#holm pennington

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

The Complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce. Volume II: The World of War and the World of Tall Tales. Cover art by John Holmes.

The Rivals of Dracula: A Century of Vampire Fiction. Cover art by John Holmes.

Night of the Warlock, with cover art by Bruce Pennington.

The 18th Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories, edited by R. Chetwynd-Hayes.

The Book of the Dead by John Tigges. Cover art by Alexander Valko.

Fiend by Guy N. Smith. Cover art by Les Edwards.

Slob. cover art by David O'Connor

Best New Horror 4. Cover art by Tony Greco

[theanticool]

Well, the pressure to make UFC 300 special means the UFC has signed former PFL champion and 2x Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison. And she’ll make her debut against former champion Holly Holm at bantamweight.

Guess the UFC saw Pennington-Bueno Silva and decided they need someone with a bit more juice fighting for the belt.

[galtx]

GALTx eNews: Many Thanks to GALT's 2022 Emergency Heroes!

About three weeks ago, we launched GALT's Emergency Fund 2022 to cover some extraordinary medical expenses and utilities that arose when we were in a cash crunch. An anonymous donor quickly offered $10,000 in matching funds, and we met that goal in the first week! Then, two more generous donors, Lori & Bill Elmer, pledged another $5,000 in matching funds in memory of Rock (pictured), the greyhound who “started it all” for them.

We are pleased to announce that 24 emergency heroes stepped up to donate $500 or more by July 31st, for a total of $13,000. While we are sincerely grateful to these heroes and our matching fund donors, we also appreciate the 66 other donors who gave between $25 and $250, for a total of $4,600! In total, we exceeded our matching goal by $2,600 and raised $32,600 including our matching funds!

We are grateful to all who contributed to this effort, and we are humbled and honored by your dedication and commitment to helping GALT’s hounds! Thank you all, from the bottom of our hearts! Special thanks to the following Emergency Heroes who donated $500 or more. You can read comments about their inspiration from them and see their hound photos here.

Jeannie LaDriere

Ashley Westfall

Tyler Fisher

Stefani Forsythe

Jennifer & Mark Followill

Barbara & Ron Christian

Rita & Chris Wulke

Janet & Wick Culp 

Liz & Dan Hudson

Steve & Claudia Butterworth

Elizabeth Flanigan

Kim Sanford

Lisa & Dave Holmes

John & Kathryn Meek

Sandra Simmons

Joni Henderson  

Hope Kahan

Suzanne Burke

Casey Bergman

Jana Etherideg& David Carles 

Julie & Rick Waller

Margaret Pennington

Shelley & William Latta

Cheryl & Greg Stephens   

8/5/22

[kaffeeraum-bei-zarah]

...actually, this was my autumn bucket list from last year. A few activities here are those I couldn't accomplish that time and some are always perfect to be repeated over and over again during each Fall season, so now I'm re-posting it. Hope you'd find it inspiring, too, and get some ideas for your own amazing autumn time...

MY AUTUMN ACTIVITIES LIST 2023:

𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 📘: “The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club” by Charles Dickens, "Three men in a boat" and "Three men on the Bummel" by Jerome K. Jerome + “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes“ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

special 📘: immersing in a magical world of E. T. A. Hoffmann’s tales while listening to his mesmerizing music!... Yes, he was a brilliant composer as well.

𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 👀: There’re many wonderful Hallmark movies that we love watching at Christmas time, but they have some Fall themed films too. For example, these two are great for autumn movie nights entertainment :) 🍕 🥤 🎬  e.g.:

📺 : Roadhouse Romance (Lauren Alaina, Tyler Hynes);

📺 : Finding Love In Mountain View (Danielle C. Ryan, Myko Olivier);

📺 : check out also the list of beautiful Autumn films selected by CountryLiving

special 📽 : Gravity Falls, Disney Fairies, Mr. Bean, HGTV shows starring Ty Pennington 💛  Also Boise Boys are always doing magnificent house makeover projects + anything with David Bromstad is also very inspiring...

𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 🎧 : lots of Max Raabe, Bernhard Brink & Hansi Hinterseer

📝My Autumn Bucket List 2023  🍁   🥨   🎃  

I was inspired to make my own Autumn bucket list by a post seen somewhere at  cosyautumnvibes.tumblr.com 🙋‍♀️  

Take 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 and 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐜𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐞 🚴‍♀️🚴,  a lot! +clicking lots of 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐬. 💥  

Pick up acorns, colourful leaves, pine cones, curious  branches to decorate, say.., a 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡  🍂

read my fav 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐬 + fill my 𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐫 & 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 with plenty of inspiring stuff  😊  

𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 1: surround yourself with your favourite autumn-themed things while snuggling up in a cozy armchair under a soft wool 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐝, light up 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬, have yourself some autumn delicacies 🍪   like 𝐩𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐜𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 and 𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 (luv it!) ☕️, while leafing through inspiring 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 and 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬...😊  

eat lots of 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐬! 🥜, drink some 𝐆𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐫 🍻 along with 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬

play 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬  

make a 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫 for a mantel or  accent chest of drawers

𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲: candlemaking, scrapbooking + learn how to papier-mâché  

learn how to make an 𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 🧅  

make a seasonal 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬-𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐲

𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐭 a doily or a granny square blanket

🛍️  buy an autumn-themed 𝐦𝐮𝐠, e.g. this one

🛍️  switch to a special 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐧 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞

🛍️  treat yourself with an 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠. Meanwhile, if you need something to get inspired right now, check out my Etsy favs

🛍️  𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐥 🧤🧣👜. Meanwhile, have a look at what I have in my Pinterst  𝖉 𝖊 𝖒 𝖎.𝖘𝖊𝖆𝖘𝖔𝖓+ 𝖘 𝖜 𝖊 𝖆 𝖙 𝖊 𝖗.𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖎𝖆   collection

🛍️  adopt a 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭  🎍    

have yourself  a relaxing 𝐬𝐩𝐚 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠! A themed bath bomb e.g. from Lush will help...  🛀    

carve a 🎃  𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐎 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧    

a romantic 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐧𝐢𝐜 at the park 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨  🍂

visit an 𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐦 🖼    

visit 𝐈𝐊𝐄𝐀 which is always such a wonderful idea! ;)

try hand at 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠... oil, watercolours, acrylic, whatevs 👩‍🎨  

visit a 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭

eat roasted 🌰

roast 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 🔥  

🍳  𝐛𝐚𝐤𝐞: carrot cupcakes 🥕   and a pear pie 🍐 and walnut shaped cookies with condensed milk /dulce de leche

being an amateur florist, i’ve made up my mind to create an Autumn 🍁     𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 and may be, a bright, lush 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐭 with dahlias

✔️  ...take a screenshot of this list, stick it to a fridge and start making dreams come true 🧚   🤩  

[pharaoh105]

Holly Holm planning to return in 2023, names Miesha Tate as potential opponent

Holly Holm planning to return in 2023, names Miesha Tate as potential opponent

The last time Holly Holm competed in the UFC Octagon was in May this year when she lost a split decision to second-ranked contender Ketlen Viera. The loss had ended her two-fight winning streak, which came against Irene Aldana and Raquel Pennington. This week, Holm gave an update to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto revealing she is recovering from surgery and has named a potential future opponent when she’s…

[assemblage333]

“The wind blows out, the bubble dies; The spring entombed in autumn lies; The dew dries up; the star is shot; The flight is past, and man forgot.” ― Oliver Wendell Holmes Don’t forget to shop @assemblage333 @quakeracresbrimfield Space100 @brimfield_antique_show On any given rainy Tuesday at September Brimfield Quaker Acres @assemblage333 @brimfield_antique_show Space 100 Quilt Bucket Hats and Quilt Coats by Robert Pennington Price Design from Assemblage333… www.assemblage333.com www.etsy.com/shop/assemblage333 #assemblage333 #robertpenningtonpricedesign #vintagehomedecor #charminglytattered #charminglytatteredfashion #theprofoundmarket #fishersvilleantiquesexpo #roundtopantiqueshow #roundtopantiquesweek #brimfieldantiqueshow #quakeracres #barwantiqueshow #madisonbouckvilleantiqueweek I #outfrontantiqueshowfield #renningersextravaganza #beprofound #shopsmall #shopsmallbusiness #buyoninstagram #prairiedress #missmorgansmilkweedantiques #vintagehomedecor #quiltjumper #fishersvilleantiqueshow #ombréflannel #denimjacket #wearablefolkart #prairiestyle #barwfieldwarrentontx #roundtopantiquesweek2021 #quiltcoat (at Quaker Acres) https://www.instagram.com/p/CiL09TvJTn7/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[stormvanari]

