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☆ Whimsical Storybook-Style Homes of the West Coast
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Erika Mailman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

After the Spadena house, the trend caught on. Most Storybook-style homes were built on the West Coast in the 1920s and early 1930s. Mr. Gellner and Mr. Keister consider a home to be Storybook style if it has three requirements: it appears medieval to an overblown degree, it was deliberately made to look old, and it exudes a sense of whimsy.

Some Credit Suisse shareholders had angry words for the board at its final annual general meeting. Credit Suisse was acquired by rival UBS after the 167-year-old Swiss bank's stock crashed last month. The anger inside the meeting was shared by investors and climate protestors outside Zurich's hockey arena where the meeting was held. A spokesperson for Credit Suisse declined to comment. How much is enough for a golden parachute that is on his crashing plane that is the Credit Suisse?"

☆ ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ Review: Dumbing Down a Nerd’s Pastime
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Kyle Smith | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

It’s amusing to think that a generation of movie watchers may be unaware that Hugh Grant was once a floppy-haired charmer. Playing a duplicitous failed actor in “Paddington 2,” a murder-minded politician in “A Very English Scandal,” a sleazy tabloid reporter in “The Gentlemen” and himself on the red carpet at the Oscars, Mr. Grant in maturity is proving to be one of the screen’s most entertaining miscreants. He is the most delightful element of some very good movies. He is also the best thing about “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.”Mr. Grant’s gleeful villainy pumps (some) life into his scenes as a scheming usurper in the medieval-ish fantasy world of “D&D,” where monsters and wizards coexist with humans who seem far too unimpressed by the wonders around them. Leading the band of the nonchalant is Chris Pine as Edgin, who in a prologue establishes himself as a literal social-justice warrior (he rides around righting wrongs in defense of the downtrodden) who turns into a rascally thief after his wife gets murdered.

☆ Seeking a Studio on the East Side of Manhattan for $600,000: These Were Her Options
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Debra Kamin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Her father, the first-generation American son of Puerto Rican parents, and her mother, an immigrant from Colombia, had always encouraged her to own property. “Growing up, I was always told, ‘If you can buy, then buy,’” said Ms. Gonzalez, 27, who works remotely as a digital communications strategy manager for a Mexico-based tequila brand. “The idea of buying in New York felt impossible, so I decided to get as close as I could,” she said. By the summer of 2022, she figured that selling her apartment would leave her with a budget of up to $600,000 to buy a new place. [Also in Real Estate: This 835-Year-Old Medieval English House Needs Some Modern Love — and a Buyer.]

☆ Genetic study details complex ancestry of East Africa's Swahili people
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Radu Sigheti/File PhotoMarch 29 (Reuters) - A study of centuries-old DNA has deciphered the complex ancestry of coastal East Africa's Swahili people, revealing how a cosmopolitan and prosperous medieval civilization arose thanks in large part to women from Africa and men arriving from Persia. After around 1500 AD, the bulk of the Asian genetic contribution shifted to Arabian sources, the study showed. "However, in this case, because Bantu populations in East Africa often have more matrilineal tendencies, African women likely had more autonomy in choosing their partners for building a family. It may be, the researchers said, that the African women and their communities chose to form families with Persian princes or traders, reinforcing trade networks of African and Persian merchants. The evidence of Indian ancestry adds a surprising new layer to the history of the East African coast, Brielle added.

☆ ‘Roman Landscapes: Visions of Nature and Myth From Rome and Pompeii’ Review: Idylls of Ancient Italy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Judith H. Dobrzynski | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

‘Wall Painting With Sculptures and Birds in a Garden’ (late first century B.C.-early first century A.D.)San AntonioIf, as the medieval saying goes, all roads lead to Rome, might the artistic path to landscape painting trace back to the eternal city as well? That is a theme of “Roman Landscapes: Visions of Nature and Myth From Rome and Pompeii” at the San Antonio Museum of Art, which has gathered about 65 wall paintings, relief sculptures, mosaics, and glass and metal vessels created between 100 B.C. and about A.D. 250 as evidence.

