Christian fantasy literature, and commentary on assorted subjects
Rats are fun. Our girls were pretty clever. They did pass away young. The vet said that a lot of them would develop cancer because so many of them were bred in labs for that purpose.
This is a very cuddly, very big boy.
From August 21, 2015
Let us stroll down Memory Lane to Sydney, Australia, 1935, and one of the most strange and baffling murder mysteries of all time: the “Shark Arm Murders” ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_Arm_case ).
Why does it have such a weird name? Attendez-vous.
Some Australian fishermen caught, alive, a 14.5-foot tiger shark and brought it to the city aquarium. The big shark did nothing for a week, and didn’t eat, but then fell ill and vomited up a bunch of interesting objects–including a severed human arm. (Note: I’m going by the account of the case given in The Book of Sharks by Richard Ellis, Knopf, New York, 1989, which differs from the Wikipedia article in a few details.)
They killed the shark–for no good reason I can think of–but the medical examiner found that the arm had been removed from its original owner by dint of a very sharp knife. The shark had certainly not bitten it off.
Based on fingerprints, and a well-preserved tattoo of two boxers, investigators were able to identify the owner of the arm–an ex-boxer now augmenting his income by being a police informant. He was in a risky line of work, and I suppose it caught up to him. He went missing some days before the fishermen caught the shark, and was never seen or heard from again.
Anyhow, detectives did their best, they finally arrested someone whom they considered a highly likely suspect, but the court said it couldn’t render a Guilty verdict on the basis of a loose arm in the belly of the shark. (Offstage we hear Robert Shaw singing, “Farewell and adieu to ye, fair Spanish ladies…”)
There’s some controversy about whether the arm was actually inside the great big tiger shark or the much smaller shark swallowed by the tiger earlier. We shall let Mr. Ellis have the last word.
“An animal so indiscriminate in its eating habits that it eats coal, boat cushions, and tom-toms, would be only too eager to taste a swimmer or a diver–which must look more edible than an unopened can of salmon. Perhaps the label was still on the can; maybe tiger sharks can read.” (pg. 126)
You may remember, if you have nothing better to do, that Scurveyshire has been invaded by singing millipedes. As disconcerting at this is, it’s about to get worse. The Queen of Suspense, Violet Crepuscular, introduces Chapter DCLXXXX of her epic romance, Oy, Rodney.
“What a scandal!” she croons. “Queen Victoria has found out about the trouble in Scurveyshire. Behold! a sample of her dialogue.
“‘Caw blimey!’ says Queen. ”’Ere now, wot’s bloomin ‘appening aout thare? ‘Ay?'” (“That will get you started in understanding the way they talk on PBS,” Ms. Crepuscular confides in the reader.)
The millipedes, meanwhile, have ditched Jimmy Crack Corn and moved on to O, Them Golden Slippers. At night you can hear them slithering down Main Street–millions, nay, billions of them!
“Here is an image of a bunch o’ millipedes,” writes Ms. Crepuscular, “along with a piece of a poem about millipedes by Francois Villon.
“They come in swarms, in hideous forms–
They’re worse than April thunderstorms!”
Now it’s only good suspense writing to hold off till next week, or whenever, the resolution of this problem. What, you don’t think it’s a problem? Wait’ll you’ve got a houseful of millipedes!
Will Queen Victoria send the Royal Millipede Inspector to Scurveyshire?
And will that worthy turn out to be Lady Margo Cargo’s childhood sweetheart?
Only Violet Crepuscular knows! Ask everybody else if they care.
I mean the Iran situation.
Now is one of the times that I miss Lee most intensely. Lee was an honors scholar in political science and international relations at Rutgers. He was extremely astute in that field. The program he was in was mainly for students who planned to go on as career diplomats. He would have not made a good diplomat. In fact, diplomacy was not his strong suit. Any of his readers would know that. He did not intend to be a diplomat, he just loved the topic and the dynamics of international relations. He would explain and talk about this situation with real expertise.
I have a very deep-seated fear of war. That is because I was a very little kid when World War II started. I used to think that we could get bombed, like was happening in Europe. I saw that in the newsreels at the movies. I was too little to realize that they couldn’t get here. They did put canvas up around the boardwalk at the shore, to hide the lights from German U boats, which were considered a threat. We had air raid drills, blackouts, rationing and the whole changed mind-set of a country at war. And it scared me to death.
After weighing all the factors that I can find, I realize that this action had to be taken. The Iranian people are engaged and energized right now and they should be helped.
And if we don’t who will?
I will pray very hard for success and a victory for the Iranian people and a minimum of casualties . And, of course, a quick end to the conflict.
God bless everybody.
Patty