CELEBRATING MAYHEW’S BAKED POTATO MAN
FOR DINNER LAST evening, we had baked potatoes, the sort that are wrapped and zapped in a microwave for 12 minutes the pair (our microwave is a baby one). Wife … Continue reading
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, BALNIBARBI, LUGGNAGG, GLUBBDUBDRIB, AND JAPAN PART 2
YESTERDAY IN PART 1, we learned why Jonathan Swift included Japan among fanciful destinations in Gulliver’s Travels and also why he chose anonymous authorship for this satire. Today in Part … Continue reading
A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, BALNIBARBI, LUGGNAGG, GLUBBDUBDRIB, AND JAPAN PART 1
THE ITINERARY ABOVE is actually the title of Part Three in Gulliver’s Travels, published anonymously in London in 1726. Why, I wondered, did Jonathan Swift include Japan with these outlandish, … Continue reading
THANKS, CHRISTO, FOR GIVING US PLEASURE
ART GIVES PLEASURE in many ways. It can illuminate; it can provoke. It can be ephemeral; it can be timeless. All of the above describe the artistic endeavors of Christo. … Continue reading
GOOD SNACKIN’ ON YA, MATE! PART 2
YESTERDAY IN PART 1, we met the Australian Halal Snack Pack’s North American cousins, Poutine and Chili Cheese Fries. Today, we sample H.S.P., as it’s known to Ozzies. And I … Continue reading
GOOD SNACKIN’ ON YA, MATE! PART 1
THE HALAL SNACK PACK is an Australian cousin of Québécoise Poutine and American Chili Cheese Fries. What’s more, H.S.P., as the Ozzies call it, has become a symbol of liberal … Continue reading
A POPULATION SNAPSHOT FROM LEATHERBY AND MCCANN PART 2
THIS CONTINUES OUR demographic tour of data appearing in “Sweden Stayed Open. A Deadly Month Shows the Risks,” by Lauren Leatherby and Allison McCann, in The New York Times, May … Continue reading
A POPULATION SNAPSHOT FROM LEATHERBY AND MCCANN PART 1
DEMOGRAPHIC DATA ARE fascinating. “Sweden Stayed Open. A Deadly Month Shows the Risks,” by Lauren Leatherby and Allison McCann, in The New York Times, May 17, 2020, is a compelling … Continue reading
SHAKESPEAREAN LOCALES
FOR A GUY from provincial Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare knew his way around the Europe of his day. Here are tidbits on locales of several Shakespeare comedies. We’ll save the tragedies … Continue reading
RALLY ’ROUND THE FLAG PART 1
THE RALLY ’ROUND the Flag Effect is a political-science concept not exactly evident today. As detailed in Wikipedia, the concept describes an “increased short-run popular support of the President of … Continue reading
