I noticed at Costco today that the Christmas decorations and seasonal toy assortment are being stocked. I thought, gee it sure seems early this year. And then I remembered it was August 5th, and realized it was right on schedule.
Only 141 more shopping days until Christmas.
So it appears that Floyd Landis is guilty of doping — and remember he was put in contention in the Tour de France largely by the suspension of so many of the top cyclists. Then there’s Zidane’s head butt, the Major League steroid scandal, John Daley’s excesses, Kobe Bryant’s recklessness, Oklahoma University’s quarterback taking money without work in his summer job, and on and on.
Do you think maybe we’ve made the rewards and deferential treatment too great for athletes? Have we placed on them both an excessive need to excel and a feeling of personal invulnerability — I’m so special that I don’t have to play by all your rules? I can get away with murder.
It’s too bad. Athletes at the highest levels deserve our admiration. Their success from god-given ability, learned skill, hard work and determination really do make them special. But maybe, just maybe, we need for the cameras to turn away a little more often, the money to be a little less, the penalties for cheating a little more.
We need for our champions to be heroes, not chumps.
“President Bush had his annual physical this week. Doctors said that the president is in excellent shape. The country’s gone to hell, but he’s in good shape.”
Jay Leno
Neil Armstrong is 76 today.
Armstrong was first. How many others have walked on the moon?
All you current and former civil servants out there should find Armstrong to be your particular hero. The first man on the moon was a federal employee, a GS-14.
… was found dead on this date in 1962. She was 36.
According to Joe DiMaggio biographer Richard Ben Cramer, after Monroe’s marriage to Arthur Miller had ended, she and DiMaggio had reconciled — the Kennedys notwithstanding. By 1962 they planned to re-marry. The wedding was set for Wednesday, August 8, 1962. Very private, very hush-hush.
Five days before the wedding date, on Saturday night, August 3, Marilyn died, a presumed suicide. (According to Cramer, no coroner’s inquest was held.) Marilyn Monroe’s funeral was August 8, 1962.
NewMexiKen posted an entry on the cause of Marilyn and Joe’s initial break in January 2004.
Of course, Bobby Kennedy was in Los Angeles at the time of Marilyn’s death, so maybe …
Marcia Brady (Maureen McCormick) is 50 today.
Thanks to all those who participated in NewMexiKen’s anniversary Blog-In. I’ll do it again next year.
By the way, today, August 4th, was the 984th day during the past 1,097 that I posted something — 89.7%.
I really should seek intervention.
I had to attend six hours of Driver Improvement School (DIS) in Albuquerque this week and wanted to share with the NewMexiKen readers a few facts I learned in case you don’t have the occasion to attend:
I must admit, I did not learn all of the above items from the instructor and the class was certainly not boring. In all sincerity, the class was a reminder that we should all slow down, be courteous to other drivers and be more attentive while driving.
[Post by a NewMexiKen reader. Personally, I just pay the fine and stay ignorant.]
Michelle Wie continues to become very famous without actually achieving anything in the world of golf. This week she competes in the Women’s British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s. She must win the tournament if she wants to become the youngest person ever to win a major championship in golf.
Today, Wie hit a piece of moss in her backswing in the greenside bunker at the 14th hole. She found out after her round that she had broken rule 13-4c, and had to take two-stroke penalty. She now stands at ten strokes behind leader Juli Inkster.
In her first pro tournament last October, Wie took a penalty drop for an unplayable lie during her third round. At the end of the tournament, officials ruled she made her drop at the wrong place, should have taken a two-shot penalty and disqualified her for signing an incorrect card. Maybe she should spend a few hours curled up with the Rules of Golf.
By the way, the current youngest major-championship winner is the famous Scotsman “Young” Tom Morris. He won four British Opens, the first coming when he was just 17 years, five months and three days. He died at the age of 24 in 1875. Morris’ birth certificate was found just this week, and showed that he was 20 days older than previously thought when he won that first British Open. That won’t help Michelle though.
[Post by reader Byron, one of two official sons-in-law of NewMexiKen. I agree, she needs some coaching on the game, but she has had a number of finishes recently near the top. Once she learns how to win, good-bye everyone else.]
