Rethinking the blog

... sort of leaning toward a more personal, family-friendly, semi-private, inclusionary thingie. Let's see what happens.

A Google a day...

This shows some promise as an aspirin for ennui. We'll give it a month's trial.




.

Just fun... fantasy... or nightmare?

Try to imagine:

•  A State of the Union address by Sarah Palin;
• A speech by her anywhere in Europe or Asia;
• Sarah and Todd Palin hosting an official State dinner for a head of state;
• The Sarah Palin Presidential Library (the Bush Library is difficult enough!)
• Sarah Palin and any military crisis?

Have we heard a full sentence out of Todd Palin?

 What would his role be, organizing national snowmobile races?

Would Fox News become America's official news station?

Do we even want to contemplate who would be in her Cabinet? Roger Ailes? Michele Bachmann?
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Please -- I'm begging  -- take the Jokers out of the deck and let's play with the legal 52!

Memorial Day, 2011

There are no good wars, and their outcomes are forever tainted by their terrible cost. We honor the fallen. They were the best of us, and they've been denied the good life we now so nonchalantly enjoy. Pray for them, and pray for us, that we can somehow find a way to worldwide peace.(from Jaxonia 2008)

The 800-lb Hawk in the Room

America's defense budget is greater than the combined defense budgets of the next 15 countries; it is 10 ten times the Chinese budget, and almost 20 times the Russian budget. More than half of our budget is dedicated to aiding and abetting a war-making machine unparalleled in world history. We make Sparta, Genghis Khan and Hitler look like Tibetan monks.

The budget for the Peace Corps, by contrast, is pocket change. If we mothballed ONE nuclear aircraft carrier (we have 11) and gave that money to the Peace Corps it would almost quadruple their funds; if we converted three carriers into hospital ships we could provide state-of-the-art assistance for world disasters - each ship could treat and house upwards of 10,000 victims - and we'd still have an aircraft carrier for each of the seven seas. 

The absolutely final FIOS word

As Jaxonia predicted a few years ago, FIOS is the future. As soon as they get their customer service together, they should be unbeatable... but they're not there yet. Verizon/Fios web sites are Byzantine and unfriendly, and it's still not easy to get from a computerized phone voice to a live person.

That said, the advantages of a FIOS system just keep adding up. Even if you think the picture is the same and the phone and internet are similar, here are a few FIOS advantages Cable doesn't have:

1. Jillions of rental movies. JILLIONS. Old, new, middle-aged, priced from $2.95 to $5.95.  If you feel like watching a movie, they've got one for you.
2. Instant  channel switching. No 2-second delay like Cable.
3. Buffers galore. Watch two channels and your DVR will buffer both of them. Watch a ball game, for example, and in the fifth inning switch over to the news. When you switch back to the game you can go back to the 5th inning, and when you return to the news, you also can rewind to where you left off.
4. All TVs will play whatever was recorded on the DVR.

So? There's no long-term contract, the FIOS triple play option is for 2 years (I think). What are you waiting for? (Nobody here works for either of these companies, by the way.)

Holey socks? No more!

This falls into that growing category of, 'If we can send men to the moon, why can't we...?'

Darning socks is such a lost art that even the defining term itself is almost lost to us --

 darn 
"mend" c.1600, perhaps from M.Fr. darner "mend," from darne "piece," from Breton darn "piece, fragment, part." Alternativeetymology is from obs. dern, from O.E. diernan "to hide," fromdierne "secret," from W.Gmc. *darnjaz.

But start your Monday with this good news: This product is out there -- check Wal-Mart -- it only costs a couple of bucks, and IT WORKS. Just minimize the hole, squeeze a generous dollop of this stuff on it, let it sit for 30 minutes and Voila! That favorite pair of WigWams is back at the head of your sock drawer. 

Click the headline for the Loctite web site.

We don't want to bug you, but...

...Jaxonia's recommended blogs (on the right) really represent a good day's reading material. You should check them out.

Huygens- Cassini -- Two guys joined at the hip

Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) was a Dutch scientist who discovered Saturn's rings and, in 1655, its largest moon, Titan. Italian Jean-Dominique Cassini (1625-1712) discovered the Saturnian satellites Iapetus, Rhea, Tethys and Dione. In 1675 he discovered what is known today as the 'Cassini Division', the narrow gap separating Saturn's rings.

 Bear in mind that these guys were using telescopes with the comparative clarity of Coca-Cola bottles -- This was the 17th century! Shakespeare was still writing, Newton was wondering why apples were hitting him on the head, and the Montgolfier brothers figured out how to fly by filling a balloon with hot air. In America, Ben Framklin almost electrocuted himself with a key, a kite and a thunderstorm. The ipod was more than 300 years away.

Christiaan and Jean-Dominique almost certainly knew each other, since both of them worked at the Paris Observatory at about the same time (1670s), but it is safe to assume that never in their wildest dreams could they have imagined their two names being stencilled on a spacecraft that would fly to Saturn.

