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musicalhistorian.bsky.social
@musicalhistorian.bsky.social
790 followers 630 following 1.8K posts
Didn't have anything on my Bio Description when I was on Twitter, but I guess I may as well have one now.

Studied music, dabbled in history, love film. He/Him, in case the kilt wasn't a giveaway.
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musicalhistorian.bsky.social
Bluesky Algo ftw
November 7, 2025 at 9:44 PM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
Film generally goes the opposite direction, for whatever reason...
A film slide which has color shifted to Magenta as it ages
November 5, 2025 at 2:24 AM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
Dog: Skull Island? Or perhaps Shin Dogzilla?
Kong Skull Island poster, with golden sun behind Kong silhouette Another Kong Skull Island poster Shin Godzilla Poster
November 4, 2025 at 12:06 AM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
”I'm not about to argue with none of you hoes, come see me if you have a problem, bring the baby too“
October 30, 2025 at 7:47 PM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
Some of the architectural space reminds me of other Alma-Tadema Roman works, like "Spring," or..."Spring, but this time with Dinosaurs."
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema's "Spring," which depicts an imagined Roman procession through a city. Flowers and marble and people dropping things from rooftop balconies, oh my! Alma-Tadema is notable for his hyper-detailed style. The marble looks real, and the detail extends down to the flower petals. In another painting, he incorporated something like 6000 individual red rose petals, each one modeled from a real rose petal. He had roses shipped daily from the Riviera in order to accomplish this obsessive detail. He is also noted for his massive scale. This painting, Spring, is at the Getty in Los Angeles, and is VERY large. With the frame, I think it's about 6 feet tall, and 2.5 wide. Dinotopia author-artist James Gurney does his best pastiche of Alma-Tadema, with dinosaurs joining the parade.
October 25, 2025 at 12:40 AM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
In his favour, he saw clearly both the inherent absurdities and the great evils of Eugenics at a time when it was very much in vogue.

He also manages to recognize in the Irish question the constructed nature of "race" and its use to the state. But on other race questions he is catastrophically bad.
From EUEGENICS AND OTHER EVILS: Most Eugenists are Euphemists. I mean merely that short words startle them, while long words soothe them. And they are utterly incapable of translating the one into the other, however obviously they mean the same thing. Say to them “The persuasive and even coercive powers of the citizen should enable him to make sure that the burden of longevity in the previous generations does not become disproportionate and intolerable, especially to the females”; say this to them and they sway slightly to and fro like babies sent to sleep in cradles. Say to them “Murder your mother,” and they sit up quite suddenly. Yet the two sentences, in cold logic, are exactly the same. Say to them “It is not improbable that a period may arrive when the narrow if once useful distinction between the anthropoid homo [the genus of man] and the other animals, which has been modified on so many moral points, may be modified also even in regard to the important question of the extension of human diet”; say this to them, and beauty born of murmuring sound will pass into their faces. But say to them, in a simple, manly, hearty way “Let’s eat a man!” and their surprise is quite surprising. This is a secondary matter, but it is an example of the general proposition I offer—the proposition that an enormous amount of modern ingenuity is expended on finding defences for the indefensible conduct of the powerful. As I have said above, these defences generally exhibit themselves most emphatically in the form of appeals to physical science. And of all the forms in which science, or pseudo-science, has come to the rescue of the rich and stupid, there is none so singular as the singular invention of the theory of races. When a wealthy nation like the English discovers the perfectly patent fact that it is making a ludicrous mess of the government of a poorer nation like the Irish, it pauses for a moment in consternation, and then begins to talk about Celts and Teutons. As far as I can understand the theory, the Irish are Celts and the English are Teutons. Of course, the Irish are not Celts any more than the English are Teutons. I have not followed the ethnological discussion with much energy, but the last scientific conclusion which I read inclined on the whole to the summary that the English were mainly Celtic and the Irish mainly Teutonic. But no man alive, with even the glimmering of a real scientific sense, would ever dream of applying the terms "Celtic" or "Teutonic" to either of them in any positive or useful sense. That sort of thing must be left to people who talk about the Anglo-Saxon race, and extend the expression to America. How much of the blood of the Angles and Saxons (whoever they were) there remains in our mixed British, Roman, German, Dane, Norman, and Picard stock is a matter only interesting to wild antiquaries.
October 24, 2025 at 8:10 AM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
He has quite a few good anti-capitalist excerpts, though they aren't generally publicized.

Utopia of Usurers, for instance, has some real fire and brimstone. His list of the "excuses which serve the capitalists as masks" is a thing of beauty.