Deductive Detectives solving the mysterious identity of Challenger Pack #7

[thesportssoundoff]

“Conor McGregor is back! Excitement may vary. Excitement in this card may vary! Excitement is really yours to have and hold, folks” The UFC 246 Fight Preview

Joey

January 13th, 2020 

The UFC kicks off its 2019 schedule after a few long weeks off with a card that will, with very little sarcasm in play, play a hefty part in defining the way 2020 rolls out deep into the year. UFC 246 from Las Vegas, Nevada is a weird card on paper but it's also very significant and significance can sometimes create card quality/card quantity. Conor McGregor vs Donald Cerrone is a significant fight, one that figures to ask and answer a lot of questions for both men. For better or worse, the future of two divisions could be mapped out in one night depending on the results of one which fight which again parlays to its perceived significance. The PPV main card is "fine" although it clearly lacks a significant co-main event and the televised prelims are actually respectably spiffy as they're essentially four well put together "prospect of note vs proven veteran" fights with some good early ESPN+ prelim action too. Again I don't know if this card is good or bad---just that it's a significant card of fights and by the time Friday comes along, that long term delay in high level MMA is going to be eating at us SO we'll be all in on this one.

2020 Stat-O-Matic:

Debuting Fighters (): Ode Osbourne, Aleksa Camur Main Event Exemption:

Short Notice Fighters (): Main Event Exemption:

Second Fight (): Askar Askarov Main Event Exemption: Vs Debutantes:

Cage Corrosion (Fighters who have not fought within a year of the date of the fight) (): Conor McGregor, Brian Kelleher Main Event Exemption: Conor McGregor

Undefeated Fighters (): Aleksa Camur, Maycee Barber Main Event Exemption:

Fighters with at least four fights in the UFC with 0 wins over competition still in the organization (): Alexey Oleinik, Justin Ledet Main Event Exemption:

Weight Class Jumpers (Fighters competing outside of the weight class of their last fight even if they’re returning BACK to their “normal weight class”) (): Donald Cerrone, Conor McGregor Main Event Exemption: Conor McGregor, Donald Cerrone

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- So what necessarily is the end game here for Conor McGregor? As has been the case since he broke out onto the scene and KO'd Jose Aldo, much of Conor's "plans" feel less like plans and more like thoughts he forces into existence. The good stuff like being a double champ and finagling a big money Floyd fight and the bad stuff like the Khabib lead up or believing he could just beat Nate Diaz up 15 lbs because it seemed like fun all feel like the decisions of a guy who sort of just decides he's going to do something and then does it regardless of the long term impact. Conor had the chance to fight Justin Gaethje and instead pushed for Frankie Edgar fight, ultimately leading us to the here and now where he'll draw Donald Cerrone up a weight class after a year plus layoff. In the time between Conor's LAST fight and this one, he's been arrested, accused of sexual assault, accused of fathering a child out of his marriage and feel free to fill me in on anything I may have missed. What sort of made Conor McGregor a superstar was that he flirted with the concept of being a character completely in control of everything he did and 2019 at the very exposed him as somebody lacking any semblance of control within his life. Either way, it's hard to say what the future holds for McGregor with a win.  We know a loss means it's over as four losses in his last five pro fights (I'm counting Floyd here for completionist sake) would probably kill whatever credibility he had and whatever legitimacy he garnered over the course of three years running through the UFC ranks. A win? It's hard to say with a guy who when he's right has the ability to dictate what he opts to do next. A win? Conor McGregor would fight Jorge Masvidal in a big money fight, a third Diaz fight, a GSP fight where both fighters can cash out or go and chase down Khabib. If one truly wishes to get stupid, I suppose fights with Pacquaio, Floyd or Paulie Malignaggi exist out there as well.  The first step isn't so much winning this fight but winning this fight and getting back to what made this whole act work to begin with.

