Plenty of Nothing

Massacre of the Suitors

Ulysse et Télémaque massacrent les prétendants de Pénélope (1812) by Louis-Vincent-Léon Pallière. Source.

Shiramizu Amidado

One of only three Heian buildings left in Tohoku, Shiramizu Amidado in Iwaki is a designated Historical Treasure.  Source.

The Dredger Greenock

The Greenock was an iron steam dredger launched in 1876. It worked deepening the Clyde shipping channel until 1902, when it was struck and sunk by SS Ape a little south of the Cloch Lighthouse. Source. Ape was renamed Fetlar in 1918, and ran aground at St. Malo the following year. Source.

Morton host Ayr United. Ayr are second in the division with 18 points, Morton seventh with 13 points.

Morton have not lost at Cappielow since April 9th, but they have not beaten Ayr since Jan 28th, 2017.

The game begins at 19:45 GMT. Sundown was at 16:46. This is the week of the year when Scotland is only three hours ahead of Nova Scotia.

This match doubles as a fixture in the Championship League Cup, Round Two.

The other Championship matches:

Alloa (9th) [0 - 3] Dundee (4th)

Dundee United (1st) [1 - 0] Partick Thistle (10th)

Dunfermline (8th) [2 - 0] Arbroath (5th)

Queen of the South (6th) [0 - 2] Inverness CT (3rd)

[Morton 2 - 3 Ayr. Morton goals by Baird and McHugh.]

League One are not in action tonight.

Scottish Challenge Cup:

Solihull Moors [3 - 3] Rangers colts [Rangers colts win on PK.]

Port Glasgow Athletic versus Ayr United. These two played together in the SFL Division Two in 1910-11, which was Ayr United's first season and Port's last. They each took one win.

Port Glasgow had played 10 Division Two matches against Ayr United's forerunner Ayr FC. Port took six wins, Ayr FC three wins, with one draw. They also met in round three of the 1887-88 Scottish Cup; Ayr FC advanced.

Port Glasgow met Ayr Parkhouse (Ayr United's other parent) in round one of the 1907-08 Scottish Cup and won handily, 7 - 2.

Which teams have got through a (more or less) complete Scottish League season with 0 draws?

1893-94    Partick Thistle (18 games)

1894-95    Clyde (18), Renton (17)

1895-96    Celtic, Hearts, Dumbarton (18)

1896-97    St Bernard's, Clyde (18)

1898-99    Rangers (18)

1899-00    Clyde, Morton, Port Glasgow (18)

1900-01    Port Glasgow, Ayr (18)

1907-08    Ayr Parkhouse (22)

1925-26    Peebles Rovers (26)

1944-45    Clyde (30)

Davie Irons' managerial record against Morton:

1997/4/26      Clydebank 0 - 1 Morton      league

2008/1/12      Morton 2 - 2 Gretna            Scottish Cup

2008/1/28      Gretna 0 - 3 Morton            Scottish Cup

The Mirror of Venus

Lago Specchio di Venere is a lake contained in a volcanic crater on the island of Pantelleria between Sicily and Tunisia. Source.

Christoph Niemann's Brexit

Chritoph Niemann's The Illustrated Guide to Brexit is gorgeous.

Alasdair Gray's Third Lanark

Art from Alasdair Gray's Lanark: Book Three. Source.

Inverness CT visit Cappielow.

ICT are in third place with 17 points, just 1 point behind Dundee United and Ayr. Morton hold eighth place, only 2 points out of tenth. If Morton lose today, and Partick and Alloa win, Morton will be in last place.

Coming into this weekend only 10 points separated the first- and last-place clubs in the Championship.

The season is one-quarter over. Morton have 3 wins, 1 draw and 5 losses for 10 points, which puts them on track for 40 at the end of the schedule.

How many points has Morton had at the 1/4 mark each year this decade?

