[Bill] Russell is often asked about his reaction to the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which he will receive from President Obama on Tuesday, as will former President George H. W. Bush, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, Stan Musial and 11 others.
Is this the greatest personal honor in his life?
“A close second,” Russell replied.
Umm, what’s first? The tentativeness of the question elicited the familiar whooping roar of laughter occasionally emitted by this publicly serious man.
“When he was about 77, my father and I were talking,” Russell answered. “And he said: ‘You know, you’re all grown up now, and I want to tell you something. You know, I am very proud of the way you turned out as my son, and I’m proud of you as a father.’
Today is not a national holiday
But it sure as hell ought to be. Not only “Rhapsody in Blue,” Lincoln and Darwin, but it’s the birthday of Bill Russell for heaven’s sake! And Alice Roosevelt. And Omar Bradley.
[Note, I have heaven and hell in the same short paragraph. And some of you think I am not religious.]
Bill Russell is 77. Back-to-back NCAA championships at the University of San Francisco, 1955-1956 — 55 consecutive wins. Eleven NBA championships with the Celtics in 13 years, 1957-1969 — Russell was the only player there for all 11. Simply the greatest winner in basketball history. (And the best laugh.)
Today is also the birthday
… of Joe Garagiola, 85.
… of author Judy Blume. She was born Judith Sussman 73 years ago today.
… of Ray Manzarek. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is 72.
The Doors formed in the summer of 1965 around Morrison and Manzarek, who’d met at UCLA’s film school. A year later the group signed with Elektra Records, recording six landmark studio LPs and a live album for the label. They achieved popular success and critical acclaim for their 1967 debut, The Doors (which included their eleven-minute epic “The End” and “Light My Fire,” a Number One hit at the height of the Summer of Love), and all the other albums that followed.
Steve Hackett of Genesis is 61 today. Michael McDonald of The Doobie Brothers turns 59.
Today is also the birthday
… of Arsenio Hall, 56.
… of Josh Brolin, 43. I wonder if his stepmom will sing “Happy Birthday” to him.
… of actress Christina Ricci. Wednesday Addams is 31.
Lorne Greene (aka Ben Cartwright) was born on this date in 1915.
Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Teddy Roosevelt’s daughter and Speaker of the House Nicholas Longworth’s wife, was born on February 12th in 1884. Ms. Longworth was prominent in Washington until her death in 1980. This despite the fact — or maybe because of it — that her only child was not with her husband, but a result of her affair with Senator William Borah. Embroidered on her sofa pillow was “If you haven’t got anything good to say about anybody, come sit next to me.”
Omar Bradley, the G.I General, was born on this date in 1893.
Except for his original division assignments, Bradley won his wartime advancement on the battlefield, commanding American soldiers in North Africa, Sicily, across the Normandy beaches, and into Germany itself. His understated personal style of command left newsmen with little to write about, especially when they compared him to the more flamboyant among the Allied commanders, but his reputation as a fighter was secure among his peers and particularly with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander, who considered him indispensable.
Self-effacing and quiet, Bradley showed a concern for the men he led that gave him the reputation as the “soldier’s general.” That same concern made him the ideal choice in 1945 to reinvigorate the Veterans Administration and prepare it to meet the needs of millions of demobilized servicemen. After he left active duty, both political and military leaders continued to seek Bradley’s advice. Perhaps more importantly, he remained in close touch with the Army and served its succeeding generations as the ideal model of a professional soldier.
And it’s the birthday of artist Thomas Moran, born on this date in 1837. The National Gallery of Art has an outstanding online exhibit on Moran. Click the image for a larger replica of his classic painting “Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.”
Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln
. . . the English naturalist who documented evolution and the American president who saved the Union, were born 202 years ago today.
Rhapsody in Blue
George Gershwin’s phenomenal blending of jazz and classical music, premiered at Aeolian Hall, in New York City, on February 12, 1924, 87 years ago tonight. Gershwin wrote the piece in three weeks, reportedly improvising some of the piano parts during the premiere.
Rhapsody in Blue was one of NPR’s 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century. You can listen to the NPR report from NPR Music.
This video (audio with photographs actually) is, I believe, a recording made in June 1924 with Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra with Ross Gorman playing the clarinet opening as he did during the premier, and the composer at the piano.
Best line of the day
However, it’s one thing to be a would-be adulterer and another to be an incredibly stupid would-be adulterer. In his re-election campaign, Lee bragged about his work providing students with instruction on the hazards of having personal conversations on the Internet. Yet he was working under the assumption that the best way to conduct an extramarital social life is to pretend to be a different person online, while using one’s real name and photograph.
Nobody wants to be represented by a person who has to be reminded of the existence of Google.
We are governed by morons
Us.
