A Few More Notes
In"Paradise Lost?" Inside Higher Ed, 15 March, Scott McLemee looks at polygamy in historical perspective and finds some surprises.
Ben Brumfield gives The Horizon Award for Best Use of Frames to TEAMS Middle English Texts Online. It is a remarkable resource. Thanks for the tip, Ben.
Roy Booth at Early Modern Whale has been reading up on 17th century cosmetics and finds a number of what seem like really bad ideas. Mouse turds for lightening the skin ...? Turns me white just thinking about it. Thanks to Sharon Howard at Early Modern Notes for the tip.
Congratulations to Cliopatria's contributing editor, Sean Wilentz, to my neighbor, Erskine Clarke, and to Odd Arne Westad, who have won the Bancroft Prize for 2006. Wilentz has won it for The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln; Clarke for Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic; and Westad for The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times. Thanks to David Davisson at Patahistory for the tip.
Hiram Hover sees David Horowitz as pro-wrestling's Ric Flair in tights and a platinum blonde wig, striding the ring and taunting his critics."He fights back with drama! bombast!! self-importance!!!" In an earlier generation, Hiram, when Cassius Clay and I were growing up in Louisville, we knew the type as Gorgeous George.
The consummate villain, George would cheat at every possible opportunity, infuriating fans to the point of rioting on several occasions. So riveted were they by George's theatrics, fans would flock in droves to see him wrestle, and even more importantly, they tuned-in in record numbers to watch Gorgeous George on the brand-new medium of television.
Oh, yes, Friday Nite Wrestling. My grandmother and I tuned him in to get the booing out of our system. And we felt better for it.