New year, new me, new #NewYearsResolution
I did this two years ago for 2024 but I'm bringing it back since I have a 80-100 film backlog built up, 365 new film watches (2025/26), that's one for each day of the year, pulling random titles out of the tub #Slartys2026FilmReview 🎞🎞🎞
This is what the British Isles looked like over 1,100 years ago, around 920 AD, during the Viking Age.
What’s fascinating is how different Britain was from the country we recognize today.
England had not yet been fully united into a single kingdom. Scotland was still developing as a kingdom, Wales was divided among several rulers, and Ireland consisted of competing Gaelic kingdoms alongside Viking settlements.
The Vikings weren’t just raiding coastal villages anymore. They had established towns, trading centers, and kingdoms of their own, including the powerful Viking kingdom centered in York.
Consider what had NOT happened yet:
The Norman Conquest of England was still 146 years away.
• William the Conqueror had not been born.
• The famous medieval stone castles that would later dominate the English countryside had largely not been built.
• The English language was still Old English, with major Norse influences developing.
• The Magna Carta was nearly 300 years away.
• The Black Death was more than 400 years away.
• The United Kingdom was still centuries from existence.
For ordinary people, life revolved around farming, raising livestock, small settlements, local markets, and the changing seasons. Most people lived in rural communities, while towns such as London, York, and Dublin were important centers of trade.
Christianity was already deeply established throughout much of the British Isles, although some Scandinavian settlers still practiced their ancestral religions or were in the process of converting.
And within just seven years of this map, in 927 AD, King Æthelstan would capture York and establish direct rule over the territories generally recognized as the first unified Kingdom of England. English Heritage +3
It’s remarkable how much history happened on these islands before England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland developed into the political entities we recognize today.
Women find me weird and creepy on a good day, the more normal I try to act the worse it gets.
At 45 it's easier to just enjoy my own company and not have to impress anyone.
NATO expansion is a myth. It is a Russian lie. Here is the map.
After World War II the Russians militarily occupied half the European continent. The Russians picked their leaders. They wrote their laws. They brutalized their people and took whatever they wanted.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, all of these peoples who had suffered immensely under the Russians were desperate to get real security and protection from the Russians.
Russia is the ONLY cause of NATO enlargement because the people of Eastern Europe always knew they were going to be invaded again as soon as the Russians succeeded at some form of economic capitalism.
Russian imperialism is the only cause of this war.
Something for perspective.
1.3 million U.S soldiers have died in all wars the U.S has ever fought, of which 650 000 were combat deaths.
Which means the Russians are getting close to having as many combat deaths in Ukraine, as the Americans had in all their wars combined.
Dark enough in the evenings so I can get away with leaving the curtains closed all day and not worry about the neighbours spying on me but needing to wear three layers of clothing when watching porn.
On this night in 1940, 21 Swordfish torpedo bombers from the British carrier Illustrious strike the Italian fleet anchored at Taranto. A half-dozen warships are damaged, including three battleships. Japan studies the raid when planning the following year's attack on Pearl Harbor.
one thing I appreciated about HBO’s “John Adams” is how extremely unglamorous everyone is. teeth are horrible, skin is cracked. the French court makeup looks positively ghoulish. it looks like it smells bad.
Today in 2003, 'Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World' premieres in Hollywood. Based on the beloved Patrick O'Brien novel series, the Napoleonic-era epic follows the crew of HMS Surprise as they hunt a powerful French warship across two hemispheres. Required watching!