The Childe of Hale – a Short Tale
The following is just a quick blog post I threw together this morning, needing something for the week – and having recently tied of a bunch of standby posts to planned podcast episodes for the 2023 season. In 1617 Gilbert Ireland, Sheriff of Lancashire, was presented before King James I of England. He’d made the […]
The Latest 100 (will manually add at bottom as we cross 100)
Spencer Perceval
Trigger Warning: The following episode discusses gun violence – particularly the assassination of a head of state. Note for the readers, I’ll get a blog only post…
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The Carrington Event
“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” ―…
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Bearcat
Hey all I’m ‘taking a break’ for a month – well, more accurately going into writing and recording mode for a month. On the podcasts front I’m…
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The Old Man of The Mountain
Hey all this is the third and final instalment on the Assassins. If you’re coming to this first, part one is here – part two here. I…
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The Mongols are Coming!
Hi there this is part two of what will probably be a three part tale. If you haven’t checked out The Cult of Hassan-i Sabbah first, click…
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The Cult of Hassan-i Sabbah
This post/podcast episode is part one of a two (edit: probably Three) part Tale. I’ll be dropping part two in a fortnight. There is a shadowy tale…
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Alas, poor Tycho…
Hey all, I had something completely new in the works for both the blog and podcast this week… owing to a few things happening in my day…
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The Bottle Conjuror
Today’s tale is set on the night of January 16th 1749; the setting, The Haymarket Theatre – on London’s West End. Originally built in 1720, on a…
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Beyond the Archway…
Content Warning: This episode discusses Pseudocide – the act of faking one’s own death. I also cut and slashed at this script considerably in the podcast editing…
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… A Thousand Words?
Hey all, the podcast episode I’m running this week is from the back catalog of blog posts – so I have new, blog only content this week.…
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Njinga of Ndongo
Today’s tale is set in the African kingdom of Ndongo, modern day Angola – we touched upon this kingdom a few weeks back in the Tale of…
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The Phantom Airships
Aurora is a small town in Wise country, in the North of Texas. The county came into being in the 1830s, following an armed standoff between 150…
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Premium Content: Yasuke
The following, like the recent Salmesbury Witches Tale, is a script for a Patreon bonus episode. Both these episodes are free to all – though most Patreon…
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Dr Sweet’s Defence
Content Warning: This week’s post briefly discusses a lynching and other horrific things… Our Tale this week opens on an ugly siege. The date September 9th 1925.…
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Premium Content: The Salmesbury Witches
Hey all I’m taking the paywall off the next two Premium Tales. The podcast episode can be found on my Patreon. Normally you can access the bonus…
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The Pendle Witches (Part Two)
This week, let me begin with a personal digression. For a little over a decade I rented a place my friends and I referred to as the…
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The Pendle Witches (Part One)
One March day in 1612 Justice Roger Nowell of Pendle Hill, Lancashire was called upon by a complainant with a weird tale to tell. As a justice…
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The Miser of Marcham Park
Hi all, welcome to the official 2020 Christmas Tale of History and Imagination. Merry Christmas all, I hope this post finds you all well. Today’s post begins…
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Xenophon in Mesopotamia: Part One
Today’s tale is set in Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq, much of Syria and parts of Turkey. The date? 405 BC. Mesopotamia is an empire which predates the…
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A ’Time Machine’
Hi everyone, apologies for the drop off in new content… I’ve hit the wall, and needed a little time to get my mojo back. It’s all 9…
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The Campden Wonder – The strange ‘murder’ of William Harrison
Today’s Tale begins on the night of 16th August 1660 in the town of Campden, Gloustershire. William Harrison – the 70 year old steward of Viscountess Campden…
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The Strange Life, and Death of William Desmond Taylor
This third instalment in our pre-code, silent era Hollywood drama begins February 1st 1922. The setting? A posh bungalow at 404 B South Alvarado Street, Los Angeles…
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What goes up…. The Ballad of Franz Reichelt
Warning! This week’s tale deals with death by misadventure, which some readers may find disturbing. Today’s tale is set on a freezing cold morning, 57 metres above…
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Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?
