Happy #Caturday

#George #Washy #cats

Only cats here…

Over on Gemæcce (my research blog) there’s a post about the discovery of a new edition of the Eordu recension of Cædmon’s Hymn. There’s other Early Medieval news to share, too, but I didn’t have time for that this week.

Meanwhile on Patreon a very cool set of alt-Menewood fictions:

• The original beginning I wrote before Hild was even published
• An alternate version of events following the battle of Hatfield
• A tiny bright snippet that I ended up cutting because although I loved it, it didn’t further the plot.

Assuming all goes well with the access and formatting of those pieces, in a week or two I’ll post the pièce de résistance of alt-Menewood: a whole magnificent chapter concerning several characters from Hild who do not appear in the published version of the sequel. Trust me, that is a fucking good chapter, really great; it broke my heart to cut it. (And Kelley came the closest to not speaking to me since…well, ever.)

Here, however, in honour of Çaturday, we have a picture of George, taken Thursday afternoon, sitting on a small table in front of the pots of dead sticks and a few leaves (unlike the kitchen deck):

It was clear he was paying close attention to something but from where I stood, I couldn’t see it—until he leapt off the table into the air…and it turned out it was the first of the cherry blossom falling. Perhaps he thought it was a bird.

Yesterday morning, here he is again, sitting on the same table in front to the same bare pots, only, well, see for yourself: it looks as though they’re suddenly blooming.

The cherry tree is shedding faster than I thought possible…

Il Fatto Quotidiano: Kimi Antonelli: “Toto Wolff ha chiuso me e George Russell in uno stanzino. Valentino Rossi mi ha dato un consiglio”

Tantissimi allenamenti sulle partenze, fino ad avere il braccio dolorante. Ma anche un viaggio al Ranch di Valentino Rossi, per visitare l’Academy del campione di moto e carpire anche qualche segreto. Così Kimi Antonelli ha vissuto la sosta forzata della Formula 1, passata da leader del Mondiale. Ora che si torna in pista a Miami, con grandi novità sia nel regolamento sia negli aggiornamenti portati dai team, cresce la pressione attorno al 19enne pilota della Mercedes. Il team principal Toto Wolff dice che non bisogna chiedergli di vincere il titolo, ma Antonelli non si nasconde: “Io dal canto mio però voglio andare forte e alzare sempre l’asticella, perché i nostri avversari si stanno avvicinando”.
Anche per questo, come ha raccontato in un’intervista alla Gazzetta dello Sport, Antonelli ha provato tante le partenze che finora sono state il suo vero tallone d’Achille. Ne ha simulate “almeno un centinaio. Mi faceva malissimo il braccio da quante ne ho provate”. Un lavoro fatto con il team, per gestire meglio i nuovi sistemi, in attesa delle modifiche alla frizione che dovrebbero arrivare per il Gp del Canada.
Antonelli in questo momento è il principale rivale del suo compagno di squadra, George Russell, il vero candidato al titolo. La Mercedes dovrà riuscire a gestire eventuali frizioni interne: “Toto Wolff in Australia, prima della prima gara, ha messo me e George in uno stanzino e ci ha spiegato molto bene questo punto: la squadra vuole tornare a vincere il titolo Costruttori, questa è la priorità”. Un aneddoto svelato dal 19enne che racconta molto della consapevolezza nel team riguardo alla sua forza.
Un altro aneddoto riguarda invece la visita da Valentino Rossi: “Vale era molto contento per me, mi ha detto che ha fatto un gran tifo nelle ultime gare e di continuare a fare ciò che sto facendo senza preoccuparmi troppo“. Un consiglio prezioso, visto che arriva da un 9 volte campione del mondo. Antonelli proverà a metterlo in pratica già dal Gp di Miami: tra sabato e domenica, con Sprint e gara, ci sono subito in palio altri punti pesanti.
LA CLASSIFICA DI FORMULA 1

L'articolo Kimi Antonelli: “Toto Wolff ha chiuso me e George Russell in uno stanzino. Valentino Rossi mi ha dato un consiglio” proviene da Il Fatto Quotidiano.

Kimi Antonelli: “Toto Wolff boxed me and George Russell in.” Valentino Rossi gave me some advice.”

