Secret Agent Men and Women

Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies by Ben Macintyre; page count 360

This non-fiction work tells about a British espionage network, the Double Cross Team or XX or Twenty Team (the roman numerals for double Xs) during World War II. (I will never look at one of my favorite beers the same again.) This team worked on capturing Nazi spies in Britain and turning them to work for the Allies.

It follows five of the main spies who made the landing at Normandy not a total bloodbath and disaster. The first is Dusan Popov or Agent Tricycle, a playboy and entrepreneur with several contacts in Germany. Then there is Juan Pujol Garcia or Agent Garbo, a Spaniard with an excellent imagination who developed his own network consisting of dozens of fictitious sub-agents. There is also Lily Sergeyev or Agent Treasure, a White Russian former aristocrat and fanatical dog lover. Roman Czerniawski or Agent Brutus was a Polish freedom fighter then French resistance leader, who when arrested by Nazis in France convinced his captors he would become a spy only to turn against them for the Allies. And last but not least we have the gambling, bi-sexual socialite Elvira de la Fuente Chaudoir, Agent Bronx. You also learn a great deal about the British men and women (alright, just one woman) who run the agents, as well as some of the side agents and subplots.

I really liked this book. Granted it has everything I like in a book: daring deeds, espionage, far away destinations and life hanging in the balance. However, Macintyre’s writing style is particularly pleasing. He did not burned with footnotes (don’t worry they are at the end for the more studious readers.)He also has this brilliant English dry humor running throughout the book which makes the sometimes amusing scenarios very funny.

I would recommend this book to anyone who would like a lighter take on Word War II, or to anyone with an interest in true espionage stories. Honestly, I don’t think this book would disappoint anyone who happened to pick it up.

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It’s Hurricane Season!

I will spare you excuses for my blogging absence, because that is what they are, excuses. Sometime soon I will share my news with you all. Today we are going to learn all about hurricanes. Yay!

As many of you know, I moved to Louisiana in January. Having spent all my life in the midwest and then two years in Boston. So, this is my very first hurricane! In case you live under a rock, Hurricane Isaac is slowly but surely coming to Louisiana.

(source)

My knowledge of Hurricane survival comes from a book I remember reading in late middle school, early high school called Louisiana Hurricane 1860 by Kathleey Duey. It’s part of a series about romance in crazy, abnormal, historical situations. My initial reaction was to call them natural disasters since the ones I remember the most are Louisiana Hurricane 1860, The Great Chicago Fire 1871, San Francisco Earthquake 1906 and Washington Avalanche 1910. However, there is also Hidenburg 1937 and Pearl Harbor 1941.*

Anyway, back to real Hurricanes. I freaked out Sunday night and Monday (was close to tears a couple times yesterday) because I have no desire to be in a natural disaster. I don’t want the air to go out. I don’t want my cell phone to die and have no way to call my mother. I don’t have a radio and all the stores were out, so once the power goes out and my ipad dies, well I’m screwed. Nothing about this sounds like fun. Neither does filling my bathtub with water to flush my toilet. So many people told me to clean my tub, fill it with water, then put some bleach in it, and then use that for toilet and drinking water if I run out of bottled water. Frankly, I refuse to drink bleach water out of my tub, so I ran around the house filling every bowl, pitcher, and even the crock-pot with water, in case I run out of previously purchased water. Frankly I’m glad the boy is with me right now, because I’d be going crazy (not to mention when I et nervous I need to use the restroom and that will deplete the toilet flushing water pretty quickly!)

Yet, even though this Hurricane is beginning to scare me (we now have tornado watches too) I cannot help thinking about the people who lived through Hurricanes long ago. Back before the radio was invtented. Back before meteorologists could tell storms were brewing long before they manifested themselves. Back when most people lived miles and miles away from each other, so you couldn’t pick up and travel to a friends house 50 miles away when a storm approached your home.

According to HPC the first documented hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico occurred on October 23, 1527. According to the paper by David Roth of the National Weather Service in Camp Springs, MD, “the earliest reference that can be found to a storm in the Gulf of Mexico occurred on a voyage of Panfilo de Narvaez, whose nemesis was Fernando Cortes…he was sent to settle Florida, until forced to leave by hostile natives and hunger. His five boats of less than 250 men hugged the coast and sailed westward. As they were passing the Mouth of the Mississippi River, a storm caught the barges and ‘tossed them like drift wood’ (ChiPMan).”

