“… which is a rather stupid time..” (Jose Ortega y Gasset): the latest on the California bill to ban hunting with hounds; and the possible loss of the historical and economically important Remington factory in Ilion New York. On the hound bill, the concern of the antis is touching. “”It’s typically a high-tech hunt that …
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Eastern Hounds
Another variation on the endless theme of our landrace, dogs that the conventional might immediately insist is another “breed”. Our Asia, mostly sighthound group knows better, and collectively provided some background. They were found by Mia who said, “These photos are taken in India… The photographer says they call them “Afghan fighter hounds”, because that’s …
The Kids
Obligatory weekly photo by Shiri: Lane, I know Rissa is related to yours, and Tavi is more distantly as well.
USAF MiGs
Here’s a short but interesting piece from Aviation Week on the 1980s US Air Force program that flew a variety of Soviet MiG fighter aircraft (that had been obtained through a variety of means) both for performance evaluation and in an aggressor role against our aircraft. The money quote serves as the title: “We didn’t know …
Humpbacks
The UK Daily Mail has a set of rather spectacular photographs of a pod of humpback whales feeding close inshore among a group of boaters, kayakers, and paddle boarders off the California Central Coast. Whatever they were feeding on, it’s obvious the pelicans wanted to get in on the action, too. The Daily Mail says …
Real Swordfighting Wasn’t Like What We See in the Movies
Hardly surprising, as I believe most of the modern public has its ideas on the subject conditioned by the conventions of fencing, which has conditioned the minds of movie stuntmen. The author of this article has made the study of Medieval and Renaissance manuals on swordfighting and a re-creation of their techniques his life’s work. …
More Ink
My New Hampshire friend Dr Hypercube, who is a blogger, falconer, Steampunk dandy, fine shotgun nut*, breeder of tropical frogs, and fellow aficionado of Central Asian art, sent me another great tattoo, a tiger, from Rudenko’s Frozen Tombs of Siberia (anyone know where to get an affordable copy?) If I ever get a tattoo at …
Happy Tazis
The kids are smiling as they get in shape for fall. Pics by Shiri of course…
Tattoos, Griffins, Dinosaurs, and Indiana Jones
Our friend Sari in Finland sends this link to some tattooed mummies in the Siberian Altai. Here are a couple more from that tradition, from (I think) a bit further south. These are mythical “Griffins”, but are probably based on fossils like the Protoceratops, found in Mongolia in the 1920’s by Roy Chapman Andrews, the …
Trotting Rhymes & Old Languages
It seems to me that any culture that had horses has “trotting rhymes”, bits of doggerel chanted by parents as they bounce a toddler on their knees. My folks had one in English (“Trot trot to Boston, trot trot to Lynn..”), but the one my siblings and I remember was “Italian”. The quotes are because …