Concluding an extended period of consultation following the 2013 legal recognition of same-sex marriages in England and Wales, a council of Anglican bishops have announced their intent that the Church of England’s stance on sexuality should not be subject to change. The matter to be debated at a General Synod in February, the Church—which was established expressly to question authority on the sanctity of matrimony when the Pope refused to grant Henry XIII an annulment—is stopping short of performing itself gay marriages though significantly drops a 1991 rule that clergy members in same-sex relationships must remain celibate, issued a blanket apology for its behaviour towards the LGBTQ+ community and retains blessing for civil marriages of gay couples. Though not yet amenable to the ceremony, it does represent progress.
Thursday, 19 January 2023
living in love and faith (10. 480)
catagories: ✝️, ๐ณ️๐, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, ๐️
Friday, 4 November 2022
8x8 (10. 271)
make it another, double, old-fashioned please: a definitive, festive guide to whisky cocktails
born in arizona, moved to babylonia: a new book on the King Tut’s parents, Akhenaten and Nefertiti

planchette: the intersection between profit and superstition revisited with a look at the story of the Ouija borad—see previously
toynbee tiles: an enduring urban myth—see previously
they’ve got it all on uhf: Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliff appearing in musical biopic parody of Weird Al Yankovic (previously)
palimpsest: peeling back the layers to rediscover ancient manuscripts recycled as early modern incunabula
limoncello: a doubly lemon aperitif in the ‘Amalfi Dream’
catagories: ⚰️, ๐น, ๐ฌ, ๐ถ, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, ๐บ, ๐, ๐ฅ, Middle East
Sunday, 2 October 2022
turn around, bright eyes (10. 188)
The first and only thus far Welsh solo act to top the singles charts in the US, Bonnie Tyler with her signature song “Total Eclipse of the Heart” (previously) from her fifth studio album Faster than the Speed of Night was at Number One beginning on this day in 1983 and remains an enduring, international hit. Written and produced by Jim Steinman, originally it was to be called “Vampires in Love” building off of an abandoned effort to make a musical version of Nosferatu. The below music video was directed by Russell Mulcahy (“Turning Japanese,” “Video Killed the Radio Star,” “Hungry Like the Wolf”) and was shot at the Holloway Sanatorium, a Gothic hospital in Surrey.
catagories: ๐ถ, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, ๐ฆ, ๐ง♂️, 1983
Saturday, 10 September 2022
c iii r (10. 120)

catagories: ⚖️, ๐ฌ๐ง, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ, ๐, ๐
Friday, 20 May 2022
6x6
from juno to jupiter: famed composer who championed the synthesizer Vangelis passed away, aged 79

the pรบca of ennistymon: a sculpture of a mythological chimera almost gets cancelled
fern gully: spelunkers in China discover a massive ancient forest in a sinkhole
capable of completing the kessel run in less than twelve parsecs: the Millennium Falcon was the last ship build at the Royal Pembroke Dockyard
v’ger: Voyager 1 beaming back usual telemetry to mission control—via Boing Boing
Saturday, 12 March 2022
7x7
w / n / p / a/: the beauty and brutality of the natural world—via Web Curios
fly around: a happy tune from Bill Wurtz—via Waxy
theatrum orbis terrarum: the first modern world atlas, created and published in Antwerp in 1571 by Abraham Ortelius
llรชn gwerin: illustrated Welsh cats from 1910
grand tour: visit the great cities of Europe all within the confines of Ohio—see also
best in show: a selection of the superlative entries for the 2022 Sony World Photography Awards—some are quite accidentally like a Renaissance painting
Friday, 4 March 2022
pontypridd
Born this day in 1800 in Caerphilly, courtesy of Weird Universe, we learn about the singular figure of William Price (†1893), physician, Druid priest, vegetarian, marriage and organised religion contrarian and champagne enthusiast—would that we could stop with those epithets and skip nationalist and anti-vaxxer. Often seen donning an elaborate headdress of fox pelts, long hair and beard and emerald green onesie with incantations—or alternately stalk naked on his daily constitutional through the countryside, Price’s legacy includes the legalisation of cremation in Great Britain, previously against custom, when sadly his infant son, Iesu Grist—Welsh for Jesus Christ Price, died suddenly and Price burned his body on a pyre in accordance with Druidic traditions. Arrested for the unlawful disposal of a corpse, Price was however able to successfully plead his defence in court, leading to the passage of UK Cremation Act of 1902 and the establishment of crematoria throughout the country. Aged eighty-two, Price fathered a second son—also named Jesus (plus a daughter two years later called Penelopen) at which time he made detailed arrangements for the disposition of his estate and death, a funeral pyre a decade later attended by twenty-thousand mourners.
