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Art As History: The Bayeux Tapestry

~ beetleypete ~ 37 Comments

I have been fortunate enough to have seen the Bayeux tapestry twice in my life. Such is the detail, that even after two relatively long viewings, I could still happily view it many more times.

It is an embroidered cloth nearly 70 metres (230 feet) long and 50 centimetres (20 inches) tall that depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, led by William, Duke of Normandy challenging Harold II, King of England, and culminating in the Battle of Hastings. It is thought to date to the 11th century, within a few years of the battle. Now widely accepted to have been made in England perhaps as a gift for William, it tells the story from the point of view of the conquering Normans and for centuries has been preserved in Normandy.

The cloth consists of 58 scenes, many with Latin tituli, embroidered on linen with coloured woollen yarns. It is likely that it was commissioned by Bishop Odo of Bayeux, William’s maternal half-brother, and made for him in England in the 1070s. In 1729, the hanging was rediscovered by scholars at a time when it was being displayed annually in Bayeux Cathedral. The tapestry is now exhibited at the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux in Bayeux, Normandy, France.

Annoyingly Pointless Advertising

~ beetleypete ~ 45 Comments

We all know that we have to tolerate a degree of advertising online. Free email accounts, being able to read articles and some newspapers, and even blogging if you don’t pay to upgrade. The ads appear; sometimes relevant, usually not.

However, I am nominating two champions of annoyingly pontless advertising for some kind of award.
(I don’t know what award, unless I make one up. The APA trophy?)

Amazon. Yes, Prime is worth the money, in my opinion. Whatever you might need, usually significantly cheaper, and delivered within 24 hours. (At least in Beetley it is) If you like that sort of thing, you also get Amazon TV, and access to free books and other stuff that I tend to ignore.

But their advertising is SO annoying. I recently bought Julie a stand mixer for her baking. Two days after it arrived, I received an advertising email from Amazon. They were suggesting that I should buy a stand mixer. The same one at the same price, that I had taken delivery of 48 hours earlier. Is their system so lame that it doesn’t realise I already have one? Or do they (stupidly) presume I want two? Since then they have sent the same email three more times.

Second nomination is for our friend, (or not) Google Chrome. Many years ago now, I changed from using the Firefox Browser because it wasn’t working so well with WordPress. I already had a GMail account, so it was an obvious transition to download Google Chrome as my main browser. Four days later, I received an advertising email in my GMail account suggesting I download Google Chrome to use as my browser, and extolling its benefits. I cannot reply to those emails, unfortunately, but you would think they would have some way of knowing that I was using Google Chrome to reply to other Gmails and search for things online?

Obviously not, as every single day since, they have sent me the same no-reply email, now over 1600 times!

I really would like to contact both companies and try to do something about it. But life is far too short.