Achenblog - The Washington Post's Joel Achenbach on whatever strikes his fancy - July 5, 2009

Guest Kit: From Vikings to Bugs Bunny

By W.C. Swanson (aka Curmudgeon) Good morning, Boodle. Today is July 10. And since Joel found an Irish pub in Rome, that gives me a perfect lead-in to... Today in Viko-Irish and Bugs Bunny History July 10, 988: Dublin is...

Michelangelo: Renaissance Man?

In the distance, you see St. Peter's. We hit the Vatican and we hit it hard. The guy that really caught my eye was Michelangelo. Not only was he a master at painting the human form, but, more impressively,...

Guest Kit: Happy Caprotinia

By W.C. Swanson (aka Curmudgeon) 'Morning, Boodle. Getting hotter and hotter here in D.C. For those of us who happen to be traveling in Italy (you know who you are), it's worth mentioning that today is Caprotinia, aka the feasts...

Guest Kit: Today in Mounties History

By W.C. Swanson (aka Curmudgeon) Good Morning, Boodle. Getting warmer today, approaching "proper" July weather. Before we proceed further into the day, we've some business to attend to: July 8, 2009: Today in Mounties-Always-Get-Their-Man History 1497: Portuguese explorer Vasco da...

Guest Kit: Today in Joan of Arc and UFO History

By W.C. Swanson (aka Curmudgeon) [Your blogger is in Rome and finally clamped onto the Internets...Sorry this is a bit late in the day....] 1456: Joan of Arc, 19, born in the village of Domrémy, is acquitted of charges...

When in Rome

In all candor, the Tiber is not the most impressive river in the world. It's just two notches up from Hogtown Creek! But great bridges. You know that saying about "All Roads Lead to Rome"? A total lie. On...

Robert McNamara

It can't have been easy, the last four decades, knowing that the first sentence of your obituary would include the phrase "architect of the Vietnam War." Here's the start of Paul Hendrickson's classic 3-part series on Robert McNamara: The...

Achenblog: July 5, 2009 - July 11, 2009