After that, the first “well-documented” storm occurred between September 22-24, 1722. During that storm 36 huts were destroyed and 3 days of flooding rains occurred around the 27th (Roth). Granted the area was most likely scarcely populated at the time, but 36 seems like a lot! Later, on August 17-18, 1779, a hurricane landed in New Orleans. At this time Bernardo de Galvez officiated as mayor of New Orleans and  Spain and Great Britain were at war. According to Roth, “Almost of all of Bernardo de Galvez’ ships that were to be sued to secretly seize the British post at Baton Rouge were grounded or destroyed, thus ruining his plans for the invasion until the 27th…some of the ships were found in the middle of the woods after the storm!”

Moving to the 1800s. On August 16-17, 1831, “the Great Barbados hurricane, very destructive, hit just west of Last Island, just west of Baton Rouge…and killed 1500 people along it’s path from Barbados to New Orleans (Roth).” Along the way, it destroyed a fishing village on Grand Isle due to six feet tidal waves.

The weather itself is the same. However, our housing structures are so much stronger. Yes, the wealthy lived in incredibly sturdy, well built houses. Otherwise we would not have historic houses and plantations today. However, think of all the slaves. The bulk of Louisiana economy came from plantations. Those plantations required slaves, and I can guarantee their houses were not of sturdy construction.

Louisiana is also filled with poor swamp people, or Cajuns. These homes are oftentimes directly on the water and, again, now always sturdily built. Also, it was unlikely that these people had easy access to evacuation.

I know I could talk about recent Hurricanes like Katrina and Gustav. But honestly, it’s the older hurricanes that fascinate me; how people survived and almost embraced the crazy weather of their homeland. I truly believe that Louisiana is in your blood, because as a transplant, I see no reason to stay in an area so susceptible to natural disaster.

 

* The books are just as the titles suggest–fluffy teen historical romance. I actually reread Louisiana Hurricane 1860 when I moved down here, and wow. Not the greatest book ever. It’s actually pretty bad. But it totally entertained me as an adolescent! I loved the “forbidden romance” of the wealthy plantation creole and the cajun worker. I also read all the other books in the series, besides Pearl Harbor 1941 and they all followed the same line. Fluffy, enjoyable, clean, historical romance. But, based solely on the covers, I hid them from my mother when I checked them out from the library. I was such a dork.

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Memorial Day

Although now known mostly as a three-day weekend to Bar-b-que and chance to buy big-ticket items on sale, Memorial Day originally had much more serious origins.

After the start of the American Civil War, commuities would set aside one day a year to decorate their fallen soldiers’ graves. On this day, which could be randon, townspeopl would gather to remember and honor those who fought for their country; which at the time, of course, could have been either the Union or Confederate States of America since both the North and the South engaged in this practice.

On May 30, 1868, Decoration Day (precurser to Memorial Day) was officially observed. It was proclaimed by General Jophn Logan to be a day to decorate the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers. May 30 was chosen because it was not an anniversary of a particular battle. While the day was meant to commemorate both sides of the conflict, many Southern states honored their dead on other days.

It was not until World War I that Decoration Day morphed into a day of rememberance for all fallen US servicemen (and later women.)

Memorial day was still celebrated on May 30th until 1971 when it was declared to be held on the last Monday in May in order to provide a better holiday for Federal employees.

If you get the chance, decorate the grave of a fallen soldier, hug a person in military service, or at least take a minute to remember those who gave their lives.

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I found this information on the two following sites.

http://www.history.com/topics/memorial-day-history

http://www.usmemorialday.org/

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Digging Prehistory

Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel; page count 512.

I actually listened to the audio version, read by Sandra Burr. It was fantastic!

This book, the first in the Earth’s Children Series, was amazing! I can’t believe it took me so long to read it. This first book was originally published in 1980, and Auel finished the series last summer with the publication of the sixth and final book, The Land of the Painted Caves.

