#cockerel c:

[marksman-ofthe-mist]

shadowy lineups fo' days

[blueiskewl]

A Statue of Atlas Emerges From the Ruins of Sicily’s Ancient Temple of Zeus

In the fifth century B.C.E., 38 looming sculptures of the Titan stood guard at the structure.

After 20 years of restorations, a 26-foot-tall statue of Atlas is once again standing guard at the ancient Temple of Zeus in the city of Agrigento (once called Akragas) in Sicily.

The statue, created in the fifth century B.C.E., was one of roughly 38 similar Atlas monuments built into the temple. They stood in a line between columns with their arms raised, appearing to hold the holy structure upright.

In Greek mythology, Atlas was a Titan who rebelled in a war against Zeus. As punishment, he was forced to hold up the sky on his shoulders. Unlike the mythological Atlas, however, the stone likenesses were unable to hold up Zeus’ temple forever. Ultimately, earthquakes and other events caused the structure to crumble.

For many years, pieces of the statues were scattered around the site amongst other ancient ruins. In 1812, Charles Robert Cockerell, a prominent British architect, first identified one of the Titan’s giant sandstone heads during a visit to Agrigento. A century later, in 1920, archaeologist Pirro Marconi became the first person to attempt to reconstruct one of the Atlases, which is now housed in the Archaeological Museum of Agrigento.

The seeds of the current project began in 2004, when the Valley of the Temples park conducted a sweeping research campaign at the site. Experts cataloged 90 fragments from at least eight Atlas statues.

“The idea was to reposition one of these Atlases in front of the temple so that it may serve as a guardian of the structure dedicated to the father of the gods,” Roberto Sciarratta, the director of the Valley of the Temples park, tells the Guardian’s Lorenzo Tondo.

But rebuilding Atlas in a standing position was particularly challenging, as researchers couldn’t simply stack the pieces of the statue on top of one another. Instead, they attached the fragments to metal shelves, which are supported by a larger metal structure.

The restoration has faced scrutiny ever since officials first announced it several years ago.

“No archaeologist would endorse the use of ancient sculpture, no matter how fragmentary, to create a modern sculpture, even if the purpose is to highlight the site’s antiquity,” C. Brian Rose, an archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania, told the New York Times’ Franz Lidz in 2020.

But officials like Renato Schifani, the Sicilian governor, think that the statue’s resurrection is a commendable feat.

“Today is an important day for Agrigento and for all of Sicily,” says Schifani in a statement, per Google Translate. “This stone giant of ancient Akragas, which after many years of studies and research we can observe in its natural position, is the heart of an important museum project of the entire area of ​​the Temple of Zeus."

By Julia Binswanger.

[period-dramallama]

How much worse would "Becoming Elizabeth" be if the two-headed monster known as Fraham had written it?

This ask kept me awake for hours.

The key difference would be that we would go in with zero expectations, so we wouldn't be disappointed, for the most part.

I think Fraham would accidentally make the good decision to not give Tommy S too much screentime. They'd give us Gaston from Beauty and the Beast with a side order of child abuse. That's it. Whereas Becoming Elizabeth spent aaaaaaaages trying to flesh out Tommy S and his insecurities and his terrible judgement and his relationship with his brother.

....and nobody asked for that.

Having said that, Fraham would squander 110% of the benefits of this accidentally wise decision.

What does the show look like? AU below cut. You have been warned.

-Upon the death of Henry VIII, Elizabeth receives a Mysterious Box. The label tells her she must open this box on her 18th birthday. What's inside the box? Watch the show and find out.

-Someone calls Jane 'cute'.

-Jane calls Elizabeth 'a mean girl'. References! Look how contemporary we are!

-Anne Stanhope has a pointless scene of her trying on Katherine's jewels, while topless. Why is she topless? No-one knows.

