* Something cryptically called the Smiths Falls EMC has a pretty terrific piece on the intriguing life of "the father of the Canadian navy," (the navy being 100 years old this year 2010), Admiral Charles Edmund Kingsmill. It's called "remembering the father of the..." but I had never heard of him. (Thanks to Buzz of local history site www.portlandontario.ca for the link.)
* The Beaver was once again a magazine of the week in the Globe and Mail on Saturday. The Globe also made a flashy lifestyle feature by asking a bunch of glamourous people at a party I did not get asked to what they thought of the name change of The Beaver to Canada's History. Ouch.
Update: The Economist takes note of the magazine's "Scunthorpe problem."
* History of agriculture: "Even though I consider poetry one of the highest callings, I think there's something bizarrely wrong with our economy when writing poetry helps sustain traditional farming." Poet and farmer Brian Brett, in Trauma Farm: A Rebel History, which I'm currently enjoying (Brian's a friend of mine, but it's still a terrific book.)
* Is it okay to be heartened by news that the National Library, the National library and the National Museum of Haiti mostly survived the earthquake. I think so. Historian Sidney Mintz reflects on historical mistreatments of Haiti here. Links via the indispensable Cliopatra.
