Sunday Mailbag

This is not what we normally do, but let's start with a message sent in yesterday by reader P.K. in Marshalltown, IA:

I have a friend who does a great Al McGuire imitation, one in which he shouts "You're wrong, Billy Packer, you're wrong" and then inserts your name into his "analysis": "Give me four Mark Aguirres and one (Z), we go to the Final Four!"

I know this is extremely dated (as am I) but your responses to the questions Saturday often brought the above to mind, as I thought: "How in the world can you consider that show (or book or movie) great and not this (usually something in which Bill Murray was involved)?" I'm not going to hold you to task for that, but I AM going to thank you for the Saturday Fun Day. Like so many, I needed that. I look to Political Wire and you for providing the shape to my newsfeed I need. It's grim but not hopeless (and folks have referred to me as "The Eternal Pessimist") but the break was critical. Keep up the great work (but give more thought as to how Bill Murray really needs to be at the top of virtually any list of awesome stuff).

Fair point about Bill Murray. Even fairer point about the need for a respite, at times. So, we are going to keep that going today and tomorrow. The serious stuff will still be there when we resume normal order on Tuesday (and we will work some of the letters that otherwise would have run today into the regular-week material).

And now on to a pretty short, and politics-free, mailbag:

Eco-Cars

R.H. in Corning, NY, writes: In "This Week in Freudenfreude: Grease Is Sooooo 20th Century," you limited your list of environmentally friendly transportation news to six items. Corning is a U.S. company that could have been the seventh entry on your list, exploring clean-air options for five decades.

---

D.S. in Palo Alto, CA, writes: You know what cuts down on brake-pad dust even more than high-tech pad coatings? Battery electric vehicles with regenerative braking. I, and my self-driving robot, seldom touch the brake pedal of my Model Y Tesla, using only the extensive braking effect of running the motors as generators to recharge the batteries when I let off the accelerator pedal. Teslas seldom need brake jobs. Many other EV manufacturers offer similar approaches.

(V) & (Z) respond: Yes, but even EVs do produce SOME brake dust.

---

E.K.H. in San Antonio, TX, writes: A friend and I were in Amsterdam recently, and used several Uber rides while there. We were amazed at how many EVs (specifically Teslas) were used by Uber drivers. We commented on it to one driver, who told us that the city has an ordinance requiring "taxi" drivers (including Uber drivers) to use EVs. Outstanding!

Also, several months ago I observed a UPS driver making serial drop offs in my little cul de sac. When I asked him if he had an optimized delivery list, he brandished his phone and said, "I have an app!"

But of course.

---

M.M. in San Jose, CA, writes: A potential hurdle faced by California in its mandate to adopt electric cars is the amount of electricity generation that implies. An estimate is possible. We know how many total miles are traveled each year on California roads (340 billion). An electric passenger car gets about 4 miles/KwH (some get less, some more, but let's say 4). If all those miles are electric, the state will need about 85 terawatt-hours/year. The total demand for electricity right now (with only 500,000 EVs) is about 60 terawatt-hours/year, and that includes all the residential use. Thus, we will have to more than double California's total electric capacity within a decade. That's a lot of work, but it should be possible.

Modern Wonders

P.R. in Kirksville, MO, writes: My vote tor one of the modern wonders of the world is the Webb Space Telescope. It's absolutely the pinnacle of what we are currently capable of doing and one of the most sophisticated pieces of technology ever constructed. NASA/JPL can control it with absolute precision from a fixed location over a million miles from Earth. The rovers on Mars have a similar level of technological expertise.

---

L.B. in Savannah, GA, writes: I'm surprised you didn't include ITER, a multi-national fusion power plant currently under construction in France, that will be the most expensive and complex experiment in human history. ITER will allow scientists to study the design, construction, and operation of a commercial power-generating tokamak, a donut-shaped chamber that will fuse hydrogen to create limitless power. Scheduled for ignition in 2033, ITER will provide the necessary data for the design of commercial fusion power plants by the 2050s and 60s.