See excerpt and footnote (attached)
An excerpt from the beginning of G.K. Chesterton's essay collection entitled Utopia of Usurers: I propose, subject to the patience of the reader, to devote two or three articles to prophecy. Like all healthy-minded prophets, sacred and profane, I can only prophesy when I am in a rage and think things look ugly for everybody. And like all healthy-minded prophets, I prophesy in the hope that my prophecy may not come true. For the prediction made by the true soothsayer is like the warn- ing given by a good doctor. And the doctor has really triumphed when the patient he condemned to death has revived to life. The threat is justified at the very moment when it is falsified. Now I have said again and again (and I shall continue to say again and again on all the most inappropriate occasions) that we must hit Capitalism, and hit it hard, for the plain and definite reason that it is growing stronger. Most of the excuses which serve the capitalists as masks are, of course, the excuses of hypocrites. They lie when they claim philanthropy; they no more feel any particular love of men than Albu felt an affection for Chinamen.1 They lie when they say they have reached their position through their own organising ability. They generally have to pay men to organise the mine, exactly as they pay men to go down it. They often lie about their present wealth, as they generally lie about their past poverty. But when they say that they are going in for a “constructive social policy,” they do not lie. They really are going in for a constructive social policy. And we must go in for an equally destructive social policy; and destroy, while it is still half- constructed, the accursed thing which they construct. A footnote to this passage: "They lie when they claim philanthropy; they no more feel any particular love of men than Albu felt an affection for Chinamen." Note: Probably a reference both to Sir George Albu, owner of the General Mining and Finance Corporation, a mining finance house formed to finance the mining operations which were initiated in conjunction with the South African gold rush of 1885; and to the use of cheap Chinese labor by the large South African mining interests (of which Albu’s was one) ca. 1905.
October 24, 2025 at 7:48 AM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
A man shouting angrily at crowds is given the bare minimum of the attention he craves.
October 21, 2025 at 4:38 PM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
Reminds me of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.
"Oh, that. Well, some researchers were once conducting such an experiment, but when they opened up the box, the cat was neither alive nor dead but was in fact completely missing, and they called me in to inves-tigate. I was able to deduce that nothing very dramatic had happened. The cat had merely got fed up with being repeatedly locked up in a box and occasionally gassed and had taken the first opportunity to hoof it through the window. It was for me the work of a moment to set a saucer of milk by the window and call 'Bernice' in an enticing voice-the cat's name was Bernice, you under-stand—" "Now, wait a minute—" said Richard. "—and the cat was soon restored. A simple enough matter, but it seemed to create quite an impression in certain circles, and soon one thing led to another as they do, and it all culminated in the thriving career you see before you." "Wait a minute, wait a minute," insisted Richard, slapping the table. "Yes?" enquired Dirk innocently. "Now, what are you talking about, Dirk?" "You have a problem with what I have told you?" "Well, I hardly know where to begin," protested Richard. "All right. You said that some people were performing the experiment. That's nonsense. Schrödinger's Cat isn't a real experiment. It's just an illustration for arguing about the idea. It's not something you'd actually do." Dirk was watching him with odd attention. "Oh, really?" he said at last. "And why not?" "Well, there's nothing you can test. The whole point of the idea is to think about what happens before you....
August 30, 2025 at 5:44 PM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
« Le pantalon rouge c'est la France! »
Zouave French WWI soldier.
July 25, 2025 at 6:22 AM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
Mike has the "just got caught cheating" facial expression going here.

internationalsee.blogspot.com/2015/10/how-...
July 18, 2025 at 7:38 PM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
A version of the "If those kids could read, they'd be very upset" meme from King of the Hill, with the quote about "Sorry that Superman ain't flying around, randomly putting brown people in swamp prisons" as the customized portion of the meme.
July 13, 2025 at 9:56 PM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
Every time I see Christians falling for Jordan Peterson, I think of this interaction from War in Heaven by Charles Williams.

