her are pretty well fictionalized.

  • What are you currently reading?
    Washington’s Crossing by David Hackett Fischer.

  • The last book you bought is:
    Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (Library of America edition).

  • The last book you read:
    Be Cool by Elmore Leonard. Hey, I was on a plane.

  • Five books you would take to a deserted island:
    TBogg includes The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, which is pretty hard to surpass, but I’d take:
    The Complete Works of Shakespeare because you really could read the plays over-and-over again, and act out the various parts with your imaginary island companions.
    The Old Testament for its sex, violence and humor.
    Don Quixote in Spanish to see if I could figure it out.
    One Hundred Years of Solitude by Garcia Marquez because many say it is the best novel ever and I still haven’t gotten around to reading it.
    Dictionary of Cultural Literacy because, as readers of this website know, I have interests a mile wide and an inch deep.

And now I am supposed to pass this meme along to three other bloggers. No obligation guys, but here you go Tom at Functional Ambivalent, Garret at dangerousmeta!, and Jon at Albloggerque.

Woody Guthrie on the Dust Storm

NewMexiKen should have caught this yesterday but — thanks to Stephen Terrell’s post on Ruination Day — I’m only one day late. There are dust storms — and then there are dust storms that elicit ballads.

On the 14th day of April of 1935,
There struck the worst of dust storms that ever filled the sky.
You could see that dust storm comin’, the cloud looked deathlike black,
And through our mighty nation, it left a dreadful track.

From Oklahoma City to the Arizona line,
Dakota and Nebraska to the lazy Rio Grande,
It fell across our city like a curtain of black rolled down,
We thought it was our judgement, we thought it was our doom.

The radio reported, we listened with alarm,
The wild and windy actions of this great mysterious storm;
From Albuquerque and Clovis, and all New Mexico,
They said it was the blackest that ever they had saw.

From old Dodge City, Kansas, the dust had rung their knell,
And a few more comrades sleeping on top of old Boot Hill.
From Denver, Colorado, they said it blew so strong,
They thought that they could hold out, but they didn’t know how long.

Our relatives were huddled into their oil boom shacks,
And the children they was cryin’ as it whistled through the cracks.
And the family it was crowded into their little room,
They thought the world had ended, and they thought it was their doom.

The storm took place at sundown, it lasted through the night,
When we looked out next morning, we saw a terrible sight.
We saw outside our window where wheat fields they had grown
Was now a rippling ocean of dust the wind had blown.

It covered up our fences, it covered up our barns,
It covered up our tractors in this wild and dusty storm.
We loaded our jalopies and piled our families in,
We rattled down that highway to never come back again.

Lyrics as recorded by Woody Guthrie, RCA Studios, Camden, NJ, 26 Apr 1940
Transcribed by Manfred Helfert
© 1960, Ludlow Music, Inc., New York, NY

Molly Brown

This Day in History at the History Channel has the story on the unsinkable Mrs. Brown.

Tammy Grimes played Molly Brown in the 1960 Broadway musical. Debbie Reynolds in the 1964 film. And Kathy Bates, of course, in the 1997 film Titanic.

How much for tips about teachers?

A Georgia high school will pay snitches up to $100 for tips about other students. Under the new policy, students will be paid $10 for information about a theft on campus; $50 for a tip about the use of beer, pot, or other drugs; and $100 for information about guns or other weapons. “It’s not that we feel there are any problems here,” said Model High School principal Glenn White. “It’s a proactive move.” Tipsters will not be paid, he said, if they’re involved in the crime.

The Week Newsletter

Sad, that it’s come to this. There were always plenty of snitches who worked for free in the past.

He’s a Cookie MONSTER for Pete’s sake

Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster is cutting back on sweets to discourage obesity in children. The furry blue puppet is famous for gobbling cookies by the plateful and singing, “C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me.” But new episodes have him singing a new tune, “A Cookie is a Sometimes Food,” to encourage kids to eat healthfully. “We’re not putting him on a diet,” a PBS spokesman said. “We’re teaching him moderation.”

The Week Newsletter

Look, up in the sky

Aviation buffs may want to consider the drive to Holloman Air Force Base on Sunday.

The base neighboring Alamogordo is opening its gates to the public for an open house this year. The base is treating attendees to one of the largest air shows the Air Force will put on this year, officials said.

“We like to show our gratitude for all the support we see in New Mexico and West Texas,” base spokesman Tom Fuller said.

The base, home to the Air Force’s only combat squadrons of F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighters, is scheduled to have its blackbirds simulate a four-ship aerial attack. A B-2 Spirit stealth bomber appearance is planned; it will skim 500 feet above the base.

Also expected are the Air Force’s F-16 Falcon fighter jet demonstration team, the Thunderbirds, and the Army’s Golden Knights parachute demonstration team.

A Russian MiG-17F will also be part of the show, as well as aircraft from the German air force that trains at Holloman. Other U.S. Air Force aircraft planned for the events include the F-15E Strike Eagle and the A-10 Warthog fighter jets.

The base gates open at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.

The Albuquerque Journal

Observation

Getting deodorant in your eye is not a good thing. (Don’t ask.)

Update: Actually I would like to recommend putting deodorant in your eye as a way to relieve the symptoms of everything else that’s bothering you. Believe me, you will be focused on the one pain.