2010          8        2W 2D 5L

2011        14        4W 2D 3L

2012        18        5W 3D 1L

2013          6        1W 3D 5L

2014        15        5W 0D 4L

2015        10        2W 4D 3L

2016        12        3W 3D 3L

2017        14        4W 2D 3L

2018        13        3W 4D 2L

2019        10        3W 1D 5L

If you sort these figures into a league table, this year's team is tied for seventh place.

Current winless streaks (league + cup):

0        Queen of the South

0        Dunfermline

0        Arbroath

0        Partick Thistle

1        Inverness CT

1        Dundee

2        Dundee United

2        Ayr United

2        Alloa

3        Morton

The other Championship matches:

Ayr United (2nd) 1 - 2 Dundee (5th) (last night)

Ayr have signed Mark Kerr as manager. He has played for half the teams in the Championship, but not Morton.

Alloa (9th) [2 - 2] Queen of the South (4th)

Dundee United (1st) [2 - 0] Dunfermline (7th)

Partick Thistle (10th) [1 - 3] Arbroath (6th)

[Morton win 2 - 1. Both Morton goals are by McHugh.]

League One:

Dumbarton (4th) [1 - 0] Peterhead (9th)

Falkirk (3rd) [0 - 1] Clyde (6th)

Forfar (7th) [1 - 4] Airdrieonians (5th)

Montrose (8th) [2 - 1] Stranraer (10th)

Raith Rovers (1st) [1 - 1] East Fife (2nd)

Match of the day.

1907-08: Morton visited Third Lanark and lost 2 - 0.

1963-64: Morton met Rangers in the League Cup final. Rangers won 5 - 0. It was the Ton's first defeat of the season and came in their 21st match. To date it's Morton's only League Cup final.

Scottish Cup, Round Two replays and rearranged matches:

Penicuik [3 - 0] Stenny

Brechin [0 - 2] Annan

Broxburn [3 - 0] Cowdenbeath

Fort William [0 - 5] Albion Rovers

Gala Fairydean Rovers [1 - 2] Formartine

BSC Glasgow [2 - 1] Lochee United (tomorrow)

Scottish Junior Cup, Round Three:

Auchinleck Talbot [3 - 0] Forfar West End

Beith [7 - 2] Whitletts Victoria

Benburb [2 - 1] Dyce

Petershill [1 - 0] Clydebank

Schotts Bon Accord [2 - 2] Hurlford

Bathgate Thistle [1 - 3] Irvine Meadow

Gartcairn [1 - 0] Kilbirnie Ladeside

Burghead Thistle [0 - 2] Kirkintilloch Rob Roy

Kirriemuir Thistle [3 - 1] Largs Thistle

This'll be a good one.

Linlithgow Rose Community [0 - 2] Pollok

Culter [0 - 1] Rossvale

Islavale [3 - 4] Rutherglen Glencairn

Troon [5 - 4] Kilsyth Rangers

Again, these are only the matches that involve West Region Premiership clubs.

The League of Ireland Premier Division finishes off this weekend. Dundalk have won the league handily, and UCD have finished last by a wide margin.

SPFL Reserve Cup: Morton 0 - 1 Dundee (Oct 21)

Swiss Challenge League: Winterthur [2 - 1] Chiasso

UEFA Europa League group stage, matchday 3 (Oct 24):

Celtic 2 - 1 Lazio

Porto 1 - 1 Rangers

Malmö 2 - 1 Lugano

AFC Champions League semifinals, second leg (Oct 23):

Guangzhou Evergrande 0 - 1 Urawa Red Diamonds

Reds advance.

CONCACAF League semifinals, first leg (Oct 24):

Alianza 1 - 1 Motagua

Olimpia 2 - 0 Saprissa

Canadian Premier League Championship, first leg (today):

Forge [1 - 0] Cavalry

Like the Canadian Premier League, the fourth-tier Japan Football League used an apertura/clausura system for five years this decade. How did that work out?

             apertura             clausura

2014    Honda FC          SP Kyoto FC

2015    Vanraure            Sony Sendai

2016    Ryutsu Keizai     Honda FC

2017    Honda FC          Honda FC

2018    Honda FC          Honda FC

Teams in bold won a two-legged championship. There was no championship held in 2017 or 2018; Honda was simply declared the winner.

