Guilty Pleasures

More in the August blogging challenge…

I admit that I don’t have a lot of guilty pleasures – in that *I* don’t feel very guilty in taking pleasure in them. But others might try to make me feel guilty about them so I guess they still count. 🙂

For foods – McDonald’s french fries. Part of the reason I don’t feel too guilty about them is that I eat them in moderation. But I do love a yummy, hot, crunchy fry.

For music – 80s pop and hair band rock. Again, I don’t feel guilty about enjoying it, it’s the music of my youth (from 8 to 17 – my formative years).

For movies – any cheesy Sci-Fi. Probably part of the reason that I’m a huge MST3K fan!

I’m sure there are others, but those are the ones that sprung to mind!

A Favorite Quote

Next in the blog challenge – a favorite quote. I actually have lots of quotes that I like for various reasons (and to use in various situations), but this has always been a favorite of mine and many others who are fans of earth and space exploration:

Something I wish I did really well

Continuing on with the August blog challenge…

I wish I could sing really well. I was in choir in elementary school and I was decent enough at holding a note that the music teacher would put the new people next to me, but I didn’t continue with it in junior high and beyond, opting for band instead (I played clarinet for those who are curious). So now my singing is limited to the shower and car where only I can hear it. 🙂

Sunday Short Takes

A few of these stories were actually from over a week ago, but just now made it into the round-up!

* Greys Court ‘hidden’ buildings revealed by heatwave – The heatwave has revealed the site of former buildings at a 16th-Century mansion in Oxfordshire through severely parched areas of grass.

* Woking Palace fire started by arsonist – This is the third time the palace remains have been attacked by arson in two years.

* Assessment of Two Portraits Identified as Lady Jane Grey Dudley in the Collection at Syon House – From Dr. Stephan Edwards. An interesting read!

* The Mary Tudor Pearl will be unveiled to the public for the first time at Masterpiece London 2013

* The King’s Lost Bed on BBC4’s “Secret Knowledge” program – Historian and broadcaster Jonathan Foyle believes he has uncovered a remarkable piece of furniture – the marriage bed of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.

And related to the above link:

* Henry VII bed to go on display at Auckland Castle

And finally –

* Video of the Mary Queen of Scots exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland, from The Scotsman. (If the embedded video doesn’t work, here’s the link)

A Treasured Memory

Continuing on the August blog challenge…

This one was hard for me because I’m lucky to have a lot of treasured memories (in part because I have a sponge for a brain, so I just flat out have A LOT of memories). But I decided to choose one… well, a set of memories more precisely… that is related to the topic of the blog – my first trip to the UK (England and Wales only on that trip, Scotland came 2 years later). Since it was my first trip I crammed in as much as I could and tried to visit as many of the places that I *had* to see in case I never got back (since I didn’t know at the time that I would visit the UK two more times over the next five years). I don’t think I could single out just one memory from that trip because it was all so special for me. Really the same could be said for *all* my various trips outside of Texas – and some in Texas – but that first one to the UK is particularly treasured.

Five things about me you might not know

For today’s post for Natalie’s August blog challenge, I’m following her suggestion and posting 5 things about me that most people don’t know. And this is aimed at people who know me through Tudor history stuff… people who know me through other areas often don’t know about my Tudor history side. 🙂

* My degree is in astronomy and I still work in the field doing education and public outreach. (I think a lot of people probably do know this since I do mention it from time to time, but I thought I would include it for new folks who stumble on the site during the blog challenge.)

* I’m a native Texan and still a current resident – south Texas to Houston to Austin (since 1980), to be precise. I included this because I’m still getting emails and tweets from people who assume I’m in the UK. (I wish! August in Texas is one of my least favorite things.)

* I collect Pez dispensers. And I would LOVE to see them make a collector’s set of Henry VIII and the Wives. Although the heads flipping up on two of them might be a little too close to historical accuracy…

* My all-time favorite genre of music is movie and television scores. It started with “Star Wars” in 1977 when I was 5 years old and I’ve never looked back.

* I’m a pretty big sports fan, with my favorites being baseball, tennis, college football, and pretty much anything in the Olympics. I’m one of those people who will watch the wall-to-wall Olympic coverage when it’s on, regardless of what sport is on or the nationality of the athletes!

August blog challenge kick-off post!

Natalie at On the Tudor Trail issued a challenge on her personal blog to write a post every day in August and I’ve decided to take up that challenge! I’m going to do a mix of her suggested schedule and my own posts (in part because I already do a regular Wednesday and mostly-regular Sunday post) and because I want to use this as an opportunity to write about a few other things that I’ve been meaning to post for a while. I’m hoping this challenge will give me the kick it the rear-end that I need!

