On a cool evening in November of 1994, two high school football teams clashed in one of the most exciting games ever played. With 2:42 left in the game and down by 24 points to John Tyler, fans on the Plano East side of the field had given up hope. After all, how could their team score 4 touchdowns in two and a half minutes?
Watch it until the end!
Photos of celebrities when they were kids. Can you select the right one (from three)? NMK got 26 of 36.
Worse than going to the dentist. We Won’t Steer You Wrong.
I’d like to repeat the advice I gave you before, in that I think you really should make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.
Alex McCandless in a letter to his 81-year-old friend Ron Franz as quoted in Into the Wild
Maybe I’ll go buy an old school bus.
“They foisted this fool on the world when they all went down to Texas and decided that it didn’t matter that he was completely unqualified by experience, temperament or intelligence — he could be president anyway.”
Digby — “They” being the “Big Money Republican circles.”
Arizona Department of Public Safety officials inked a deal with an Australian manufacturer of automated ticketing machines to begin a statewide freeway photo radar program by November. The state will allow Redflex to run a pair of speed camera vans on freeways and two-lane roads anywhere in the state where they might generate significant revenue. The cameras are merely the first installment in a more comprehensive plan by Governor Janet Napolitano (D) to set up permanent speed cameras on every major freeway in the state.
Hall of fame basketball coach John Thompson is 66 today. Funny how things stick in your memory. I can remember a photo of Thompson in a basketball magazine when he was a player at Providence College. It was one of those silly posed photos — they had him with a basketball in each hand, held like a pair of softballs.
Terry Bradshaw is 59, Mark Harmon 56 and Jimmy Connors 55 today.
Harmon’s father was “Old 98,” Tom Harmon, a football great at Michigan and for the L.A. Rams. Mark himself played quarterback at UCLA, where he graduated cum laude.
Keanu Reeves is 43.
And Salma Hayek is 41. Ms. Hayek received a best actress Oscar nomination for Frida.
It was on the morning of September 2, 1945, that the Japanese officially surrendered to Gen. Douglas MacArthur aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. MacArthur signed the articles at 9:07 am Tokyo time, ending World War II. President Truman declared Sunday, September 2nd V-J Day in the U.S.
Without looking it up, do you know what state Appalachian State University is in?
You can bet they’ll know after today in Ann Arbor!
I’d like to see Richardson’s top 10.
Driving along Tramway across Sandia Pueblo last evening, I was reminded of one of the best things about living in Albuquerque. I began to think, NewMexiKen you can live anywhere, why do you stay here?
There are a lot of ways to answer a question like that. One way is to make a list.
These aren’t the only reasons, and they aren’t in any particular order, but these are the ten that came to mind.
Lily Tomlin is 68 today.
Dr. Phil is 57.
Gloria Estefan is 50.
Dee Dee Myers — remember her? — she’s just 46.
The only undefeated heavyweight champion (1952-1956), Rocky Marciano was born on September 1st in 1923. He died in a small plane crash the day before he turned 46 in 1969. Marciano was the Seabiscuit of boxing.
For a heavyweight, he was considered too short (5-10 1/4) and too light (183-189 pounds) for most of his fights. His reach of only 68 inches was a distinct disadvantage (no heavyweight champ ever had such a short reach).
But how do you measure a person’s heart? In that area, Marciano possibly had the largest in the sport. He refused to stay down, and he refused to lose. He might be bloodied, but he wouldn’t be beaten.
Estee Lauder was born on September 1st in 1908. She died in 2004.
The great labor leader Walter Reuther was born on September 1st in 1907. Reuther died in a small plane crash in 1970.
President Nixon called Mr. Reuther’s death “a deep loss not only for organized labor but also for the cause of collective bargaining and the entire American process.” Mr. Nixon added:
“He was a man who was devoted to his cause, spoke for it with eloquence and worked for it tirelessly. While he was outspoken and controversial, even those who disagreed with him had great respect for his ability, integrity and persistence.”
Edgar Rice Burroughs was born in Chicago on September 1st in 1875.
He had read Darwin’s book Descent of Man, and he was fascinated by the idea that human beings were related to apes. He began to wonder what might happen if a child from an excessively noble, well-bred family were somehow left in the jungle to be raised by apes. The result was his story “Tarzan of the Apes,” which filled an entire issue of All-Story magazine in October of 1912. It was one of the most popular issues the magazine had ever published, and within six-months, Edgar Rice Burroughs was a full-time writer producing about 400,000 words of short stories every year.
It was on September 1st in 1939 that Germany invaded Poland and ignited World War II.
The Sweeties® grandmother was born on September 1st. Happy Birthday Grammy.