Hey all let’s finish off the Hollywood Trilogy next week. For this week I was planning something more in keeping with Halloween. When I try to imagine…
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Spring Heeled Jack: The Terror of London
One: Backward and Forward He Switched His Long Tail…. Over the hills and over the dale, And he went over the plain, And backward and forward he…
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’Fatty’ Arbuckle
Hey all this is our 2nd instalment on the scandals of Hollywood’s silent era. It stands alone, but if you want to, the prelude and part one…
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The Max Headroom Incident
This week’s tale is set in the Windy City – Chicago, Illinois. The time, a very specific 9.14pm on 22nd November 1987. The city’s sports fans are…
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Olive Thomas – the poisoned chalice
This week’s Tale is part one of a four-part series on scandals of Hollywood’s Silent film era. It’s due to run on the non-podcast weeks. When I…
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The Enfundu
Hey all, as I’ve got a podcast episode for the perennial ’Willie The Wimp (and his Cadillac Coffin) dropping this week, I’d intended to write a new…
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Willie the Wimp (and his Cadillac coffin)
Inspiration can come at you from so many ways. For me it sometimes comes in the form of a digression in a book that sticks in my…
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Prelude: Scandals of Hollywood’s Silent Era
Hey everyone, on in-between weeks (i.e. weeks I don’t publish a podcast episode) I’m resuming blog only posts. The plan will be to run several series on…
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Mussolini’s Hat, and the Rise of the Mob
There’s a popular myth that states the 35th President of the United States, John F Kennedy killed the hat. Now there is a tiny kernel of truth…
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Giovanni Batista Belzoni – Tomb Raider
Hi all welcome to this month’s YouChoose topic. Raiders of the Lost Ark, the first of the Indiana Jones films had just turned 40 the day I…
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The ‘New Atlantis’?
Hey all, my voice is still very strained, very gravelly – unable to hold together while projecting for more than four words in a row. Were we…
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Ungern’s Army
Warning! Today we talk of a monster, doing monstrous things amidst a crumbling empire. Today’s tale begins in the Mongolian city of Urga – 1st February…
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eden ahbez – Nature Boy (revisited).
Hey all I’m doing something a little different this episode. In the early days of the blog I wrote a piece on the Altamont Free Concert, December…
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Nellie Bly: 10 Days in a Madhouse
“I would like the expert physicians who are condemning me for my action, which has proven their ability, to take a perfectly sane and healthy woman, shut…
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The Sin-Eater
Hey all, please count the following as week ten of this week’s ten week sprint. I’m taking a four week break, though the podcast will continue with…
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Lord Lucan
The following is the Tale of the murder which occurred at 46 Lower Belgrave Street, Belgravia – on Thursday, 7th November 1974. It will be performed in…
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Jack Parsons – Babalon’s Rocketeer (Part Two)
Hey all, this post is part two of the two part tale on the rocketeer Jack Parsons. If you’re picking up from here I recommend jumping in…
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Supplementary Info: Jack Parsons – Two Speeches
Hey all, apologies for the lack of blog post this week. The week has gotten too busy to string anything of worth together. The following document relates…
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Jack Parsons – Babalon’s Rocketeer (Part One)
Welcome folks. Sorry to do this to you – I really did want to start this tale out in the Mojave desert, following a magick man and…
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Jack Parsons – a prelude
Hey all I don’t know how to tell this prelude without getting into a load of backstory. Thanks in advance for your forbearance. To understand how Jack…
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Grace O’Malley, the Pirate Queen
Today’s tale starts with a meeting at Greenwich palace, a now demolished royal residence – the date, September 1593. The ‘fairy Queen’ of England, Elizabeth I, awaits…
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The Bagradas Dragon
I want to start this episode with a confession that should surprise no-one – as a kid I was mad for anything remotely described as Fortean. From…
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Mithridates – The Poison King of Pontus
Today we join our tale right at it’s conclusion – the year 63 BC. The setting, the kingdom of Pontus – a once powerful Black Sea empire…
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Mithridates – A Prelude
The following snippet is set 73 BC, the setting Otryae – a town in Phrygia – modern day Turkey. Two armies with long standing resentments face off…
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Buried Alive!
Content warning! This tale contains macabre, ghoulish subject matter – as one may expect on a Halloween Tale. Proceed with caution. Taphophobia is the name given to…
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Shen’s Magnificent Journey
Hi all, this programme differs from the show which was advertised. I spent the better part of three weeks, on and off, on the advertised show –…
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The Tales Which Never Were ….
