Adam B
@adambcqx.bsky.social
Editor, Early Modernist - formerly MA and half a PhD at the Shakespeare Institute, now with Reading Early Plays
Pinned
Adam B
@adambcqx.bsky.social
· Apr 30
Mercury and an English Soldier
A Pleasant Dialogue by Barnabe Rich from 1574
mercurysdialogue.wordpress.com
My online modern spelling edition of A Dialogue Between Mercury and an English Soldier (1574) by Barnabe Rich.
- containing a visit to the court of Venus, a translation of Bandello’s Lady of Chabry, and Rich’s wholesale pilfering from multiple military manuals.
mercurysdialogue.wordpress.com
- containing a visit to the court of Venus, a translation of Bandello’s Lady of Chabry, and Rich’s wholesale pilfering from multiple military manuals.
mercurysdialogue.wordpress.com
From the BFI melodrama list linked below, I’ve just watched Victims of Sin (Mexico 1950) - sizzlingly sexy, then shocking, beautiful b&w, and a song about dancing that I don’t think was about dancing at all.
(“Ay, José, do that again.
Ay, José, that’s not the way!
Ay, José, now the other way!”)
(“Ay, José, do that again.
Ay, José, that’s not the way!
Ay, José, now the other way!”)
November 30, 2025 at 9:29 PM
From the BFI melodrama list linked below, I’ve just watched Victims of Sin (Mexico 1950) - sizzlingly sexy, then shocking, beautiful b&w, and a song about dancing that I don’t think was about dancing at all.
(“Ay, José, do that again.
Ay, José, that’s not the way!
Ay, José, now the other way!”)
(“Ay, José, do that again.
Ay, José, that’s not the way!
Ay, José, now the other way!”)
- late night snack - pani puri (spiced potato & chickpea filling); found a handy little dispenser for the mint puri.
November 28, 2025 at 11:09 PM
- late night snack - pani puri (spiced potato & chickpea filling); found a handy little dispenser for the mint puri.
Reposted by Adam B
“Pray thee, why dost thou wrap thy poison'd pills / In gold and sugar?”
- tonight in REP we read John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi, as performed by the King’s Men in 1613.
- tonight in REP we read John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi, as performed by the King’s Men in 1613.
November 26, 2025 at 7:13 AM
“Pray thee, why dost thou wrap thy poison'd pills / In gold and sugar?”
- tonight in REP we read John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi, as performed by the King’s Men in 1613.
- tonight in REP we read John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi, as performed by the King’s Men in 1613.
Reposted by Adam B
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
Reposted by Adam B
Today's Sunday dozen.
The BBC and André Bazin, Penda's Fen and Blossoms Shanghai, Hilma af Klint and Echo Delay Reverb, pity and fear, Gertrude Stein and Iris Murdoch.
And Joan Baez.
With a detail of a painting I wanted to steal from the Courtauld.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/the-sunday-d...
The BBC and André Bazin, Penda's Fen and Blossoms Shanghai, Hilma af Klint and Echo Delay Reverb, pity and fear, Gertrude Stein and Iris Murdoch.
And Joan Baez.
With a detail of a painting I wanted to steal from the Courtauld.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/the-sunday-d...
The Sunday dozen - Illuminations
John Wyver writes: Welcome to a selection of writing on television, film, visual art, the politics of images, dance and poems that I found stimulating over the past week. The image above is a detail o...
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Today's Sunday dozen.
The BBC and André Bazin, Penda's Fen and Blossoms Shanghai, Hilma af Klint and Echo Delay Reverb, pity and fear, Gertrude Stein and Iris Murdoch.
And Joan Baez.
With a detail of a painting I wanted to steal from the Courtauld.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/the-sunday-d...
The BBC and André Bazin, Penda's Fen and Blossoms Shanghai, Hilma af Klint and Echo Delay Reverb, pity and fear, Gertrude Stein and Iris Murdoch.
And Joan Baez.
With a detail of a painting I wanted to steal from the Courtauld.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/the-sunday-d...
The OED historical thesaurus entry for “impotence” seems quite keen to … shift responsibility?
November 21, 2025 at 2:49 PM
The OED historical thesaurus entry for “impotence” seems quite keen to … shift responsibility?
Reposted by Adam B
Reform's former Leader in Wales, Nathan Gill, a 10.5 year jail term for taking bribes from the Kremlin.
Cosied up to authoritarian powers & traded principles for payoffs. Reform's leadership laughably claimed they barely knew Gill.
Will all this be on tomorrow's front pages?
Cosied up to authoritarian powers & traded principles for payoffs. Reform's leadership laughably claimed they barely knew Gill.
Will all this be on tomorrow's front pages?
November 21, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Reform's former Leader in Wales, Nathan Gill, a 10.5 year jail term for taking bribes from the Kremlin.
Cosied up to authoritarian powers & traded principles for payoffs. Reform's leadership laughably claimed they barely knew Gill.
Will all this be on tomorrow's front pages?
Cosied up to authoritarian powers & traded principles for payoffs. Reform's leadership laughably claimed they barely knew Gill.
Will all this be on tomorrow's front pages?