2- This is historically the sort of fight Cerrone doesn't show up for and gets forced out of his element but there's some things here I think that do tilt the scales slightly in his favor. For starters, I DO believe in ring rust and Conor hasn't fought in over a year and has fought just twice since the end of 2016. You can argue that wear and tear means Cerrone is shop worn but I feel as though he fights better the MORE he fights and the more active he is. For a fighter like Conor who lives or dies based upon how sharp his timing is, I think it's fair to wonder if the long layoff is going to shake him. We saw him struggle with his timing vs Khabib and while Khabib is on a whole different galaxy than Cerrone, I'd argue it's worse to be slightly off vs a dude like Cerrone who does have the starch in his strikes to do more than flash KD you. Also Cerrone is probably the first guy since Jose Aldo that Conor's had to be mindful of walking into smoke with the legs. Also Cerrone's been campaigning at 170 lbs on and off since 2016 and so you have to assume if this is about being comfortable at the weight class, he's got the nod over Conor.

3- Under normal circumstances, I'd say "I think Conor's defensive wrestling is somewhat understated and the idea that anybody can take him down and sub him is a fallacy" but I also have ZERO idea if he's actually done any serious grappling training or if he's just hoping Cerrone's going to play nice and strike with him for a bit.

4- Which fight is more undesirable for Amanda Nunes; a Holly Holm rematch where she can't realistically top what she did in the first fight or a Rocky Pennington rematch where she'll be tasked with trying to sell/expand upon one of her most boring fights ever?

5- I wonder who is more broken in theory between Holm and Pennington. Rocky looked to be on the verge of going from solid WMMA fighter to a damn good top 5-ish woman at 135 lbs after dominating Meisha Tate but she broke her leg, took a lot of time off, followed that up with a dud vs Amanda Nunes and then got stalled out by Germaine de Randamie. She rebounded with a win over Irene Aldana which almost felt more about Aldana being a putz and less about any sort of sign of a rebound for Rocky. It's worth remembering that the fight vs Holm was the one that got sort of signified that Rocky was better than people realized but it required her to pressure for fifteen minutes and that's sort of gone away for her recently. As for Holm? She's fought Rousey, Cyborg, Tate, Shevchenko and Nunes. She's pushing 40. She had an extensive boxing history that suggests she's taken plenty of damage. She just got KO'd for the first time in her UFC run the last time out and at this point it's fair to ask if Holm's durability is going to be shot.  This fight is why Aspen Ladd figuring shit out is really important for this division.

6- Maurice Green and Alexey Olenik being on this main card is curious until you realize that this main card has two WMMA fights and a fight at lightweight on it. Sometimes beef gets called in to "bulk" up the main card.

7- Anthony Pettis sure picked a fine week to announce a UFC lawsuit, am I right?

8- Let's talk about how great these prelims are for a second. Sodiq Yusuff vs Andre Fili is a battle of exciting prospect and proven veteran with a multitude of ways to win. Nasrat Haqparast vs Drew Dober is a battle of exciting prospect vs proven veteran with a multitude of ways to win. Maycee Barber vs Roxanne Modafferi almost feels like the potential crowning of Maycee as a 125 lb contender by taking on a former title contender who STYLISTICALLY will at least give us a reason to double check her ability to do things such as defend takedowns and deal with pressure. Lastly I REALLY do love this fight between Chas Skelly and Grant Dawson as Dawson has slowly gone from somewhat awkward wrestling savant to a more well rounded pressure fighter while Chas Skelly is one of those ultimate gatekeeper types for young fighters. These are all great fights worthy of going out of your way to see on ESPN.

