medievalmvb
@medievalmvb.bsky.social
medievalist (researching climate in medieval literature) | working remotely at Durham University, UK | lost decade at The SunBreak & Seattlest | outdoor photographer see https://mikevanbaker.myportfolio.com/work
Recently saw Claude Chabrol’s homage to Alice in Wonderland (1977), a young wife leaves her husband abruptly, crashes her car, ends up in a haunted chateau. It’s Sylvia Krystel! She’s quite good. Anyway (it’s in the title) it’s all a death fugue because ‘70s misogyny innit. THE FUNNY THING… (1
January 7, 2026 at 7:24 AM
Recently saw Claude Chabrol’s homage to Alice in Wonderland (1977), a young wife leaves her husband abruptly, crashes her car, ends up in a haunted chateau. It’s Sylvia Krystel! She’s quite good. Anyway (it’s in the title) it’s all a death fugue because ‘70s misogyny innit. THE FUNNY THING… (1
Reposted by medievalmvb
Replying to @medievalmvb.bsky.social:
Aha! The beasts of the field are wiser than our justices. They know a moving feast when they see it, and wait with more patience than a constable at a debtor's door. I have worn that same hungry look myself, waiting for a fresh-baked pie.
Aha! The beasts of the field are wiser than our justices. They know a moving feast when they see it, and wait with more patience than a constable at a debtor's door. I have worn that same hungry look myself, waiting for a fresh-baked pie.
January 7, 2026 at 4:23 AM
Replying to @medievalmvb.bsky.social:
Aha! The beasts of the field are wiser than our justices. They know a moving feast when they see it, and wait with more patience than a constable at a debtor's door. I have worn that same hungry look myself, waiting for a fresh-baked pie.
Aha! The beasts of the field are wiser than our justices. They know a moving feast when they see it, and wait with more patience than a constable at a debtor's door. I have worn that same hungry look myself, waiting for a fresh-baked pie.
Reposted by medievalmvb
God forbid i catch a vibe
January 7, 2026 at 1:55 AM
God forbid i catch a vibe
this is the single biggest thing, the DNC has been selecting for bigger & bigger rules wonks for decades, leveraging institutional inertia—but the other side has simply decided to stop playing that game and D leadership is largely unfit for anything else
tl:dr- Schumer is not a wartime consigliere
January 7, 2026 at 1:37 AM
this is the single biggest thing, the DNC has been selecting for bigger & bigger rules wonks for decades, leveraging institutional inertia—but the other side has simply decided to stop playing that game and D leadership is largely unfit for anything else
the rangers tell you the lions don't think of tourists in open jeeps as a food source but...
they line the road when it's time for the airport run and I know what waiting for the vending machine to drop a stuck packet of crisps looks like #kapama
they line the road when it's time for the airport run and I know what waiting for the vending machine to drop a stuck packet of crisps looks like #kapama
January 6, 2026 at 10:19 PM
the rangers tell you the lions don't think of tourists in open jeeps as a food source but...
they line the road when it's time for the airport run and I know what waiting for the vending machine to drop a stuck packet of crisps looks like #kapama
they line the road when it's time for the airport run and I know what waiting for the vending machine to drop a stuck packet of crisps looks like #kapama
some good news, I found the missing bay leaf in the leftovers
January 6, 2026 at 8:55 PM
some good news, I found the missing bay leaf in the leftovers
Reposted by medievalmvb
Some people demean ‘to ax’ as a variant of ‘to ask’, but it’s at least 1200 years old.
It stems from Old English ‘ācsian’ with /ks/, a variant of ‘āscian’ with /sk/. Later, Chaucer used both ‘axen’ and ‘asken’.
Swapping two sounds is called metathesis.
More examples from English and its sisters:
It stems from Old English ‘ācsian’ with /ks/, a variant of ‘āscian’ with /sk/. Later, Chaucer used both ‘axen’ and ‘asken’.
Swapping two sounds is called metathesis.
More examples from English and its sisters:
January 6, 2026 at 6:41 PM
Some people demean ‘to ax’ as a variant of ‘to ask’, but it’s at least 1200 years old.
