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This is no picnic

Just thought that you should know. This is no picnic.

You would have to know what is going on in my life to know why I am saying this, but believe me,

this is no picnic.

Plymouth Rocked: Jill Lepore takes on Nathaniel Philbrick's Mayflower

Jill Lepore reviews the recently popular history Mayflower and pokes some big holes in it. Mostly, she notes that Philbrick tends to rely on only a few sources and is not at all sceptical of those sources.

Link: The New Yorker: The Critics: Content.

In proportion to population, King Philip’s War was one of the deadliest wars in American history. More than half of all English settlements in New England were either destroyed or abandoned. Hundreds of colonists were killed. Thousands of Indians died; those who survived, including Philip’s nine-year-old son, Massasoit’s grandson, were loaded on ships and sold into slavery. Because the conflict was, for both sides, a holy war, it was waged with staggering brutality. New England’s Indians fought to take their land back from the Christians, mocking their praying victims: “Where is Your O God?” One, having killed a colonist, stuffed a Bible into his victim’s gutted belly. Puritans interpreted such acts as a sign of God’s wrath, as punishment for their descent into sinfulness. Not only had they become, over the years, less pious than the first generation of settlers; they had also failed to convert the Indians to Christianity. The Boston minister Increase Mather asked, “Why should we suppose that God is not offended with us, when his displeasure is written, in such visible and bloody Characters?”

Measuring the Speed of Light With Chocolate Chips

Wow. This is a real-world experiment that will allow you to calculate the speed of light by observing melt patterns of chocolate chips in your microwave. I'll have to run right out and buy some before my daughter gets home She is very interested in physics and I'll bet this experiment will go over big in her class (if they have access to a microwave.)

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The Meaning of Tingo

Link: The Meaning of Tingo.  Author has found many delightful words in different languages including the current favorite, olfrygt, which is a fear of being out of ale.

Autopsy: Life and Death from Channel4.com

Link: Autopsy: Life and Death from Channel4.com.

A UK TV production showing autopsies of bodies undertaken to illustrate the typical causes of disease and death in humans. Four separate programs including "Circulation";"Cancer"; "Poisoning" and "Ageing".

Wonderfully and tastefully done. I wish this could be shown on American television. I watched these with my high-school and grammar-school aged children and I think that they learned more from these programs than they have learned in all their classes at school.

Best Dictionary Ever Created

Best Dictionary

Best Free Dictionary

More than you ever wanted to know" dictionary

I came across a little project when I was searching
for a word better than "spewing" to describe the
sentiments pouring out of an otherwise romantic
letter.

I searched for "spew antonym" and came up with a link
to your Webster's Online's definition of the word.

Wow! What a dictionary! They taught me more about that
word than I ever dreamed was possible. I am now a
spewing master. I will no longer regurgitate in the
same manner. I can spew in 100 different languages. I
can recite the spewage scene coming out of "Wayne's
World."

I can quote the more erudite Miguel De
Cervantes: "Good painters imitate nature. Bad ones
spew it up."

I saw biblical usages: "So then because
thos arete bitwene bothe and nether colde ner hot I
will spew ye oute of my mouth." from Revelations Ch. 3
V 16.

I could go on and on but I head is reeling and I
fear that I may (or you may):

Vomit, throw up, regurgitate, spew, puke, keck, retch, heave, upchuck, chuck up, barf; belch out; cast up, bring up, be sick, get sick, worship the porcelain god or simply spew if I go on.

Gentlemen and ladies, they are worth checking out.

Pretty Good Jokes

A neutron walks into a bar, sits down, and asks the bartender "Hey, how much for a beer?"

The bartender says, "For you? No charge."

More jokes"

Writer's Almanac and Salon

The Writer's Almanac

Salon

Random Quotes from Groucho Marx

Random Quote

"I married your mother because I wanted children, imagine my disappointment when you came along."-- Groucho Marx

JamBase | JON ANDERSON :: YES TO EVERYTHING, AMEN!

JamBase | JON ANDERSON :: YES TO EVERYTHING, AMEN!

Jam Base will hook you up with live music wherever you are. If your favorite band isn't listed, you can do the listings and let others know about your passion for a great musical group.

This article happens to be about Jon Anderson and Yes, one of my top five bands for the last 30 years.