The markets were headed for a higher close Wednesday, but overall, it was a very bad year to own stocks, any stocks — indeed, one of the worst ever. The Dow Jones industrial average will end the year down more than 34 percent, the worst year for the index since 1931, and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index more than 38 percent. Blue-chips like General Motors, Citigroup and Alcoa lost more than 70 percent of their value.
All told, about $7 trillion of shareholders’ wealth — the gains of the last six years — will be wiped out in a year marked by violent market swings.
But what is striking is not just the magnitude of the declines, staggering as they are, but also their breadth. All but 2 of the 30 Dow industrials, Wal-Mart and McDonalds, fell by more than 11 percent.
Enable half-star ratings in iTunes (Mac Only)
The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) has a great tip for increasing your ability to rate tracks in iTunes. A simple command enables you to use 1/2 stars.
Mac only.
El Malpais National Monument (New Mexico)
… was established on this date in 1987.
This monument preserves 114,277 acres of which 109,260 acres are federal and 5,017 acres are private. El Malpais means “the badlands” but contrary to its name this unique area holds many surprises, many of which researchers are now unraveling. Volcanic features such as lava flows, cinder cones, pressure ridges and complex lava tube systems dominate the landscape. Closer inspection reveals unique ecosystems with complex relationships. Sandstone bluffs and mesas border the eastern side, providing access to vast wilderness.
For more than 10,000 years people have interacted with the El Malpais landscape. Historic and archeological sites provide reminders of past times. More than mere artifacts, these cultural resources are kept alive by the spiritual and physical presence of contemporary Indian groups, including the Puebloan peoples of Acoma, Laguna,and Zuni, and the Ramah Navajo. These tribes continue their ancestral uses of El Malpais including gathering herbs and medicines, paying respect, and renewing ties.
Capulin Volcano National Monument (New Mexico)
… was established in 1916 and renamed on this date in 1987.
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.
Procrastination Can Be Good
NewMexiKen is reposting this item from 2005 for those of you who haven’t gotten around to reading it yet.
An essay on Good and Bad Procrastination from Paul Graham:
So the question is not how to avoid procrastination, but how to procrastinate well.
There are three variants of procrastination, depending on what you do instead of working on something: you could work on (a) nothing, (b) something less important, or (c) something more important. That last type, I’d argue, is good procrastination.
Key quote: “What’s the best thing you could be working on, and why aren’t you?”
Idle thought
If Yellowstone does blow up, is there any way we can blame Bush?
New Year’s Eve Day
The last day of the year is the birthday
… of Anthony Hopkins. The Oscar winner is 71. Hopkins has been nominated for Best Actor three times, winning for The Silence of the Lambs. He was also nominated as Best Supporting Actor for Amistad.
… of Tim Considine. Spin of “Spin and Marty” is 68. Considine was also the oldest of “My Three Sons” and played the soldier slapped by General Patton in the film Patton.
… of Sarah Miles. The Oscar nominee (best actress for Ryan’s Daughter) is 67.
… of Ben Kingsley. The Oscar winner is 65. He won Best Actor for his portrayal of Gandhi. He was also nominated for Best Actor for House of Sand and Fog and twice for Best Supporting Actor.
… of Diane Von Furstenberg. The fashion designer is 62.
… of Tim Matheson. Animal House’s “Otter,” better known recently as Vice President John Hoynes on “West Wing,” is 61.
… of Donna Summer. The Bad Girl is 60.
… of Bebe Neuwirth. Lilith is 50. Ms. Neuwirth won the Emmy twice for this role on Cheers.
… of Val Kilmer. New Mexico’s prospective governor is 49.
… of Gong Li. The actress is 43. So is author Nicholas Sparks.
Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. was born in Roswell, New Mexico, on this date in 1943. His grandmother gave him a guitar while he lived in Tucson and eventually he became John Denver. Denver died in 1997 when his experimental plane crashed into Monterey Bay.
George C. Marshall was born on this date in 1880.
