Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Colin Campbell (1686-1757)


Co-founder of the Swedish East India Company. More information here.

Nadar (1820-1910)


More information here.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Mistinguett (1875-1956)


More information here.

Current Favourite Sentences

'Paralysis,' says Dr MacGillivray, elongating the second 'a' with what seems like ghoul's relish but is only broad Scots. 'Convulsions will shortly ensue, followed by death.'

It's Tabu!


Advert for Tabu face powder by Dana, 1946.

Friday, June 24, 2011

John Robert Cozens (1752-1797)


More information here.

Alexander Cozens (1717-1786)


More information here.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Terrifying Owls

For reasons best known to people who aren't me, and who therefore have a more sensible perspective on the matter, I googled the phrase 'terrifying owls'. This was what came up, and very amusing it is too.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Current Favourite Sentence

Conceding that the latest set back was a "very embarrassing day", Hodge said he felt "very sorry" for the "unfortunate people who were wrongly admitted to the site and believed, albeit for a short time, that they were beautiful".

The sentence is great, but the article makes me feel a little sick.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Sakharov (Jack Gold, 1984)


One of my Russian teachers when I was at school let us watch this as an end-of-term treat. Another one let us watch this (chosen after a democratic vote; the choice was between that and this or this). Both experiences taught me a lot about democracy, I suppose.

Posted in response to the news that Yelena Bonner, Andrei Sakharov's widow, has died aged 88.