what i’m reading: city on fire
I finished City on Fire, Garth Risk Hallberg’s astonishing debut novel, a few days ago, but stories from the book are still playing in mind. I initially didn’t want to…
history
Ellis D. Kropotechev and Zeus, This marvelous time-sharing system. 1967
Stumbled on to this interesting little 16mm film made by a couple of Standford grad students in 1967. Some computer history and plenty of innuendo. Enjoy!
Can peaceful grassroots activism stop the white supremacist movement’s embrace of violence?
The threat of white supremacist terrorism is a constant in U.S. history, writes Shane Burley, author of the forthcoming book, Fascism Today: What It Is and How We End It.…
why do we need to say black lives matter? a brief and partial history lesson
The African American experience in Los Angeles County, California: a brief and selected timeline of sorts.* From 1940-1960, thousands of African Americans migrated from Louisiana, Georgia, Texas, and other southern…
Heretics and Believers
Peter Marshall’s Heretics and believers: a history of the English Reformation from Yale University Press (2017) arrived as a belated birthday present on Friday past. It’s proven to be well…
Roman Concrete
I remember some about this story a few years ago. I don’t think the formula for the Roman mix was well understood at that time. Portland Cement doesn’t cut it.…
A Look Back At Moose Jaw High Street
This mural was destroyed by a fire.
STC Bus Shut Down By Callous SaskParty
Today is a terrible day in Saskatchewan history. The Brad Wall government has ended public transportation to most Saskatchewan communities. There is tomorrow no bus service between Saskatoon and Regina,…
what i’m reading: leaving lucy pear
The year is 1917. A teenage girl from a wealthy family is pregnant, the result of rape — by a man who her mother pushed her to pursue for marriage.…
Acting Your Age
Here’s the thing. We live in a society that values youth over experience, wisdom, ability and knowledge. I’m not sure why we do that, but children are more valuable to…
arun gupta’s perfect takedown of food-as-cultural-appropriation
I read this on Facebook and absolutely love it. The author, Arun Gupta, understands and acknowledges cultural appropriation as a fact and a legitimate concern (as do I). But he…
Politics in Cinema
May the fourth be with you and May you enjoy this post and share it throughout the galaxy! To say that cinema has become a favorite past time of people…
Politics in Cinema
May the fourth be with you and May you enjoy this post and share it throughout the galaxy! To say that cinema has become a favorite past time of people…
what i’m reading: giovanni’s room by james baldwin
James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room, a landmark in LGBT literature, is one of our library’s current “Raves & Faves”. The 1956 novel takes place in Paris, narrated by a young American…
CBC Interviewed a Gunman?
This is a wee bit outrageous. On March 21, 1977, Robert McLagan held 11 employees at Toronto’s Banque Canadienne Nationale hostage for nearly 12 hours. Frum and her producers were…
How Early Video Games Expressed Environmentalism
It can be fun to tune out and just play some games, and that’s a good thing. There are games that are obviously educational like Math Blaster and there are…
It’s Not a Wonderful Life
I’m convinced many Americans – Donald Trump among them – think Frank Capra’s famous film, It’s a Wonderful Life, was a documentary, not entertainment. It has all the elements of…
On Meaning #nlpoli
Brexit supporter and insurance magnate Arron Banks got into a tussle on Twitter late last year with Cambridge classicist Mary Beard. Banks tweeted that Rome had been done in by…
A cup of mao jian
The tea bag is an example of remarkable serendipity; an unexpected, simple invention that changed the world. But it was entirely unintended. Tea, from the camelia sinenis tree, is the…
The new Canadian $10 Bill
Canada is finally putting a woman on the front of a bank note (other than the Queen, of course). The first will be Viola Desmond, who will replace Sir John…