Click on the headline for the complete Huygens-Cassini story; watch the video below to marvel at what human beings can do if they set their minds to the task... and then wonder why half the Earth is still starving,  Semitic tribes are still killing each other over territorial claims, and people with the money, power and influence to do something just don't appear to give a damn.

Seve Ballesteros 1957-2011

MADRID (AP)

Seve Ballesteros, a five-time major champion whose passion and gift for imaginative shot-making invigorated European golf and the Ryder Cup, has died from complications of a cancerous brain tumor. He was 54.

A statement on Ballesteros' website early Saturday said the golf great died peacefully�
at 2:10 a.m. local time, surrounded by his family at his home in Pedrena, in northern Spain.

Read more �

Oh, My!

Sam Cooke's 'Wonderful World' song.has been covered by many artists and featured in several films, most notably in 'Animal House.' But the genius of the song and the appropriateness of the lyrics apparently have awaited the advent of 2011, and birth of GOP partisan politics.  

Dreams into nightmares

April 29: From BBC News Africa - Morocco has launched an investigation into Thursday's bomb attack on a cafe in Marrakesh that left 14 people dead including 11 foreigners.
More than 20 others were wounded, some seriously, when the blast ripped through the Argana cafe in Djemaa el-Fna square, a popular tourist spot.
Nationalities of the foreign victims have not been confirmed, but medical sources say at least six are French.
A Marrakesh official said a suicide bomber could have caused the blast.
No group has so far said it carried out the attack.

A beautiful song, released in 1969, also died in that blast. We live in troubled times.

The Secret of the Water Tower

The Chicago Water Tower is located on North Michigan Avenue along the Magnificent Mile shopping district. It is the second-oldest water tower in the United States, after the Louisville, KY Water Tower.

The tower, built in 1869 by architect William W. Boyington from yellowing Joliet limestone, is 154 feet tall. Inside was a 138 foot high standpipe to hold water. In addition to being used for firefighting, the pressure in the pipe could be regulated to control water surges in the area.The tower gained prominence after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. While some incorrectly believe that the tower was the only building to survive the fire, a few other buildings in the burned district survived along with the tower.
�But the water tower was the only public building in the burned zone to survive, and is one of just a few of the surviving structures still standing. In the years since the fire, the tower has become a symbol of old Chicago and of the city's recovery from the fire. In 1918, when Pine Street was widened, the plans were altered in order to give the Water Tower a featured location.
The structure has not been universally admired. Oscar Wilde said it looked like "a castellated monstrosity with pepper boxes stuck all over it," although he did admire the arrangement and movement of the pumping machinery inside. The Tower was named an American Water Landmark in 1969.

But all that pales into insignificance when one discovers the true greatness of the structure. What is it? You're about to find out!
Ready? �Wait for it... Smile, and click 'read more'!

Read more �

Earth -- A Short Truth

Has the Earth stayed the same since its creation, or is it evolving? Do you believe in global warming? Climate change? Or maybe you think something's happening, but whatever it is, Mother Nature will handle it.

I take no side, but here's an observation to chew on. Ever since Aristarchus calculated the distance to the moon around 230 B.C., we have gazed upon the heavens to find out who and where we are. In all those years we have discovered many planets, all of which differ from Mother Earth in one key aspect: they're all dead.

As far as we know, Earth, the third planet from a nondescript, average star hanging around in the Milky Way galaxy, is unique in its ability to sustain life as we know it.

Just how skillful and hardy is Earth at its life-giving attribute?  We're testing it right now.

Off to Virginia!

Four days without good pizza, Italian bread and Jersey attitude. The good news? I get to see Harper, our new granddaughter, I pick up a VCU decal for the MINI...
... and the Mets are on a one-game winning streak!
Back by Tuesday.

Jaxonia ongoing mysteries

Jaxonia has a rudimentary page counter apparatus, which shows the most popular articles and readers. The most popular article, predictably enough, is Fios vs. Optimum -- it has been updated several times, and tries to render an impartial comparison of the two cable tv services.

After that, however, the rationale for popularity gets more difficult to comprehend. The second most popular article is one about pumpkins! Who knew?

And it gets stranger. Folks seem to like, in descending order,  articles  about bread, sin, skyscrapers, and the Facel Vega automobile. During basketball March Madness, Jaxonia took on almost mythic status when it predicted the extended run of dark horse VCU; the popularity of several articles about the team was gratifying.

It is also gratifying to check out Jaxonia's geographic footprint. People from all over the world have clicked on for one reason or another; India, Australia, Mongolia, even!
But the most inexplicable visitor of all time hails from  the tiny fishing village of York, Quebec, whose URL has logged in for extended visits pretty much daily for the past few years. He/she/they connect through a Canadian commercial portal, and often spend upwards of a hour surfing through the archives. More time than the blogmaster!
If anyone out there can explain any of this, please comment!

Remember Nuna 5? It's on again, baby!

