mikemoto's New Writeups

Allan Arbus (person)

2005-01-16T03:15:02Z

American actor born in New York in 1918. His career began in the 1930's when he was employed by Russek's, a high class furrier located in Manhattan. The Russek's granddaughter was Diane Nemerov, whom Arbus would marry in 1941.

After marriage and work in the Signal Corps during World War II, Arbus and his wife beagn a career in the fashion photography business. They were quite successful but by the late 1950's with two children, Allan had caught the acting bug and Diane had wanted to photograph more interesting subjects (see Diane Arbus). The couple was divorced in 1959.

Allan's acting carrer began to take off in the early 1970's when he first appeared in the lead role in Robert Downey's film Greaser's Palace. This led to his best known role, that of the recurring character of psychiatrist Sidney Freedman on the televion show M*A*S*H.

The Hamann Line (idea)

2004-04-11T01:56:58Z

Elmer "Doc" Hamann pitched in one game for the Cleveland Indians on September 21, 1922 against the Boston Red Sox and never played again. Unfortunately, Mr. Hamann faced seven batters in the above mentioned game and did not retire a single one. Since baseball's earned run average statistic is computed via dividing the number of earned runs by innings pitched, this means Doc has the dubious distinction of owning a record which can never be broken, an ERA of infinity.

A new baseball statistic should now be employed to honor this man. Anytime, a pitcher records his first out in the major leagues, he has thus crossed the Hamann line, similar to when a player hits above .200 or The Mendoza Line or exceeds home run number one to pass the Duane Kuiper line.

Interstates which are not really interstates (idea)

2004-03-21T13:38:28Z

By definition an interstate highway should go between two or more states. However, there are several highways in the United States which were built as part of the Eisenhower system which are actually intrastates meaning that they only go between cities in one state and never cross borders. Examples include:

H1, H2, and H3 which all service the island of Oahu, Hawaii
I45 which goes between Dallas and Galveston in Texas
I27 which goes between Amarillo and Lubbock in Texas
I49 which goes between Shreveport and Lafayette in Louisiana
I12 which goes between Baton Rouge and Slidell in Louisiana
I17 which goes between Flagstaff and Phoenix in Arizona
I19 which goes between Tucson and Nogales in Arizona
I4 which goes between Daytona and Tampa in Florida
I16 which goes between Macon and Savannah in Georgia

Please note that I am not including three digit "beltways" such as I495 Long Island Expressway in New York.

Whitey Ford (person)

2004-01-17T01:37:31Z

Hall of fame baseball pitcher born Charles Edward Ford in New York on October 21, 1928. He spent his entire career with the New York Yankees and made his major league debut on July 1, 1950 in a rather inauspicious relief appearance against the Boston Red Sox. However, great things were soon to come for "The Chairman of the Board" as he became known. He proceeded to win nine of his first 10 decisions that year and was the winning pitcher in game 4 of the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Ford missed the 1951 and 1952 seasons due to the Korean War but came back strong in 1953 posting an 18-6 mark and leading the Yankees to another World Championship. Whitey's win total during the 1950's was somewhat hampered by the fact that manager Casey Stengel liked to pitch him on 4 days rest which was rather unorthodox for that particular time.

Stengel was fired following the Yankees loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1960 World Series and was replaced by Ralph Houk. Houk opted…

The Nazz (thing)

2004-01-13T02:05:58Z

The Nazz was the name of a Philadelphia-based psychadelic rock group headed by a very young and virtually unknown guitarist named Todd Rundgren. Their self titled debut album from late 1968 featured the minor hits "Hello, It's Me," which Rundgren turned into a larger hit as a solo artist later, and "Open My Eyes", an unbelieveable song with fuzz guitar and "looping" vocals. The latter also had a short movie (remember this is 1969, no MTV yet) released which was directed by Ray Dennis Steckler, the man who brought us The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies.

The Nazz released one more album called appropriately enough "Nazz Nazz" which had a slightly harder sound exemplified by the opening track "Forget All About It" which featured a long guitar solo by Rundgren. These were the only two albums this band released and if not for Rundgren's subsequent fame would be largely forgotten today.

New York Yankees (thing)

2003-12-29T20:57:37Z

American League baseball franchise founded in 1901, which played its first two seasons in Baltimore as the Orioles. After moving to New York in 1903 and playing at Hilltop Park in Manhattan, they became known as the Highlanders. Their most famous player at this point was pitcher Jack Chesbro, who in 1904 set a record, which will undoubtedly never be broken, of 41 victories in a single season.

The team changed their name to the Yankees in 1913 after they moved into the Polo Grounds, which they shared with the National League's New York Giants. In 1915, the team was purchased by Colonel Jacob Ruppert, who initiated the famous pinstripe uniforms the following season. It wasn't until 1920, however when the Yankees purchased Babe Ruth's contract from the Boston Red Sox, that the team became a powerhouse. In 1921 and 1922 they won the American League pennant but lost each time to the Giants in what was the first two subway series. However, they outdrew the…