Calling monarchs by their first names makes them seem cuddly
I’m listening to this excellent podcast episode about Anne Boleyn.
It occurs to me that part of the reason that King Henry VIII isnt always seen as the monster that he was is that we refer to our monarchs by their first names
You wouldn’t often hear a historian refer to ‘Benito’, or ‘Joseph’ or ‘Adolf’, but Henry Tudor is typically just ‘Henry’
It puts us on first name terms.
I wouldn’t compare the two, but it reminds me of the argument that people shouldn’t have called Boris Johnson just ‘Boris’, as it made him seem more mate-y and cuddly than he actually was

How to post to a test instance of micro.blog with powershell
Source the micro.blog token
$BlogToken = $(import-csv /stuff/GeneralParameters.csv | ? parameter -eq 'BlogToken').value
$headers = @{
"Authorization" = "Bearer $BlogToken"
}
Get details for the micro.blog
$response = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://micro.blog/micropub?q=config" -Headers $headers
This is the bit to get the uid of the test blog - mine is a fairly simple variation on the name of the main blog…as below. The URLEncode returns ‘https%3a%2f%2fmattypenny-test.micro.blog%2f’
$response | select -ExpandProperty destination
$MpDestination = [System.Web.HttpUtility]::UrlEncode("https://mattypenny-test.micro.blog/")
build the Uri to upload to
$mediaEndpoint = $response."media-endpoint"
$Uri ="${mediaEndpoint}?mp-destination=$MpDestination"
Identify the file to upload
$form = @{
file = Get-Item '/home/matty/working/spotify/images/Bethany Eve - Emerald City.png'
}
Upload it
Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $Uri -Method Post -Headers $headers -Form $form
And….hey presto

My last four posts have been about
- the weather,
- the class system,
- the football, and
- a saucy seaside postcard
As, ironically, Chandler Bing might have said…could i BE any more English?
I read or heard a thing about the British class system recently. I don’t know where but it’s stuck in my head
if you shower before work then you’re middle class, if you shower after work then you’re working class
#TodayILearned that this postcard sold more copies than any other
via Paul Sinha - Paul Sinha’s Perfect Pub Quiz Series 3 South London - home to Stanleys and Georges and two of the Magnificent Seven

I have to say I prefer it when we’re 6-0 up at half time #CheArs ⚽
If I’m honest, I’m quite enjoying the anti-cyclonic gloom.
I enjoyed the cover of this month’s Cfcuk…I remember a similar cover featuring David Luiz
Also, nice to know that at least a couple of the Undertones are Chelsea
⚽ #ChelseaFC
<img src=“https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/139254/2024/img-20241108-0919182.jpg" width=“436” height=“600” alt=“A magazine cover titled “cfcuk” features multiple identical black-and-white photos of a man arranged on a soccer field layout with a picture of Cole Palmer in every position “>
Thoughts on this evening at Chelsea Vs Noah
-
Mudryk often needs to drop 5-10 yards. He’s fast enough that he doesn’t need to be level with the right back
-
it felt a bit mean to sing ‘we want ten’…but I did want ten
-
I would sing ‘we want ten’ at the Arsenal match on Sunday
-
Nkunku looked frustrated for a lot of the match. No balloon when he scored even
-
the penalty was a bit soft
-
I thought it was funny the way the players went over to watch the VAR replay, over the referee’s shoulder
-
Joao Felix MOTM…he hates the Arsenal
-
Noah were a bit better than 8-0 really
-
the 211 to Battersea Power Station, then the Northern Line isn’t a bad way back to Waterloo, and it was pretty at night
-
we’re Top of the League
⚽ #ChelseaFC

The view from under the banner in the Matthew Harding Lower , #ChelseaFC ⚽

We had a good night tonight but managed to miss one of the highlights
there was some light relief near the home bench. Nicolas Jackson was very pleased with himself after balancing a cup of soup on Marc Cucurella’s head.
João Félix leads the onslaught as Chelsea hammer eight past Noah - The Guardian
⚽ #ChelseaFC
At Chelsea Vs FC Noah
The players are coming out two by two
⚽
Like James Brown, I’ve taken it to the Bridge
Not before time tbh
⚽ #ChelseaFc

I feel that, if I live long enough, the stones will turn out to have come from Antarctica, or a passing asteroid or something
Seeking a Scottish source: Updating the story of Stonehenge’s Altar Stone In CA 415, we reported on new scientific analysis suggesting that the origins of the Stonehenge Altar Stone lay hundreds of miles from Salisbury Plain, in the Orcadian Basin of north-east Scotland.
The Past - Seeking a Scottish source: Updating the story of Stonehenge’s Altar Stone
Just read this bit, at the end of the Pickwick Papers
Let us leave our old friend in one of those moments of unmixed happiness, of which, if we seek them, there are ever some, to cheer our transitory existence here. There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast. Some men, like bats or owls, have better eyes for the darkness than for the light. We, who have no such optical powers, are better pleased to take our last parting look at the visionary companions of many solitary hours, when the brief sunshine of the world is blazing full upon them.
We missed out on Southampton - Chelsea tickets….I think my hit rate is down to 1 in 5
Random painting of Salisbury
Merritt, H. S. - St. Ann’s Gate, Salisbury, 1943
I used to go through this gate to go to school, but not in 1943
V & A page with a bit more detail

Today seems a good day for a rom-com
I just finished this. Lovely show. The proportion of rom to com is maybe higher than I’m used to, but I enjoyed it.

I shot this at Hengistbury Head a couple of weeks ago. I find it quite relaxing
Wish it was longer really…
I’m sure these are all really good and well worth going to…..but the phrase ‘festive theatre shows’ seems to me to translate to ‘poor substitutes for panto’
Deck the stalls! 20 of the UK’s best festive theatre shows - the Guardian