Will there be a Nuna 6? Another Eleanor? Click here for the original Nuna 5 story and update in Jaxonia, then click on the headline for the 2011 story. The race begins on October 16.*




* private asterisk

Is it real or is it Memorex?

(Original video and illustrations removed by webmaster - some kind of You Tube problem)

Back in the 80s a tv commercial featuring singer/legend Ella Fitzgerald touted the reproduction quality of Memorex recording tape, defying the viewer to distinguish between Ella 'live' and Ella on tape.

Fast forward to the present, where fantasy and reality blend seamlessly together in an endless supply of spoofs, satires, cgi creations and photo shop forgeries.

 Look at the article attached here.  Jaxonia could not verify either its authenticity or its hoaxability. The proof, however, may be on its way: Volkswagen has scheduled a '21st Century Beetle' unveiling for April 18, in Shanghai. It's at 7:30 PM; read about it here. In the meantime, read the article and check out the pictures.

While the original comment was posted to a forum in August 2009, Australian CarAdvice.com in March 2010 indicated �Volkswagon Introduces World�s Most Economical Car� that while they don�t have a great deal of information available at the stage of reporting that they do know however, that Volkswagen is set to reveal the world�s most economical non-hybrid car to shareholders attending the 42nd annual general meeting of Volkswagen AG in Hamburg. When is not mentioned. The single-seater is supposed to be capable of 0.91 litres per 100km (or 258mpg in the old measure) and can manage a top speed of 123km/h.

With a weight heavier than a motor cycle, this �behemoth� can do 258 miles to the gallon? A bit hard to swallow. As is the price $600! Is this believable? Even some handheld consumer electronic products costs the same and more! 

I hate to say 'I told you so,' but... and this was NINE years ago!

Never Trust A Republican

Remember Reagan�s second term? Remember that �trickle-down� economic theory? Simplistically, we were told that if the government enacted programs that benefited the wealthy, the wealthy would in turn �trickle down� their largesse to the middle class; more businesses would expand, more jobs would be created, and everyone would benefit.I bought into that theory. Card-carrying Democrat that I am, I decided maybe it was time to listen to rich conservatives. �What the hell,� I said, �The important thing is jobs, and if giving tax incentives and other economic breaks to big business results in benefits for everybody, who am I to fault the plan? So what if the rich get richer? They can�t get any snobbier and exclusionary than they are, can they?�

Every time I try to compromise my liberal ethic, every time I listen to the economic doubletalk of somebody living on a fake farm in Somerset County, I get burned big time. Reagan got my vote, we got trickle-down, and the only problem was the money for the middle class somehow disappeared. The business �expansion� turned out to be Caribbean resorts and cruise lines, and the jobs became entry-level burger flippers for fast-food consortiums. Franchises that were once a great opportunity for the middle class to get a leg up into the Hamptons have now become the purview of stock brokers and bankers. McDonald�s is one of the few successful franchise operations that still cater to individuals (not partnerships and passive investors), but the average franchise buy-in starts at $175,000! Trickle down, indeed. Money just went from one pocket to another in the same pair of trousers.

Read more �

We are but shadows of our former selves...

Today we honor the first world space hero, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

Fifty years ago today Yuri Gagarin and the Soviet Union ignited the flame of American fortitude for what appears now to have been the last time... but what a time it was! Alan Shepard chased Gagarin, John Glenn caught him, and Neil Armstrong administered the coup de grace. America was at the peak of her power and influence.

But Vietnam tore us apart, and our government receded into a forty-year morasse of partisan patriotism and capitalistic greed that has eroded the magnificent diversity and resoluteness that once were our strengths.

Fifty years is all it took to bring us to this embarrassing, forlorn point in our history, wasting our time and blood in 2 1/2 endless, fruitless wars, babbling about economics while our infrastructure crumbles, watching a powerful new oligarchy slice away at a vanishing middle class.

Is there world enough and time left for us, or have we ceded the 21st century and beyond to another hemisphere? We'll see soon enough.

Let's Go Mets!

A letter from Mets manager Terry Collins:

With our 2011 opener tonight in Florida, I want to make this pledge to Mets fans � our team will play the game the right way.

We will always hustle on the bases, run balls down in the outfield and never take anything for granted, no matter the score of the game.

We had a great Spring Training. From day one my message has been look ahead, not backward, and not to worry about what the people outside the clubhouse are saying. If we pitch and play defense like I know we can, we will surprise a lot of people, a lot of people.

I stack our lineup against anyone else's in the league. Getting Carlos Beltran back and hitting cleanup is really big. The way Carlos handled his move to right field was one of the classiest things I have ever seen. Angel Pagan is coming off a great season. While we had a little setback this week with Jason Bay � who was swinging the bat well � going on the Disabled List, he shouldn't be out too long. We believe with the three of them on the field, we have one of the top outfields in baseball.

Our infield is anchored by the two All-Stars on the left side: David Wright at third and Jose Reyes at short. I think David will add on to his numbers from last year and Jose is ready to have a tremendous season. He is one of the most dynamic players in the game. Ike Davis will continue to develop at first base and Jose Thole is one of the fine young catchers in the game. Brad Emaus, a Rule Five pick, got better and better as the spring went on and won the second base job.

