What's becoming an annual tradition here, on November 18, not long before Thanksgiving in these United States. We all have our life-markers. This is one of mine. ...on November 18, 1978, I was sitting in the little snack bar in the base station of New Hampshire’s Mount Washington (a short mountain, comparatively speaking, but one… Continue reading 47 Years Ago Today, in Jonestown, Guyana….
Category: History
Celebrating that Most British of Festivals: Guy Fawkes Night
Welcome to that most British of festivals–Bonfire Night–Guy Fawkes Night–the Fifth of November. The festival that, when I was a kid, was exponentially bigger than Halloween, as for a few days before, children would push around a wheelbarrow laden with a straw-stuffed effigy of Guido Fawkes, usually dressed in their father’s cast-offs or scrapings from… Continue reading Celebrating that Most British of Festivals: Guy Fawkes Night
Obamandias
I met a traveler from a Midwest Park Who said–“A vast and legless trunk of stone Stands in the city. . . . Near it, in the dark, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown Of cold contempt, and wrinkled lip, and smirk, Tell that its builder well those passions read Which yet survive,… Continue reading Obamandias
Architectural Originalism
I am amused by the meltdown among the Left and the legacy media (but I repeat myself) over the demolition of the White House East Wing, a building which–as far as I can see–had no particular historical or aesthetic merit, and seems to have consisted of cramped offices, the entrance and exit points for White… Continue reading Architectural Originalism
Forty-Two Years Ago Today, in Beirut Lebanon
Two trucks loaded with bombs detonated, killing a total of 307 people, 241 of whom were American military personnel, dozens of whom were French military, and a few of whom were civilians and (not important) a couple of the attackers. I'm not sure we've ever dealt with it, or even come to terms with it,… Continue reading Forty-Two Years Ago Today, in Beirut Lebanon
No Kings? Grow Up Already!
Really, righteous people. If what you want to do is endanger yourselves (you keep on saying that you feel endangered, because--what else--Trump!) by bravely stepping up to the line and perhaps even crossing it, I should have thought by now you'd have noticed that you've felt no consequences--ever--for doing so. Just like Meryl Streep at… Continue reading No Kings? Grow Up Already!
On Cotton Bolls and Dancing Queens
Honestly, there are days when the tsunami of news is so overwhelming that I can’t but do other than reflect on the words of the late Mr. Right's Aunt Sophie, who served as a real-life Rosie the Riveter in one of Pittsburgh’s munitions factories during World War II, and who was well known in the… Continue reading On Cotton Bolls and Dancing Queens
The Calendar Riots of 1752: “Give us back our eleven days!”
An oldie-but-goodie from a September 2nd a couple of years ago, lightly updated for contemporary references: This post is about one of those "rabbit-holey" things we all (or, or at least, those of us who suffer from the Elephant Child's 'satiable curiosity with an added fillip (which that EC didn't quite manage) that we like… Continue reading The Calendar Riots of 1752: “Give us back our eleven days!”
On Fanatics
A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject. The above quote is often attributed to Winston Churchill but I like to hedge my bets, so I checked the invaluable quoteinvestigator site for enlightenment. Its conclusion is that Churchill probably did say this, as it is listed in a book… Continue reading On Fanatics
July 19, 1963–Joe Walker Reaches Space
Barely five miles down the back roads from me is "Joe Walker Elementary School," named after hometown hero Joe Walker, who was the first person to fly an airplane to space. Joe was born in Washington, Pennsylvania on February 20, 1921, and graduated from Washington and Jefferson College with a BA in Physics in 1942. … Continue reading July 19, 1963–Joe Walker Reaches Space