The Lost Cafe Schindler
An extraordinary memoir of a Jewish family spanning two world wars and its flight from Nazi-occupied Austria. Meriel Schindler spent her adult life trying to keep her father, Kurt, at…
Random Learnings #58
Today I needed to go to the First National Bank Building in downtown St. Paul, MN for a personal appointment. The external cladding of the north entrance I used screams…
Kraków Building Signs
You'll notice these extending from buildings throughout Kraków, Poland: triangular, metal signs with the building number prominent and the street name at the top or bottom. They contain lights to make…
Random Learnings #56
After the 1960 season, the American League Washington Senators became the 1961 Minnesota Twins, at least that's always been my understanding. Team ownership didn't change. Five regular position players from…
Cold War Polish Defector
The Polish Netflix series 1983 tells an alternative Cold War history: simultaneous bombings across Poland keeps the communist party in power until the present. Twenty years later, the truth unravels…
Lèse-majesté
Following the September 11 attacks, holding rational, fact-based discussions with regards to cause and effect, religious freedoms (or lack thereof), national security, what would constitute an appropriate response, or any…
Immaculate Inning and Spies
Sunday, Miami Marlin's pitcher Cal Quantrill pitched an immaculate inning, striking out three batters on nine pitches. Though exceeding rare at one time - none between 1928 and 1953 -…
Random Learnings #53
The Italian city of Fiume (now Rijeka, Croatia) was the center of a controversy between Italy and the nascent state of Yugoslavia about its post-World War I control, called the…
Lofeten Krigsminne Museum
Unlike other late-night ports Hurtigruten's northbound Coastal Express visits, the stop at Lofoten, Norway is lengthy enough to allow passengers to disembark and explore the city. Though the city is…
Random Learning #52
The Defence of the Realm Act was enacted by the United Kingdom parliament days after World War I started and granted the government extraordinary wartime emergency powers. Expanded throughout the…