Machete v. Mascara

On August 20, two women graduated from the US Army Ranger School. They leave their mark as a new generation of women in combat roles. They are the first to complete in their combat leadership course, one of the hardest challenges, both mentally and physically for anyone.

They have trained in combat situations, been deprived of food and sleep, and all the particular rigors of becoming a full-on Ranger. They were held to the same standards as the men, with no compromises. It is quite an achievement.

But they are actually not the first to participate in combat for their country. Just the first to complete this level of training, and as declared women. There have been others but they had to hide, be dressed as male soldiers, in the American Revolution or other conflicts, with a few of them enlisting in disguise.

Anne Bailey, known as Samuel Gay, acted as a frontier scout, serving in the Revolutionary War and the Northwest Indian War. In 1791, she made a famous ride through the frontier to find much-needed gun powder to help secure the endangered Clendenin Settlement, later known as Charleston, WV.

Deborah Sampson, at left,  served in the Continental Army during the Revolution, serving for 17 months under the name Robert Shurtliff, of Uxbridge, MA, She was wounded in 1782, and later honorable discharged at West Point in 1783.   

Then, there was Hannah Snell, at right, an English woman, who joined the British Marines after the death of her daughter. Her unit sailed to India to capture the French colony of Pondicherry. She fought in a battle in Devicotta in June of 1749. She was wounded 11 times, once to the groin, and asked a sympathetic Indian nurse not to reveal her identity during treatment. She was honorably discharged in 1750.

The magnitude and extent of today's Ranger training makes people sit up and take notice, but relatively speaking, the accomplishments and service of these 18th Century women was just as bold. Personally, I don't have the constitution or inclination to lift a 180+ man through a muddy jungle. Or shave back my tresses or get rid of my mascara. It's not for everyone, but for those who want that kind of thing, I say why not. Women have taken their place in all walks of life previously only designated for men. Just don't give me a US President named Hilary this coming election.

The Name is Bond, Jane Bond?

The name is Bond, Jane Bond??

Last week I saw an article in the internet about "the new James Bond". Being 5:30am, and not quite had my first sips of coffee, I thought the article introduced the new man to play (act) Bond in upcoming films, once Daniel Craig relinquishes the role. The actor named was David Oyelowo, a well-known British actor. He happens to be black. He played Danny in MI5, a BBC favorite show of mine, until he was killed by enemy terrorists. I was sad to see him go.

But I was actually appalled, when I thought he was to "play" Bond on screen. We have become so overly politically correct these days, that I thought the Bond franchise had decided it was high time for a black Bond. No matter how good the actor, or actress, there are some roles that HAVE to be played as they were always intended. Bond must be a white, well-tailored British man, more than slightly misogynist, though charming and irresistible. (Don't get mad now, it's only a story).

If you're Indiana Jones, you must be Harrison Ford. If you're The Thin Man, you must be William Powell. If you are Rhett Butler, you must be Clark Gable. And for that matter, if you are Scarlett O'Hara, you must be Vivian Leigh.

Can you imagine if Indy was an Asian; Captain Kirk was gay; Hannibal Lector was Jeffrey Dawmer (haha ...just kidding).

So I started thinking about political correctness from the 18th Century, and how certain characters in literature just have to be who they are to "get it right". 

The Scarlett Pimpernel is set in 1792, during the early stages of the French Revolution. he is actually Sir Percy, a wealthy English baronet who rescues people sentenced to the guillotine. He's a master of disguise, a fop, great swordsman, escape artist, kind of the Bond of his day. He always leaves behind his card showing a pimpernel flower. Now, you can't have a rugged, Neanderthal, he-man type play the part; he must be rather dignified, precise, elegant. The choice of calling card art says a lot. And so, in the movies, Leslie Howard was the perfect choice.

The successful 1988 film "Dangerous Liaisons" was based on French author Francois Choderlos de Laclos' 1782 novel Les Liasons Dangeureuses, based on a cruel wager plotted by the beautiful but debauched Marquise de Merteuil, played bGlenn Close, and her misogynistic former lover, the Vicomte de Valmont (John Malkovitch). Valmont should seduce a very moral virgin before she can be wed. Of course, typical of stories of this nature, and from this time, there are twists and turns, but Malkovitch played the part to manipulative and dangerous perfection. Imagine if the Vicomte was Tom Hanks. Too good-natured, sweet, noble. That's why Hanks plays the quintessential American hero, and not a villian.

