Author: NewMexiKen

Diamondbacks manager an ass

From William C. Rhoden in The New York Times:

[Bonds] was intentionally walked in the seventh inning in his last at-bat and finished the game with 201 [walks for the season]. There was nothing strategic about the decision. It had nothing to do with winning the game. [Diamondback’s manager] Pedrique’s primary objective was saving face.

Bonds walked. And walked. And walked. After the game, Pedrique told reporters that he didn’t want Nos. 699 and 700 to happen on his watch.

“I’m going to be honest; I don’t want him to do it here at home,” Pedrique said. “I’m sorry for the fans. I’m sorry for baseball. But that’s the way it is.

“In this game, you have to have a lot of pride. And the way this year has gone for us, this would be the last thing that we need.”

Selig was as stunned by those remarks as I was. “That comment deserves further scrutiny,” he said.

On Sunday, Bonds hit his 699th homer, but only after reliever Mike Koplove shook off Pedrique, who ordered him not to throw Bonds a strike. Koplove threw a fastball that Bonds hit off the center-field scoreboard.

And guess what? The franchise is still standing, Pedrique is still the manager. Did Pedrique think he’d be run out of town because Bonds hit a home run “here at home”?

I’d be more inclined to fire him because he was timid. He insinuates that his team is fragile, but striking out Bonds would do more to lift the Diamondbacks’ confidence than a Bonds home run would do to ruin it.

Pitching around Bonds is smart in certain situations. Everyone knows that. But Arizona walked him six times in the series. At one point, the Diamondbacks walked him while trailing by six runs.

Whatever Bonds is taking or was taking, I want some. The home run mentioned above hit the scoreboard 460 feet from home plate and bounced back onto center-field.

Gibbs is back (dammit!)

The Sports Economist has an interesting little piece on Joe Gibbs, quoting from Thomas Boswell:.

[L]ast year’s Redskins had 124 penalties (including 17 in one game), as well as 43 sacks and 28 turnovers — a total of 195 conspicuous screw-ups or an average of a dozen a game. … In the opener the Redskins had three penalties, one turnover and no sacks.

Al Davis, pay attention.

Radio ratings

A number of people coming to NewMexiKen are looking for radio station ratings, something I blogged about once more than a year ago. (Google is a strange but wonderful wizard.)

The single best source I know of for such information is Radio and Records, which posts generalized radio ratings for 287 American markets on an ongoing basis.

Grand Teton National Park …

was formed on this date in 1950 by combining the much smaller National Park established in 1929 (which included just the Tetons and the lakes) and the Jackson Hole National Monument established in 1943. From the National Park Service:

Teton.jpg

Located in northwestern Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park protects stunning mountain scenery and a diverse array of wildlife. The central feature of the park is the Teton Range — an active, fault-block, 40-mile-long mountain front. The range includes eight peaks over 12,000 feet (3,658 m), including the Grand Teton at 13,770 feet (4,198 m). Seven morainal lakes run along the base of the range, and more than 100 alpine lakes can be found in the backcountry.

Elk, moose, pronghorn, mule deer, and bison are commonly seen in the park. Black bears are common in forested areas, while grizzlies are occasionally observed in the northern part of the park. More than 300 species of birds can be observed, including bald eagles and peregrine falcons.

Around here they’d be coyote grub

From Functional Ambivalent:

Cuban rancher Raul Hernandez has done something impressive: He’s proven the resiliency of the human spirit and the comic impotence of Communism at the same time.

I give you: Patio Cows.

Standing about 23 to 28 inches tall, the mini cows can be kept in a small area and they feed on simple grasses and weeds, Hernandez says.

“They are patio cows, easy to work,” the 74-year-old says, smiling under the broad hat he wears to keep off the tropical sun. “They give up less meat, but they can deliver four or five liters (quarts) of top quality milk to a family.”

Hernandez bred the cows as a hobby in his retirement, showing an inventive, entrepreneurial spirit. On the other hand, his invention — homegrown milk — is a technology that industrialized societies abandoned 150 years ago.

Still, I’m looking forward to seeing people in the streets, walking their cows.

Follow the link to see a photo.

It’s a hoax

Notice at the official Kinsey Institute web site:

The Kinsey Institute is NOT involved in a study about IQ; we have no reason to believe that IQ changes after childbirth. This story is circulating through emails, and is not true. The Kinsey Institute has not been, and is not involved in this ‘study.’ But thanks for checking!

And here is the diclaimer from the original source:

The Hoosier Gazette is a satirical newspaper published by The Hoosier Gazette

The Hoosier Gazette uses invented names in all its stories, except in cases when public figures are being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental.

It’s a miracle

An Israeli doctor says…..”Medicine in my country is so advanced that we can take a kidney out of one man, put it in another, and have him looking for work in six weeks.”

