Born on this date:
Dame Cecily Veronica Wedgewood (b.1910, d. 1997) She was a famous historian of the Renaissance era. Quotation: “History is an art–like all the other sciences.”

Sir Clements Robert Markham(b. 1813, d. 1916) He was an English geographer and historian. Most interesting facts: “It was almost entirely due to his exertions that funds were obtained for the National Antarctic Expedition under Captain Robert Scott, which left England in the summer of 1901,” and he wrote several books including “a Life of Richard III. (1906), in which he maintained that the king was not guilty of the murder of the two princes in the Tower” We’re all defenders of Richard III around here ever since we read Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey.

Sir Richard Owen (b. 1804, d. 1894) Richard Owen was a famous taxonomist, biologist, and scientist in Victorian England. He actually taught anatomy to Queen Victoria’s children. Interesting story:
Owen also described the anatomy of a newly discovered species of ape, which had only been discovered in 1847 — the gorilla. However, Owen’s anti-materialist and anti-Darwinian views led him to state that gorillas and other apes lack certain parts of the brain that humans have, specifically a structure known as the hippocampus minor. The uniqueness of human brains, Owen thought, showed that humans could not possibly have evolved from apes. Owen persisted in this view even when Thomas Henry Huxley conclusively showed that Owen was mistaken — apes do have a hippocampus. This tarnished Owen’s scientific standing towards the end of his life. Victorian author Charles Kingsley satirized the dispute in his childrens’ classic, The Water-Babies:

You may think that there are other more important differences between you and an ape, such as being able to speak, and make machines, and know right from wrong, and say your prayers, and other little matters of that kind; but that is a child’s fancy, my dear. Nothing is to be depended on but the great hippopotamus test. If you have a hippopotamus major in your brain, you are no ape, though you had four hands, no feet, and were more apish than the apes of all aperies. But if a hippopotamus major is ever discovered in one single ape’s brain, nothing will save your great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- great- greater- greatest- grandmother from having been an ape too.

The biography I read on the web seemed to conclude that Owen was a fairly good scientist, but nothing could absolve him of the sin of having disagreed with St. Darwin, and Owen was “vain, arrogant, envious, and vindictive.”

Sir George Trevelyan (b. 1905, d. 1996) Wow! You’d have to see this one to believe it. I’d never heard of Sir George, but he apparently has some major influence in the”New Age Movement” in England. This short quotation should give you an idea of what he taught:

“Who and What is the Christos? Clearly an exalted Being of Light must overlight all mankind. He must illumine every race, creed and nation. There can be nothing sectarian about Him. Truth and Love must play down on to every man, whether atheist or believer. The great world religions need not merge and indeed should not merge, for each of them carries a tremendous facet of the Truth. But over all a real and all-embracing world religion could begin to appear in recognition of the Lord of Light, overlighting all mankind

I can’t imagine anyone wanting to read more of Sir George’s ramblings, but if you’re trying to talk to someone who has fried his brain on this stuff, you can search his name to read more.

Today is the birthday of William Makepeace Thackeray, b. 1811. (Wouldn’t Makepeace be a great middle name for a little boy?) Thackeray and Dickens were rivals, and Dickens was the more popular of the two. Howver, I like Thackeray–especially Vanity Fair and Henry Esmond. I tried to read Pendennis a few times but never got very far with it.

From Henry Esmond:
So a man dashes a fine vase down and despises it for being broken. It may be worthless–true; but who had the keeping of it , and who shattered it?

As there are a thousand thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up the pen to write, so the heart is a secret even to him (or her) who has it in his own breast.

From the loss of a tooth to that of a mistress there’s no pang that is not bearable. The apprehension is much more cruel than the certainty.

From Vanity Fair:
The world is a looking-glass and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face. Frown at it, and it will in turn look sourly upon you; laugh at it and with it, and it is a jolly kind companion.

She did not dare to own that the man she loved was her inferior; or to feel that she had given her heart away too soon. Given once, the pure bashful maiden was too modest, too tender, too trustful, too weak, too much woman to recall it.

It is all Vanity, to be sure, but who will not own to liking a little of it? I would like to know what well-constituted mind, merely because it is transitory, dislikes roast beef?

Today is the birthday of Erle Stanley Gardner, creator of Perry Mason and author of more novels and short stories than I can count (See extended entry for a list of just the novels. And most of them he dictated to a bevy of secretaries, none of whom could likely live up to the standards and loyalty of the inestimable Della.) Anyway, in Mr. Gardner’s honor, here’s my own list of the Top Ten Mystery Writers of All Time:

1. Dorothy Sayers
2. Agatha Christie
3. Rex Stout
4. Ellis Peters
5. P.D. James
6. Josephine Tey
7. Erle Stanley Gardner
8. Arthur Conan Doyle
9. Edgar Allan Poe
10. Anne Perry

