I saw War Horse last Saturday and, apart from it being saccharine to the point that the rations board should have punished Steven Spielberg for hoarding sugar, it kind of got me in a pre-World War I spirit—spirit enough to spend this week catching up on Downton Abbey and starting Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August. This is all part of my base camp training exercises to build up enough stamina to fight my way through the lists of the European aristocratic literary canon, culminating with a summiting of War & Peace; though to that end I might as well begin having a side serving of concrete for breakfast each morning (or so expert sources have advised). Right ho, Jeeves!*

*Editors note: this might be a mild reprise of the bill of fare from Winter 2010 which, in addition to Twin Peaks, rural northeastern Pennsylvania local news, and Community, most prominently featured P.G. Wodehouse podcasts.