While Henry VIII was on the throne of England divorcing his wives the O'Malley (Ó Máille) clan ruled the north west coast of Ireland. Unlike most Irish of the time they were seafarers, taxing anyone who fished off their coast which included ships from as far away as England. The leader of the clan bore the title "The O'Malley."

The O'Malley had a daughter, Grace. Legend says that when she was a young teenage girl she asked her father to take her along on a trading expedition to Spain that he was leading. He came up with what was, admittedly, a lame excuse: he would like to but her long hair might get caught in the ships ropes. Showing the spirit that would eventually put her in front of the most powerful ruler in Europe she cut off most of her hair and presented herself to her father, ready to sail, daring him to come up with another excuse. Whether the legend is true or not, her nickname reflects it: in Gaelic it was Gráinne Mhaol, meaning bald or cropped hair...

I've been reading quite a bit lately about about Nickolai Vavilov, someone that I'm sure most of us have never heard of. This week I completed writing a new chapter for my book about the history of famines, and I'm going to read from that material tonight at the Walk Thru History class.

Vavilov is a tragically ironic figure...

A couple of years ago I read an excellent book, which I highly recommend, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, by Nathaniel Philbrick (actually I've read three of his books and recommend all of them).

On November 20, 1820 -- 188 year ago today -- the whaleship Essex from Nantucket Island went through an ordeal that would partly inspire the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville...

I remember a number of years ago when I worked for a major publishing company which was owned by an international media conglomerate. Every couple of months our structure or strategy would be jerked into a 90° change and it would come down from the Olympian heights of corporate leadership in New York City that this was finally the winning formula that would take us into a glorious future. Nevermind that 60 days earlier we had another winning formula for the future ("We've always been at war with Eastasia!")

"Drink the Kool Aid" has become a popular euphemism for believing or at least going along with the current corporate ideology when it is manifestly untrue or stupid.

Today, November 18, commemorates the 30th anniversary of that phrase entering the English language. What is not often discussed -- even at the time -- is the ideology that brought that us that phrase. Hint: it was NOT a dangerous brand of evangelical Christianity...

The Grassmarket is a 2-3 block area directly beneath Edinburgh Castle. Currently tourists don't have much reason to wander down from the High Street to the Grassmarket, even though it's less than a 1/4 mile away. There are some hotels, office buildings, convenience stores, a few pubs. Here's what it looks like now:

Anyway, as a professional marketer I file this under the headings: "If it Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It," and "If a Little is Good, More is Awesome..."

What can I say? Today I needed something a bit lighter as I prep for teaching the Walk Thru History Class @ Manna tonight (another heavy duty topic) so I reached for something quick, easy and cheap. Sue me.

I didn't have to reach far. This day in history, November 12, 1970, provides many lessons in life, engineering, environmental management and problem-solving. Not to mention serving up a cautionary tale in poorly-thought-through government solutions...