Rest, Mr. Speaker

Ben Lujan

Mr. Speaker

New Mexico House of Representatives

Mr. Speaker, may you rest in peace!

"It's a humbling experience, to say the least, and a deeply rewarding experience that we could contribute in some small way to make New Mexico and hopefully the U.S. and the world a better place," he said in his farewell speech at the end of the last session.

He was 77.

Santa Sighting

In a nearby parking lot yesterday...unsual sights.

Cops on horses & kids.

The Oreo cookie

The Coca Cola Polar Bear

Santa sighting!

Veteran's Day

Sam Beimer

1945

Germany

Those brave souls like my dad helped make this a much better world.

Thanks!  

You've been resting in peace for almost 25 years.

Twenty Years Ago

Twenty years ago on the eve of the 1992 election Bill Clinton came to town.  

Actually, it was Election Day - because it was after midnight - when he finally arrived.

And, if memory serves right, it was cold and breezy in that corner of the Albuquerque Sunport tarmac.

It was his last stop before getting home to Little Rock.

My wife, Connie, found the button in the "button file" this weekend.

Ryder Cup Notes

It was a fine crisp fall time at Medinah near Chicago as the Europeans took on the Americans in the Ryder Cup golf matches.  

There were too many of these shots - Bubba headed for his ball in the woods - and USA fell to the Europeans.

Right after I took this shot a "mobile device enforcement officer" threatened to kick me out if I did it again - taking a picture of the players during play.  Seems a little over the top, but rules is rules, and I broke them.  Good for him.  Bad on me.  I put away the phone and then took pictures of scenery and things while there were no players around - and nobody cared.  

On the way into the matches on one of the shuttles I visited with a "Brit" who indicated to me that there weren't many folks on the European team that cared about the Union Anthem - isn't.  Each of their countries has their own anthem, so this is just a marketing something.  

Here's the music.

 

Medinah Country Club has been around for a long time.  In visiting with one of the 600 members at lunch, he said most of the playing members are "blue collar" but there are quite a few who are allowed to join the club and use it for marketing and promotion of their firms.

What a magnificent club house. It was originally the site of a Masonic or Shrine temple.  The facilities for the Ryder Cup were built right over two of the courses - while walking into/out of the matches, here in the middle of the path was a sprinkler head with yardage distances - but I couldn't tell where the green was - under a "building" or under the entrance/exit.

Of the three Ryder Cup matches I've visited, it was the best.  Looking forward to the next one on American soil in the Minneapolis area in 4 years.

Smooth & Mellow

So long Andy Williams.

Thanks for the memories.

Moon River is waitin' around the bend!

Enjoy

Jury Duty Completed

For the last couple of weeks I've been on standby - having been called as part of the jury pool for Metropolitan Court in Albuquerque.

My time of service came to an end on the same day I was chosen to be on a jury - only to learn upon return from lunch break that a mistrial had been declared.

I picked up my certificate of service from the friendly folks in the juror services office and was on my merry way out the building.

All in all, I have to tell you the court and its systems appear to run very well.

 

Chief Judge Judith Nakamura dropped in on the waiting "masses" - there must have been a hundred or so waiting to be called.

The amount of traffic handled by Metrocourt is astounding. The 19 judges handle upwards of a thousand cases a day. She's booking hearings right now for her November docket.

It is a beautiful building, the systems in place appear to be good - and everyone from the security officer at the front door to the clerks of the respective courts had a smile and a good attitude.

That's refreshing because most of the folks who have occasion to visit the courthouse aren't a very happy lot.

Good Job!

Oh, and there weren't any TV shows on in the jury waiting room.  Our Judge Judy said cable was cut off due to budgetary restraints a couple years ago.  However, she said things are looking better and she promised to check on the possibility of lighting up the screens once again.

Now, can you imagine - watching Judge Judy or any of those other shows while waiting to be chosen to be in a real trial?

Historic Hospital in Taos burns

It was 1936, Mable Dodge Luhan donated a house to the Town of Taos to be used as a community hospital.

For about 25 years, the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth operated the 10 bed facility.

I was born there, as were most of the people at our high school reunion last weekend.

This is what it looked like when we grew up:

Photo from Holy Cross Hospital web page.

This is what it looks like now.

A few days before our high school reunion on August 11th, in the dark of night, somebody took a torch to the building.

