They keep finding things in Britain

I've seen a couple of recent articles about historical things that have been recently found in Britain.

In this case, they found one of the cricket clickers that the Allies used during the D-Day preparation and invasion, just before the 75th anniversary of D-Day.  That's good timing.

Ingenious clicker gadget that kept Allied troops safe in Normandy and was immortalised in The Longest Day is found a stone's throw from factory where it was made 75 years ago

It wasn't found lying around on the ground or anything - it was in the stuff that a guy from Britain who fought in the battle kept after the war.

Now, they also found a chess piece. But not just any chess piece - this is a piece from the Lewis Chessmen set. Which admittedly I didn't know anything about until I read the article.

The £1m chess piece that languished in a drawer for FIFTY years: Family is stunned to learn that tucked-away trinket is long-lost Lewis Chessman that went missing for two centuries

The newly discovered piece (this was in somebody else's stuff, in this case, the stuff an antique dealer kept) is a 'warder', which is what the rook in modern chess used to be called.

Here's a picture of the piece.

It kind of reminds me of the "Hound", Sandor Clegane, from "Game of Thrones".

End of the French: One unexpectation and one expectation

Just one I think Simona Halep is rolling, she gets ousted by an American teenager named Anisimova (but I did say to keep on eye on her, didn't I?)  So all the women's semi-finalists had not won a Grand Slam title before, and the last one standing was Aussie Ashleigh Barty, who demolished Markéta Vondroušová 6-1, 6-3.   That was unexpected (hence my subject line).

I barely even pay attention to the men's side in the French, because the expectation has been for the past more-than-a-decade that Rafael Nadal will win it.  And he did, for the 12th time, though this time he let Dominic Thiem see what it feels like to win a set.

On to the grass of July.

Really brief comments on the French Open

Halep rolling.  (Fourth round highlights)

Match of the tourney so far - Tsitsipas v Wawrinka, with Wawrinka prevailing.

(Of course, then he had to play Federer, and of course, Federer played better in two tiebreaks and took the match in 4 sets.)

USA teen Anisimova gets into the quarterfinals - against Halep. 

5 of the last 8 women are/were English-as-a-first-language speakers. That's unusual.

Surprise on the women's side:  unseeded Vondrousova defeated the 12th seed and then the 31st seed to get into the semis.  But her next opponent, Konta, still only seeded 26th, spanked 7th seed Sloane Stephens soundly, 6-1, 6-4.

Nadal is brutal to opponents on clay:  6-2, 6-3, 6-3 in the fourth round, and then 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 in the quarters against Nishikori, who's a pretty decent player.   The other two quarterfinals on the men's side might end up being competitive matches.

So it's Nadal vs. Fed in the semi-finals;  not something that Roger looks forward to, I imagine.

Lighthouse of the Week, June 2-8, 2019: Bass Rock, Scotland

This week's lighthouse is Bass Rock, which is an island in Scotland's Firth of Forth.  The island is most famous for its rookery of gannets, which at peak is estimated to number over 150,000.  So the island is basically a rock with birds and a lighthouse.

Here's more information about the lighthouse.

Bass Rock Lighthouse from Worldwide Lighthouses

Simple facts:  It was built in 1903, and it's 20 meters tall.

And the pictures of it (and the video) are pretty amazing.

Have you heard? Etna is erupting again

While there's always a volcano erupting somewhere, much of what's been happening since the last days of Kilauea has been rather mundane.  Oh, I know, big ash clouds are not exactly mundane if you are near or under them, but still, most of what has been happening can be classed under the category of "normal activity".

Actually, so can this.  Etna is frequently active.  The thing about Etna is, though, it is also one of the best volcanoes in the world at looking fantastic while erupting.

Here's an article:

Mount Etna erupts in Italy [actually, Sicily, which is part of Italy but hey, it's an island], sending ash and lava into the sky

Here's a video:



Here's a picture:

Another new sonnet: "slopes on the mountain"

Sometimes you have to give tribute where tribute is due.



slopes on the mountain

My own imaginings could not conceive
of marvels so phenomenal between
two lust-filled lovers—though we all believe
'tis possible to emulate their scene
(for technically it is what we all do),
to find the heights of vivid fervency
that they inspire seems far beyond the true
distressing state of bare congruency
when practiced by most citizens. Yet she
and he are far beyond our norms, astride
the realms of earth and airs of ecstasy;
and what they share we can't negate or hide
just for the reason that their acts exceed
what we believe acceptable in deed.

A new sonnet for the beginning of June: principality

principality

It seems amazing that I once was there —
upon the steps, around the streets, indeed
existing where I could not live, for where
I looked upon these hallmarks, knew that greed
is how these denizens exist—so do
I criticize the members of this state?
No, I am not so bold, for they are few
and privileged, and for them what is great
and extraordinary to our sight
is normal and expected in their eyes
and they would not imagine that this right
is not the common state and enterprise
of anyone they know—yet for the mass
we see them as if through museum glass.