A quick recap is in order. We began this series by introducing readers to two gentleman who managed to upset those who choose to believe that the history of North America began with the voyage of Christopher Columbus. Retired Royale Navy navigator Gavin Menzies and former Marquette junior high science teacher Fred Rydholm have […]
Quick – how many things do you think a retired British Naval navigator (Gavin) and a retired junior high science teacher (Fred) could have in common? Both travelled extensively in their retirement years. They wrote multiple books. Ancient history is the common thread that stitched together the books they authored and their world travels. […]
By the time you read this article, I will be unemployed for only the second time since 1970. Okay, being retired isn’t exactly like being unemployed, but it probably will feel like it for at least a little while. I actually began putting together my thoughts about ‘tomorrow’ well in advance of my actual […]
Greetings – just a quick note to remind visitors to this site that I am retiring from the Ontonagon Area Schools as of June 30, 2018 – it is hard to believe that I have had the honor of working here for 43 years! The laws of our fair state demand that I have a […]
The picturesque Italian village of Amalfi claims to have an illustrious maritime tradition, although the harbor there barely holds the couple of boats that remain in the local fishing fleet. Even the tourists from the cruise ships plying the Mediterranean are bussed in because the ships can’t anchor there. In the town square, there […]
In December of 2016, I almost subscribed to Classic Rock Magazine. I found myself buying a copy whenever they weren’t sold out at the bookstore, so it seemed the logical thing to do would be to save a few bucks and subscribe. I cued up the TeamRock website and was met with an announcement […]
Warning: If you are able to identify the person named in the title above, you are about to confront an age old conundrum. (or perhaps it is an old age conundrum). It goes like this: If you make a cultural reference and no one else in the room has any idea what you are talking […]
Rumor has it that Robert Downey, Jr. used Elon Musk as his template for the billionaire industrialist playboy Tony Stark (see Stan Lee’s Marvel Universe under ‘A’ for Avengers and ‘I’ for Iron Man). Certainly there are differences: Stark has Pepper Potts, amazing holographic computer technology, no children, and, of course, there is that […]
Greetings – Just got the newest PLAYING for CHANGE CD – while we don’t normally push listeners and readers into causes, this is one that we can’t help but wave the flag for. If you caught one of the first versions of this concept (Stand By Me was the first one I recall seeing some […]
“About four hours before a launch, the Falcon 9 starts getting filled with an immense amount of liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene. Some of the liquid oxygen vents out of the rocket as it awaits launch and is kept so cold that it boils off on contact with the metal and air, forming white plumes […]