I've never been much of a drinker. I have, perhaps, a half dozen drinks per year. "Have" means I order or pour them; it doesn't mean that I finish them. However, my tastes are fairly eclectic, with three exceptions. One is beer. I don't like the taste of anything in the beer family, whether lagers, stouts, pilsners, etc. The second is vermouth. And ( Read more... )

( The only people who never feel sad are those who never feel anything. Tonight, I feel very sad. )

Apparently, a majority of US Supreme Court justices have just decided that Michael Newdow doesn't have legal standing in the Pledge case.

Apparently, Microsoft has wrought a "new version of The Iliad produced to appeal to the text message generation":

Wot hapnd when Agamemnon & Achilles had a barny in Troy?

It was a busy weekend in the news, but relatively quiet at home (which was alright). Alas, the weather frightened us away from the Crawfish Festival, but we'll try to make it next year.

( In other news )

On this day in 1944, Operation Overlord began on the beaches of Normandy. The liberation of Europe had begun. The passing of former President Reagan yesterday reminded me that the liberation of Europe wasn't completed until almost fifty years later ( Read more... )

Having woken up rather early this morning, I took a nap today at around 3 PM. When I woke up a few minutes ago and turned on the television, I discovered that former US President Ronald Wilson Reagan had passed away at the age of 93. He had been ill with Alzheimer's for a decade. I can only hope that the pain of his death is tempered by the closure ( Read more... )

As I type this, it's the 4th of June, 2004, in Tiananmen Square. Fifteen years ago, some idealistic young Chinese were brave and foolish enough to confront the Chinese Communist Party. Hundreds of them were killed as the square was cleared on Deng Xiaoping's orders. Red China is ostensibly upset that anyone was bothered by this. Needless to say, ( Read more... )

Next week, Venus will be making one of its relatively infrequent solar transits. This week's Economist has an interesting article on the event, including its historical significance.

And by the way, who else recognizes the subject of this entry? :-)

It's been a week since I updated. I've been pretty busy, which is mostly a good thing. Perhaps I'll try to do a real update soon. I have been able to leave a few comments here and there, when time permits. But I hope you're all well!

Meanwhile, in New York City, the council is working feverishly to protect us all from ewwwwww experiences. :-)