While doing some genealogical research in old newspapers — see here — I came across this fascinating piece in the Baltimore Sun of October 26, 1900, copied from the New Orleans Times-Democrat. It’s not just fans of today’s media, like Marvel Comics films and HBO prestige dramas and comic books, speculating about what’s next forContinue reading “A Perceptive Sherlockian of 1900”
Monthly Archives: August 2020
Three Newspaper Clippings and a Genealogical Puzzle
On June 9, 1886, the Washington Nationals and the St. Louis Maroons met at Swampoodle Grounds in Washington. That same day, a dozen blocks southeast of the ballpark, following a funeral service that morning in Baltimore, Annie Atwell was laid to rest at Congressional Cemetery in a family plot with the remains of her daughter.Continue reading “Three Newspaper Clippings and a Genealogical Puzzle”
The Old Baseball Field
It was a pleasant afternoon — sunny and not too hot. The clouds were numerous and billowing. All in all, a nice late August afternoon. For no particular reason, I decided to go for a walk over to the baseball field on the hill opposite mine. According to June Lloyd‘s article in the York DailyContinue reading “The Old Baseball Field”
The Sandlot
With the affiliated minor league baseball season cancelled — and, in Pennsylvania, the unaffiliated season, too — my local baseball teams have been having non-baseball activities, including movie nights on the weekends. Sit in the outfield, socially distance, watch a film on the video board. I’ve not done one of these, though I was mildlyContinue reading “The Sandlot”
An Afternoon Walk
I took a brief walk this afternoon. An urgent project — a “red ball,” to use the parlance of Homicide: Life on the Streets — landed on my (virtual) desk this morning. After three hours on the project, I had a video conference call, and after that another hour of work on the red ball.Continue reading “An Afternoon Walk”
The Cursed Ruin
I’m pleased to announce that my short story, “The Adventure of the Cursed Ruin,” will appear this December in Belanger Books‘ In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes & Doctor Watson, now available for pre-order on IndieGoGo. In the Footsteps is “a collection of seventeen all new Sherlock Holmes stories written specifically for young adults. TheContinue reading “The Cursed Ruin”
The Mutara Nebula
Based upon the sky at sunset, Earth’s orbit is taking us through the Mutara Nebula. Witness it now, for in three centuries a protomatter accident will destroy it.
A Vintage Peanuts Cookbook
Somehow I’ve become the kind of person who buys vintage cookbooks. In the spring, shortly after the COVID shutdown began, I bought a cookbook from 1912 published in conjunction with Washington, DC’s Heurich Brewery. At the end of July, I bought another cookbook through eBay, this one a Peanuts-themed Chex cereal cookbook published in 1991.Continue reading “A Vintage Peanuts Cookbook”
Exploring Cemeteries in Lancaster County
Yesterday afternoon, since it was sunny and nice, I decided to go for a drive into Lancaster County and check out a cemetery. My great-great-great-grandparents are buried at the Millersville Mennonite Church, about twenty-five miles away, which is closer than Diamond’s offices, but I’ve never gone to look for myself. The reason? Lancaster isn’t farContinue reading “Exploring Cemeteries in Lancaster County”
Harrisburg Baseball, A Century Ago
I love old photographs, especially if they have a baseball connection. Consider my efforts to colorize Swampoodle Grounds, or the collection of women playing baseball in Washington in 1919. This photograph of the Pennsylvania State Capitol, taken from the west shore of the Susquehanna, circa 1906 fits the bill. It’s from a panoramic shot ofContinue reading “Harrisburg Baseball, A Century Ago”