Few Americans in the twentieth century have left a greater legacy to world peace than George C. Marshall (1880-1959). As chief of staff of the United States Army during World War II, it fell to Marshall to raise, train, and equip an army of several million men. It was Marshall who selected the officer corps and it was Marshall who played a leading role in planning military operations on a global scale. In the end, it was Marshall whom British Prime Minister Winston Churchill hailed as “the true organizer of victory.”
Yet history will associate Marshall foremost as the author of the Marshall Plan. The idea of extending billions of American dollars for European economic recovery was not his alone. He was only one of many Western leaders who realized the tragic consequences of doing nothing for those war-shattered countries in which basic living conditions were deplorable and still deteriorating two years after the end of the fighting. But Marshall, more than anyone else, led the way. In an address at Harvard University on June 5, 1947, Marshall, in his capacity as secretary of state, articulated the general principles of the Marshall Plan. (National Portrait Gallery)
Marshall won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.
Henri Matisse was born on this date in 1869. With Picasso, Matisse is considered the pinnacle of 20th century painting.
The WebMuseum has details of the life and works of Matisse including several examples.
Matisse died in 1954.
If Old Faithful is about to blow big time, head for the hills. Or Paris.
Garrison Keillor says that earthquake activity at Yellowstone has him thinking of flying to Paris.
Thanks to Chantal for the link.
What’s Driving All The Shaking At Yellowstone National Park?
It’s no secret that Yellowstone National Park is volcanic in nature. Still, scientists are raising their eyebrows over a recent swarm of earthquakes that have been shaking the park’s underpinnings.
Since December 26 the park has been hit by more than 250 earthquakes that, while not overpowering, have been in the range of a 4.0 magnitude, according to the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.
Caroline Kennedy no whiz with words
Caroline Kennedy, you know, might need, you know, a speech coach, um, if she, you know, wants, um, to be a senator.
Um, you know?
Kennedy, who gave a flurry of media interviews on Friday and Saturday, revealed some cringing verbal tics that showed her inexperience as a speaker, experts told the Daily News.
In a 30-minute session with The News on Saturday, Kennedy punctuated her answers with “you know” more than 200 times. “Um” was fairly constant, too.
Transcripts of her interviews with other media outlets showed the same problem. She said “you know” at least 130 times to The New York Times and more than 80 times on New York 1.
When The News asked if President Bush’s tax cuts on the wealthy should be repealed immediately, Kennedy replied:
“Well, you know, that’s something, obviously, that, you know, in principle and in the campaign, you know, I think that, um, the tax cuts, you know, were expiring and needed to be repealed.”
We’d be, you know, making fun of Sarah Palin for, you know, that answer.
The 2009 Statistical Abstract
The Statistical Abstract of the United States, published since 1878, is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States.
Two Years Ago
The view out the window from my computer two years ago today.
El Tratado de La Mesilla
… was signed in Mexico City on this date in 1853. The treaty settled the dispute over the exact location of the international border west of Texas and gave the U.S. approximately 29,000 square miles of land — in brief, Arizona and New Mexico south of the Gila River — for the price of $10 million. In the U.S. it’s known as the Gadsden Purchase Treaty.
The Mexican Republic agrees to designate the following as her true limits with the United States for the future: retaining the same dividing line between the two Californias as already defined and established, according to the 5th article of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the limits between the two republics shall be as follows: Beginning in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, opposite the mouth of the Rio Grande, as provided in the 5th article of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; thence, as defined in the said article, up the middle of that river to the point where the parallel of 31° 47′ north latitude crosses the same; thence due west one hundred miles; thence south to the parallel of 31° 20′ north latitude; thence along the said parallel of 31° 20′ to the 111th meridian of longitude west of Greenwich; thence in a straight line to a point on the Colorado River twenty English miles below the junction of the Gila and Colorado rivers; thence up the middle of the said river Colorado until it intersects the present line between the United States and Mexico.
Read the entire Gadsden Purchase Treaty.
December 30th
The penultimate day of the year is the birthday
… of Russ Tamblyn. Riff, “a Jet to his dying day,” is 74.
… of Sandy Koufax. The most dominant pitcher in the game in the early 1960s, the man who threw four no-hitters including a perfect game is 73.
