Tag Archives: history

Prophetic Pictures from Menomonie, Wisconsin

Posted on 2/14/2010 by chris

See more from the flickr set “Prophetic Pictures from Menomonie, Wisconsin” “… The album comprises 32 photographs taken in 1905 of graduates of Menomonie High School in Dunn County. It doesn’t describe the students’ extracurricular activities nor does it reveal … Continue reading →

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Reading Log: Every Man Dies Alone (Hans Fallada)

Posted on 1/5/2010 by chris

Hans Fallada’s Every Man Dies Alone crashed into my reading life like a bolt from the blue. I came across the book while randomly browsing through the thin selection of “literature” at our only locally owned bookstore (specified not to … Continue reading →

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Booklog: A Man Called Intrepid (William Stevenson)

Posted on 4/3/2009 by chris

Recommended to me by Bruce Bentzman, A Man Called Intrepid is a historical account that reads like great spy fiction. The book documents how William Stephenson (code name: Intrepid) and Wild Bill Donovan created and ran a spy network well … Continue reading →

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…the meaning of history (Leonard Michaels)

Posted on 3/20/2009 by chris

"The Nazis came with the meaning of history–what flings you into a cellar save you for bullets." –Leonard Michaels from the story "I Would Have Saved Them If I Could"

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Aerial View of Mont Saint-Michel

Posted on 2/24/2009 by chris
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Paging Robert Johnson

Posted on 10/15/2008 by chris

[photo by abbyladybug] While browsing Brian’s trove of links, a pointer to an Esquire article caught my eye. It tells the story of the discovery, attempt at authentication, and subsequent wrangling over the ownership and authenticity of what might be … Continue reading →

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From Russia with Hate

Posted on 5/20/2008 by chris

This brief documentary on the rise of Neo-Nazis and other hate groups in Russia is powerful and disturbing… and perfect for the web where it isn’t censored as it would undoubtedly be on television.

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The Secret Museum of Mankind

Posted on 1/26/2008 by chris

The Secret Museum of Mankind is online, scanned in its entirety, with links to large versions of all the photos. Astounding. Here’s the site’s description of the strange set: Published in 1935, the Secret Museum is a mystery book. It … Continue reading →

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Depression Era Rural Family Photos

Posted on 8/4/2007 by chris

Shorpy constantly has interesting photos, but the recent pictures of a rural Depression era family are quite moving. The one linked from the thumbnail below really caught my attention, not least due to the strange trick of light and wood … Continue reading →

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The Gentle Lash

Posted on 5/26/2007 by chris

The proceedings of the Old Bailey, described as “A fully searchable online edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing accounts of over 100,000 criminal trials held at London’s central criminal court,” … Continue reading →

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Painting the Disappeared

Posted on 5/17/2007 by chris

There are some powerful images in this Slate exhibit about how to approach the disappeared artistically, but none more so than this video of an artist painting– with water on stone– the likenesses of disappeared individuals, a race against time … Continue reading →

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Pessimism vs. Existentialism

Posted on 2/10/2007 by chris

As Sartre constantly reminds us, we are what we do. In short, existentialism is not a philosophy that allows us to feel sorry for ourselves in the midst of our malaise. It is a philosophy with which we can come … Continue reading →

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9/11 and Breughel

Posted on 9/13/2006 by chris

Scott Rosenberg draws a connection between a Breughel and a photo taken on 9/11. He also points to one of my favorite Auden poems about the painting: Musee des Beaux Arts. The parallel between my feelings about 9/11 and the … Continue reading →

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A Thought on 9/11

Posted on 9/11/2006 by chris

Thomas Merton: Hence it becomes more and more difficult to estimate the morality of an act leading to war because it is more and more difficult to know precisely what is going on. Not only is war increasingly a matter … Continue reading →

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