1. The Bush Administration sent a high-level diplomat to Iran.
2. Just about everyone agrees all-of-a-sudden on a 16-month timetable for American troops to leave Iraq.
3. T. Boone Pickens is funding wind generation and Pickens — the guy who paid for the Swift boating of John Kerry four years ago — now says he’d welcome Al Gore as an energy czar.
4. People in Europe are waving American flags.
While no election outcome is guaranteed and McCain’s prospects could improve over the next three and a half months, virtually all of the evidence that we have reviewed–historical patterns, structural features of this election cycle, and national and state polls conducted over the last several months–point to a comfortable Obama/Democratic party victory in November. Trumpeting this race as a toss-up, almost certain to produce another nail-biter finish, distorts the evidence and does a disservice to readers and viewers who rely upon such punditry. Again, maybe conditions will change in McCain’s favor, and if they do, they should also be accurately described by the media. But current data do not justify calling this election a toss-up.
From a longer piece at Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball ’08.
… of Bob Lilly. He’s 69. My god the years do go by.
… of Mick Jagger. He’s still can’t get no satisfaction, even at 65. And, as I read somewhere, time isn’t really on his side so much any more, is it?
… of Oscar-winner Helen Mirren, 63.
… of Dorothy Hamill, 52. Another that makes one wonder where the years have gone. Her gold medal was at the 1976 Winter Olympics.
… of two-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey. He’s 49. Spacey won for best supporting actor for The Usual Suspects and leading actor for American Beauty.
… of Sandra Bullock. From Arlington, Virginia, she’s 44. Ms. Bullock has been an Academy Award presenter.
Two great comediennes were born on this date — Gracie Allen in 1895, 1897 or 1902 (her birth certificate was destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake) and Vivian Vance in 1909.
Because George Burns lived to be 100 and managed to stay in show business nearly until then (playing God in one film, no less), Gracie, who died in 1964 has been largely forgotten. She was the true comedic talent of the two, however. On their radio and television programs George was the straight man, Gracie had the good lines.
At the end of their show, George Burns would say, “Say goodnight, Gracie.” Urban myth has it that she said, “Good night Gracie,” but, in fact, she always just said “Goodnight.”
“Were you the oldest one in the family?” “No, no, my mother and father were much older.” — Gracie Allen
“They laughed at Joan of Arc, but she went right ahead and built it.” — Gracie Allen
“When I was born I was so surprised I didn’t talk for a year and a half.” — Gracie Allen
Vivian Vance was two years older than her long-time co-star Lucille Ball, though many thought Vance to be much older because her I Love Lucy character Ethel Mertz was married to Fred, played by actor William Frawley, who was 18 years older. Miss Vance died of cancer in 1979.
Actor Jason Robards was born on this date in 1922. Robards won two best supporting actor Oscars and was nominated a third time. NewMexiKen liked Robards in A Thousand Clowns, but Martin Balsam got the acting Oscar for that fine film.
Humorist Jean Shepherd was born on this date in 1925. As they so often do, The Writer’s Almanac had a nice, succinct essay (from 2004):
It’s the birthday of humorist Jean Shepherd, born in Chicago, Illinois (1925). He’s remembered for the autobiographical stories he told on the radio about a boy named Ralph Parker growing up in Hohman, Indiana. One of his stories was made into the movie A Christmas Story (1983), which he narrated. It’s about a boy who wants a BB gun for Christmas, even though every adult in his life says that he’ll shoot his eye out. The stories Shepherd told on-air were always improvised, but he later wrote them down and published them in collections like In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash (1967) and Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories and Other Disasters (1972).
Shepherd said, “Some men are Baptists, others Catholics. My father was an Oldsmobile man.”
George Bernard Shaw (1856), Carl Jung (1875) and Aldous Huxley (1894) were born on July 26th.
The YouTube video above has been viewed more than 4 million times. It is 76 minutes long.
“The lecture really was for my kids, but if others are finding value in it, that is wonderful.”