… of Paul (Noel actually) Stookey. Paul of Peter, Paul & Mary is 71.
… of James Burrows. The director of “Taxi,” “Cheers” and “Will and Grace” is 68.
… of Fred Ward. The actor (Gus Grissom in “The Right Stuff”) is 66.
… of Monkees Michael Nesmith (66) and Davy Jones (63).
… of Patti Smith. Punk rock’s poet laureate is 62.
… of Meredith Viera and of Matt Lauer. The Today show hosts are 55 and 51.
… of Tracey Ullman. She’s 49.
… of Eldrick Woods. Tiger is 33.
… of LeBron James. He’s 24 today.
Have a Coke and a smile today.
It’s the birthday of the man who introduced us to Coca-Cola, Asa Griggs Candler, born in Villa Rica, Georgia (1851). He grew up during the Civil War and wanted to be a doctor, but his family was so poor that he could only receive an elementary school education before becoming a pharmacist’s apprentice. But Candler proved to be business savvy, slowly building his own drugstore empire, and in 1886 he bought sole rights to John Pemberton’s original formula of Coca-Cola and formed the Coca-Cola Company in 1890. Candler understood the importance of advertising. He used calendars, billboards, and posters to keep the Coca-Cola trademark prominent in the public’s mind. After selling the patent in 1919, he went on to serve as Atlanta’s mayor and funded a teaching hospital for Emory University’s Medical School.
The Genius Among Geniuses, Alfred Einstein, was born on December 30, 1880.
Bo Diddley was born on this date in 1928.
Music historian Robert Palmer has described Bo Diddley as “one of the most original and fertile rhythmic intelligences of our time.” He will forever be known as the creator of the “Bo Diddley beat,” one of the cornerstone rhythms of rock and roll. He employed it in his namesake song, “Bo Diddley,” as well as other primal rockers like “Mona.” This distinctive African-based rhythm pattern (which goes bomp bomp bomp bomp-bomp) was picked up from Diddley by other artists and has been a distinctive and recurring element in rock and roll through the decades. (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
Dubious value line of the day
“That’s why how stocks fare in the first five trading days of January is key. The last 36 times stocks rose at the start of the month, they were higher at year’s end 31 times, the [Stock Trader’s] Almanac says.”
There had never been an NFL team go 0-16 before this year, or 16-0 before last year either. I’m guessing the odds on those events were a lot longer than the odds the first five trading days of 2009 being indicative (7.2 to 1).
December 29th
Mary Tyler Moore is 71 today.
On The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Moore played Mary Richards, a 30-something single woman “making it on her own” in 1970s Minneapolis. MTM first pitched her character to CBS as a young divorcee, but CBS executives believed her role as Laura Petrie was so firmly etched in the public mind that viewers would think she had divorced Dick Van Dyke (and that the American public would not find a divorced woman likable), so Richards was rewritten as a woman who had moved to the big city after ending a long affair. Richards landed a job working in the news department of fictional WJM-TV, where Moore’s all-American spunk played off against the gruff boss Lou Grant (Ed Asner), world-weary writer Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod) and pompous anchorman Ted Baxter (Ted Knight). In early seasons, her all-male work environment was counterbalanced by a primarily female home life, where again her character contrasted with her ditzy landlady Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman) and her New York-born neighbor and best friend, Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper).
Angelina Jolie’s dad is 70. That would be four-time Oscar nominee, one-time winner, Jon Voight. Voight won his Oscar for Coming Home, as did co-star Jane Fonda. The film had eight nominations, three wins.
Marianne Faithfull is 62. Faithfull is a descendant of Count Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the 19th century author and source of the term “masochism.” Her signature song, As Tears Go By, was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
Mayday Malone is 61. That’s Sam, Ted Danson.
Two-time Oscar nominee Jude Law is 36.
Black Friday and Wal-Mart’s Blitz Sale
Two women, Jennifer Jones and Alicia Sgro, have sued Wal-Mart and others for alleged injuries — including punches to the face from an unknown assailant — that took place during the stampede that preceded Wal-Mart’s Black Friday ‘Blitz’ sale. (Black Friday is that day after Thanksgiving when the holiday shopping season officially kicks off.)