On the mound, sure we are going to miss Johan Santana until he comes back, hopefully in mid-year. But this spring, I think we established a solid rotation with Mike Pelfrey, followed by R.A. Dickey and Jonathon Niese. Chris Young and Chris Capuano proved that they are healthy and they really strengthen us on the back end.

We remade our bullpen and we think we have quality arms who throw strikes to get to closer Francisco Rodriguez. K-Rod has just had a fantastic spring and I never have seen him throwing better. People like Bobby Parnell, D.J. Carrasco, Taylor Buchholz, Blaine Boyer, Tim Byrdak and Pedro Beato, another Rule V selection who is from Queens, will give us a solid pen.

I believe we have fortified our bench with the additions of Scott Hairston, Willie Harris, Ronny Paulino (who will begin the year on the Disabled List), and Chin-lung Hu along with Daniel Murphy.

It's been 12 years since I have started a season as a major league manager. I can't tell you how proud I am to be leading the New York Mets and am very excited about the season ahead.

Thanks for your support and see you at Citi Field.

Terror, and our own culpability

The woods are here, dark and deep.

Dunsinane Hill, looking toward Birnham.

'I will not be afraid of death and bane

till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane'

Macbeth, Act V, Scene III

The Road to the Final Four

Go Rams!

Where videos go to die**

Ever wonder about the censorship of You Tube videos? Like, just what gets deleted and why, and what happens to them? Well, here's the skinny: Those wonderful astro IQ kids at MIT have developed a monitoring program that checks out just what gets 'taken down' on You Tube, by whom, and for what reason.
It's a VERY cool site; they call it 'You Tomb,'(click on the headline to go there) and these Cambridge genii are currently monitoring 224162 videos, and have identified 4431 videos taken down for alleged copyright violation and 13571 videos taken down for other reasons.


Statement of Purpose

YouTomb is a research project of MIT Free Culture. The purpose of the project is to investigate what kind of videos are subject to takedown notices due to allegations of copyright infringement with particular emphasis on those for which the takedown may be mistaken. Although our initial focus is on videos hosted by YouTube, we are interested in other video collections as well.


** Originally published 5/21/08

Why not?

As you read this VCU basketball history has been re-written -- TWICE. Scarcely was the ink dry on the first Sweet Sixteen Ever t-shirt when the first Elite Eight cottons were rolling off the presses. To say the campus is excited, to say that Richmond is excited, is like saying Angelina Jolie is an OK gal.

Arthur Ashe, on Monument Ave.

VCU is surely playing with house money. Hell, just getting into the Big Dance was a surprise; winning a play-in game and then three more... the Rams could pick up their chips and come home as heroes right now. After all, look what they face now. Kansas is a giant in NCAA basketball, a team that won it all just three years ago, and a team that, in the last five years, has won more games than any team in history for that length of time.

Kansas is 35-2 up to here; VCU is, what? 27-11? Nobody really expects VCU to go any further. Well, maybe Shaka Smart does; maybe the Rams themselves do. And maybe, you?

A couple of thoughts. David really did beat Goliath, Sir Edmund Hillary really did climb Mt. Everest, and the Boston Red Sox really did beat the Yankees four straight to get into the 2004 World Series. And do you think the Richmond Spiders are telling VCU everything they learned about Kansas?

Sure, Kansas will probably win. That's just the way things are. But remember what Bobby Kennedy said about such things:

"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?"

Go Rams! Monument Avenue needs a new statue!

Click the headline for more Richmond news.

Parking in Madison? Problem solved!**

Well, almost. First we have to convince our crack local government to swallow their pride and take another look at a creative, close-to-genius solution to parking that former mayor Woody Kerkeslager submitted two years ago.


Why his plan got tabled or rejected is a mystery, because similar projects are cropping up all over New York City -- and getting rave reviews.


The solution is called automated parking, a robotic system developed by a company called Automotion that effectively makes maximum use of minimum space. There are two spots in Madison where the system would work: Madison Green (the lot behind the Main Street stores that abuts the railroad tracks) and the space on the other side of Waverly Place, behind the Waverly restaurant and the two banks.


All you would see of either building would be the entrances and exits! Hell, the system's so pretty and high-tech you could put it in a third spot, the lot behind Rocco's, double the parking and have room left for a not-so-little park.


Check out how the system works -- just click on the headline of this article, or right here, too, for a competitive system -- and then call your council representative!


**Originally published 9/26/08 -- updates in gold

Dorothy Young, last surviving stage assistant of Harry Houdini & generous Drew U patron, dies at 103

Media-Newswire.com) - Dorothy Young, last surviving stage assistant of Harry Houdini and generous namesake of Drew University�s Dorothy Young Center for the Arts, passed away yesterday at the age of 103. Young was known on campus as a strong supporter of theater, music and fine art, and as the sister of legendary Drew professor and baseball coach Sherman Plato �Doc� Young. Her wider fame was due to her role as the �Radio Girl of 1950� in Houdini�s 1926 stage act and as an internationally acclaimed dancer.

