The Holy Grail Press
Proudly Made On Earth By Earthlings
Word of the Every So Often​
fond: (noun) The adjectival form of “fond” means affectionate, or there abouts. The noun version, on the other hand, is short for “fond du cuisine,” and we all know that “fond” derivates from the French word for “foundation,” which is “fondation.” So “fond,” more or less, means “foundation of cooking.” In particular, it refers to all those caramelized bits of goodness left in a pan after cooking something, like bacon... or bacon. These brown bits – the fond – are then used to make gravies and various sauces as savory as possible. And if you like cooking as much as we do here at the Press, then you are undoubtedly fond of your fond.
​
The Almost Daily
​
It was on this day in 1809 that Darwin was born, and that makes today Darwin Day! Darwin has, perhaps, had the most lasting influence on how we see the world. His belief that all life came from a common ancestor has pretty much been accepted by the entire scientific community – that’s all scientist everywhere.
Sure, there are folks that don’t believe in evolution – like it matters – and some of them can even claim to be scientists. After all, there are still people who claim the earth is flat, bless ‘em. And, yeah, folks go on about how they don’t believe in evolution because it means we’re related to apes and such. But, really, that’s not the big argument with the religious types. Natural selection means that species are constantly changing. Some of those changes may be beneficial, some might not. And if they’re not beneficial... well, sucks to be you. Basically, what it means is any given species can go extinct, including humans. And that means humans are not special. And that’s a hard thing for many people to accept. But, then, maybe the world would be a better place if people everywhere stopped thinking they were so special. But I digress.
If you want to find out more about Darwin, and evolution, I’d recommend Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservations of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (first published in November 1859, back when they knew how to pen a really catchy title) and Jonathan Weiner’s The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time (published in 1994).
By the way, Darwin never once used the word “evolution” in his book. As far as that goes, the phrase “survival of the fittest” wasn’t his, either.
​
Cartoon of the Week
"How long do we have to live here before they stop calling us European Starlings?"
STUFF
Starlings
Wouldn’t it be great
to murmurate?
Hundreds or thousands or even more,
to move together as one?
Some say it’s a way to survive, or
maybe they do it for fun.
Only a few species of birds murmurate.
Grackles and blackbirds and a sandpiper or two.
But it’s the lowly starling –
Sturnus vulgaris –
that does it so well.
To rise
to fall
to be one
to be all
To fall
to rise
to soar
to glide
to become the wind
If I were to come back as a bird,
if that is to be my fate,
then I’d want to be a starling,
so I could murmurate.
​
CONTACT US
Comments? Criticism? Insults? Money Orders?
Earl, our editor, wants to hear from you!
(But that doesn't necessarily mean you'll hear from him.)
Send your messages or your bank account information to:
​
​​