So, this being said, we better stick with Bond as we know him, and forget being politically correct.I mean, even though he was pretty hot back in the day, we wouldn't want Shaft as Bond. He's better off left on the mean streets of Harlem, and not the international haunts of Monaco or The Bahamas. If we're not careful, next thing we know, Bond might have to be Jane!

A Scandinavian Delight!

This morning, I saw an recipe about an 18th century bread bun. The picture looked great, and I thought what a nice breakfast that would make along with a lovely cup of rich, dark coffee. Let's put away the "politically-correct", "gluten free", "healthy" breakfast, and talk about the Semla, or Selmor, Bun! Yumm!

Originally only eaten  on Shrove Tuesday, the day preceding Ash Wednesday, before Lent, the Semla bun is a Scandinavian delight, a Swedish bread that came served in a bowl of warm milk. Today they are found in Scandinavian bakeries shortly after Christmas until Easter.   

The Semla is cardamom-spiced bread with an almond paste and cream filling. They have been eaten in Sweden ever since the 18th Century, and warning: King Aldolph Frederick died in 1771 after eating 14 of them! Of course, he had a rich dinner to start. Perhaps the Semla was the straw that broke the camel's back!

The bread takes about 2 hours to make. The ingredients are as follows, and make about 15-20 of them:

2 cups almond paste

¾ cup plus ½ quart heavy cream 7 tablespoons butter 1 ½ cups milk 3 cups flour One 1.4-ounce package fresh yeast ½ cup sugar 1 egg, beaten 2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon ground cardamom 2 egg yolks 1 teaspoon water Powdered sugar, for dusting

Melt butter in a pan, add milk and heat until lukewarm. Mix cardamom, sugar, salt, yeast and most of flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the milk mixture and egg. Knead dough for five minutes till sticky. Cover and leave to rise 30–40 mins.

Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Make into balls. Place on  trays lined with parchment paper; leave to rise for 30–40 mins. 

Preheat oven to 400o. Bake buns in lower part of the oven for 20–25 mins till browned.

Once cool, slice off the top of each bun and set aside. Fork out a layer of crumbs and reserve them in a bowl. Grate the almond paste and combine with the crumbs and milk. Blend into a thick paste and fill each bun. Whip cream till stiff and place onto the almond paste. Put back bun tops and dust with icing sugar. 

The Blue Moon

Today we will see a "Blue Moon"! Its a rare phenomenon when we have more than the general amount of full moons in a season. As it happens so infrequently, hence the expression about something happening "once in a blue moon".

Lunar activity is always compelling. Even though we have actually stepped on its surface, it still hold magic for us, with people recording its unusual or spectacular activity.

For example, on May 18, 1761, the moon was plunged into darkness for an hour and a half, in a deep total eclipse that showed the moon 45% of its diameter inside the Earth's shadow. Because of the Earth's atmosphere at the moment and evidence of volcanic eruption in the Indonesian Island of Halmahera, the moon looked red in color! You can imagine the fear and trepidation.

Nevertheless, as spooky as it might have been, it must also have been remarkable. So, don't forget to look up into the sky tonight. You may be able to see the Blue Moon!

One Man's Treasure

Yesterday, a bit of debris was retrieved from the ocean near the east coast of Africa that might lead investigators to understand what happened to the Flight MH370, the Malaysian airliner that was lost last year somewhere in the Indian ocean. It's a long shot. The piece of "wing" is only 6 ft long. 

The mysteries that the sea sometimes gives up are always fascinating. Recently, professional treasure hunters discovered over $1 million dollars worth of coins and jewels in a shipwreck from the 18th Century. The Spanish ship, called the Capitana, was the flagship of the Spanish fleet that sank in a hurricane in July of 1715, going through Florida to Havana carrying loads of fortune! Its captain was Don Juan Esteban de Ubilla.

