You call it corn. Here in ‘Burque we call it maize, as in The Maize Maze. It opens Saturday.
But fall is in the air and corn mazes are popping up all over. Google produced 1,940,000 hits for corn maze and the first, The Maize, refers to itself as The World’s Largest Maze Company.
All this took place Monday morning about 5-6 miles from Casa NewMexiKen.
For a 350-pound black bear with a penchant for appearing on human turf, he’s “been a pretty good bear.”
But Monday marks the second time he’s been captured out of the wild, and the state has a “three-strikes-and-you’re-out” policy for urban ursine intruders.
“It’s not a hard-and-fast rule,” said state Game and Fish Sgt. Chris Chadwick, adding that there’s a good chance the bear would escape the death sentence if captured again, because it’s been three years since his last public appearance.
…“He heard a noise. The bear kind of yelled at my husband or made a noise to warn him,” said his wife, Laura Wall. “It scared him, and he just ran in the house.”
Authorities found the bear taking refuge a 40-foot-tall tree. It took four darts to tranquilize the bear, which fell onto an airbag set up to soften its landing. Usually one dart will do the job, Chadwick said.
…By about 9 a.m., the crew had packed the bear into a waiting van. Nine hours later, the bear was released into the Jemez wilderness.
As NewMexiKen predicted while watching the Emmy Awards Sunday evening, Candice Bergen gets Fugged.
Nearly 30% of Mississippi adult residents are obese. The state tops the new list from Trust for America’s Health, a nonprofit group lobbying to make disease prevention a national priority.
But Mississippi isn’t alone. It’s among the 13 states in which at least one in four adult residents is obese.
The 10 states with the highest obesity rates are:
1. Mississippi
2. Alabama
3. West Virginia
4. Louisiana
5. Kentucky
6. Tennessee
7. Arkansas
8. Indiana (tie for 8th)
9. South Carolina (tie for 8th)
10. TexasColorado is the leanest state. But that’s only by comparison: Seventeen percent of Coloradans are obese. Not even a single U.S. state is near the national goal of reducing the obesity rate to 15% by 2010.
The 10 states with the lowest obesity rates are:
1. Colorado
2. Hawaii
3. Massachusetts
4. Rhode Island
5. Vermont
6. Connecticut
7. Montana
8. Arizona
9. Utah
10. Nevada
New Mexico is 11th lowest. Full list.
Dental hygienist: What is your dissertation going to be on?
Grad student: The cultural barriers to health care for Mexican-born migrant farm workers.
Dental hygienist: How about the cultural barriers to health care for German-American dental hygienists with $2,500 deductables, instead?
–Hunter College
Seven-time Oscar nominee for best actress, Ingrid Bergman was born on this date in 1915. She won the award three times: Gaslight, Anastasia, Murder on the Orient Express. No, she was not nominated for Casablanca. Ms. Bergman’s last role was as Golda Meir in 1982. She died that same year on her birthday, August 29.
Charlie Parker was born on this date in 1920.
Charlie Parker was one of the most influential improvising soloists in jazz, and a central figure in the development of bop in the 1940s. A legendary figure in his own lifetime, he was idolized by those who worked with him, and he inspired a generation of jazz performers and composers. (PBS – JAZZ A Film By Ken Burns)
Parker died in 1955.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Ruth Jones was born on this date in 1924.
Dinah Washington skirted the boundaries of blues, jazz and popular music, becoming the most popular black female recording artist of the ’50s.
She changed her name from Ruth Jones upon joining jazz vibraphonist Lionel Hampton’s band in 1943. After leaving Hampton in 1946, she began her own recording career, leading to Top 10 R&B hits in “Baby Get Lost” (No. 1, 1949), “Trouble in Mind” (No. 4, 1952), “What a Diff’rence a Day Makes” (No. 4 R&B, No. 8 pop, 1959), and “This Bitter Earth” (No. 1 R&B, No. 24 pop, 1960).
In 1960, Washington also sang two No. 1 R&B duets with Brook Benton, “Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes)” (No. 5 pop) and “A Rockin’ Good Way” (No. 7 pop).
Washington died in 1963 after mixing alcohol and pills. (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum)
Two-time Oscar nominee for director, William Friedkin is 71 today. He won for The French Connection; he was nominated for The Exorcist.
Oscar nominee Elliott Gould is 68 today. He was nominated for a supporting role in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.
And today is the birthday of Michael Jackson. He’s 48. Jackson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.
… was authorized as a national monument on this date in 1935. It became a national historic site in 1963.
The Andrew Johnson National Historic Site honors the life of the 17th President. Andrew Johnson’s presidency, 1865-1869, illustrates the United States Constitution at work following President Lincoln’s assassination and during attempts to reunify a nation torn by civil war. His presidency shaped the future of the United States and his influences continue today.
Four days in a row without measurable precipitation in Albuquerque.
But don’t worry. All the moisture in those weeds and plants will soon be turned into pollen in your sinus cavity. One expert I read said the pollen count this fall will be “orders of magnitude” greater than usual.
Swell.
John McCain is 70 today, which means he’ll be 72 years, 4 months, and 22 days old on January 20, 2009.
Just sayin’.
Update: Trivia time. President Washington was born in 1732. Presidents Clinton and Bush II were born in 1946. That range encompasses 22 decades. Name the two decades between the 1730s and the 1940s without a presidential birth.
This is obscure, but there is already a hint above.
