Taking the train to the movies

Rail Runner

NewMexiKen finally got around to seeing An Inconvenient Truth today. It’s very good and very important; go see it. Fittingly, we commuted to the downtown theater where the film is playing in a different way.

New Mexico’s new commuter rail is running this weekend for the New Mexico Wine Festival at Bernalillo. What if, we thought, we rode the train downtown, went to the theater (just across the street), then rode back to our cars near home?

It worked like a charm. Though filled to standing-room-only for the festival, the train was still comfortable and efficient — and free (until October 13). We probably saved no more than a gallon of gas, but — as we learned from Al Gore — it all helps.

And it was fun.

Go see the film even if you can’t take a train!

Update: New Mexico’s train is called Rail Runner — that’s supposedly a roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) painted on the engine (photo above). But you know, it looks a little like a fighting cock to me. Do you suppose that’s why Governor Richardson hasn’t come out in opposition to cock fighting in New Mexico?

Worthy of your consideration

J.A. Adande on why we lost:

The United States will regain dominance in international basketball about the same time Americans bypass “Talladega Nights” to go see some foreign art-house film. In other words, no time soon.

Louis Menand, with an excellent essay about Bob Dylan:

Still, as an interview subject, Dylan probably ranks a few notches above Elvis, who was one of the all-time worst. The trouble with Elvis was that he had very little to say; he was mainly concerned about sounding polite. Dylan is rarely concerned about sounding polite, and he says things, but he sometimes makes them up.

Peter J. Boyer takes a thoughtful look at the Duke lacrosse scandal (it appears they’re innocent):

At the police station, the three young men offered to take a polygraph test. The police declined the offer, but questioned them extensively about the night of the party and sent them to the hospital to have DNA samples collected. The boys had no legal representation during this visit with police.

And then there’s this retail therapy from Overheard in New York:

Upper-East-Side lady on cell: I know, but I was at a funeral all day…Yeah, it was sad, but I really didn’t know him at all…This saddest thing was seeing his daughters upset. They’re the same ages as–Wow! This shirt is only $19!! You can’t even buy a freaking Frappuccino for $19! I’m getting it in blue.

–Banana Republic, 86th & 3rd

Drinking Juice May Stall Alzheimer’s

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.

WebMD

And a little vodka in that juice couldn’t hurt, right?

Birthday boys

Broadcast journalist Daniel Schorr is 90 today.

One of just 13 men to win baseball’s triple crown (with Baltimore in 1966), Frank Robinson is 71 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 61 today (I love those 1945 babies).

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)

Richard Gere is 57. No Oscar nominations for Gere.

Five time Oscar nominee for best actor, two time winner, Frederic March was born on this date 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.

The esteemed New Yorker editor William Shawn was born on this date 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)

Princess Diana died nine years ago today. Inconceivable.

Johnstown Flood National Memorial (Pennsylvania)

… was authorized on this date in 1964.

Johnstown Flood

There was no larger news story in the latter nineteenth century after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The story of the Johnstown Flood has everything to interest the modern mind: a wealthy resort, an intense storm, an unfortunate failure of a dam, the destruction of a working class city, and an inspiring relief effort.

Johnstown Flood National Memorial

Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site (Pennsylvania)

… was authorized on this date in 1964.

Allegheny Portage

The Allegheny Portage Railroad was a great achievement in early travel. Charles Dickens, Jenny Linn, and Ulysses S. Grant traveled over the Allegheny Mountains. They braved a system that injured passengers on a weekly basis. A system of inclined planes and a nine hundred foot tunnel carved through solid rock by Welsh coalminers made this feat possible. For twenty years, it was the fastest way to transgress the rough and wild terrain of Pennsylvania.

Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site

The internets change everything

Joe Lieberman runs an ad that shows the sun over a beach (islands in the background, birds wading in the water).

Critics say, that must be Joe’s sunset. (One critic said, where’s the Corona?)

Campaign manager says it’s a sunrise.

Blogger does research, shows it is stock footage from Getty Images taken at Santa Barbara, California (and so, obviously a sunset).

Bloggers wonder why Lieberman didn’t use images of Connecticut shoreline.

Moral of the story: When everyone can check your facts, check them yourself.

Why is it?

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 2014 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.

Sean Hannity Takes Care of Business

This, from McSweney’s, is just excellent: Another Letter From an Earth Ball. An excerpt:

Now, look: I’m not as naive as a tennis ball. I understand that Sean Hannity’s job requires him to create false issues to distract his listeners from real issues. I understand that he is a kind of rodeo clown for the radio. He was just taking care of business, I thought to myself, and I was sorry I did, because the song came back in force, even after Donny switched off his radio and left.

But something was still bothering me. Sean Hannity had always been a character assassin, but this hit seemed especially unfair. How did Roger Clinton’s trip to Serendipity 3 in August 2006 for frozen hot chocolate have anything to do with his comments on an old surveillance tape? And how did those comments reflect upon Bill Clinton at all? The attack didn’t even seem worthy of Sean Hannity, which is like saying that a particular load of excrement is not worthy of a toilet.