About statistical Third Lanark:

Third Lanark were a Glasgow senior football club that operated from 1872 to 1967. They won the Scottish League title in 1903-04, and the Scottish Cup in 1888-89 and 1904-05.

Since 1994 they have haunted the league's second tier as a ghost team, collecting the discarded third point from matches that end in a draw and insinuating themselves into the division table in very faint print.

How have statistical Third Lanark fared year by year?

                      Pts    Position

1994-95         52        5.5th

1995-96         41        6.5th

1996-97         49        5.5th

1997-98         50        4.5th

1998-99         37        7.5th

1999-00         40        6.5th

2000-01         52        4.5th

2001-02         50        4.5th

2002-03         40        6.5th

2003-04         53        5.5th

2004-05         49        5.5th

2005-06         61        2.5th

2006-07         48        4.5th

2007-08         52        4.5th

2008-09         50        4.5th

2009-10         45        6.5th

2010-11         48        4.5th

2011-12         54        2.5th

2012-13         43        6.5th

2013-14         38        9.5th

2014-15         38        6.5th

2015-16         41        7.5th

2016-17         59        2.5th

2017-18         44        8.5th

2018-19         49        4.5th

Spacewalkers

Last week Jessica Meir and Christina Koch conducted the first all-female spacewalk. Source.

Kirk Douglas and the Bow

Kirk Douglas in Ulysses (1954). Source.

99th Emperor's Cup Quarter-Finals

The second National Stadium, opened in 1958, was the venue for every Emperor's Cup final from 1967 till 2013. Source.

Match No. 81: Vissel Kobe (J1) [1 - 0] Oita Trinita (J1)

Vissel Kobe are nicknamed Ushi (The Cows).

Match No. 82: Sagan Tosu (J1) [0 - 1] Shimizu S-Pulse (J1)

Shimizu S-Pulse won the cup in 2001.

Match No. 83: Kashima Antlers (J1) [1 - 0] Honda FC (JFL)

Kashima Antlers have won the Emperor's Cup five times.

Match No. 84: V-Varen Nagasaki (J2) [2 - 1] Ventforet Kofu (J2)

Vissel Kobe in the Emperor's Cup:

The club started out as Kawasaki Steel Mizushima.

63回    R1        Matsushita Electric 3 - 1 Kawasaki Steel Mizushima

66回    R1        Nissan Motors 3 - 0 Kawasaki Steel Mizushima

67回    R1        Kawasaki Steel Mizushima 1 - 5 Toyota Motors

Kawasaki Steel Mizushima changed its name to Kawasaki Steel in 1987.

71回    R1        ANA 0 - 1 Kawasaki Steel

            R2        Kawasaki Steel 1 - 1 Mazda (Kawasaki Steel won on PK.)

            QF        Kawasaki Steel 1 - 2 Nissan Motors

72回    R1        Kawasaki Steel 0 - 3 Shimizu S-Pulse

73回    R1        Doshisha University 2 - 4 Kawasaki Steel

            R2        Yokohama Marinos 2 - 1 Kawasaki Steel

74回    R1        Kawasaki Steel 2 - 1 Shimizu S-Pulse

            R2        Kyoto Purple Sanga 3 - 1 Kawasaki Steel

In 1995 Kawasaki Steel relocated to Kobe and became Vissel Kobe.

75回    R1        Vissel Kobe 2 - 0 Shimizu S-Pulse

            R2        Júbilo Iwata 0 - 2 Vissel Kobe

            QF        Vissel Kobe 0 - 2 Nagoya Grampus Eight

76回    R1        World Blitz Oyama 0 - 7 Vissel Kobe

            R2        Vissel Kobe 4 - 2 Mitsubishi Motors Mizushima

            R3        Kyoto Purple Sanga 4 - 3 Vissel Kobe

77回    R3        Vissel Kobe 2 - 1 Kawasaki Frontale

            R4        Kashiwa Reysol 2 - 1 Vissel Kobe

78回    R3        Consadole Sapporo 2 - 1 Vissel Kobe

79回    R3        Vissel Kobe 0 - 0 Montedio Yamagata (Montedio won on PK.)