It always bugs me when I hear someone say that the Baby Ruth candy bar was named for baseball player Babe Ruth. Ignorance! The bar was named for Ruth Cleveland, the daughter of President Grover Cleveland.
Or was it?
The Baby Ruth bar was introduced by the Curtiss Candy Company in 1920. The company claimed that the bar was named for Ruth Cleveland. But she had had died 16 years before, and her father had long ago left the White House.
Why would anyone name a candy bar after the long-dead daughter of an ex-president? Maybe because they hadn’t negotiated a royalties deal with an up-and-coming baseball star. The company’s explanation seems fishy, but it passed legal muster in the 1920s.
[Another post from Jill. She’s getting good at this, I may take a vacation. Ruth had a great year in 1920, his first with the New York Yankees. He hit an unbelievable 54 home runs and batted .376.]
Apparently the nation’s Division I-AA football programs are tired of being the little brothers of college football.
Division I-AA is made up of schools who offer a total of 63 full football scholarships per year. Division I-A schools are allowed 85 scholarships. Because of this (and other factors), Division I-AA schools have a harder time recruiting many great high school players. The level of football is good, but not as great as at most Division I-A schools.
So, it seems to me that calling the divisions I-A and I-AA makes sense. But apparently it offended some of the schools in question. They asked the NCAA to change the names of the two divisions. Yesterday, the panel voted to change the terminology. The former I-A classification will be the “Football Bowl Subdivision,” and I-AA will be the “NCAA Football Championship Subdivision.”
Sounds to me like a typically bureaucratic bungling — taking something straightforward and making into something that’s going to be eternally confusing.
[Post by reader Jill. They could have named Division I-A “The Only NCAA Division That Decides Its Champion Off the Field,” but that would have been a little wordy I guess.]
In other news about how stupid the NCAA is, it denied appeals by McMurry University (Division III) and by the College of William and Mary (Division I-AA) to be removed from a list of schools subject to restrictions on the use of Indian mascots, names and imagery at NCAA championships. This also means those schools will not be allowed to host NCAA championship events.
But Florida State is still allowed to have a “Seminole” in full costume ride his horse on the field and for the band to play songs called “War Chant” and “Seminole Uprising” during games.
I’m sure revenue had nothing to do with this decision.
[Post by NewMexiKen reader, and official daughter, Jill. The McMurry mascot is Indians; William and Mary is The Tribe.]
Roger Clemens, 44, baseball pitcher, Cy Young Award, MVP.
Wesley Snipes, 44, actor, Passenger 57 and New Jack City.
Mary Decker Tabb Slaney, 48, Olympic track star, mile record 4:16.71.
Billy Bob Thornton, 51, actor, Sling Blade, former husband of Angelina Jolie.
Helen Thomas, 86, journalist, covering the White House as a correspondent since President-Elect John F. Kennedy in 1960.
Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, jazz trumpeter, One of the greatest American musicians.
[Post by NewMexiKen reader Becci. Armstrong always said he was born on July 4, 1900, but it was, in fact, August 4, 1901.]
I don’t know about you guys, but back when I went to school and a member of the Gestapo in religious habit gave us an assignment we didn’t think we could get off by saying, “Oh sister [or father or brother], we just love coming to your class and it’s my favorite class and happy anniversary.” We might try that too, but we did the assignment.
“It’s obvious now that Mountaineer Mike has never been a daily sportswriter, particularly one sentenced to six weeks at spring training in a place like Winter Haven, the least-charming place in Florida, the Designer Mudflap Capital Of The Known Universe, the heartbeat of that part of the Sunshine State we like to call Baja Mississippi.”
Charles P. Pierce on the need to save receipts.
[Post by NewMexiKen reader Luis.]
A typical newmexiken.com blog includes a national park or monument. This URL is for the Tumacácori National Historical Park near Tucson, Az.
The New Mexico connection with this park is the “Mission 2000 Database” which contains historical and genealogical information on Juan Baptista de Anza, New Mexico’s Governor from 1776-1786. His wife, Anna Perez Serrano, is the great aunt to many current New Mexicans.
[Post by a NewMexiKen reader. I added the photo. NMK]
NewMexiKen began three years ago today. Who would have thought obsessive-compulsive behavior could be sustained1 so long?
