You want to make a lot of money?

If you’d like to become rich, NewMexiKen suggests you invent the self-cleaning refrigerator. I don’t mean the self-defrosting refrigerator, although lord knows that was a breakthrough right up there with Velcro. No, I mean self-cleaning: throws out the time-dated food, cleans up the nasty spills underneath the produce drawers, refreshes the ice bin (some of those cubes may be old enough for geologists to take core samples).

As you might gather I just cleaned out my refrigerator. Just a cursory wipe out and jettison of the older stuff. It doesn’t really need a super cleaning. Hell, I’ve only lived here 7-1/2 years.

There was some strange stuff in there though, stuck in the back. A loose egg. I wonder where that came from. Better yet, I wonder when that came from. There were some spills of food that really didn’t look familiar. Must have been from the previous owners.

Why, you say, did I get the impulse to clean my refrigerator early on Saturday morning? (Go ahead, say it.) It was either that or address these damn Christmas cards.

Sad commentary: NewMexiKen’s two produce drawers contain a total of one-half lime. Of course, one-half lime is enough to wet several Margarita glass rims. 🙂

Another Google feature

If you type the name of a current film into the Google search box, it will return, for example, as the top item:

Google Movie Link

The above is an image. Click on it to see the real thing. You can follow links to the trailer, reviews, and enter your zip code for show times near you.

How did we live before the internets?

If you’d bought $10 million worth of Google shares when they became available in 2004 — and kept them — you’d have $56.5 million in Google stock today.

December 16th is the birthday

… of Jane Austen (1775-1817). Best known for her novels about young women yearning to get married, she was never married.

… George Santayana (1863-1952). “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

… of Margaret Mead (1901-1978). “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

… and of Arthur C. Clarke, he’s 89. Clarke’s laws:

  1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
  2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
  3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Oldest Ever President

Last month Gerald Ford passed Ronald Reagan and became the oldest ever former U.S. president. Reagan died a day short of 93 years and four months. Ford reached 93 years and four months on November 14.

John Adams and Herbert Hoover were the only other presidents to reach 90.

Tea, anyone?

It was on this date in 1773 that the Boston Tea Party took place. Fortunately for the future of America, the populace at that time was not encumbered with excessive Christmas shopping or second-rate bowl games and could pay attention to public affairs.

In 1770, the British Parliament ended the Townshend Duties — taxes on the sales of lead, glass, paper, paints and tea — ended them on all but the tea. The tax on British tea and a boycott of it in many of the colonies continued.

Tea was a hot commodity in the colonies, however, and considerable foreign tea was smuggled into America to avoid the tax. Some four-fifths of the tea consumed in America was brought in by smugglers.

Continue reading Tea, anyone?

Iguanas are people, too

Someone this evening suggested an iguana as a pet, so I did a little reading: “Iguanas need love, just like a dog or a cat would. They are not creatures happy to be stuck in a cage, fed, cleaned and ignored. They need contact, interaction, and yeah, love.”

More from Green Iguana Society:

7. Do you have time for your iguana?
Not just time to feed it, clean it and give it water. Do you have time to talk to your iguana, pet your iguana, play with him/her? They need it! They can’t be stuck in a cage and ignored!

8. Are you empathetic?
Will you do your best to put yourself in your iguana’s shoes? Can you comprehend that an iguana is trying hard to be a part of your world, despite the massive differences? If your iguana is grouchy about something, can you put yourself in his/her place and try to understand what the problem is?

9. Are you consistent?
Iguanas need routines, stability, regular feedings, regular potty times, regular play times, etc. Do you have the sort of lifestyle in which you can do that? Are you even willing to?

Geez, I didn’t even know an iguana wore shoes. They can grow to six feet long and live for 20 years. A buffalo might be less trouble.

The Bill of Rights

The text of the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, was posted earlier today by NewMexiKen, on this the 215th anniversary of their adoption.

The Bill of Rights

Originally 12 amendments were proposed to the legislatures of the 14 states by the First Congress. Numbers three through twelve were ratified, beginning with New Jersey in November 1789, and culminating with Virginia, the eleventh (i.e., three-quarters of the states), on this date in 1791. (The amendments were ultimately ratified by the remaining three legislatures of Massachusetts, March 2, 1939; Georgia, March 18, 1939; and Connecticut, April 19, 1939.)

The draft first amendment concerned the numbers of constituents for each representative. It has never been ratified. The draft second amendment was ratified by the required number of states in 1992. It took effect as Amendment XXVII (”No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.”)

The image is of the actual document with the 12 proposed amendments. Click image for larger version.

Rendevous

NewMexiKen has mentioned this nine minute film before. It was taken in Paris in 1976 when filmmaker Claude Lelouch mounted a gyro-stabilized camera on a Ferrari 275 GTB. No streets were closed, no permits were given.

