Archive for the ‘All’ Category
Beard of the Week XXX: Bauhaus Style
Let's get the year of beards started with a bit of style–Bauhaus style, to be specific. This week's beard belongs to Swiss artist Paul Klee (1879–1940). The upper photo shows Klee as most of the world might have seen him; the lower image is Paul Klee as seen by Paul Klee. He taught at the […]
In: All, Beard of the Week, Music & Art
FDR on "A Decade of Debauch"
In April 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pointed out while he was dealing with the wreckage of the Great Depression: "America a century ago was regarded as an economic unity. But as time went on the country was cut up, bit by bit, into segments. We heard about problems of particular localities, the problems of […]
The Rising Tide
I had a passing thought about the operational platitude for Reaganomics that collided with another thought; the second one bounced off so I don't remember what it was, but consider the platitude: The rising tide floats all boats. Could it be that the platitude encapsulates useful truth, provided we realize that "rising tide" is meant […]
In: All, Briefly Noted, Reflections
Today in Equality
Let's skate right on past the latest news story about alleged presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and his assertion that the US Constitution should be amended to conform to his god's "laws", largely to be sure that men never marry men (or animals, or whatever…). I'm sure Google will provide details to the interested. We'll also […]
Eyes & Mouths
Here are the entries in a Photoshop contest called "Mouth Eyes pictures". The idea was to take an image of a person or animal (or something similar) and replace the eyes with little mouths. The results repulsed and amused me, which is an odd feeling.
In: All, Curious Stuff, Laughing Matters
CEO vs. WGA
Avedon Carol says (in its entirety): Reuters says: "Disney says Iger's salary rose 7 percent to $27.7 million." United Hollywood: "By way of context — if the WGA got everything it was asking for, it would cost Disney $6.25 million a year. Mr. Iger could write a personal check to end the strike for his […]
Sing a Song of Science
As so often happens, this began innocently enough. It all started on Monday, when a friend of mine sent me a YouTube link, claiming that he had found the prefect theme song for Ars Hermeneutica's Sun Truck project. Indeed he may have done. The song was called "Why the Sun Shines?". Fans of the group […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, Music & Art
Adverbial Excitement
For reasons that need not be detailed, I came across an exciting new adverb in this patent description of a "Portable Baby Seat": Accordingly, a portable baby seat is provided having a front member, a back member and a seat. The seat is hingedly coupled at its back edge into an interior bottom surface of […]
In: All, Laughing Matters, Such Language!
Science-Book Challenge
Melanie, who is a regular visitor here at Bearcastle Blog, writes about books and books that she's read and books that she's going to read at her blog, The Indextrious Reader. A common–shall we say, "characteristic"?–of book lover is excess. Visitors to our home will recognize that we keep what some people would consider and […]
Local Primaries
Apparently one of the New England states had a local primary election yesterday, whose purpose was to choose a few delegates to go to a presidential nominating convention. The convention itself strikes me as a quaint curiosity, a vestigial bit of ceremony with no real use in the 21st century. The trill that people can […]
In: All, Current Events, Splenetics
Word Zen
There's one thing I was going to mention in my "Kinsey Report at 60" posting about my story, but I forgot. Sometime back we had a brief discussion about the "AutoSummarize" feature in Word, and how it could be used repeatedly to accomplish a certain poetic effect. Well, I did this with an early draft […]
The Kinsey Report at 60
It was on this date, 5 January in 1948, that W.B. Saunders Co., a medical-textbook publisher in Philadelphia, published Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, by Alfred C. Kinsey, Wardell B. Pomeroy, and Clyde E. Martin. The cover price was $6.50. Exceeding all expectations, The Kinsey Report was a sensation, going through at least 11 […]
In: All, Books, Personal Notebook, Writing
Better than Sex?
Thanks to the juxtaposition of advertisements on commercial radio last night (played while we were eating our dinner), we heard the following There's sex — then there's Durex* — But nothing beats a year-end clearance sale! ———- * Durex is a brand of condom. Oddly, in this commercial for the Durex condom, the voice doing […]
In: All, Briefly Noted, Laughing Matters
Top 10: No Top 10
I've just realized that we must have started a new year, at least according to the Gregorian calendar that I and many others currently observe. I know this because of the left-out feeling I get from observing that I have yet to write a post of my Top-10 Anything for 2007. I have not taken […]
Some Architecture
Architecture was the field I had planned to enter for most of my life, until the end of high school. For some reason, as I was getting ready for college, I decided to follow the way of physics. Good decision or bad decision, it was, it is, but I still have a fascination for all […]
In: All, Music & Art, Personal Notebook
Undo Influence
I don't want to mock Mr. Law's sentiment in the following little excerpt, since I find his point agreeable. However, I could not pass by his typo / eggcorn without giving it due regard. (Do regard?) Besides, this coinage seems unusually appropriate. What is wrong with this country is a lot more than a badly […]
Sloppy Ur-Joes
You may recall that I have been thinking deeply since this summer about Sloppy Joes, first when I shared a recipe that I have been refining as one that seemed to my adult taste buds to recreate the experience of eating the product of a recipe I used when I was a little chef ("Jeff's […]
In: All, Food Stuff, Personal Notebook
The "Cells" in Cell Phones
Isaac & I returned home yesterday, flying from Kansas City (central standard time) to Washington, DC (eastern standard time). As we arrived at the gate in DC, I overheard this conversational exchange from the seats in front of mine: Mother: Oh, look! My cell phone has changed back to eastern time. Teen-age son: That's because […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science
The Sun Truck: First Appeal
It's that time of year again, so here I am with my second annual year-end appeal for Ars Hermeneutica, Limited. With this appeal I want to keep things brief and stick to one topic. Ars Hermeneutica started work in 2007 on its first informal science-education project. The project is The Sun Truck. You can find […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, Personal Notebook
Handel's Bagpipes
'Tis the season to saturate the airwaves with Christmas music and, since I'm a certifiable old curmudgeon, 'tis also the season to complain about poor performances and bad Christmas music. There is, of course, plenty of very nice music and remarkable performances that I've heard occasionally, but this post isn't about that. Mostly it's about […]