Presidential Hobbies

S.A. in Downey, CA, writes: In response to the question from L.B. in Bozeman regarding presidential hobbies, you mentioned several related to animals.

I used to lighten the mood in my online political discussion group by posting unusual pictures of the presidents on their birthdays. It was while poking around the Internet for this that I discovered that Benjamin Harrison brought his menagerie, which included dogs, a Billy goat, and two possums, to the White House.

The press of the time had a field day with this, which made me realize that every president is a big deal in their day, even the ones we now regarding as comparatively insignificant.

---

M.B. in San Antonio, TX, writes: I'm surprised you mentioned Franklin D. Roosevelt's hobby of choice as being model-ship building. I'm sure he did that, but more famously, Roosevelt was an avid stamp collector, and even had a few stamps portraying him as such:

(By the way, are there any other philatelists on Electoral-Vote.com?)

(V) & (Z) respond: There are certainly other presidential philatelists, most obviously Gerald Ford. We suspect some readers have acquired the hobby, as well, but we don't have any direct evidence.

A Matter of Taste

V.W. in Wiltshire, England, UK, writes: Reading (Z)'s list of favorite TV shows and movies, I'm slightly surprised The West Wing didn't make the cut. Also, Yes Minister (yes I know it's British, but it's basically a documentary as well as a comedy of how government works in every country). Thirteen Days is another one that comes to mind. And, if you can find it, The Hollowmen is basically an Australian variant of Yes Minister.

And how can you be in both the Star Trek and Star Wars camps, but not have Babylon 5 at least rate a mention?

(V) & (Z) respond: Babylon 5 was on the air 1993-98, which basically coincides with (Z)'s undergrad years. Today, UCLA students have many ways to watch TV and films. Back then, there was no streaming, no cable on campus, and antenna reception in Westwood was terrible. Even keeping up with Star Trek: The Next Generation was very difficult; any other show was a bridge too far.

---

G.B. in Kailua, HI, writes: Maybe it is a generational thing (although I certainly was not alive when the movie was made) but I am surprised that Casablanca didn't make your rather long list of movies to rewatch whenever possible. It might be the ONLY movie I have on DVD at home, and whenever I can find it available on long flights I always select and watch from opening credits to the closing scene. Multiple reasons why:

• Iconic Actors and Characters: Bogart as Rick; Bergman as Ilsa; Rains as Renault; Lorre as Ugarte, and on and on.
  
  
• Iconic Lines: "Of all the gin joints...,"; "I was misinformed," "Here's looking at you kid,; "round up the usual suspects," and, of course, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," among others.
  
  
• Behind the Scenes:: Incredible backstories for the actors, many of whom were actual refugees from Nazi Germany.
  
  
• Not a wasted scene: Every scene is needed and every scene advances the story. There is no filler, no wasted dialogue, no excessively long pans of the background. And the cinematography highlights the key moments and characters.
  
  
perfectly.
• Great Story: And, of course, a tale of courage, conviction, self-sacrifice and redemption in the midst of what would appear at the time to have been overwhelming odds and an unstoppable historical flow. Always timely, but especially now.

---

J.M. in Portland, OR, writes: Larry is my favorite stooge, too, but for different reasons. He never did anything wrong and he got smacked anyway. "Hey, leave him alone!" SMACK! (I'm laughing just writing this down.)

---

J.C. in San Diego, CA, writes: I suspect I won't be the only person who is aghast that Fantastic Mr. Fox didn't make your top Wes Anderson films. It is a masterpiece of cinema.

---

D.B. in Mountain View, CA, writes: I can't believe you didn't even mention Wes Anderson's two best movies by far, which are Isle of Dogs and Moonrise Kingdom.

Films, Time Travel

J.L. in Richmond, VA, writes: A.S. in Bedford asked about the best time-travel movies. My vote is for Primer. Made for only $7000, the ideas and plot lines in that movie are so complicated and in-depth they'll make your head hurt, but it's also a fascinating take on limited time travel compared to some goofier movies.

