Category Archives: history

Tales from the Diamond

Posted on March 27, 2024 by smellincoffee

The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told is a mixed collection of fiction, nonfiction, and in-between pieces inspired by America’s game. The subtitle, “Tales from the Diamond”, makes it sound as though these are stories about amazing plays, games, etc, which … Continue reading →

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Ballpark

Posted on March 26, 2024 by smellincoffee

Regardless of one’s personal beliefs about the origins of baseball, there’s no getting around the fact that the game as we know it is a product of the cities, particularly New York: the cities were where the people were, and … Continue reading →

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A Right to Read: Segregation and Civil Rights

Posted on March 25, 2024 by smellincoffee

Alabama public libraries were early stages for Civil Rights projects, given their high public profile and higher deals: libraries were created for the common good, for the benefit of society, meant to serve everyone. How could they bar someone from … Continue reading →

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Short rounds: Idols, community, and baseball bros

Posted on March 15, 2024 by smellincoffee

Despite appearances, I have been reading this past week… Elizabeth Scalia’s Strange Gods: Unmasking the Idols of Everyday Life invites readers to consider those things which get between them and God. I heard sermons on this topic in my youth … Continue reading →

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Video Game of the Year

Posted on March 8, 2024 by smellincoffee

I came of age with video games, arriving in the world around the same time as Mario, and have enjoyed their maturation into a genuine art form, with sophisticated storytelling that makes most Hollywood offerings look like a middle school … Continue reading →

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Live, from New York — It’s SATURDAY NIGHT!

Posted on February 27, 2024 by smellincoffee

At the end of 2022, a friend of mine discovered that his former roommate had left a boxed set of SNL’s first five seasons — or at least, season two of the same. He was a teenager when SNL first … Continue reading →

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The Royal Society

Posted on February 22, 2024 by smellincoffee

Over ten years ago I devoured a history of science series by Ray Spangenburg and Diane Kit Moser that played a large part establishing my basic adult understanding of science. While reading it, I was particularly fascinated by the role … Continue reading →

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In Search of Zarathustra

Posted on January 6, 2024 by smellincoffee

Today is the Feast of the Epiphany, in which Christians celebrate the arrival of the Magi to Bethlehem. It is fitting, then, on this day about wise men of the east following stars, to take a look at at a … Continue reading →

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America’s first female astronauts

Posted on December 14, 2023 by smellincoffee

When NASA was formed and began looking for astronauts, they settled on test pilots as the initial base: such men were already known quantities, with proven physical and intellectual gifts that could be applied to the pioneering work of Mercury and beyond. Although … Continue reading →

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God Rest Ye Merry, Soldiers

Posted on December 13, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Christmas of 1862 approached far differently than the year proceeding. Although the southern war for independence had begun in April of ’61,  the war was then still seen by many as a lark, an adventure – and soldiers on both … Continue reading →

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