Three presidents were born in round years (years ending in 0). Those count as the beginning of a decade, not the end.
Do you know that it is easy to type an em dash when writing on a computer? It simply amazes me that I continue to see a hyphen, or hyphen hyphen, when a dash is intended. That’s how it was done on the typewriter.
Here’s how to type an em dash in the 21st century:
Mac — hold down the option key + shift key and type a hyphen.
Windows — hold down the ALT key and type 0 1 5 1 on the numeric keypad.
An em dash indicates a pause, or a change in thought, similar to a parenthesis.
An en dash is used for ranges, such as August 15–20. (Mac option + hyphen key; Windows ALT + 0 1 5 0).
A hyphen is used to divide or separate words.
“One of my frustrations with the blogosphere—as those of you who read this blog know—is that I think that the immediacy of web publishing makes some people lazy. They type faster than they think; or they believe that a reaction is the same thing as an argument.”
Malcolm Gladwell, responding to more criticism of his most recent article (mentioned here).
At $3 a gallon it costs NewMexiKen about 15¢ a mile just for gas, so I don’t drive 12 miles to save $1.50 on fuel. Even so, it doesn’t hurt to know in advance. MSN Autos has a good tool for finding gasoline prices near you.
After 30 years or so of watching gasoline stations turn into grocery stores (OK, convenience stores), it’s interesting to watch the reverse trend as grocery stores start adding gasoline pumps. It began with the big stores — Costco and Sam’s — but now is extending to Safeway, Smith’s and, I’m sure, other supermarket chains. And, generally, these stores have competitive prices and discounts if you buy groceries.
Salon’s pilot, Patrick Smith, has some early thoughts on yesterday’s crash at Lexington. Nothing extraordinary, but as always thoughtful and worth the short ad if you aren’t a Salon member.
Saturday at Valles Caldera, horse riding seemed inviting despite the fact that I’ve only ridden once in my life and that horse rolled onto its back as I scrambled to escape.
And then there’s this at Freakonomics Blog: “Each year in the United States, an estimated 30 million persons ride horses. The rate of serious injury per number of riding hours is estimated to be higher for horseback riders than for motorcyclists and automobile racers.”
Follow the link. It’s interesting.
The UnHappy Planet Index not only lists countries, but lets you calculate your personal HPI.
It’s a lengthy questionnaire — 6-7 minutes — but interesting as these things often are. Good feedback despite being boilerplate.
NewMexiKen ranks below Zimbabwe and Burundi on some of the indices. Ouch! I could move to Vanuatu and single-handedly drop them out of the top ten.
Forget the appearance of Christmas toys and decorations at Costco in August. Here’s this year’s first idiocy complaining that stores are leaving Christmas out of the holidays; this from the American Family Association.
“Last week the first Christmas ad came out, and that was for Sam’s Club, owned by the Wal-Mart Stores Corporation,” the AFA spokesman explains. “The ad is clearly meant to promote Christmas decorations and Christmas tree items,” he says, “but Sam’s Club refuses to refer to Christmas as Christmas. They simply use the generic term holiday.”
And it’s not even Labor Day.
Maybe Sam’s should just go with “Noël.” French surely would be a satisfactory solution for all. It is the language of diplomacy.
The conclusion of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech in Washington 43 years ago today.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I will go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. And this will be the day, this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning, “My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!” And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring — from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring — from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring — from the heightening Alleghenies of
Pennsylvania.Let freedom ring — from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring — from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that.
Let freedom ring — from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring — from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring — from every hill and molehill of Mississippi,
from every mountainside, let freedom ring!And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual,
“Free at last, free at last.
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”
… was authorized on this date in 1965.
Feel the old wooden floor give slightly beneath your footsteps and hear it squeak as you enter the doors of the oldest operating trading post on the Navajo Nation. Step back in time and experience this original 160 acre homestead, which includes the Trading Post, Hubbell home and Visitor Center with weavers. Hubbell Trading Post offers you a chance to become a part of this unique slice of history.
Astronomy Picture of the Day summarizes the planet designations with a photo.
“Tell the president I can’t take his call now, I’m on with the chief justice.”
William Safire while working for President Nixon as a speech writer (and talking to Chief Justice Berger). Safire would have been about 42 at the time (1971).
As a result, wages and salaries now make up the lowest share of the nation’s gross domestic product since the government began recording the data in 1947, while corporate profits have climbed to their highest share since the 1960’s. UBS, the investment bank, recently described the current period as —the golden era of profitability.”
Real Wages Fail to Match a Rise in Productivity – New York Times
Why is it that I hear so much talk about the baseball wild card race when there’s still 20 percent of the season (32-33 games) to play?
Except in the NL East, no second place team is more than 6½ back. Aren’t any of the second (or third) place teams capable of making a September run? The 1951 Giants won 37 of their last 45 to come from more than 13 back.
And are none of the first place teams sure not to fold? The ’64 Phillies blew a six game lead with 10 to play.
“President Bush is traveling around the country. Today he flew to New Orleans. There was one awkward moment when he said, ‘Oh my God, what happened here?!'”
Conan O’Brien
“I lost to Barry Manilow!”
Stephen Colbert on the Emmy Awards show.
According to SI.com, Tiger Woods has won more money at just the Bridgestone International ($6.6 million, including five wins) than Jack Nicklaus won in his entire career ($5.7 million).