---

R.P. In Kāneʻohe, HI, writes: I was delighted to see how harmonious your taste in movies (and TV shows) is with my own! However, I have to address a glaring omission in your answer to A.S. in Bedford regarding the best time-travel movies. As somewhat of a time-travel-movie connoisseur myself, I must assert that the unambiguously best time-travel movie is Primer.

I'm hoping/assuming that the reason it didn't make your list is that you've never heard of it; which is not surprising because it's not widely known. It was written, directed, produced, edited and scored by Shane Carruth (who also happens to be one of the two lead actors), and as you might expect of this nearly-one-man show, it's a very low-budget film. However, in a way analogous to Clerks (Kevin Smith's breakout film), it's a rare example of an understated independent film that brightly outshines the vast majority of larger-budget Hollywood mainstream films. Among many other meritorious attributes, it is the only time-travel movie I've ever seen that brilliantly avoids the "paradox" issues most other time-travel films suffer. A word of caution, though—it's the kind of movie that you'll need to watch multiple times to understand what's going on (reminiscent of Donnie Darko, but with less spoon-feeding). And even then, when you Google it (as you will almost certainly want to do), you'll discover all sorts of details about the plot that you completely missed when you watched it. Intellectual stimulation for science/engineering nerds at its finest!

---

P.J.R. in San Jose, CA, writes: Not sure how you missed 12 Monkeys and Time Bandits from your list. Maybe it was because of Terry Gilliam, for very good reasons? But Woody Allen made the list. Maybe it was late night/early morning writing?

---

D.S. in Layton, UT, writes: You missed my personal favorite time-traveling movie. In fact, behind the first two Godfather movies and The Conversation, it is my favorite Francis Ford Coppola film (I get a lot of flack for not being a big fan of Apocalypse Now).

Peggy Sue Got Married is magical, from first frame to last.

---

P.R. in Kirksville, MO, writes: Another really good time travel movie is the low-budget, independent "The History of Time Travel." It's a mockumentary about the inventor of the first time machine and the consequences of its invention. It has the format of a historical documentary with photographs, voiceovers, and multiple interviews with contemporaries and experts, but as it proceeds, there are subtle and not-so-subtle changes as we learn about the consequences of the invention of the time machine. It's very cleverly done and highly recommended. It available on Amazon.

---

Q.F. in Boulder, CO, writes: I cannot believe you forgot Somewhere in Time. One of the best time travel stories.

Films, Shouted Lines

G.S. in Basingstoke, UK, writes: The film that contains not just the greatest, but also the second greatest shouted movie line of all time is... Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. For all the obvious flaws in the film, the late, great Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham bellowing "I'm going to cut your heart out with a SPOON," followed by responding to Guy of Gisborne's query "Why a spoon, cousin? Why not an axe?" with "because it's dull, you twit, it'll HURT MORE!" will always have my vote.

---

R.H. in San Antonio, TX, writes: For me, it's gotta be the climactic scene of White Heat, with Jimmy Cagney standing atop a flaming something-or-other, shouting "Look at me! Top of the world, ma!"

---

J.L. in Roseville, CA, writes: These two shouted quotes come to mind, both from the same movie: Network.

Howard Beale: "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

Network owner Arthur Jensen: "You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale, and I won't have it!"

---

M.S. in Hamden, CT, writes: Good choices. I feel compelled to throw in "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" from Network. Very fitting for the times. And, stretching the question a bit, there's Elsa Lanchester's scream in Bride of Frankenstein when she first sees the monster. Her hair helped.

---

D.D. in Carversville, PA, writes: Every other answer is "Inconceivable!" (Thank you Wallace Shawn as Vizzini in The Princess Bride.)

---

T.P. in Cleveland, OH, writes: Surely, Gandalf at the Bridge of Khazad-dum earns an honorable mention. "You. Shall. Not. Pass." (film version)

As for the worst shouted line, I nominate "Khannnnnnn!" in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

---

R.R. in Pasadena, CA, writes: Honestly, I can't believe that you didn't mention Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, when James T. Kirk yells "Khannnnnnn!!!!!!!" after he's been stranded inside an asteroid. William Shatner does some epic work building up to the shouted line, his face just goes places where no one has gone before. People make fun of Shatner for his overacting, but there are times that he really puts in good work, and the Star Trek movie trilogy (II to IV) definitely is one of them.

