Dr Rob

Stained glass fragment, 15th century, Netherlands

(Victoria and Albert Museum, London)

Ea-nāṣir only got away with his fraudulent practices because the police officer investigating the case was terrible at his job. Sub-standard copper!

A view of a graveyard with mostly stone crosses, but with a solid tombstone to the right. The ground is covered with yellow flowers in the foreground, and shite flowers in the background.

Happy #Imbolc to those who celebrate!
We've reached the halfway point between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. Here, a profusion of snowdrops and aconites at St Botolph's Churchyard in Swyncombe, in the #Chilterns, UK.
#WildFlowerHour
[archive 📷]

In all seriousness, Helen is the perfect character for this type of poetic license. She was sired by a god, and it's incredibly fitting that the unique Face that Launched a Thousand Ships should be a genuinely unique face in her geographical and historical context!

Wait, they've made the woman who hatched from an egg alongside her other three quadruplet siblings after the storm god seduced their mum in the form of a swan BLACK?? Whatever happened to historical accuracy!

Happy #Imbolc, ushered in by Brigid and her hare. Nature is stirring, there’s a full moon. The winter is ebbing away. The seeds scattered last year are waking up. Pat yourself on the back , you’ve made it through another winter.

Earlier this evening I was reading about the brumation of grass snakes, and as I was googling my eyes went to a search response that included "... especially when the dragon is brumating ..."

A moment later I disappointedly realised it was a website about caring for bearded dragon pets

Garment Plaque in the Shape of a Stag
Kazakhstan
6th–5th century BCE

(Met Museum)

Oh no, Catherine O'Hara :(

Drawing of a crow made with ink and pastel on toned paper.

Little crow

Ink and pastel on toned paper
6x8

#art #birds #nature #sciart

Far better, in my opinion, to counter it with real photos, and so here's a thread (that I will endeavour to complete someday soon) of Durham Cathedral snaps I took in 2024—shoddy phone photos, mind you, but nonetheless far superior to worthless and inaccurate AI-generated fakery!

When I posted the first entry of this thread I almost accompanied it with a screenshot of the offending image, but decided that such slop would sully my profile and your timelines, just as it sullies the cathedral itself

Durham Cathedral is a magnificent place that remains very close to my heart, and the idea of generating a crap facsimile instead of simply posting real images of it is so bewildering. Why? What's the point? Just spewing ugly falsehood into the public domain, when you could bask in real beauty

Just got suggested a Facebook post about Durham Cathedral that had a supposed 1810 drawing alongside a 2024 photo of the same view ... except in both images the angle was impossible, the cathedral clearly wasn't Durham, and there were multiple tells of AI sloppage

Worth noting, then, that it's all believed to trace back to Ancient Greek βάρβαρος BÁRBAROS "foreign, non-Greek", which is thought to be most likely onomatopoeic—i.e. people who say nonsense like "bar bar bar" (compare "blah blah blah") instead of speaking Greek

There's something so wonderfully picturesque about the combination of church and classic red phonebox in the background of the snowdrops

Narcissus transfixed by his own reflection

BL Royal MS 20 A XVII, f.14v

Wishing a very pleasant Burns Night to all who celebrate. Hope you've enjoyed your haggis, neeps, and tatties; we certainly did!

Double-sided comb made from bone.

Happy #BurnsNight! To celebrate, here's some great Scottish #archaeology 🏺
This is a bone comb, from the Pictish site of Buckquoy, Orkney. Radiocarbon dating using this and other artefacts shed light on the Pictish-Viking transition in northern Scotland.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

god: [making me]

angel: so you're designing him to get wound up when people are stupid and/or evil? and especially angry when people are stupid and evil at the same time?

god: yeah that's the plan

angel: what planet are you putting him on?

god: earth

angel: omg lmao

god: yeah I know lmao

Our ancient woodland

After being told that I care too much about ancient woodland & not enough about the economy, I have decided to cut back on the amount of idiots I listen to

"writing a novel with generative AI is just as valid as any other method, because AI is just another tool"

Out of interest, at what age did you discover that you were stupid?

Ah, Sobek gets them early

As far as outward appearances went, there was no reason why anybody should feel the least unease.

chalk art drawn on the side of a rock garden stone depicting a small lizard looking out a window while wearing a small paper crown

Sam has been standing at this window all day but still can't think of anything to proclaim.

Question is, do these mushrooms really cause everyone to hallucinate tiny people, or do they allow one to see through the invisibility magic of tiny people that are already there? 👀

A side view of the golden Alfred Jewel, with a text around the side that begins "Ælfred mec..."

Mē and mec are variants of accusative 'me' in Old English.

Mē is typical of Wessex texts, and mec of Mercian ones (with a final consonant that's still there in German mich).

Yet the Alfred Jewel text ('Alfred ordered me made') uses "mec" – evidence perhaps of Mercians working for the Wessex king.

Me when I was hoping for a really productive week, but then went down with a fever on Sunday night and now have something that's probably the flu

Han's 2025 recap post with an array of book covers

Han's post: 28 books on my TBR, for my 28 years of life

To any of my fellow bookish Blueskiers who also use Instagram: one of my best and most beloved friends in the world, Han, has for a year or so been building up a bookstagram called @kirbyreads_ where she shares her love of reading, and you should go and check it out

Full shot of a wooden chair. The chair's back is a made of numerous vertical wooden slats, that are spaced evenly and have small, evenly-spaced pieces attached between each major slat.  The chair's frame is constructed of several interconnected wooden pieces forming a rectangular base.  The chair's seat frame is also made of a slatted design. The leather or fur seat has not survived.

Only few pieces of furniture from early medieval times have been preserved. Due to the water-logged condition of the area, many wooden objects such as this terrific chair made from maple and ash wood survived in a burial at Trossingen.
Dating 580 AD.

📷 @almbawue.bsky.social

🏺 #archaeology