Best lines are the best

“Still, Indians have a way of surviving. But it’s almost like Indians can easily survive the big stuff. Mass murder, loss of language and land rights. It’s the small things that hurt the most. The white waitress who wouldn’t take an order, Tonto, the Washington Redskins.”

Sherman Alexie, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

Another. “‘Your father was always half crazy,’ my mother told me more than once. ‘And the other half was on medication.'”

Best lines of the day

“The conservative activist who claims he was beaten up by union thugs in St. Louis while protesting against health care reform is accepting donations towards his medical care because he was laid off recently and … has no health insurance.”

Talking Points Memo

“True parenting is going out into the rain to search through the paper recycling bin by torchlight for your son’s missing collectible trading cards, and then resisting the urge to strangle him when he finds they were in his coat pocket all the time.”

One Sentence

In honor of Leo Fender

Today, as noted below, is the 100th anniversary of Leo Fender’s birthday.

We honor him by citing Rolling Stone’s The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.

The top 15:

  1. Johnny B. Goode, Chuck Berry
  2. Purple Haze, The Jimi Hendrix Experience
  3. Crossroads, Cream
  4. You Really Got Me, The Kinks
  5. Brown Sugar, The Rolling Stones
  6. Eruption, Van Halen
  7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps, The Beatles
  8. Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin
  9. Statesboro Blues, The Allman Brothers Band
  10. Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana
  11. Whole Lotta Love, Led Zeppelin
  12. Voodoo Child (Slight Return), The Jimi Hendrix Experience
  13. Layla, Derek and the Dominos
  14. Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen
  15. My Generation, The Who

Surely today, of all days, should be a national holiday

Leo Fender was born 100 years ago today.

“It’s safe to say there would be no such thing as rock and roll without its distinctive instrumentation. To put it another way, rock and roll as we know it could not exist without Leo Fender, inventor of the first solid-body electric guitar to be mass-produced: the Fender Broadcaster. Fender’s instruments – which also include the Stratocaster, the Precision bass (the first electric bass) and some of the music world’s most coveted amplifiers – revolutionized popular music in general and rock and roll in particular.
…

The bass-driven soul music of Motown and Stax would have been inconceivable without Fender’s handiwork.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Jimi, Clapton, Jeff Beck all used a Fender Strat.

Oh, and …

Herbert Clark Hoover was born on August 10 in 1874. Mr. Hoover, who was the 31st President of the United States, lived until 1964. Among the presidents, only Ford, Reagan, and the first Adams have lived longer.

Born in Iowa, orphaned at nine, Hoover grew up in Oregon. He was in the first class at Stanford University, graduating as a mining engineer. Hoover earned millions in mining before turning his attention to public service. He was instrumental in relief and humanitarian efforts during and after World War I. He was Secretary of Commerce under Presidents Harding and Coolidge. Hoover, the Republican, defeated Al Smith, the Democrat, handily in the 1928 election with 58% of the popular vote.

President at the time of the stock market crash and subsequent depression, Hoover believed that, while people should not suffer, assistance should be primarily a local and voluntary responsibility. Even so, he supported some measures to aid businesses and farmers; indeed, among his party he was moderate. But he was simply not bold enough to meet the crisis. Hoover lost to Franklin Roosevelt in 1932, 57.3% to 39.6% of the popular vote, 472-59 in the electoral vote.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Bobbie Hatfield was born on this date in 1940. The Righteous Brothers — blue-eyed soul. No one believed they were white. The name had something to do with that, but it was the sound that fooled everyone. Hatfield had the higher voice; Bill Medley the lower. In the book accompanying the Phil Spector compilation, Back to Mono, songwriter Cynthia Weil recalls that:

After Phil, Barry [co-writer Barry Mann] and I finished the song, we took it over to The Righteous Brothers. Bill Medley, who has the low voice, seemed to like the song. I remember Bobby Hatfield saying, “But what do I do while he’s singing the whole first verse?” and Phil said, “You can go directly to the bank!”

On AM radio in those days deejays didn’t like songs that lasted more than three minutes. Lovin’ Feelin’ is 3:46. On the label Spector printed 3:05. It was number one for two weeks in February 1965.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Veronica Bennett is 66 today. That’s Ronnie Spector, one-time Mrs. Phil Spector (married 1968-1974), and lead singer of The Ronettes (with her sister and cousin). Hits included Be My Baby and Walkin’ in the Rain. “I like to look the way Ronnie Spector sounds: sexy, hungry, totally trashy. I admire her tonal quality.” — Madonna, quoted at RonnieSpector.com.

Country singer, TV personality, sausage seller Jimmy Dean is 81 today.

Rosanna Arquette is 50.

Antonio Banderas is 49 today, all reported 5-feet, 8½ of him.

Angie Harmon is 37.

The 2009 Perseid Meteor Shower

Earth is entering a stream of dusty debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, the source of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Although the shower won’t peak until August 11th and 12th, the show is already getting underway.
…

For sky watchers in North America, the watch begins after nightfall on August 11th and continues until sunrise on the 12th. Veteran observers suggest the following strategy: Unfold a blanket on a flat patch of ground. (Note: The middle of your street is not a good choice.) Lie down and look up. Perseids can appear in any part of the sky, their tails all pointing back to the shower’s radiant in the constellation Perseus. Get away from city lights if you can.

There is one light you cannot escape on August 12th. The 55% gibbous Moon will glare down from the constellation Aries just next door to the shower’s radiant in Perseus. The Moon is beautiful, but don’t stare at it. Bright moonlight ruins night vision and it will wipe out any faint Perseids in that part of the sky.

