What does it mean to say “The Real McCoy”?
May 09Obviously this is an expression that means the real thing, not a substitute. But why does one call the real thing “The Real McCoy” There is not a clear single source for this expression. While there are examples that date back to the early and mid 19th Century, I believe that its use in modern vernacular really doesn’t date back that far. The expression, “The real MacKay”, is a...
Was George Washington Tall?
Mar 19
In an earlier posting, I explained that at approximately 5 foot 4 inches tall, Napoleon was not short. Now let’s go in the other direction. At approximately 6 foot 3 inches tall, George Washington (1732 – 1799) was not tall. Well, not that tall. I stand 5 foot 10 and a half inches, so 6 foot three sure sounds tall to me. Considering that Washington and Napoleon were more or less...
Today is St. Patrick’s Day. Quick, name an Irish food favorite…
Mar 17
Today is St. Patrick’s Day. Quick, name an Irish food favorite… You said Corned Beef and Cabbage, didn’t you? Corned Beef and Cabbage is considered the quintessential Irish food. But it isn’t exactly Irish in origin. When the Irish emigrated to the United States, like every other ethnic group to make that journey, they brought their favorite foods with them. But what they brought...
Remembering Larry Hagman
Jan 02
A few weeks ago, on November 23rd of 2012, Larry Hagman died. Unless you are of a “certain age”, or are one of the twelve people who started watching the resuscitated Dallas show on TNT, the name Larry Hagman probably means very little. His mother, Mary Martin, even less (she was the original Peter Pan on TV in 1960). But in the 1980s, Hagman, in his second successful TV show, was at...
Why did Michelangelo sculpt Moses with horns?
Nov 12
Pope Julius II, famous to modern TV viewers as the Cardinal della Rovere on the popular miniseries The Borgias on Showtime or as the frustrated Pope in the 1965 movie The Agony and The Ecstasy (played by Rex Harrison) who constantly questions of Michelangelo when will he make an end of the painting of the Sistine Chapel, commissioned the sculpting of Moses to adorn his tomb. Today this statue...