pendragon

We found Tintagel to be very mystical indeed and had our imagination inspired, but the newly uncovered archaeological evidence that might lend more credence to the legend was quite welcome developments as well, as Mental Floss informs.
Careful excavations conducted in mid-July on a previously unexplored hillside have found the massive foundations of palace walls and other artefacts (befitting the elite) that date to the fifth or sixth centuries, more in line with the timeline attributed to the Arthurian Romance (the medieval ruins that adorn the promontory are too new and ironically the main site overlooks the so-called “Merlin’s Cave,” an attraction that caused some to criticise the site’s caretakers as pandering to the simple-minded), are causing scholars to re-examine assumptions about the myth—perhaps like finding Troy not so long ago. The work was just completed and the researchers have a lot of evidence to sift through and assess.

mise-en-scéne

Via the ever brilliant Everlasting Blört, we find discover, delighted, that the Cantor Galleries of Fine Art in Los Angeles have proposed a range of ornamental (non-functional, at least for now) emojis as short-hand, storyboarding for art history students and all aficionados to speak of their favourite iconic artists and their signature style.
I recall having a tee-shirt a long time ago that I absolutely wore the tail off of that featured yellow smiley-faces as interpreted through the lens of various artists—including Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock and Piet Mondriaan that conveyed the same idea, in tee-shirt form.

wrack and ruin

Having recently been privileged to visit just a few of the magnificent châteaux of the Loire Valley along with throngs of other tourists, this gallery curated by the fabulous Messy Nessy Chic of scandalously neglected mansions from around Europe, surreptitiously snapped by (sub)urban explorer “Soul” really struck a chord with us.
One wonders how such stately homes, that have seen better days, were ever forgot and allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair and how they might be rehabilitated in the future. Given the uncertainty of their fate and to protect the pristine state of these ruins, not many details are disclosed and their locations remain anonymous.

come josephine in my flying machine

Thanks to Super Punch, we discover that not only is one prominent ærospace company and defence-contractor is revisiting the notion of dirigibles, hybrid airships for one’s logistics and supply chain needs but has also developed an autonomous robot spider to patrol the skin, the hull of the blimp for leaks and repair them. Be sure to check out the links for a demonstration and more information. What do you think about this? I wonder what the all these sky-lanes will seem to us in the near future—it’s not like the horizon was wasted on sunsets and rosy-fingered Dawn, but the middle-distance will take on a very different look soon, I suspect, unless we’re made to wear some sort of non-intrusive blinders that air-brush all those Hoplites that ought to remain discrete and not spoil the view.