“Apparently, the latest version of Google Earth has an easter egg: a flight simulator. It’s not quite like Microsoft Flight Simulator, but it’s a promising start.”
Here’s how: Flight Simulator
Jesus’ General suggests some best opening lines to songs and asks you to name more.
Here’s a few from NMK:
Baby take off your coat, real slow
— Joe Cocker, “You Can Leave Your Hat On”
Some folks are born, made to wave the flag,
Ooh they’re red, white and blue
— Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Fortunate Son”
Life, it’s ever so strange, it’s so full of change
You think that you’ve worked it out then,
Bang, right out of the blue, somethin’ happens to you,
To throw you off course
— Jem, “Just a Ride”
All the Gold in California
Is in a bank in the middle of Beverly Hills
In somebody else’s name
— The Gatlin Brothers, “All the Gold in California”
My my, hey hey,
Rock and roll is here to stay
— Neil Young, “My My, Hey Hey”
When this war is over, it will be a better day
— Eric Clapton & J.J. Cale, “When This War is Over”
The brand new 2007 Divison I-A/I-AA Football Records Book is available as a pdf file.
There’s a 2007 Division II/III Football Records Book, too.
I’ve updated the Largest College Stadiums page.
Excerpts from Paul Krugman’s column today in The New York Times ($):
Today, much of the Gulf Coast remains in ruins. Less than half the federal money set aside for rebuilding, as opposed to emergency relief, has actually been spent, in part because the Bush administration refused to waive the requirement that local governments put up matching funds for recovery projects — an impossible burden for communities whose tax bases have literally been washed away.
On the other hand, generous investment tax breaks, supposedly designed to spur recovery in the disaster area, have been used to build luxury condominiums near the University of Alabama’s football stadium in Tuscaloosa, 200 miles inland.
There’s a powerful political faction in this country that’s determined to draw exactly the wrong lesson from the Katrina debacle — namely, that the government always fails when it attempts to help people in need, so it shouldn’t even try. “I don’t want the people who ran the Katrina cleanup to manage our health care system,” says Mitt Romney, as if the Bush administration’s practice of appointing incompetent cronies to key positions and refusing to hold them accountable no matter how badly they perform — did I mention that Mr. Chertoff still has his job? — were the way government always works.
…Future historians will, without doubt, see Katrina as a turning point. The question is whether it will be seen as the moment when America remembered the importance of good government, or the moment when neglect and obliviousness to the needs of others became the new American way.
Our favorite sheriff, Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano has been busy commenting on Kid Nation, medical marijuana and running for lieutenant governor.
Buggs’ Blog has had a series of just breathtaking photos taken at Arches, Canyonlands and thereabouts.
These are something special. Go take a look. Be sure to view previous (and possibly subsequent) entries.
Driving in Texas could get very expensive as the state seeks new ways to collect money from existing roads. The Lone Star state is just one step behind Pennsylvania, which, earlier this month, filed an official request to impose a $25 tax on motorists who use an existing, free interstate highway. Now the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is lobbying Congress for blanket authority to toll Interstates 10, 27 and 35.
Let’s see. Pay taxes to build the roads. Pay taxes to maintain the roads. Pay tolls to drive on the roads.
U.S. Constitution, Proposed Amendment XXVIII:
1. Neither toll roads nor toll bridges shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Drivers in the City of Laguna Woods, California are finding themselves hit with traffic tickets as private cops set 15 MPH speed traps within the gates of Laguna Woods Village, a four square mile retirement community that is home to 18,000 residents with an average age of 78. It is one of the largest senior homeowners associations in the country, and it is earning significant revenue from traffic tickets.
Laguna Woods, eh? It used to be “Leisure World,” or as we called it when we lived nearby, “Seisure World.” The Ralph’s supermarket adjacent to Leisure World sold more liquor than any store of any kind in California.
Traffic tickets for revenue seems to be an increasing trend all over.
“August 31 is the day in 1897 when Thomas Edison patented the first movie projector, the Kinetoscope. Who knows whether High School Musical 2 was the future he envisioned.”
Why is it that four of the months have never been named for anything but a number, while the first eight months of the year are named for someone or something?
January is named for Janus (that two-faced guy); February after februa, a celebration of purification and forgiveness; March for Mars, the god of war. April comes from aperire, Latin for opening, as in the opening of buds in the spring (or possibly from Aphrodite); May is named for Maia, the goddess of of plants; June for Juno, the goddess of marriage and well-being.
Then along comes Julius Caesar and he has the gall in 44 B.C.E. to rename Quintilis (for fifth month, as it was then) to Julius (July). Not to be outdone, Augustus renamed Sextilis (for sixth month) to Augustus (August) in 8 B.C.E.