I don't think any of us did it in commemoration of the 49th anniversary of our graduation from dear old Taos High!  (I know, 49 instead of 50  -  but this is Taos.)

The original hospital and convent had not been used for a number of years.  A new hospital was build just in front, then it was turned in to offices and a newer hospital  - in use today - was built about 4 miles away.

Another page turned.

HERE'S MORE ON THE STORY FROM THE TAOS NEWS

You're outta here!

At least 2 significant events in the world of sports have occurred in the last couple of days...

#1)   Badminton players who were trying to throw the game - almost by throwing the little birdies instead of hitting them over the net - were ejected from the Olympics.  

I guess to them, winning is everything.  And maybe that's true.  They came from South Korea, China, and Indonesia.  If they don't go home with a medal, maybe they don't get to go home!

#2)    The Public Address announcer at a Daytona Cubs minor-league baseball game was thrown out of the game by the umpire just after the announcer and his musicologist chose to play "3 Blind Mice" subsequent to a questionable call!  Here's the story from MLB.com (thru their minor league website):
After a questionable play at first base, Harper argued the call with infield umpire Ramon Hernandez. Daytona first baseman Taylor Davis appeared to pick a ball in the dirt thrown by shortstop Tim Saunders, but it came out of his glove when he turned to toss it around the infield. Hernandez ruled Davis had bobbled the ball rather than dropping it on the transfer and declared Fort Myers' Andy Leer safe.

Seneca wheeled, pointed to Dye in the press box and shouted, "You're done!" Ditto for the Cubs' public-address announcer.  "Turn the sound off for the rest of the night," Seneca could be heard yelling during the Cubs' broadcast.


To quote Warner Wolf...the famous sports announcer from New York,
  let's go to the video tape:


Summertime in the city!

Ponce de Leon

The Ol' Swimmin' Hole

I learned today of significant news relating to my upbringing.

When we learned to swim, we did so not in the private pool of Duane Van Vechten Lineberry, but rather in a public pool of hot springs water south of town.

We just called it "hot springs" and that was it.

A fault in the Picuris Mountains of the Rocky Mountain Chain allows hot water to ooze into a stream that fed the springs.   (I don't know what heats the water, but it probably has something to do with molten lava and not so much to do with heaven or hell.).

Sometime back in "the olden days" a resort of sorts sprung up there. When we were kids there were locker rooms, a concession stand, and generally a fun place to go.

Here's what the ol' swimmin' hole looked like last year, according to a website I visited.

And here's the news of the day, courtesy of an instrument of the Town of Taos:

==================================

 WHEREAS the springs in Llano Quemado, known as The Ponce de Leon Hot Springs, have been a scared site since time immemorial for Native People, and

WHEREAS the springs, with 95-degree groundwater pools, were a popular resting spot along the Camino Real and a community gathering spot throughout the centuries, and

WHEREAS the springs, like many ancient, special land parcels in Taos, have seen ownership, preservation and issues of public access wrestled with throughout the decades, and

WHEREAS this 45-acre parcel, through the coming together of the Taos Land Trust and Taos Pueblo, has found a steward in Taos Pueblo, and

WHEREAS through this stewardship appropriate access and a conservation easement to eliminate development have been preserved and will match the wishes of the $500,000

anonymous, private donation that enabled this exceptional stewardship, and

WHEREAS we have all come together today to celebrate this stewardship of the Ponce de Leon Hot Springs by Taos Pueblo,

NOW THEREFORE, I Darren Cordova, MAYOR OF TAOS, do hereby proclaim July 14, 2012 as

“PONCE DE LEON HOT SPRINGS DAY”

In honor of this significant day in the history of Taos, New Mexico, and to pay tribute and honor both the Taos Land Trust and Taos Pueblo for this valuable action that directly contributes to our community and its future. 

===========================

Here's more

To that, I say....good!

Break Time

It's time for you to take a break and watch this


Don't let all this mullarky get you down.  It's a wonderful world!

Monsoon

OK, to the folks in Puerto Vallarta and points south, a monsoon is one thing - torrential rain that fuels the rain forests and jungles - and sometimes overwhelms the rivers.  To those of us in the good ol' US of A, it's something else.  Our monsoon brings rain to our very thirsty lawns, and a feeling of contentment amongst those of us to gather on the porch and watch the rain come down.