-For her 16th birthday party, Elizabeth does full Anne Boleyn cosplay. Katherine does the necklace thing but doesn't tell her to change. So.... it's still pretty obviously AB cosplay.

-Elizabeth Hates Sewing and wants to be a Leader so Robert Dudley gives her secret sword-fighting lessons. Shippers are torn between thinking this is cheesy and stupid, and the need to have Content.

-While hunting, Elizabeth accidentally shoots a peasant. Robert helps her bury the body in the woods. It's a Serious Moment for Elizabeth's Journey. So naturally it's never referred to ever again.

-The scene where Katherine discovers the truth about Tommy S and Elizabeth is... more graphic.

-Katherine has a graphic C-section.... and survives. Syke! She dies offscreen of a post-partum infection anyway.

-Mary Seymour dies as an infant... because Tommy S got drunk and dropped her down the stairs.

-John Dudley is a full-on Trump expy. He's racist to Pedro for no other reason than to signal he's No Good Very Bad.

-Alternatively, John Dudley is a Male Feminist who Leans In and Respects Wamen and tells Robert that his girlbossery comes from following his mother's example unlike his father Edmund Dudley who was a Useless Loser Who Got Beheaded. This clumsily foreshadows that John will one day be the Useless Loser Who Gets Beheaded.

-either way, we still don't get Jane Dudley.

-Mary chokes on a communion wafer and is saved by Pedro, because he's a Civilised Spaniard who knows something the Backward English don't know. (Basically the Heimlich Manoeuvre.)

-John Dudley tells Mary "we've had enough of your popish paraphernalia!" This line is so clunky and difficult to say that it becomes a meme.

-In their confrontation in the woods, Mary and Elizabeth get so angry they start to duel. It's surprisingly well-choregraphed. "Romola Fencing Champion" trends on Twitter. (Alicia is also pretty good).

-The duel descends into the two women rolling around in the mud and fighting. This sparks Discourse. Was it kinky accidentally, or on purpose?

-In their director's commentary of the scene Emma Frost calls the fight "their Anakin and Obi-Wan moment". She says this over a shot of Mary trying to crush Elizabeth's windpipe with her thighs.

-Edward's disease uses up presumably a large chunk of the special effects budget. He bleeds from the nose, eyes, mouth, and ears. Oliver Zetterstrom in an interview says this was his favourite bit to film because of course it was.

-John Dudley is so desperate for Edward to survive that he chooses black magic. Pentagrams, chanting, candles, sacrifices, the works. A black cockerel is sacrificed and John Dudley is sprayed with blood. Some members of the audience are kind of into it.

-Despite England being too backward for the Heimlich manoeuvre, Henry Grey performs mouth to mouth and CPR on Edward.

-No sign of Frances Grey, it goes without saying.

-Edward is dying and Elizabeth has just turned 18. Time to open the Mysterious Box! Inside are two canopic jars and a letter. The letter is from Henry VIII. He tells her that Anthony Denny is tasked with sending her the Mysterious Box. Henry says he has had a prophetic dream revealing that Elizabeth has been Chosen. He apologises for dismissing her because she was a girl and her mother was a Wicked Slut. She must wait for Edward and Mary to die as it has been foretold, then she will be Queen and preside over a Golden Age. After his death, the canopic jars will be filled and given to her as proof of his faith in her.

And what's inside the canopic jars? Why, the heart and stomach of a king! And of a king of England, too!

The End.

[donfadrique]

I've decided to re-watch “The Mark of Zorro” (1940) to cheer myself up. 

I have sort of a plan: 1) watch the black and white version (in the old Soviet dubbing) and write down an emotional brief review in the process of watching it; 2) watch the colorized version; 3) watch the movie in the original dubbing; 4) perhaps write a full review.

I watched this movie a long time ago for the first time (I wanted to watch famous films with Basil Rathbone). But unfortunately, I didn't get to watch the movie properly, and all I remembered were a few scenes. I didn’t like Tyrone Power then, and only this year, after taking a closer look at him, I changed my mind. So this is the first time I'm watching Zorro'40 carefully.

