The cold dry climate of Central Asia means that it is ideal for preserving bodies and artifacts. I will write more about this subject, both here and, soon, at Registan as well. But meanwhile, Reid sent me this story about a “new” mummy from a kurgan or burial mound in the Altai region of Mongolia. …
Month: August 2006
“An Anonymous Best”
Here is a classic and utterly anonymous Mauser rifle in the classic older Mauser caliber 7 X 57 mm– or as the English renamed it, .275 Rigby (which used to be part of Jonathan’s email address! It was made on a military action with no maker’s marks whatsoever, not even an initial. The worksmanship is …
Mushroomers 2: The Return of the King
I love all good mushrooms but by far my favorite is the king bolete, Boletus edulis. It is good fresh, dries well, is (at least in our area) HUGE, utterly unmistakable, and when you find one you will find many. Always before we have found it a few weeks after the monsoon began– say, in …
Mushroomers #1
The last month’s rains– virtualy every afternoon and evening– have brought out a bumper crop, of several species. Here are our friends and fellow mycophiles Simon and Della Armijo with a few. They each have half of a “cauliflower”, Sparassis crispa. It is also eaten in Tibet and Nepal. This species is especially good for …
AR, PC 2– Reaction?
Restaurants in Chicago decide to serve foie gras in defiance of the ban. ““This ban is embarrassing Chicago,” said Grant DePorter of Harry Caray’s Restaurant, which dreamed up an appetizer of pan-seared foie gras and scallops ($14.95) and a Vesuvio-style entree pairing foie gras and tenderloin ($33.95) just to buck the new ordinance. “We really …
AR, PC (sigh)
Margory Cohen sends a note about an old film (a good one, based on a novel by Charles Willeford and starring the late Warren Oates and Harry Dean Stanton) being banned from an Edinburgh film festival for CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. “EDINBURGH, Scotland – The Edinburgh International Film Festival canceled the screening of a movie about …
What I am reading– Steve
What I am actually in the middle of: The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin. A novel, a historical mystery set in the early 19th Century in Istanbul, by a writer who knows the territory, with a hero who is an able and brave court eunuch! Unique and with a believable air– the guy knows Turkey, …
I will eat anything, but…
…there may be limits. Reid sent this high “eeuuuwww factor” story from the L. A. Times. It begins: “Health officials Thursday again warned consumers against eating raw or undercooked freshwater crabs as two Orange County restaurants were found to have served raw or live crabs and two more diners came down with a rare lung …
Kipling’s Religion
For “Kiplingites” (see, to use a term of Kipling’s, “Janeites”): John Derbyshire speculates, giving two intriguing, epigrammatic, but ultimately baffling quotes.I always thought he was a Mason. Derb: “He described himself in 1908 (i.e. at age 42) as “A God-fearing Christian atheist.” And, in Kipling’s own words: “All sensible men are of the same religion, …
Newcomers
This “Op- Ed” sounds like it could have been written by some of our more recent newcomers in Magdalena: “I’ve tried being proactive. But none of the locals I’ve talked to about bringing in a co-op health-food grocery store have seemed excited at all. Nor have I gotten any of them to take part in …