☆ Roman 'shrine' discovered in cathedral graveyard could be a sacrifice site linked to fertility and mystery cults, say archaeologists
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Archeologists in Britain discovered what they believe to be an ancient Roman shrine. Archaeologists from the University of Leicester excavate a Roman cellar at Leicester Cathedral. There has always been a "folk tale" for centuries that a Roman temple once stood where the Leicester Cathedral is now, the expert said. Archeologists made many other finds at the cathedral site, including ancient Roman coins and pottery. "This excavation has produced a remarkable amount of archaeological evidence from a modestly sized area," said John Thomas, Deputy Director of the University of Leicester Archaeological Services.

☆ Five Best: Books on Hollywood
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Charles Elton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

FlickerBy Theodore Roszak (1991)1. “Flicker” is the love child of Pauline Kael and Umberto Eco—a 700-page novel that combines religious philosophy and film theory, with some tantric sex thrown in. “There was no bliss to compare with the discovery of a lost von Stroheim scene or a Pabst without torn sprockets,” he muses. His search for the mysterious Castle takes him into a sinister Catholic organization called Oculus Dei, which will do anything to destroy Castle’s legacy. If “Flicker” sounds unlike anything you’ve ever read, it is—and gloriously so.

☆ Staying in British castles may be easier — and cheaper — than you think
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Lucy Handley | Chris Dwyer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Storied Collection is a travel website that lists heritage hotels and homes — including private castles — so vacationers who love history can easily find accommodations that suit them. The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa is located inside the Royal Crescent, a row of terraced houses built between 1767 and 1775. Hauge and Goldin, with the help of former CEO of Best Western UK Rob Paterson, launched Storied Collection in 2022. Surnames of previous owners include Cooper, Bingham and Synge, according to Storied Collection. The drawing room of the Sir Percy Blakeney Suite at the Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa in Bath, England.

☆ The Justice Department investigated Jeffrey Epstein's death. Then it went silent.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +25 min

Jeffrey Epstein's death in a federal jail was seen as a shocking Justice Department failure. But more than three years later, the office still hasn't released its report into the circumstances of Epstein's death. "We all took it by surprise," Mark Epstein told Insider. Barr tasked the Justice Department's inspector general, Michael Horowitz, and the FBI with investigating "the circumstances of Mr. Epstein's death." Mark Epstein told Insider that he spoke to his brother about once a month in the years before his death.

☆ Dutch historian finds medieval treasure using metal detector
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Charlotte Campenhout | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Part of the 1000-year-old medieval treasure discovered in Hoogwoud, Netherlands, consisting of jewellery and silver coins, is shown in this undated handout picture obtained by Reuters. Archeologie West-Friesland/Handout via REUTERSAMSTERDAM, March 9 (Reuters) - A Dutch historian found a unique 1,000-year-old medieval golden treasure, consisting of four golden ear pendants, two strips of gold leaf and 39 silver coins, the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden) announced on Thursday. Lorenzo Ruijter, 27, who told Reuters he has been treasure hunting since he was 10, discovered the treasure in 2021 in the small northern city of Hoogwoud, using a metal detector. "Golden jewellery from the High Middle Ages is extremely rare in the Netherlands," the museum also said. Given its archaeological significance, the treasure was given as a loan to the museum which will display it, but it will remain the official property of finder Lorenzo Ruijter.

☆ U.S.-led Iraq war ushered in years of chaos and conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] A general view of Tahrir square as demonstrators take part during the ongoing anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq November 5, 2019. Here is a look at some of the violence, including suicide bombings and beheadings, that has plagued Iraq, a major OPEC oil producer and key U.S. ally, since the 2003 war. * March 20, 2003 - U.S.-led forces invade Iraq from Kuwait to oust Saddam Hussein. * October 2004 - Al Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi starts waging bloody attacks designed to turn majority Shi’ite Muslims against minority Sunnis in a civil war. * January 2007 - Bush announces a new war strategy including a “surge” of U.S. troops into Iraq to combat the insurgency.

