The Third Man Splaining

So Dolly Parton's not really dying. She just has a kidney stone. Good. I don't want her to die. Although that's largely because there's a line in my new book that would come off really bad if that happened.

Greek Parliament. Including the soldiers doing their weird dance.

Exploring the National Garden. Including Roman baths, a Roman floor mosaic, and aminals. (1/3)

Continuing the exploration of weird Greek chip flavours... let's find out what oregano Lay's is like.

Oh look, an accidental meeting of the Breaking Bad fan club. (Random dude from Germany, said he'd bought his shirt in London)

Me, regarding accent of lady who insisted I should get a pic of myself on the medal podium: "Australia?" Lady: "New Zealand." Me: "Ah. I've only been to Australia." Lady: "Yeah no, not good enough."

I love this. Somebody mistyped 1896 as 1986 (twice), and they clearly couldn't be arsed to reprint the poster, so they just stuck tape over the first one, Which somebody peeled off.

The Panathenaic Stadium, or Olympic stadium. Built in 1896, on the site of the ancient one. (1/5)

While looking for the Olympic Stadium, stumbled on the ruins of the Temple of Artemis Agrotera. Also, another shot of the Parthenon from the distance. Just because the lighting was perfect.

I'm sure this is a very bad idea, but...

After the sunny morning at the Acropolis, I picked a terrible time to see the Temple of Zeus ruins; the rain began pouring half an hour in and still hasn't let up. Nonetheless, here are the pics. Including two closer shots of Hadrian's Arch. (1/3)

Other random stuff in the Acropolis.

Concert hall within the Acropolis. Back wall is ancient, the rest is relatively modern, I think.

View of Athens and surroundings from the Parthenon hill

The Pandroseion, near the Parthenon

The West Gate to the Parthenon.

Some Parthenon for ya. (1/2)

It was sunny and beautiful this morning, so I decided today would be Acropolis day. I know you want to see the Parthenon, but I'll start with the part that really got me excited: The Theatre of Dionysius.

National Archaeological Museum. A bit of Athena, Zeus, sphinx and friends. (1/2)

Hadrian's Arch

Shots from tour bus. Including Greek parliament, Olympic stadium, museums, etc. (1/2)

From the Excavation Museum: Plato, Aristotle, Athena (in pieces), and a modern sculpture that recreates a lost ancient one with food packaging.

Excavation Museum: ruins of residences and baths under the Acropolis Museum. (1/2)

Random snaps from the Acropolis Museum, which was not sold out. (1/3)

My hostel is only four metro stops from the Acropolis. So guess where I went first. It was already sold out for the day (and I'm super-sleep-deprived and jetlagged anyway), so here are pics of the surrounding ruins. A man was yelling at everyone, "No! Sold out! Go away!!"

There's a Metro station here called Ομόνοια, or Omonia. I can't be the first person whose immediate thought was "Omonia Bird in a Gilded Cage".

My first glimpse of downtown Athens: A billboard for a Greek stage adaptation of Tootsie. So... from Euripides to this?

Leaving for Greece soon. Will be back in ten days. I hope a giant bird doesn't drop an egg on my head while I'm there. youtu.be/TxrTXDeArpU?...

In a few weeks: Magic Theatre Poetry is back on Zoom, with me as the feature (and an open mic). (1/3)

The first Peanuts strip by Charles M. Schulz was published on October 2, 1950.

Checking out The Welkin at Soulpepper. The ad called it 12 Angry Men meets The Crucible. That sold me. (And the set looks properly Cruciblesque.) I assume it's more like The Shining. But with a little boy who welks.

#BlackBooks premiered twenty-five years ago yesterday. I still love the first series. "You're all really dreadful, and your girlfriends are unfulfilled and alienated." www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uAZ...

Just arrived: The new Brownstone Poets anthology from Noo Yawk Sittay. Featuring a shorter version of my poem "Lazy Book Reports". Available from Amazon.

Me, at Word on the Street yesterday afternoon. Photo by Bänoo Zan.

Back at Word on the Street today. Had to move to a new table, but still close to where I was yesterday. Come say hey.

Wild Wing You make my heart sting You make everything greasy Wild Wing

Only minutes to go until Word on the Street officially begins. Turns out I'm sharing not only a space with the League of Canadian Poets, but apparently a table. (No idea where they are...)

THIS WEEKEND. I'll be back at Word on the Street, still offering copies of my debut novel Hate Story (now only $15). According to the exhibitors' map, it seems I'm sharing a space with the League of Canadian Poets this year. More info on the fest at toronto.thewordonthestreet.ca.

Today would have been Jim Henson's 89th birthday so here's the Rainbow Connection🌈🐸 youtu.be/awhyiBv-oQc?...

Repeat this over and over. Doug Ford will kill people.

Now that @jimmykimmel.com is allowed back on the air, when can I get my Facebook and Instagram back? Hello? youtu.be/K8E_zMLCRNg?...

Now that @jimmykimmel.com is allowed back on the air, when can I get my Facebook and Instagram back? Hello? youtu.be/K8E_zMLCRNg?...

People are doing rapture jokes like there’s no tomorrow.

coming up November 22nd: the 31st anniversary edition of the ottawa small press book fair! / @arcpoetry.bsky.social @swooncor.bsky.social @thesedayszine.bsky.social @bookhugpress.bsky.social @invisibooks.bsky.social ; smallpressbookfair.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-...

I always thought the post-literate society had its roots in the launch of MTV and 1980s neo-conservatism. Anyway, an enlightening read. jmarriott.substack.com/p/the-dawn-o...

This is the only #rapture I'm interested in. youtu.be/pHCdS7O248g?...

Quote this with your reaction to getting left behind during the rapture.

None on the blueskies either, apparently.