All Purls. No Swine.
For those who don't know, guinea worm is a parasite which lives in contaminated water, and has long been a scourge of West African nations, a parasite which invades and infests its hosts via the digestive tract, and eventually migrates to extremities like the lower leg, blistering and bursting painfully before the worm gradually emerges--just… Continue reading Dracunculiasis–Guinea Worm
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!
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
Crimenutely. The date is almost upon us. Come tomorrow, March 21, 2025, Disney's latest iteration of Snow White hits US theaters. I've done my best, during what must be one of the most drawn-out, screwed-up, infelicitous run ups to a premiere in movie history, to keep my dear readers up to speed with developments over… Continue reading Sometimes It’s Not Real, and It’s Not Even True: Disney’s Latest Snow White Staggers To the Finish Line
Story of my life. Still, that's not really the point of today's Quote of the Day: Translated from the Italian, it's Nessun Dorma. And it's an aria from Puccini's Turandot. (I'm not engaging in the proper pronunciations of the work. You can look here for more, or less, clarification, however it suits you.) It's a… Continue reading QOTD: None Shall Sleep
The Telegraph is full of stories today about yesterday’s resignation of the Most Reverend Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the latest in a long line of senior clergy of one or another Christian denomination who have been brought to account for covering up horrific crimes committed by churchmen, in this case, the jaw-dropping decades of… Continue reading The Downfall of an Archbishop and the Rise of a Soldier
Today, November 12, 2024 is the 70th anniversary of the closure of Ellis Island, once the foremost inspection and processing station for prospective immigrants to the United States of America. Untold millions passed through its gates during its 64 years of operation, and it stands today as a museum highlighting the history of the United… Continue reading Ellis Island, A Personal Retrospective
Got one of those annoying cheery little pop-ups on my phone this morning, announcing that December 22 is National Date Nut Bread Day. I love date nut bread. I was first introduced to it by a co-worker I'll call John (not his real name), in 1987 or so. The large hospital system I was working… Continue reading National Date Nut Bread Day, and the Complications of Memory
Yeah. It was four years ago that I wrote the following (mildly) amusing post about a bunch of clowns dressed as bees who attempted to hijack Boris Johnson's bus in the pouring rain. The climate protest group Extinction Rebellion (XR) wasn't particularly effective in those days: Few paid much attention, and many of those who… Continue reading A Simpler Time: Revisiting Extinction Rebellion’s Sticky Bees, 2019 Edition
Telegraph breaking news: Queen becomes latest victim of cancel culture as portrait is removed from Oxford college. The Queen has become the latest victim of cancel culture after students at an Oxford College voted to remove her portrait. The Queen’s likeness hung in the middle common room (MCR) of Magdalen College, which has a long association with members of… Continue reading There’s A Reason It’s Pronounced “Maudlin”