Professor Pausch died yesterday (the last lecture in the video was September 18, 2007). He and this lecture are so highly regarded, that among other things Google has a notice in memoriam today on its main page (with a link to the video).
“I’m dying and I’m having fun. And I’m goin’ keep having fun every day I have left, because there’s no other way to play it.”
It seems to me that utilities have the most confusing and often faulty websites. Things that do not lead where they say they will, pages that throw you out so you have to log-in all over again, and just generally annoying, user-unfriendly or unclear features.
Anyone else have this sense? Do you think it’s on purpose — something in the DNA of utility companies that causes them to baffle their customers — or is it just a general inability on their part to get it right?
I include, just for conversation, Comcast, Verizon Wireless and Qwest.
(Over the phone, Qwest tells me today that my monthly bill will be about 10% more than the amount on the order confirmation they sent me. Trying to find a place to deal with this online is what lead me to the above confusion. I got cut off trying to handle it on the phone. Imagine that.)
Author Jane Mayer with David Letterman.
The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals
“In our view, the dumbness of this year’s general-election coverage has been its defining feature.”
BTW, Somerby has a very good analysis today of a misreading of student scores in an article in last Sunday’s New York Times. Recommended.
“That boom echoing over ABQ was some sort of super-secret test at Sandia Labs. We can’t tell you what they’re blowing up, because they won’t tell us. It’s all a secret.”
Jeez John, I thought it was thunder (it being late July and all). It’s always a bit intimidating to know that a nuclear lab in your town is blowing up secret things.
Well, it was leaked yesterday that John McCain could be leaning towards Tim Pawlenty as a possible vice presidential running mate, and I know what you’re thinking — the Tim Pawlenty?
Apparently, McCain wants to lower his profile even more.
I’m not even sure who Pawlenty was, so I googled him and it said, “Who?”
— Jay Leno
digby has the line of the day:
“McCain is just like George W. Bush, only old.”
digby also reports that the political media has adopted a new word for Obama.
Meanwhile Tom complains about them all.
And, on a higher plain, Annette quotes a passage from Cather’s masterpiece.
[O]n July 25, 1956, two large passenger liners off Massachusetts were steaming toward each other through the night at a combined speed of 40 knots. In spite of ample room to maneuver, in spite of the radar that let them spot each other from a distance, and in spite of clear rules intended to avoid collisions, the Stockholm crashed into the Andrea Doria and ripped the luxurious ship open amidships. It was to be the last great drama of the age of transatlantic passenger liners.
Read more from American Heritage.
A 14-year-old girl aboard the Andrea Doria survived in the wreckage on the Stockholm.
Spitzer’s M101, a galaxy twice the size of our own Milky Way.
Click image for larger version and to learn more.
Estelle Getty would have been 85 today (she died Tuesday). Ms. Getty won both a Golden Globe and an Emmy for her portrayal as Bea Arthur’s mother on The Golden Girls. (Bea Arthur was 86 in May. She is ten months older than Estelle Getty.)
Today is the birthday
… of Academy Award nominee Barbara Harris. The actress is 73. Ms. Harris was nominated for best supporting actress for Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?
… of basketball hall-of-famer Nate Thurmond, 67 today.
… of Joey. Matt LeBlanc is 41.
Louise Brown, the first baby conceived by in vitro fertilization is 30 today. The Writer’s Almanac has a brief report.
And …
Henry Knox was born on July 25th in 1750. He is one of the most enjoyable of the Founding Fathers. The following is taken from a longer profile at The General Henry Knox Museum:
Henry Knox was an ordinary man who rose to face extraordinary circumstances. He was born into poverty in Boston in 1750. He left Boston Latin Grammar School at a young age to apprentice to a bookbinder, helping to support his widowed mother and younger brother. He eventually worked his way to opening his own bookshop in Boston at the age of 21, little suspecting the important role that he would play in the birth of our nation. His keen interest in military strategy led him to do a lot of reading on the subject, and when he joined the local militia, his talent was noticed.
