Archive for May 2009
Memorial Day: Why We Fight
MEMORIAL DAY: WHY WE FIGHT The world is different than it was even a decade ago as we celebrate Memorial Day. We now are fighting a war, and we now remember why we fight. The History Channel re-runs the HBO series "Band of Brothers," the adaptation of the Stephen Ambrose book about a company of…
Read MoreHistory of Memorial Day
HISTORY OF MEMORIAL DAY The city of Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, an American village on the National Historic Register, claims to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, as do some 24 other towns in America. But Boalsburg’s claim goes back to a practice at the end of the Civil War. It does have a local museum, and…
Read MoreMovie Review: Star Trek
MOVIE REVIEW: STAR TREK Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life-forms and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before. If you’ve already read my History of Star Trek article, this is the future…
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REVIEW: STAR TREK Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life-forms and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before. If you’ve already read my History of Star Trek article, this is the future of the franchise, by returning…
Read MoreHistory of Star Trek
HISTORY OF STAR TREK I can remember it like it was yesterday, though it was almost 44 years ago now. In the summer of 1966 there was a preview of a coming new Fall TV series with …a starship the size of a city. Then, on September 8, 1966 the first episode of Star Trek…
Read MoreHistory of Cinco de Mayo
CINCO DE MAYO Cinco de Mayo is frequently regarded as the Mexican equivalent of the United States 4th of July. This is incorrect. In actuality, it is the equivalent of the “5th of May” in the Spanish language. Another misconception is that this has something to do with Mayonnaise. That too is a bum spread,…
Read MoreMovie Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Movie Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine When I read comic books in my youth, I always loved the “origin of” issues, which told me about he beginnings of my favorite super heroes. I was a big reader and collector of X-Men comics, of course, and have enjoyed the previous three movies to greater and lesser degrees.…
Read MoreHistory of May Day
MAY DAY May Day is many things to many people. Etymologically, it is a homophone (same sounding word) for the international call for help. It is a corruption of the French imperative “M’aidez” meaning “Help me!” As a holiday it is claimed by many. It is known in the pagan world as Beltane, a fertility…
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