The story, the series in fact, follows Ayla, a prehistoric woman traversing through Europe about 30,000 years ago. Clan of the Cave Bear opens with an earthquake which destroys five-year-old Ayla’s home and her family. The child travels alone for a few days, encountering a cave lion along the way, before finally collapsing from exhaustion. She is picked up and rejuvenated by a neanderthal medicine woman traveling with her clan. The medicine woman is allowed to keep the girl even though Ayla is an “Other” (Homo sapien sapien.)

Auel breathes such life and depth into her characters. I love the differences she has created between “Others” and the Neanderthals. I was hooked from the moment I popped the CD in my car. Her landscapes are probably the most stunning thing. She makes it very easy to picture the surroundings. The crispness of the air, the color of the leaves. All of it is very well done.

The brilliance of Auel, however, isn’t in her writing style, which is certainly far above par; it’s in her research. It’s apparent the writer took a lot of time to research and get her facts straight. I appreciate any author who shows a reverence for facts, while making it accessible in fiction. Having read several previous books about human evolution, and watching numerous documentaries on the topic, I can say with some certainty that the history (prehistory?) quite accurate. (I mean, except for the obvious, albeit brief, dip into fantasy, but it’s so small and done so well, that I’ll overlook that bit.) Well, done, Auel!

Needless to say, I’ll definitely be reading the rest of this series. Although I may take a bit of a break in between installations for other books.

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If you are interested in more about human evolution, I recommend these sites: http://humanorigins.si.edu/  and https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/index.html

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Prohibition. Homeric!

We normally do not write about movies here, but I had to share this documentary because it is brilliant! Prohibition: A film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick.

In all fairness, I do have a soft spot for the 1910s-1920s. (I think I would have made an excellent spunky suffragette.) However, if you’re interested in American history, or just a well-made documentary, you should probably check this one out. I learned a lot about the era, and I really enjoyed all of the actual footage used.

Interesting tidbits among many that can be learned from the documentary:

After 1830, the average American over 15 years old drank almost seven gallons of pure alcohol a year! That comes to about three times as much as we drink today. Frankly, I don’t know how they functioned properly. If I drank three times the amount I drink now, I’d be completely useless.

The figures in terms of the economic consequences of Prohibition are staggering! In the state of New York, prior to Prohibition, nearly 75% of the state’s tax revenue came from taxes on liquor. Nationally, Prohibition cost the U.S. $11 billion in lost tax revenue. On top of which, it cost America another $300 million to enforce a practically unenforceable law.

I knew women played a large role in the Dry movement. With rampant alcohol abuse and the fact that spousal rape and abuse were not illegal, who can blame them? The Women’s Christian Temperance Union was quite a force. It’s still around, too. It is the oldest non-sectarian woman’s organization if the world. It also played a large role in women’s suffrage. What I did not know was there was another large, powerful woman’s group which was behind Repeal. The Woman’s Organization for National Prohibition Reform was founded by heiress and the first woman to serve on the Republican National Committee, Pauline Sabin.

Also, my new favorite historical figure is Lois Long the indelible flapper and writer for the New Yorker.

http://www-tc.pbs.org/s3/pbs.videoportal-prod.cdn/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf

Watch Women in PROHIBITION Lois Long on PBS. See more from Ken Burns.

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All of the facts (except maybe the bit about the WCTU which is on their website) can be found on the documentary or on the doc’s website: http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/prohibition/  You can basically watch all of it online, if that suits better.
A big thanks to PBS for funding such stellar productions.
Another big thanks to my pal, Brandon, for giving me the documentary as a Christmas present. I love it!

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Throw Me Something Mister!

Mardi Gras, Carnival, Fat Tuesday, whatever you want to call it, it’s a big event here in Louisiana. Growing up Catholic I knew Mardi Gras was the day before Lent officially begins. In other words, it’s a day to go hog-wild before the 47 days of denial and soberness of Lent. I had no idea Mardi Gras season officially starts the day after Epiphany (the 12^th day of Christmas) and culminates in Fat Tuesday.

 

In the United States, historians believe that the first Mardi Gras occurred on March 3, 1699 when French explorers landed in what is now Louisiana¹. In years to come settlers celebrated the holiday with parties and balls, which Spanish control abolished when it took over New Orleans. Americans reinstated the revelries in 1812, when Louisiana became a U.S. State¹.

a modern day parade

 

In 1857, the Mistick Krewe of Comus (a secret society of New Orleans business men) organized the first recorded parade¹. Elements of this parade are still seen today—torches, marching bands and floats. Today, there are dozens of Krewes, each hosting a parade that rolls anytime in the season. This year, parades started February 4 and ended on February 21. In each parade, those on the floats wear masks covering their hair and faces, yet another old tradition. Back in the beginnings of the parades the wealthy wanted to keep their involvement a secret and wore masks to remain anonymous.