In 1775, as the situation between Great Britain and the American colonies was heating up, General George Washington inspected a rampart at Roxbury designed by Knox and was instantly taken with the young man’s abilities. Knox soon became Washington’s Chief of Artillery, and earned a place in history in the winter of 1776 by carting sixty tons of captured cannon from Fort Ticonderoga in New York to Dorchester Heights, driving the British from Boston Harbor. Throughout most of the war he was by Washington’s side, and eventually rose to Major-General. Following the war he was Washington’s choice for the first Secretary at War. They remained life-long friends.
It’s the birthdate of painter and photographer Thomas Eakins, born on this date in 1844. “Esteemed for his powers of characterization and mastery of technique, Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) is recognized as one of America’s foremost painters, a master draftsman and watercolorist, and an especially gifted photographer.” The Metropolitan Musuem of Art (source of the preceding quote) had an exhibition of Eakins’s work in 2002, which fortunately remains on line. Click the painting to see the exhibition.
The longshoreman philosopher Eric Hoffer was born on this date in 1902. The Writer’s Almanac had this in 2006.
It’s the birthday of writer and philosopher Eric Hoffer…, born in New York City (1902). He spent most of his life working on the docks as a longshoreman, and he wrote philosophy in his spare time, including The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (1951). Eric Hoffer said, “When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.”
The alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges was born on this date in 1907.
One of the most distinctive solo voices in jazz, Hodges was inextricably bound up with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, which he first joined in [M]ay 1928, remaining for most of the rest of his life, apart from a brief venture into bandleading from 1951-5. His plaintive blues playing was as memorable as his haunting ballad playing, and although he was capable of producing a tone of incredible beauty and intensity, he could also add a jazzy edge to his sound, and play in a jumping swing style. (BBC – Radio 3 Jazz Profiles)
Here’s a too brief but lovely sample of Hodges from iTunes. And another.
Sweetness, the great Walter Payton, was born on July 25th in 1954. He died at age 45 of a liver disease.
It’s also the birthday of NewMexiKen’s dad, born on this date in 1923. Miss you every day, Dad.
NewMexiKen posted this here a year ago. I publish it again today in hopes of embarrassing myself into actually calling a maid service, as if that would be so hard. The same cobwebs are still in place.
It’s just that I’ve reached a point in life where I find engaging most people or companies to do something causes more grief than satisfaction — witness an unexpected charge for my DirecTV installation, the wrong package on the plan, and a phone line I don’t want. And that’s just this week.
Wow, this house has more spiderwebs than Peter Parker’s bedroom. I just pulled one down (highlighted by the early morning sun) that could have trapped small mammals. Kind of pretty; maybe I should have left it until Halloween and just back lit it with a candle.
NewMexiKen used to have a house cleaner but she mostly just relocated all the stuff on shelves and tables so that it took me (not that I’m anal) almost as long to realign everything as it would have to clean myself.
Alas, but I don’t clean myself. I mean the place is tidy; no dishes in the sink, counters shiny, no papers on the floor, bed usually made, trash always out to the curb early Wednesday.
I just don’t dust, mop or vacuum much. Spiders like that in a housekeeper.
How many of these enchanted places have you seen?
New Mexico Department of Tourism’s Top 10 Attractions:
Another ten enchanted places:
What’s worth seeing in New Mexico that isn’t listed? I’d include El Morro National Monument, Lincoln State Monument, Taos Pueblo, Acoma Sky City (the pueblo, not the casino), and a pueblo feast day.
NewMexiKen has been to 13 of the 20 listed and “sorta-kinda” to four more (been near, driven by, checked out the price of admission). And, obviously, I’ve been to those I would add to the lists.
Watching Law & Order reruns and three year old movies on TV is much more fun than blogging.
“Gulianni’s son sues after getting kicked off golf team. Coach said he only was able to putt well on holes 9 and 11”
Today it’s the birthday
… of cartoonist Pat Oliphant, 73.
