November 3rd

Rapid Robert is 89 today.

Combining an overpowering fastball with a devastating curve, both of which appeared out of a deceptively high leg kick, Bob Feller dominated the American League in the 1940s. Rapid Robert led the league in wins six times and in strikeouts seven over his 18-year career. He pitched three no-hitters and still holds the major league record, along with Nolan Ryan, of 12 one-hitters.

The winningest pitcher in Cleveland Indians history, his career totals — a 266-162 record and 2,581 strikeouts — would have been considerably higher but for the almost four seasons he spent in the Navy during World War II.

As a teenager appearing in his first exhibition game against major leaguers he was so impressive that Dizzy Dean, when asked to take a photograph with the youngster, responded. “Why ask me? Ask that kid if he’ll pose with me.”

Feller’s fastball was so potent and his curve so unbalancing that he became the featured player in 1940s newsreels demonstrating that a thrown baseball could travel faster than a motorcycle and could be made to curve

ESPN Classic

Michael Dukakis is 74.

Roseanne Barr hits the double-nickel today.

Kate Capshaw is 54.

Photographer Walker Evans was born on November 3rd in 1903.

[B]orn in St. Louis, Missouri (1903), [Evans] wanted to be a writer but suffered from terrible writer’s block. He said, “I wanted so much to write that I couldn’t write a word.” He felt like a failure until one day he picked up a camera and realized that with a camera he didn’t have to create things, he could just capture them. The popular photography of the day was highly stylized, so Evans decided to go in the opposite direction, to take pictures of ordinary, unpretentious things. He said, “If the thing is there, why there it is.”

Evans photographed storefronts and signs with marquee lights, blurred views from speeding trains, old office furniture, and common tools. He took pictures of people in the New York City subways with a camera hidden in his winter coat. He especially loved photographing bedrooms: farmers’ bedrooms, bohemian bedrooms, middle-class bedrooms. He’d photograph what people had on their dressers and in their dresser drawers. In 1933, Evans was given the first one-man photographic exhibition by the new Museum of Modern Art.

In the summer of 1936, he collaborated with the journalist James Agee on a book about tenant farmers Greensboro, Alabama, called Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1941), which included Evans’s photographs of the Burroughs family, the Fields family, and the Tingle family at work on their farms and in their homes. Those photos are among the most famous images of the Great Depression.

Walker Evans said, “Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long.”

The Writer’s Almanac from American Public Media

Sputnik 2 was launched 50 years ago today. On board was the first animal in space, the dog Laika.

And 61 years ago today Franklin Roosevelt beat Alfred Landon. Landon carried two states, Maine and Vermont.

November 2nd is the birthday

… of James Knox Polk, 11th president of the United States, born on this date in 1795.

… of Warren Gamaliel Harding, 29th president of the United States, born on this date in 1865.

Polk is generally rated among the “near great” presidents. Harding who died while president, is generally considered a “failure,” though he has moved up the ratings at least one slot during the past seven years.

k.d. lang is 46 today. David Schwimmer — “Ross” — is 41.

Burt Lancaster was born on November 2, 1913. Lancaster had four best actor Oscar nominations, winning for Elmer Gantry. Among his last performances was as Dr. Archibald “Moonlight” Graham in Field of Dreams. Lancaster died in 1994.

Death and Taxes

Well, taxes anyway.

NewMexiKen received the property tax bill today — just seven days before the first half is due. (Nice work, Bernalillo County!)

Most of the agencies are up a few dollars but a couple are down a few too. One however, is a big change. The taxes for Albuquerque Public Schools are up a whooping 29.2% over last year.

Now I happen to think schools are underfunded and teachers (most of them anyway) underpaid. But 29% in one year? I need to start paying attention — it’s 36% of my tax bill.

Here’s another interesting one — taxes for the University of New Mexico Hospital are 22% of my total bill.

And overall, in eight years, my property taxes are up 50%. (The assessment is up just 22%, so most of the increase is in the tax rates.)

How about you? Do you ever look at your property tax bill?

Is this a good thing?