9- We're four years now into the Alexa Grasso project and I still don't know if she has the fight smarts to ever take the next step in her career. A good test vs a declining Claudia Gadelha who still has something to offer.

10- How much ya wanna bet Maurice Green allows Olenik to pull him down on top of him?

11- Justin Ledet's run at 205 lbs has been weird as his lack of athleticism for the weight class plus what feels like an odd lack of strength (How he was burly enough to fight at HW but gets chucked around at 205 lbs is a mystery to me) has made him go 0-2 in the division. After a lengthy lay off, he's back at 205 lbs against Aleksa Camur. Camus is a training partner of Stipe Miocic and he got in here off the Contenders Series where he had a crazy fight that exposed him to be a) wacky as all hell and b) a bit too raw for my liking in the UFC. This feels pretty winnable for Spirit of Truth lookalike Ledet.

12- Ode Osbourne vs Brian Kelleher is an early FOTY candidate to me.

[davekendrick]

‘Rock the Block’ Reveals One Design Move That Just Doesn’t Work

‘Rock the Block’ Reveals One Design Move That Just Doesn’t Work

Season 2 of “Rock the Block” has created some incredible kitchens and living spaces, but now, the competitors must move on to their master suites. In the latest episode, “Rock the Main Bedrooms,” the host, Ty Pennington, introduces the guest judges, Egypt Sherrod from “Flipping Virgins” and her husband, the DJ Mike Jackson. These two will judge the four design teams on their bedroom suites and on…

[theblackarticle]

#BlackArticle – Holly Holm describes how it feels to actually beat someone up (in the Octagon) | Jalen & Jacoby Follow on blackarticle.com! #BlackArticle X #ESPN

[conanaltatis]

'UFC 246' fight card, results: Conor McGregor vs Donald Cerrone, Holly Holm vs Raquel Pennington in Las Vegas, Nevada

‘UFC 246’ fight card, results: Conor McGregor vs Donald Cerrone, Holly Holm vs Raquel Pennington in Las Vegas, Nevada

Promotion: Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

Title: “UFC 246”

Venue: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Date: January 18, 2020

Number of bouts: 11

Bout #

FIGHTERS

Division

Red Corner (Country)

Blue Corner (Country)

EARLY PRELIMINARY CARD 1 Sabina Mazo JJ Aldrich Women’s Flyweight

REFEREE:

WINNER:

METHOD:

TIME AND ROUND:

2 Aleksa Camur Justin Ledet Light…

[watchfulsteadfast]

FROM THE BUNKER ~

Mortal Kombat Island #1:

Fights that make total sense when your high..

In the wise words of the notorious - “fuck weight, fuck the belts and fuck any of dat oder shit” - C. McGregor

Friday 11th February • 2022

Magomedsharipov Vs Y.Rodriguez

Luque Vs Gaethje

Yan Vs Holloway

A.Pereira Vs Prochazka

Fiziev Vs Tsarukyan

Chimaev Vs Covington

Adesanya Vs S.Thompson

Hooker Vs Kattar

Makhachev Vs Kutateladze

Whittaker Vs Usman

Oliveira Vs Volkanovski

O’Malley Vs Cruz

Curtis Vs Vettori

Rahkmanov Vs M.Pereira

Sandhagen Vs Yanez

Sterling Vs Cejudo

Dilishaw Vs Figuiredo

Poirier Vs Diaz

Strickland Vs Holland

Garry Vs Shabazyan

Costa Vs Ankalaev

Miocic Vs J.Jones

Reyes Vs Aspinall

Dvavishvilli Vs Aldo

Brady Vs Burns

Till Vs Rockhold

Vera Vs Kara-France

Bonus: Ngannou Vs Fury, A. Silva Vs De La Hoya

Women’s Flyweight:

Zhang Vs V. Schevchenko

Jasudavicius Vs Gatto

T. Santos Vs J. Andrade

Blanchfield Vs Cortez

Fiorot Vs Grasso

O’Neil Vs Chookagian

Women’s Straw-Weight:

Namajunas Vs Esparza

Ribas Vs Waterson

M. Rodriguez Vs Jedrzejczyk

Lemos Vs Xiaonan

McKenna Vs Pinheiro

T. Suarez Vs T. Torres

Women’s Bantamweight:

Harrison* Vs A. Nunes

Aldana Vs de Randamie

K. Rosa Vs K. Vieira

Holm Vs Pena

J. Nunes Vs Pennington

Avila Vs Kunitskaya

Styles make fights.

