Monthly Archives: August 2011

Okay, only in California and New York, but…. The great Chinese detective/magistrate and statesman, famous in history, legend, and Mr. Van Gulik’s books, is back on the big screen! Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame on Ain’t … Continue reading →

Way too many fronts the last few days, way too many changes in barometric pressure. Yesterday and most of today was okay, but now? Not enjoying it. I’ll probably take my nighttime sinus pill and go to bed early.

King Philip II (Augustus) of France (otherwise known as the nasty customer who started a war with Richard I of England while Richard was still on Crusade) apparently also had his marriage troubles. His first wife died in her second … Continue reading →

Okay, I’m not a big fan of horror movies, or even scary movies. But this doesn’t strike me as fair. Guillermo del Toro, like a lot of kids who grew up to love horror movies, grew up watching scary movies … Continue reading →

Not just normal Yersinia pestis. Mutant Yersinia pestis. Good ol’ fashioned genetic engineering by Mother Nature. Yum.

Hay Fever and Paroxysmal Sneezing is an interesting old book. At that time, allergy was fairly rare except in the US and the UK, and in some countries in Europe (like Spain) it was vanishingly rare. Obviously there’s something about … Continue reading →

Wonderduck has a true story of heroism, love, art, fighting, and a stranger in a strange land making it his own. Read the whole thing.

This is how you know you’re watching Dayton public access: Nancy Cartwright, the voice actress who plays Bart Simpson, doing readers’ theater! Under “Fairmont’s Fall Play”, they were doing a fantasy/horror short story called “If I Were You”. The idea … Continue reading →

The Library of the Royal Academy of History in Spain (Biblioteca Digital Real Academia de Historia) has links to nice digital scans of their manuscript books. You have to go all the way down to the bottom of the catalog … Continue reading →

Not that they’re likely to have a throwdown or anything. It’s been interesting, comparing the popular apocalypticism of this week to the attitudes of the Fathers and ecclesiastical writers quoted by St. Beatus of Liebana (in his Commentary on Revelation). … Continue reading →

Candles are a fire hazard. Candles in jars are better. But shallow amounts of olive oil in a jar as a lamp burns cooler and is less smoky. Salt your wick to keep it from charring. For those of us … Continue reading →

Here’s an oldish webpage I’ve never seen before, all about what those common ingredients with weird names actually do for your common household products. The shampoo explanation is very good.

Well, I’m finally done with a big chunk of St. Beatus on Revelation, quoting St. Gregory the Great on Ezekiel and the Four Living Creatures. And once again, unlike the crazy people we meet on the Internet, these guys are … Continue reading →

The Sententiae of Publilius Syrus (or Publius Syrus) were very famous in the ancient, medieval, and Renaissance world. But unlike most surviving texts, they are not the work of a philosopher, a statesman, or a poet. They are the punchlines … Continue reading →