Backpacking after 40

Is backpacking still a valid way to travel as midlife approaches?

I Walked with a Zombie

Re-examining Val Lewton’s 1943 low-budget classic

Two months before Cat People opened in 1942, the cameras started to roll on producer Val Lewton’s second film. RKO Pictures had tested and approved the title I Walked with a…

Three Unusual Facts About the Battle of Arras

The World War I battle proved unique

A Den of Thieves and a Fig Tree.

Thoughts on the story of Jesus and the moneychangers.

I remember, from Sunday School, the story of Jesus and the moneychangers. From memory, it went something like this: after Palm Sunday, Jesus went to the…

How West Virginia Became a State

A quick review of how the Mountain State broke from the south during…

Six Bells in the Forenoon Watch: A Ship’s Bell in the Age of Sail

Red Hill Mining Town

The brief meaning of U2’s classic song from “The Joshua Tree”

In 1984, the British National Coal Board — with the support of Margaret Thatcher — closed an array of unprofitable mines. Especially impacted were Wales, the Midlands and the North. The National Union of…

Val Lewton and Cat People

A Study of High-Quality Low-Budget Filmmaking

In 1942, the studio heads at RKO gave Val Lewton his first title to turn into a movie, Cat People. On a budget of $150,000 and with no-name actors, what could have become a display…

The Fassbinder Bender: One month, five movies.

A casual observer watches “Love Is Colder Than Death.”

How Conrad and Achebe Battled over Africa

“Heart of Darkness” and “Things Fall Apart” give readers two very different perspectives of the continent.

I’m reading criticism of Joseph Conrad’s 1899 novella “Heart of Darkness.” It’s one of my favorite stories. It’s a tale…