(The character they are discussing, Mr. Persimmons, is a Sorcerer attempting to steal the Holy Grail from the Archdeacon's parish church to perform a black Mass.)
“I met Mr. Persimmons in the village to-day," Mr. Batesby said to the Archdeacon. "He asked after you very pleasantly, although he's sent every day to inquire. It was he that saw you lying in the road, you know, and brought you here in his car. It must be a great thing for you to have a sympathetic neighbour at the big house; there's so often friction in these small parishes." "Yes," the Archdeacon said. "We had quite a long chat," the other went on. "He isn't exactly a Christian, unfortunately, but he has a great admiration for the Church. He thinks it's doing a wonderful work—especially in education. He takes a great interest in education; he calls it the star of the future. He thinks morals are more important than dogma, and of course I agree with him." "Did you say 'of course I agree' or 'of course I agreed'?" the Archdeacon asked. "Or both?" "I mean I thought the same thing," Mr. Batesby explained. He had noticed a certain denseness in the Archdeacon on other occasions. "Conduct is much the biggest thing in life, I feel. 'He can't be wrong whose life is for the best; we needs must love the higher when we see Him.' And he gave me five pounds towards the Sunday School Fund." "There isn't," the Archdeacon said, slightly roused, "a Sunday School Fund at Fardles." "Oh, well!" Mr. Batesby considered. "I daresay he'd be willing for it to go to almost anything active. He was very keen, and I agree—thought just the same, on getting things done. He thinks that the Church ought to be a means of progress. He quoted something about not going to sleep till we found a pleasant Jerusalem in the green land of England. I was greatly struck. An idealist, that's what I should call him. England needs idealists to-day." "I think we had better return the money," the Archdeacon said, "If he isn't a Christian—" "Oh, but he is," Mr. Batesby protested. "In effect, that is. He thinks Christ was the second greatest man the earth has produced." "Who was the first?" the Archdeacon asked. Mr. Batesby paused again for a moment. "Do you know, I forgot to ask?" he said. "But it shows a sympathetic spirit, doesn't it? After all, the second greatest! That goes a long way. Little children, love one another—if five pounds helps us to teach them that in the schools. I'm sure mine want a complete new set of Bible pictures." -Chap. VI The Sabbath” ― Charles Williams, War in Heaven
July 12, 2025 at 10:34 AM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
Rich people be like:
Drake Meme: "Building High Speed Rail? Ugh" "Getting high off speed rails? Yes please!"
June 28, 2025 at 11:26 AM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
Ok folks, what do we think? Bot, Troll, or Lunatic?
June 11, 2025 at 5:56 AM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
This one?
May 28, 2025 at 3:27 PM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
May 26, 2025 at 5:15 PM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
Behold, a member of the "Men shouldn't wear makeup" party:
May 26, 2025 at 5:14 PM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
Too long for a full quoting on BlueSky, but his preface to Utopia of Usurers has some incredible turns of phrase.
Utopia of Usurers 1. Art and Advertisement I propose, subject to the patience of the reader, to devote two or three articles to prophecy. Like all healthy-minded prophets, sacred and profane, I can only prophesy when I am in a rage and think things look ugly for everybody. And like all healthy-minded prophets, I prophesy in the hope that my prophecy may not come true. For the prediction made by the true soothsayer is like the warning given by a good doctor. And the doctor has really triumphed when the patient he condemned to death has revived to life. The threat is justified at the very moment when it is falsified. Now I have said again and again (and I shall continue to say again and again on all the most inappropriate occasions) that we must hit Capitalism, and hit it hard, for the plain and definite reason that it is growing stronger. Most of the excuses which serve the capitalists as masks are, of course, the excuses of hypocrites. They lie when they claim philanthropy; they no more feel any particular love of men than Albu felt an affection for Chinamen. They lie when they say they have reached their position through their own organising ability. They generally have to pay men to organise the mine, exactly as they pay men to go down it. They often lie about the present wealth, as they generally lie about their past poverty. But when they say that they are going in for a “constructive social policy,” they do not lie. They really are going in for a constructive social policy. And we must go in for an equally destructive social policy; and destroy, while it is still half-constructed, the accursed thing which they construct.
May 16, 2025 at 6:00 PM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
Ooh, it's the meme!
[Meme format: Is this Butterfly?] Indiana Capitalists, looking at a butterfly labeled "Restrictions on clean energy" say "Is this Freedom?"
May 6, 2025 at 6:42 PM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
Maybe also a knock-off Citroën 2CV?
An Otter praying, saying "Please Lord, let it be true!"
May 2, 2025 at 11:13 PM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
Literally the color chart meme.
From Family Guy: a skin color chart is held up to Peter's face by an officer, showing "Okay" next to the lighter skin tones and "Not Okay" next to the darker skin tones.
April 29, 2025 at 9:26 PM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
Also, I'm just going to call privilege on you for being dismissive of the rule of law. Not very solidarity-minded of you.
George Takei posts "A reminder that if the government can send migrants to a prison camp without any due process, it can send U.S. citizens there, too. I know this because it happened to me and my family in 1942."
April 21, 2025 at 6:56 PM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
The problem with pissing on Maggie Thatcher's grave is eventually you run out of piss.
"If anyone is looking for a gender neutral public bathroom..." [posts picture of Margaret Thatcher's grave]
April 17, 2025 at 11:13 PM
musicalhistorian.bsky.social
Reminds me of an old Soviet joke...
There's a famous soviet joke: An old man walks up to a newsstand. He buys a newspaper, looks at the front page and throws it right into the trashcan next to the stand. The next day, he does the same: he buys a newspaper, looks at the front page, and throws it into the trash. And the next day he does the same--and the next, and the next... Eventually, the newsstand owner asks the man why he keeps buying a paper only to throw it away immediately. "I'm looking for an obituary," the old man says. "Ah, but comrade, the obituaries are towards the back of the newspaper," says the newsagent. "The obituary I'm looking for will be on the front page." says the old man.
April 11, 2025 at 5:45 AM