Houdini's troupe. Ms. Young is second from right

With Dorothy�s passing, Drew loses more than just an extremely generous benefactor and friend,� said University President Robert Weisbuch. �The university has also lost a link to its past, someone who represents Drew in all its human richness.�

Read more �

and now... a cartoon entry!

The City of New Orleans

The song's been covered by just about every picker who ever heard it, but Arlo seems to have nailed the lead position. For those of us who remember, America used to have some first-class train rides.



Want to see New Orleans? Click the headline.

Making movies

A movie film is a collaborative piece of art. Hundreds, thousands of people work to stitch a story together for a viewing audience that is barely aware of maybe a dozen or so of those pieces.

An integral part of a film's patchwork quilt is its 'special effects,' cinematic trompe l'oeil that fools the eye into seeing something that didn't really happen. Even if all the other constituent parts of a movie blend together seamlessly, poorly planned and executed special effects can be a film's downfall. The best special effects, no matter how grand in scope and delivery, must be invisible to the audience. If a viewer says, 'Wow! how did they do that?' during a movie, the artistic spell is broken.

Here is an example of the creativity and precision of special effects, and how, when they're done well, the audience never thinks about them.


Crimson Tide Effects from Christopher Salazar on Vimeo.

Conversations with God**

Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly�s Wings in Brazil set off a Tornado in Texas? This paper, given by Edward Lorenz in 1972 to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C., popularized the term �butterfly effect,� which purports to explain how a miniscule change in events can bring about large-scale catastrophe.

In my heart, I believe the butterfly effect. I like the helplessness of it, the morbid possibility that some insignificant action on my part is going to set off a chain of events that will ultimately spell my downfall. And when I appear to come close to fulfilling the theory, when something happens to make me think my world is coming unglued, I talk to God.

Read more �

Shaka gets Rams ready for Florida State!

We did give our readers advance warning, remember?

Go VCU!

It's only a movie...

... but this scene underscores the essential problem of the Middle East: Since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the West has, for profit alone, ignored and even abetted the plight of the Arab people. We have ignored their culture and history and even used that culture to advance our industrial ends. We furthered their divisions and neglected their unity.  For oil.

Revolt is now rising throughout the Arab world, with the common people yearning for the civilized life of opportunity and equality that has been denied them for more than a century by their rulers and the complicit West.

And it is still about oil. We've learned nothing.

Spring

o what purpose, April, do you return again?

Beauty is not enough.

You can no longer quiet me with the redness

Of little leaves opening stickily.

I know what I know.

The sun is hot on my neck as I observe

The spikes of the crocus.

The smell of the earth is good.

It is apparent that there is no death.

But what does that signify?

Not only under ground are the brains of men

Eaten by maggots.

Life in itself

Is nothing,

An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.

It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,

April

Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.

 Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)

Sidd Finch Lives Again

In its April 1985 edition, Sports Illustrated published an article by George Plimpton that described an incredible rookie baseball player who was training at the Mets camp in St. Petersburg, Florida. The player was named Sidd Finch (Sidd being short for Siddhartha, the Indian mystic in Hermann Hesse�s book of the same name). He could reportedly pitch a baseball at 168 mph with pinpoint accuracy. The fastest previous recorded speed for a pitch was 103 mph.

Finch had never played baseball before. He had been raised in an English orphanage before he was adopted by the archaeologist Francis Whyte-Finch who was later killed in an airplane crash in the Dhaulaglri mountain region of Nepal. Finch briefly attended Harvard before he headed to Tibet where he learned the teachings of the �great poet-saint Lama Milaraspa� and mastered �siddhi, namely the yogic mastery of mind-body.� Through his Tibetan mind-body mastery, Finch had �learned the art of the pitch.�

Finch showed up at the Mets camp in Florida, and so impressed their manager that he was invited to attend training camp. When pitching he looked, in the words of the catcher, �like a pretzel gone loony.� Finch frequently wore a hiking boot on his right foot while pitching, his other foot being bare. His speed and power were so great that the catcher would only hear a small sound, �a little pft, pft-boom,� before the ball would land in his glove, knocking him two or three feet back. One of the players declared that it was not �humanly possible� to hit Finch�s pitches.

Unfortunately for the Mets, Finch had not yet decided whether to commit himself to a career as a baseball player, or to pursue a career as a French Horn player. He told the Mets management that he would let them know his decision on April 1.
---------------------------------------
Sports Illustrated received almost 2000 letters in response to the article, and it became one of their most famous stories ever. On April 8 they declared that Finch had held a press conference in which he said that he had lost the accuracy needed to throw his fastball and would therefore not be pursuing a career with the Mets. On April 15 they admitted that the story was a hoax.