So, why did it stop 2015 years ago? I mean, there are September (seven), October (eight), November (nine) and December (ten) just sitting out there like blank billboards waiting for a clever new name. (And the numbers are no longer even correct!)
Surely, Julius and Augustus can’t be the last two guys in Western culture with enough ego to rename a month after themselves.
Maybe those folks that are worried about “Christmas” becoming “the holidays” ought to take a look at the calendar. There are all kinds of opportunities for mischief.
[Reposted from a year ago.]
Broadcast journalist Daniel Schorr is 91 today.
One of just 13 men to win baseball’s triple crown (with Baltimore in 1966), Frank Robinson is 72 today. A few of the others: Cobb, Hornsby (twice), Foxx, Gehrig, Williams (twice), Mantle. The last, Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. Robinson won the MVP award with Cincinnati in the National League and with Baltimore in the American.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Van Morrison is 62 today.
A paragon of blue-eyed soul, Van Morrison has been following his muse for four decades. His travels have led him down pathways where he’s explored soul, jazz, blues, rhythm & blues, rock and roll, Celtic folk, pop balladry, and more, forging a distinctive amalgam that has Morrison’s passionate self-expression at its core. With a minimum of hype or fanfare, working with a craftsman’s discipline and an artist-mystic’s creativity, Morrison has steadily amassed one of the great bodies of recorded work in the 20th century. His discography numbers roughly thirty albums, among them the deeply poetic song cycle Astral Weeks, the warm, pop-soul classic Moondance and such spiritually minded later works as the ambitious double-disc set Hymns to the Silence. At one extreme, Morrison has made raw, angry blues-rock with the British Invasion-era group Them. At the other, he has produced some of the most transcendent, even-toned soul music of the modern era as a solo artist. (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
Violinist Itzhak Perlman is also 62 today. Perlman did an album with André Previn, Joplin: The Easy Winner and Other Ragtime Music, that I just love, especially The Entertainer.
Richard Gere is 58. No Oscar nominations for Gere, but his actual middle name is Tiffany.
Five time Oscar nominee for best actor, two time winner, Frederic March was born on the last day of August in 1897. March won for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1931 and The Best Years of Our Lives in 1946. NewMexiKen met Mr. March when he was in Tucson in 1966 for the making of Hombre, one of his last roles.
Radio and television performer Arthur Godfrey was born on the last day of August in 1903. Godfrey, seemingly forgotten now, was one of the biggest stars of early television.
The esteemed New Yorker editor William Shawn was born on the last day of August in 1907. His actual name is William Chon. Before The New Yorker, Shawn worked briefly at the Las Vegas, New Mexico, Optic.
Four days before he died in 1992, Shawn had lunch with Lillian Ross, and she showed him a book cover blurb she had written and asked if he would check it. She later wrote of that day, “He took out the mechanical pencil he always carried in his inside jacket pocket, and … made his characteristically neat proofreading marks on a sentence that said ‘the book remains as fresh and unique as ever.’ He changed it to read, ‘remains unique and as fresh as ever.’ ‘There are no degrees of uniqueness,’ Mr. Shawn said politely.” (The Writer’s Almanac)
The lyricist Alan Jay Lerner was born on the last day of August in 1918.
He teamed up with a composer named Frederick Loewe and after a few moderately successful productions, they came out with Brigadoon (1947), about a two Americans who discover a mythical Scottish town that disappeared in 1747 and only returns to life for one day each century. One of the Americans falls in love with a girl from the town, and has to decide whether to stay with her and give up the modern world. Brigadoon was a big hit, and it contained Lerner and Loewe’s first hit song, “Almost Like Being in Love.”
But Lerner and Loewe’s biggest success was a musical version of George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion: My Fair Lady, which premiered on Broadway on March 15, 1956. In that musical’s most famous song, Professor Henry Higgins teaches Eliza Doolittle to properly pronounce the phrase “The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.” Lerner spent six weeks working on most of the songs in the musical, but he wrote “The Rain in Spain” in 10 minutes.
Princess Diana died ten years ago today.
A new study shows people who drank fruit and vegetable juices more than three times a week were 76% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those who drank juices less than once a week.
Researchers say the results suggest that a class of antioxidants found in fruit and vegetable juices called polyphenols may have a protective effect on the brain and help fight dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Polyphenols are found in fruits and vegetables, primarily in the skins and peels, and are abundant in juices, teas, and wine.
Jeff Sagarin has all 242 Division I college football teams ranked.
Play begins tonight with four of the Top 25 in action: LSU, Louisville, Rutgers and Boise State.
25 Reasons This College Football Season Will Be Special. Number one: Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium this Saturday.
“Clearly she’s as sharp as a marble…”
Machinist: Salon referring to, of course, Miss Teen South Carolina — though he does defend her.