The early parts of this book by Nicole and Hugh Pope are quite engaging. Turkey is described as a very popular tourist destination, and one couple we know said it was their favorite of several stops on their recent cruise. I recommend the book for people either interested in the country or who intend to visit. I challenge anyone to read the first page and not be intrigued. The authors say, “We still find it hard to pin down precisely when we fell in love with Turkey.” They then go through a list of endearing moments such as when a “…mustachioed fierce Turk’s face melted into an open and loving smile at the sight of a small baby.” Another is about the taxi driver who was a complete stranger but offered a loan to travelers finding themselves with no money at the end of a long ride. Other moments are not as comforting. A Turkish soldier who had gone out of his way to help strangers on a rainy night proudly said he was in charge of his unit’s torture section. There are other references to the reputation for brutality. The movie Midnight Express about the horrors experienced by an American in Turkish prisons after being arrested trying to smuggle drugs is a lasting contributor to the negative image of the country. Continue reading
Pig in a Poke
The Phrase Finder explains that that the expression refers to an “…offering or deal that is foolishly accepted without being examined first. The expression is part of British commercial law “caveat emptor”—which is Latin for “let the buyer beware.” The expression has been around for over five hundred years and is a warning that you should check the bag (poke) to verify that you are really buying a pig and not an animal of lesser quality. As a bonus, the expression is also the origin of “letting the cat out of the bag.”
Third Anniversary for Rocky Flats Facts Web Site
The most important news about the web site as we have passed the third anniversary of the launch is that there is now a partner writing commentaries, book reviews, and explanations of the origins of expressions. There were a few commentaries and reviews provided by guest writers in the first couple of years, but Kate Rauner, writing under the tag line “Ponderer,” has provided a significant portion of the content in the last year. Her posts have provided a nice expansion in subjects and opinions. I recommend Kate’s fun and interesting science fiction book, “Glitch.” You can see my review of that book on Amazon.
We launched this web site in November 2010 with the primary purpose of providing the free on line book “An Insider’s View of Rocky Flats, Urban Myths Debunked.” The book has had a few thousand people view it on line and several hundred copies have been sold on Amazon. There are eleven reviews on Amazon with an average rating of three and one half stars. Continue reading
Spending a Great American Fortune
Empty Mansions is a book about wealth and the eccentricity wealth enabled. Bill Dedman became interested in this story when he learned of a mansion in Connecticut kept in pristine condition by a staff that had never seen their employer. He learned this was not the only magnificent home kept, but never visited, by this particular heir. His research led him to one of her relatives, co-author Paul Clark Newell, Jr., who provided his twenty years of research into the family: documents, stories, and many pictures that fill the book. (The EPUB book is 13,229 KB.) Continue reading
A Bee in Your Bonnet
The Phrase Finder writes that the expression indicates someone is obsessed with an idea and is in a state of agitation that someone would demonstrate if they did have a bee in their bonnet. There was an earlier expression “to have bees in one’s head” that was recorded from the 16th century. The first citation of the eventual expression located by the Phrase Finder was in “…the Reverend Phillip Doddridge Letters, 1790…”
Humans Use Tools; So Do Alligators
“It’s the first time the use of a tool has been documented in reptiles, according to the study published in the current edition of Ethology, Ecology and Evolution.” cnn.com It seems the gators gather sticks on their snouts, then lie quietly in the water waiting for a hapless bird to try to perch. Lunging suddenly, the gator grabs the bird. They use the stick ploy more often during nesting season when birds are collecting sticks for nest-building.
Once, we humans tried to define ourselves as the animals that use tools. Then we discovered chimpanzees use tools, then that birds use tools. Now alligators. If we insist that being human is not a matter of degree, but requires a unique capability, perhaps we can say humans are the animals that compose poetry. That may work, at least until we understand porpoise languages. Continue reading