Before we start, a few words need to be said. (However, the film has my full attention from the very first frame, and I'll have a very hard time pausing and writing down these notes!)

First of all, I am not a native English speaker, so I apologize for any mistakes.

Secondly, after watching the movie I want to give my assessment of a) screenplay, b) cast and director’s work, c) posters, costumes, locations, camera work, soundtrack etc. Also, I wanna find the answer to the question, what makes the movie a masterpiece for me.

A separate topic is the homoeroticism of "The Mark of Zorro". We know that Diego's flirtation with Captain Pasquale was part of his plan to eliminate his enemies, but was there a "gay message" in the film, as some movie reviewers claim? Perhaps it was ambiguous humor or an analogue of modern fan service for those viewers who positively evaluate same-sex relationships? Let's try to figure it out.

So, let's start.

1/🗡️

Wow, Diego receives his military education (!) in Madrid (judging by his uniform, he is a hussar), he has a reputation as a duelist (he was nicknamed "Californian cockerel") and, probably, a womanizer. It is not yet known how old Diego is, but the actor (Tyrone Power) is 26, which means the screenwriters were most likely focusing on the canonical novel by Johnston McCulley.

I also really like the design of the credits, the preface and the first lines of the characters, as well as the costumes and the balance between realism and spectacularity of the movie (and this spectacularity is the result of the work of the film crew and fencing skill of actors, and not modern computer graphics etc).

2/🗡️

Aha, "Cadet Vega".

And, saying goodbye to his comrades, Diego thrusts his saber into the ceiling.

"Leave it there. And when you see it think of me in the land of gentle missions, happy peons, sleepy caballeros, and everlasting boredom. Wine! A toast, señores! To California! Where a man can only marry, raise fat children, and watch his vineyards grow."

The most amazing thing is that Diego gives the impression of a very mature and strong-willed person. Like a military general, not a young cadet :) I have three explanations: 1) Tyrone Power himself was like that, 2) he played Cadet Vega like that so viewers would later see the contrast between true Diego and his dandy mask, 3) both factors. But, of course, Power was not just a talented and good-looking actor, he was a charismatic person. A fine choice of an actor to play Zorro. Moreover, Power had a Spanish-like appearance, which is important, for my taste. And his slim body would allow him to convincingly play both a dandy and the "elusive ghost" El Zorro.

3/🗡️

Before I continue watching the movie and taking notes, here are a few interesting facts about actors and my thoughts out loud.

🎭 Everyone knows that Basil Rathbone was one of the best swordsmen in Hollywood. But perhaps not everyone knows that he was twice the British Army Fencing Champion, a skill that served him well in movies and allowed him to even teach actors Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power swordsmanship. (By the way, Rathbone was awarded the Military Cross in 1918.) And! He said about Tyrone Power, "Power was the most agile man with a sword I've ever faced before a camera. Tyrone could have fenced Errol Flynn into a cocked hat." Rathbone's opinion was worth a lot, because he was not only famous for his fencing and acting skills—he was a mega-celebrity (well, years ago I became interested in "The Mark of Zorro" precisely because Rathbone starred there; I had never even heard of Power xD). And yup, as we already know, the movie became a hit, and 20th Century-Fox often cast Power in other swashbucklers in the years that followed.

🎭 The fact that Flynn and Power were lovers can only be of interest to us because Power, due to his bisexuality and communication with homosexuals, was able to play ideally a man who pretended (?) to be interested in the same sex. But since Power's Diego was flirting with Rathbone's Captain Pasquale, I was interested in his views on same-sex relationships. Rathbone probably had a positive attitude towards them, since in 1926 he was very angry about the censorship because he believed that homosexuality needed to be brought into the open (Rathbone was arrested along with every other member of the cast of "The Captive", a play in which his character's wife left him for another woman).