Because of changes in software and hosting services I have lost count, but I think there have been at least 800,000 visits and way more than a million page views. There are 8,624 posts (and scores have been eliminated along the way).
Phew! I need a day off.
So here’s the deal. Today, on my anniversary, you blog, I comment. Send me your story, link or NewMexiKen type content.
Email it to newmexiken at gmail dot com. Tell me if you want your name posted or not.
Really! If you’re a regular reader (and there are a few of you), it’s your turn. And no boring stuff — it’s got to be Wise, Whimsical or Witty (or at least half-witty).
1 OK, OK, so there have been a few meltdowns along the way.
“Of course, it would be a different story entirely if we could extract crude oil from stem cells.”
Cartoon in The New Yorker (two Congress-types shown walking on the steps of the Capitol).
Nora Ephron, who is 65, has posted a number of one-liners of things she wishes she had known as she grew older — and wiser. There are a few gems among them.
Elsewhere, Josh Marshall, after two decades of PCs, and a bad experience with Gateway, likes his Mac.
The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) walked off their jobs with the Federal Aviation Administration 25 years ago today. President Reagan threatened to fire the controllers if they didn’t return within 48 hours. Other unions failed to support PATCO. And so began the end of the labor movement in the United States.
Well, debate rages is overstating it, but the debate is certainly heated — how shall New Mexico apportion its second area code?
Yep, here we are, the fifth largest state, and we are all in the same telephone area code — 5-0-5. And we are running out of numbers (I guess 10 million combinations isn’t enough for 2 million people).
Should they just assign the new code to new numbers? Should they divide the state into two codes? Which part of the state has to change? What about all the businesses with 505 as part of their identity? Who will pay for all the new letterhead and business cards and advertising materials? However will we cope? Auntie Em! Auntie Em!
What’s scary I think is the second code — 5-7-5. 5-oh-5 and 5-seven-5. Doesn’t that seem likely to lend itself to confusion? A quick glance at the national map and I couldn’t find any other propinquity like that.
Maybe we should accept the reality of the second code and just ask for a more distinct number. How about 6-6-6?
NewMexiKen wasn’t the only one who thought carding grandpas was stupid.
Some people who sell alcoholic beverages seem to be taking the state’s requirements for proof of age too seriously.
Since 2004, the state has received complaints about people older than 50 — including one 80-year-old man — being carded.
“We commend people for taking the legal age seriously,” state Regulation and Licensing Superintendent Ed Lopez said.
While it can be difficult to tell a 20-year-old from someone who is 21 or even 30, “when you get to be 50 or 80, it’s clear,” he said.
Recent complaints prompted Gary Tomada, head of the state Alcohol and Gaming Division, to send a memo to about a thousand alcohol license holders across the state last week.
Licensees should feel confident that if they serve alcohol to people over 50 years old who don’t have identification and who are not intoxicated, the Regulation and Licensing Department won’t enforce citations issued against them, Tomada said.
State law requires that places that serve alcohol shall refuse to sell or serve alcohol to anyone who cannot produce an identity card showing they are older than 21.
Perhaps those that sell alcohol fear Dorian Gray will put one over on them.
The report on the 9-11 tapes mentioned Wednesday and NewMexiKen’s review of Remember Me posted late Tuesday.
[White House press secretary, Tony] Snow: “There will be a new press room. For all of those of you who have been asking questions, there will, indeed, be a new press room. It will be right here. It is not going to be in a distant part of town. It will be right here in this very spot and the carpets will be clean, the electric — the connections will be up-to-date, and it will be a more congenial and helpful work environment for all.”
Helen Thomas: “Better answers?”
— Quoted by Dan Froomkin. Snow added: “In response to better questions.”
Do you suppose The New York Times knows the name of the guy they endorsed? It’s Lamont. Wouldn’t know it from these headlines:
Lieberman Uses Rival’s Wealth as Issue in Race NYT, August 3
Senator Takes to the Road as His Primary Rival Focuses on Schiavo Stance NYT, July 29
Lieberman and Rival Step Up Ads in Final Leg NYT, July 28
Poll Finds Democratic Rival Has Caught Up to Lieberman in Primary Race NYT, July 21
Lieberman Rival Hopes to Find Support in Issues Beyond Iraq NYT, July 19
Found at Eat The Press | The Huffington Post