George Plimpton actually left an obscure hint that the story was a hoax within the article itself.  The sub-heading of the article read: �He�s a pitcher, part yogi and part recluse. Impressively liberated from our opulent life-style, Sidd�s deciding about yoga �and his future in baseball.� The first letter of each of these words, taken together, spells �H-a-p-p-y A-p-r-i-l F-o-o-l-s D-a-y.�

In an odd follow-up, a baseball team in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, after reading the Sports Illustrated article, tried to invite Finch to its annual banquet. They received a reply that read, �The challenge is reaching the Eightfold Path of right belief or the ninth inning with the proper relief. May you have peace of mind.� They announced that they interpreted the reply to mean that Finch would be attending their banquet. It is not known whether Finch did attend.
References

• George Plimpton, �The Curious Case of Sidd Finch,� Sports Illustrated, April 1, 1985, p.59.
• John Freeman, �And now, the star of our show�,� San Diego Union Tribune, April 15, 1985, D2.
• George Plimpton, �Welcome to the Dynamite Museum,� Esquire, April, 1991, p.62.
• Fred Fedler, Media Hoaxes, Iowa State University Press, 1989, p.201. 
(Cut and pasted from the Museum of Hoaxes; click on the headline to go there.)

Erin Go Bragh!

VCU -- the big school nobody knows

It's bigger than either Virginia Tech or the University of Virginia, and is almost the size of Ohio State, which is a medium-sized city. But because it's a 'city' school, with offices, buildings and classrooms spread around and about Richmond, with a resulting 'campus' that couldn't contain a pitch-and-putt golf hole, VCU isn't exactly picturesque, and basketball recruiting has been second-tier at best.

Enter new VCU basketball coach Shaka Smart. (Who?), a razor-sharp, good-looking kid out of Kenyon College, a top-ranked, tiny academic college in the middle of Nowhere, Ohio. A magna cum laude graduate, four-year basketball starter and three-year captain, 1999 All-USA academic team, Shaka was building basketball street cred from day one. Click on his name for the whole story, and get pumped for the Rams' chances.

This Cinderella story could end early. VCU plays USC tonight, and if they win -- Vegas says they won't -- they get to play Georgetown. This may not be their year, but if you're looking to fit a glass slipper on somebody...

Is it time for Robin Hood again?

For liberals and Democrats, the election of Barack Obama as U.S. president was supposed to signal an end to the excesses of a near-decade of Republican rule and a return to glorious days of yesteryear when Chevys ruled the highways, Converse All Stars were the sneakers of choice and Americans played golf on the frigging moon!

It now appears as if it was all a bad dream. While Obama has had good intentions, we all know what road gets paved with those stones, and we have sadly borne witness to the�inescapable�fact that the two-party system of government that once was the backbone of a free American electorate has deteriorated into an oligarchy of super-rich fat cats, �Democrats and Republicans alike, who care about little save their own power and pelf. (Great word, pelf; it means wealth, especially the kind you should be ashamed of)

Adding grease to the wheels of this downward middle-class death dive has been our vaunted fourth estate, once a bastion of journalistic bravery and truth, now the lap dog of an infotainment industry essentially run by a cartoon company and a light-bulb manufacturer.

With the world going to hell on all fronts, with the Earth itself ripping apart at the seams, is there no hope? Are we doomed to inherit a world that dances to the Koch brothers' tune? �Well, waddaya know? Maybe not. Maybe, just maybe... (Insert cavalry bugles here)

There's a literary addendum to all this; click on 'read more' to expand your knowledge!

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A giant step toward economic recovery

Read all about it here, or click the headline.

Libya -- Does EVERYTHING have to be political?

After centuries of  imperialism,colonialism, power brokering and outright hegemony, the Middle East now appears to be, and maybe finally, imploding. The western world has fueled its industrial revolution on the backs of the Middle East. By largely ignoring the general welfare of the population of the area and focusing its 'diplomatic' and laissez-faire efforts and influence merely on the flow of oil, the West is now reaping what it has sown. And unlike the spectral dominoes of Southeast Asia in Vietnam, the Middle East game tiles are real and toppling -- Iran, Iraq, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya... who's next?
Placing blame for all of this is easy.  As cartoon Pogo said, 'we have met the enemy, and they is us.' So. What to do, now?

Kuwaiti oil fields, 1991.

Whatever eventually happens in Libya, the Republican strategy is clear: Blame President Obama for any failure, or separate him from any kind of victory. Even the Democrats are complicit in this, openly second-guessing any Administration philosophy or course of action.

The road to peace and prosperity in the Middle East has gotten longer and more arduous. It does not begin in Washington. It starts in the desert of our despotic dreams, and winds its way through NATO, the Arab League and even the African Union. It is a 'lose-lose' situation for decades to come... but we have to start somewhere. And we have to start together.

Edwin 'Duke' Snider -- 1926-2011

And then there was one. 'Say Hey' Kid now alone in New York's most famous centerfield.

Click headline for official Dodger obituary

Can't anybody here play this game?