The treasure found includes 51 gold coins, 40 ft. of ornate gold chain and a Tricentennial Royal, an extremely rare Spanish coin valued at about $500,000 by today's standard, which was minted to honor King Felipe V of Spain. The ship was carrying more than 3.5 million pesos in treasure, including the queen’s jewels, when it sank A lot more impressive than a 6' section of a wing (maybe), but as they say, "one man's junk is another man's treasure". If the wing debris leads to the area where the plane crashed, a lot of folks will have the treasured closure they hope for.

The Capitana haul represents part of the 300th anniversary of the ship wreck. The coins are now on display at the Naval Museum in Cádiz.

"Museum-Quality" Doodles!

The other day, I saw an interesting bit in the internet about Michelangelo and his market list! We think we are the only ones that doodle in the corners of our note pads, or pieces of paper we carry about to remind us of what to accomplish.

Of course, more and more people now enter these items in their Iphone apps, but the charm of individual or eccentric artistry goes by the wayside!

Whether Michelangelo sent his list with a servant, or went to the marketplace square by himself, this list is really a kick. He draws in a fish, fennel soup, a bottle of wine, etc etc. Perhaps the servant was illiterate. This would be a good way to guide him with the purchases. The list is archived at a museum in Florence, the Casa Buonarroti, along with other of his handwritten notes.

By the 18th Century, we have Thomas Jefferson, maybe not doodling, but keeping handwritten lists of the mundane.  Shown here at right are lists of vegetables and fruits sold from 1801-1809 from his garden. He was an avid gardener, and collector, who kept records of a wide variety of plants in his garden, but also the vegetables in the market in Washington DC, charting the first and last days the vegetables were available!  

And then there was Wolfgang Mozart, who did doodle on his letters! One example, above, is a drawing of his cousin Basle. 

Indiana Jones, 18th Century Style

Recently, (I don't know what possessed me), but I got out my DVD series of the wonderful Indiana Jones saga.  I started looking at Raiders of the Lost Ark, and soon I was hooked. I have now watched them all, and looking at the "bonus" disc of the making of each of the films. It really is an addictive thing. For those interested, there is an actual site, indianajones.com that of course, promotes the sale of all the films, but also has information about archeology in the 1930's, Indy's bio, the villains, etc. etc.

As we know, archaeology is the study of human activity through the ages, primarily focused on recovering artifacts, cultural data, human remains, religious practices, architecture, and analyzing the findings, not only for their place in history  at the time but as a benchmark as it relates to other time periods. We get to understand peoples of a different age, but how they relate to the people we are today. 

I looked into the history of archaeology, especially through the 18th century, and can report the following:

The antiquarian movement of the 17th Century gave rise to a nationalistic endeavor to turn private collections over to museums for the general public's education and pleasure. By the way, antiquarians were those interested in personal collections of artifacts and curios, usually kept in their homes, libraries filled with bones, fossils, or shards of pottery  from ancient civilizations. One could play the "scientist" and boast a bit about their particular collection to those who were invited to view!  

People were hired by museums to go out and look for collections, and entice the owners to give up their personal treasures for the greater good, and perhaps with their name attached to the particular museum gallery in which they were to be displayed. One man, Giovanni Battista Belzoni, was hired by Henry Salt, British consul to Egypt, to gather antiquities for England from far away lands. London, of course, to this day, has one of the greatest collections of Egyptian antiquities in the world.

The father of archaeological excavation is William Cunnington, who lived from 1754-1810.  He undertook excavations in Wiltshire, England around 1798, along. His work was funded by a number of patrons.  

Cunnington's terms for categorizing archaeological finds are still used today. He kept meticulous records of Neolithic and Bronze Age barrows. The first use of a trowel as an excavation tool are sited in a letter Cunnington wrote to one of his wealthy patrons, Richard Colt Hoare, in 1808.

A casual aside: One of the Freemason's tools is the trowel, symbolic of  "the more noble purpose of spreading the cement of brotherly love and affection, that cement which unites us into one sacred band or society of friends, among whom no contention should ever exist, but that noble contention, or rather emulation, of who can best work and best agree."

The Masonic ideal was very popular in the 18th century. Among some of the notables were Founding Fathers George Washington, musician Mozart was a mason. Alexander I Zsar of Russia, poet Robert Burns, naval hero John Paul Jones, and

Madame de Xaintrailles, Republican heroine of the French Revolution.