July 27, 2002
I'm currently listening to A Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose about a company of paratroopers in WWII. They fought at Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, and parachuted into Hitler's Eagle's Nest. Ambrose's spare prose and Cotter Smith's dispassionate delivery make the story all that much more stark and graphic.
Posted by denise at 04:50 PM
February 01, 2003
Hail, Columbia
Though most bitter its treatment.
They are dead. They are gone.
Celebrating our good fortune,
In their light, we are pierced.
--JCE
Posted by denise at 12:17 PM
February 02, 2003
Columbia memories
I was trying to remember my first memory of the Columbia. The day of its first landing back in 1981 a bunch of nerds in English class knew the Chemistry teachers were going to let their class watch the landing. So they begged our English teacher to let them go to the Chem lab to watch the landing and she was gracious enough to let us all go.
It was a beautiful, perfect landing.
Posted by denise at 08:24 PM
April 02, 2003
Kurds
I've been trying to remember what the dispute is between the Turks and the Kurds, but my Concise History of the Middle East (2nd edition) is so concise it barely mentions the Kurds. The only real clue is the fact that the Treaty of Lausanne in the 20s failed to grant them a homeland. And I suppose they've been fighting for that ever since.
There is this though: A Modern History of the Kurds by David McDowall. I'll have to check that out.
Posted by denise at 12:00 AM
April 07, 2003
History of Africa
I've been reading A Short History of Africa by Roland Oliver and J. D. Fage, a book I've had forever it seems.
I must have got it in Switzerland because the price is 11.80 and that has to be francs and not dollars.
I suppose when I think of African history I think of the colonial period, but this book begins with prehistoric Africa, of course. It's like a James Michener novel only dull. Here's a quote from p. 27.
"The oldest cereal crops of sub-Saharan Africa were the millets, but in West Africa west of the great bend of the Niger there was also the rice Oryza glaberrima."
Argh.
I guess I like history with a face and a voice which is why I like to read biographies. Oh well, I'll slog through I guess, 'til I get to the good parts.
Posted by denise at 12:00 AM
August 23, 2003
History of Art
For quite some time I've been looking for H. W. Janson's History of Art. I was watching a couple of eBay auctions, but the price was really more than I wanted to pay. A good copy commands a healthy price. Anyway, I found an early copy a few weeks ago at garage sale for 50 cents. I was digging through a box of books and thought I saw it, but it turned out to be Art History by Hanson or something. I kept digging and whaddya know the Janson book was at the bottom.
Posted by denise at 08:43 PM
November 28, 2003
Jim Wright goin' strong
Jim Wright (D-Texas), former U. S. Congressman from my hometown and former Speaker of the House (1987 - 1989) was on C-SPAN just a minute ago. Although he's gone through cancer surgery that's impeded his speech it didn't keep him from talking for a solid hour. He spoke at length about his career, spoke highly about the current Democratic presidential candidates that he knew in Congress and had some critical things to say about the current administration (chiefly the disappearance of our surplus). But the thing he spoke of with the most pleasure and pride was his family, his children and grandchildren.
Go Jim!
Posted by denise at 06:27 PM ~ Comments (1)
December 14, 2003
Saddam captured
I can't say it better than Senator Joe Lieberman: "Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!"
And this some what prophetic shot from a week or so ago of the removal of Saddam's heads from the Four Head Palace:
Posted by denise at 01:42 PM
January 19, 2004
Vote!
"No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream."
Don't forget the dream.
Posted by denise at 08:20 PM
March 11, 2004
3/11
Somos hoy todos los espanoles.
This mornings attack in Spain come exactly 2.5 years after 9/11 could it be anyone else than Al-Qaeda? Apparently Al-Qaeda sent a letter to a British paper claiming responsibility.
Posted by denise at 11:52 PM
May 20, 2004
Sundries
Interesting article on obscure constellations on Space.com
Heard an interview with OKC reporter Jayna Davis. She is convinced there is a connection between the 1993 WTC bombing and the OKC bombing. She's pretty convincing, but we need another "witness," so to speak.
Posted by denise at 08:21 PM
February 19, 2005
Recent history
Christie's is auctioning off one of the world's largest collections of computing history.
Posted by denise at 08:05 AM
April 02, 2005
Pope John Paul II, 1920-2005
The sun kisses the Apostolic Palace and St. Peter's Square on the morning of the day Pope John Paul II passes on to his final reward.