Here are a couple of shots out our back door.  The first, a "mini-monsoon" that occurred on July 4th - while the sun was shining.  And the second, which occurred one day later when it clouded over and dumped - if even for a few minutes.

Let the rains continue!

Pool Toys

Here's one way to clean out the pool:

Independence Day in the neighborhood

Summertime

Just sit back, turn up the volume and listen to this




Now listen to this



Wasn't life simpler then!

A Caring Hand

Does he care?   

You damn right he does!

This says it all!

Pete Souza took this official White House photo during President Obama's visit to the 

Colorado Springs area on Friday, June 29.  

What's in a name?

About 22 years ago fledgling professional golfers in search of the big time checks started participating in a minor league tour named after and by the Ben Hogan Company.

A couple of years later The Hogan Tour became the Nike Tour, named after that company.  That lasted 6 years.

Then came the Buy.Com tour.  That lasted for a couple years.

Then came the Nationwide tour.  That lasted from then until today (June 27, 2012).

Starting today, the Nationwide Tour is gone and it is now to be known as the Web.Com tour.

The participants have the same goal...play good enough to get a card and then try the big time.  Some make it, some bounce back and forth.

Someday, maybe professional tour golf will return to Albuquerque and New Mexico.  It was here for the Nike years.  It was hear for the Buy.Com years.  And before that it was here for the Sunwest Bank Charley Pride Senior Golf Classic.

All we need is a company to belly-up-to-the-bar with a few hundred thousand dollars and away we go...as Jackie Gleason would say....


He loved golf!

Then and Now

This was then (early this morning & for last 40 years)

This is now

It's even been certified by the National Fenestration Rating Council

The new window has a U-Factor and a Solar Heat Gain Coefficient and Visible Transmittance

All of that must be good!

(I wonder how one gets appointed to the National Fenestration Rating Council and if it pays members to attend meetings at 5 star resorts at least twice a year.  If so, I'm interested.)

Summer's here

Summertime and the solstice.

Want to know more?

Go here:

Memorial Day

Mr. and Mrs. Sam Beimer

Camp Adair Oregon or Ft. Leonard Wood Missouri

early 1940's - World War II

Dad was headed for Germany with the 70th Infantry

He returned to Taos after WWII and lived there until his death in the late '80s.

Mom lives on in Albuquerque (approaching the 94th).

Vacation Report #1

Having just returned from about two weeks in the Puerto Vallarta area of Mexico I can report, all was well.

Here are some sights from south of the border down Mexico way.

Guayabitos - primarily a location that is frequented by tourists from Mexico. 

It is a beautiful beach, plenty of places to frolic, eat and drink.

Speaking of frolic.  Here's a pineapple drink fashioned by Ramon at the beach club adjacent to our condo.

Hmmmm

And here's the courtyard at Playa Royale in Nuevo Vallarta, where we go twice a year.  Precisely manicured (note the stripes from the lawn mower) a number of those palm trees are holding soon to be ripe coconuts.  That's the Bay of Banderas way out yonder.  Hurricane Bob, that turned in to a tropical depression before arrival, was/is supposed to enter from Bahia Banderas.  

I've always wanted to have a hurricane party!

Mexican sunsets are the best!  The sun is setting over Punta Mita, the home of a Four Seasons and a St. Regis resort. We've not been able to get through the gate to check it out.

Vacation time

Cinco de Mayo

Despite rumors to the contrary from the folks at Best Foods and Hellmans, May 5 has nothing to do with mayonnaise.

And it has little to do with Mexico - other than a battle the Mexicans won against the French in Puebla - and the continuing battle between Corona, Tecate and Dos Equis.

Jay Leno..."This week we celebrate two major holidays. Cinco de Mayo & Sinko de Bin Laden"

It's 5 o'clock somewhere, so drink up!

Congressional Investigation

Why don’t those people quit investigating?   They do nothing to further good government, they only do things to further their own personal ambitions, or those ambitions of their respective supporters, and in the process spend thousands and thousands of our money.

A soon as something happens that attracts media attention, someone in Congress in a blue suit standing at an oak lectern in front of American flags says, “we need to investigate, so we're going to hold hearings”.  Then the poor souls who are charged with running the government are forced into more sleepless nights preparing for stupid questions that have been written by staff for  “The Senator” or “The Member” so he/she can sound somewhat intelligent.

