Just do your work and don’t be lazy, Like Giambattista Piranesi. The only drawback of vegetarianism is always being preached at by ghouls. All human speech is monkey chatter; It makes no sense; it doesn’t matter. A woman recently upbraided me for writing a song that didn’t rhyme. I tried to explain that not all […]

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One of the unpleasant aspects of cinema is its passivity.  The movie is blasted at you, and there’s nothing to do.  You don’t have enough room to move, enough light to read, or enough quiet to carry on a conversation.  Alcohol — even a harmless beer — will be confiscated.  Food is available, but little […]

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The “Bowling Card Game” (Ed-U-Cards, 1962) let you enjoy the sport without getting any exercise.  And you could enjoy some colorful early ’60s graphics as well. (Posted by Doug Skinner)

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You should always wash the hand which You will use to hold the sandwich. There are two kinds of people in the world: those who joke that there are two kinds of people in the world, those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who don’t; and those who don’t. My […]

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Built-Rite is responsible for the “Zoo Fun Card Game.”  There is no date, I’m afraid: just pictures of birds, fish, and mammals: on “New shaped cards — to fit the hands – easier to hold.” (Posted by Doug Skinner) 

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Sometimes mechanical reproduction is not the most accurate.  In the 1890s, the composer Erik Satie bought seven identical velvet suits, and wore nothing else for seven years. In photos, they look gray: his biographers duly noted that; a record of his music was even entitled “The Gray Velvet Gentleman.”  Later, scholars unearthed several color sketches by […]

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“Cowboys and Indians” was published by Ed-U-Cards in 1960.  It featured soberly rendered illustrations of cowboys and Indians, six-shooters and tommyhawks — and one cowgirl. (Posted by Doug Skinner)

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I recently obtained a copy of Joscelyn Godwin’s book Athanasius Kircher’s Theatre of the World (Inner Traditions, 2009).  I mention it here so that I can plug it: it’s a wonderful overview of the 17th century savant, studded with 400 examples of his charts, maps, inventions, and other illustrations.  There’s been somewhat of a Kircher […]

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Your butt in back, in front your face: That’s how you move through time and space. I once found a salamander in my family’s yard. Salamanders are harmless; still, my father’s immediate reaction was “Kill it!” Maybe we can spend the meeting Arguing about the seating. If you pay attention, you may notice an increasing […]

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A few members of the Ullage Group convened this week to experiment with another foodstuff unfamiliar to the dominant American culture.  The subject was chestnut honey: an Italian varietal markedly darker, earthier, and less sweet than the common domestics.  The participants in the study were Doug Skinner, Dr. Mamie Caton, and her associates Susan and […]

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