A German doctor says……..”That is nothing, we can take a lung out of one person, put it in another, and have him looking for work in four weeks.”

A Russian doctor says…….”In my country, medicine is so advanced that we can take half a heart out of one person, put it in another, and have them both looking for work in two weeks.”

The Texas doctor, not to be outdone, says…”You guys are way behind. We recently took a man with no brain out of Texas, put him in the White House for four years, and now half the country is looking for work.”

Found at Rain Storm.

It’s the birthday

… of Margaret Sanger, born on this date in 1879. From her obituary in The New York Times (1966):

As the originator of the phrase “birth control” and its best-known advocate, Margaret Sanger survived Federal indictments, a brief jail term, numerous lawsuits, hundreds of street-corner rallies and raids on her clinics to live to see much of the world accept her view that family planning is a basic human right.

The dynamic, titian-haired woman whose Irish ancestry also endowed her with unfailing charm and persuasive wit was first and foremost a feminist. She sought to create equality between the sexes by freeing women from what she saw as sexual servitude.

NewMexiKen remembers thoughtlessly riding with high school buddies past Mrs. Sanger’s home, honking and acting like jerks presumably because of who she was and what she stood for, i.e., birth control. She would have been at least 80. Oh, did I tell you, I attended a Catholic high school, though doing this was surely our own idea.

… of Hal Wallis, born on this date in 1899. A producer, Wallis was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar 15 times, winning for Casablanca in 1942.

… of Sam Neill, born in Northern Ireland on this date in 1947. Neill has appeared in numerous films, most famously The Hunt for Red October, Jurassic Park and as the ass-of-a-husband in The Piano.

Ivan made me do it

From Reuters —

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader’s name can appear on Florida ballots for the election, despite a court order to the contrary, Florida’s elections chief told officials on Monday in a move that could help President Bush in the key swing state. [Emphasis added.] …

In a memo to Florida’s 67 county supervisors of elections, Division of Elections director Dawn Roberts said the uncertainty of Hurricane Ivan, which could hit parts of the state by week’s end, forced her to act.

The pet goat

Chris Dufresne on college football —

Last week: Rutgers opened the season with an upset victory against Michigan State. There was talk this was finally going to be the year for long-suffering Scarlet Knight fans.

This week: New Hampshire 35, Rutgers 24.

Last week: Rutgers was named team of the week by the Football Writers Assn. of America (FWAA).

This week: Rutgers nominated for goat-of-the-week honors by Future Farmers of America (FFA).

No business like show business

Penn Jillette is all agitated about free speech. Provocative.

Showbiz is just there to give people something to talk about. Houdini appeared in a press photo with just a few bondage chains hanging over his genitals. People talked about that picture. Some went to see his show because of that picture. Some probably boycotted him forever because of that picture. The government just stayed out and let the hype play itself out. I don’t believe in reincarnation, but if Houdini did come back as a modern African American woman, he’d be sure to have pierced nipples and a wardrobe malfunction on TV.

One foot over the line

Pika at Quirky Burque describes one of the reasons people love the New Mexico State Fair —

First off, you enter a tent draped with pillows and purplish fabric. Then, the noise of The Fair dies behind you and incense lures you towards a selection of silver toe rings as the proprietor, a sweet little hippie with a possible foot-fetish, invites you to sit down and try one on. She props a pillow on her knee and takes your foot like a queen. A quick spritz to wash off any dust and soon you’re trying on toe rings as she gently attends to your feet on the pillow. So peaceful. So attentive. It’s like Mary Magdalene perfuming up the Messiah’s feet and making him try on toe rings before dinner. It’s the closest you’ll get to being a princess and it’s all yours for the price of a toe ring at the State Fair Grounds.

NewMexiKen is going to The Fair this evening, but I think I’ll pass on the toe ring tent.

It’s the birthday

… of Milton S. Hershey, born on this date in 1857. Hershey, who only completed the fourth grade, developed a formula for milk chocolate that made what had been a luxury product into the first nationally marketed candy.

… of Bill Monroe, born on this date in 1911. The Father of Bluegrass Music was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970. In 1993, Monroe was a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, an honor that placed him in the company of Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles and Paul McCartney,

… of Mel Torme, born on this date in 1925. The “Velvet Fog” was a wonderful jazz singer, but his greatest legacy is “The Christmas Song” — “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…”.

Pants on fire

The administration claims to have a plan to cut the deficit in half over the next five years. But even Bruce Bartlett, a longtime tax-cut advocate, points out that “projections showing deficits falling assume that Bush’s tax cuts expire on schedule.” But Mr. Bush wants those tax cuts made permanent. That is, the administration has a “plan” to reduce the deficit that depends on Congress’s not passing its own legislation. [Emphasis added.]

Paul Krugman in The New York Times