Exploring the Past to Improve the Future
By Eilene Lyon I was puzzling over the use of the term "Dogfight" to describe an aerial combat. It seems odd, considering that the only "flying" dogs I've ever come across are Snoopy, who is forever losing his Sopwith Camel (an entirely absurd name for a plane, I might add, especially when it’s really a... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon This one, found on a walk down the mountain above Bergen, Norway, left me scratching my head. Is there supposed to be a hyphen in there somewhere? Is someone hunting invisible witches, or is the witch hunter invisible? Or is the witch an invisible hunter? Now I’m extra confused! And why does... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon Today we celebrate Earth Day, an international event that takes place in nearly 200 countries around the globe, involving roughly a billion participants. Throughout the 1960s, environmental legislation was going nowhere, as Americans roiled about our participation in the Vietnam War. Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, an environmental champion, decided to create a... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon I’ve been nominated for a second Versatile Blogger Award! Thank you muchly to Dane at Bar Stool Talk for the honor. He has a great blog with a theme all related to bars (the kind you drink in, say, as opposed to monkey bars or candy bars). Fun historical bits mixed with... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon I just love signs written by people who don't speak the language they're writing in. They are so frequently unintentionally funny! It doesn't matter what language they speak or what language they're writing in - I just happen to "get" the ones written in English. But maybe someday this sign will be... Continue Reading →
By Eilene Lyon I get tickled every time I read this species description for the Eurasian Collared-Dove in my National Geographic bird guide: "...do not do well in the wild" they claim. From Project FeederWatch: "No species of bird has colonized North America at the speed with which the Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) has marched... Continue Reading →
Given that the Confederacy was antithetical to the entire notion of the United States of America -- they went to war against the U.S., remember? -- how can anyone in their right mind fly both flags on one pole at the same time? This is patently ludicrous. Which side are they on? It can't be... Continue Reading →
I'm sure the owner considers this a form of "landscape art." How on earth does someone end up with nine identical cars? Especially such ugly ones in relatively pristine condition? If I saw them coming down the road toward me, I would start to get a bit paranoid. Or worse, say they came up from... Continue Reading →
Smitty knew how to tell a tall tale. I find it interesting that when this story was written, it was set well into the future, rather than in the present or past. I thought it might be a typo, but he mentions the “great city of Moscow,” which it certainly wasn’t in 1926. I’ve added... Continue Reading →