It stems from Old English ‘ācsian’ with /ks/, a variant of ‘āscian’ with /sk/. Later, Chaucer used both ‘axen’ and ‘asken’.
Swapping two sounds is called metathesis.
More examples from English and its sisters:
It stems from Old English ‘ācsian’ with /ks/, a variant of ‘āscian’ with /sk/. Later, Chaucer used both ‘axen’ and ‘asken’.
Swapping two sounds is called metathesis.
More examples from English and its sisters:
Reposted by medievalmvb
Excuse me, do these antidepressants have added protein?
January 6, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Excuse me, do these antidepressants have added protein?
“once an online community reaches a certain size bad behavior is inevitable”
Agreed. Yet, I wonder if we can’t create safer social media streets. Pile-on feedback (-/+) only ranges from harmful to neutral, for instance. There’s no hedonic benefit to, say, 60K v. 10K likes. (1
Agreed. Yet, I wonder if we can’t create safer social media streets. Pile-on feedback (-/+) only ranges from harmful to neutral, for instance. There’s no hedonic benefit to, say, 60K v. 10K likes. (1
January 5, 2026 at 11:45 PM
“once an online community reaches a certain size bad behavior is inevitable”
Agreed. Yet, I wonder if we can’t create safer social media streets. Pile-on feedback (-/+) only ranges from harmful to neutral, for instance. There’s no hedonic benefit to, say, 60K v. 10K likes. (1
Agreed. Yet, I wonder if we can’t create safer social media streets. Pile-on feedback (-/+) only ranges from harmful to neutral, for instance. There’s no hedonic benefit to, say, 60K v. 10K likes. (1
“Every major tech company has watched their leadership abandon principles that were once thought sacrosanct.”
without taking anything away from Anil’s focus, “major company” works as well—tech is more visible in media I think but the “principle thing” is widespread
without taking anything away from Anil’s focus, “major company” works as well—tech is more visible in media I think but the “principle thing” is widespread
The number one thing I've been hearing from people in tech lately is, basically, "How the hell am I supposed to work in this industry anymore?" Though most folks are kind of afraid to say it out loud. So I wrote about how to think about it: www.anildash.com/2026/01/05/a...
How the hell are you supposed to have a career in tech in 2026? - Anil Dash
A blog about making culture. Since 1999.
www.anildash.com
January 5, 2026 at 10:29 PM
“Every major tech company has watched their leadership abandon principles that were once thought sacrosanct.”
without taking anything away from Anil’s focus, “major company” works as well—tech is more visible in media I think but the “principle thing” is widespread
without taking anything away from Anil’s focus, “major company” works as well—tech is more visible in media I think but the “principle thing” is widespread
January 5, 2026 at 9:50 PM
“yeah it’s a text-based game based on Andor and your ship crashes on a planet called Bluesky and you try to avoid being ambushed by rogue bands of squabbling guerillas called the Brigadiers”
January 5, 2026 at 9:04 PM
“yeah it’s a text-based game based on Andor and your ship crashes on a planet called Bluesky and you try to avoid being ambushed by rogue bands of squabbling guerillas called the Brigadiers”
A rotten apple *spoils the barrel*
The customer is always right *in matters of taste*
Great minds think alike *though fools seldom differ*
Here's the one everyone seems to miss:
*The love of* money is the root of all evil
Misquoting the Bible for personal gain is kinda their thing though
Great minds think alike *though fools seldom differ*
Here's the one everyone seems to miss:
*The love of* money is the root of all evil
Misquoting the Bible for personal gain is kinda their thing though
January 5, 2026 at 7:27 PM
A rotten apple *spoils the barrel*
Reposted by medievalmvb
January 14 is the octave of Saint Knud the Duke, or Knud Lavard, the son of a Danish king who was killed on January 7, 1131, & who became an important saint in medieval Denmark. In the Middle Ages, it was common to also celebrate the octave of important feasts.
January 5, 2026 at 7:10 PM
January 14 is the octave of Saint Knud the Duke, or Knud Lavard, the son of a Danish king who was killed on January 7, 1131, & who became an important saint in medieval Denmark. In the Middle Ages, it was common to also celebrate the octave of important feasts.
Reposted by medievalmvb
I see several people suggesting that the Christmas tree & decorations should be gone by Epiphany, which is tomorrow.
This year, as per usual, I intend to adhere strictly to the Norwegian idiom "twentieth-day Knud (or Canute) chases Christmas out", meaning that everything stays up until January 14.
This year, as per usual, I intend to adhere strictly to the Norwegian idiom "twentieth-day Knud (or Canute) chases Christmas out", meaning that everything stays up until January 14.
January 5, 2026 at 7:08 PM
I see several people suggesting that the Christmas tree & decorations should be gone by Epiphany, which is tomorrow.
This year, as per usual, I intend to adhere strictly to the Norwegian idiom "twentieth-day Knud (or Canute) chases Christmas out", meaning that everything stays up until January 14.
This year, as per usual, I intend to adhere strictly to the Norwegian idiom "twentieth-day Knud (or Canute) chases Christmas out", meaning that everything stays up until January 14.
in the Fellowship of the Special Forces Ring, Frodo kills Pippin & Merry as soon as they pop up in the field, and pins their deaths on Sam, correctly maintaining opsec
January 5, 2026 at 6:42 AM
in the Fellowship of the Special Forces Ring, Frodo kills Pippin & Merry as soon as they pop up in the field, and pins their deaths on Sam, correctly maintaining opsec
they finally sent a poet
That wasn’t even a scramble from Rodgers. It was a runny egg that gave someone salmonella.
January 5, 2026 at 2:19 AM
they finally sent a poet
Anna’s hummingbird running a pre-flight check
January 4, 2026 at 12:08 AM
Anna’s hummingbird running a pre-flight check
Reposted by medievalmvb
In the early hours of this test, @cnn.com is showing poorly. Its focus on the logistics of the military operation is sorely misplaced. In the decades to come, few will care about how the U.S. invaded Venezuela, but rather why it did, under what authorization it did, and what was to follow.
January 3, 2026 at 8:33 PM
In the early hours of this test, @cnn.com is showing poorly. Its focus on the logistics of the military operation is sorely misplaced. In the decades to come, few will care about how the U.S. invaded Venezuela, but rather why it did, under what authorization it did, and what was to follow.
Paul Musgrave, writing about the recent “hostile takeover,” thinks it likely that it will be treated as a successful fait accompli by media and Congress (can’t unscramble an omelette), concluding:
January 3, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Paul Musgrave, writing about the recent “hostile takeover,” thinks it likely that it will be treated as a successful fait accompli by media and Congress (can’t unscramble an omelette), concluding:
Reposted by medievalmvb
he’s monologuing his crimes like a pixar villain—it’s not even that he can’t help himself, it’s that he has no conception of lawfulness, it’s like explaining cold fission to a sea cucumber
did he just say we’re going to run the country
January 3, 2026 at 5:21 PM
he’s monologuing his crimes like a pixar villain—it’s not even that he can’t help himself, it’s that he has no conception of lawfulness, it’s like explaining cold fission to a sea cucumber
Reposted by medievalmvb
Going outside to bang pots and pans together to thank content creators
January 3, 2026 at 5:25 AM
Going outside to bang pots and pans together to thank content creators
I’ve been working on new business names that nod more to the Hobbity heart of LotR than Palantir & Sauron
By Gamgees! Sammiches of Ham ‘n’ Cheese
Fro-Do Frozen Cookie Dough
Full of Toques! (Canadian franchise)
By Gamgees! Sammiches of Ham ‘n’ Cheese
Fro-Do Frozen Cookie Dough
Full of Toques! (Canadian franchise)
January 3, 2026 at 5:45 AM
I’ve been working on new business names that nod more to the Hobbity heart of LotR than Palantir & Sauron
By Gamgees! Sammiches of Ham ‘n’ Cheese
Fro-Do Frozen Cookie Dough
Full of Toques! (Canadian franchise)
By Gamgees! Sammiches of Ham ‘n’ Cheese
Fro-Do Frozen Cookie Dough
Full of Toques! (Canadian franchise)