Well said, Keith

Via Eschaton, Keith Olbermann tonight on Rumsfeld’s speech yesterday. You SHOULD read it all. Here’s a brief excerpt:

And, as such, all voices count — not just his.

Had he or his president perhaps proven any of their prior claims of omniscience — about Osama Bin Laden’s plans five years ago, about Saddam Hussein’s weapons four years ago, about Hurricane Katrina’s impact one year ago — we all might be able to swallow hard, and accept their “omniscience” as a bearable, even useful recipe, of fact, plus ego.

But, to date, this government has proved little besides its own arrogance, and its own hubris.

Mr. Rumsfeld is also personally confused, morally or intellectually, about his own standing in this matter. From Iraq to Katrina, to the entire “Fog of Fear” which continues to envelop this nation, he, Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, and their cronies have — inadvertently or intentionally — profited and benefited, both personally, and politically.

And yet he can stand up, in public, and question the morality and the intellect of those of us who dare ask just for the receipt for the Emporer’s New Clothes?

Crooks and Liars has the video.

The President’s reading habits

After six years of complaining about what an ignoramus Bush is, the left bloggers are now criticizing the President for reading too much — or lying about it.

Regular readers of NewMexiKen know that I am no fan of this president. I truly believe he is the worst president this country has ever had. I would impeach him if I were in the House and find him guilty if I were in the Senate.

But reading 60 books (the number usually associated with this flurry) in 34 weeks (so far this year) does not strike me as unbelievable. That’s just less than two a week.

If Bush reveals anything about himself, it’s that he’s competitive and compulsive. Look at the work-outs, the bike riding, the brush clearing. Why not reading?

I’ve never thought Bush stupid, just mind-bogglingly lacking in curiosity. If this compulsion to read shows some new interest in the world around him, hurrah. We’ve still got him for 874 days.

Passion takes a back seat

Dan Neil on the 2007 Lexus LS 460. Read the entire review — the car parks itself! — but here’s a taste.

The auto-parking feature is a headline-grabbing gimmick in a car run cheerfully amok with them. For your delectation, I submit the count-’em eight-speed automatic transmission, a world first. Finally, relief for the deprived owners of the quaint and rudimentary Mercedes S-class, who get along with a mere seven.

Perhaps your tastes run toward science fiction. The LS 460 L — the long-wheelbase model — offers the optional four-zone climate control, which uses an infrared camera to measure backseat passengers’ body temperature (and, one guesses, to scan for signs of incipient menopause). A fully optioned LS 460 L would also be equipped with 11 air bags (another record!), 19 surround-sound speakers, a 30-gigabit hard drive (storage for 2,000 music files with room to spare for the navigation data), and five powered sunshades, to tick off just a few of the car’s supernumerary excesses.

What a way to go

According to an item at The Writer’s Almanac last year:

It was on this day in 30 BC that Queen Cleopatra of Egypt killed herself with a snake she had smuggled into her chamber where she was held captive by Octavian, formerly the political rival of her lover Mark Antony. Octavian had defeated Cleopatra and Antony at the Battle of Actium and had taken Cleopatra prisoner. When Cleopatra learned that Octavian planned to parade her as part of his triumphant return to Rome, she planned her own suicide. For centuries, it was assumed that the snake she used was an asp, but it is now thought that the snake was an Egyptian cobra.

Other sources say it was August 12, not August 30, so I guess those Writer’s Almanac folks got 30 BC and August 30 mixed up. Whatever.

Cleopatra was Greek, the last queen of Ptolemaic Egypt. When she was 17-18, Cleopatra and her 12-year-old brother/husband inherited the throne from their father. They fought over who was really the ruler, with Ptolemy XIII emerging as victor until Julius Caesar showed up. And the rest, as they say, was history.

Cleo was the mother of four children, one with Julius Gaius Caesar (31 years her senior) and three with Mark Antony (14 years her senior). Cleopatra was 39 when she died.

Antietam National Battlefield (Maryland)

… was established as a national battlefield site on this date in 1890. It was redesignated a national battlefield in 1978.

Antietam Sunrise

23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing after twelve hours of savage combat on September 17, 1862. The Battle of Antietam ended the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia’s first invasion into the North and led to Abraham Lincoln’s issuance of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

Antietam National Battlefield

Turn on the lights, the summer’s over

Here in Albuquerque we have two minutes less daylight each day now in our headlong rush for the equinox in three weeks (September 22). It’s more than three minutes less light in Portland, Oregon, today than yesterday; a minute-and-a-half less in Miami; about two minutes, 20 seconds, less each day in Louisville.

Oh, and in Fairbanks, there’s six minutes, 44 seconds, less daylight today than yesterday.