Lemurian Congress

A few years ago I realized that automobiles weren't magically invented with heaters already installed. By coming across random reference...

I was going to mention " Madam Satan " when I posted about pre-code Hollywood last week , but because the film had come out in 193...

Unless in reference to the latest hotcha dancefloor moves or the hottest entertainers at nightclubs, The New Yorker didn't say anything ...

If you've been reading this blog today, you've been wondering what yo-yos have to do with feces . I myself wasn't aware of any ...

In July I was puzzled by a 1929 advertisement for "motor robes." We decided -- on anecdotal evidence mainly -- that these robes w...

I admit it: I have a fascination for things which are under appreciated or outright forgotten. Maybe someday I'll figure out what such t...

During my first years as a Psychology student at the University of Waterloo, I was a dedicated behaviourist . There was something comforting...

I've just finished Douglas Gilbert's " American Vaudeville ." It really is an exceptional book. Sloppy, yes, full of aside...

In May of last year I was stuck in a hotel room with MacKinlay Kantor's book "Diversey," and it annoyed me so much that I made...

I'm having so much fun re-reading Douglas Gilbert's "American Vaudeville." His anecdotes about popular variety acts are pr...

It's not unusual for the New Yorker cartoonists to make fun of their own sponsors, but here's my personal favourite: If you're t...

I've finally gotten around to adding a blogroll to the right-hand column. These are blogs that I read for inspiration and entertainment,...

I am deep in the thick of John Barth's "LETTERS," a novel that requires every inch of attention in order to digest. I am compl...

Henning ( HE FIXED MY BLOG TEMPLATE!!! ) has occasionally loaned me some rare and wonderful CDs by KLF . While their overblown and strangely...

While listing the three things that Hugh Hefner had going for him, Pierre Berton says: Third, Playboy was banned in Canada, which is almost ...