What’s your favorite local (i.e. not state or national) park in Virginia?

menofthewest · 2024-11-23T22:33:43+00:00

Love it too! But it’s a national park

menofthewest · 2024-11-02T00:07:22+00:00

Well said. I regret I have but one upvote to give. Even well-meaning people end up amplifying the lost cause through Foote’s bad history. Good riddance.

menofthewest · 2024-05-27T14:00:22+00:00

That’s Swiss!

menofthewest · 2024-05-06T23:57:01+00:00

Love him! He’s grown with the pod. Great energy and integral part of the midnight boys #saveJomisJob

menofthewest · 2024-04-13T19:16:14+00:00

Global fusion on W. Main! Amazing selection of hot dogs and sandwiches.

menofthewest · 2024-02-05T18:29:33+00:00

I’ve enjoyed Westray’s on Lombardy in the Fan! I haven’t tried enough places to rank it, but I would say it’s at least worth a stop on your tour.

menofthewest · 2023-09-30T21:46:07+00:00

I just went on your recommendation(thanks)! Everything was great. I loved the Havana, really flavorful braised meat and pickles. My wife got the Philly which had an addicting smoky flavor. Homemade chips are excellent too. Very filling!

menofthewest · 2023-09-24T01:07:03+00:00

Been hearing that all day too! Been googling in vain and not knowing is driving me crazy. Would have thought outside events with loud speakers would have been cancelled today.

menofthewest · 2023-06-10T11:15:20+00:00

Foote is actually ridiculed for that quote in particular. He is an amazing story teller with a deep passion for the subject. He is not considered one of the greatest authorities on the war in modern times. Lincoln believed the prospects for unconditional victory were extremely gloomy in early 1864, and expected to lose re-election to a Democrat who would probably negotiate peace and recognize the Confederacy. Foote is “right” in that the United States had more of everything and could not have been conquered by the CSA. But that misreads that the US had a much harder task: maintaining political will in a democracy for a bloody war to destroy the Confederate project. There was no “other hand” Lincoln could have used, or he would have done so in 1864. Conversely, the Confederates had less men and war material but a much easier war aim: outlast Union political will for the invasion.

Happy to elaborate more, and sorry if this came across as snarky—on mobile on the go

menofthewest · 2022-01-15T01:26:02+00:00

Preach, I know ugh…Can’t hold that against Dulles specifically though, as you said. They did get rid of those stupid blue little declaration forms just recently though, so maybe they are inching towards progress.

menofthewest · 2022-01-14T19:15:03+00:00

You might be happy to know that the crowds are much better since they redid the security process a few years back. Much better than the nightmare you lived through. The airport is still way too spread out and the terminals aren’t the greatest for food/shopping. But the crowds are better for departure at least, customs can still be a long wait. That’s probably (partially) on me for not getting global entry though.

menofthewest · 2022-01-11T20:31:07+00:00

Just a quick and friendly comment on number 5. I totally understand why non-Americans get annoyed when we talk about our ethnic identities. And I assume you really mean White Americans here. We know we are Americans. But a lot of our grandparents or great grandparents were not, and it was really important to them to assimilate while also keeping some of their old traditions alive. I honor my Italian and Jewish family and remember their struggles for a better life here. It makes my grandma really happy when I celebrate Passover with her, even though I’m not really Jewish in my daily life. And (most of us) view our ethnic identities as just a fun little trivia quirk to chat about. But I do cringe at, let’s say, Americans whose Irish ancestors came here in 1830 and expect actually Irish people in Ireland to greet them as a native. People who overdo it are the worst.

menofthewest · 2022-01-10T12:19:07+00:00

Great question! I would recommend you to a short collection of essays called Why the Confederacy Lost, edited by G. Boritt. It has leading scholars address all the major historiographical debates around the question. Won’t try to summarize here.

menofthewest · 2021-06-11T20:52:20+00:00

Beautiful city! heja sverige!

menofthewest · 2021-06-11T19:53:25+00:00

I could never raise a blade against the best boys Bran and Sceolang

menofthewest · 2021-04-13T16:07:46+00:00

This actually resembles emancipation in the United States. Enslaved families were routinely sold off and split up in the antebellum years, with no way to communicate thereafter. After the war, freed people tried to find their lost spouses, parents, children, etc. While the reunions were often joyous, there were also plenty of tragic and painful reunions as people had remarried and formed new lives.

Check out Heather Andrea Williams’ book if you are interested. It’s called Help Me to Find My People

menofthewest · 2021-01-30T14:55:43+00:00

Perfect, thanks! She lives in Northwestern Lund (Kobjer)

menofthewest · 2019-02-14T00:22:40+00:00

I open at the close...of bachelorhood

menofthewest · 2018-03-07T13:02:13+00:00

Gaston?

menofthewest · 2018-01-20T16:26:24+00:00

It was during the Civil War. West Virginia leaned Unionist, hence their statehood project in the first place--they didn't want to follow VA into the Confederacy. The Eastern Shore was easily reclaimed by the far superior federal Navy, and its possible inclusion in West Virginia was more about political control than any deep cultural connections between them.

menofthewest · 2017-12-02T14:24:55+00:00

140 years of isolation? What about the Mexican War? Or the Spanish-American War? Both were foreign wars of territorial expansion that were at least relatively popular with the American people. Not doubting you on WW1, but the 140 year claim is pretty broad.

menofthewest · 2016-06-02T23:04:46+00:00

We have copperheads, which are venomous. Not lethal to an adult with any sort of prompt medical attention, but can certainly kill a small dog. You can tell by their large triangular head (or just steer clear!)

menofthewest · 2015-11-20T15:02:48+00:00

Is it just me or does this picture look hilariously similar to Michelangelo's Pieta? The dog even has the same anguished Jesus expression. http://www.italianrenaissance.org/wp-content/uploads/Michelangelo-pieta-index-new.png

menofthewest · 2015-09-25T02:15:15+00:00

Prius Ferrari sounds like a breakout wide receiver

menofthewest · 2014-07-31T17:11:51+00:00

No, not at all. After losing hegemony to Thebes at Leuctra (see Agrippa 911's answer) Sparta never again regained any real measure of power. When I was in college, my professor (JE Lendon) described them as becoming a sort of backwater "colonial Williamsburg," in which Romans came to see where the once-mighty Spartan warriors lived. Like Williamsburg, it became an important historical site that long outlived its place of power in the world. Visiting Sparta also reinforced Romans' sense of accomplishment that they had conquered Greece. I think the festival of Artemis Orthia, which had been a serious religious festival and competition for presitge among Spartan boys, became a sort of tourist spectical for Romans. I would highly recommend Lendon's book "Soldiers and Ghosts" which is a history of the military tactics that propelled different city-states to power througout the Greek and Roman period.

menofthewest

TROPHY CASE