Monthly Archives: June 2008

TRAVELING WITHOUT GUIDEBOOKS.

Posted on June 30, 2008 by Philip

TRAVELING WITHOUT GUIDEBOOKS. I carry a heavy load of guidebooks when I travel, but Laurence Sterne’s A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY turned out to be one of the best. Yorick, Sterne’s narrator, says, “What a large volume of adventures may be grasped … Continue reading →

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TRAVELING WITH GUIDEBOOKS.

Posted on June 30, 2008 by Philip

TRAVELING WITH GUIDEBOOKS. I posted here about this article by Wendy MacCleod, which expressed dissatisfaction with European travel. She wrote that, “The problem with guidebooks is that they’ve given everybody the same itinerary,” and pointed out that there are sights … Continue reading →

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PUNCTUATION AND A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY.

Posted on June 29, 2008 by Philip

PUNCTUATION AND A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY. Paul Collins in the article I linked to yesterday points out that in the 18th century punctuation was not used to express grammar or to relate clauses, but to indicate “oratorical pauses” He cites a … Continue reading →

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CRIME AND THE SEMI-COLON.

Posted on June 28, 2008 by Philip

CRIME AND THE SEMI-COLON. Collins points out that the New York Police Department once speculated that the Son of Sam serial killer could be a freelance journalist because of the use of a semi-colon in the letters he sent.

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PASSIONS AND THE SEMI-COLON.

Posted on June 28, 2008 by Philip

PASSIONS AND THE SEMI-COLON. A lot of writers have a favorite punctuation mark. I worked with a lawyer whose favorite was the parenthesis and another whose favorite was the dash. My own favorite is the colon. Mary Jane’s is the … Continue reading →

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DOES ALL PHYSICAL REALITY CONSIST OF MATHEMATICS?

Posted on June 27, 2008 by Philip

DOES ALL PHYSICAL REALITY CONSIST OF MATHEMATICS? The cosmologist Max Tegmark believes that the answer is yes. He says in this interview that, “Mathematical things actually exist, and they are actually physical reality…..A mathematical structure doesn’t describe a universe, it … Continue reading →

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RESTORING STREAMS.

Posted on June 26, 2008 by Philip

RESTORING STREAMS. I posted here about the subterranean rivers of London, including the Walbrook, now underground, which was probably important in the original location of Londinium. The thousands of dams and millponds built in this country in the 18th and … Continue reading →

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THE GREATEST CATCH THAT WAS NEVER MADE.

Posted on June 25, 2008 by Philip

THE GREATEST CATCH THAT WAS NEVER MADE. I am not referring to a leaping catch by a ballgirl that was on the internet yesterday, and which turned out to be a commercial. This is a link to Rodney McCray running … Continue reading →

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WHERE LONDON BOOKS TAKE PLACE.

Posted on June 25, 2008 by Philip

WHERE LONDON BOOKS TAKE PLACE. Henry Nejako sent me this link, which leads to a Google-based map showing where in London various books are set. There is a variety of books located on the map—books about Sherlock Holmes, Nell Gwyn … Continue reading →

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LOCAL COLOR: MCDONALD’S IN HONG KONG.

Posted on June 24, 2008 by Philip

LOCAL COLOR: MCDONALD’S IN HONG KONG. I went to a McDonald’s restaurant in Hong Kong once. I strongly prefer to eat in local restaurants, but I had taken as much time as I could in the wonderful aviary, and had … Continue reading →

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