Reposted by Adam B
This does feel like a major crossing of the Rubicon – the world's best-funded and in many ways most powerful public health agency is now actively pushing disinformation.
I know there's a *lot* going on to care about at the moment, but this one really is significant, and matters well beyond the US.
I know there's a *lot* going on to care about at the moment, but this one really is significant, and matters well beyond the US.
The CDC website now disseminates disinformation about vaccines, claiming erroneously that infant vaccines might cause autism, when we know conclusively that they do not. It is difficult to overstate just how dangerous this is. www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safe...
November 20, 2025 at 2:03 PM
This does feel like a major crossing of the Rubicon – the world's best-funded and in many ways most powerful public health agency is now actively pushing disinformation.
I know there's a *lot* going on to care about at the moment, but this one really is significant, and matters well beyond the US.
I know there's a *lot* going on to care about at the moment, but this one really is significant, and matters well beyond the US.
*** The Reader is supposed to be on the Stage, facing the Audience.
- the classic theatrical nightmare, via the paratexts of “The Devil’s Elixir” (1829)
- the classic theatrical nightmare, via the paratexts of “The Devil’s Elixir” (1829)
November 19, 2025 at 1:09 PM
*** The Reader is supposed to be on the Stage, facing the Audience.
- the classic theatrical nightmare, via the paratexts of “The Devil’s Elixir” (1829)
- the classic theatrical nightmare, via the paratexts of “The Devil’s Elixir” (1829)
Scotland ⚽️ !! 🏴
November 18, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Scotland ⚽️ !! 🏴
Reposted by Adam B
A Government of cowards.
Rather than tackle inequality - they've gone for pensioners, disabled people and now it's people fleeing war and persecution.
They can't get away with this.
Join.greenparty.org.uk
Rather than tackle inequality - they've gone for pensioners, disabled people and now it's people fleeing war and persecution.
They can't get away with this.
Join.greenparty.org.uk
November 17, 2025 at 11:16 PM
A Government of cowards.
Rather than tackle inequality - they've gone for pensioners, disabled people and now it's people fleeing war and persecution.
They can't get away with this.
Join.greenparty.org.uk
Rather than tackle inequality - they've gone for pensioners, disabled people and now it's people fleeing war and persecution.
They can't get away with this.
Join.greenparty.org.uk
Floodwaters of Storm Claudia work their way down the Severn, breaking its banks in Worcester now.
November 17, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Floodwaters of Storm Claudia work their way down the Severn, breaking its banks in Worcester now.
Reposted by Adam B
✍ Introducing ✍
Sharpie, a letterform recognition game for beginner #EarlyModern #palaeography
gjhilton.github.io/Sharpie/
AKA What I Did Over Reading Week.
#skystorians I’d be so grateful if you had time to share or take a look and tell me what sucks and needs fixing.
Love g 🗃️
Sharpie, a letterform recognition game for beginner #EarlyModern #palaeography
gjhilton.github.io/Sharpie/
AKA What I Did Over Reading Week.
#skystorians I’d be so grateful if you had time to share or take a look and tell me what sucks and needs fixing.
Love g 🗃️
Sharpie
Sharpie, a letterform recognition game for apprentice Early Modern palaeographers
gjhilton.github.io
November 12, 2025 at 11:11 PM
✍ Introducing ✍
Sharpie, a letterform recognition game for beginner #EarlyModern #palaeography
gjhilton.github.io/Sharpie/
AKA What I Did Over Reading Week.
#skystorians I’d be so grateful if you had time to share or take a look and tell me what sucks and needs fixing.
Love g 🗃️
Sharpie, a letterform recognition game for beginner #EarlyModern #palaeography
gjhilton.github.io/Sharpie/
AKA What I Did Over Reading Week.
#skystorians I’d be so grateful if you had time to share or take a look and tell me what sucks and needs fixing.
Love g 🗃️
Meanwhile, in local news …
(Police described the wanted man as “unexpectedly short.”)
(Police described the wanted man as “unexpectedly short.”)
November 10, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Meanwhile, in local news …
(Police described the wanted man as “unexpectedly short.”)
(Police described the wanted man as “unexpectedly short.”)
Reposted by Adam B
Maybe Keir should demand the heads of major US news networks any time they imply Britain is on the brink of civil war or that we live under sharia law. Or does it not work both ways?
November 10, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Maybe Keir should demand the heads of major US news networks any time they imply Britain is on the brink of civil war or that we live under sharia law. Or does it not work both ways?
Reposted by Adam B
Fortinbras: no words... EXEUNT. FINIS. THE END.
www.english.cam.ac.uk/research/slo...
And so it ends... Branagh carried off, and in his coffin in the 1996 film; Andrew Scott in a publicity image for the Almeida production in 2017.
www.english.cam.ac.uk/research/slo...
And so it ends... Branagh carried off, and in his coffin in the 1996 film; Andrew Scott in a publicity image for the Almeida production in 2017.
November 9, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Fortinbras: no words... EXEUNT. FINIS. THE END.
www.english.cam.ac.uk/research/slo...
