Absinthe: The History of A Green Drink (in Honor of St. Patrick’s Day)

Absinthe is a green alcoholic beverage that takes its name from Artemisia absinthium, the botanical name for the bitter herb wormwood, known in French as ‘Grande absinthe’. The essential oils in wormwood contain the chemical Thujone, which is a toxin when taken in large amounts. Thujone is said to be responsible for Absinthe’s alleged mind-damaging [...]

Who Celebrates St. Patrick’s Day?

The U.S. Census Bureau has some statistics on the holiday that began as a religious remembrance of St. Patrick (who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century) and now has morphed into a celebration of all things Irish, or even just green! Check out these facts: 36.5 million Number of U.S. residents who claimed [...]

Review of “The Glister” by John Burnside

Denizens of Innertown, a sickly isolated place on the site of an abandoned toxic chemical plant, are in various stages of illness or pathology. Young boys keep disappearing. The ones who remain are sociopaths. The young girls are harlots. The older people are in various states of living death. The police and townspeople inexplicably ignore [...]

Who Was the First Woman to Run for President – Belva Lockwood or Victoria Woodhull?

An earlier web post (here) presents the popular contention that Belva Lockwood was the first woman to run for president. But was she really, or was she just the first acceptable woman to run? The contender in question for the title of “first” is Victoria Claflin Woodhull. Born in 1838 in Ohio into a family [...]

Sunday Salon – Review of “Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and the Future of America” by Thomas Fleming

Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and the Future of America is the haunting and illuminating story of two talented American founders who were ruined and driven against each other by three factors: their own ambition, their passionate natures, and the vicious designs of their powerful rival Thomas Jefferson. Fleming, skilled at presenting great detail without [...]

Sunday Treat – Sita Sings the Blues

Many thanks once again to the wonderful resource Open Culture for the alert to this amazing animation film, “Sita Sings the Blues.” This film, publicly available under a Creative Commons license, mingles the Indian myth The Ramayana with contemporary events. The animation by Nina Paley (a self-taught animator!) is mesmerizing. The film is 82 minutes [...]

Josh Bazell, Author of “Beat the Reaper” at the Tucson Festival of Books

Where was that pesky waiter? There I was at the Tucson Standup Comedy Club – oh no, wait, it was the Tucson Festival of Books, and I was listening to Josh Bazell who wrote Beat the Reaper (see my review here). He was witty and smart and funny, and we all loved him. Well, okay: [...]

March 14, 1794 – Eli Whitney Patented the Cotton Gin

Eli Whitney, born in Westborough, Massachusetts in 1765, was reared in a rigid Puritan atmosphere, and worked hard from a young age to help support his family. At twenty, he became a schoolmaster, saving up his small salary to attend Yale. After college he was looking for employment and met Caty Greene, the widow of [...]

Books That Make You Dumb

Great post from a Caltech student who has created a statistical profile of reading and intelligence. (For a larger image check out his website here.)

Tucson Festival of Books March 14-15, 2009

This weekend is The Tucson Festival of Books, which will feature more than 450 authors including Elmore Leonard, J.A. Jance, Josh Bazell, Merl Reagle, David Levy, and many more. One purpose of the Festival is to stimulate literacy. The Festival chairman notes that “One in five adults in Pima County is functionally illiterate. Arizona has [...]