If you want to join in the challenge (granted, the first day of the month is already over for a lot of you!) see Natalie’s challenge post here and join in the fun!

Upcoming Books, Exhibitions, and Events for August 2013

Books

Leanda de Lisle’s latest work on the Tudors is out at the end of August in the UK and will be out in early October in the US. It’s titled Tudor: The Family Story in the UK and Tudor: Passion. Manipulation. Murder. The Story of England’s Most Notorious Royal Family in the US.

Linda Porter has a new book out this month as well, this time about Mary Queen of Scots. The release date is August 15 in the UK and I have (so far) been unable to find info on a US release date.

And Fatal Rivalry, that I linked to last month, will be out in the US on August 26.

Events

The next Sudeley Castle Tudor Fun Day is on August 25th.

Continuing exhibitions

* Shakespeare and London, an exhibition by the London Metropolitan Archives, opened in May and will run through September 26, 2013. One of the highlights of the exhibition is a 1613 deed signed by Shakespeare and is one of only six known examples of his signature. If you want to be sure to see that item, please check the website since it is only on display for some of the dates the exhibition runs.

* The exhibition In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion opened in May and runs through October 6. More information is available at the Royal Collection website, which also includes an online gallery of exhibition highlights and a TEDx talk by the exhibition curator.

* The National Museum of Scotland’s exhibition on Mary Queen of Scots opened on June 28 and will run through November 17.

Sunday Short Takes

We seem to be into the slow news part of the summer, but a few things of interest did show up last week.

I also want to mention that I’ve been moving some files around and (hopefully) updating all the internal links to reflect the new locations, but if you find a broken link please let me know. And I’ve been making some changes to the front page – I’ve removed a few things and moved a few other things around. It’s still a work in progress as I’m trying to consolidate some of the sections as part of a cunning plan (yes, I’ve been re-watching Blackadder recently, why do you ask?) 😉

And now, on to the news!

* Suzannah Lipscomb did a short film for the Chalke Valley History Hub on Why the Tudors Matter:

* Family Tree: From Henry VII to James VI and I – Neat interactive of the old painting from History Today. Also mentioned on the page is an upcoming article about Margaret Douglas by Leanda de Lisle in the August issue.

And speaking of Leanda de Lisle, her husband Peter has updated and re-launched his European Heraldry site. As an example of the great graphics on the site, the arms of Henry VII are included below (click for a larger view).

Upcoming Books, Exhibitions, and Events for July 2013

Books

As the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Flodden approaches in September, a new book is being released on July 4th in the UK and in late August in the US. I have an advanced copy of Fatal Rivalry but unfortunately, like with so many books, I haven’t had a chance to read it yet! I might be able to get to it before the actual anniversary of the battle though. 🙂

And Elizabeth Norton has another Tudor book coming out – this time about the Boleyn Women. It is listed for the 28th of July in the UK and just July for the US (with a one to three month delivery, it might just be the UK copy sent over if you order from the US Amazon store.)

Events

The next Sudeley Castle Tudor Fun Day is on July 21st. These always look like fun – maybe I’ll get to visit during one some day!

Continuing exhibitions

Just two weeks left on this one:

The Victoria & Albert Museum‘s exhibition Treasures of the Royal Courts: Tudors, Stuarts, and the Russian Tsars is still on and runs through July 14, 2013.


Shakespeare and London, an exhibition by the London Metropolitan Archives, opened in May and will run through September 26, 2013. One of the highlights of the exhibition is a 1613 deed signed by Shakespeare and is one of only six known examples of his signature. If you want to be sure to see that item, please check the website since it is only on display for some of the dates the exhibition runs.


The exhibition In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion opened in May and runs through October 6. More information is available at the Royal Collection website, which also includes an online gallery of exhibition highlights and a TEDx talk by the exhibition curator.


The National Museum of Scotland’s exhibition on Mary Queen of Scots opened on June 28 and will run through November 17.

Sunday Short Takes

A couple of stories related to the Mary Queen of Scots exhibition that opened last Friday:

* Mary, Queen of Scots modelled in 3D – The face of Mary, Queen of Scots has been recreated in 3D by a team of experts from the University of Dundee.

* In pictures: Mary, Queen of Scots

And it’s been a while, but this week we have three entries in the “What would I buy if I won the lottery?” series:

* Elizabethan Manor House Near Cambridge

* Is this the most perfect house in Britain? Colourful history revealed of timber-framed country pile worth

Picture of the Week #234

Another section of Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick. Photo May 1998.

This is the third of my photos of Lord Leycester Hospital since I couldn’t get it all into one picture. I posted it this week in honor of the birthday of its namesake Robert Dudley, born on June 24th.

You can see the other two parts here and here.