Turns out there is a herbal remedy for when you feel too hot. Even when the thermometer is at record levels. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work for everybody (meaning men). One of the factoids I learned this morning after we tracked down a health food store using the accumulated knowledge of mankind served up by my friend Google.
posted in food, history, travel | Comments Off on A stroll in the Public Gardens | 362 words
Forty days and nights; in Judeo-Christian context it often defines a period of waiting or wandering. In my world, it defines the length of a summer on the Island. My latest project involves researching (and perhaps writing about) fifteen different summers. No sense taking on something small, right?
posted in education, history | Comments Off on Putting the story in order | 303 words
A little fantasy goes a long way, in the world of the TV producer. This evening, CTV has begun telecasting another purchase from BBC. Merlin comes with the kind of budget a CanCon production can only dream about, along with a palette of new talent mixed with old. Unfortunately, the story has been painted with brushstrokes best used in a cheap cartoon. The family has already voted after the first hour. No magic will save this one.
posted in history | Comments Off on Insufficient magic to satisfy younger tastes | 264 words
I recognize that man can alter a given landscape in a shorter time frame than normal geological forces, but how do we map progress? Part of an ongoing project that I tinker with is a particular history that details the small school I worked with over a period of two decades (minus a bit). We were hosted on the campus of the university, which hasn’t stopped self-modification in decades. What map best fits an event?
posted in history | Comments Off on Explaining that things were different back then | 266 words
This evening, through the wonder of home cinema, we watched a war movie. Or a political movie. The colours are certainly more vivid than in the old days, but themes vary little. War as politics; politics as war.
posted in history | Comments Off on With better timing and a cooler day | 259 words
After an evening of home cinema, a quote is necessary. “Once more into the breech, dear friends”. Although I’ve always believed that the best reason for watching a movie at home was the freedom to pause, consult the food stores, relieve the pressure and hit play, tonight proved an exception. I didn’t leave my seat, not once, because the newest Canadian battle story kept me in place. Put it down to fear of the incessant rain, or the chance of a stray mortar hit, but Passchendaele is one of those movies that actually works.
posted in history, media | Comments Off on They even made their own mud | 306 words
I came from a time and place where children played with toys. Not a large variety, because the economy didn’t allow excess, but the toy was the driving force behind hundreds of hours of play. In retrospect, my toys wouldn’t pass the “politically correct” checklists in use today, and my choice was influenced by the media and marketing. Still, I had fun.
posted in history | Comments Off on Stand at attention | 262 words
The whole idea of reading stuff on the screen is obvious to me, although I don’t (yet) own one of the fancier gadgets that the marketplace keeps pushing out, one innovative idea after another. I tried to get into the habit with a used Palm Pilot which was acquired on eBay, but there are more important things to do with that tiny screen, ( like controlling shortwave radios). I read online newspapers, every day, and the odd book has been perused, thanks to the unsung heros of the Usenet. I even own a scanner, although the lack of Twain drivers for Vista, or any support under Linux leave me perplexed. What if I could leave the biomass of dreams between covers stored in my basement, and convert the important titles to something easily stored on the Net?
posted in history | Comments Off on New ways to read old materials | 327 words
There is nothing like a good book, unless it is a set of good books. I lucked into a set that had been making the rounds at work, and will recommend them highly. Soon. You see, the fourth volume is still in my reading bag, and if the bus is slow tomorrow morning I’ll have the story “done”, ready to contribute my little bit to a reading circle. After all, good books deserve to be shared.
posted in history | Comments Off on Good reading for the rest of you | 349 words
Other than a series of Revell models, painstakingly glued together and never painted, I’ve not had much experience in building replicas of things. The Revell period of my life happened long before I even owned a bicycle, so I guess I needed something to fill time. Give credit to their engineers; if I ever have to assemble a rocket and capsule in the order necessary for launch my training phase is complete. But, let’s get on track here, because the idea of building a replica is in the news.
posted in history, technology | Comments Off on Replica of flight | 312 words