The Return of the Old Grouch
The Gift-Card Economy
Something between 10 and 20 percent of gift cards go unused. Don’t let that happen to you.
Freakonomics reported two years ago on one of the deadweight costs of Christmas.
Fifty Herbert Hoovers
“But even as Washington tries to rescue the economy, the nation will be reeling from the actions of 50 Herbert Hoovers …”
Detroit Kittens
On this date 51 years ago Tobin Rote threw for four touchdowns and ran for another as the Detroit Lions defeated the Cleveland Browns, 59-14, in the NFL championship game. It was the Lions’ third title of the Fifties, all over the Browns.
Since then the Lions have missed 42 out of 51 post seasons (counting this year) and are 1-9 in games when they did make it. Only the Cardinals have done worse.
For nearly all of that time the Lions have been owned by William Clay Ford, grandson of Henry and son of Edsel Ford. The Lions aren’t exactly built Ford tough.
From Pro Football Weekly (June 29, 2000)
Tobin Rote, the quarterback who guided the Lions to their last NFL championship in 1957 while filling in for injured Hall of Famer Bobby Layne, has died. He was 72….
The Lions platooned Rote and Layne at quarterback before Rote finished off the ’57 season after Layne broke his leg in the regular season’s second-to-last game.
In the divisional playoff, the Lions trailed the 49ers 24-7 at halftime. Through the dressing room walls at San Francisco’s old Kezar Stadium, they could hear the 49ers already beginning their celebration.
“We could hear them laughing,” Rote said in ’91. “The walls were paper thin. They were going on about how they were going to spend their championship game money. It made us angry.”
In the second half, the Lions scored three touchdowns in four minutes, 29 seconds and went on to win 31-27.
The next Sunday at home in Briggs Stadium, the Lions won their third championship in six years with a 59-14 rout of the Browns. Rote threw four TD passes and ran for another.
Best line of the day, so far
“This is us. We own this. We did this. So man up.”
Lions Coach Rod Marinelli to the team after they ended the season unfeated, 0-16.
Would we had had a president who could accept responsibility like that these past eight years.
Marinelli quoted by Peter King – SI.com.
December 28th
Five-time Oscar nominee Denzel Washington is 54 today. He’s won twice — leading for Training Day and supporting for Glory.
Six-time Oscar nominee Maggie Smith is 74. She’s won twice — leading for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and supporting for California Suite.
Martin Milner, the senior police officer on “Adam-12” is 77.
Stan Lee, the creator of “Spider-Man” and “The Incredible Hulk” is 86.
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born in Staunton, Virginia, on this date in 1856. After graduating from Princeton in 1879, Wilson studied law at the University of Virginia for one year. He received a Ph.D. in political science from Johns Hopkins University in 1886. Wilson remains the only American president to have earned a doctoral degree.
Wilson served on the faculties of Bryn Mawr College and Wesleyan University before joining the Princeton faculty as professor of jurisprudence and political economy in 1890. He became President of Princeton in 1902. His commentary on contemporary political matters led to his election as Governor of New Jersey in 1910 and as President in 1912.
Wilson was the second of two sitting American Presidents to win the Nobel Prize for Peace. (Theodore Roosevelt was the other.)
December 26th
Abdul “Duke” Fakir is 73 today.
“The Four Tops deserve to be recognized both for their achievements and their longevity. On the latter count, the group performed for over four decades together without a single change in personnel – a record of constancy that is mind-boggling in the notoriously changeable world of popular music. As for their accomplishments, the Four Tops cut some of Motown’s most memorable singles during the label’s creative zenith, including “Baby I Need Your Loving,” “I Can’t Help Myself,” “It’s the Same Old Song,” “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” “Standing in the Shadows of Love” and “Bernadette.” The Four Tops’ greatest records were recorded at Motown with the in-house songwriting and production team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland between 1964 and 1967.