Through a glass, darkly: Growing up in Newark, a Brooklyn Dodger fan in a Yankee neighborhood, Spring Training was always the advent of 'next year.' Almost always, the previous season had ended in a Yankee World Series win and a heart-breaking Dodger loss, and the rallying cry of the Brooklyn faithful was 'Wait 'til next year.' And hope sprung eternal.
It was beautiful. There was no trade scuttlebutt, no salary negotiations, no ownership or management folderol. There was only baseball, the Dodgers and the Yankees. God would press a re-start button, and the same exact team that lost in October would take the field for revenge... or not.

---------------------

Those were the days, my friend.. and they are surely over, dead and buried, never to return.This is what's left:

From the middle of last summer onwards, what passed for buzz inside CitiField was some sort of vague sense of doom. It had to do with the jailed Ponzi Schemer Bernie Madoff, but no other details emerged. It didn�t seem to make much sense; the Wilpon family had insisted it had not suffered greatly at the hands of the ultimate financial snake oil salesman, and all evidence backed up their assertion. Now it becomes clear that the owners were in trouble not because Madoff had stolen their money, but because he hadn�t. They are the defendants in an extraordinary billion-dollar suit that claims they knowingly pocketed the profits from a kind of privatized Enron disaster. While the action is headed to mediation by former New York Governor (and former Pittsburgh Pirates farmhand) Mario Cuomo, it has already paralyzed the team�s finances and threatens to continue to do so for an indefinite period.

Which explains why the Mets, when still vaguely competitive last June and July, added no payroll. Which explains why the bullets were not bitten on the statues that replaced Luis Castillo and Ollie Perez. Which explains why, when another bat was needed, the Mets could reach only for Mike Hessman. Which explains why men named Wilpon did not take the fall in October.

Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran are enigmas. Jose Reyes is at the critical step, forwards to greatness or backwards towards underachievement. Ike Davis and Josh Thole are dedicated and gifted players who may not bring enough power to their respective positions. The second baseman could be a Rule V draftee. There isn�t one starting pitcher who isn�t weighed down with a huge question mark (Mike Pelfrey�s head, Jon Niese�s endurance, Johan Santana�s shoulder, Dillon Gee�s inexperience, the overall health of Chrisses Young and Capuano, and the likelihood that R.A. Dickey actually found himself last season at the age of 35). And the bullpen? You don�t want to know about the bullpen.
Keith Olbermann

The Jersey Gene -- It's the real thing, baby!

A primer on Jersey Humor
The summer of '63. Nine college guys in their Point Pleasant summer rental home. The Sunday ritual began with mass, everyone hung over, standing in the back of the church; it climaxed with a brunch of bagels, buns, juice and coffee around the kitchen table. Like matadors, the boy/men prepared for the beach. Football? Got it. Wiffle ball? Bat? Blanket? Affirmative.
The official MC at the table was one Gerry O'Keefe, a wiry 6-foot-plus Queen City resident (Plainfield, dummy!) whose dry, sarcastic wit was already legendary. Gerry would read aloud the headlines from the morning papers, ostensibly to prepare the troupe for whatever conversational gambit would attract girls. In the middle of a particularly effective and funny monolog,  he was interrupted by someone who had a friend driving down to Point Pleasant from Wayne who needed highway directions.
"Does 23 go into 46?"
"Yes," Gerry deadpanned. "Twice."
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Every state probably has a hall of fame, a list of natives who made their marks in various human fields of endeavor. New Jersey, being the third smallest state in the Union, would logically have a small contingent. If you believe that, well, you just don't know New Jersey.

Here are two videos that illustrate the uniqueness of the Garden State. The first is a news report of the 2010 gathering of the locally famous; the second is an incredible -- and only partial -- recollection of the state's musical footprint. Both, as the credit card commercial says, are priceless.
 




Thanks to Bob Balascio for forwarding the music video and inspiring this article.

Enterprise is moving to Jaguar

Jaxonia has learned that Enterprise rent-a-car is moving from the QuickChek strip mall to the small building at the very end of this Jaguar videotape:


When?  Sometime in April. It should be a good move for them; they'll be closer to the center of town and much more visible. Plus they'll have more parking AND a cleaning bay.
It's a small beginning, but maybe that block from Greenwood down to Alexander can start to look like something other than a WWII battle site.

Iwo Jima: Lest we forget

The battle for Iwo Jima began on Feb.19, 1945.  This was the first American attack on the Japanese Home Islands, and the Imperial soldiers defended their positions tenaciously. Of the more than 18,000 Japanese soldiers present at the beginning of the battle, only 34 were taken prisoner. The rest were killed or were reported missing and assumed dead.
The fighting lasted more than month, and the American losses were horrific -- 6,822 Marines dead, another 19,217 wounded. Put into modern perspective, in ten years, 6,600 Americans have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Remember the fallen Marines; click on the headline. 