NASA

Idle thought for a Monday

Years, seasons, lunar months, the day are all the result of physics, but no one seems to know where, when or why the 7-day week originated. Many theorize it represents the seven visible (to the human eye) objects in the sky that aren’t stars (the sun, the moon and five classical planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn). The seven-day week seems to have originated in more than one culture.

Exactly!

this morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US department of energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the national weather service of the national oceanographic and atmospheric administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the national aeronautics and space administration. I watched this while eating my breakfast of US department of agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the food and drug administration.

At the appropriate time as regulated by the US congress and kept accurate by the national institute of standards and technology and the US naval observatory, I get into my national highway traffic safety administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal departments of transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the environmental protection agency, using legal tender issed by the federal reserve bank. On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US postal service and drop the kids off at the public school.

After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the department of labor and the occupational safety and health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to ny house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and fire marshal’s inspection, and which has not been plundered of all it’s valuables thanks to the local police department.

I then log on to the internet which was developed by the defense advanced research projects administration and post on freerepublic.com and fox news forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can’t do anything right

My source, Discourse.net. He doesn’t know its origins.

Idle thought

At the theater to see Julie and Julia yesterday afternoon, the crowd was — well, let’s just say there were a lot of senior discounts. And it was about 65-35 female to male.

At showtime, when the trailers were supposed to begin, the screen just froze. We all (it was fairly full) sat and chatted and waited. And waited. And waited.

Eventually people started getting restless. Donna said she’d call and started looking for the number. Presently a woman to the left in our same row got up to go tell someone.

Time for NewMexiKen to swing into action. I opened the Fandango app on my iPhone, touched Theaters, selected the theater we were in (which the GPS knew), and touched the phone number. The phone connected to the theater and I told them there was a problem.

That took so little time that the brave volunteer woman was not even to the exit. I announced the theater knew there was a problem. She or someone asked how I knew they knew. I held up my phone and said, “Hey, it’s 2009.”

It was interesting that then, knowing the problem would be attended to, the crowd collectively relaxed. The woman in front of me suggested to all that we talk about health care.

Fortunately the first of the seven — yes seven — trailers began and we didn’t have to beat anyone up.

And the movie was terrific.

August 9th, let’s all go fishing

Today is the birthday

… of Bob Cousy, basketball hall-of-famer. He’s 81. Bob Cousy was a star of such stature that when a new basketball coach was hired by my high school in 1958, his claim to fame was he’d held Cousy to ten points once in college.

… of Rod Laver, tennis hall-of-famer. He’s 71.

… of Ken Norton, boxing hall-of-famer. He’s 66.

… of Sam Elliott, 65 today. Elliott just looks like a cowboy, or the image we think of when we think of cowboy. NewMexiKen liked him best as General John Buford in Gettysburg and he was good in The Contender.

… of Melanie Griffith, 52 today. No longer a working “girl.” She got an Oscar nomination for best actress for that role. Ms. Griffith’s mother is Tippi Hedren, known from the Hitchcock thriller The Birds.

… of Whitney Houston, 46.

… of Brett Hull, hockey hall-of-famer. He’s 45.

… of Deion Sanders. Sanders played for the Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins and Baltimore Ravens and was on Super Bowl champion teams with the 49ers and Cowboys. He also played for the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants. Sanders is 42.

… of Robert Shaw, born on this date in 1927. Shaw was Doyle Lonegan in The Sting and Captain Quint in Jaws. He was nominated for the Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of Henry VIII in A Man for All Seasons. A favorite of NewMexiKen is his work as Mr. Blue in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. Shaw died in 1978.

And Izaak Walton was born on this date in 1593. He’s the author of many books, most famously The Compleat Angler, first published in 1653.

Indeed, my good scholar, we may say of angling, as Dr. Boteler said of strawberries, “Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did”; and so, if I might be judge, God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling.

Capulin Volcano National Monument (New Mexico)

… was authorized on this date in 1916. The monument is located in northeastern New Mexico.

Mammoths, giant bison, and short-faced bears were witness to the first tremblings of the earth and firework-like explosions of molten rock thousands of feet into the air. Approximately 60,000 years ago, the rain of cooling cinders and four lava flows formed Capulin Volcano, a nearly perfectly-shaped cinder cone, rising more than 1000 feet above the surrounding landscape. Although long extinct, Capulin Volcano is dramatic evidence of the volcanic processes that shaped northeastern New Mexico. Today the pine forested volcano provide habitat for mule deer, wild turkey, and black bear.

Souce: Capulin Volcano National Monument

The second

— and last? — nuclear bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, on this date in 1945.

The BBC provides some facts (the first two are as reported at the time of the bombing):

The bomb was dropped by parachute from an American B29 Bomber at 1102 local time.

It exploded about 1,625 ft (500m) above the ground and is believed to have completely destroyed the city, which is situated on the western side of the Japanese island of Kyushu.

About 30% of Nagasaki, including almost all the industrial district was destroyed by the bomb and nearly 150,000 people were killed or injured.

The bomb, nick-named “Fat Man” in a reference to Winston Churchill, measured just under 3.5m (11ft 4in) in length, had the power of 22 kilotons of TNT and weighed 4,050kg (9,000lbs).

Residents of both cities are still suffering the physical and mental consequences of radiation to this day.

On 14 August Japan surrendered to the Allies.

Jesse Owens

… won the fourth of his four Olympic gold medals on this date in 1936. In Berlin, Owens won gold for the 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump and — on August 9th — the leadoff leg of the 400 meter relay (a world record that lasted for 20 years).

35 years ago today

Richard Nixon resigned as President of the United States and Vice President Gerald R. Ford assumed the office as the 38th President.

Nixon Resignation

Click to enlarge.