Many workouts on starts, until his arm was sore. But also a trip to Valentino Rossi’s Ranch, to visit the champion’s academy and to glean some secrets. That’s how Kimi Antonelli spent the forced Formula 1 break, having been leading the World Championship. Now that they’re returning to the track in Miami, with major changes to the regulations and updates brought by the teams, pressure is increasing around the 19-year-old Mercedes driver. Team principal Toto Wolff says he shouldn’t be asked to win the title, but Antonelli isn’t hiding it: “However, I want to go strong and constantly raise the bar, because our rivals are getting closer.”

For this reason, as he told Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview, Antonelli tried many starts that had been his true Achilles’ heel so far. He simulated “at least a hundred of them. My arm would really hurt from how many I tried.” This work was done with the team to better manage the new systems, awaiting modifications to the clutch that should arrive for the Canadian GP.

Antonelli is currently the main rival of his teammate, George Russell, the true favorite for the title. Mercedes will need to manage any internal friction: “Toto Wolff in Australia, before the first race, put me and George in a small room and explained this point to us very well: the team wants to return to winning the Constructors’ Championship, this is the priority.” An anecdote revealed by the 19-year-old that says a lot about the team’s awareness of his strength.

Another anecdote concerns the visit to Valentino Rossi: “Vale was very happy for me, he said he cheered a lot for me in the last races and to continue doing what I’m doing without worrying too much.” A valuable piece of advice, coming from a nine-time world champion. Antonelli will try to put it into practice already at the Miami GP: over Saturday and Sunday, with Sprint and race, there are immediately important points at stake.

FORMULA 1 RANKING

The article Kimi Antonelli: “Toto Wolff has closed me and George Russell in a small room. Valentino Rossi gave me a piece of advice” comes from Il Fatto Quotidiano.

#KimiAntonelli #TotoWolff #GeorgeRussell #ValentinoRossi #ValentinoRossi’s #Miami #Mercedes #Antonelli #GazzettadelloSport #Canadian #Australia #first #George #Sprint #IlFattoQuotidiano

https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2026/05/01/kimi-antonelli-toto-wolff-ha-chiuso-me-george-russell-in-uno-stanzino-valentino-rossi-mi-ha-dato-un-consiglio/8372535/

A lifelong Beatles fan

https://phicklephilly.wordpress.com/2026/04/30/a-lifelong-beatles-fan/

The final group of guests on this month's Mark Kermode in 3D on Monday 27 April 2026 ( show 112 !! ) were Mark Jenkin, George Mackay and Callum Turner

#mk3d
#CallumTurner
#George Mackay
@mark_jenkin
#roseofnevada
@kermodedodge
@bfi

>> swipe >>

Çaturday: Today and in the Long Ago

Today

This is Charlie this morning—he’d already been out in the sunshine and was just checking in for hi mid-morning treats. (Hey, it’s how my mother ensured her peace of mind on sunny days when otherwise I would have run wild and not be seen between dawn and dusk: she promised a cup of tea and a biscuit whenever I came home. It worked. I decided if I as young hoyden had been trainable with bribes, the cats might be, too. So when we started letting Charlie and George out unsupervised we started a regimen of stopping whatever we were doing and giving them love and treats. It was during the early lockdown days of the pandemic; it was easy. Now of course it’s much more inconvenient—but they remind us, loudly, of the implicit bargain. And, faithful servants that we are, we stop what we’re doing and obey…

In the Long Ago

Over on Patreon I’ve posted two new images of Charlie and George as they might have been drawn by scribes at Hild’s abbey. George was easy—the photo I was working from caught him almost perfectly in profile, so it was fairly simple to translate that to Lindisfarne Gospels visual style.

Charlie, well, Charlie has always been more awkward. I could have made my life easier by using any number of profile or head-on photos of him but I really wanted to try one in which this small cat looks like a massive panther with Resting Demonface. He ended up looking a bit Pictish—though his head is more realistically styled than any self-respecting medieval artist would produced—but I did manage to capture that expression. So all in all I’m pleased.

Support #Mastodon instances and get a #George or #Washy #cat in return! ❤️

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Cato!

#George #cat