As for the worst shouted line, that has to go to the "NOOOOOO!!!!" at the end of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, when Darth Vader is informed of the death of his wife and told he is responsible. It's just wrongly placed, and hearing it from James Earl Jones just makes it that much worse. It's a line that's so bad that it spread into the special edition of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and ruined one of the best moments of that film (and perhaps the entire series). Originally, there's a moment when the Emperor is electrocuting Luke Skywalker, and they look at Darth Vader... I have no idea how, but it's possible to read the conflicting emotions on the mask, and Vader's decision to save his son and finally turn against the Emperor. In the only edition now available, that moment is overlayed by several "No!" lines that totally ruin it. I can't think of another shout in cinema history that ruins not one, but two movies.

The Great Brain

K.R. in Austin, TX, writes: I was happy to see The Great Brain referenced. It was also my favorite book series as a kid!

---

M.P. in San Francisco, CA, writes: Wow! I have found the only other person on the planet who read and loved that series.

It inspired me like nothing else did when I was a kid.

---

C.D. in Jacksonville, FL, writes: Your wait for a film adaptation of The Great Brain is over. In 1978, Jimmy Osmond starred as the title character.

(V) & (Z) respond: Yeah, the movie just can't do justice to something that was meant to be told in serial form.

For those who are fans of the children's series and are not aware, the books actually began with three volumes targeted at adults: Papa Married a Mormon, Mamma's Boarding House and Uncle Will and the Fitzgerald Curse. They are very good. It's very, very hard to find the third volume, but the first two are available as reprints/kindle downloads on Amazon.

Why the 405 Is "the 405"

S.N. in Las Vegas, NV, writes: I have always been a roadgeek, and work with highway signs for a living, so your answer on why Southern Californians preface highway numbers with "the" was quite appreciated. There is one step in the evolution that you overlooked, however. The first generation of signs posted along Southern California freeways also included names for each of them—the Hollywood Freeway, Ventura Freeway, Golden State Freeway, and so on. Over time, though, experience showed that numbers were more easily recognized when flying down the road at 70 mph, and so engineers began omitting the freeway names from the signs. Thus, what was "the Hollywood Freeway" naturally became "the 101 freeway." Northern California didn't use names as heavily for their freeways, so this transition never happened up there.

You speculated that perhaps the use of the definite article falls away in the Las Vegas area. While many long-time Nevadans don't care for the practice, there are enough Southern California transplants in Las Vegas that it isn't unusual here to hear "the 15," "the 95," and "the 215" (which is sort of an odd duck, because half of it is an Interstate and half of it is county-controlled, so it is convenient to use "the 215" to sidestep the issue of whether you mean I-215 or Clark County 215).

I moved here from Oklahoma, where there were very few freeways before the Interstate System, so there the Interstates were always referred to with the "I" in front: "take I-35 to I-240," never with the definite article (either "the I-240" or "the 240" would get you looked at like you had two heads).

---

J.E. in San Jose, CA, writes: I am sure you will get numerous responses, and I believe this has come up before. I will generally hold my tongue vs having a war of words with someone from SoCal, but I will confirm that San Luis Obispo is where we consider the dividing line—to the north, no "the"; to the south, yes "the."

Las Vegas is replete with "the" in this context, although I didn't notice it until the past 20 years. Source: I listen to a lot of radio when I am there, but I have only traveled there for 25 years, so there could be some bias. Phoenix also uses "the," in my experience. Reno does not.

The Bay Area has a lot of transplants, many of whom would like to fit in but may not recognize the subtlety between the water providers and the water stealers. They always stand out by their incorrect use of "the." I do believe we are losing this battle, and in 50 years, all freeways will have "the" used in front of them, from San Ysidro to Yreka.

