Plenty of Nothing

The Turn of the Tide

"Will he revert to a 4 - 4 - 2 formation after the half?" The Turn of the Tide, by John Duncan.

Morton visit Forfar Athletic for an afternoon of Seaside League association football action. This is League One Match of the Day. Forfar occupy second place in the table, while Morton are a point behind them in third place. Either side can take over first today, if only Stranraer lose. However, Stranraer are playing Stirling.

Forfar's Dick Campbell is the longest serving of current SPFL managers. He started in May 2008.

[Morton win 2 - 1. McKee and MacDonald score. As expected, Stranraer also win. Morton are in second place.]

It's the semi-finals of the Scottish League Cup. Aberdeen versus Dundee United today; Celtic versus Rangers tomorrow; both matches at Hampden Park. The Aberdeen - Dundee United game preempts a league match between ... Aberdeen and Dundee United. Both Celtic and Dundee United are in contention for the Treble. [Dundee United win. Celtic win.]

Genji Ehon

The cover of a Meiji-era ehon of Genji Monogatari, chapter 24. Note the genji-mon, and the lurid 19th-century industrial inks. See here for more pages.

Scooter

Netiquette 1993

Take a look at this CBC item from 1993, when the internet first became a cultural space. Quote:

    There's an interesting kind of restraint that you find. I mean, there's not a lot of cursing or swearing, there's not a lot of personal cuts, there's not a lot of put-downs that one would expect to find. It's not screenfuls of "Go to hell," which is surprising. So the liberation is mixed. It's interesting because one would think it you're anonymous you'd do anything you want. But people in a group have their own sense of community and what we can do.

Brother and Sister

These portraits of Kamehameha III and Nahi'ena'ena' were painted by Robert Dampier in 1825 and can be found in the Honolulu Museum of Art.

Dragon and Fox

Check out the line work in this 17th-century Persian dragon. You'd think that China and Northern Germany were next door neighbours. Source.

Unarigoe, Chapter 5, Page 19

Airt and Pairt

James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, was Regent of Scotland from 1572-79, during the minority of James VI. He introduced the Maiden, a primitive guillotine he had seen in use in Halifax, Yorkshire, to Scotland. After his fall from power he was implicated in the murder of Darnley and subsequently beheaded with it. "Airt and pairt" is Scots legalese for contrivance and participation.

What SPFL clubs have the same name as a Scottish peer? Hamilton, Montrose (both Dukes); Morton, Elgin, Dundee and Aberdeen (all Earls).

Dunfermline Athletic travel to Cappielow. Today's kickoff is delayed until 17:30 GMT to accommodate BBC Alba, who are broadcasting the match in Gaelic. The BBC programmers must have pencilled in this meeeting when the season was young and Dunfermline were expected to hold first place and Morton second. But going into today's play Morton are third and the Pars a demoralizing fifth. Fifth doesn't make the playoffs. Three years ago the Pars were in the SPL. Morton have won both previous meetings 2 - 1.

Michael Tidser is back with the club! He's signed a contract for two and a half years. No, wait! FIFA says he can't play this season because he has already appeared for two clubs. The Cowshed's setting up the Maiden.

[Morton win 2 - 0. Goals by Caldwell and MacDonald.]

Scottish Junior Cup, Fourth Round:

Port Glasgow 0 - 4 Auchinleck Talbot

Genji Snowball

This yamato-e folding screen of chapter 20, "Asagao", was painted by Nansei Sakagami, who was born in 1947. Website. Although the chapter is named after the morning glory or bluebell, it's always the giant snowball that gets pictured.

Catherine of Saxony as Salome

Lucas Cranach the Elder and his studio cranked out multiple images of Judith and Salome, the Biblical decapitatrices. (You can tell the one from the other because Salome always brings the head in on a platter.) Cranach's female figures are generally small-shouldered, slouchy, wan look-alikes. But this Salome, held in the Musea Nacional de Arte Antiga in Lisbon, is a portrait of a real individual, Catherine of Saxony.