🎭 So far, I like everything about "The Mark of Zorro", except that the screen image is reminiscent of "Captain Blood" (1935), not "Gone with the Wind" (1939), filmed in Technicolor. Perhaps modern viewers often underestimate Zorro'40 precisely because both versions of the movie, black-and-white and colorized, seem "old-fashioned" to them.

An interesting fact. According to Hollywood legend, Rathbone was Margaret Mitchell's first choice to play Rhett Butler in the film version of her novel "Gone with the Wind".

🔥References (if you need them)🔥

Rathbone, Basil (1962). In and Out of Character (Ebook ed.). Lanham, MD: Limelight Publishers.

Higham, Charles (1980). Errol Flynn: The Untold Story. New York City: Doubleday.

[askwhatsforlunch]

Bacon and Cheddar Cockerel Pasties

The leftover elegant filling of Mrs. Butler’s Chicken and Chives Petits Bateaux makes these hearty, more-ish Bacon and Cheddar Cockerel Pasties, and excellent Saturday night dinner! Have a good one!

Ingredients (makes 4 pasties):

75 grams/2.65 ounces thick-cut smoked streaky bacon rashers

1 1/2 Cockerel and Chives in Sauce Blanche

Mature English Cheddar

1 egg

455 grams/1 pound Cheddar Pastry

Preheat oven to 205°C/400°F. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Set aside.

Cut bacon into thick lardons.

Spoon Cockerel and Chives in Sauce Blanche into a medium bowl. Add bacon lardons. Grate in about 1/3 cup Mature English Cheddar. Give a good stir until well-combined. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg, set aside.

Divide Cheddar Pastry into two equal portions, and roll each out onto a lightly floured surface, into circles.

Divide Cockerel and bacon filling onto one side of each  Pastry circle, leaving a space on the edge. Fold the Pastry circle over, pressing gently but firmly around Cockerel and bacon mixture to seal and prevent air pockets. Crimp to seal even better. Place onto prepared baking tray.

Brush thoroughly with beaten egg, and bake at 205°C/400°F, for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

*Once the pasties are filled, sealed and crimped, and before egg-washing, you can freeze them up to three months.

Serve Bacon and Cheddar Cockerel Pasties hot, with ripe tomatoes.

[searchofthesublime]

"The Professor's Dream" C. R. Cockerell (1848, Royal Academy Collection)

[the-fiction-witch]

Perfection

MOVIE MAZE RUNNER COUPLE NEWT X READER RATING SWEET

I woke as I always did, to the sound of the cockerels caw. I sat up, pushed the covers off myself, and climbed out of bed. I sighed and grabbed the outfit I had fixed last night: sitting on my chair and laying it all on my bed. I stumbled over to the sink still a little tired. I set the jug under the tap and turned it on hearing the water rush through the tap. I rubbed my eyes a little trying my best to focus once the sink and jug was filled I kicked off my clothes and held the jug in my shaking hand a little before pouring it over my head

"AHhhhh!" I gasped in shock feeling the ice-cold water rushing down my naked warm body causing my whole body to shiver my toes curl and every part of me wake up, I grabbed the small pale bar of soap making sure to get as much of me as possible wanting to avoid as much rinsing as possible, Once I had cleaned up I dried off with my little towel and went to my bed.

I put my socks on, My underwear that almost reached the socks, my white shirt with sixteen million buttons and ties, my dull brown pants that almost hit the floor so much I had to turn them up, and my orange suspenders. I slipped my boots on and put a comb through my hair before hurrying out of my little excuse for a house and into the dusty dirt. following along with everyone else heading towards the hall.

