Coates is Odd This Day
@oddthisday.bsky.social
“Meticulously researched” niche drivel https://mulberryhall.medium.com/
It’s probably not even worth googling, but this is the source
Kelly Brook’s on/off boyfriend crashes van full of dead badgers into bus stop
Kelly Brook's on/off boyfriend David McIntosh crashed a van full of dead badgers into a bus stop during last year’s controversial cull, a court heard.
metro.co.uk
December 3, 2025 at 9:49 PM
It’s probably not even worth googling, but this is the source
I prefer them to the Salvador Dali ones that they planned to use (but he asked for too much money). The designs they used are clearer - the ‘Lovers’ card joke might not have worked as well with Dali’s
Salvador Dalí's Tarot Cards Will Tell Your Surreal Future
The deck was originally created for the 1970s James Bond film Live and Let Die, starring Roger Moore and Jane Seymour, but it never appeared in the picture.
web.archive.org
December 3, 2025 at 6:36 PM
I prefer them to the Salvador Dali ones that they planned to use (but he asked for too much money). The designs they used are clearer - the ‘Lovers’ card joke might not have worked as well with Dali’s
Turns out that wasn’t the most startling thing I was to witness this lunchtime
December 3, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Turns out that wasn’t the most startling thing I was to witness this lunchtime
“Ooh, ’alf a crown to speak to you”, as my mother would say
December 3, 2025 at 11:54 AM
“Ooh, ’alf a crown to speak to you”, as my mother would say
Thank you! Glad you liked it
December 3, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Thank you! Glad you liked it
It’s also the 277th anniversary of Eva Ekeblad becoming the first woman admitted to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences because she found out how to make both flour *and booze* from potatoes, thus saving people from starving and making them happy, but I haven’t had time to write her up yet
Eva Ekeblad f. De la Gardie - Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon
sok.riksarkivet.se
December 3, 2025 at 11:38 AM
It’s also the 277th anniversary of Eva Ekeblad becoming the first woman admitted to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences because she found out how to make both flour *and booze* from potatoes, thus saving people from starving and making them happy, but I haven’t had time to write her up yet
Ah, the English aristocracy...
December 3, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Ah, the English aristocracy...
It seems appropriate, somehow, that his resting place is lost, when you consider what his work inspired
December 3, 2025 at 11:37 AM
It seems appropriate, somehow, that his resting place is lost, when you consider what his work inspired
(Not *that* Richard Burton)
December 3, 2025 at 11:36 AM
(Not *that* Richard Burton)
Unfortunately, he was restless for further fame, and set out to find the source of the Niger... and died of dysentery in Benin 202 years ago today
December 3, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Unfortunately, he was restless for further fame, and set out to find the source of the Niger... and died of dysentery in Benin 202 years ago today
In 1821, he rented the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly for a year and (according to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography) “staged an exhibition of material found by him ... It was a wild success; on the first day 1900 people paid their half crowns to enter ‘Belzoni’s Tomb’”
December 3, 2025 at 11:35 AM
In 1821, he rented the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly for a year and (according to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography) “staged an exhibition of material found by him ... It was a wild success; on the first day 1900 people paid their half crowns to enter ‘Belzoni’s Tomb’”
Mind you, the delays gave Belzoni more time for exploring, so he did. He’s also responsible, for example, for the Grade II listed Philae obelisk in the grounds of (Grade I listed) National Trust property Kingston Lacy
December 3, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Mind you, the delays gave Belzoni more time for exploring, so he did. He’s also responsible, for example, for the Grade II listed Philae obelisk in the grounds of (Grade I listed) National Trust property Kingston Lacy
Anyway, they rolled the head to the Nile, which took weeks, and then had to wait for a boat big enough. When that arrived, in November, the Nile had receded, so Belzoni spent two days building an 18-foot ramp. Finally, it got to Luxor
December 3, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Anyway, they rolled the head to the Nile, which took weeks, and then had to wait for a boat big enough. When that arrived, in November, the Nile had receded, so Belzoni spent two days building an 18-foot ramp. Finally, it got to Luxor
