Apr 07
City of Fortune: How Venice Ruled the Seas by Roger Crowley Random House Trade Paperbacks, New York 2013 [Challenge # 3: A book taking place mostly or all on the water] I was a little concerned that City of Fortune, which was a history of the city of Venice between the 11th and 16th …
Apr 05
Next were borne round dishes of carp, pilchards, and lobsters, and there after store enew of meats: a fat kid roasted whole and garnished peas on a spacious silver charger, kid pasties, plates of meat’s tongues and sweetbreads, sucking rabbits in jellies, hedgehogs baked in their skins, hogs’ haslets, carbonadoes, chitterlings, and dormouse pies. …
Feb 07
Elizabeth the I: Powerful and regal. Elizabeth remains one of the more popular girls’ name in the USA. The name originated from the Hebrew Elisheva or Elisheba, translated into Greek as Elisabet. In its classic English form, Elizabeth, is classic, stately, and elegant. Derivations include the popular Isabel, Elise, and Bella; there are also …
Jan 29
It’s hard to believe. but these nightmarish characters were the first version of the lovable Michelin Tire Man.
Jan 10
Wouldn’t you like to live here? (Art by John Stevenson) Fantasies set in Germanic cultures, like those based on Italian ones, have not been published much in recent years, yet in past decades there were enough of them to have their own subgenre: Ruritanian Romance. These novels were set in imaginary Central or Eastern …
Nov 29
In a pre-industrial society, stars and constellations had more impact on the viewer because there was less light pollution. Pictures could be traced, paths, and stories, all providing a commonality among members of a tribe or society. One common example is the constellation of the Big Dipper, or Ursa Major, imagined by many ancient cultures …
Oct 18
Do you enter? I dare you. Geisterbahn is German for ghost train, the popular amusement park ride that carries thrill-seekers into dark, eerie tableaus designed to thrill and shock them. The most elaborate of these are found at Munich’s Oktoberfest. In the US, these rides are known as Spookhouses, or Haunted Houses. Disneyland’s Haunted …