  

There is no way us lowly citizens can ever find out how much money Congress spends “investigating” things.  

They take trips during “work periods” all around the world to “investigate” how people are spending our money – and they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on the investigation. 

And, the “investigations” will undoubtedly uncover some dirt under a rock somewhere and here come the cameras again!

We’d be better off if they’d quit investigating and keep that money in the treasury and then shut up!

Here's what it is   sing along!

Prairie Dogs

From Today Show “Animal Tracks” web page… 

These prairie dogs are just chillin’ out in the Arizona sun, looking like they are fending off food coma. The photo was taken by Jane Lyons, an interior designer who dabbles in photography. "I managed to get the shot without them becoming too alarmed and it seems I caught them at a relaxed moment,” the Philadelphia resident told Solent News. "I was really thrilled to have photographed their closeness and very unique charm and personalities."

We have prairie dogs in New Mexico, too. They can be pretty pesky little things that are real problems for horseback riders, highways, airport runways, etc.

But they are cute!

George Maloof, father of Joe, Gavin, George, Phil and Adrienne, told me once his favorite of all the stories I ever did for KOAT-TV’s Big Seven News was a report from a prairie dog village near Espanola.

I stopped by the village on a trip to Taos one day and attempted to get an interview with the Mayor of the Prairie Dog Village, but he was not commenting for TV, or any other media, at the time.

We went about our merry way going from hole to hole looking for folks to talk to, and none of those little creatures would talk. From a distance, they would stand on their front porches and watch the goings on, but they didn’t want to go on camera.

As we drove out of sight, I could hear them exclaim, “Good riddance dear reporter, now leave us alone!”

I did.

Discovery Lands

It is a sad day for US Space Travel. Space Shuttle Discovery has taken her last flight, this one from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral to Dulles Airport near Washington, DC where she will be on display for all to see from now on.

I was there when she took off for the heavens on February 24, 2011, her last mission. I can not tell you how it felt to see her aim for the stars. Here's a photo I took.




And here's a video.


I was about 3 miles away. Notice the communicator from NASA when he says "The shuttle has cleared the tower"...at that point in every mission public comment on the mission switched to Mission Control Houston and the next comment was from officials there.

Batter Up

It's the 10th year of the Isotopes in Albuquerque. Friday the 13th the team opened and here I am with Tommy Lasorda, the ambassador for the Dodgers - and a one time manager of the Albuquerque Dukes, way back in the early 1970's. He of course went on to manage the Dodgers in their good days. Maybe with the new ownership of the "big" team, those glory days will return. The 'Topes are the AAA farm club of the Dodgers.




Lawrence Rael (L) and Jim Baca, the former Mayor of Albuquerque, were on the field for the honors before the game. It was during Baca's term as Mayor that the Dukes abandoned the "Duke City". The community scrambled, and with the able assistance of Lawrence as the Mayor's Chief Administrative Officer, a deal got done not only to bring a AAA team back to Albuquerque, but to build a new stadium (oops, it was a renovation of the old Albuquerque Sports Stadium) to house them. All the pieces fell in to place and it happened, but Jim didn't get the public credit he deserved because he was out of office by the time the Isotopes started playing.



Ken Young, who is seen here addressing the 10,000+ fans on opening night was instrumental as well is getting a group of investors together to buy a club and bring it here. He's a legend in minor league baseball, and also heads Ovations Food Services which is one of the biggest concession operators in the USA.

A lot of the committee that worked to bring baseball back to Albuquerque is seen in the background stretching from present Mayor Richard Berry and his wife Marie on the left, to former Mayor Jim Baca on the right - of the photo - not politically.



Two of the hardest workers on the committee were Dan Barkley, a professor at UNM and a real baseball fan, and the legendary Chuck Lanier a long time promoter of community good in Albuquerque.



And here's my co-chair of the Backin' Baseball Committee, Vic Chavez seen here with his wife(and Orbit, the Isotopes mascot).

There was a time, 10 years ago, when things could get done without the infighting that is everywhere in the political process. I'm not sure what we did back then could be done present day.

Thanks to the voters of Albuquerque who supported the bond issue, we are the home of a very successful family entertainment venue - and it's paying it's own way.

(All photos courtesy of Connie Beimer)