loch ness monster – Allison Thurman

Sixteenth-century Tudor shipwreck given protected status after being found beneath beach in Kent: evidently merchant ships don’t survive very often so it’s good the authorities protected this ca. 1531 wreck so quickly. More photos at Historic England.

Books That Kill: 3 Poisonous Renaissance Manuscripts Discovered in School Library: so the macguffin in “Name of the Rose” is totally plausible, though in this case it was probably nineteenth century restorers who applied the poison as a pesticide in an attempt to protect the books [insert tearing of hair/gnashing of teeth re: destructive restoration efforts].

Archaeologists Have Uncovered a Place Where The Ancient Egyptians Mummifed Their Dead: and they went into the lab to see what was on the slab. Clearly marked measuring cups and labeled oil containers, as it turns out. A treasure trove of historical chemistry!

Loch Ness monster hunter concludes: it’s a big catfish: aaaand the spoiler’s in the title. Seriously, this seems like a plausible explanation to me, though not nearly as exciting as a plesiosaur.

Author Anna Kaling found me through Twitter and we twitted about our mutual love for the strange and unknown. She invited me to guest blog about Nessie, my great childhood love and how could I say no? Her WIP takes place at Loch Ness and I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
The only fair use image of the Notorious LNM I could find is an acknowledged hoax. Courtesy Wikipedia.
Cosplaying 16th century Holy Roman Emperor Charles V is a thing – at least during the Ommegang parade, held yearly in Brussels to commemorate his 1549 visit. Part of the larger Carolus V Festival, the parade appears to show dragons, stilt-walkers, and all manner of medieval-ish costume.
Hamilton is fanfic, and its historical critics are totally missing the point – I finally listened to the “Hamilton” soundtrack. I’m not “Greatest. Thing. EVAR!!!!” fervent, but I enjoyed it. Ear wormy songs make things like the Federalist Papers and John Adams election memorable and fun. This article frames the musical as fan fiction of canonical history and I can see the argument. Thoughts?
How acceptable is artistic licence in history entertainment? – ask this question and you’ll get a million different answers. I’m always tickled when correct details reveal research as thorough (pedantic?) as my own. At the same time historians have biases and new information is discovered all the time, making “historical accuracy” a constantly moving target. Still, I’d weep if something as over-the-top as The Tudors tried to pass itself off as a quasi-documentary.

Tag: loch ness monster

biweekly links 7-18-2018

biweekly links 7-13-2016