"Morning Newt"

"Morning Tommy" I smiled back as he came out of his little house too

"You seem a little shaken"

"water was ice this morning," I told him

"It always is I'm not sure why you always get shocked by it?" he laughs

"Well I always do" I shrug "It still surprises me"

"Morning Gents" Minho smirked as he stood on his porch

"Morning Min" I laughed

"So! you boys excited?" he smirked jumping down to walk with us

"For what?" Thomas asks

"I'm getting signed up today"

"Ohh congratulations Minho!" Thomas smiled

"Yeah, I'm happy for you min" I nodded a little jealous admittedly

"I wish I could get signed up," Thomas sighed

"You will, in time. Maybe I'll recommend you when I get my pretty wife" he smirked as we arrived at the meeting hall funnelling in with everyone else into the long corridors and into the main hall, sitting on the wooden bench between Thomas and Minho.

Once everyone was inside the doors were tightly closed and outstepped Janson in his blue suit and Ava in her long white dress.

"Blessed Morning everyone" He called

"Blessed Morning" everyone repeated back

"Today's lesson, is simply a sweet reminder of the ultimate goal. Of Perfection" He began "The pursuit of perfection should never be halted, never be distracted or disvalued. For perfection is the only true happiness" He explained

I admittedly was already very tired, but I did my best not to yawn, my mind already wandering counting the windows in the room, counting the heads of people in front of me, and it was then I noticed her.

Janson's words completely faded out in my mind and I couldn't help but take in every inch of her.

Her Little pastel blue shoes, white stockings, her floor-length pastel blue dress with little white lace, the sleeves of her dress a little tight on her arms, white gloves on her hands, her hair up and tight in an intricate braid all pinned up in her little blue bonnet, she was looking at her hands in her lap. I blushed a little fiddling with my fingers I glanced up again and I saw her looking at me we barely met eyes for a second her sweet Y/c/ eyes met mine and we both blushed to turn our gaze away.

"You know what clouds the pursuit of perfection. what prevents perfection from being achieved? giving in to the unholiest of feelings, lust, desire, and unworthy ambitions, to be truly perfect you have to give yourself completely to the pursuit of perfection. that's the only way to truly achieve your perfect purpose" he explained "and finally those of you signing up today, you will receive your matches next week. No, go while the light is good." he told us all,

Minho ran off to get in line to sign up this week, so he could get his match and get married. everyone else began to get up to go to work in the fields, I followed Thomas out towards the fields and as we were leaving I spotted her again so I smiled and snuck over close to her

"Good morning y/n"

"Good morning newt" she smiled back

"You uhh off to the sewing room?"

"I am, you off to the fields?"

"Yes I am. would you be unhappy if perhaps I brought you some flowers from the fields?"

"I would not be unhappy newt" she blushed "I'd be very happy. perhaps in a few weeks, you and I could go and sign?"

"if you'd like that?"

"I would, so long as we both pray for a.... certain result"

"I'd pray all day for that" I smiled "did... you have free time tonight?"

"I might, I may be free around six"

"I might be too"

"interesting. well have a blessed day" she smiled before hurrying off with the other girls

"Newt, come on or we'll be late!" Thomas called

[josephtailor]

René Lalique (1860-1945). ‘Cockerel’ diadem, c. 1897-98. Gold, horn, amethyst and enamel. Calouste Gulbenkian Museum

[chikaoofka]

4 ?

4. A character you rarely talk about?

i could be unnecessarily cheeky and say literally ANY non loathing oc ever but even in the realm of loathing ocs there's like (checks notes) at least four? I've posted most of them like ONCE (Maggot, Cockerel and Wattson (does he count?) in the lineups) and this one ginger bastard Calyn . whom ive never posted ever i think . but he's an SIT student

-oh and quinney? i completely forgot about quinney but she's a professor at SIT. quantum physics! c:

[galleryantiques]

New to my #etsyshop a #Vintage #Wedgwood Golden #Cockerel Square Handled #Cake #Plate #rooster c.1970s #etsy #vintagecakeplate #GoldenCockerel #etsyvintage #Vintageonetsy #vintageonline #vintagetableware https://etsy.me/3ICqtAz (at Gallery Antiques) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnRxSKcoXBC/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jesuisgourde]