☆ 500-year-old spices, including saffron and peppercorns, discovered in the king of Denmark's shipwreck
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Archaeologists have found a collection of well-preserved 500-year-old spices in a shipwreck. The ship belonged to King John of Denmark and sank off the coast of Sweden in 1495. The spices, which include saffron, peppercorns, and ginger, would have been a symbol of high status. The royal ship, called Gribshunden, belonged to King John of Denmark, and it caught fire and sank off the coast of Sweden in 1495. King John traveled to Sweden on the ship as part of a mission to unify Denmark, Norway, and Sweden under his rule, according to ABC News.

After a fire engulfed Notre Dame in 2019, horrified onlookers around the world donated nearly $1 billion to restore the cathedral. Scroll to experience an acoustic simulation of how “Viderunt Omnes” may have sounded from different places inside Notre Dame. In the survey on the acoustic experience of Notre Dame, respondents commented on the building’s unique sound. We may see Notre Dame as an eternal monument, but she hears it as a place that is always changing. When I visited Notre Dame with her, we were accompanied by a young sound engineer, as well as a historian studying metal.

☆ Britain's coronation throne gets revamp ahead of King Charles' crowning
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Michael Holden | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] The inside of Westminster Abbey in central London is seen in this general view taken April 20, 2011. Charles will follow some of his famous forebears, such as King Henry VIII, Queen Victoria and his own mother Elizabeth II, in being crowned on the chair. It has featured in coronation ceremonies since 1308, and has been the chair used to crown monarchs since Henry IV in 1399, the Abbey says. "The coronation chair is extremely fragile. It has a complex layer structure which means that the gilding layers on it often flake off," Blessley said.

☆ With ostrich feathers and flying oranges, Belgian carnival returns after COVID
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"That is more visitors than the year before the COVID pandemic," said the spokesman, Patrick Haumont. "For two years in a row, there was no carnival and people missed all this, they missed the carnival, they missed the party." On reaching the town's main square for the parade's big finale, the Gilles don elaborate ostrich feather hats weighing several kilograms. Pierrots, sailors, harlequins and peasants follow in the procession, small bells sewn to their costumes ringing as local brass bands play the streets. Additional reporting by Clement Rossignol and Bart Biesemans, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Knights, squires, queens go on strike at California Medieval Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Workers at a Southern California Medieval Times have walked off the job and went on strike before their second performance of the day Saturday, the union confirmed. Medieval Times LLC has not responded to numerous requests for comment. Medieval Times workers walk a picket line in Buena Park, California. Brett BanditelliZapcic said people work at Medieval Times because they love it, not for the money. In October, Medieval Times filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the union for using the company name, which is still ongoing.

☆ AI Tech Enables Industrial-Scale Intellectual-Property Theft, Say Critics
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Christopher Mims | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Grzegorz Rutkowski has studied the great masters of texture and light—Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Vermeer—and his ability to mimic their techniques has made him an in-demand painter of fantastical beasts and landscapes for the videogame industry. But these days, instead of devoting all his time to painting in his sun-dappled studio near the picturesque medieval square in the town of Pieńsk, Poland, he’s spending ever more of it on Zoom calls, talking to lawyers, artists and others about the strange reason he is suddenly far more famous than he ever thought possible.

☆ College Doesn’t Need to Take Four Years
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Scott L. Wyatt | Allen C. Guelzo | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

But by the end of the 20th century, college curriculums had added much beyond the old classics. From the 1960s through the 1990s higher education absorbed vocational training: physical therapy, accounting, marketing, hospitality management, even culinary arts. Mastery of these pursuits doesn’t always require a uniform four-year program. The core of, say, a hospitality degree might require only one year of study. All the while, the costs of the mandated four-year degree continue to soar.