The internet folklore on this is extensive. Lelouch drove; a friend, an acutal Formula One driver drove. Lelouch was arrested when the film was released; he wasn’t arrested. It was a Ferrari; it wasn’t a Ferrari. Speeds have been calculated (using Google Maps, etc.) at up to 140 mph.

It’s as exciting as any nine minutes of film you will find. Watch for the red traffic lights and pedestrians. It gets even more amazing as he nears his rendezvous.

If you prefer, here is the link to the video at Google Video.

Digging a hole to China

When NewMexiKen was a kid we always heard about digging a hole to China. I see that even a recent television car ad shows a Jeep falling through to China.

At some point in school, however, I realized that the Earth being round and all, if I dug from North America straight into the ground I wouldn’t end up in China at all. For one thing, digging from north of the equator, I’d have to end up south of the equator.

But where would I come out? This has troubled me for decades, keeping me awake nights as I tried to calculate latitude and longitude in my head. (Hey, you count sheep, I imagine the globe.)

Well finally, someone has assembled a tool.

The national news media sucks

The media, so-called liberal and otherwise, have started their deconstruct of Barack Obama. He’s a smoker. He wears casual clothes. His middle name is Hussein. Let’s turn him into a cartoon character before the American people can make an honest assessment.

[Insert strong profanity of your choice here.]

FDR smoked. Oh, and he couldn’t walk. Harry Truman’s middle name was “S”. Eisenhower is said to have smoked four packs of Camels a day during the War.

Does Obama have a position on health care, social security, the environment, taxes, the war in Iraq. Who knows?

But he smokes and his middle name is Hussein (which he had very little to do with, by the way, and is the name of his father and grandfather just as my middle name is from my father and grandfather).

Idiots. Unpatriotic, self-serving idiots.

The Bill of Rights

… was ratified by Virginia on this date in 1791, and thereby became part of the Constitution of the United States as its first ten amendments.

The Bill of Rights

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

December 15th is the birthday

… of Tim Conway. He’s 73. Still never better than he was as Ensign Parker in McHale’s Navy.

… of Don Johnson. He’s 57. In my mind, Johnson is the arrogant ass pro-golfer he played in Tin Cup.

… of Adam Brody. He’s 27. Who is Adam Brody?

Gone with the Wind

… premiered in Atlanta on this date 67 years ago.

Hattie McDaniel, who won a supporting-actress Oscar for her portrayal of Mammy, was not present in segregated Atlanta.

Martin Luther King, Jr., sang in the “negro boys choir” from his father’s church at the Gone With The Wind Ball the evening before the premiere.

The 2,000 tickets were $10 and up.

When the news of war is announced in the film, the audience in the theater rose to its feet with rebel yells.

Laurence Olivier reportedly proposed to Vivien Leigh on their flight from Atlanta to New York after the premiere. Their marriage lasted 20 years.

The Loew’s Grand Theater, where the premiere was shown, was destroyed by fire in 1978.

The film, however great as a motion picture, forever ruined America’s understanding of what the War of the Rebellion was all about.

Turned On

Adolescents and adults now spend, on average, more than 64 days a year watching television, 41 days listening to the radio and a little over a week using the Internet. Among adults, 97 million Internet users sought news online last year, 92 million bought a product, 91 million made a travel reservation, 16 million used a social or professional networking site and 13 million created a blog.
…

Mr. Rutherfurd said time spent with such media increased to 3,543 hours last year from 3,340 hours in 2000, and is projected to rise to 3,620 hours in 2010. The time spent within each category varied, with less on broadcast television down to 679 hours in 2005 from 793 hours in 2000 and on reading in general, and more using the Internet up to 183 hours from 104 hours and on cable and satellite television.

The New York Times, reporting on data in the 2007 Statistical Abstract of the United States

Some weeks NewMexiKen gets in my whole annual quota of 183 hours on the internets.

Walt Disney

…died of lung cancer on this date in 1966. He was 65.

Mickey.gif

The Walt Disney Family Museum provides in-depth background.

Was Walt frozen?

No researcher has discovered where this myth began, but it certainly is widespread. Quite the opposite, Walt’s daughter Diane recalls that her father spoke frequently about his desire to be cremated — and in fact he was. When Disney archivist Robert Tieman researched the issue, he discovered that the first attempts at freezing a person weren’t even discussed until after Walt’s death. In any case, the people who knew Walt and loved him never heard him utter a word about trying it out himself. What’s more, his family lingered around him for some time after his death. No white-smocked physicians rushed his body off to some kind of freezing chamber as would undoubtedly have been the case if he was being preserved.