I just finished reading and then watching Under The Volcano for this WT writeup and the Withdrawn Traces authors only deign to acknowledge JFPL like maybe 3 times in this book, and this time it’s incorrect anyway. They claim that the Peeled Apples lyric “a dwarf takes his cockerel/out of the cock fight” is about or based on the novel Under The Volcano or at least somehow evokes scenes from it in the mind, but the a) the dwarf exists in the film only, b) the cock doesn’t belong to the dwarf, and c) there is no cockfight. Whereas Nathanael West’s novel Under The Locust has all three things, and has the same themes as things Richey was reading at the time, namely disillusionment, the desire to escape, hatred for humanity, and the futility of relationships/the future. If the WT authors at least acknowledged that it was likely a reference to the film I’d be more okay with it but there’s so much deliberate skewing of information or withholding details that it’s just really annoying. They just really wanted to shoehorn a reference to that novel in order to compare Richey to Malcolm Lowry and to claim that Richey was intending to make a trilogy of albums inspired by Lowry who was in turn inspired by Dante to do three novels which he never completed. So idk I guess they think that Richey deliberately left his three “Divine Comedy” albums incomplete so he would be like Lowry? God the reaching in this book is just so absurd it’s hilarious.

[vizuart]

C. R. Cockerell - The Professor's Dream (1848)

[psikonauti]

Natalia Goncharova (Russian, 1881–1962)

Curtain design (Act III, scene 3) for The Golden Cockerel, c. 1914

watercolor, gouache, and graphite on board

[askwhatsforlunch]

Mrs. Butler’s Chicken and Chives Petits Bateaux

“‘Wonderful food,’ said Dr. MacMillan. ‘What’s in that little pastry thing?’ ‘Mince cooked chicken with sauce blanche and chives,’ Phryne replied. ‘Have another.’ ‘I shall,’ said Dr. MacMillan, and did.”

A couple of weeks ago, when Ava was here and before she left, we celebrated our six-months anniversary. And because we had spent slow mornings in bed or long picnics by the water reading Murder and Mendelssohn to one another, it seemed fitting we had a bit of the French Feast Mrs. Butler and Ruth cooked for Phryne Fisher and her medical friends! Whilst I was imitating that cordon-bleu in the kitchen, Ava lit candles and set the entertainment for the night in the living room. A film starring Charlize Theron --how my girl knows me!-- mostly set in the Années Folles Paris (1920s-1930s)! Delightful women (Penelope Cruz was also in the film!), delicious wine, delectable company, and Mrs. Butler’s Chicken and Chives Petits Bateaux, indeed wonderful; this was a splendid night!

Ingredients (makes 8):

230 grams/8 ounces Pâte Brisée (Water Shortcrust Pastry)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons plain flour

1/4 cup dry white wine (like a light, fuity, tangy Côtes de Gascogne)

1 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel or sea salt flakes

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

a small bunch Garden Chives

140 grams/5 ounces leftover Roast Cockerel, bones removed (you can also actually use leftover Roast Chicken, but I fancy Mrs. B would prefer the juicier meat of the little cockerel!)

2 heaped tablespoons crème fraîche or sour cream

Preheat oven to 200°C/395°F. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Roll Pâte Brisée out onto a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle. Divide Pâte Brisée rectangle into 8 rectangles of roughly the same size. Pinch both ends of each Pâte Brisée rectangle to form a little boat, lifting the edges a bit. Place onto prepared baking tray, and repeat until you have eight. Prick the bottom of the boats with a fork.

Place in the middle of the hot oven, and bake, 15 minutes at 200°C/395°F.

Remove from the oven and let the pastry boats cool completely.

In a large saucepan over a medium flame, melt butter.

Once the butter is just foaming, remove from the heat, and add the flour all at once. Stir well, and return over the heat. Cook out, 1 minute. 