 

Another old Mardi Gras tradition is the King Cake³. I’d heard of King Cake before—in context of the 12 Days of Christmas—but never understood why King Cake was also associated with Mardi Gras. Until, of course, I realized that Mardi Gras officially begins on January 6, or the Twelfth Night of Christmas. The King Cake is baked in honor of the three kings. Inside each cake is a little baby, and who ever finds the baby gets good luck for the next year. Today’s bakers top their King Cakes with sugar in the traditional Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold.

Click on the picture for a recipe

 

Unlike the rest of the Mardi Gras traditions, beads are relatively new², although they are now synonymous with Mardi Gras. The throwing of beads did not come about until sometime in the 1920s when the Krewe of Rex parade threw inexpensive necklaces to the crowds². Today’s krewes spend anywhere between $800 and $2,000 on beads and must have orders in by September²! The other Mardi Gras bead “tradition,” or flashing for beads, is also relatively new and only occurs in the French Quarter. The rest of the parades are relatively family friendly (if you ignore the rampant alcohol consumption).

 

While most Americans think associate New Orleans with Mardi Gras, other southern cities host their own celebrations. Brazil and Venice also host famous Carnival (Brazil) or Carnevale (Venice). Each celebration has its own distinctive, and historic flair, but each centers on the Roman Catholic tradition.

*TIME has some really cool pictures of Mardi Gras from the 1930s on their website. I wanted to include them, but I couldn’t insert them into this post. But check them out!

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1. http://www.history.com/topics/mardi-gras

2. http://mardigrasday.com/mardigrasinfo.php?article_id=4

3. http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/kingcakes.html

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Groundhog Day

I come from a very strange family. For example: we have watched the movie Groundhog’s Day each year on Groundhog’s day until I moved out. (Technically my parents still do, but I no longer do.) If you’ve not seen the movie, Bill Murray’s character is stuck reliving the same day, Groundhog’s Day, over and over again. He can’t die; he can’t leave the town he’s stuck in; he cannot do anything but live out Groundhog’s Day until he gets it right. The fact that we watch this film every year without fail adds some special irony to the occasion.

However, I started to wonder, how did Groundhog Day begin? It is a rather odd superstition when you think about it. So, I did a little research.

Cute, yes?

There is a lot of adorable information about the Groundhog’s Day celebration in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania on the official site. There is information such as how long Punxsutawney Phil has been making his predictions: this is his 126th year officiating officially; in what language Phil makes his prediction: Groundhogese; and when the first official trek to Gobbler’s Knob was made: February 2^nd, 1886. “The celebration of Groundhog Day began with Pennsylvania’s earliest settlers. They brought with them the legend of Candlemas Day.” Apparently there are several poems associated with Candlemas Day and the weather. All of them are a tiny bit different, but they all go something like this Scottish couplet:

“If Candlemas Day is bright and clear,

There’ll be twa (two) winters in a year.”

The celebration of Candlemas Day, and therefore Groundhog Day, is quite possiblly also aligned with the pagan holiday Imbolc, a celebration of the halfway point between Winter Solstice and the Spring equinox.

If you’re interested: Candlemas Day is a Catholic festival of sorts. There’s a lot of interesting religious jazz involved, but let me distill the whole thing a bit: Candlemas Day celebrates the day when Mary would have been cleansed from birthing a boy, and would have brought little baby Jesus into the Temple in Jerusalem to offer an animal sacrifice. There’s also a blessing of candles which takes place during the ceremony and a procession, too.

Supposedly, it’s the Germans who attached an animal to Candlemas. If it is sunny outside on Candlemas Day, then the hedgehog would see his shadow and therefore another winter (or another six weeks) came. Germans were the predominant settlers of Pennsylvania, and they replaced the hedgehog with the Groundhog. Ta da! A bizarre tradition is born!

