Extra, extra

Too many quahogs, not enough time (or wampum, but that’s another story). Just wanted to pass along a few Rhody-centric tidbits before resuming with our traditional Monday blog. The first comes from today’s sports pages in The New York Times. It’s an eccentric piece comparing former free agent Mark Texeira, who spurned the Red Sox to don the dreaded Pinstripes, with lifelong Red Sox fan Mark Texeira, a respected jazz and blues drummer from Pawtucket, who has been taking grief ever since his namesake went all Yankee on us. The story touches on Rhode Island culture, especially the local fascination with baseball and the Sox-Yankees rivalry and the state’s intimate connection to Portugal (noting that up to 10 percent of Rhode Islanders claim Portuguese heritage). The good Texeira even attended the world’s longest professional baseball game as a kid. The bad Texeira has no comment on the story.

Rhodywood
Congratulations to Rhode Island actors Richard Jenkins and Viola Davis for being nominated for Academy Awards. Jenkins, the longtime Trinity Repertory Theater actor and director who still lives in Cumberland, received a best actor nomination for his performance as a lonely widower in “The Visitor.” Davis, who grew up in Central Falls and graduated from Rhode Island College, earned a best supporting actress nomination for her role as a mother who learns some hard news about her son in “Doubt.”
The R.I. International Film Festival also had a good day. Three short films that premiered at RIIFF were nominated for Oscars. They include “This Way Up,” from the United Kingdom, nominated for best animated short and two films nominated for best live action short – “New Boy” from Ireland and “Spielzeugland” (Toyland) from Germany.

Rhody Universe: Good ink?
Tuesday’s Presidential Inauguration was marked in Rhode Island by the news that Rhody’s own A.T. Cross Company made the pen that President Obama used to sign a series of inauguration documents and executive orders. With just a week’s notice, the Lincoln-based business (founded in Providence in 1846) was selected by the Obama-Biden transition team to provide the presidential pens. The Cross Townsend black lacquer rolling-ball pens feature the presidential coat of arms and are engraved with Obama’s signature on the barrel. The company’s Web site already has a replica pen available for $135, along with a version in 10-karat gold.
But like most things in Rhody, beware of the fine print: The pens were engraved in the home office at Lincoln but they were made in China.

Today’s ‘Only in Rhode Island’ moment
While driving the two-lane Wampanoag Trail into Providence, morning commuters came upon two orange Road Work Ahead signs. The one in the left lane read: Right Lane Closed. The one in the right lane read: Left Lane Closed. Thankfully, the drunken conga line of cars swerving and braking resulted in no accidents as drivers tried to figure out which of the signs was wrong. (For the record: It was the left sign.)