# The Case of the Velvet Claws (1933; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Sulky Girl (1933; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Curious Bride (1934; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Howling Dog (1934; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Lucky Legs (1934; Perry Mason)
# The Clew of the Forgotten Murderer (1935, as Carleton Kendrake)
# This Is Murder (1935, as Charles J. Kenney)
# The Case of the Caretaker’s Cat (1935; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Counterfeit Eye (1935; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Sleepwalker’s Niece (1936; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Stuttering Bishop (1936; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Dangerous Dowager (1937; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Lame Canary (1937; Perry Mason)
# Murder Up My Sleeve (1937)
# The Case of the Shoplifter’s Shoe (1938; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Substitute Face (1938; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Perjured Parrot (1939; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Rolling Bones (1939; Perry Mason)
# The Bigger They Come (1939; written as A.A. Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# Turn on the Heat (1940; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# Gold Comes in Bricks (1940; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Baited Hook (1940; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Silent Partner (1940; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Empty Tin (1941; Perry Mason)
# Spill the Jackpot (1941; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Haunted Husband (1941; Perry Mason)
# Double or Quits (1941; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Careless Kitten (1942; Perry Mason)
# Owls Don’t Blink (1942; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Drowning Duck (1942; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Turning Tide (1942)
# Bats Fly at Dusk (1942; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Smoking Chimney (1943)
# The Case of the Buried Clock (1943; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito (1943; Perry Mason)
# Cats Prowl at Night (1943; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# Give ’em the Ax (1944; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Black-Eyed Blonde (1944; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Crooked Candle (1944; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Golddigger’s Purse (1945; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife (1945; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Borrowed Brunette (1946; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Backward Mule (1946)
# Crows Can’t Count (1946; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# Fools Die on Friday (1947; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Fan-Dancer’s Horse (1947; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Lazy Lover (1947; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Lonely Heiress (1948; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Vagabond Virgin (1948; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Cautious Coquette (1949; Perry Mason)
# Bedrooms Have Windows (1949; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom (1949; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Negligent Nymph (1950; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Musical Cow (1950; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the One-Eyed Witness (1950; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Musical Cow (1950)
# The Case of the Angry Mourner (1951; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Fiery Fingers (1951; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Grinning Gorilla (1952; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink (1952; Perry Mason)
# Top of the Heap (1952; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)…Buy this book
# The Case of the Green-Eyed Sister (1953; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Hesitant Hostess (1953; Perry Mason)
# Some Women Won’t Wait (1953; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Fugitive Nurse (1954; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Restless Redhead (1954; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Runaway Corpse (1954; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Glamorous Ghost (1955; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Nervous Accomplice (1955; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Sun Bather’s Diary (1955; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Demure Defendant (1956; AKA The Case of the Missing Poison; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Gilded Lily (1956; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Terrified Typist (1956; Perry Mason)
# Beware the Curves (1956; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# You Can Die Laughing (1957; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Daring Decoy (1957; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Lucky Loser (1957; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Screaming Woman (1957; Perry Mason)
# Some Slips Don’t Show (1957; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Calendar Girl (1958; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Footloose Doll (1958; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Long-Legged Models (1958; AKA The Case of the Dead Man’s Daughters; Perry Mason)
# The Count of Nine (1958; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Deadly Toy (1959; AKA The Case of the Greedy Grandpa; Perry Mason)
# Pass the Gravy (1959; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Mythical Monkeys (1959; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Singing Skirt (1959; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Waylaid Wolf (1959; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Duplicate Daughter (1960; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Shapely Shadow (1960; Perry Mason)
# Kept Women Can’t Quit (1960; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# Bachelors Get Lonely (1961; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Bigamous Spouse (1961; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Spurious Spinster (1961; Perry Mason)
# Shills Can’t Cash Chips (1961; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Blonde Bonanza (1962; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Ice-Cold Hands (1962; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Reluctant Model (1962; Perry Mason)
# Try Anything Once (1962; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Amorous Aunt (1963; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Mischievous Doll (1963; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Step-Daughter’s Secret (1963; Perry Mason)
# Fish or Cut Bait (1963; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Daring Divorcee (1964; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Horrified Heirs (1964; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Phantom Fortune (1964; Perry Mason)
# Up for Grabs (1964; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Beautiful Beggar (1965; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Troubled Trustee (1965; Perry Mason)
# Cut Thin to Win (1965; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Worried Waitress (1966; Perry Mason)
# Widows Wear Weeds (1966; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Queenly Contestant (1967; Perry Mason)
# Traps Need Fresh Bait (1967; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Careless Cupid (1968; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Fabulous Fake (1969; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Crimson Kiss (1970; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Crying Swallow (1971; Perry Mason)
# All Grass Isn’t Green (1970; as Fair; Bertha Cool & Donald Lam)
# The Case of the Fenced-In Woman (1972; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Irate Witness (1972; Perry Mason)
# The Case of the Postponed Murder (1973; Perry Mason

“I’ll see you when I see you, mate.”
“Not if I see you first.”

We watched the movie Gallipoli this afternoon. One of the stars was a very young Mel Gibson. I’m wondering how much of the story was true. It’s a war movie, but not a John Wayne version–more like a “how stupid and wasteful war can be” movie. The soldiers in the movie didn’t have a clue why they were fighting. And the ending was horrible–very sad and unsatisfying, but then again probably true to the way war sometimes feels and true to the reality of a senseless battle. Watching the movie made made me want to hang out with some Australians who call each other “mate.”

Surely most of the soldiers in Iraq know why they’re there. I pray that those who fight and those who die have a sense that they are there for a reason: to protect those of us back here in the States and to bring the possibility of freedom to the people of Iraq. It’s a blessing, in the middle of a confusing and horrible war, to at least have an ideal to give the fighting some meaning. I think that’s why people like Michael Moore and others who tell lies and distort facts in order to take that meaning away make me angry. If they were showing the courage to fight and even to die for what they believed in, I could respect them even if I disagreed with them. However, did Moore or any of his sycophants try to stop Saddam’s atrocities? Did he make a film about Saddam’s prisons and then try to show it in Iraq? Would he be interested in trying to make a film on the terrible things being done by Great Leader Kim Jong-Il to his own people? Or is he willing to go into China and investigate the charges of forced abortions? Is he even willing to go to Saudi Arabia and try to persuade the Saudi government to show his most recent film? No, he won’t because the muttawa would arrest and deport him so fast his head would spin–if they didn’t do something worse. He stays in the U.S. and Western Europe where we tolerate such propaganda as he makes in the interest of free speech. He’s free to say whatever he llikes here in the West, but I’m also free to say he’s wrong to try to take away our reason for fighting this war with false allegations and innuendo.