With an open Senate seat for the first time in 25 years and THREE open House seats, New Mexico is shaping up as the center of the political universe in 2008.

The Fix

And for those of you unaware, New Mexico only has THREE House seats. In other words, 80% of the New Mexico Congressional delegation is on the line next year. (Chris Cillizza above is assuming Rep. Tom Udall will run for the Senate — meaning all three House members are in the fight.)

And another “Why ask why?” question. A significant number of state and local New Mexico politicians appear to have Hispanic origins. None of the current Congressional delegation — Domenici, Bingaman, Wilson, Udall or Pearce — appear to. Why is that?

I know he’s not doing well in the polls

But Bill Richardson would be the best president of the lot. For example:

My opinion of Gov. Bill Richardson has just grown by leaps and bounds. He has appointed veteran criminal defense lawyer Charlie Daniels (a real criminal defense lawyer, by the way, who truly believes in and has been passionate about defending the rights of the accused his entire career) to be a Justice on the New Mexico Supreme Court.

Talk Left

Sort of the anti-Alito.

Why ask why?

If the speed limit is 25 mph, why do they install speed bumps that necessitate slowing to 15 to keep from damaging your car?

I noticed a new store today — “Simply Amish.” It’s a good name, but why does it give me an uneasy feeling?

Google stock closed today around $711 a share. Why does it continue to rise?

I use a lot of paper towel. I know, I know, not good. Why hasn’t someone come up with a more environmentally correct paper towel? (I have stopped buying bottled water, though. I got a couple of Nalgene bottles at REI and use water from the refrigerator. I find I’m drinking even more water, too.)

A guy pulled up alongside me today as I was cruising at the speed limit in the center lane of a three-lane road. He very determinedly and aggressively gave me the finger. He then sped ahead, cutting in-and-out of lanes. Why? (All I can figure is someone in a car “like mine” must have offended him sometime.)

This week’s game of the year

This week’s NFL game of the year actually is the game of the year — it’s the first time two undefeated teams have met this late in the season. The Patriots are 8-0; the Colts 7-0. The game is in Indianapolis.

Pick ’em. Brady or Manning?

{democracy:20}

Best line of the day, so far

“The Monica Goodlings should be sent back where they belong — into a commercial for one of those execrable ‘Songs For Worship’ CD’s that seem to be dedicated to ruining gospel music as thoroughly as these people have ruined the Justice department.”

Charles Pierce. Monica Goodling was the DOJ operative who admitted to selecting attorneys based on “Christian” criteria.

October Auto Sales Up… Or Down

U.S. auto sales showed their first overall increase since May, with a 1.2 percent gain over last October– if you don’t adjust for selling days. If you do, (as does BusinessWeek) then sales were down about 3 percent.

The Truth About Cars

NewMexiKen passes this along mostly to point out the poor way statistics are reported in the MSM. It seems to me Business Week has it right, but I’d go further. Why can’t the comparison be based against a three-year or five-year October average? Aren’t year-to-year comparisons almost certain to be anomalies (like the number of sales days in one year vs. another)? And were car sales depressed a year ago or good?

Chrysler and Ford were each down around 9% last month from 2006.

Trick or Treat II

NewMexiKen’s journey was diverted and I am not away this week as planned — and I was packed and in the car ready to leave for the airport.

So blogging will resume (it already has), and the 10-day hiatus will be some other time.

Pass the word to my other six regular readers, will you.

Thursday update: I’m still not feeling particularly well, which is why even though I cancelled my 10-day break I haven’t got much enthusiasm for blogging. Nothing serious; expect to be back by tomorrow.

Best line of the day, so far

Ashley Olsen and Lance Armstrong were spotted at the Rose Bar in New York Monday night. …

Lance, you don’t have to explain yourself to me. I know what it’s like to keep your body at peak physical shape. Like a well-tuned machine. You push yourself to the limit everyday. And sometimes you just need to relax. Whether that entails taking in a movie, drinking a fine glass of wine or having sex with an anorexic Muppet is your decision.

The Superficial

I’m not really blogging, this is just a reposting from last year

From Today’s Inspiration, a Saturday Evening Post Halloween cover illustration from 1958.

