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This is an essay in two parts.Neuschwanstein Concept Drawing by the stage designer (!!) Christian Jank (1869). There exist in architecture clear precedents to the McMansion that have nothing to do with suburban real estate. This is because “McMansionry” (let’s say) has many transferable properties. Among them can be included: 1) a diabolical amount of wealth that must be communicated architecturally in the most frivolous way possible, 2) a penchant …

Peter Jackson's King Kong, with David Monaghan and Grace Duffy. At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database. Show notes, including links: https://them0vieblog.com/2024/12/28/405-king-kong/ Follow us on twitter at @thetwofifty.

En garde: fencing frogs were noted on the desk of Charles Dickens Time flies. I’m astounded to see it is 14 years since I wrote ‘Sword-fighting frogs and Dickens‘. This popular post linked a tableau of sword-fencing stuffed frogs found in an abandoned French chateau to ‘The Empty Chair’ by Sir Samuel Luke Fildes, a print published in 1870 as a tribute to Charles Dickens. Detail of objects on the …

In post 16.29, we saw that the lowest energy levels in an atom are conventionally labelled, in order of increasing energy, 1s, 2s and 2p. There are three 2p levels that all correspond to the same energy; they are denoted 2px, 2py, and 2pz. Electrons occupy these energy levels according to the principles explained in post 16.29. For example, let’s remind ourselves of the energy levels occupied by electron in …

The Surey Demoniack is an intriguing story of alleged demon possession in Lancashire, from the late 1600s. Our knowledge of the events derives from a lengthy pamphlet that narrated a ‘believer’s view’ of demon possession. It was written by the ministers involved in attempts at exorcism. These men were known as Protestant nonconformists, that is […]

Nearly five years ago, I completed a project that, to my mind, remains the most significant of my cartographic career: An Atlas of Great Lakes Islands, manually printed in cyanotype, with a hand-stitched binding. I wanted to share this project with all of you, but there were only a few copies. So, I decided to send one on a journey around the world. Several dozen people signed up to host …

Of course there had to be a poodle puzzle. The final puzzle of this series is a snow and a star studded showdown with Philip and his best friend Sterling. PLUS a note on when I'll be back after the holidays. I'm not sure if this is a thing that other poodle owners go through...Read More

Sometimes I’ll jot down a word I think I haven’t heard before, only to locate it in the existing Word Hoard archive on my own website. Apparently I logged bruit (sounds like “brewie”) on this site in August of 2020, possibly in response to learning more about my dad’s many vascular conditions, but it appears again in my notes from reading Excession earlier this year! Leave it to Ian Banks …

Belleville Books, Belleville, IL(Like The Indie Bob Spot on Facebook and follow The Indie Bob Spot on X)I’ve been on this journey now for about 10 years and over 600 bookstores so not surprisingly, I’ve had a few coincidental experiences. One such experience happened here at Belleville Books, a newly opened indie in a historical downtown building not even three months old. Steve M. and Rob E. are the co-owners …

Boxing Day called for a little bit of fresh air and with the Elizabeth Line closed, I took my folding bike out for a trip to Stratford (East London) via the District Line for a little post-Christmas cycle safari.I caught up with Dermot Hanney, one of the people behind the London Route Plan Roll cycle network map, to have a look a few things going on in the Stratford area …

May 1 – June 21, 1521 (Hellerick) Propelled by fear, habit, and a steady wind at its back, the fleet sailed south by southwest out of Cebu City for almost 24 hours, passing between the islands of Cebu to the west and Bohol to the east. By the morning of the second day, however, the adrenaline rush of the breakneck flight from danger was fading. When a cape at the …

One would think that we’ve more or less figured survey UI out by now. Multiple choice questions, checkbox questions, matrix questions, dropdown questions, freeform textfields, numerical scales, what more could one possibly need?! And yet, every time Google sponsored me to lead one of the State Of … surveys, and especially the inaugural State of HTML 2023 Survey, I kept hitting the same wall; I kept feeling that the established …

Fraser Island by David Stanley (Nanaimo, Canada) via Wikimedia Commons It's been over a month since my last post, though there has been the Christmas runaround to contend with, plus it took me several weeks at least to come up with that title. The wags amongst you might say I should have taken longer. Regular readers may remember my friend Simon, whose growing interest in niche

In 2015, I wrote about how my grandfather and great-grandmother fared after the 1932 death of my great-grandfather George Edmund Pleau. Since that time, I’ve learned so much more about Bertha’s and young George’s lives! (Thank you, newspapers!) So let me color in the picture a little better. Bertha and George returned to Lynn about 1933, living in a couple of places on Lewis Street in East Lynn, right by …