… of Ruth Buzzi, 72.
… of Cosmo Kramer. Michael Richards is 59 today. Older, and let’s hope wiser.
… of Wonder Woman. Lynda Carter is 57.
… of Pam Tillis, 51.
… of Barry Bonds. He’s 44.
… of Kristin Chenoweth. The Tony award-winner from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, is 40, all 4-foot-11 of her. Chenoweth is one-quarter Cherokee.
… of J Lo. Jennifer Lopez is 39.
… of Anna Paquin. An Oscar winner at age 11, she’s now 26.
Amelia Earhart was born on July 24th in 1897. She disappeared at age 40.
It was on this date in 1847 that Brigham Young gazed at Utah’s Valley of the Great Salt Lake and made his famous declaration: “This is the place.”
Emily and Rob celebrate their 9th anniversary today. Congratulations!
“You know, you’ve got to feel kind of sorry for McCain. I mean, all day on TV, they show nothing but footage of Barack Obama touring the Middle East, being with the troops in Afghanistan, meeting with troops in Iraq. The only time I saw McCain on TV was when Willard Scott wished him a happy birthday on the ‘Today’ show.”
“A lot of people think to take some of the spotlight off of Barack Obama, that John McCain will announce his vice presidential choice this week. And most people think it’s going to be Mitt Romney. See, I don’t know about that, because when Romney and McCain stand together, doesn’t it look like one of those slick Countrywide lenders trying to trick your grandfather into a reverse mortgage?”
Jay Leno
Now, [Robert] Novak says he didn’t realize he’d hit anyone. And if that’s true it removes a great deal of the moral and potential criminal liability. But it puts in real question whether Novak should be driving a car. If you can be driving through the relatively compact streets of downtown Washington, hit a pedestrian so that he rolls up on to your windshield and then trundles off onto the ground and you don’t notice, should you really be driving?
This item was first posted here two years ago today, but as the topic came up in conversation during the delightful afternoon I spent yesterday with Debby, official baby sister of NewMexiKen, I’ll post it again. The source was Yahoo! News but the original link has gone inactive.
(HealthDay News) — Your morning cup of java may be one of the healthiest beverages in your diet, as more studies show the health benefits of coffee.
Two cups a day of coffee may promote heart health, decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes, and reduce leg pain related to exercise in many people, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Researchers have also been investigating the possibility that coffee could protect against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The beverage is one of the richest sources of antioxidants in the American diet.
The USDA says the levels and benefits of antioxidants seem to be equal in both caffeinated and non-caffeinated coffees. However, watch your intake of cream and sugar, as well as mixed coffee drinks that may be high in calories and sugar.
This local TV news item bears notice:
“This is the second sighting in just two days in the community, and it’s near the Sandia Heights area where officers set a trap after a bear was on one man’s property last week.”
That would be NewMexiKen’s neighborhood.
An online newspaper (albeit sports newspaper) that looks like a newspaper — Sporting News Today.
What d’ya think?
“My friends, we have to drill off shore. We have to do it. It’s out there and we can do it. And we can do that. The oil executives say within a couple of years we could be seeing results from it. So why not do it?”
John McCain, Tuesday
The oil executives have had their say for eight years. Let’s give someone else some undue influence.
Daniel Radcliffe is 19 today. That’s Harry Potter to you.
At the other end of the acting spectrum, Gloria DeHaven is 83.
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is 72. Kennedy, a Reagan appointment, is the swing vote on the Court.
Actor Ronny Cox is 70. Cox, a Cloudcroft, New Mexico native, is perhaps most famous as Lt. Andrew Bogomil of the Beverly Hills Police Department, but he has more than 120 credits listed at IMDB.
Don Imus is 68 today.
Woody Harrelson is 47. Harrelson was nominated for best actor for The People vs. Larry Flynt and won one Emmy for playing Woody on Cheers.
Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman is 41.
Alison Krauss is 37.