And via Annette’s Notebook, the Lunch Box of the DAMNED.

Here’s the ultimate (ultimate poor taste, that is) Halloween Decoration. I can’t wait to see what they do for Christmas the holidays.

Google has a Halloween logo, though it’s not on the Google Holiday Logos page yet.

Google Halloween '07

NewMexiKen could probably still identify the house that gave away packages of Krun-Chee potato chips when I was a seven or eight year old. And that someone in that same block gave out full size candy bars. Now granted, a full size candy bar in those days cost just a nickel, but “a dollar’s worth” was a common gasoline purchase then, too.

Oh, and be very careful watching this. It’s scary and the special effects will amaze you.

Happy Halloween!

October 28th

Today is the birthday of Charlie Daniels. The devil in Georgia is 71.

Actress Jane Alexander is 68 today. Ms. Alexander has four Oscar nominations in her career; two for best actress and two for best supporting actress.

Det. Andy Sipowicz is 63. That’s Dennis Franz.

Bill Gates, the former resident of Albuquerque, is 52 today.

Oscar winner Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich) is 40. Ms. Roberts was also nominated for best actress for Pretty Woman and best supporting actress for Steel Magnolias.

Joaquin Phoenix, who has already been nominated for a best supporting actor (“Gladiator”) and a leading actor (“Walk the Line”) Oscar, is 33.

Costume designer Edith Head was born on October 24th in 1897. Ms. Head was nominated for 35 Oscars, winning eight.

The developer of the first polio vaccine, Dr. Jonas Salk was born on this date in 1914.

He created the vaccine at the height of a polio epidemic in the mid-1950s, when parents were so worried about their children that they kept them home from swimming pools in the summer. Salk’s discovery was that a vaccine could be developed from a dead virus, and he tested the vaccine on himself, his family, and the staff of his laboratory to prove it was safe. The vaccine was finally released to the public in 1955, and the number of people infected by polio went down from more than 10,000 a year to fewer than 100. Salk was declared a national hero.

The Writer’s Almanac from American Public Media

Through a kid’s eyes

Veronica, official daughter-in-law of NewMexiKen, reports:

We took Sofie to see the national tour of Go Diego Go Live! at the Paramount Theater in Oakland. We had great seats, and the theater is gorgeous. Surprisingly, the show was pretty lame and rough around the edges.

First problem, Diego, the star, looked to be about 40 years old. Seriously. The guy was balding, which is fine if you’re a 40 year old guy, but not fine if you are supposed to be portraying A CHILD. Then, there were all the missed sound/lighting cues, which left the actors, after recognizing that whatever was supposed to happen didn’t, saying things like: “Let’s try that again” or “Ok, kids, how about trying that one more time.” Diego and Dora even got stuck in the boat during their river rafting scene — it was not intentional. And then, there was the guy who played “Click, the Camera.” He was wearing a big, boxy camera costume and all you could see was his face, which looked unbelievably miserable. He delivered his lines (“Say Click, Take a Pic”) with about as much enthusiasm as the guy at the checkout line who asks you if you want paper or plastic.

So, as I sat there, and watched the show and picked it apart, I looked over at Sofie. She who was sitting on her daddy’s lap, smiling ear to ear, singing along and bouncing to the beat. That made me really happy. She didn’t even notice all of the stuff that bothered me. And then I thought about how, when you’re Sofie’s age, the dancing camera really is just a dancing camera. All of that “suspension of disbelief” stuff we do to get by as adults, when you’re really young, you just don’t even go there. Pretty soon, though, she’ll see through the dancing camera costume to the guy wearing the costume. And by the time she’s my age, she’ll also start thinking about his whole life (did he study musical theater in school? did he audition for Diego but not get the part? does he secretly hate Diego? does he have a day job? is this his day job? does he perform on cruise ships?), and basically, wondering how is it that he got to the point where he is playing the part of a dancing camera in Go Diego Go. Made me realize that I just need to take a page from my four-year-old’s book: sit back and chill out.

The mamba-dancing coconut trees, however, were pretty awesome.