History

The Abyss!

Boötes Void , aslo known as the “Great Nothing”, via Wikipedia.org “He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.” Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, Ch IV, Section 146, Via Project Gutenberg Nietzsche is a very interesting figure, whose work is often admired and/or criticized, but seldom understood. It does not help that he suffered bouts of ill health throughou

Feb 184 min read

I don't grok Grok!

Fallen Caryatid Carrying Her Stone, Auguste Rodin, via Cleveland Museum of Art When I first read Stranger in a Strange Land , I was too young to fully understand much of it. Of course I only realized that when I read it again, several years later. Over the years, I have read the book a dozen or so times, and picked up a bit more each time. This is the nature of good books – you can read them again, and pick up something new. Sometimes, you pick up some subtlety in the story o

Feb 114 min read

Redacted!

This is my honest opinion of Donald Trump. It’s been redacted, in order to avoid offending anyone due to language or, um... physical impossibility. I just hope I did better than the US Department of Justice (DOJ), when they released the tiny, first-drip of files related to Jeffrey Epstein . Interestingly, the Wikipedia article on Epstein is pretty concise. “Jeffrey Edward Epstein (January 20, 1953 – August 10, 2019) was an American financier, child sex offender, serial rapist

Feb 45 min read

Inconceivable!

Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), from The Princess Bride, via YouTube.com “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” For anyone not familiar with The Princess Bride , go watch it. I’ll wait. (The tragic death of director Rob Reiner may lead to many new people watching this wonderful film, and many others to re-watch it. A true masterpiece.) For everyone else, just enjoy the exchange between Inigo Montoya (played by Mandy Patinkin ), and Vizzi

Dec 24, 20254 min read

You say you want a revolution!

Cover art for the single “Revolution”, by The Beatles, via Wikipedia I didn’t realize there were two Revolutions. Of course I knew the song Revolution , but unlike people who owned the White Album , my exposure to the Beatles was almost entirely through the “ Red ” and “ Blue ” compilation albums, and whatever I heard on the radio. Thus, I was only familiar with a relatively small part of their total output. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that there were TWO “Revoluti

Dec 10, 20255 min read

Details Matter!

Cartoon by Tom Gauld, 11 th April 2013, for @newscientist One letter can make a big difference. Or one number. I’ve mentioned You Are Not So Smart (YANSS) before. It’s a podcast created by David McRaney , who is a science journalist, author, and speaker who is fascinated by brains, minds, and culture. I’ve been listening to YANSS for years, and it’s well worth the time. On episode 313 , David McRaney and his guest, Erica Chenoweth , discussed the work done by Chenoweth and

Dec 3, 20254 min read

Bombes vs Bombs!

Wartime picture of a Bletchley Park Bombe, via Wikipedia.org I’m mentioned Alan Turing and (some of) his contributions to computer technology, and still managed to not even mention the work which probably had the greatest influence on the world at the time. For a bit of background, the Enigma machine was a cipher device that was developed in the years after World War I. To simplify dramatically, it used three rotors (four, in some models) which turned in sequence after each

Nov 5, 20254 min read

By His Bootstraps!

Cover Art, Astounding Science Fiction, October 1941, via Wikipedia.org One of my favourite stories by Robert A Heinlein , was actually written by Anson MacDonald. Early in his career, Heinlein wrote under several pseudonyms , but only one of them was “obvious”. I’m not aware of any way to link the names Lyle Monroe, John Riverside, Caleb Saunders, or Simon York to Heinlein. In contrast, knowing that Robert Anson Heinlein was, at that time, married to Leslyn MacDonald made “An

Oct 29, 20254 min read

Good Vibrations!

Lionel Hampton, playing Flying Home (1957), via YouTube.com With a title like “Good Vibrations”, you’re probably thinking I’ll talk about the Beach Boys, but no. Instead, I want to go back a bit further, and talk about jazz legend Lionel Hampton . Hampton started his career as a drummer, and combined brilliant technique with wonderful showmanship. An excellent example can be found here , where he demonstrates his ability, while also juggling his drumsticks and showing his sim

Oct 22, 20254 min read

Who The F^ck is Charlie?

Charlie Chaplin, in The Great Dictator, 1940, via Wikimedia Commons Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about fascism. While I already had a fair degree of familiarity and understanding of the big picture, I’ve been picking up (and often blogging about) items which are new to me. Predictably, most are disturbing, but I occasionally come across something wonderful. Charlie Chaplin was an immensely influential figure in the history of cinema, and his “Tramp” character has been an

Oct 15, 20254 min read

Debate me, Bro!

The School of Athens. Print by Giorgio Ghisi, of painting by Raphael, via Wikimedia Commons What most people call “debate” really is not. I found the Wikipedia article quite amusing. My favourite bit was where it says: “...debates emphasize logical consistency, factual accuracy, and emotional appeal to an audience.” I guess one out of three isn’t bad? Even so-called “formal” debate, where there are rules, judges, and guidelines for acceptable conduct, are more about competit

Oct 8, 20255 min read