The Cambias Digression

Notes and thoughts on everything from what I had for breakfast to the fate of the Universe.

  • A Lovecraftian Chronology

    For no very good reason I found myself making up an internal chronology of H.P. Lovecraft's horror stories. My guiding principle was that if a story doesn't have any time clues — and it's interesting to note that most of Lovecraft's stories do include specific dates — it takes place in the year in which…

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  • Today’s Menu

    This year's Thanksgiving feast was an epic one. Five adults, including one teenage boy, means we can paint on a large canvas. The menu: Oyster Patties Cremant d'Alsace Shrimp and Oyster Gumbo with Rice Turkey Breast Sous Vide with Herbs — Turkey Breast Sous Vide with Harissa Cote de Roussillon 2014 Cornbread and Oyster Dressing…

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  • Ancient Recipes

    Very interesting BBC Travel story about re-creating ancient Mesopotamian recipes. Read it here. They include a lamb stew which sounds worth trying.  The only surprising thing, really, is that anyone should be surprised that people living nearly 4000 years ago ate much the same things their modern descendants do. Food is a bedrock of culture…

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  • Philcon 2019!

    This weekend I'll be attending the venerable PhilCon convention, in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. That's near enough to Philadelphia that you can still get scrapple for breakfast, so I guess it qualifies. Here's my schedule. Stop by and say hi! Fri 6:00 PM in Executive Suite 623: READINGS — PAUL LEVINSON, APRIL GREY, JAMES CAMBIAS…

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  • Random Encounters: Beneath Naples

    Naples is an ancient city built atop layers of volcanic tufa. The stone is easy to dig through and carve, and over the past four thousand years people have dug a lot of tunnels under Naples. There are natural caves, Roman cisterns and sewers, the early Christian catacombs of San Gennaro and San Gaudioso, a…

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  • Important Notice

    Today's Sylvia Plath Memorial Bake Sale has been postponed.  Evidently we scheduled it too soon.

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  • Random Encounters: Transylvania!

    It's called "Transylvania" ("beyond the forest") because to get there from Hungary you pass through a hilly, forested area to reach the central Transylvanian plateau. On all other sides the region is surrounded by the Carpathian Mountains, making it hard to get to even in the Edwardian era. During that time the area was part…

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  • Alexei Leonov, R.I.P.

    The title says it all, really. Alexei Leonov, one of the three greatest Russian space explorers, died last week after a long and amazing career. It's hard to avoid the feeling that we're living in a diminished age. We have great plans, great dreams . . . but too often they seem to stay that…

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  • Random Encounters: Miskatonic University

    In the scenic New England town of Arkham, Miskatonic University sits on the bank of the river of the same name. The school's red-brick buildings and tree-shaded quads seem eternal, immune to time. Only the styles worn by the students ever seem to change. Most people know of Miskatonic (if they know of it at…

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  • Random Encounters: The Crossroads at Midnight

    The place where roads cross has always been the scene of strange encounters, and midnight is the time when the strangest things walk the land. If you're passing through the crossroad between midnight and cockrow, be polite but brief with strangers. And if you're hanging around there on purpose, waiting to see who comes by…

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