Posted by denise at 10:46 PM
Salt and Light
Chrenkoff posts this photo of a statue of the pope carved from salt located in the salt mine of Wieliczka, Poland.
Posted by denise at 11:34 PM ~ Comments (3)
April 03, 2005
Joy like swords
For Mark Shea at Catholic and Enjoying It! the Pope's passing is bittersweet.
This is a treasure: the joy-tinged grief in mourning the passing of a true servant of God and a life well-lived.
Posted by denise at 10:31 PM
April 08, 2005
Farewell, John Paul
The world says good bye to a great and humble man and a major force in history.
Posted by denise at 08:00 PM
April 19, 2005
Anniversary
Today is the 10th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. Here are a few photos I took when I visited the OKC last year. It's a worthy memorial.
Posted by denise at 06:30 PM
A new era begins
The Cardinals elect a pope after 2 days of voting:
Some have embraced him for his conservative values. Others have already begun to dismiss him as a "hardliner."
Posted by denise at 08:25 PM
May 30, 2005
Memorial Day
Remembering the men and women throughout our history who've made the ultimate sacrifice so that all Americans can enjoy a vigorous democracy, pursue their dreams, and live in freedom.
Posted by denise at 09:27 AM
July 07, 2005
Hail Britannia
They've raised the Union Jack at the State Department in a show of solidarity with our British friends and allies. (via Insta)
On this sad day, our thoughts and prayers go out to those killed and wounded in the bombings and to the many British service men and women fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"Britons never shall be slaves."
Posted by denise at 11:22 PM
November 27, 2005
Deuce Four movie
Michelle Malkin writes that Bruce Willis wants to do a movie about the Iraq War based on the reporting of embedded journalist Michael Yon. This is an excellent idea! Yon is a great writer. This could be the first movie inspired by a blog! (via Captain's Quarters)
Posted by denise at 11:32 PM
July 20, 2006
A few things
- PBS broadcast a couple of episodes of the behind-the-scenes documentary about Windsor Castle: A Royal Year. It's a castle, palace, art gallery and working farm all in one. Fun fact (for scale purposes): Windsor Great Park occupies 15,000 acres. The King Ranch covers 825,000 acres.
- Today is the 37th anniversary of the first moon landing.
- It's pointless for me to mention this since it's been slashdotted, but Mike J. Nelson, former host of MST3K, is doing his own DVD commentary tracks via a new project called RiffTrax. The tracks are $1.99. Payment through PayPal. I've already purchased mine. The payment and download is relatively quick and seamless. The first movie is Roadhouse which is one of my favorite bad movies.
A couple of weeks ago I was all excited about the new Townhall.com site. Now I have to rein in my good thoughts about it, because, apparently, there are no RSS feeds anywhere on the site. The lack of that particular technology seriously cripples Townhall.com. Hopefully they'll correct that in the near future.- Um, never mind... Townhall.com RSS feeds on the way!
Technorati tags: Windsor Castle, Apollo 11, Rifftrax, Townhall.com
Windsor Castle Apollo 11 Rifftrax Townhall com
Posted by denise at 10:12 PM
October 09, 2006
USS George H. W. Bush
The 10th Nimitz-class aircraft carrier was launched yesterday, USS George H. W. Bush. I loved this quote from the President:
" 'She is unrelenting, she is unshakable, she is unyielding, she is unstoppable,' Bush said, lauding the warship's state-of-the-art design before pausing for a punch line aimed at his mother's well-known steely constitution. 'As a matter of fact, probably should have been named the Barbara Bush.' "
I wonder where they're going to put the Silver Foot. Maybe that'll be the ship's nickname.
Of the 10 Nimitz-class, 7 are named for former US Presidents: USS George Washington, USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Theodore Roosevelt, USS Harry S. Truman, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, USS Ronald Reagan, and now USS George H. W. Bush. The other three are named for Admiral Chester Nimitz (USS Nimitz), Congressmen Carl Vinson (USS Carl Vinson) and Senator John C. Stennis (USS John C. Stennis) (the latter two being big supporters of the Navy). All Nimitz-class carriers are nuclear-powered.
And those are your fun facts for today!
Technorati: USS George H. W. Bush, Nimitz-class aircraft carriers
Tagjag: USS George H. W. Bush, Nimitz-class aircraft carriers
Posted by denise at 12:05 AM ~ Comments (3)