The foursome arrived at Motown in 1963 as seasoned veterans, having already logged nearly a decade in show business. The Detroit-based vocal group – consisting of lead vocalist Levi Stubbs, first tenor Abdul “Duke” Fakir, second tenor Lawrence Payton and baritone Renaldo “Obie” Benson – began singing together as the Four Aims soon after graduating high school in 1954. …
Phil Spector is 68.
Phil Spector is among the greatest producers of rock and roll, and some would passionately argue that he is the greatest ever. His ambitious approach to the art of record production helped redefine and revitalize rock and roll during its early-Sixties slump. On a string of classic records released between 1961 and 1966 on his Philles label, he elevated the monaural 45 rpm single to an art form. “Little symphonies for the kiddies,” he called them, and they were indeed dramatic pop records possessed of a grandeur and intimacy theretofore uncommon in rock and roll.
You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling (Righteous Brothers)
River Deep – Mountain High (Ike and Tina Turner)
Be My Baby (Ronettes)
Da Doo Ron Ron (Crystals)
Spanish Harlem (Ben E. King)
He’s a Rebel (Crystals)
Carlton Fisk is 61.
Baseball’s most durable catcher with 24 years behind the plate, Carlton Pudge Fisk caught more games (2,226) than any player in history. The 11-time All-Star hit 376 career home runs, including a record-setting 351 as a catcher, since bested by Mike Piazza. His most memorable home run came in Game Six of the 1975 World Series – a 12th inning blast off the left field foul pole at Fenway Park – giving his Red Sox a 7-6 win over Cincinnati. His tremendous pride and work ethic were respected by both teammates as well as the opposition.
Ozzie Smith is 54.
Known as “The Wizard of Oz,” Ozzie Smith combined athletic ability with acrobatic skill to become one of the game’s great defensive shortstops. In 19 seasons with the Padres and Cardinals, the 13-time Gold Glove Award winner set major league shortstop records for assists, double plays and total chances. He would develop into an offensive weapon, finishing with over 2,400 hits and 500 stolen bases. His ninth-inning home run won the fifth game of the 1985 National League Championship Series.
David Sedaris is 52 today.
He grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. He moved to Chicago, and he made a living painting apartments, squirrel-proofing houses, and working as a house cleaner. Then, in 1992, he read his essay “The SantaLand Diaries” on NPR’s Morning Edition. It was extremely popular. He signed a contract with a publisher, and his books of essays were huge best-sellers — Barrel Fever (1994), Naked (1997), and Me Talk Pretty One Day (2000). But even after he became a successful writer, Sedaris kept his job cleaning apartments for a long time. He said, “I can only write when it’s dark, so basically, my whole day is spent waiting for it to get dark. Cleaning apartments gives me something to do when I get up. Otherwise, I’d feel like a bum.” Also, it allowed him to keep up with his favorite soap operas. David Sedaris has kept a diary for about 30 years. He makes one for every season, and each one has a cover. He says, “It’s a lot of work for something no one’s ever going to see.”
Mao Tse-tung was born on December 26th in 1893.
Happy Birthday, ‘Earthrise’
Forty years ago today, the Apollo 8 astronauts, the first humans to orbit the Moon, were taken by surprise. After three orbits spent photographing the lunar surface, Frank Borman shifted the orientation of the capsule to see the horizon. Suddenly, Bill Anders realized he was seeing the home planet hovering over the lunar horizon in what was, in essence, the first human-witnessed “Earthrise.”
“Oh my God,” Anders exclaimed. “Look at that picture over there. Here’s the Earth coming up!” . . .
I assembled the video above to memorialize that moment. (Make sure to click the “watch in high quality” button.) It includes extraordinary footage showing an “earthrise” and “earthset” videotaped during a Japanese lunar mission in 2007. The footage is probably old hat to space buffs but new to me.
Reflecting on Apollo 8, it’s notable to me that, with all the meticulous planning that goes into space missions, no one had anticipated the emotional and aesthetic power that came with seeing the marbled white, blue, and green home planet rise above the sterile gray lunar horizon. They had to grab for film packs to take the resulting photographs, one of which has become one of the most widely published images in history.
Those of you too young to remember that Christmas Eve 40 years may not appreciate fully the awe and wonder felt by many of us earthlings.