All Purls. No Swine.
It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived. This is the quote attributed to General George S. Patton in his extemporaneous remarks at Boston’s Copely Plaza, on June 7, 1945. There’s no written record (on his part) of his saying such a thing,… Continue reading Quote of the Day: From ‘Old Blood and Guts in the Year Of Our Lord 2024’
Funny, sometimes, how the mind works. Today’s Telegraph has an obituary for figure skater Sjoukje Dijkstra, who has died at the age of 82. It’s a name that–today–will likely trip lightly off the tongues only of those native to Holland, but I’m a geezer, and I know that it’s pronounced something on the order of “SHOU-kee DIKE-stra.” Miss… Continue reading Sjoukje Dijkstra, RIP
One of the most delightful parts of my weekend is opening my email (yes, really, I know how sad that sounds) on Sunday sometime and discovering Douglas Murray’s latest “Things Worth Remembering” installment for The Free Press. I’m a basic (paid) subscriber to the site, so I get all the links and can read the… Continue reading For I Will Consider Christopher Smart, Who Died 253 Years Ago Today. And, Also, Our Penny
A reprise, in large part, of a previous post, updated with more recent concerns, the most immediate of which has been this weekend, or even just this morning. One of my favorite childhood stories was that of The Town Mouse and The Country Mouse. There's never been any doubt in my mind which side of… Continue reading The Gift That Keeps On Giving–In Praise of Dowsers
A repeat, because--by gum--those wonderful men deserve it: Eighty-one years ago, on May 16-17 1943, an elite group of airmen, mostly from the Royal Air Force, but also with contingents from Canada and Australia, took off in nineteen Lancaster bombers from the RAF station in Scampton, Lincolnshire. Their mission was clear: Destroy three dams in… Continue reading Dam Busters +81
I'm a Telegraph subscriber myself, so--under current rules of political correctness which specify that only those "in group" should be allowed to speak about, and especially criticize, "group" matters, I'm golden. Right now (about 3PM Eastern US on Tuesday May 14, 2024) there are no fewer than three posts about the unveiling of the first… Continue reading A New Portrait of the King: Telegraph Subscribers Lose Their Minds
I don't write headlines, or epitaphs, for a living. Too short. (They, not I.) Still, were I to attempt one of either (or perhaps both) over the ghastly matter of South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem's shooting of the fourteen-month old Cricket two decades ago, that would be it. For those not in the know, Noem… Continue reading Irresponsible, Out-of-Control Woman Shoots Dog She’d Set Up To Fail
Arnold George Dorsey must have thought quite deeply about the answer to Shakespeare’s question, one which seems, at least in his case, to have boiled down to, “quite a lot, really.” Born eighty-eight years ago today in Madras, India (the date is sometimes given as May 2), young Mr. Dorsey riffled through several options before… Continue reading Quote of the Day: What’s in a Name?”
Or maybe the better term is LARPing (which isn’t so easy to fit into a succinct and clever title). In either case, it’s people with privilege (talking about actual, personal, individual privilege, such as students (whatever their background) who’ve been accepted into some of the most elite educational institutions in the world and who, as… Continue reading The State of (Cos)Play