Hey all, this episode’s going to be a little different – the setting, a modern duplex in Auckland, New Zealand. Our subject, a rather worn out looking…
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Three Short Tales…
Hey folks the internet tells me you all like lists, so I thought I’d fill a gap in the schedule with a short list, of short tales.…
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Murder in Hartlepool…
Content warning, the following tale discusses xenophobic folk songs and pamphlets. Today’s tale is set in Hartlepool – a seaside town in County Durham in the North…
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Sophxit
(Originally titled The Deadly Sophxit of Count Konigsmarck and Princess Sophia Dorothea.) Hi all the following tale is something I’ve had rattling round for a little while…
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John Frum, messiah
“This ain’t one body’s story. It’s the story of us all.We got it mouth-to-mouth. You got to listen it and ‘member.‘Cause what you hears today you got…
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Henry ‘Box’ Brown
Today’s tale is set in a theater in London England, for argument’s sake let’s set the date at some time in 1860. The crowd is enthralled by…
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Dorothy Martin’s Flying Saucer
“A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree, and he turns away. Show him facts and figures and he questions…
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Sabbatai Zevi- The Monty Hall Problem
The year is 1666, the setting Adrianople in the Ottoman Empire – modern day Turkey. A middle aged preacher named Sabbatai Zevi, held captive since his arrival…
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Soon May the Wellerman Come
Hey all, I wasn’t planning this topic, but a friend asked me if I knew anything about this sea shanty craze on Tik Tok at present. My…
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On the Trail of La Bete du Gevaudan
Today’s scene, dear readers, the Southern French province of Gevaudan. The time, between 1764 and 1767, just after the bloody, costly Seven Years War. An unidentified maneater stalks the people of Gevaudan, killing with a ruthless efficiency. Just what was la bete, the Beast of Gevaudan?
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Frau Troffea’s dance with the devil
Today’s tale is set in the city of Strasbourg – then part of the Holy Roman Empire – the date, mid July 1518. Frau Troffea, a local…
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“God is over all” The mystery of Eilean Mor
The Flannan Isles, sometimes referred to as the 7 Hunters, are a tiny group of islands on the outside of the Outer Hebrides – a string of…
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Tipu’s Tiger
Local legend in the Kingdom of Mysore tells the following tale. One day, a young prince named Tipu went out hunting in the jungle with a friend…
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Twas a Couple of Days’ Before Christmas…
Hey everyone, this was – almost – this year’s Christmas post. I just wasn’t feeling it this year. On first draft though inspiration struck. I present this…
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Hannibal in Bithynia
Today’s tale is set in the Asiatic town of Libyssa, in Bithynia – on the periphery of what is now Turkey. The date, some time around 182…
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The Georgia Guidestones
Hi all, I’m writing week to week again and will likely do so till I take a break at Christmas – when I can build up a…
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Martial Bourdin
At 4:45pm precisely, GMT, on 15th February 1894 the grounds of Greenwich Park, London – home of the Royal Observatory, and a clock we’ll discuss later –…
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A Few Transgender Tales: on Transgender Awareness Week 2020
Hi all, first up, a quick update on the podcast reboot. Four of the first six episode scripts mixed well, two need re-doing. I’ve recorded some background…
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Altamont: The Ballad of Meredith Hunter
The following was originally released in four parts, on the Facebook page, in June 2019. I’ve heavily edited, & collated the piece into one blog post. One:…
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The macabre death of Antoine Lavoisier
Hi folks this week I am sharing a rather macabre tale. I should state up front, while this tale features a real, historical figure and his death,…
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Samuel Parnell and the fight for the 8 hour workday
Hi all I feel like telling a local tale for once this week. Please be prepared, dear reader, for one this will feature more New Zealanders than…
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The New Colossus
Hi there folks, I’m doing something different this week. The tale of Dorothy Kilgallen goes on a short pause till I get a chance to review what…
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The Strange Death of Dorothy Kilgallen
If she was just trying to get to sleep, and took the overdose of pills accidentally, why was the light on? Usually people sleep better in the…
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Reader Challenge: On J.F.C Fuller
Hi everyone, this week I’m doing things a little differently. I think this will be a one off, but the process was fun. A few weeks before…
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Charles Lightoller’s worst night ever
Today’s tale is set in the North Atlantic ocean, around 400 miles off the coast of the then Dominion of Newfoundland. The date 15th April 1912. The…
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The Gombe Chimpanzee War
From 1974 to 1978 a vicious, sometimes cannibalistic war raged between two tribes in Gombe National Park,Tanzania. On one side was the Kasakela, the other side, the…
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Marsha Albert’s Letter
Edward Bulwer Lytton, a man of letters, once wrote ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’. He wrote several other memorable phrases, one of which has led…
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Andrew Jackson’s parrot
Hi all just a quick update across all the socials. The final episode of the Batavia saga has been waylaid by needing to move home. The house…
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The Wreck of The Batavia
