Plenty of Nothing

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Astroblemes of Québec: Lac la Moinerie

The Lac le Moinerie Crater lies south of Ungava Bay, but when it was formed 400 million years ago the landforms were a bit different. Source.

Battaglia delle Arance

It's the annual Battle of the Oranges in Ivrea, northern Italy. Nine squads of orange-hurlers defend their turf against the cart-riding henchmen of the odious Duke. Here we have the Tuchini del Borghetto in their green and red kit. The event dramatizes the historic tension between town and castle, but nobody's really sure how oranges got into it.

Garden Sheds

During a typical close season Tannadice can produce 400 to 500 bushels of cucumber.

Dundee United host Morton. Morton have yet to beat the Tangerines in league play this year. United won the first match, and the second ended in a scoreless draw. Morton did knock United out of their League Cup quarter-final though.

The last time Morton beat Dundee United in league play was September 5th, 1981. The last time they did it at Tanadice was September 9th, 1978.

If Morton win today, and Falkirk lose or play to a draw against Dumbarton, Morton will move into second place.

After 24 games Morton have 11 wins, 8 draws, and 5 losses, for 41 points, putting them on track for 61.5 points. In 2012-13 Morton finished second with 67 points. In 2014-15 they won League One with 69 points.

[1 - 1. Morton goal by Kilday. Falkirk also end up in a draw, so the three clubs maintain their relative positions. Match report.]

1898-99. Today in the G&WofSFL Morton hosted Linthouse and either won 9 - 3, or 9 - 1, or it was a 3 - 3 draw. There are contradictory reports.

What are Dundee United's highlights for the 21st Century so far?

Scottish Cup    won    2009-10

League Cup    runners-up    2004-05, 2013-14

League    Premier League, 3rd place    2009-10

Challenge Cup    final    2016-17

How many Scottish League games have Dundee United played against the other 2016-17 Championship clubs?

Hibs                    176

Dunfermline        138

St Mirren             121

Morton                 94

Falkirk                  77

Dumbarton           73

Ayr United            68

Raith Rovers        45

QoS                      19

How is Dundee United like Morton?

Hardly at all.

Which clubs have played the most games against Morton this decade (starting 2010-11)?

24            Raith, Falkirk

21            Queen of the South

18            Dumbarton

17            Livingston

14            Dunfermline, Hamilton

Hibs beat Hearts in their Scottish Cup fifth round replay on Wednesday.

Copa Liberadores, third stage, leg two: [Wed Thur]

Deportivo Capiatá (PAR) 0 - 1 Atlético Paranaense (BRA)

Olimpia (PAR) 1 - 0 Botafogo (BRA)

The Strongest (BOL) 5 - 0 Unión Española (CHI)

Atlético Tucumán (ARG) 3 - 1 Junior (COL)

Paranaense, Botafogo, The Strongest and Tucumán advance to the group stage.

It was Round One of the AFC Champions League group stage this week. Let's follow the Japanese clubs again.

Group E: Kashima Antlers 2 - 0 Ulsan Hyundai

Group F: Western Sydney Wanderers 0 - 4 Urawa Red Diamonds

Group G: Kawasaki Frontale 1 - 1 Suwon Samsung Bluewings

Group H: Adelaide United 0 - 3 Gamba Osaka

The OFC Champions League has reached the group stage. Groups A and B play their matches over the next week, and Groups C and D go in mid-March. All Group A and Group B games are being played in New Caledonia. Today's games:

Group A

Madang Fox (Papua New Guinea) [3 - 7] Central Sport (French Polynesia)

Lupe o le Soaga (Samoa) [1 - 2] Magenta (New Caledonia)

Group B

Puaikura (Cook Islands) [1 - 4] Team Wellington (NZ)

Ba (Fiji) [1 - 1] Hienghène Sport (New Caledonia)

Who could not love a football club named Ba?

It's the Caribbean Football Union Club Championship. Like the OFC the CFU is not made of travel money, so the tournament is designed to keep the air trips to a minimum. It starts with a group stage. Group A is playing in Antiqua as we speak. The clubs are Hoppers (Antiqua), Bequia United (Saint Vincent), Inter Moengotapoe (Suriname) and Racing Football Club des Gônaïves (Haiti). Top club moves on. For Love and Rockets reasons I'm pulling for Hoppers.

Wednesday

Racing des Gônaïves 2 - 2 Inter Moengotapoe

Hoppers 2 - 1 Bequia United

Friday

Bequia United 0 - 4 Racing des Gônaïves

Hoppers 0 - 2 Inter Moengotapoe

Tomorrow

Inter Moengotapoe [4 - 1] Bequia United

Hoppers [0 - 2] Racing des Gônaïves

Racing move on to the final round.

Europa League, Round of 32, second leg:

Genk 1 - 0 Astra Giurgiu

Tottenham Hotspur 2 - 2 Gent

Genk and Gent both advance to the Round of 16 [where they meet each other!]

Swiss Challenge League: Schaffhausen [2 - 1] Winterthur

Largs Thistle [4 - 1] Kilbirnie Ladeside

The J1 schedule starts today, J2 tomorrow. The League of Ireland started yesterday.

Morton's girls' football program has grown up to the point where they have a women's team. Morton Women will be playing in the SWFL Division 2 West this year. Their first game is tomorrow in Kilwinning. [Postponed.]

Greenock Juniors are in financial straits.

Cowdenbeath have suspended defender Dean Brett for betting on the club to lose. The club are currently last in the SPFL and if they find themselves swapping places with East Kilbride in the spring it's hard to see how Brett won't have his name tied forever to that relegation.

Planet Westmalle

Westmalle, official beer of planet TRAPPIST-1c.

I think Poul Andersen had a planet called Westfall, or maybe it was an alternate history Viking America. Anyway, given the number of stars in the universe, and the number of planets around those stars, and the number of physical features on each of those planets, everyone and everything on earth that ever had a name will likely one day be called upon to lend it to something in the night sky.

Mori Ogai Museum, Berlin

Japanese novelist Mori Ogai, who studied medicine in Berlin, has a museum dedicated to him at the corner of Luisenstrasse and Marienstrasse in Berlin. Source. His autobiographical novel Vita Sexualis is the least salacious tell-all in the history of publishing.

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

The new Elbphilharmonie Hamburg sits on the point of land formerly occupied by the Kaispeicher A warehouse. Sources: 1), 2)

Beehive Panel

Painted beehive panels are a folk art thing in Slovenia. Because cartoonists draw things in panels, and then sit on panels to talk about them, a group of Slovenian cartoonists produced this anthology inspired by the beehive panel format.

Atop Duke

Nyckelharpa

The nyckelharpa is a fiddle with a box of keys for extra tuneability. You can spot them in Medieval paintings, but still hear them played today by Swedes. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts has a nickelharpa.