Past imperfect: In defense of “Back to the Future, Part II.”
The second installment of the "Back to the Future" trilogy is, in many ways, the most thoughtful and interesting of the three.
The Verge
Historic Photo: Patrick Street, Cork, Ireland, about 1900.
Modernity is slowly replacing the old ways in this view of turn-of-the-century Ireland.
Adventures in aggrieved entitlement: The nightmare world of tax protesters.
What happens to your life when grumbling at your tax bill becomes a moral crusade? Nothing good, as history shows.
The lost cataclysm: The Cascadia earthquake and tsunami of 1700.
An earthquake off the coast of Oregon rocked the land, caused tsunamis in Japan and then seemingly vanished from history.
Historic Painting: “Self-Portrait with Vanitas Symbols” by David Bailly, 1651.
This curious Dutch painting from the 17th century is intended to remind its viewers of the transience and delicacy of life.
Thin flat plastic slabs of my childhood: Remembering CED videodiscs.
Before there was VHS, BetaMax, LaserDiscs or DVDs, there were CEDs. Wait, what?
A bunny, boiled: “Fatal Attraction” and my strange history with it.
How this trashy thriller from the 1980s intersected with my own life in rather uncomfortable ways.