catagories: ⚕️, ⚰️, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, ๐ฅ, ๐งฟ
Saturday, 12 February 2022
amen corner
Hailing from Cardiff, this rock group, which was quite more than a one-hit wonder with their hits “Bend Me, Shape Me” and popular cover of “Gin House Blues” if not a bit overshadowed by contemporary bands, had their first and only chart-topping success beginning on this day in 1969, holding the number one spot for weeks with “(If Paradise Is) Half as Nice.” The song was a translated version of a popular Italio-Pop standard “Il paradiso della vita.”
catagories: ๐ถ, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, 1969
Thursday, 10 February 2022
the dread pirate roberts
Killed during the melee of the Battle of Cape Lopez (off the coast of modern-day Gabon) on this day in 1722, Bartholomew Roberts (*1682, also known by the Welsh monicker Barti Ddu, Black Bart) was the most successful privateer and defining figure of the Golden Age of Piracy, capturing over four hundred ships in his relatively short career and terrorising merchants in Newfoundland, the Caribbean and West Africa. Roberts and his compatriots developed one of the first Pirate Codes of Conduct that outlined pay, recompense, responsibility and punishment and flew under a variety of rogue banners that eventually came to be the familiar skull and cross-bone flag.
catagories: ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, ๐ด☠️, ๐ก️, the Caribbean
Tuesday, 24 August 2021
spare him his life from this monstrosity
Starting on this day in 1975 and continuing for the next three weeks, Queen recorded their innovative, multi-segmented epic with ballad, guitar solo and mock opera—and notably for the genre, classified as symphonic rock by some, without refrain, Bohemian Rhapsody (previously), at Rockfield studios in the Welsh town of Monmouth. The operatic conceits, the chorus and the braggadocio, were present in some of Freddie Mercury’s earlier compositions, notably “My Fairy King” and bandmates, their individual vocal part drilled over the course of weeks ten to twelve hours per session, laying down successive overdubbed tracks.
catagories: ๐ถ, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, 1975
Tuesday, 17 August 2021
the life of ฯ
Whereas astrophysics suggest that extending out the significant digits to thirty-nine decimal places would be at the level of precision to measure the circumference of the known Universe to within the breadth of a hydrogen atom, we quite enjoyed the overkill and ambition, as reported by the Guardian, of a team of Swiss mathematicians that have calculated out the transcendental, irrational number, also known as Archimedes’ Constant and whose use of the Greek letter to symbolise it first attributed to Welsh professor William Jones in 1706, to sixty-two trillion places for the accomplishment in itself plus the bonus facts and anecdotes. Not only is it fiendishly useful to understand and is embedded in all sort of applications, there’s quite a bit of lore attached to pi. There’s its elegance in comprehending a bit of the Cosmos, cameo appearances and an infamously misguided attempt in 1897 by the Indiana state legislature to round it up to 3.2 and be done with it.
catagories: ⚖️, ๐จ๐ญ, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, ๐งฎ
Sunday, 11 July 2021
would you stay if she promised you heaven?
The eponymous tenth studio album from Fleetwood Mac released on this day in 1975—referred to as their White Album—includes such hit tracks as “Say You Love Me” and “Over My Head” and the below single who takes its title from a strong-minded Otherworld figure from the Welsh legendarium the Mabinogion. Reportedly live performances of Rhiannon took on the earnest theatricality of a possession and exorcism with Stevie Nicks more engrossed by the story of the character the more she learned about her.
catagories: ๐ถ, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, 1975, myth and monsters
Saturday, 10 July 2021
=
Coined by Welsh mathematician and physician Robert Recorde (*1512 – †1558), the equal sign (see also) entered common parlance on this day in 1557, and while not inventing +, he introduced the addition sign to England at the same time.
