Medieval inspired typefaces still found around Ireland as throwbacks to the past. Gaelic type, also known as Irish type, or cló Gaelach in Irish, are typefaces inspired by the handwritten insular scripts of medieval Ireland. Insular scripts and insular art are works from Ireland and Great Britain (“insular” coming from the Latin “insula” meaning “island”). [ ]
The seasonal dessert that is neither Irish nor potatoes. Irish potatoes are a dessert made to look like little potatoes fresh from the ground. They’re a sugary mix of coconut cream cream cheese coated in cinnamon. Some companies add cocoa powder to the cinnamon coating, some add pine nuts to look like potato eyes, [ ]
Blasts of electromagnetic energy can disable electronics. Electricity and magnetism go hand in hand – you can’t have a moving electrical charge without a magnetic field. This also means to make a change to the one affects the other. For example, run an electrical current near a compass and it will affect the magnetism of [ ]
Raising your car’s windshield wiper blades before a snow storm doesn’t make much of a difference. Before the arrival of a snow storm it’s not uncommon to see people lift their car’s windshield wiper blades up. It can make people who do not do this question if it is worth doing and the answer is [ ]
Languages have standards as well as variations which lead to changes over time. Accent Everyone who speaks a language has an accent. You and someone else can use the same words with the same intended meanings but when you say them you may pronounce them differently. That difference is your accent. An accent is how [ ]
Wintry milk-based alcoholic drinks are a centuries old tradition found around the world. When it’s hot out, people want cold drinks, When it’s cold out, people want hot drinks. In the northern hemisphere cold days are a part of the winter holidays and hot drink are a part of the seasonal traditions. Mulled wine (aka [ ]
Sugary seasonal treats with a twisted history of misconceptions. Candy cane history is a twisted mystery. The most common story is that a choirmaster in late 17th century Cologne, Germany invented candy canes as a way to keep children in the choir on good behavior. Unfortunately there is nothing to substantiate any of this and, [ ]
From Zeus, to the arts, to Thanksgiving the cornucopia has long represented abundance. The horn of plenty, aka the cornucopia, is a horn filled with harvested foods. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and even flowers are seen spilling over out of the horn as a symbol of abundance and good fortune. Greece Lightning The cornucopia (from the [ ]
A native of the Americas, a staple of Thanksgiving Christmas dinners, and a bird of some confusion. Turkey To start, turkey the bird got its name from the Turkic people. The Ottoman Empire had merchants who traded in goods from around the empire. One of these goods was a guinea fowl from Africa that [ ]
The spooky talking board born out of spiritualism and a desire to be reunited with lost loved ones. Ouija boards are a form of talking board (aka “witch board” aka “swami board”) – flat boards designed to allow dead spirits to communicate with the living. They have letters, numbers, and a few words printed on [ ]