And so it ends... Branagh carried off, and in his coffin in the 1996 film; Andrew Scott in a publicity image for the Almeida production in 2017.
www.english.cam.ac.uk/research/slo...
And so it ends... Branagh carried off, and in his coffin in the 1996 film; Andrew Scott in a publicity image for the Almeida production in 2017.
Louis Jourdan in ‘Count Dracula’ (BBC 1977)
- available to stream in the UK on @talkingpicturestv.bsky.social until 8th November
⬆️🔉🔊⬆️
- available to stream in the UK on @talkingpicturestv.bsky.social until 8th November
⬆️🔉🔊⬆️
November 6, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Louis Jourdan in ‘Count Dracula’ (BBC 1977)
- available to stream in the UK on @talkingpicturestv.bsky.social until 8th November
⬆️🔉🔊⬆️
- available to stream in the UK on @talkingpicturestv.bsky.social until 8th November
⬆️🔉🔊⬆️
Our #Playmakers project has reached the stage where I can sit in a café, drumming out pentameters on the table with my fingers & searching the OED for the non-anachronistic mot juste.
#AmWriting
#CunningFlorentines
#VeryFirstDraft
#AmWriting
#CunningFlorentines
#VeryFirstDraft
![1.1. Cunning scratch
Great Venice welcomes you, our honoured guests,
The lions of st marks do roar their x. [praise] [your xx roar] a golden jewel in an azure sea, This xx city now so [filled/runs/flows] with gold That [xxx] we cannot choose but build A [massive] treasury beyond the xx dreams [scrambling] Of Babel's ancient tow'ring engineers To store and safeguard all our xx wealth.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:24k7knxe3drox5waa6rsh3ay/bafkreibjo7cm5aollohtzcqzjkozqqsrijcdg4dc4w3zcnnmursnzo247e@jpeg)
November 5, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Our #Playmakers project has reached the stage where I can sit in a café, drumming out pentameters on the table with my fingers & searching the OED for the non-anachronistic mot juste.
#AmWriting
#CunningFlorentines
#VeryFirstDraft
#AmWriting
#CunningFlorentines
#VeryFirstDraft
Reposted by Adam B
Reposted by Adam B
if you want to know what happened to Teen Vogue yesterday, my work wife @allegrak.bsky.social — who ran our politics section for 6 years until this past June — said it all in this.
can't even pull out a favorite part til I sign my separation letter lol, just read the whole thing.
can't even pull out a favorite part til I sign my separation letter lol, just read the whole thing.
What We Lost When Condé Nast Unceremoniously Shuttered Teen Vogue
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news...
talkingpointsmemo.com
November 4, 2025 at 5:14 PM
if you want to know what happened to Teen Vogue yesterday, my work wife @allegrak.bsky.social — who ran our politics section for 6 years until this past June — said it all in this.
can't even pull out a favorite part til I sign my separation letter lol, just read the whole thing.
can't even pull out a favorite part til I sign my separation letter lol, just read the whole thing.
From the documentary Our Mister Shakespeare (1944) - a travelogue of Stratford Upon Avon & the surrounding area, including this and one other scene from #Shakespeare
- unclear who the actors are playing Hamlet & Ophelia. Does anyone recognise them?
- unclear who the actors are playing Hamlet & Ophelia. Does anyone recognise them?
November 4, 2025 at 3:46 PM
From the documentary Our Mister Shakespeare (1944) - a travelogue of Stratford Upon Avon & the surrounding area, including this and one other scene from #Shakespeare
- unclear who the actors are playing Hamlet & Ophelia. Does anyone recognise them?
- unclear who the actors are playing Hamlet & Ophelia. Does anyone recognise them?
The Magisterium’s Musical Exorcism Unit attempting the capture & removal of an irregular rodent daemon from the pipes of what has come to be known as the Cathedral’s Marvelous Mechanical Mouse Organ.
November 4, 2025 at 1:54 PM
The Magisterium’s Musical Exorcism Unit attempting the capture & removal of an irregular rodent daemon from the pipes of what has come to be known as the Cathedral’s Marvelous Mechanical Mouse Organ.
Reposted by Adam B
Stars and Statues Made Human, Olympian Knights, Princes of Virginia!
This Wednesday in REP we read three masques for the Lady Elizabeth’s Wedding in 1613.
- written by Chapman & Beaumont, designs by Inigo Jones, music by Johnson, Coprario & Confesse
No Farthingales May Be Worn
This Wednesday in REP we read three masques for the Lady Elizabeth’s Wedding in 1613.
- written by Chapman & Beaumont, designs by Inigo Jones, music by Johnson, Coprario & Confesse
No Farthingales May Be Worn
November 4, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Stars and Statues Made Human, Olympian Knights, Princes of Virginia!
This Wednesday in REP we read three masques for the Lady Elizabeth’s Wedding in 1613.
- written by Chapman & Beaumont, designs by Inigo Jones, music by Johnson, Coprario & Confesse
No Farthingales May Be Worn
This Wednesday in REP we read three masques for the Lady Elizabeth’s Wedding in 1613.
- written by Chapman & Beaumont, designs by Inigo Jones, music by Johnson, Coprario & Confesse
No Farthingales May Be Worn