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إِنَّكَ مَيِّتٌ وَإِنَّهُم مَيِّتونَ You will indeed die, and they [too] will die indeed. Surat az-Zumar 30 On the first of January in the year 15XX, I, Domingo el Monje, translator and scribe, was ordered to the Office of the Holy Tribunal of the Inquisition in Toledo by the Lord Inquisitor Don Francisco de Pinar, then in the second year of his office, having succeeded to it from Valencia by …

Possibly my favourite animal if I had to choose one, and while there won't be a tree up for a fifth year, it hasn't stopped me looking for additions for the tree, and one of the themes became, not that many years ago, hedgehogs or hedgepigs, which used to be called urchins in medieval times, giving rise to sea-urchins, because they looked like land urchins! This one came in a …

So it’s the end of another year already… that one went fast didn’t it? In July 2025, Thesis Whisperer will be 15 years old. Does this mean I am now a bratty teenager instead of a menopausal woman?! I feel there’s life in the old girl yet, so I’ll still fire up the blog monthly, never fear. As is tradition, the end of year post should contain some reflections on …

To be frank, 90% of the perfumes I smell are disappointing, if not downright awful. Which is why I’m starting a series dedicated to reviewing (or should that be ‘roasting’) the duds. Sogni (Meo Fusciuni) Sogni is quite possibly the worst thing I have smelled in a long while. I can usually find something positive to talk about in any perfume – and I am inclined to give indies like …

Features / November 27, 2024 In my mind and in my carWe can’t rewind we’ve gone too farPictures came and broke your heartPut the blame on VCR —The Buggles, “Video Killed the Radio Star” ROBERTS: I saw this on Facebook the other day and had to call an emergency round robin. I don’t know the original image source but I’ve seen it on several clickbait nostalgia pages at this point. …

The current BBC production of Wolf Hall: the Mirror and the Light, the last of Hilary Mantel’s novels charting the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, is a reminder that Cromwell’s dynasty did not end with him on the block. In this post, Dr Robin Eagles considers the careers of some of the direct heirs and how Cromwell’s descendant, Elizabeth, attended the coronation of Queen Anne when she probably should …

I have written before about how photography works in a technical sense. But that’s like knowing how the engine works when what you want is to drive, or more accurately, get somewhere in a car. To follow the analogy it’s perfectly possible to drive a car without knowing how it works, but to get the best out of it it’s useful to know something about how some parts of it …

‘Drive your car in London. Not so difficult as many women think’, urged Margaret Montague Johnstone in the pages of The Motor in March 1933. As well as being a keen shopper and motorist, Johnstone was the daughter of the first man to go around the world on a bicycle! Johnstone recommended several choice parking spots around Oxford Street, noting that ‘Debenhams and Freebody have their own private parking ground …

Thursday 28th November 2024 Readers may recall a blog in August describing an unusual situation north of Bedford where competition had broken out between Grant Palmer and Stagecoach on a bus route between Bedford and the village of Harrold. The pre August 2024 route 25 all operated by Grant Palmer On the face of it the situation on route 25 didn’t seem to make sense not least as Stagecoach began …

You wouldn’t know it was the very end of November from the verdant hydrangea leaves. History is about to be made. The latest recorded first frost I could find for our area ranges from November 23 in Bellingham, 15 miles north, to November 29 in Everett, 40 miles south of us. Today is November 27, and there is no frost in sight, even through December 6, when the high is …

I have another data point for receiving email for other people named “Sean Conner.” This time, I received an email from a auto repair shop in Wimauma, Florida, detailing work on my 2014 XXXXX­XXXXX­XXX with VIN XXXXX­XXXXX­XXXXX­XX and the Florida plate of XXXXX­X with XXXXX­X miles on the odometer for a total amount of $XXXXX­X. If that level of detail isn't scary enough, I also learned of my phone number …

Herons and egrets are some of Eric's favorite birds, and for many years, he and I have both been eager to see two species in particular that are not at all common in California: Reddish Egret and Roseate Spoonbill. Happily, the Gulf Coast of Texas is an excellent place to find both of these species (and many more), so it was with great excitement that we made our way out …

Perfume PosseNoel au Balcon Etat Libre d’Orange Heya Posse! Less than one month till Christmas. For those of you who don’t celebrate, or celebrate other religious milestones at this point, fair play to you. Thing is, across the western world it’s almost impossible to ignore the marketing,… Continue Reading → Perfume PosseNoel au Balcon Etat Libre d’Orange

The Government’s Autumn 2024 Budget included several major fiscal changes, including a revision of the method by which national debt is measured for national accounting purposes, an upcoming rise in national insurance contributions for employers and commitments related to regional devolution. Some of these changes could significantly influence London’s economic trajectory. On October 30th 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, revealed the newly-elected government’s first Budget, which was …