Deglaze with Côtes de Gascogne, and gradually stir in milk until well-blended and smooth. Reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens and coats the spoon.

Season with fleur de sel and black pepper.

Finely chop Garden Chives, and stir them into the béchamel.

Cut leftover Lemon Roast Cockerel into small but decent pieces, and gently fold into the chives béchamel.

Remove from the heat and stir in crème fraiche.

Allow mixture to cool slightly or completely, depending whether you want to serve the petits bateaux warm or cold.

Heap a tablespoonful of cockerel in chives béchamel sauce onto each pastry boat.

Chop a little more Chives, and sprinkle them on top.

Serve Mrs. Butler’s Chicken and Chives Petits Bateaux with a crisp lettuce, and an equally crisp, well-chilled white wine like a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc your girlfriend brought from Aotearoa...

Head in the Clouds (2004) *GIF not mine

[problematicwelshman]

The Valentine’s Day cards today between the tennants v the sheens, oh lord I’m over it

Ah yes, Valentine’s Day.

Happy VD, everyone! Let’s take a look at how our favorite couples celebrated, shall we?

First up, at least as it was shared with this blog, we have the #Shebergs:

“He knew I’d appreciate “a little bit of (…rooster)” for Valentine’s Day.

Well, it’s not what I would want for the “most holy day of the year” (to paraphrase Jackie Burkhart) but I can see where it would be a nice gift- https://www.mashaandtheprints.com/product-page/golden-cockerel.

"Golden cockerel" an original handprinted wood engraving. Inspired by "The Tale of the Golden Cockerel" (1834) - the last fairytale in verse written by Alexander Pushkin. In the fairytale a magical mechanical bird sits on a spire and safeguards the kingdom.

So, is he saying she guards the kingdom?  Or does HE guard the kingdom?  Or is he indeed making a dick joke?  Or did he just like the artist, who’s based in Edinburgh, where they’ve all been spending time.  Who knows? And honestly, who cares about his motivation?

Much like the performative birthday wishes to “Aunite Maeve” the previous day (don’t get me started on that), the presentation of the thing is what rankles. “Ooh it’s a rooster, which is also called a cock, which is another word for dinky doodle!  Tee hee! I’ll be so funny and share it like that with all my adoring fans.” She’s supposedly an adult, and he’s a 53-year-old man.  Neither of them are 14 year old boys.  FFS - What’s next?  A “pull my finger” Easter card?  Not saying that adults can’t have fun or make dirty jokes, but this one falls flat.

On to the Tennants:

Actually found this one kind of sweet to start.  Like many people who’ve mentioned it to me, I have been finding David and Georgia’s daily Wordle both cute and annoying.  But as annoying as it is, it never seems forced, and David’s “Happy valentine’s baby x” and “I love you xxx” warmed the cockles of my cold black heart.  Aaaand then we have the flip side, with GT suggesting they’re a “different c word” other than “cute.”  The website Go Fug Yourself would classify that as a “scrolldown fug” in that it started out ok at the top but by the time it gets to the bottom you’re making this face:

But neither AL nor GT’s Valentine’s posts vis a vis their significant others can hold a torch to GT’s to her son, Ty:

Really?  That is not funny or cute or anything.  This is… the opposite of cute and funny.  At first glance it’s putting a really rosy spin on teen pregnancy, which as we all know, is no walk in the park.  But also- her son gave her a lovely flower arrangement and she used the occasion to remind the world that he was an oops?  I mean, it’s not like it’s unknown, but to point it out like that seems unnecessarily unkind. (I say unnecessarily unkind because we all know she’s kind of a salty personality online, so a bit of bitchy is kind of expected no matter how much it bugs people.)

TL;DR, Anon: I wouldn’t want either of these women as my Valentine.

[castelnou]

the professor’s dream (1848)

art by c.r. cockerell