Spitball Army

Before devoting himself to psychology, Freud conducted zoological research and is credited with discovering testicles in eels.

[Read more →]

Here are more found things from one corner of one room of my little house. This little batch, like the last two posted, are buttons, proclaiming support for certain “causes.”

[Read more →]

1984 was a landslide victory year for Ronald Reagan. His Democratic opponent was former Vice-President Walter Mondale. Reagan’s re-election was practically assured as, under his first term watch, the economy showed definite signs of revival. It seemed that there was little for the Democrats to do than go through the motions, and pretend that their candidate stood a chance.

[Read more →]

Birmingham Magazine’s online music column recently proposed a playlist that would take listeners on a journey through the South. In addition to posting their list, they opened up for reader submissions. I posted one…

[Read more →]

Transcribing correspondence from the World War II era, starting with that of Beverly Anderson, has been an ongoing, truly enjoyable experience for me, and an educational one. I have always had a fascination with history, particularly cultural history, and find the War era especially rich. “Ancient” American culture is a puzzle: discovering what was once in vogue, what customs we have retained, what practices have fallen by the wayside. I have been particularly surprised with phrases and sayings from this period, some familiar and some that might as well be in a foreign language.

[Read more →]

Irwin Rommel is a mysterious figure in Patton, a wily military opponent who is rarely seen in person, but whose most memorable “appearance” in the film is when George C. Scott (as George Patton) shouts, “Rommel, you magnificent bastard, I read your book!”

[Read more →]

Donna Reed, iconic now as the quintessential mid-20th Century American woman, was also the epitome of the “hometown girl” to many men who served in the armed forces during World War II. Because of her exposure in the movie houses of the time, and also due to the rounds she would make regularly on the U.S.O. Canteen circuit, Ms. Reed was the recipient of hundreds of fan letters from Gobs, Flymen and Marines stationed overseas and on the home front. Her children have recently made the 341 letters to their mother – mostly handwritten – public.

[Read more →]

I used to think that 1972 was the be-all, end-all year of pop music, and 1967. Now I’m not so sure which one comes out on top. There is a ten-year stretch in there between the mid-’60s and the mid-’70s when some of my favorite records of all genres were released. I become firmer in my resolve about that with each passing year.

[Read more →]

The Orchestra Rocks;
celery;
interactive journalism

[Read more →]

On Friday, Michelle Obama will begin digging up a patch of White House lawn to plant a vegetable garden, the first since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden in World War II. There will be no beets (the president doesn’t like them) but arugula will make the cut.

[Read more →]