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Carrie Fisher
This year has taken a lot out of us as a culture. Many of our most beloved icons have been taken from us, the face of the world is changing drastically, and more and more we are faced with truths that are difficult to accept. It seems almost trivial to say that the death of one person represents the culmination of the whole year to me, but that is my burden to bear and my truth to share, and your choice if you wish to keep reading. My guess is if you do, you might feel the same way, or at least are able to understand where I am coming…
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White Christmas
My favorite holiday movie is now and has always been (after “Die Hard”) “White Christmas”. And as this is the case and it is 62 years old this Christmas season, I’m going to write about it. “White Christmas” came out in 1954 and quickly became the highest grossing box office hit of the year, earning what today would be $102.7 million. The film was also the first movie filed in VistaVision which allowed for a widescreen effect. It was supposed to be the third of a trio of movies starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire as a musical showcase for Irving Berlin. However, Mr. Astaire declined the role and asked…
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The Epic of Gilgamesh
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, despite clear division between them, Humanity, the Wild, and the Divine are inextricably linked in a synergetic relationship. Throughout the text, a significant emphasis is made on the differences between this triad. However the events of the story itself only prove their strong inter-connectivity. In the text, Humbaba was a monster tasked to guard the home of the gods, incidentally a massive Cedar Forest where Enkidu grew up. So the environment, or the Wild as it is often referred to in the text, houses and protects the Divine from the prying eyes of Humanity. Humbaba, implicitly the avatar of the gods and from a certain…
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LIONESS OF BRITTANY
What is it with French women named Jeanne? Unlike Madamoiselle d’Arc, however, Jeanne de Clisson was born into privilege and only took to kicking butt and taking names after the French king Phillip VI “wrongfully” executed her husband. But I’m getting ahead of myself. For those of you who don’t like all the dates and details, there is a clever little summary below I invite you to skip to. For the rest of you: Jeanne was born in the Gâtine Vendéenne in the year 1300 CE to nobleman Maurice IV of Belleville-Montaigu and Létice de Parthenay of Parthenay. She was married at the age of twelve and during the span…
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Why History is Sexy
Phoebe owes me a proper date after this one. That means a full meal, in the evening, and a proper goodnight kiss. I promise only to press the advantage to 2nd base. I am a gentleman after all. I had this conversation not too long ago with a “muggle” friend of mine. I was wittering on about some cave paintings recently discovered that are about 45,000 (okay, 42,000 but what is one or two millennium between friends?) years old and saw that her eyes were glazed over as she was holding her hands in front of her like she was trying NOT to grab her phone and play Candy Crush.…