Part One – The Wreck. Hey all, this Tale originally ran over seven episodes – over two months. To find the next part/s scroll to the bottom…
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Before Rock and Roll – A Playlist (part two)
Hi all, sorry for the delay. For part one, which includes the Spotify playlist itself, Click Here Hi all, let’s put that playlist to bed. Apologies for…
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Before Rock and Roll – a playlist (part 1)
Hi all welcome back for the fifth installment of my early rock and roll, Thursday series- I know it’s a little late, I’ve suddenly had to look…
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Podcast Episode 10: Tom Horn – Gunslinger (part 3)
Hi all this is the third part of this tale, for part one click here, part two here. At this point in the tale we need to…
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The sincerest form of flattery… a bonus tale
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness” – Oscar Wilde. Hi all, FYI I held off writing this bonus episode till early…
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Podcast Episode 10: Tom Horn – Gunslinger (part 2)
Hi all welcome to Tales of History and Imagination, on today’s episode we’re continuing the tale of Tom Horn – This is part two of a three…
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Goodnight My Love – a bonus tale
To tell this tale of rock and roll I feel I need to tell another short tale first. Context is everything. On the 2nd September 1957 a…
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Podcast Episode 9: Tom Horn – Gunslinger (part 1)
Hi everyone, just a quick update. In my 9 to 5 I normally spend a reasonable portion of the day on the phones, but in the wake…
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Quoth the Raven – The tale of the Poe Toaster
Hi everyone welcome to the final blog tale before we jump back into the podcasts again – and of course the podcast scripts here. As some of…
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A single light punching through the darkness – a bonus tale
Hey all I thought I might share a few short tales I have been sketching out of late. The story of these …. lets call them Tales…
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Charles Byrne’s longest show
Hi all, for the following – extended run of blogs prior to season two of the podcast I did promise to keep away from plagues. This tale…
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Balloonfest!
What goes up must come down – sorry to begin a blog with an old cliché, but we all know there is some truth in the old…
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Coffee! – The Swedes battle for a good cup of Joe
I really feel I should declare upfront, I am very much a fan of coffee. This no doubt sways my opinion of Sweden’s former monarch, Gustav III.…
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Hazel Scott; the rise, and tragic downfall of a phenom
Little girlDreaming of a baby grand piano(Not knowing there’s a Steinway bigger, bigger)Dreaming of a baby grand to playThat stretches paddle-tailed across the floor,Not standing uprightLike a…
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Denis Diderot and his magnificent dressing gown
Hi everyone just dropping a quick blog off the cuff today, if you’re wondering part two of Mt Tambora is still set to drop next week, Tuesday…
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Mount Tambora, a Butterfly Effect in Four Acts
Act One It is early in April 1815 on the island of Java, modern day Indonesia. Like much of the world Java had been caught up in…
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Adrian Carton de Wiart
This Tale was a script for the ill-fated first attempt at a podcast. I may revise and redo some time. It was also originally a two parter…
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Merle Oberon – Dark Angel
Hi folks, welcome back to the blog. This week I want to delve into Hollywood a little, and look at a tale I personally find tragic, disturbing,…
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The Vela Incident; why radioactive sheep matter
For he who grew up tall and proud,In the shadow of the mushroom cloud.Convinced our voices can’t be heard,We just wanna scream it louder and louder Queen-…
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Simone’s Christmas Carol 2019
This Tale was an episode in my first attempt at a podcast. It’s since been taken down but you can listen to the YouTube video of the…
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Ziryab- Influencer Extraordinare
Hi everyone, welcome to this week’s blog. Just a quick word on what I had planned – and why I have shelved it. My original plan this…
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Guillaume Boucher and the Fountain of Karakorum
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea –…
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Charles Lennox Richardson and The Namamugi Incident
Hey everyone just a quick foreword. The blog and podcast are going to slightly different places over the next month, as, in an effort to buy myself…
Keep readingThe Older Stuff (more than 101 Episodes ago)
The Nature Boys, Part One… A Supermarket in California
“What thoughts I have of you tonight, Walt Whitman, for…
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Women’s History month 4: Hell hath no fury, like the Trung Sisters
“Heav’n has no rage, like love to hatred turn’d, Nor…
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Women’s History Month 3, Five trailblazing ladies
Hi folks it is time for the latest in Tales…
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Women’s History Month 2: Mary Anning, The Carpenter’s Daughter
Hi folks, happy Womens History Month! I had something completely…
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Women’s History Month! Mary Cassatt’s ‘In the Loge’
Hi folks, about time I posted something new I think?…
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On “Villains” and true villainy – The Harrying of The North
Hi folks I wrote this post, originally to the Facebook…
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A “Tales of History and Imagination are all around us” moment: a spy, a physicist and a pop star
Hi folks, …. any time I start with “Tales of…
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Why O is for Owesome, and OK is Oll Korrect
Hi there folks thanks for liking the page. If you’re…
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