Category Archives: History

History at all levels, not just not my past or nostalgic musings.

Trumbo: Must See

Posted on December 6, 2015 by Steve

You may not know Dalton Trumbo by name but you’ll know the movies he wrote the screenplays to: Roman Holiday, Spartacus, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Exodus and Kitty Foyle. He was also a highly-paid screenwriter whose career was devastated by the Red Scare … Continue reading →

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1990: Graduation!

Posted on December 3, 2015 by Steve

I took the last couple days off to focus on Christmas cards, see the Stars lose in overtime to the proxy FIBs and finish some shopping, namely packing materials. This month’s header is focused on my graduation from Marquette University … Continue reading →

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1985: Calvin & Hobbes makes it debut

Posted on November 18, 2015 by Steve

I think it appeared in about 20-30 newspapers, new strips don’t make a big splash right away due to the expense but Calvin & Hobbes was a hit pretty quickly. Calvin was certainly an easy-to-relate to character even if you didm’t … Continue reading →

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Stuff You Missed in History Class answered!

Posted on November 15, 2015 by Steve

This week I’ll be traveling to Dallas for a three-day weekend to hang out with another college buddy, Hoser. It will be my Prius C’s first road trip beyond the boundaries of what is culturally Austin; to the north it … Continue reading →

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Bridge of Spies: Worth seeing

Posted on November 1, 2015 by Steve

Spielberg and Hanks team up again to cover the next chapter of American History after Saving Private Cliché back in 1998, aka Spielberg Americanizes Stalingrad. Still, I couldn’t help but like this little Thriller-Drama-History puff piece despite it playing fast and loose … Continue reading →

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Italian #37: Al Molinaro

Posted on October 31, 2015 by Steve

I’ll close out this year’s celebration of Italians with the news about Al. He passed away yesterday at 96! What a run for that guy, I’m debating whether or not I want to live so long given the ruthless nature … Continue reading →

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Italians #36: Paul and Mira Sorvino

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Steve

October is running out and these entries do take some extraordinary effort. So I’m going with a semi-famous father-daughter acting team…well, team is a stretch, I think they’ve only done two movies together. Paul you most likely recognize. He played … Continue reading →

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Italian #35: Charles (Carlos) Ponzi

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Steve

Although the crime most associated with Charles Ponzi wasn’t new when he was arrested for it in 1920, somehow it stuck to him which was more likely the Media’s racist tendencies against Italians. Remember, a century ago, Italians occupied the … Continue reading →

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Happy Native Americans AND Columbus Day

Posted on October 12, 2015 by Steve

For the last several decades, it’s popular to rag on Columbus Day. Why? Probably a handful of reasons yet I have a counterpoint to all the Politically Correct assholes who go on and whine and whine. You wouldn’t be here … Continue reading →

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Italian #34: Franco Grillini

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Steve

If you’ve ever followed Italy’s national politics, especially after World War II, they appear to be chaotic compared to America’s. Unlike our entrenched Congress which oddly is always in campaign mode, the Italian Parliament (Parlamento) averages an election a year … Continue reading →

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Italian #33: Giordano Bruno

Posted on October 10, 2015 by Steve

This year we’ve covered an Italian who affected food/candy and another with art, on to Science. If you watched the new Cosmos, you may remember Bruno’s name. He was the Dominican friar who proposed that the stars in the night sky … Continue reading →

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Italian #32: Artemisia Gentileschi

Posted on October 6, 2015 by Steve

Back to the art world for today’s Italian and my entry covers another woman who contributed immensely to what is called the Baroque period, Artemisia Gentileschi. While Sofonisba Anguissola was only allowed to paint portraits, Artemisia had the opportunity to do historical and … Continue reading →

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Italian #31: Domingo (Domenico) Ghirardelli

Posted on October 3, 2015 by Steve

You probably recognize the surname at the grocery store, high-end candy sections or what reminded me to add him this year…the ice cream/candy place in Las Vegas that is situated between the Linq and Flamingo. It’s a good place to … Continue reading →

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Benvenuto! It’s Italian month once again…

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Steve

…and the artificial marketing month of Bricktober courtesy of Lego. This year’s header is a movie poster for a film made 50 years ago. That could be Sophia Loren, she was in practically everything back around the Sixties. However, she … Continue reading →

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“Happy Birthday” is finally in the public domain

Posted on September 23, 2015 by Steve

This is a legal outcome that was long, long overdue and the copyright terrorists should be forced to issue refunds since they’ve been raking in $2 million/year for a rather ubiquitous tune. It mostly took the efforts of a documentary film … Continue reading →

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