Wanting to avoid repetition in his treatise The Whetsome of Witte, he refers to the shorthand expression of balance as Gemowe lines—twin ones from Latin gemellus, Gemini. Appointed Comptroller of Mines and Monies under Edward VI and Queen Mary in Ireland, Recorde suffered libel from suit of a political enemy and died in a debtors’ prison, but not before leaving a legacy including authoritative works on algebra and geometry as well as the frequently cited Urinal of Physick.
catagories: ๐ฎ๐ช, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, ๐งฎ
Sunday, 23 May 2021
home counties
catagories: ๐ฌ๐ง, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ, ๐ฌ, ๐บ
Monday, 1 March 2021
dewi sant
Patron of poets, vegetarians and the Welsh, Saint David (*500) is fรชted on this day, the occasion of his death in 601 at an advanced age. David’s monastic rules prescribed that the monks had to plough their own plots of land without the aid, abuse of draught animals and adopt ascetic practises that avoided meat and beer—giving rise to his associated symbol, the leek. The saint’s other iconography includes a flag—sable a cross or—representing the nation the same way the crosses of George, Andrew and Patrick stand for England, Scotland and Ireland respectively though this alternate banner (engrailed rather than offset) is not as prevalent as the Red Dragon. Reminiscent of the admonition “Be kind to small things” it is reported that David’s last words were “Gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd”—“Do ye the little things in life,” a well-known saying in Wales.
catagories: ✝️, ๐ฑ, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, ๐ฌ, ๐ก️
Saturday, 23 January 2021
bounty day
Celebrated on this day, the anniversary of the arrival of the mutineers (previously) on the remote, uninhabited island of Pitcairn in 1790, the population of four dozen decedents of the original settlers hold a re-enactment of their landing and burn effigies of the ship and one of the eight surnames (the McCoys died out in 1973), is honoured with the title “Family of the Year,” with the ceremonies concluding with a communal feast and ball. One of the smallest polities in the world (the community of the International Space Station I suppose would best the Pitkerners), the British Overseas Territory is governed by a representative of the Queen based in Wellington, New Zealand (over five-thousand kilometres distant) and a mayor appointed by a citizens’ council. Electricity is provided by diesel generators for fifteen hours daily and all residents share one internet connection (.pn—with Norfolk—being the top-level domain, the most traffic generated when a marketing campaign for Hunger Games presented it as the country code for Panem). Since 2015, same-sex marriage has been legalised, although there are no known people in such a relationship.
Wednesday, 20 January 2021
6x6
lightening never strikes twice: a meteorologist debunks some weather myths
we shall come rejoicing: digging out the sheep—rescued after a heavy snowfall
photobomb: animals interrupting wildlife photographers
draw a tattoo of a mailbox: in a reversal of sorts, compete with other human sketch artist to prove to an AI who is the most accomplished—via Waxy
conspiracist ideation: what to do about QAnon
Saturday, 5 December 2020
hobby-horse and the hoodening
Via the always intriguing Strange Company we are directed towards one explanation of the common apirition in the southern Welch Yuletide custom called Mari Lwyd (Y Fari Lwyd) of parading around a horse’s skull on a pole whilst draped with a cloak decorated with ribbons and sashes as an aspect of wassailing and ritual entreaties to one’s neighbours for food and drink—a sort of call-and-response called the pwngco. You’ve been pwn’d. Some conjure it represents a remnant of once widespread mystery plays that featured a popular subgenre regarding Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt, with Mari Lwyd representing the donkey that bore Holy Mary—one proposed etymology, though this is disputed, with Grey Mare being more likely, especially given the preponderance of similar hooded animal parades spread across the British Isles that reflect a syncretion (see also) of ancient, pre-Christian rites. Much more detail about this custom at the link up top.
catagories: ✝️, ๐, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, ๐ด, ๐
Saturday, 18 July 2020
read mean tweets
—Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays, 1921
catagories: ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, ๐ญ
Thursday, 25 June 2020
gentilic
A demonym—or the above Latin form—is the word that gives the name that residents of a particular country, city or town use to describe themselves and their affiliation.
Denizens (gentile) of the north-eastern French town on the Moselle รpinal are known as Spinaliens. That’s pretty awesome and French naming-conventions are reliably uniting—the glottonyme Allemands being for example Berlinois, Bonnois or Hanovriem (see also endonyms and exonyms). Less straightforward but delightful formations occur in the British isles—including Glaswegian, Man of Kent, Loiner (from Leeds), Liverpudlian, Mancunian, Novocastrian or Paludian (from Slough).
catagories: ๐ซ๐ท, ๐ฌ๐ง, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, ๐ฌ