Erik Ledbetter
@bandoblue.bsky.social
Park Ranger, former cultural property policy wonk, CCC obsessive, escaped historian.
Rudolf Schlichter (German, 1890-1955). “Portrait of the journalist Egon Erwin Kisch” (1927). H/t @adamtooze.bsky.social
My God, the set and costume designers of Babylon Berlin really did nail the look and feel of urban Weimar.
My God, the set and costume designers of Babylon Berlin really did nail the look and feel of urban Weimar.
June 30, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Rudolf Schlichter (German, 1890-1955). “Portrait of the journalist Egon Erwin Kisch” (1927). H/t @adamtooze.bsky.social
My God, the set and costume designers of Babylon Berlin really did nail the look and feel of urban Weimar.
My God, the set and costume designers of Babylon Berlin really did nail the look and feel of urban Weimar.
Marylebone a la nuit, one last stroll.
June 22, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Marylebone a la nuit, one last stroll.
One moment of beauty snatched from the hellscape of LVMH Parade. Uh, I mean, Kensington High Street.
June 22, 2025 at 2:58 PM
One moment of beauty snatched from the hellscape of LVMH Parade. Uh, I mean, Kensington High Street.
Spare ribs and dear friends.
June 21, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Spare ribs and dear friends.
Night stroll around Marylebone and Edgeware Rd.
June 21, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Night stroll around Marylebone and Edgeware Rd.
Is being American enough to qualify? Asking for a friend.
June 21, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Is being American enough to qualify? Asking for a friend.
Friends: old and new. Also the trio of devils who somehow persuaded me to buy a shockingly nice, and shockingly spendy, linen jacket at Oliver Spencer.
June 21, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Friends: old and new. Also the trio of devils who somehow persuaded me to buy a shockingly nice, and shockingly spendy, linen jacket at Oliver Spencer.
Out and about in Bloomsbury, including the inaugural Lamb's Conduit Waiters' Race.
June 21, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Out and about in Bloomsbury, including the inaugural Lamb's Conduit Waiters' Race.
More railway stations: Marylebone, loveliest, least altered and most overlooked of London's great termini, and Russell Square on the Tube, an art nouveau classic. Lynn is giving me side eye for more station facade pictures. Reader, she married me anyway.
June 21, 2025 at 4:32 PM
More railway stations: Marylebone, loveliest, least altered and most overlooked of London's great termini, and Russell Square on the Tube, an art nouveau classic. Lynn is giving me side eye for more station facade pictures. Reader, she married me anyway.
Lynn is re-reading Pattern Recognition. I'm wearing a pair of well-worn Buzz chinos. As one does when you're back in Gibson's London. @greatdismal.bsky.social
June 21, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Lynn is re-reading Pattern Recognition. I'm wearing a pair of well-worn Buzz chinos. As one does when you're back in Gibson's London. @greatdismal.bsky.social
And a bit more Grand Canal. Still life with bench.
June 20, 2025 at 9:32 PM
And a bit more Grand Canal. Still life with bench.
Out and about in Marylebone, Bayswater and the Grand Canal.
June 20, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Out and about in Marylebone, Bayswater and the Grand Canal.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Paddington Train Shed. As a onetome history of technology major, this is one of the industrial cathedrals of my secular religion.
June 20, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Paddington Train Shed. As a onetome history of technology major, this is one of the industrial cathedrals of my secular religion.
The first night I ever spent in London was behind one of these stucco porticos in Lancaster Gate, Christmas 1986. It was stuffy and dusty and caught somewhere between Fawlty Towers and Margaret Thatcher. Now, apparently, being refitted as luxe condos.
June 20, 2025 at 8:13 PM
The first night I ever spent in London was behind one of these stucco porticos in Lancaster Gate, Christmas 1986. It was stuffy and dusty and caught somewhere between Fawlty Towers and Margaret Thatcher. Now, apparently, being refitted as luxe condos.
Coots! And cootlings!
June 20, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Coots! And cootlings!
When I first saw Paddington Basin in 1984 it was all stygian old warehouses, basically a good place to be murdered in a Le Carre novel. Now it's all steel and glass, except for this lone survivor.
June 20, 2025 at 5:11 PM
When I first saw Paddington Basin in 1984 it was all stygian old warehouses, basically a good place to be murdered in a Le Carre novel. Now it's all steel and glass, except for this lone survivor.
London called. I came.
June 20, 2025 at 9:38 AM
London called. I came.
This is another very thoughtful reflection on the military parade, focusing more on the perspective of the troops involved. Col. Urban (ret.) is a veteran (I am not) and brings a soldier and a scholar's persective.
I’ve found the parade criticism™ fascinating and maybe even a little disappointing, and this comes from someone who would have preferred the Army not to be put in this position in the first place. 1/
June 15, 2025 at 3:01 PM
This is another very thoughtful reflection on the military parade, focusing more on the perspective of the troops involved. Col. Urban (ret.) is a veteran (I am not) and brings a soldier and a scholar's persective.
Former United Railway and Electric (Baltimore Md) trolley line, now a trail at North Point State Park.
June 14, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Former United Railway and Electric (Baltimore Md) trolley line, now a trail at North Point State Park.
Welcome to folks who followed me lately from the parade thread. Fair warning -- this account is mostly just sporadic pretty park pictures and nerdy CCC history.
June 14, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Welcome to folks who followed me lately from the parade thread. Fair warning -- this account is mostly just sporadic pretty park pictures and nerdy CCC history.
Some thoughts about the military parade in my hometown of Washington DC today -- specifically, the route. Military parades in DC are quite rare. But when they happen, they have always begun, symbolically and geographically, at the Capitol and moved outward. 1/
June 14, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Some thoughts about the military parade in my hometown of Washington DC today -- specifically, the route. Military parades in DC are quite rare. But when they happen, they have always begun, symbolically and geographically, at the Capitol and moved outward. 1/
Gloomy gusty evening at North Point State Park.
June 8, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Gloomy gusty evening at North Point State Park.
Terrestrial snail, tentatively an eastern whitelip. Seen while rangering around at North Point State Battlefield yesterday.
June 8, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Terrestrial snail, tentatively an eastern whitelip. Seen while rangering around at North Point State Battlefield yesterday.