LONDON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - China’s manufacturing activity has started to increase as the coronavirus epidemic wanes, after the country abandoned its suppression strategy that severely disrupted the economy with a series of city lockdowns. The NBS manufacturing index appears low, barely above the theoretical 50-point threshold dividing expanding activity from a contraction, but that may understate the increase in activity. But China’s manufacturing index has been generally lower and less variable than the comparable indices published for the United States and the euro zone by the Institute for Supply Management and S&P Global respectively. China's index has a standard deviation of 1.59 points compared with 3.99 points for the United States and 4.88 for the euro zone. If that timeline holds, manufacturing and freight transportation activity is likely to increase over the next two months.

☆ An Anglo-Saxon Celebration of the Senses in Silver
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Jane Coombs | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

In a smaller display case, mounted on a vertical panel, is a large, disc-shaped pin that gleams beneath a small light fixture. About 4.5 inches in diameter and slightly convex, this ninth-century accessory bears a magnificent etched design in burnished silver and niello, a black metallic substance pressed into the grooves. Originally worn at the shoulder to fasten a cloak, the Fuller Brooch (named after its 20th-century donor) is one of the best preserved examples of Anglo-Saxon metalwork and the earliest known depiction of the five senses in art. A similar mix of wit and profundity is readily apparent in the Fuller Brooch’s complex iconography. Many suspect it bears the influence of Alfred the Great (reigned 871–899), a learned Anglo-Saxon king who sparked a revival of religion and literacy after his subjects weathered years of brutal Viking attacks.

Rooted in the Middle Ages, the Binche carnival, a UNESCO World Heritage event, is one of Europe's oldest surviving street carnivals and the biggest in Belgium. The costumes include ostrich-feather hats, wooden clogs, bells and wax masks, elements which the Kersten family have been designing and making for five generations. "This year, we are celebrating the 120th anniversary of the start of the 'Gilles de Binche' costumes production", said 57-year-old Fanny Kersten, who has been making costumes with her father for 33 years. The Binche carnival's cancellation in 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic was a "black hole" for the business, Kersten said, adding "we couldn't even imagine a future for the carnival." It was the first time the carnival was cancelled since World War Two, significantly reducing costume makers' income from renting out their pieces.

☆ I started working at Medieval Times after getting laid off — now I play the queen. It's a dangerous but really fun job.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Jenny Powers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Erin Zapcic portrays a queen at Medieval Times' Buena Park castle in California. It was 2011 and at the age of 27, I had just gotten laid off from my office job. Still wanting to continue my work with Medieval Times, I reapplied at the Buena Park castle. I tumbled to the ground as the horse ran away, and my crown went flying off. While I love my job, there are certain aspects of it that could use improvementZapcic recently helped unionize the staff at Medieval Times.

☆ Water spoils archaeological quest for 'queen' of Roman roads
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Alvise Armellini | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Medieval coins that have been found during excavations, looking for the "first mile" of the Appian Way, the first and most important highway of ancient Rome, are seen in this undated handout image obtained by Reuters. Appius Claudius Caecus, a magistrate, started the Appian Way in the 4th century BC. Valenzani explained that pumps are working 24/7 to clear water from the digging site and allow exploration, but would not be powerful enough if the excavation were to go deeper. In a last bid to find traces of the Appian Way's founding stones, archaeologists will extract samples of what remains unexcavated via a core drill before covering up the site. Reporting by Alvise Armellini; Editing by Josie KaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The wildly popular MMORPG 'World of Warcraft' just lost a huge chunk of its players overnight
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Millions of Chinese gamers will no longer be able to play the wildly popular MMORPG "World Of Warcraft." Blizzard Entertainment — the company behind "World of Warcraft" and other popular online role-playing games — suspended its servers in China at midnight after a licensing agreement with NetEase Games, China's "World of Warcraft" distribution partner, expired. Released in 2004, "World of Warcraft" is a fantasy game in which players create an avatar that can fight monsters, complete quests, and engage with other players in the medieval Azeroth universe. Another "World of Warcraft" player said on Weibo that the game was 'my first love,' per CNN. The end of "World of Warcraft" in China — which arrived in the country in 2008 — is a result of a tense dispute between Blizzard and NetEase that occurred last November.

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