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Victoria Regina
Rule, Britannia! Britannia, Rule the Waves! That’s not how I feel necessarily…it’s just the music that goes with this picture. Today is Queen Victoria’s Birthday (1819-1901). I thought I’d give the...
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On Herman Melville
Originally posted in 2011 This gentleman (born today in 1819) is one of my literary heroes. A tribute to this is the fact that my interest in him survived an introduction to his great masterwork at...
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Aubrey Beardsley
Salome, with the head of John the Baptist “If I am not grotesque, than I am nothing” — Beardsley Today is the birthday of the great Art Nouveau illustrator Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898). A key member...
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On Culture and Anarchy
Today is the birthday of the great Victorian poet, essayist and cultural critic Matthew Arnold (1822-1888). This year I read Culture and Anarchy (1867-1869) for the first time and I suspect I will be...
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Where We At: Springtide Spectaculumps!
And now…for my next trick! The last twelvemonth was such a chain of large projects (4 of them) that there has been scant time for what you might call the NYC alt-performer’s DAILY SWIM. First there was...
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The Saga of the 7 Sutherland Sisters
Like something out of a fairy tale (Snow White and the Seven Rapunzels), the Sutherland Sisters Seven caused jaws to drop by letting their hair down. The seven were Dora, Grace, Isabella, Mary, Naomi,...
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The Only Post You’ll Ever Need About L. Frank Baum
For a time during my childhood, at an age far too old to have been healthy, I believed that Oz was a real place. This may be credited both to an unhappy childhood…and to the unparalleled imagination...
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Happy Valentine’s Day from the Littlest Lovers: Tom Thumb & Lavinia Warren
“There’s someone for everybody” goes the old matchmaker’s expression, and perhaps no words rang truer on February 9, 1863, the day that professional little person Tom Thumb (Charles Stratton) married...
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On the Popular Phenomenon of Edward Bellamy and “Looking Backward”
I know — you were hoping this post would would be about THIS guy — — Martin Laurello, the man who could turn his head backwards, but there’s no need to be disappointed. You can still read all about...
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On the Fox Sisters and the Birth of Spiritualism
The Fox Sisters were not a vaudeville sister act, nor were they related to vaudeville/stage performers like Harry Fox, George L. Fox, Will H. Fox, Imro Fox, Joe Fox, Della Fox, or The Foxy Grandpa....
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