Tag Archives: History

Book Review: Their Lips Talk of Mischief by Alan Warner

Scottish writer Alan Warner’s novel Their Lips Talk of Mischief is a boisterous, vigorous and energetic novel about two literary wannabes (Lou and Douglas) living in a glum 80’s Thatcherite slumland in Britain. The pair share an interest in Lou’s enigmatic and sexy girlfriend Aoife. Thus develops a complex menage a trois that follows. The yearContinue reading “Book Review: Their Lips Talk of Mischief by Alan Warner”

Every Picture Tells A Story: Samurai Warrior, 19th Century

Who were the Samurai?  For roughly a thousand years, from about the 800s to the late 1800s, warfare in Japan was dominated by an elite class of warriors known as the samurai. Horses were their special weapons: only samurai were allowed to ride horses in battle. Like European knights, the samurai served a lord (daimyo).Continue reading “Every Picture Tells A Story: Samurai Warrior, 19th Century”

Every Picture Tells A Story: Le Monocle of Montmartre during the roaring 20’s

If you lived in Paris and particularly Montmartre during the 20’s and 30’s of last century then you were in for a night of debauchery and decadence after dark at a bar called Le Monocle. This part of Paris was where artists, bohemians, can-can dancers from the Moulin Rouge, business men, and the queer community allContinue reading “Every Picture Tells A Story: Le Monocle of Montmartre during the roaring 20’s”

Every Picture Tells A Story: Krazy Kat Klub, Washington D.C. (1921)

Source: Imgur The Krazy Kat Klub (from Wikipedia)  The Krazy Kat Klub (alternatively, Krazy Kat Club, Krazy Kat Klubb, etc.) was a Bohemian cafe, speakeasy and nightclub that operated at No. 3 Green Court near Washington, D.C.’s Thomas Circle during the early decades of the 20th Century. The club was run by portraitist and theatricalContinue reading “Every Picture Tells A Story: Krazy Kat Klub, Washington D.C. (1921)”

Train and tram-spotting in Melbourne back in the olden days

Here are two handsome maps of Melbourne’s public transport from the previous century. In equal parts loved and loathed by locals, public transport in Melbourne is slow, expensive and unreliable and yet anyone who has ever lived in Melbourne (and who has moved away for long enough to not deal with it on a dailyContinue reading “Train and tram-spotting in Melbourne back in the olden days”