Slacker

Last Saturday 9-year-old Mack ran a mile race and took second overall for kids 12 and under. Exactly 30 minutes after finishing the mile, he ran a 5K finishing fourth in his age group.

There were 500 runners altogether in the two races.

(Mack’s brother Aidan won the mile for boys 6 and under. Their cousin Kiley took second among girls 7-8. Aidan and Kiley declined to also run the 5K.)

From the runs Mack went to a chess tournament. He had a draw and a loss before having to leave early (his brother Reid had a playground accident resulting in a dislocated shoulder).

Later in the afternoon Mack played a half of soccer.

Sunday’s football game was rained out.

Photo taken between the mile and the 5K. His day was just beginning.

Seriously?!

“WASHINGTON (May 24) — Almost half of the 500 most popular sunscreen products may actually increase the speed at which malignant cells develop and spread skin cancer because they contain vitamin A or its derivatives, according to an evaluation of those products released today. ”

AOL News reporting on study by researchers at Environmental Working Group.

“[O]nly 39 of the 500 products they examined were considered safe and effective to use.”

“may actually increase the speed at which malignant cells develop”

Disaster unfolds slowly in the Gulf of Mexico

In the three weeks since the April 20th explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and the start of the subsequent massive (and ongoing) oil leak, many attempts have been made to contain and control the scale of the environmental disaster. Oil dispersants are being sprayed, containment booms erected, protective barriers built, controlled burns undertaken, and devices are being lowered to the sea floor to try and cap the leaks, with little success to date. While tracking the volume of the continued flow of oil is difficult, an estimated 5,000 barrels of oil (possibly much more) continues to pour into the gulf every day. While visible damage to shorelines has been minimal to date as the oil has spread slowly, the scene remains, in the words of President Obama, a “potentially unprecedented environmental disaster.” (40 photos total)

The Big Picture – Boston.com

Hidden gems

Looking for some peace and quiet during your travels this summer? We give you America’s 20 least-visited National Monuments, taken from 2009 National Park Service data. From the thousands of petroglyphs at the El Morro monument in New Mexico to prehistoric caves at Tonto in Arizona, these hidden gems offer scenic views and a journey back in history. Before you visit, research each destination carefully. Some of these parks are remote and may be difficult to access.

America’s 20 least-visited National Monuments – Los Angeles Times

15K

Three of the Sweeties ran a 5K early this morning — and all three medaled. It was the first 5K ever for Kiley (7) and Aidan (6). They took third in the K-1 age group, girls and boys. Mack took second for third grade boys.

All three play team sports later in the day.

Football lines of the day

Alas, Lawrence Taylor is yet another sports figure (or celebrity or politician) in the news for horrible behavior. At The New Yorker Michael Shapiro however, gives us a glimpse of what made Taylor a special athlete. An excerpt:

I was working on a story for the Times Magazine about his sudden legend and had arranged to meet him at his home in Upper Saddle River, but before I went I spoke with Harvard professor Howard Gardner, who had written on levels of intelligence. Gardner postulated that Taylor’s brain worked like those of great artists or composers: rather than process information in steps, it did so in clusters. As a result, he did not need to watch and practice a play repeatedly to be able, at game time, to anticipate what was going to happen. Just once, and he’d remember and be able to recall it with a speed that eclipsed the cognitive powers of lesser souls.

It’s an interesting brief read.

Elsewhere, Charles Pierce thinks Ray Lewis has no business criticizing Tim Tebow. Again, an excerpt:

Here’s a tip. Maybe people are going out of their way to help Tebow because he’s white, and handsome, and famous, and a notorious god-botherer of the kind that makes me run away and become an animist healer. Or, maybe, people are going out of their way to help him because he hasn’t yet, you know, been within blood-spattering distance when people got stabbed.

La Nouvelle Orléans

The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor tells us:

On this day in 1718, the French Canadian Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville discovered the city that would come to be called Crescent City, the Big Easy, and the City That Care Forgot. But he called it La Nouvelle Orléans, New Orleans, named for Philippe d’Orléans, the Regent of France.

Follow the link above to read a little about New Orleans’ literary history, including a comment from David Simon on the uniqueness of the city.

Also this — The Founding French Fathers of New Orleans.

May 7th

Former U.S. Senator Pete Domenici is 78 today.

Tim Russert would have been 60.

Johannes Brahms and Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky were born on May 7th in 1833 and 1840 respectively.

Poet, playwright and Librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish was born on May 7th in 1892.

Gary Cooper was born on May 7th in 1901. Copper twice won the best actor Oscar and had three more nominations in the category. His wins were for Sergeant York and High Noon.

Edwin Herbert Land was born on May 7th in 1909. Land invented the Polaroid Land Camera.

And Eva Peron was born on May 7th in 1919.

Now pitching to your little one, Nolan Ryan

NewMexiKen posted this five years ago today, but it seems timely in light of the new season.

From Science Daily, Slow Balls Take The Swing Out Of Young Ball Players:

Exasperated parents practicing throw-and-connect skills with their young children will be relieved to know that their child’s inability to hit a slow-moving ball has a scientific explanation: Children cannot hit slow balls because their brains are not wired to handle slow motion.

“When you throw something slowly to a child, you think you’re doing them a favour by trying to be helpful,” said Terri Lewis, professor of psychology at McMaster University. “Slow balls actually appear stationary to a child.”

This explains why a young child holding a bat or a catcher’s mitt will often not react to a ball thrown toward her, prompting flummoxed parents to continue throwing the ball even slower. By adding a little speed to the pitch, Lewis and her team found that children were able to judge speed more accurately. There are several reasons for the phenomenon.

Line of the day

“Yes, if you are on the terrorist watch list, the authorities can keep you from getting on a plane but not from purchasing an AK-47. This makes sense to Congress because, as [Senator Lindsey] Graham accurately pointed out, ‘when the founders sat down and wrote the Constitution, they didn’t consider flying.’ ”

Gail Collins

Also from Collins:

And almost everyone [at the senate hearing] had a good word for the T-shirt vendor who first noticed the suspicious car and raised an alert. Really, if someone had introduced a bill calling for additional T-shirt vendors, it would have sailed through in a heartbeat.

Gun legislation, not so popular.