Arts
The Organ (ii)
Wind The accompanying image is taken from Dom Bedos’ ‘ l’art du Facteur d’ Orgues’ (1776), and shows, among other things, a single organ-blower, operating one of three ‘feeders’ – or possibly, pumping two of the [more…]
Arts
Arts
The Coventry Carol
Several oil-on-oak-panel versions of The Massacre of the Innocents were painted by 16th-century Netherlandish painters Pieter Bruegel the Elder and his son Pieter Brueghel the Younger. The work translates the Biblical account of the Massacre [more…]
Arts
UK Since the Referendum-Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics
(All data, graphs and figures from the Office for National Statistics. Available under the Open Government License.) Where to begin? The amount of disinformation before, during and after the referendum on EU membership has been [more…]
Arts
The Holly and the Ivy – King’s College Cambridge 2008
The words of the carol occur in three broadsides published in Birmingham in the early nineteenth century. An early mention of the carol’s title occurs in William Hone’s 1823 work Ancient Mysteries Described, which includes [more…]
Arts
Wankpuffin of the Year 2017
The WOTYs 2017 Add your own nominations, or vote for existing entries. Voting closes in one week. Currently we are having a Wankpuffin award handcrafted by 3D printer which will then be gilded. [polldaddy poll=”9897748″] [more…]
Cooking
Pheasant and Leek Pie with Filo Crust
GP’s 2017 Advent Calendar of Cuisine If you are lucky enough to have access to pheasants this recipe is well worth a try. Makes a great meal and looks good enough for Boxing Day lunch [more…]
Arts
Cooking
Snert – Dutch Winter Soup
Snert (pronounced like ‘Shnayrrt’ as much as anything) is a hearty pea soup traditionally eaten in Holland during the winter months. It is usually accompanied with a thick slice of dark rye bread topped with [more…]
Arts
Ramblings about robbing the dead
Occasionally, I step in something quite unpleasant. The noxious substance of which I speak is an article about Inheritance Tax written by a certain Will Hutton back in 2007. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/07/comment.inheritancetax It is old, I know, [more…]