[theanticool]

Amanda Nunes beats piss out of Irene Aldana and then retires!

Nunes beat Aldana in every phase of the fight. Striking, wrestling, grappling, and not looking like she was staring death in the face. Aldana basically completely shut down as soon as Nunes landed her first jab. She tried repeatedly to rebuild some confidence but

I don’t know what happens with women’s 135 now. Sadly, the weight class is barren. I fear we’re getting a Holly Holm/Raquel Pennington/Ketlen Vieira gauntlet.

Thank you Nunes for an amazing career.

[city-of-ladies]

(Jousting knights, featured in Sir Thomas Holme’s Book of Arms, circa 1445.)

Dionisia of Grauntcourt & Agnes Hotot - The jousters 

The estate records of the Hotot family reveal the story of Dionisia of Grauntcourt (fl. mid-12th century), also known as Dionisia of Clapton, the daughter of a rich landowner in Northamptonshire, England.

During the reign of King Stephen (1135-1154), the young Dionisia “clad in a tunic, a hat upon her head and armed only with a hollow shield (…) attacked a certain knight, with one blow of her spear driving him to the ground and carried off his horse”. The context surrounding the encounter is unclear, but it perhaps had to do with the civil war that raged in England at that time.

Another brave duelist was Agnes Hotot (fl. 14th century), whose story was reportedly told in 1390 by a monk who was parson of Clapton. Her father, Robert de Hotot was caught  in a land dispute with a man named Ringsley. The two decided to settle the matter via a jousting duel.

Robert fell ill with gout and couldn’t fight so Agnes decided that she would go in his place. She armed herself, mounted on her father’s steed and, defeated Ringsley after a “stubborn encounter”. Agnes then revealed that she was a woman by taking off her helmet and letting down her hair. Some versions also add that she bared her breasts. When Agnes married Richard de Dudley int 1395, he decided to celebrate her exploit by featuring a naked woman with disheveled hair, removing a war helmet, on his coat of arms.

References:

Cassagnes-Brouquet Sophie, Chevaleresses, une chevalerie au féminin

Grazebook Henry, The Heraldry of Worcestershire; Being a Roll of the Arms Borne by the Several Noble, Knightly, and Gentle Families which Have Had Property Or Residence in that County from the Earliest Period to the Present Time; with Genealogical Note

King Edmund (ed.), Northamptonshire Miscellany 

Sheldon Natasha, “Ten female duelists and their duels”

Eads Valerie, “Dionisia de Grauntcourt”, in: Higham Robin, Pennington Reina (ed.), Amazons to fighter pilots, biographical dictionary of military women, vol.1

[sowingseedsandshootinghoops]

Death on the Nile: The Psychology of the Case

Note on the text: I used Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile as published by HarperCollins Publisher in 2011.

This book was my welcome to the incredible world of Hercule Poirot. As someone who was not the biggest Agatha Christie fan prior to reading this book, I was genuinely shocked by how much I loved this book. What I really enjoyed was how much the psychology of the characters played a part of the story. 

Unlike Sherlock Holmes, who is all about the facts, Hercule Poirot is deeply interested in the personalities of the people who make up his case. To Hercule Poirot, the psychology of the people in question matters at least as much as the facts of the case does. In fact, Poirot says that a person’s psychology is “the most important fact of the case” (61). That is what makes Hercule Poirot so different from a lot of other characters in the mystery genre. Other detectives such as Sherlock Holmes, Philip Marlowe, or Sam Spade among others are only interested in the facts of the case, and the clues therein. Sherlock likes the intellectual stimulation that the case presents much more than he does the human element. Sam Spade is too suspicious of other people in a world gone bad to give their motivations much thought. Philip Marlowe likewise sees himself as an avenging angel meant to balance the scales of justice against a world that is hellbent on doing evil. None of these characters are really interested in the psychology of the people they are working with. Not so with Hercule Poirot.

