Cromwell’s prayer book

in

via artnet:

Curators at Hever Castle were conducting research ahead of an exhibition comparing Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn when they realized Cromwell owned a version of the same Christian prayer book as Henry VIII’s two wives. The link? A portrait of the political giant by Hans Holbein the Younger.

In the portrait, which dates from 1532–33 and is part of the Frick Collection in New York, an austere-faced Cromwell gazes pensively away from the viewer. The painting celebrates Cromwell’s appointment as Master of the Jewel House (hence the prominence of the book’s jewel) and the tools of his statecraft rest on the table before him: a legal document, a quill, scissors, and his Book of Hours, printed in 1527.

The Hever Castle curators took their hunch to Trinity College and experts now believe its identification makes it the sole remaining object from any 16th-century portrait surviving today.


complete

in

With today's addition of DICK TRACY AND THE FROZEN BULLET MURDERS (online searches for which returned many a blender), my collection of Dell's 1936-41 Dick Tracy "Fast Action Story" (one of many Big Little Book competitors) series joins this hallowed tag – though I would, at some point, like to track down a better copy of CHAIN OF EVIDENCE…

summer project no. 1: pondside space

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Still a work-in-progress, but primary exertions on K’s outdoor, under-the-pergola, pondside space are complete (just before the first rain in 20 days began and brought our little “flash drought” to an end). First picture is how the area looked on Wednesday (which was itself an improvement) and the others are from today.

green coral bells, black weed fabric, a black frame chair, a blue and white rug, a brown wicker coffee table, a pond, and a lime green shed.

P.S. We got married under this very same pergola almost nine years ago.

DAREDEVIL (Johnson, 2003)

in

(Written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson; starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Michael Clarke Duncan, Colin Farrell, Jon Favreau, Keith David, and Ellen Pompeo. Released 14 February 2003; (re)watched 2023w23 via Max)

Bit late on publishing this one (rewatched it a week ago) but given that I haven't seen DD since its first DVD (or maybe even theatrical) release 20 years ago – and I still need to see Johnson's director's cut – I'll forgive my tardiness. The good news is that I enjoy it as much as I did the first time(s) through: the action scenes thrilled and hurt; the relationship between Foggy and Matt was better, I think, than the Netflix series (Foggy's perpetual Karen-ness, particularly in seasons two (loathed) and three (loved), grated and diminished an otherwise excellent performance from Elden Henson); Affleck – contrary to his own opinion – is a far more effective Matt Murdock / DD than Batman (though I do dig his Batman and wish we had gotten more of his Bats and Jeremy Irons's Alfred) and yes, I love the costume – even have the Marvel Legends action figure; Jennifer Garner, while remaining woefully miscast as Elektra, does her best with it (even making the hokey Matt/Elektra relationship scenes tolerable though apparently the director's cut diminishes the romance angle?) – a shame that her solo film was such an atrocity as she deserved far better; Keith David brought heartache and tragedy to Matt's origin as Battling Jack Murdock; and Michael Clarke Duncan (RIP - can't believe he's been gone for 11 years) and Colin Farrell were fantastic villains who I wanted to see more of – though I wish Farrell hadn't opted for the Tommy-Lee-Jones-as-Two-Face mode of supervillainy as it diminished much of his menace.

Next up: watch the director's cut and write about it sometime within the next 20 years.

attendance cards + ds106 daily create

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Very excited to see my little daily Attendance Cards being used and remixed via my good friend Kevin Hodgson and others as part of the DS106 Daily Create, a “a space for regular practice of spontaneous creativity through challenges published every day.” Here's my original, from the end of April:

And the first remix:

Followed by this fantastic bit of trippy by Alan Levine:

Which was made even tripper by John Johnston, in GIF form:

Which itself was then given a soundtrack in video form by Kevin:

So very, very cool: you may consider me duly honored and thoroughly chuffed.