"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." —Mark Twain
Here, for Mother’s Day, a short and self-indulgent list of concerns: Suspending hashing for the summer. Several years ago I founded a small family hare & hounds running group. Starting three years ago, we quit setting trail during the hottest months of summer. It was too hard to find volunteers to lay trail in 100+ […]
What does that title even mean? Is the cat named Wednesday? Sure, why not? Let’s go with that. My son can’t believe I haven’t said anything about the F-22’s oxygen problems, or about the two whistleblower Raptor pilots who appeared on 60 Minutes last weekend. My first excuse comes easy: I know very little about […]
“I dreamt about Jews every night for years and years. Fortunately I have never met one….” — Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery Red Plenty by Francis Spufford Not exactly a historical novel, more a novelized approach to writing history. The distinction is a real one. The history in question is that of the Soviet Union […]
Apropos of nothing, two thoughts on nakedness and sex in HBO’s Game of Thrones. One, typecasting. Take British actress Esmé Bianco, who plays the prostitute Ros. When on camera she’s often nude, sometimes fully so, even, in one scene, simulating lesbian sex with another female actress. By taking this role, has she limited her career options? […]
Yeah, that’s what I’ll call it, a mini-gypsy tour, and add 2012 because it’ll probably be the only big ride I’ll take this year. A friend of mine rides coast to coast, 5,000 or more miles at a whack, at least once each year. What can I say? I am not worthy. The last time […]
In my day, the only video cameras we could use to film our own air-to-air flying were hand-held devices. USAF pilots weren’t (and aren’t, AFAIK) allowed, for safety reasons, to use cameras or video recorders in single-seat cockpits. If you were flying a two-seater, which you might do once a month or so, and you […]
Tuesday is a packing day: packing, that is, for a five-day solo motorcycle trip from Tucson to Flagstaff, Las Vegas, Laughlin, and back again. It’s an art … even with a Goldwing, luggage space is scarce … and certain things need to be placed where they’ll be easily retrievable: bad weather helmet, maps, camera, cell […]
You Can’t Read That! is a periodic post featuring news about banned and challenged books. Arizona: That rumor I mentioned in my last YCRT! column? The one about the racists going after ethnic studies at the universities, now that they’ve “fixed” the high schools? Looks like there’s some truth behind it. Here’s another disturbingly Orwellian […]