---

R.L. in Alameda, CA (by way of Southfield, MI), writes: I live in the Bay Area and hear a lot of "the [number]" in reference to highways up here. Probably this is due to the preponderance of SoCal folks who have seen the light and migrated north. My wife is from L.A. I'm from Michigan. I picked up the habit of referring to "the 5," "the 880," "the 580," etc., from her. However, when I visit my family in Detroit, I automatically revert to "I-75," "US 23" and "M-14."

The Sporting Life

B.B. in Dunnellon, FL, writes: OK, these are minor points from Saturday, but as a sports nerd, I must reply.

Your proposing abolition of the commissioner makes sense on a personal level (Rob Manfred is a fiend) as well as practical (best interests of the game). You are probably aware that the last true "baseball commissioner" (as opposed to owners' CEO) was Fay Vincent, whose moves in the best interests of the game (for example, deigning to realign divisions per geography, thus placing the Cubs in the NL West rather than Cincinnati) got him fired.

Second, a team to add to the relocation list is the Sacramento Kings. They began as an original pre-NBA team, the Syracuse Nationals, then moved to Cincinnati as the Royals, then moved to Kansas City-Omaha (not exactly a metropolis) as the Kings, then shifted just to Kansas City, then to Sacramento. Three or four moves, depending on the judges.

---

S.B. in Los Altos Hills, CA, writes: A corollary to the question of which team moved the most: Which team "moved" the most without going anywhere? That would be the California Angels/Anaheim Angels/Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim/no, just Los Angeles Angels, who have played in the same stadium for 59 years.

As a kid in Colorado (pre-Rockies), I had a California Angels cap (such a cool logo with the haloed A), and Rod Carew was one of my favorite players.

(V) & (Z) respond: (Z) had lunch with Rod Carew. Very nice guy.

---

M.B. in Cleveland, OH, writes: In response to M.L. in Franklin, you wrote: "The biggest city in America without a Major League Baseball team is Cleveland. Ha, ha! Just kidding."

Of course, it's somewhat of a cliché to make fun of Cleveland's MLB team. But just to point out: In the last 12 years, the Guardians/Indians had 10 winning seasons, went to the postseason 7 times, compiled a 0.551 record, winning almost 200 more games than they lost, and earned three Cy Young and four Manager of the Year awards, every one deserved.

Now, if you want to denigrate our supposed NFL team, and their incompetent and greedy owners, I don't think anyone will try to stop you.

(V) & (Z) respond: There are worse teams right now, yes. But there is only one team that served as the hapless subject of the Major League movies.

Gallimaufry: For Your Listening Pleasure Edition

P.R. in Arvada, CO, writes: So, last week was a bad one? Here is a little ear worm to brighten your day. When I was growing up, there was a show in the U.K., many will remember, called Spitting Image. Sometimes, at the end of the show, they would have the puppets singing a song that was invariably awful. However, they were very catchy. An example of such a song is this one that was released during the apartheid era: "I've Never Met A Nice South African."

Every time Elon Musk is out there doing something stupid, this pops into my head. It would be a REAL shame if this ended up trending on eX-Twitter.

(V) & (Z) respond: South Africa really is the anti-Canada, isn't it?

---

L.C. in Temple, TX, writes: With all the recent news, I listen to this almost daily: "We've Been Through Some Crappy Times Before."

Final Words

C.B. in Fresno, CA, writes: You might find this interesting:

It's the grave of Wayland Andrew Crowell (1924-96), who was known to friends as "Jack Crow" and was the owner of the last company in America to manufacture wooden clothespins. The inscription:

Here lies old Jack Crow
It was too bad he had to go
While on this Earth he was Hell bent
And we knew some day he would up and went

If you have suggestions for this feature, please send them along.

---

If you wish to contact us, please use one of these addresses. For the first two, please include your initials and city.

• questions@electoral-vote.com    For questions about politics, civics, history, etc. to be answered on a Saturday
• comments@electoral-vote.com   For "letters to the editor" for possible publication on a Sunday
• corrections@electoral-vote.com To tell us about typos or factual errors we should fix
• items@electoral-vote.com            For general suggestions, ideas, etc.

To download a poster about the site to hang up, please click here.

---

Email a link to a friend.

---The Votemaster and Zenger