Ik had me wel ‘s afgevraagd waarom Sinterklaas gedichtjes niet hoefden te rijmen, tenminste niet op de ons bekende wijze. Antwoord heb ik gevonden in een heel geinig rijmpje van Andries Pels (1631-1681): Men bindt ons échter niet aan zulke naauwe wétten,Dat juist in `t rijm op élk een’ létter sta te létten;O neen; wanneer…
So Richard Cœur-de-Lion owed his name to bravery in battle? Hmmm, because Robert Chambers‘ 1869 Book of Days, pillaging a medieval romance, tells a different tale. As we join proceedings, Richard is languishing in the nick (again! but it’s German this time) for having beaten up a pub musician, killed the son of the king…
Two brothers [illegible] one kingdom. One dreamed of peace for his country, the other fought valiantly for his ideals: This photo (scroll to no 25) is from the University of Hawaii’s brilliant Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands collection. Sfida al re di Castiglia (“The Tyrant of Castile”), a 1963 Hispano-Italian, helmet-clattering, bodice-busting epic featuring…
It is held in some ovoids that the only way to understand what you wrote when drunk is to repeat the experience. Although fixed habits ill become a man without a fixed income, I have knocked back the odd glass of phylloxera blood from the Priorat and will now endeavour to explain to you, dear…
… is what the Guardian seems to be saying this morning, noting that in Pakistan only 7% support Bush while 65% think Osama is … well … groovy. Americans should, it is suggested, listen to the citizens of states traditionally resentful of the success of the American revolution and vote for a candidate said citizens…
Despite the fact my language of choice is that of a far better empire, Kaleboel comes in at no 839 on the list of “more than 10,000” participants in la blogosfera hispana, as calculated by Bitacoras.com. The infinitely superior Puerta del Sol–also in English–is down at 843, presumably because Jonathan doesn’t include as many pictures…
There’s a good opinion piece by Rainer Soller over at Deutsche Welle on the extradition to Turkey of Muslim extremist Metin Kaplan on terrorism charges. This para in particular caught my eye: Kaplan on Wednesday already appeared before a judge in Istanbul to face treason charges over his alleged involvement in a 1998 failed attempt…