Last summer I had a fresh encounter with the bit of trauma I didn't know I'd buried from September 11, 2001. It was, in some way, courtesy of Father Mychal Judge, the beloved Franciscan friar and chaplain for the Fire Department of New York, who died at the World Trade Center on that day. Here's … Continue reading Father Mychal’s City of God
On September 11, 2001, I was in Manhattan. Almost 3,000 people died there. I was moderately inconvenienced. And completely freaked out, but not in a way that mattered compared to the evacuees, the responders, the dead, the bereaved. It triggered some personal upheaval, but all of a philosophical nature. I was busy with work and … Continue reading A Visit with Father Mychal
Founding words of veganism in bite-sized chunks. I don't own these texts, nor am I stealing them. They're all available free to the public. (Plus a bit from here and here.) Thanks to today's Vegan Society for sharing this valuable resource with the world. Click on any square to get started.
The Anya Hindmarch store on Madison Avenue currently displays a Wombwell Menagerie cage, and I wonder if they know the history. Founded in 1807 England by George Wombwell, the traveling menagerie was perhaps the most successful enterprise of its kind outside the U.S., appearing three times before Queen Victoria. No surprise that Wombwell’s foundation was … Continue reading History on Mad: Wombwell’s Menagerie
...With the Seventy-Seventh there marched perhaps the most unusual hero in the annals of American arms. His name was Pfc. Desmond Doss. He was a medic in the 307th Infantry. He was also a Seventh-Day Adventist...who shrank from even touching a weapon." - Robert Leckie, Okinawa: The Last Battle of World War II In … Continue reading All You Have to Decide
If you haven't seen Nagisa Ôshima's Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, go watch it, because it's great, and there are some spoilers below. If you want a full plot refresher, Wikipedia's isn't bad. The film concerns four men in Tanjung Priok POW camp on Java. Or it might be Bicycle Camp. Or it might be a … Continue reading Moral Imagination, Mr. Lawrence
In 1961, one Frank Edwards put out a book entitled Strange People. It contains a two-page entry entitled "The Elephant Boy," full of made-up "evidence" about "a tragic creature" who was "the most frightful freak on record." Strange People also refers to "two-headed children" as "it" without admitting there are such things as conjoined twins.* … Continue reading Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Rock Star
On Friday, May 27, I took advantage of Fleet Week in New York City and visited two ships. USS Bataan is a Landing Helicopter Dock amphibious assault ship in use in today's Navy. The first thing visible inside the door is a giant banner: THE BATTLING BASTARDS. This, of course, refers to the doggerel slogan … Continue reading Peninsula, Then Ship
When I first glommed onto the Far East Prisoners of War as a favorite topic, one of the first memoirs I read was Alistair Urquhart's The Forgotten Highlander. Just about everything bad that could happen to any white dude as a prisoner of the Japanese happened to Alistair Urquhart. He's #5 here, and no surprise … Continue reading Reasons Alistair Urquhart Is Pissed Off
Crash Course for the Ravers Album: David Bowie, 1967 Prior Level of Acquaintance: Almost nil Three-Word Review: Tuneful, eclectic, narrative On June 1, 1967, an album came out in England describing a vintage brass band that plays nostalgic dance tunes. It included a slightly out-of-tune instrumental break "by" said band. Coincidentally, on that same … Continue reading I Was Lord Kitchener’s Gravedigger
