Well, that does it. I'm off to start my wall-to-wall bookshelf company and I hope to God those Kindles and iPads never take off.
Speaking of black swans, one day at our tower breakfast we saw a group (flock, bank, herd, bevy, ballet or lamentation, take your pick) of tundra swans swimming along the bayshore when this mostly black (with some white markings) pitched into the tundras. The tundras immediately swam away as the newcomer attempted to catch up to them. Finally, the tundras took off (now a "wedge" of swans) and the newcomer took wing and tried to catch them in the air. This dispersed the wedge into smaller wedges with each putting more and more distance between them and the interloper. This went on for nearly and hour until the black swan finally gave up. We were intrigued at how these animals were programmed to reject diversity in their social structure. We've seen varieties of geese socialize and even different ducks interbreed but this swan, which appeared perfectly healthy, was rejected as if it had some sort of swan plague. Anyway, that's my experience with black swans. Oh, and there is a company in Connecticut called Black Swan who sells me parts for my woodstove. Other than that, I have no idea what this guy means by black swans and I don't feel like Googling it to find out but thanks for the fascinating article nevertheless.
The Blog: A compendium of thoughts on politics, world affairs, economics, pop culture and social issues, from the center right perspective of me--Bryan McGrath--a University of Virginia graduate who spent a career in the world's greatest Navy keeping my mouth shut about politics and social issues (ok, publicly keeping it shut). Those days are over! I've also invited a few friends to join in, so pull up a chair and chime in where you will. Keep it clean, civil, concise and relevant.
The Fish: The fish is a "coat of arms" for the blog, symbolizing three formative influences in the life of the blog founder. The first is his experience at the University of Virginia--symbolized most importantly by the fish itself, or a caricature of a "Wahoo", the fish we have acquired as an informal nickname. Additionally there is the sword, the sword of a Cavalier. It is not wielded in a threatening manner, as this is a civil blog. But it is there, should it be needed. Thirdly, there is the influence of 21 years in the Navy--symbolized by the anchor on the Wahoo's fin (and again, the sword) . Finally, there is the bowler, tuxedo, and monocle, symbols of a refined, intellectual conservatism, or what I seek to encourage here.
The Policy: I take FULL responsibility ONLY for what I write. I do not take responsibility, nor will I be held responsible, for what my guest bloggers write or for what those who offer comments write. I will occasionally exercise my right to edit/delete both blog posts and comments if they do not meet my view of what clean, civil, concise and relevant mean.
1 comment:
Well, that does it. I'm off to start my wall-to-wall bookshelf company and I hope to God those Kindles and iPads never take off.
Speaking of black swans, one day at our tower breakfast we saw a group (flock, bank, herd, bevy, ballet or lamentation, take your pick) of tundra swans swimming along the bayshore when this mostly black (with some white markings) pitched into the tundras. The tundras immediately swam away as the newcomer attempted to catch up to them. Finally, the tundras took off (now a "wedge" of swans) and the newcomer took wing and tried to catch them in the air. This dispersed the wedge into smaller wedges with each putting more and more distance between them and the interloper. This went on for nearly and hour until the black swan finally gave up. We were intrigued at how these animals were programmed to reject diversity in their social structure. We've seen varieties of geese socialize and even different ducks interbreed but this swan, which appeared perfectly healthy, was rejected as if it had some sort of swan plague. Anyway, that's my experience with black swans. Oh, and there is a company in Connecticut called Black Swan who sells me parts for my woodstove. Other than that, I have no idea what this guy means by black swans and I don't feel like Googling it to find out but thanks for the fascinating article nevertheless.
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