- 44% of Social Security recipients don’t know that it is a government program
- 40% of Medicare recipients don’t know that it is a government program
- 43% of Pell Grant recipients don’t know that it is a government program
- 43% of unemployment insurance recipients don’t know that it is a government program
- 42% of veterans benefits recipients don’t know that it is a government program
- 25% of food stamp recipients don’t know that it is a government program
- 53% of student loan recipients don’t know that it is a government program
- 60% of those taking the mortgage income tax deduction don’t know that it is a government program
Today’s Photo
That’s Reidie; he’ll be five in a few weeks. His mother Jill took this unedited photo today with her new Canon 85mm f/1.8 prime lens. She’s a fine photographer, as these pages have often demonstrated. But one can see that wide aperture at work here too. She took an equally gorgeous portrait of Aidan.
Click the image for a larger version.
The King’s Speech
Today I saw my seventh of the ten films nominated for Best Picture — The King’s Speech.
Magnificent.
And Colin Firth, too.
Both, by far, the best I’ve seen.
Tomorrow, Inception.
Books for the President and First Family
On Thursday, January 20, the ABA Board of Directors met with President Obama in the Oval Office for the presentation of the ABA White House Library, a selection of current titles given to each presidential administration since 1929, for the reading pleasure of the First Family.
Books presented to the President, including YA titles for his daughters, were:
- Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories, by Simon Winchester (Harper); presented by ABA President Michael Tucker, Books Inc., San Francisco, California
- A Nest for Celeste: A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home, by Henry Cole (Katherine Tegen Books); The Candymakers, by Wendy Mass (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers); and Out of My Mind, by Sharon Draper (Atheneum); presented by ABA Vice President Becky Anderson, Anderson’s Bookshops, Naperville, Illinois
- Colonel Roosevelt, by Edmund Morris (Random House): presented by Barbara Meade, Politics and Prose, Washington, D.C.
- Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese (Knopf); the winner of the 2010 Indies Choice Book Award for Fiction, presented on behalf of the entire group
- Doctor Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak: A new translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (Pantheon); presented by Sarah Bagby, Watermark Books and Cafe, Wichita, Kansas
- Foreign Bodies, by Cynthia Ozick (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt); presented by Betsy Burton, The King’s English Bookshop, Salt Lake City, Utah
- Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America, by Matt Taibbi (Spiegel & Grau); presented by Tom Campbell, The Regulator Bookshop, Durham, North Carolina
- Song of Myself: And Other Poems by Walt Whitman, selected and introduced by Robert Hass (Counterpoint); presented by Ken White, San Francisco State University Bookstore, San Francisco, California
- Storyteller, by Patricia Reilly Giff (Wendy Lamb Books) and The Danger Box, by Blue Balliett (Scholastic Press); presented by Beth Puffer, Bank Street Bookstore, New York, New York
- Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand (Random House); presented by Dan Chartrand, Water Street Bookstore, Exeter, New Hampshire
- Washington: A Life, by Ron Chernow (Penguin Press); presented by ABA CEO Oren Teicher, Tarrytown, New York
Best line every day
“It’s good to be free.”
Mohamed Mansour, an Egyptian, his voice cracking, as reported by News Desk: Dancing in the Square : The New Yorker
Best line of the day
“A spokesman for MSNBC expressed relief that the crisis in Cairo had, for the moment, eased: ‘It was really interrupting our coverage of Lindsay Lohan.’ ”
Read this!
Best line of the day
“[S]ometimes it seems like my own sex life is going the way of my gym membership: less frequently used as time goes by, with sessions that are hard on the knees and don’t last nearly as long as I intended.”
The blog recommends that for Valentines Day, “Skip the fancy meal and go straight to the sex!” Among the tips:
2. Before we go head off to work, I’ll give my wife a 30-second hug. Sounds like a long time, but studies have shown that hugging for 20 to 30 seconds boosts levels of oxytocin, the feel-good “cuddle hormone” that helps bring couples closer.
3. If we speak during the day, I’ll make an effort to stay positive. Experts believe that the happiest couples have five positive interactions (like cuddling, kissing, or having upbeat conversations) for every one negative interaction (such as bickering).
Best line of the day
“In a sign that he is losing patience with the Egyptian leader, Mr. Obama said that the U.S. was preparing to send Mr. Mubarak a new email ‘with the strongest frowny-faced emoticons at our disposal.’ ”
Farewell to Springfield
Abraham Lincoln made these remarks in Springfield before boarding the train for Washington 150 years ago today. He transcribed them on the train — it’s Lincoln’s handwriting at first, then his secretary John Nicolay’s. The movement of the train is seen in the scrawl. Click the image above for a larger version. The text is below.
My friends—No one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe every thing. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now [2] leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being, who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him, who can go with me, and remain with you and be every where for good, [3] let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell
Lincoln never saw Springfield again.
Information and idea from Farewell to Springfield, today’s very interesting installment in The New York Times series marking each day in the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.
What a Week: The “Not a Toad” Edition
A 14-question news-of-the-week quiz from News Desk at The New Yorker.
