Arts
A Street Corner in Pest
Friends tell me that I’m a ‘Master Raconteur.’ At least, I think that’s what they’re telling me. Perhaps it’s an anagram? No matter, I must recount the following. Every tall tale should have its own [more…]
History
Engineering
“And what have the Romans ever done for us?”
Introduction It is interesting that in Monty Python’s ‘Life of Brian’ when Reg , the leader of The People’s Front of Judaea, poses that question the very first response he receives from his gang of [more…]
20th Century
The Wrecking Crew
Wiki: “The Wrecking Crew was a loose collective of session musicians based in Los Angeles whose services were employed for thousands of studio recordings in the 1960s and 1970s, including several hundred Top 40 hits. The musicians were not publicly recognised in their [more…]
18th Century
19th Century
The Silver Pit
Some of you may remember that some time ago I wrote an article about my family tree research and how I’d discovered many interesting things about my family history. One thing I learned was that [more…]
Arts
Bottoms Up!
To these gloomy pandemic-filled days, I’d like to bring a little cheer. For months I have, of course, not ‘read the comments’ posted by this assortment of scoundrel and rapscallion Fraterculae. Without having viewed such [more…]
20th Century
19th Century
The Sharps Model 1874 and Reloading the 45-90 Black Powder Cartridge
Introduction One of my favourite scenes in one of my all-time favourite Westerns is when Josie Wales (played by Clint Eastwood) chased by Union Redlegs casually waits for them to reach mid-river on a hand-hauled [more…]
20th Century
A Massacre of the Innocents
Introduction On Saturday 10 June, 1944, while heading north towards Normandy to help counter the Allied D-Day invasion, German troops of the Der Führer Regiment of the SS Panzer Division Das Reich, committed an unthinkable [more…]