Because my father is touching down in the UK today, here’s a delightful look at the growth of London over the past two thousand years:
Posts Tagged ‘history’
Animated London
Posted in Likes, tagged awesome, cartography, cities, geography, history, infrastructure, London, maps, spatial analysis on June 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Learning@Dinner
Posted in Food and..., tagged Domtrappkällaren, food, history, Learning@Dinner, restaurants, Sweden, travel, Uppsala University on April 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Did you know? Not only did there used to be a student jail for curfew breakers and related miscreants in Uppsala, Sweden, but that very same collection of cold stone cells is now the character-filled restaurant Domtrappkällaren. Translation: [Dom=cathedral] + [trapp=steps] + [kalleren=cellar]. For a mind-blowing bit of temporal perspective (for North Americans, at least), the university punishing said miscreants was founded in 1477. (Still left to learn: how are modern-day malfeasants chastised now that the jail has been repurposed? Inquiring minds want to know!)
The restaurant serves a delectable selection of Northern cuisine, including items like Kalix Löjrom roe. That name is a Protected Designation of Origin similar to “Champagne,” and is the only such designation in Sweden. Kalix is in Northern Sweden, and the region’s fish eggs (or Kalixlöjrom) gain their unique flavor from a mix of fresh and salt waters along with a copious dose of minerals. (Apparently, strontium and barium are quite tasty, if you can persuade a fish to prepare it for you.)
I learned none of this first-hand, sadly, but my globe-trotting father enjoyed the heck out of his dinner. Makes me want to get back to Sweden…
Kowal | Don’t blame the homogeneity of your novel on historical accuracy. That’s your choice, as an author.
Posted in Writing, tagged books, diversity, Fiction, history, literature, Thoughts, Writers, writing on November 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »
I’m busy working on a hard deadline so today I invite you to enjoy this great, self-reflective piece on diversity in historical fiction (and by extension, all fictional worlds) by Mary Robinette Kowal. She’s talking specifically about race but the same points apply to gender, sexuality, etc. as well.
Don’t blame the homogeneity of your novel on historical accuracy. That’s your choice, as an author.
Roswell’s 66th Anniversary, or, “Wait, We Landed Where?”
Posted in Entertainment, Likes, tagged aliens, back to work!, coffee break, creativity, Doodles, entertainment, fun, games, Google, history, Roswell, roswell incident, scifi, space on July 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »
I know, I should be working (and I have been and I will be) but! Google has a fun little Doodle in honor of the 66th anniversary of the Roswell incident, and it’s too much fun not to mention.
Need a break? Play the game and take a moment to feel for the little lost alien. Poor thing! Now back to work:)
On Tulips
Posted in Other, tagged awesome, flowers, good neighbors, history, interesting, market crash on May 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »
photo by Chris Willis
It’s Tulip Festival time here in Ottawa, and despite the unseasonably cold weather we’re having right now the flowers are beautiful. They also got me asking questions about the Festival specifically and about tulips in general. (If you are Canadian and a gardener feel free to stop here, you probably already know what I’m about to say. I’m neither and was happy to learn something new.)
Why tulips? Sure, the Festival is designed to promote trade and tourism, but there’s a nice story behind its origin. The tulips were “given as a gift in perpetuity to the Canadian people for having provided safe harbour to the Dutch Royal Family during the German occupation of the Netherlands”* during World War Two.
Princess Juliana was about to give birth in Ottawa but being born in another country would have affected the child’s succession status. Fair enough, but it’s not like the Princess could go home. So, in typically awesome Canadian style, when Princess Margriet was born in 1943 the Dutch flag was flown from the Peace Tower. Succession issue solved. How neighborly is that?
Wait, you may ask, isn’t this the same flower whose bulbs were once worth more than their weight in gold (and, not incidentally, also sparked the “Tulip Mania” market crash in the 17th century)? How do I get more of them? You may already know this but I didn’t, at least not in detail.
How do tulips propagate? As in, I’ve got this shallot-like bulb I picked up at the store and the package swears that if I put it in the ground I’ll get a tulip next Spring. Great. But what if I didn’t have this little net bag from the supermarket? If the Apocalypse comes tomorrow tulips are on their own. What then?
It turns out that tulips are well positioned to survive a catastrophic event because they are designed to propagate in not one but two ways. If you want to make more tulips, come Autumn you can either dig up the bulb or collect the seeds. The original bulb will have grown a number of little satellites, or offsets. The largest of the bulbs will flower the next year but the smaller ones will need extra growing time. Bulbs are exact genetic replicas of the original, while seeds will give you a hybrid plant with more genetic diversity, and the potential for new colors and characteristics.
This could be critical if the Apocalypse does come and you need new, pretty ways to match your landscaping with brimstone or mask the odor of zombie. Just saying.
Love The One You’re With
Posted in Science!, tagged aliens, awesome, dna, evolution, history, inspiration, science on March 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Since I’m on an NPR science kick… this article provides a fascinating glimpse of our dual genetic past… and perhaps future?
What Happened When Humans Met An Alien Intelligence? Sex Happened : Krulwich Wonders… : NPR
… most humans on Earth, especially if they descend from Europe and most of Asia, carry about 1 to 4 percent Neanderthal DNA in their cells. Proportions will vary. British comedian Eddie Izzard, discovered he’s 2.8 percent Neanderthal. You don’t carry Neanderthal DNA unless someone up your family tree coupled with one.
So that’s our proof: that our first encounter with an intelligent alien led to … umm, well … more.
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