Apparently it is not yet confirmed whether a historical monument - The Konigshaven bridge in Rotterdam, known to locals as the De Hef - is going to be dismantled in order to permit the passage of a 'superyacht' built in Rotterdam for Jeff Bezos.

On account of apparently nobody thought to think that one through during the process...

And, my dearios ( Read more... )

Yesterday we had a Bosch washing-machine engineer come to look at ours, as it has been making disturbing rattly noises during the spin-cycle.
So he looked at it, and off course it failed to oblige at making the racket. He replaced the heating-element (which was probably not involved in that issue, but really needed it), and went away, saying, if it ( Read more... )

All digitised.
It's depressing enough when a natural disaster takes out a precious historical resource.
And then you get the people bleating about surely it's all digitised by now, and the related question of Why Do Historians Still Have To Go To Archives?
*Screaming loudly in archivist*
I would guess that for most repositories, only a percentage ( Read more... )

Wallace Collection library and archive no longer at risk of closure: The library and archive of the Wallace Collection are to remain open to the public following an internal consultation. The west London museum had proposed closing both facilities to the public to cope with the financial impact of the Covid pandemic. The closure would have resulted ( Read more... )

Was thinking that when I was a young 'un (and in spite of things like polio, and the so-called 'Asian' flu, and the general prevalence of diseases that anti-vaxxers have forgotten were still a peril within living memory) the Big Threatening Horror was The Bomb -
Four Minutes Warning and then Oblivion, or maybe a radioactive wasteland inhabited by ( Read more... )

Dept of, The Bogglemen, En Bogglant Le Ya Ya: Isabelle visits a new age relationship therapist, played by Gérard Depardieu. WOT. I suppose I could think of more improbable casting in that sort of role, but still. WOT.
***
Dept of, Not the only 70s Apocalyptic Scenario Flashbacker: One of the scariest episodes of the wonderful 1970s BBC sci-fi ( Read more... )

Does anyone else remember a short story - if that unreliable thing, memory, serves, it was by James Tiptree jr - in which a sentient Earth thinks, 'time to start all over again', and gives what is pretty much a shrug to rub off what's already there? (I think there may have been more to it than that?)
It came to mind this morning when the radio ( Read more... )