While it’s not my favorite war film, I confess I do often have an itch to watch The Longest Day on June 6th… and then I think of all sorts of moments from the film, including the repeated use of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Maddy Shaw Roberts assembled a collection of music connected to World War II or in remembrance thereof in honor of the 80th anniversary of D-Day last year, but it’s still a good…
It’s 2025 and the first Super Soakers went on sale 35 years ago, changing backyard water gun fights forever. Invented by Lonnie Johnson, the Super Soaker (initially with the entirely accurate if less glib name “Power Drencher”) was a game-changer from a toy company called Larami. My siblings and I were already familiar with Larami doing for water guns what Activision did for Atari 2600 game cartridges. Translated from the Gen X: this was a…
The official unofficial start of summer is coming, which means more than a few families are planning some road trips. And on those trips, you may be tempted to stop at a restaurant that isn’t as familiar, perhaps a regional chain. But did you realize some of these regional chains might have once had visions of national grandeur? Ernie Smith, in an article on Atlas Obscura, dives into the occasionally deep-friend origins of some of…
The last time I checked, scholars were not absolutely certain about Shakespeare’s birthday, though April 23rd is a contender. They are, however, quite certain of his death day, which is… also April 23rd. That seems fitting for Shakespeare in a thematic symmetry kind of way. Okay, I see a few John Webster fans raising their hand at the mention of Death, but stay with me and the Bard for a moment here. I’ve been a…
While I continue to spend less time on Facebook and more time on Bluesky (or reading or, gasp, walking in the outside world), there’s a couple elements of connectivity I find still useful. One is remembering birthdays, which I did used to do via a treeware calendar designed for the purpose (specifically one with artwork by international treasure Sandra Boynton). But let’s face it, some electronic and digital reminders help us. And so I often…
What a difference 60-odd years makes! Well, okay, I would wonder how things wouldn’t change in 60-odd years in a particular area, but Jill Devine did an article this past December for Northern Virginia magazine that’s chock full of photographs and various milestones of how the region has changed… in many ways quite dramatically. For locals and naturalized locals, it’s sure to trigger some memories.
I’m interrupting my usual posting cadence for those seven or nine regular readers who might also have a number of Kindle purchases. Basically, as of February 26th, Amazon is removing the ability for you to download purchases as copies over which you have full control. For more information, you can check out Andrew Liszewski’s piece for The Verge that, like many of us, you may have missed on Valentine’s Day or read David Gewirtz’ article…
This Valentine’s Day, have you considered LEGO? If you or your significant other have considered this as a gift, you are more statistically likely to have a lot of LEGO bricks around your domicile. And that means you should have a way to organize the LEGO bricks you have. Enter LEGO enthusiast Tom Alphin and his LEGO Storage Guide over at Brick Architect. You can begin at the beginning, but this guide came on my…
Now, in this no-man’s time between Christmas and New Year’s, I’ve finally had a chance to read a bunch of articles saved to my “to read” list and Tony Moss’ exploration of the mysterious demise of Blue Seas Recording Studios stood out, not only because it happened around this time of year, but also because it’s relatively local.
I’ve been trying to read more, including audiobooks while I’m on the road, so naturally I’m looking for some science fiction, including space opera… all the better to inform my own operatic tales. Thankfully, Tim O’Brien has a list of 55 space operas from the past not-quite century done for Barnes & Noble, who admittedly has a vested interest in getting you hooked on series. I have read many, but far from all, of the…