That’s all good and well, but I don’t much care for cold myself. In fact, I’m a self-proclaimed wimp when it comes to cold. (Seriously, just ask Sapphire or Indigo. It would take me almost 150% longer to bundle for cold weather than either of them.) I’d really prefer it if some old woodchuck isn’t in charge of my comfort.

This year, Punxsutawney Phil has predicted six more weeks of winter. I must say, I’m not sure if I believe the little marmot. It already feels like spring where I am, and has for a couple of weeks now. Oh well. It’s still a fun tradition.

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Downton Abbey, A Love Affair

The title has two meanings. It can stand for either my love affair with Downton Abbey or the number of love affairs in the show. The acting, the story, the costumes, the set–everything about this show is superb. It even brought my dad, the man who thinks the British (and Scottish, Welsh and Irish) should come with subtitles, to the couch every Sunday. He now calls our old, half-blind dog the dowager. It’s actually a very good description. She’ll sit haughtily on her cushion as you call her name over and over and over again, and Lily just looks at you, like “I am far more superior to you, I will come when I want to.”

In honor of tonight’s episode, here are some of my favorite quotes from episode one.

The Dowager Countess finds out that Matthew and Mary are coming home on the same day unbeknownst to either party. When she finds out Mary is driving, she says, “Good. I hate Greek drama, where everything happens off stage.”

The Dowager Countess and the Countess discussing Lavinia, Matthew’s new fiance, after Lavinia’s introduction to the family at a large party:

“I’m afraid meeting us all together must be very intimidating” Countess

“I do hope so.” Dowager Countess

Hughes found out some very juicy, and troubling bit of gossip about Bates when she listened through the grate. She’s not normally a snoopy person, but Bates’s guest made her suspicious. When she talks to the butler, Carson, about this, he says “Now if I were a gentleman, I wouldn’t want to know.” “But you’re not,” Hughes replies. “Fortunately,” responds Carson.

Edith does her part for the war effort by driving the tractor for a local farmer who lost his help and cannot drive. The Dowager Countess does not approve. “Edith! You are a lady. Not Toad of Toad Hall.” (this one just might be my favorite for its reference to one of my most favorite books, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.

As you can tell, I just love the Dowager. Dame Maggie Smith, you can do no wrong.

love that hat.

I always wanted Professor McGonagall to be my grandmother. Or in my life somehow.

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What are you eating under there? Under where?

Did anyone else do this/have this done to them as a kid? Let me paint you a picture. Shy-ish first grader is sitting against the bookshelf in the first grade classroom reading, when the boy who eats glue comes over and asks, “what are you eating under there?” And since the girl isn’t actually sitting under anything, she says, “under where?” and then of course, the boy shrieks with laughter and shouts, “she’s eating underwear!” Fun times in first grade..

Anyways, underwear is on the forefront of my mind recently, because I continually commit the grave panty line fashion faux pas. I think I’ve figured out why this keeps happening to me, and I believe it’s because I’m not used to wearing dress pants. Mind you, in my mind any pant this is not made of denim is a dress pant. The obvious solution is to wear a thong, but I hate thongs. Who wants a piece of dental floss riding up their lady parts? Besides, it’s been proven that continual thong wearing increases your chance of yeast infections. No fun. On another, yet related note, women who wear tight pants (i.e. jeggings, leggings, too-tight trousers) are more likely to have ingrown hairs and other irritations in the bikini area.

I don't know why the other two stewardesses were cut out when I pasted the URL and I don't know who this pilot is, because he isn't cute Dean. But it still shows the glamour of the show.

Due to these negative side effects of today’s stylish clothing I find myself fantasizing about the day when flowy skirts were de rigor. Or even when skirts in general were common place, preferably with supportive undergarments which might mask any lingering panty lines, like in the 1960s. My new mother-daughter ritual is watching Pan Am, and a girdle check is part of the standard  beauty inspection. Perhaps modern ideals took over, but the characters wear pretty tight skirts and there are no lines, so I must conclude that the actresses cheat with anachronistic thongs or girdles actually decrease those embarrassing lines.

