Ooh, BBC Online have changed their look. Now it's like Facebook. Good thing: I can bring "this day in history" box to the top of the page and find out that 1620 years ago Theodosus effected the creation of the Catholic Church, and that some centuries later, the predecessor of the Labour Party was formed. COINKYDINK ( Read more... )

OK, so it's the thirteenth, but I wrote this a day late (and in about three hours' solid inspiration with no rewrites), so can't be helped. I remember, years ago, my father used to read us a story every Christmas which was similarly based on a well-known catechismic carol, but this one is slightly, well, sillier ( Read more... )

Against my better judgement, I have "found" this blog on the web. Seems to be written by someone still trapped in the period of Middle Welsh (c.1150). Poor chap:

Pumet keink y Mabinogyon

This may well make no sense if you didn't waste most of your life studying Middle Welsh. It may also not make sense even if you did.

Well, have just handed in the major work requirement for this year: a draft chapter of the thesis and a thesis outline. I'm reasonably happy with both. Now, if my supervisor vets it, a supervisory committee has to meet to decide my fate, whether or not I get to stay on doing the PhD! Let's cross dem fingers ( Read more... )

Good, I've now booked (as long as the confirmations come through), all my hotels, flights etc. to Japan, in just over a week and a half, so I hopefully shouldn't have to worry too much now. OK, so I did leave myself some suspense as I chose not to book the one night's stay in a capsule hotel in Osaka (somewhere in the bottom half of Japan), as a) I ( Read more... )

Over the weekend I did little other than [shame] read Harry Potter 6 [/shame], which I thought was really good. I'd write a review, but I can't be bothered. If you want to read it, you'll read it anyway. I don't have any room in my room for any more books, though. At all. It's really off-putting. If I didn't like holding on to junk (or, mostly, ( Read more... )

This blogger illuminates an interesting British legal point on copyright of literary characters (see also his link to this article, admittedly on American policy ( Read more... )

Am trying to fathom the Mercian royal line for the 7th century, and it's a real headache. No two set of dates agree, and the births, deaths and ascensions of all sorts of people are accurate only to within about two decades--not helpful, kthnx Historia Brittonum &c.. So, for literary purposes, am having to create an entire genealogy for two dozen ( Read more... )

Back at work now, after a week off. Hmph. I like holidays.

( Cambridge )

Well, I suspect that was the quietest birthday I've had in a long time. Didn't do much on the day itself, but we did go out as a family on Saturday to sunny Salford, to the Lowry Theatre, to see a quite excellent performance of Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, by the English Touring Theatre. I'd never seen it before, though had ( Read more... )