Aqueducts are a fascinating study, especially the ancient aqueducts that dot the landscape all over the former Roman Empire. You find their remains everywhere— in mountains, on beaches, down valleys, on top of hills, in flat plains, in rolling hills, near towns, and out in the country. They are ubiquitous. The two pictures you see above are mine, taken at the remains of the enormous aqueduct behind the famous theater in Aspendos in Turkey. My pastor told a true story… Read more

So I went to the movie theater one snowy afternoon and saw two films that both had drums beating all the way through them. Now I have drums beating in my head. Drummers are rather like NFL kickers, they are a breed apart. But I digress. Michael Keaton will forever be known for his star making role in Beetlejuice. He has made other good films over the years, but its hard to escape the shadow of a giant and very… Read more

The assortment of films nominated for best picture this year is really quite amazing. And it comes as something of a surprise that one of those films is a jazz film about a young drummer played by Miles Teller, co-starring J.K.Simmons (of Farmer’s Insurance commericial fame) as the abusive teacher. Considering that only about 3% of the record sales market is jazz of any sort, it was something of a gamble to make a film about this subject. Set in… Read more

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Words of course only have meanings in particular contexts. It is not true that ‘in the beginning was the dictionary, and the dictionary yea verily set meanings in stone’. No dictionaries and lexicons are studies of the uses of words in a variety of contexts to determine their semantic range. And of course sometimes words can be completely reversed in meaning, for example the term awful today means something that is bad, but awe-full meant full of awe and wonder… Read more

Kudos to Dr. Michael Halcomb for passing this along. Read more

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http://www.cnn.com/videos/entertainment/2015/01/29/funny-or-die-bill-nye.funny-or-die?iid=ob_article_organicsidebar_expansion&iref=obnetwork Read more

Henry Clay was in so very many ways, a remarkable man. A gentleman farmer, born in Virginia, but coming to adulthood in Kentucky he found slavery abhorrent, and fought for the gradual abolition of the practice. He was often out of step for his day and age on many subjects. He served not just as a senator from the state of Kentucky, he was also Secretary of State, and three times he worked his political magic to prevent the splitting… Read more

In the eighth installment of Susan Hill’s much praised detective series, she takes on a subject that, as the British would say, will possibly put you off your tea. The subject is not merely paedophilia, but paedophilia filmed for the viewing pleasure of the sick and wicked, including snuff films. In other words, this is not a novel for the weak of stomach, never mind the faint of heart. Doubtless, it is difficult to continue to come up with original,… Read more