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 …
What Matt’s Reading
(Occasional Series Alert!) No doubt Steve will give Reid a run for his money on the list of books he’s currently reading. As usual, I’m reading just the one. This week it’s Annie Dillard’s wonderful memoir An American Childhood. Herein Dillard charts the start of an arc, the life of a lucky girl from Pittsburgh …
“Eppur, si muove…”
Many more enjoyable posts to come soon– this one infuriates me. Derb tipped me to the fact that Pope Benedict has apparently fired the Vatican astronomer for casting aspersions on what we here refer to as “intelligent” design. From The Daily Mail: “Benedict favours intelligent design, which says God directs the process of evolution, over …
Meat in Almaty
Our friend and dog-in-law Vladimir Beregovoy in Virginia had some intelligent things to say about feeding dogs, and also sent a photo his son Serge took while picking up a relative of our pups from our friends in Almaty. “I believe in adaptation and body wisdom of a dog dealing with natural foods. I would …
Killer Raccoons….
… are terrorizing Olympia in Washington state, killing cats and abducting small dogs. Read and weep– or maybe laugh, as Oscar Wilde said re the death of Little Nell. “The problem got so bad that residents Kari Hall and Tamara Keeton even started a Raccoon Watch after having an emotional neighborhood meeting attended by about …
What is Hunting?
Patrick has a looong and — profound, subtle, exhaustive– post on what hunting is and isn’t, prompted by the moronic nouveau country singer Troy Gentry’s arrest for shooting a caged bear. It must be read by anyone– any adult– who cares about these things. Its title, naturally, is “Hunting and Fishing Like Adults”. A few …
FYI: Montana and More..
Let me start with a few links to things of interest. There will be more, on everything from mushrooms to Anonymous Best Guns.. Mary sent this unusually detailed and intelligent report from Montana on the return of the Peregrine. They do make one common error, surprisingly because the rest is so good: PEREGRINES WERE NOT …