Plenty of Nothing

Bruin and Jamieson

This statue in Dundee commemorates the day in 1878 when a polar bear got loose and terrorized the employees of Jamieson's, Clothier and Outfitter. Source.

Morton visit Dundee United for a league fixture postponed from December 2nd. United are top of the division with 52 points. Morton are fourth with 37. Both teams have a loss and a draw in the last two games.

[Morton 0 - 1 Dundee United.]

Also in the Championship:

Dunfermline (5th) [0 - 2] Airdrieonians (6th)

Other matches:

Tranent [2 - 1] Linlithgow Rose

Aberdeenshire Cup (tomorrow):

Aberdeen [1 - 2] Inverurie Loco Works

Fraserburgh [2 - 5] Buckie Thistle

AFC Champions League, QF, leg 1:

Shandong Taishan [1 - 2] Yokohama F. Marinos (tomorrow)

An MLS game was played Saturday in Utah in blizzard conditions with lightning. Story.

The 2024 J League Cup has been expanded to include all 60 clubs. The first round is a group stage, but instead of the usual round robin each group will play a knockout tournament, so clubs will be getting eliminated from day one. Mito HollyHock are in Group 9 with FC Tokyo (J1), Sagan Tosu (J1), Roasso Kumamoto (J2), YSCC Yokohama (J3) and Fukushima United (J3). The first game is tomorrow:

YSCC Yokohama [1 - 0] Mito HollyHock

Bear Mosaic

Mosaic bear from the remains of Roman Bulla Regia in Tunisia. Source.

Head of a Bear

Sketch of the head of a bear, by Leonardo da Vinci. Source.

Finnish Classics Illustrated Comics

Classics Illustrated Comics were published in Finnish too. Again, most of them were translations of the American versions. But there were also a few based on the writings of Zachris Topelius, the 19th-century Finnish nationalist. Source. See here for a discussion in Finnish.

Bear and Strawberry Tree, Madrid

Source. The coat of arms of Madrid includes a bear eating out of a strawberry tree or madroño.

A Bearpit in Bern

Source.

Wojtek the Soldier Bear

Wojtek the Soldier Bear was bought by members of the Polish II Corps in 1942 in Iran. In order to secure food and transport for him he was formally enrolled in the Polish Army as a private soldier. He served in Italy as a transport animal and was promoted to corporal. (The emblem of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company is a bear carrying an artillery shell.) After the war Wojtek lived in the Edinburgh Zoo, and now there's a statue to him near Edinburgh Castle. Source.

Papyrus 3053 Bear

At the British Museum.

Medieval Bears

Gaston Phébus, Livre de la chasse, Paris 15th century (BnF, Français 616, fol. 27v).

Allegory of Bern

By Joseph Werner.