Wednesday, November 11, 2026

Wordy Wednesday: Chiron and Chyron

Chiron was a Centaur. A Chyron is on your TV.

What is a Centaur?

“A centaur is a mythological creature from ancient Greek folklore with the human head, arms, and torso (down to the waist) joined to the body and four legs of a horse.“ An important Greek myth tells the story of The Battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs (known in Greek mythology as the Centauromachy). This legendary conflict disrupted the wedding feast of Pirithous, King of the Lapiths, and the princess Hippodamia (also called Hippodaseia) in Thessaly. (source: Wikipedia)

A centaur in battle from the sculptures of the Parthenon, now in the British Museum in London.
Seeing these sculptures on a recent trip to London satisfied a dream that I’ve had for decades.

The Centaur Named Chiron

“In Greek mythology, the most famous centaur is Chiron. Unlike the rest of his wild and unruly brethren, Chiron was renowned for his exceptional wisdom, kindness, and mastery of medicine, music, and archery. He served as a revered mentor and tutor to some of ancient Greece’s greatest heroes, including Achilles, Jason, and Hercules.” (source: google search)

Chiron, a legendary Centaur, on a Greek vase.

Chiron with animals he has hunted.

Definition of Chyron (not Chiron) — Webster’s Dictionary Says:

What's a chyron?

It's that thing at the bottom of your TV screen

Whether to promote other programs, give some backstory, or get viewers involved on social media, graphics and text show up more and more frequently on top of the shows on our TV screens. There’s a word for them: chyron. Although it's often used generically, it actually comes from the name of the company whose software allows television producers to add those crawling words, phrases, and images to their broadcasts. (Source: Webster’s Online Dictionary)

The Chyron Corporation is named for the famous Centaur of Greek myth. (source)

What made me think of this? At the fitness center while working out on a boring exercise machine, I was surrounded by TV screens playing the various news channels with their multiplicity of chyrons along with the subtitles for the speakers. I also see it on the screen in my living room. Chyrons are everywhere1

The Most Famous Modern Centaurs

The best-known centaurs in recent memory appear in the Harry Potter books, where they live in the Forbidden Forest. Their names are Firenze, Ronan, and Magorian (not Chiron). Their most famous action was seizing Delores Umbridge, the tyrannical and petty head of Hogwarts school.

Dolores Umbridge, who deserved to be abducted by Centaurs.
Delightfully portrayed by Imelda Staunton.

Blog post © mae sander 2026; photos as credited.

Tuesday, November 10, 2026

Expanded Post from 2006

Veterans' Day: November 11. Written for Miriam and Alice, then small children.

When my mother was 8 years old, she experienced a very important event in history. For several years, many countries had been fighting in a terrible war called the Great War, now called the First World War. On November 11, 1918, the war ended. My mother used to tell us how happy and relieved everyone had been because the fighting was over and the soldiers could come home.

People all over the United States and Canada came out of their houses and into the streets to sing, dance, and celebrate, as shown in the picture (below) of the celebration in Detroit, Michigan. People in many other countries in Europe, Australia, and elsewhere were also very happy that the fighting had stopped. Everyone hoped that there would never be another war.

A year later, November 11 became a national holiday when people remembered the war, and every year afterwards people celebrated. When my mother was young it was called Armistice Day, because armistice means the agreement that ends a war. She told us that every year on this holiday at 11 minutes after 11 in the morning there was a minute of silence to honor the soldiers. Every year, her teachers told her about the war. They hoped that the end of the First World War had brought an end to all wars. Unfortunately, this did not happen.

Poppies from a web search.

Poppies became a symbol for remembering the war because of the poem titled “In Flanders Fields,” written by Canadian physician and Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae on May 3, 1915, during the Second Battle of Ypres. Children used to memorize this poem, but I doubt if the do so any longer. The poem is available at the Poetry Foundation website: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47380/in-flanders-fields

War Memories

During the First World War, many red poppies had begun to bloom near the battlefields where the soldiers were fighting.

Poppies: symbol of rememberance.

It is now 108 years since the end of the war — 2026. Virtually no one living today can have personal memories of the war. However, 20 years ago, there were still a reasonable number of people who did remember. Specifically, in 2006, my friend Sheila asked her father if he remembered the end of the First World War. In 1918, he was only three years old, but all those years later, he remembered one thing about the end of the war. His family lived in Edinburgh, Scotland, near the Water of Leith, a river. His neighbor was a soldier. His mother told him to watch for the neighbor: "If you see him marching home it means that the war is over." One day his mother pointed out the neighbor was marching home along the banks of the river, wearing his full regimental uniform, which included a scarlet diagonal sash. She said, "This means that the war is over."

Simple Dinner

Chopping the vegetables

Cooking the vegetables

Beans and sausages in the pan

Sunday, November 08, 2026

A Painted Lady

Weekend Food

Friday, November 06, 2026

Foodie Friday

Another Week of Great British Baking

Nigella Lawson and Paul Hollywood in Episode 7 of the Great British Baking show:
one of our favorite ways to spend the morning.

Paul, Nigella, and Allison hear about one contestant’s baking.
I don’t do any of this sort of baking myself, but I like to watch.

Photos from Baking Show website

Lunch at Five Guys

All the peanuts you care to eat. (I just ate a few.)

Thursday, November 05, 2026

AI in the Kitchen, Election Results in the Living Room

Ask Dr. Google

It was time to cook dinner. I did a google search for the ingredients I had on hand and I found a New York Times recipe called “Chicken with Orange and Onion.” As well as the link to the original published recipe, AI created a simplified version. So I used my package of chicken legs, the three tangerines that were in my fridge, and one lemon, as well as the wine and spices listed in the recipe. I did not cook the tangerines very much because these particular ones were of a very delicious flavor. I made a skillet-only dish without the recommended cooking in the oven.

Chicken, onions, cut-up tangerines, a lemon, brown sauce, and a side dish of boiled potatoes.

Google Result: The AI and the Original

A long time ago, before the internet, I used to fantasize about a computer that would take a list of ingredients and give you a recipe. This seemed like an impossible idea. Now it’s what we all do all the time, and remembering the impossibility is what is impossible.

Meanwhile, Election Results

“Mr. Trump’s party is on track to lose the national popular congressional vote by about 13 points … . It is shaping up to be the worst loss in a half-century, since the aftermath of the Watergate scandal.” (NY Times)

We were quite interested in what happened in the midterm elections that took place yesterday. We voted early using absentee ballots, so we did not have the experience of going to the polls, but we were very aware of the importance of this election. From the numerous reports online, I selected one photo from a Spanish newspaper: