Plenty of Nothing

The Jolly Beggars

A bronze relief of "The Jolly Beggars: A Cantata" by Robert Burns, on the Burns statue, Victoria Park, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Read it here.

2014 Emperor's Cup, Round Three

Nara Club tryouts.

It's Round Three of the 94th Emperor's Cup. 32 teams remain, including two amateur sides that have been in it since Round One.

Kwansei Gakuin University of Hyōgo Prefecture have advanced past Tochigi Prefecture champions Tochigi Uva, and then Vissel Kobe of J1, to get to Round Three.

Kwansei Gakuin have a lot of history with this tournament, having won the Cup seven times: as Kwangaku Club in 1929, 1930, 1958 and 1959; and as All Kwangaku in 1950, 1053 and 1955. (Kwangaku is shorthand for Kwansei Gakuin. Kwansei is the 19th-century English spelling of Kansei, archaic but Kwangaku alumni insist on it.)

The other Round One entrant still alive is Nara Club, who beat Fukushima United of J3 and then Vegalta Sendai of J1.

Nara was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784 AD.

Game 57: Sanfrecce Hiroshima versus Mito HollyHock [postponed]

Game 60: Shimizu S-Pulse [2 - 1] Consadole Sapporo

Game 62: Nara Club [0 - 5] Júbilo Iwata

Game 66: Ventforet Kofu [2 - 1] Kwansei Gakuin University

Meanwhile in Europe: Maribor [1 - 1] Celtic.

Berwick Again

Fifty years ago. Source.

It's Round Two of the Scottish Challenge Cup. Berwick Rangers make their second visit of the summer to Cappielow. Based on the first result, Morton should win today.

Q: The Scottish League Cup and the Challenge Cup begin in July or August, and Greenock Morton are usually out of both by September. Has Morton ever been alive in either of those two competitions by the time their first Scottish Cup match rolled around? A: No.

Q: In the years since the Challenge Cup came in and there were three cups to play for, what year was Morton busiest with cup competition? A: 1996-97 (5 Scottish Cup games + 2 Scottish League Cup games + 4 Challenge Cup games = 11). Q: Least busy? A: 2001-02 (3 opening round losses).

[Morton win 5 - 2. Morton goals by McManus (3), O'Ware, and J McCluskey who also got a red card.]

[Hearts bring a development squad to face Livi, a club in their own division, and lose 4 - 1. Eejits.]

The Sky in Hokusai

Look at the brilliant way the sky is represented in this ukiyo-e by Katsushika Hokusai. Mitsui Shop on Suruga Street in Edo, 1831.

A Procession in Antwerp, 1520

Albrecht Dürer Visiting Antwerp, by Henri Leys.

   On the Sunday after Assumption I saw the great procession of the Church of Our Lady of Antwerp, at which the whole town were present, all the crafts and ranks, each splendidly dressed according to his rank. Each guild and rank had its emblem by which it might be recognized. Before each group, great and splendid candles were carried, and long, silver Frankish trumpets. And there were also, like in Germany, many pipes and drums, blown loudly and beaten vigorously. I also saw in the procession the long train, widely spaced, of goldsmiths, painters, stonemasons, silk-borderers, sculptors, joiners, carpenters, sailors, fishermen, butchers, tanners, clothmakers, bakers, tailors, shoemakers, and every kind of craftsman and many artisans and traders ... Similarly there were the shopkeepers and merchants and their various assistants. There followed those who shoot with the gun, bow and arquebus, and the horsemen and infantry. And after them came a great contingent of the town's officials; and then, a cavalcade of distinguished men, nobly and splendidly, attired, proceded by the various Orders and Foundations in their different robes, and very devout. There was also in this procession a large group of widows, who supported themselves and observe a special rule, all dressed in white linen that covered them from head to foot, very moving to see. Among them I saw many distinguished persons. And at the end of the procession came the Chapter of the Church of Our Lady with all the priests and scholars in all their splendour. Twenty persons carried the Image of the Virgin and Child, adorned most magnificently, to the honour of the Lord. And in the procession were many magnificent things, splendidly contrived and adorned. There were many carts, and plays performed on ships, and other devices. Among these were the Prophets in their order, followed by the New Testament: thus, the Annunciation, the Three Kings mounted on large camels, and other strange beasts, ingeniously contrived, like Our Lady on the Flight into Egypt, very devout; and many another thing which for the sake of brevity we shall omit. Towards the end came a large dragon led by a girdle by Saint Margaret and her maidens, and she was especially lovely. There followed Saint George with his squires, a very charming knight. There also rode in this group boys and girls from many lands, splendidly dressed in their native costumes, representing different Saints. From the beginning to the end, the procession took more than two hours to pass our house. There was so much that I could not write it in a book, and I leave the rest ....

Albrecht Dürer, Diary, August 19th, 1520.

Where Are the Postal Prams of Yesteryear?

The postman wheels a basket of Royal Mail along the Greenock Promenade, 1938. Source.

Stranraer visit Cappielow for the first time since 2007, when both they and Morton played in the Second Division. Since then the Blues and the Ton have met three times in Stranraer in cup competition, Morton winning by scores of 6 - 3, 7 - 1, and 8 - 0. A big fat win would be just the thing for Morton in their 2014-15 home opener, to get the supporters onside, especially after last week's loss in Ayr. [Morton win 4 - 0. Goals by McManus (twice), McCluskey and Pepper.]

Hours before the loss at Ayr the club moved Fouad Bachirou to Östersunds FK, where Tomáš Peciar relocated in January. Brian Wake and Michael Tidser have also played for the Swedish club in the middle of Jämtland. Östersunds FK is a red and black club founded in 1996 and is playing only its second season in Sweden's second-tier league the Superettan. Two-thirds of the way through the season (Sweden is a summer football country) the club is just outside the promotion zone. Let's follow them. Today they visit 14th-place Husqvarna FF. [Game postponed.]

It's the preliminary round of the Scottish Cup today. Sixteen non-league clubs compete for eight places in Round One. Scottish Junior Cup winners Hurlford United host Edinburgh University. This preliminary round represents an expansion of the Scottish Cup to 90 teams, from 82 last year. [Hurlford 2 -2 Edinburgh Uni.]

[Celtic wrapped up the Premiership title today, beating Dundee United 6 - 1. The remaining 36 games look like a formality.]

Tomorrow Grulla Morioka host the national under-22 team. [Grulla win 2 - 1.]

Beatrice de Cardi

I recently read Beatrice de Cardi's name in a footnote in an archaeology book published in 1950, and thought I'd look her up and see who she was. Well, she isn't was, she's is. She just celebrated her 100th birthday (read about it here), seven years after this BBC segment labelled her the oldest archaeologist in the world. She learned her archaeology from Mortimer Wheeler at Maiden Castle in the Thirties, but made her mark in Pakistan and the Persian Gulf. D

[She died July 5th, 2016, age 102.]

Unfinished Brandt as St Anthony

Based on St Anthony by Albrecht Dürer. The place I was going to draw as a city on a hill no longer deserves the title, so I don't see myself finishing this. D

Helen Sharman by Philip Bond

Helen Sharman was the first Brit in space, spending a week onboard the Mir space station in May 1991. Meanwhile in the Nineties British cartoonist Philip Bond drew Kill Your Boyfriend and lots of Tank Girl. Via Apollo Kids Live.

Naruto Rules Montreal

This interactive map of the most popular titles in the Montreal library system shows that Naruto is the most popular title in the Montreal library system.