I was doing some follow-up research on a couple of recent post topics and I thought I’d share some interesting findings with all you bored cubicle dwellers out there.

First up, from the department of “good things in the wake of tragedy” comes a report that the big tsunami in December uncovered some ancient ruins on the coast of southern India. Archeologists believe three newly-revealed stone structures date to the 7th Century AD and could be remnants of a port city that was engulfed by the sea. There is a nearby temple that dates to the same general time period, and local myths claim that once there were six other temples in the area. It is possible that these “new ruins” are related to the rumored lost temples.

While the discovery of some eroded stone piles in no way makes up for the loss of life and overall devastation caused by the tsunami, the archeology buff in me, the twelve-year-old boy who still loves tales of forgotten cities and hidden treasures, is positively thrilled by this development. I don’t think I’ve talked about archeology on this blog, but it is an interest of mine, and this is one find that will bear watching.

Meanwhile, closer to home, the recent news that we may soon learn the name of Watergate source Deep Throat has brought all sorts of theories into the light of day, including the very interesting idea that DT may have been a gentleman named <ahref=”http://www.benstein.com/”>Ben Stein. Stein is an economist who served as a speech writer and lawyer in the Nixon and Ford White Houses. He is also a sometime actor who is best known for one line that will be instantly familiar to anyone who came of age in the ’80s: “Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?”

Now, I’m not familiar enough with the Watergate scandal to really say one way or the other if Stein would really make sense as Deep Throat — he has always denied the charge — but I love the idea that Ferris Bueller’s economics teacher and the smoking man in the parking garage were one and the same. Unfortunately, if he was Deep Throat, then the rumor that he’s sick and near death is quite a bummer. Assuming that there’s any truth to that rumor, of course… who can you believe? No wonder Woodward and Bernstein were accused of paranoia!

Finally, I’ll leave you with something that has nothing to do with any previous posts but which caught my eye anyway, an article on yesterday’s anniversary of the first publication of Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon. I’m more familiar with the classic 1941 film directed by John Huston and starring the uber-cool Humphrey Bogart, but from what I understand the movie was very faithful to the book — Huston always claimed he simply had his secretary re-type the novel and that was the screenplay. Nevertheless, I am fully aware of the novel’s importance in literary history: it was the beginning of the modern mystery novel and the source of many themes and motifs that would later become the hallmarks of one of my favorite movie genres, film noir. Check out the article… it’s the stuff dreams are made of.