80回    R3        Vissel Kobe 2 - 1 Jatco TT

            R4        Vissel Kobe 1 - 0 Sanfrecce Hiroshima

            QF        Vissel Kobe 2 - 2 Cerezo Osaka (Vissel won on PK.)

            SF        Shimizu S-Pulse 1 - 0 Vissel Kobe

81回    R3        Vissel Kobe 1 - 0 Montedio Yamagata

            R4        Urawa Red Diamonds 4 - 1 Vissel Kobe

82回    R3        Vissel Kobe 1 - 3 Kawasaki Frontale

83回    R3        Vissel Kobe 3 - 0 Montedio Yamagata

            R4        Vissel Kobe 2 - 2 FC Tokyo (Vissel won on PK.)

            QF        Cerezo Osaka 3 - 2 Vissel Kobe

84回    R4        Kawasaki Frontale 3 - 2 Vissel Kobe

85回    R4        Kashiwa Reysol 2 - 2 Vissel Kobe (Reysol won on PK.)

86回    R3        Vissel Kobe 2 - 4 YKK AP FC

87回    R4        Avispa Fukuoka 0 - 2 Vissel Kobe

            R5        Vissel Kobe 0 - 3 Kawasaki Frontale

88回    R4        Matsumoto Yamaga 0 - 8 Vissel Kobe

            R5        Sagan Tosu 5 - 2 Vissel Kobe

89回    R2        Vissel Kobe 5 - 0 Tokai University

            R3        Vissel Kobe 1 - 0 Kashiwa Reysol

            R4        Kashima Antlers 2 - 1 Vissel Kobe

90回    R2        MIO Biwako Shiga 0 - 2 Vissel Kobe

            R3        Vissel Kobe 1 - 2 Kashiwa Reysol

91回    R2        Vissel Kobe 8 - 0 Sanyo Electric Sumoto SC

            R3        FC Tokyo 2 - 1 Vissel Kobe

92回    R2        Vissel Kobe 1 - 2 Sagawa Shiga

93回    R2        Vissel Kobe 3 - 1 Nara Club

            R3        Cerezo Osaka 4 - 0 Vissel Kobe

94回    R2        Vissel Kobe 1 - 2 Kwansei Gakuin University

95回    R2        Vissel Kobe 5 - 0 AC Nagano Parceiro

            R3        Vissel Kobe 1 - 0 JEF United Chiba

            R4        Vissel Kobe 1 - 0 Yokohama F. Marinos

            QF        Vissel Kobe 0 - 3 Urawa Red Diamonds

96回    R2        Vissel Kobe 7 - 1 Suzuka Unlimited FC

            R3        Vissel Kobe 3 - 3 Montedio Yamagata (Vissel won on PK.)

            R4        Kashima Antlers 2 - 1 Vissel Kobe

97回    R2        Vissel Kobe 3 - 1 Kataller Toyama

            R3        Vissel Kobe 3 - 1 Zweigen Kanazawa

            R4        Matsumoto Yamaga 0 - 2 Vissel Kobe

            QF        Vissel Kobe 1 - 1 Kashima Antlers (Vissel won on PK.)

            SF        Vissel Kobe 1 - 3 Cerezo Osaka

98回    R2        Vissel Kobe 3 - 0 Fukuoka University

            R3        Vissel Kobe 6 - 1 JEF United Chiba

            R4        Sagan Tosu 3 - 0 Vissel Kobe

99回    R2        Vissel Kobe 4 - 0 Giravanz Kitakyushu

            R3        Vissel Kobe 4 - 0 Omiya Ardija

            R4        Vissel Kobe 3 - 2 Kawasaki Frontale

Banner #2 (1968)

Banner #2 (1968) by Doris McCarthy. Source.