I digress. The history of underwear is fascinating. How civilizations went from wearing loincloths to layers upon layers of garments–chemise, petticoats, corsets–just to name a few. I suppose the change in our undergarments, as well as the change in our outergarments has a lot to do with society’s view on what is appropriate. Back in the day, a woman couldn’t show her ankles yet, today, we see much more. Just watch an episode of Jersey Shore for proof. However, while today’s short hemlines are new, in certain eras, showing an expanse of bosom was all the rage. Personally, I don’t mind showing off a bit of cleavage (or a lot if you’re my mother), but even these grand ladies show more skin than I am comfortable with. Men also, went through a phase, thanks to King Henry, of stuffing their codpieces*. Perhaps this is why men have such issues with size of their penises?

Anyway, underwear changes with the socially acceptable outerwear of the time. For example, by the middle ages the loin cloth served only as a genital cover, while new pants or, chausses covered the legs(1). Women and men wore other undergarments to protect their outerwear from their dirty skin, while women wore petticoats for warmth and protection. Men wore something similar to the modern shirt(2), while women wore chemises(3). Fun, or not so fun, fact, women menstruated right into their chemises(4). There was no device or special garment to protect their clothing. It wasn’t until Bloomers entered the fashion world in the 1850s that female undergarments as we know them today came into existence(5).

After the sexualization of the 1920s and the flapper, lingerie entered the fashion world(1). I remember reading and watching Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and being astounded by the existence of a lingerie fashion show. Looking back, it was probably in the early years of undergarment acceptance. Previously corsets and bloomers and whatever else fell under the “unmentionable” category. And, by the 196os the bikini underwear hit stores and the thong in the late 1980s-early 90s(1).

While I have no desire to wear a corset I do sometimes wish we could go back to the days of girdles. I suppose I could wear little girl’s bike shorts under my clothing like Zooey Deschanel in The New Girl.* I tried really hard to find a clip with this specific part, but unfortunately the only way I can post it is through not-so-legal channels. So check out Hulu or hope a family member DVRd The New Girl!

 

* What’s your new favorite TV show? I just mentioned mine!

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1. http://www.amazing-planet.net/history-of-underwear.php

2. http://www.maletribe.com/mensunderwear/historyofmensunderwear.html (renaissance)

3. http://elizabethcbunce.wordpress.com/historical-costuming/18th-century-middle-class-ensemble/shift-undergarments/

4. http://www.mum.org/underhis.htm

5. http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=42

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Becoming Human

We frequently (only?) read historical fiction books here, but what about pre-history? There are many pre-history books out, and after the success of the Earth’s Children series, more are sure to follow.

Personally, I’ve been interested in evolution lately, especially human evolution, and watching every evolutionary documentary Netflix has made available. I thought it was high time I read a book about the topic. Living in a small, rural town, there’s not much cause for books on human evolution at my local library. However, I was lucky enough to come across The Link: Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor by Colin Tudge. Admittedly, this takes me back rather further than any pre-historical fiction would, but I find it all fascinating.

The book follows the discovery and research into Ida, a Darwinius masillae,  dating from about 47 million years ago (that’s the Eocene period.) They paid particular attention to how Ida might have lived; what her surroundings were like; creatures she lived alongside; how she probably moved around her world; and the probable cause of her death. The book describes ways in which Ida is similar to us and ways in which she differs. Most intriguingly, Tudge attempts to place her on the tree of human evolution — making her a potential candidate for when the great apes, chimps and such (including ourselves) broke off from other primates. Although, I must stress, it is not concrete where exactly on the primate tree Ida lies; only that she is definitively a very early primate.

The science is all very interesting, but what I wonder every time I watch or read something about human evolution is when did we gain our self-awareness, our forethought and planning skills, in short when did we acquire those ineffable traits which make humankind distinct from animals? Of course, this is something that may never be fully understood by scientists, not the least of which because there is argument over what actually, if anything, distinguishes us from the rest of the animal kingdom.

Another phenomenon I find interesting is human development from child into adult. Have you ever thought about how similar babies are to animals? I know my dog has much more personality than infants. (You’ll probably be reading more along this line of thinking as I am currently reading Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz.)

The Link is well-written and accessible even if you only recall your high school biology. In fact, I’d say a little too much so, since even I was left thinking, “Right. I know. Move on with it already.” I would recommend this to someone who is just starting to be interested in evolution.

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These and other cool facts and videos can be found on their website: http://www.revealingthelink.com/ (I just love living in the future!)

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