Yours truly got 13 correct out of 14. I missed that Super Bowl ad.
Today’s Photo
I didn’t take any photographs today so Today’s Photo is from last February 10th instead. It was taken in Savannah on a very cool — no, frankly it was cold — morning. A pretty day, though. Click the image to enlarge the photo. This is what much of the city’s old residential area looks like.
Best line of the day
“The delusions of dictators are never more poignant—or more dangerous—than when they are in their death throes. To watch Hosni Mubarak today in his late-night speech in Cairo, as he used every means of rhetorical deflection to delay his inevitable end, was to watch a man so deluded, so deaf to the demands of history, that he was incapable of hearing an entire people screaming in his ear.”
David Remnick : The New Yorker beginning a brief commentary.
Worth reading
As noted the other day, The New York Times is publishing a daily series tracking the Civil War 150 years ago. Today’s installment discusses Lincoln’s 12-day trip to Washington, which began on February 11, 1861.
Pulitzer-winning author Lawrence Wright has written a lengthy but invaluable look at the Church of Scientology in The New Yorker. I commend his report to you.
Stupid is as stupid does
Why do we keep electing the worst among us to public office?
He said he was 39; he’s 46.
He said he was a lobbyist; he was a Member of Congress.
He said, “Sorry. Its all I had,” when the woman asked if he always sent shirtless photos of himself.
(It’s a cellphone photo taken in a mirror. You can see the phone in the photo. He could have put a shirt on and taken the same photo.)
But the lameness of that excuse isn’t what makes me wonder why we elect reprobates.
And it’s not the lying.
It’s not even the presumed attempt at adultery.
What bothers me most is that he left the apostrophe out of “it’s.”
Photo from Gawker.
Don’t Worry. Be Happy.
Gail Collins thinks we have enough to worry about, so we should quit worrying about stuff like this. (You really should just go read her whole column.)
In South Dakota, we recently learned that Representative Hal Wick, a Republican of Sioux Falls, dropped a bill into the hopper that would require every adult in the state to own a gun. In Georgia, Representative Bobby Franklin, a Republican of Marietta, introduced legislation that would eliminate the requirement that Georgia drivers have licenses, arguing that he was tired of “agents of the state demanding your papers.”
And, people, you do not need to worry about it! These bills are not going to pass. Besides, if we worried about every nutsy idea tossed around in state legislatures, we would never have adequate time to devote to work, family and the fate of the Broadway musical “Spider-Man.”
About 10 percent of a state legislature is composed of people who are totally loony. This is in a good state. It’s possible that in yours, the proportion is much, much higher. That is probably something to worry about, but not today.
The point is, they only introduce these bills to get your attention. Resist. Although Representative Franklin is not making it easy, having also proposed that suburbanites be permitted to keep cows and other farm animals in their yards and that the state be required to pay all of its debts in gold or silver.
Best line of the day about public service
“We serve at the public’s pleasure and their pleasure requires all my patience.”
The Book Bench: The New Yorker quoting a librarian in a brief essay about library vandals.
Most important lines of the day
“Daily diet soda drinkers (there were 116 in the study) had a 48 percent higher risk of stroke or heart attack than people who drank no soda of any kind (901 people, or 35 percent of total participants). That’s after taking into account rates of smoking, diabetes, waistline size and other differences among the groups.”
Diet Soda Tied To Stroke Risk, Though Reasons Still Unclear
“Earlier studies have tied diet and regular soda consumption to greater risk of diabetes and a group of weight-related problems called the metabolic syndrome.”
The American Beverage Associate spokesman said there is no evidence. He used to work for the tobacco industry.
Preparing to receive the sacrament of penance?
| That is, are you getting ready to go to confession?
There’s an app for that. And it has the Church’s blessing (i.e., imprimatur). |
 |
The app offers different questions depending on your age and gender.
For instance, if you sign in as a 15-year-old girl and look under the Sixth Commandment, one of the questions is: “Do I not treat my body or other people’s bodies with purity and respect?” If you sign in as a 33-year-old married man, that commandment offers this query: “Have I been guilty of masturbation?”
Children are asked if they pout or use bad language. Teenagers are asked if they are a tattletale or bully. Women are asked if they’ve had an abortion or encouraged anyone to have an abortion and if they’re chaste. Men are asked about the latter two, as well.
The app also tailors the questions if you sign in as a priest or a “religious.” For instance, if you say you’re a female and try to select “priest” as your vocation, a dialogue box appears that says “sex and vocation are incompatible.” So much for modernity.
Under the Sixth Commandment, men and women are asked: “Have I been guilty of any homosexual activity?” Priests, however, are not. They are asked if they flirt.
I’m thinking the app should link directly to status updates on Facebook. Zuckerberg could really sell that information.
According to surveys, only about one-in-four Catholics goes to confession at least once a year as commanded by the Church.
Best line of the day
“Michelle Obama says the president has quit smoking. She adds that he has not, however, quit smokin’.”