He knows that the psychology of the person in question matters just as much as any other fact of the case. That is how he was able to determine that Andrew Pennington was not the murderer. Because, although the facts suggested he might be the killer, Hercule Poirot could see that 

for this crime, something was wanted that Pennington [didn’t have]! This [was] a crime that needed audacity, swift and faultless execution, courage, indifference to danger, and a resourceful, calculating brain. Pennington hasn’t got those attributes. He couldn’t do a crime unless he knew it was safe. This crime wasn’t safe! It hung on a razor’s edge. It needed boldness. Pennington isn’t bold. He’s only astute (293).

It is, as Hercule Poirot says, the “pretty little problem of psychology” (222). 

That’s what made this book so special. It wasn’t just the fact that allowed Poirot to realize who the killer was, but the facts combined with an understanding of the psychological profile of all those involved. He realized that he had been operating from wrong point of view. He thought that Simon Doyle had left Jaqueline to marry Linnet, the murder victim. Only once he was able to “look at [things] in the right way” and “realize that [Simon and Jaqueline] were still lovers” did everything make sense: “Simon does away with his rich wife, inherits her money, and in due course [marries] his old love” (318). The problem wasn’t that the various clues weren’t pointing in the right direction, it was the fact that they had made the wrong assumptions of about the mindset of the people involved.

Human beings are complicated people, who do things, including murder, for any number of reasons. Most detective good detective stories have either a wonderful set of clues that point out who the killer is, or have a brilliant psychological profile of the killer which does things reveal his or her MO and motivations. What made this book special was that it had both. What a great book indeed

[carmichealroyals]

PRINCESS OF THE PARTY! PRINCESS ROYAL AND FRIENDS SPOTTED AT PARAMOUNT DISCO

Well, apparently our Princess Royal knows how to have fun! Pictures have surfaced online of just what HRH and her friends were up to last night, and it wasn’t a buckled-down study session at the library. The Princess Royal, along with Lady Rachelle Hyde (suspected romantic interest of the Crown Prince), Lady Micheala Holmes, Lord Ronan Holmes, and Lady Bridgette Pennington at the Paramount Disco. While a nightclub, it seems that the Princess was able to pull rank -- or pull out some bribe money -- and get her friends inside to party the night away. 

(Pictured above: HRH Princess Belle and Lord Ronan Holmes take a picture together after accidentally matching; Lady Rachelle Hyde, Lord Ronan, HRH and Lady Bridgette Pennington pose for a group picture among the crowd at the club)

Easily the most shocking part of this was the signature red party cup that the Princess is seen not only holding, but drinking from, in a few of the shots taken by club patrons and paparazzi. She is not alone, as the others are also seen with them, but it begs the question: was the Princess Royal drinking underage? Did the bartenders know it was her, or was there bribery on that front too? Are those in her circle of friends at home the best influence for her, or is this just a classic case of a teenager being a teenager?

It seems like the King will have his hands full with his children over the next little while -- there has been no statement issued on the front of the Crown Prince and Lady Rachelle, but considering both she and the Princess Royal are in these photos having what some might say are too good of a time, we’re sure that King Maxwell is doing everything in his power to try and rein his children in. The question is: will they listen? 

Reception online seems to be mixed, as it always is. Some are celebrating this act of ‘normalcy’ from the teenaged princess and her friends, saying “a normal night out with friends is healthy, even if she was drinking underage. It can’t always be formal balls and garden parties!” Others, however, are condemning the Princess Royal and company for their blatant disregard for the law. “They think that just because they’re nobility and royalty that they are exempt. NEWS FLASH KIDS, the law applies to EVERYONE, not just those without fancy titles.”