Kodi, in his element!

"makes no difference to me -- the year ends or doesn't end" Issa Kobayashi (images: Kaii Higashiyama / Koson Ohara)

Ebullient in the snow.

Be merry, be merry.

I wish I could get this comfortable.

Looking for a last-second gift for the #histfic reader in your life? Not to be immodest, but these are damn fine reads! The Jesuit Letter amzn.to/3OndCRZ Thieves' Castle amzn.to/2m6u6GX

Watching the original 1933 King Kong. Most excellent!! I had forgotten just how much screaming Fay Wray had to do in this role…

On a totally unrelated note, did I mention I wrote a book?

Canadians have leaked 60 Minutes’ banned episode investigating Trump’s illegal actions in direct defiance of CBS censorship.

The tree is up!!! Don’t really have a traditional topper but stuffie bunnies and Xmas mouse will have to suffice!

Listening to Crash Test Dummies “Superman’s Song”. Good tune but it is unnecessarily slanderous and just plain mean to Tarzan. What did Tarzan ever do to them?

I am far more likely to go see this, then any more Avatar movies. Just saying.

Be it thy course to busy giddy minds With foreign quarrels, that action, hence borne out, May waste the memory of the former days.

"Tired of hearing Worldly things: Winter confinement" Kyoshi Takahama (image: Shufu Miyamoto)

Re-watched "Sahara" last night. This is, objectively, a largely terrible movie albeit with great actors, gorgeous locations & a insane plot, but I find it...genuinely fun to watch. Improbable, nonsensical but weirdly fun. Zahn & McConaughey, & Penélope Cruz seem to be really enjoying themselves.

Yeah. This cat’s not pushy at all…

Sneaky bastards... Wordle 1,630 5/6 ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜ 🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

For no particular reason, some Rome shots I took back in late September, on my trip.

The Wandsworth Shield, a 2nd century BC #Celtic bronze boss found in the River Thames on display at the British Museum. #Archaeology #History #artwork #art #FindsFriday

Surprised myself... Wordle 1,629 4/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Most Tudor #histfic tends to be tales of Court intrigue. Mine hangs about in ale-soaked taverns & fetid back-alleys where cold-steel by lantern light offers redemption or grim death by turn: The Jesuit Letter amzn.to/3OndCRZ Thieves' Castle amzn.to/2m6u6GX

Appros of nothing, The Sussex mammoth Map www.google.com/maps/d/edit?... 🦣🏺

A blast from my past - the Medieval Soldier database takes nearly 300,000 military service records from 1369-1453 and makes them available as a searchable database. An invaluable resource for understanding medieval warfare, society and the English medieval state. Learn more in the link. 🗃️

Gremlin is happy that winter is here and the fireplace is back in use.

Finished watching #Netflix's #LastSamuraiStanding. Fantastic show - brutally violent, but still...fantastic! Esp. of note, Junichi Okada as Shujiro Saga is excellent as the MC, and the opposing samurai are terrifying opponents - namely Bukotsu Kanjiya who is elementally feral in his role.

Hey #Blueskywriters, thought I would share a short excerpt from my current WIP...

I feel you, ancient Mongolian ceramic hedgehog. I feel you.

"As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly"

"day after day after day only cold drizzle with snow ― I am getting older" Ryokan Taigu [image: Shufu Miyamoto]

Well this 2,600-year-old clay letter was a journey. It comes from the archive of a goldsmith named Nabû-zeru-iddin in the heart of ancient Assyria. We’ve got someone left on read, a lawsuit, a mean step-mom, and people who get drunk and steal silver.

Spent 10 days last month meandering around Roman hills, uneven Florentine cobblestones and narrow Venetian laneways - didn't have a single issue - only to catch my foot on a curb a block from my house and faceplant on the pavement. Two black eyes, broken nose and a concussion. Just lovely.

Couldn’t even finish this lengthy article as the evidence cited of massive corruption is just too sickening, persistent and wide-spread.

All roads lead to Rome, they say. - And finally you too can find out if that's true! 😉 With "The Digital Atlas of Ancient Roads", #Itiner-e, a high-resolution dataset and detailed map created in a collaborative ongoing project: www.newscientist.com/article/2503... via @newscientist.com

<fist pump!> Wordle 1,607 3/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Vast sin-concealing chaos

Not sure I understand the angsting about how to "bring back 007". They've never offered any explanation for when Connery morphed into Lazenby and then into Moore etc. Nobody even pretends that there is any continuity between them for the most part, why bother now? Just bring in 007 and move on!

Lest we forget. youtu.be/knxR-Q2VoBE?...

Peaky Berners.

He’s mad that trusts in the tameness of a wolf

For no particular reason - a camel, from the Vatican museum. Love the expression...

"The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound And a wave broke over the railing And every man knew, as the captain did too 'Twas the witch of November come stealing" November 10, 1975. youtu.be/FuzTkGyxkYI?...

It’s weird. The early snowfall hit with most of the fall foliage still on the trees. The snow reflects and refracts the light off the leaves and everything is cast in this “ insta” filter of colour, gilded in burgundy, gold and green everywhere in my neighborhood. Can’t even describe it.

Autumn Berner.

This little bird survived a volcanic eruption! Buried by volcanic ash from Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, this Roman fresco of a little bird pecking at fruit re-emerged looking as delightful as it did some 2,000 years ago! Villa Poppaea, ancient Oplontis, Italy 📷 by me #FrescoFriday #Archaeology

"Here is a man thoroughly solitary ― a shadow of oblivion drifting one place to another, flowing on and on" Bokusui Wakayama (images: Hasui Kawase / Koson Ohara )

Most fiction embedded in the Tudor era tends to be tales of Court intrigue, set amidst the silken splendor of palaces. Mine tends to hang about in ale-soaked taverns, muddy streets and fetid back-alleys where cold-steel by lantern light offers redemption or grim death by turn. #Questpit #Q #HF

“a 16th century Richard Sharpe…” Kit Tyburn, ex-soldier turned play-actor, fresh sprung from Newgate Prison, dives into the arcane killing of a would-be sorcerer. But London’s back-alleys hide so very many secrets… including a dangerous pair of killers on the hunt. #Questpit #Q #HF

Someone is killing the sorcerers of London. Kit Tyburn, ex-soldier turned play-actor, is tasked to investigate an arcane killing, and finds himself entangled in a vicious plot that may threaten the Crown itself. London’s back-alleys hide so very many secrets… #Questpit #Q #HF

If you are looking for an excellent book on how Guy Fawkes' Gunpowder Plot roiled up into the cultural/literary side of things, James Shapiro's "1606: William Shakespeare and the Year of Lear" is a fantastic read!

For a brief, fleeting moment, I felt good...and then it just got worse. Wordle 1,600 5/6 🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜ 🟩🟨🟩🟩⬜ 🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩 🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