That did, of course, inspire a famous poem (and some recent parodies), but it also prompted “City business man” Horace Smith to pen a lesser-known sonnet: ‘On A Stupendous Leg of Granite, Discovered standing by itself in the Deserts of Egypt, with the Inscription inscribed below’
December 3, 2025 at 11:30 AM
That did, of course, inspire a famous poem (and some recent parodies), but it also prompted “City business man” Horace Smith to pen a lesser-known sonnet: ‘On A Stupendous Leg of Granite, Discovered standing by itself in the Deserts of Egypt, with the Inscription inscribed below’
Mayes says Ozymandias is “a Greek corruption of User-maat-Re, one of the other names of Ramses”, and that inscription everyone was riffing on a few weeks ago actually read “My name is Osymandias, king of kings; if any would know how great I am, and where I lie, let him surpass me in any of my works”
December 3, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Mayes says Ozymandias is “a Greek corruption of User-maat-Re, one of the other names of Ramses”, and that inscription everyone was riffing on a few weeks ago actually read “My name is Osymandias, king of kings; if any would know how great I am, and where I lie, let him surpass me in any of my works”
Napoleon had, of course, been hanging around in Egypt not long before, and had also had designs on the big head – which is why you can still see a hole in it today
December 3, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Napoleon had, of course, been hanging around in Egypt not long before, and had also had designs on the big head – which is why you can still see a hole in it today
They’d both heard of a mighty carved stone head half-buried in the desert, and Salt gave Belzoni the money to go and find it and claim it for Britain. He set off in June 1816, and near Thebes, there was, indeed, a ruined temple: Memnonium or the Tomb of Ozymandias
December 3, 2025 at 11:26 AM
They’d both heard of a mighty carved stone head half-buried in the desert, and Salt gave Belzoni the money to go and find it and claim it for Britain. He set off in June 1816, and near Thebes, there was, indeed, a ruined temple: Memnonium or the Tomb of Ozymandias
The Pasha wasn’t interested, but did give him leave to remain in the country, so Belzoni climbed the great pyramid at Giza, and went inside even though the ‘descending corridor’ is only four feet high. He also ran into British Consul, Sir Henry Salt
December 3, 2025 at 11:26 AM
The Pasha wasn’t interested, but did give him leave to remain in the country, so Belzoni climbed the great pyramid at Giza, and went inside even though the ‘descending corridor’ is only four feet high. He also ran into British Consul, Sir Henry Salt
Presumably, this was some sort of conjuring trick. The grand cascade is believed to be some kind of shower of water and fire. Anyway, he left England in 1812, and toured the continent, then went to Egypt to offer the Pasha his services as a hydraulic engineer
December 3, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Presumably, this was some sort of conjuring trick. The grand cascade is believed to be some kind of shower of water and fire. Anyway, he left England in 1812, and toured the continent, then went to Egypt to offer the Pasha his services as a hydraulic engineer
They appeared all over the country, and Chambers’ Book of Days reproduces the text of another handbill for one of Belzoni’s own shows
December 3, 2025 at 11:25 AM
They appeared all over the country, and Chambers’ Book of Days reproduces the text of another handbill for one of Belzoni’s own shows
Sarah Belzoni was, according to one source, “of Amazonian proportions”, but Charles Dickens in 1851’s Household Words, called her “a pretty, delicate-looking, young woman”. Either way, she was a remarkable traveller and writer herself, and eventually outlived her husband by 45 years
December 3, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Sarah Belzoni was, according to one source, “of Amazonian proportions”, but Charles Dickens in 1851’s Household Words, called her “a pretty, delicate-looking, young woman”. Either way, she was a remarkable traveller and writer herself, and eventually outlived her husband by 45 years
As a small digression, just because I like it, here’s the text of a handbill the owners of Sadler’s Wells produced to promote their show. I’d have gone to see it. Anyway, apparently, he did his strongman act with his English wife...
December 3, 2025 at 11:23 AM
As a small digression, just because I like it, here’s the text of a handbill the owners of Sadler’s Wells produced to promote their show. I’d have gone to see it. Anyway, apparently, he did his strongman act with his English wife...