A great investment that the fed lied about

Back in the 60s the federal government began phasing out silver 25-cent pieces, replacing them with a sandwich-design of nickel and copper. The Fed issued periodic press releases, telling the populace not to hoard the old coins, that their value would not increase over time.Yeah, right.

Most folk believed their government. That, as it turns out, was a mistake.

Washington silver quarters that were minted 1932-1964 and contain 90% silver and 10% copper, if melted down strictly for mineral value, are worth almost $6 apiece today. Most 'ordinary' silver quarters can fetch $30 on the open market.

 Wanna start looking through your loose change? There were 9 million silver quarters minted in Denver in 1946; a mint-condition Denver 1946 quarter is worth $130. The Denver guys sort of slacked off in 1955. They only released about 4 million quarters then -- but they could be worth $250 apiece.

If you 'hoarded' 200 silver quarters in 1965 (a $50 investment) you would get a minimum of $1200 for them today, and probably closer to 10 grand.

Jazz great George Shearing dies at 91

In the 50s and 60s, nothing was cooler than George Shearing. If James Bond had a favorite night club, some place he could go to relax, unwind, and contemplate his next mission, Shearing would be playing in the background. His music sneaked a little intellectual order and calm into an increasingly chaotic world, and it gave a listener the impression that, just maybe, everything was under control.

by George Morris, Variety
George Shearing, the esteemed British jazz pianist who composed the standard "Lullaby of Birdland," died of congestive heart failure Feb. 14 in New York. He was 91.

Blind from birth, Shearing enjoyed a long recording and performing career that stretched into his 80s. His bop-flavored quintet, which employed the noted vibraphonists Gary Burton and Cal Tjader and guitarist Joe Pass, was a popular club and concert attraction for decades.

He was also known for his peerless accompaniment of such pop and jazz vocalists as Nat King Cole (his labelmate at Capitol Records in the '50s and '60s) and frequent partner Mel Torme.

Born in London, Shearing began playing piano at the age of 3. His only formal training came during four years at a school for the blind.

He was influenced by such jazz predecessors as Earl Hines, Teddy Wilson and Art Tatum and was recognized for his virtuosity by his late teens. His "locked hands" technique of parallel melodies emulated the work of Milt Buckner. He won Melody Maker's poll as the top British pianist for seven consecutive years.

During the war years, he was partnered with Stephane Grappelli, the violinist for guitar legend Django Reinhardt's famed quintet.

Emigrating to the U.S. in 1947, Shearing cut his first quintet sides for Discovery in 1949; the unit's first hit was a version of Harry Warren's "September in the Rain." He wrote "Lullaby of Birdland," his ode to the jazz oasis on New York's 52nd Street, in 1952. He signed to Capitol in 1955 and remained with the label until 1969.

Shearing later recorded prolifically for such specialist labels as MPS, Concord and Telarc. He remained active until he was sidelined by a fall at his home in 2005.

He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 2007 for his contributions to music and also performed for three U.S. presidents at the White House.

Shearing is survived by his second wife, singer Ellie Geffert, and a daughter from his first marriage.

Spacecraft Seeks Doomed Comet for Valentine�s Day Rendezvous -- and the update

Watch it with your sweetie live tonight at 11:30 -- Can you get more romantic? 

Check NASA for your local coverage

Late Monday night, NASA�s Stardust-NExt spacecraft will make a close flyby of the comet Tempel 1, destined for fiery destruction by the sun.

This will be the second comet rendezvous for Stardust-NExT, which caught dusty bits of comet Wild 2 in 2004 and sent them back to Earth.

It will also be the second encounter with a spacecraft for Tempel 1, which collided with the Deep Impactprobe in 2005. Combined with Deep Impact�s visit, the Stardust-NExT flyby will give astronomers their first view of a complete cometary circuit around the sun, and the best picture yet of how the sun devours a comet.

�We know that comets lose material,� said astronomer Joe Veverka of Cornell University, principle investigator of the Stardust-NExT mission, in a recent press conference. �But the question is, how does the surface change, and where does the surface change?�

At closest approach, Stardust-NExT will come within 120 miles of the comet�s core. Astronomers hope to get a good look at the scars Deep Impact left behind, and to map some uncharted territory on the comet�s dusty, icy surface. Of particular interest are parts of the surface that look like they�re layered like a stack of pancakes. Another intriguing spot is a large plateau that looks like material flowed across it in the recent past.

The flyby will air live on NASA TV from 11:30 pm Eastern time on Feb. 14 to 1 am Eastern time on Feb. 15. The spacecraft is expected to make its closest approach at 11:37, although confirmation won�t reach Earth until 11:56. But if you don�t want to stay up that late, we�ll have a re-cap tomorrow.

Image: Comet Tempel 1 immediately after its brief, explosive relationship with Deep Impact. Credit: NASA

By Lisa Grossman  

February 14, 2011  |  

Categories: Space, from Wired Science

If you stayed up late and didn't get to see this, here's why: (sorry)
NASA Craft Snaps Images of Comet in Valentine Fling - NYTimes.com