Sunday, November 30, 2014

Setting & Society Sunday - Islands of Refreshment, Augustus's Frescoes, & Costs in Ancient Rome

Over on TheAppendix.net, there is a fascinating story to enjoy on a Sunday titled "The King of the Islands of Refreshment" about the ill-fated settlement of a South Atlantic Island group in the early 1800s.  Find out more here.


Meanwhile on ArtDaily.com, "Roman Emperor Augustus' frescoed rooms unveiled for first time after years of restoration."  See more here.


Finally, on AncientCoinsforEducation.org, find out "What Things Cost in Ancient Rome" here.


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Saturday, November 29, 2014

Saturday in Space - Rover Recon, Space Stasis, & Life on Titan

A recent pictorial on Yahoo News shows how the "Curiosity Rover Recons Rocky Base of Mars Mountain."  See more here.


Also, on The Know YouTube channel from last month, they give us some insight into "NASA Working on Stasis for Space Travel."  Enjoy.



Finally, on io9.com, there is some suggestion that "After The Sun Incinerates Earth, Life Could Evolve On Titan."  Find out why here.


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Friday, November 28, 2014

Flora & Fauna Friday - Armored Dinosaurs, Coconut Crabs, & Crazy Australia

First up from livescience.com, who could have guessed that "Giant Armored Dinosaurs Breathed Through 'Krazy Straw' Airways?"  Find out more here.


Also, viralnova.com makes the introductions when we "Meet The Coconut Crab, The Monstrous Crustacean That Can Climb Any Tree It Wants."  Check that out here.


Finally, BuzzFeed.com reminds us that they have "37 Pictures That Prove Australia Is The Craziest" when it comes to dangerous flora and fauna.  See more here.


Examining animals, plants, and the
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Thursday, November 27, 2014

Historical Thursday - Hadrian's Wall Course, Vatican Library Manuscripts, & Roman Girl's Tomb

Over on futurelearn.com, you can register your interest in a free online course from Newcastle University called "Hadrian's Wall: Life on the Roman Frontier."  Learn more here.


Recently on ibtimes.co.uk it was announced "Vatican Library Making 4,000 Ancient Manuscripts Available Online For Free."  See more here.


On the Medievalists.net, a recent story tells of "The Discovery of a Roman Girl in the 15th century."  Find out more here.


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Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Worldbuilding Wednesday - 7 Worldbuilding Tropes

A recent article on io9.com's "Toybox" was titled "7 Worldbuilding Tropes Science Fiction and Fantasy needs to Stop using."  I urge folks to ignore the advice, use them for your tabletop RPG settings as you like, but try to give them a new twist.  Read more here.


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Tuesday, November 25, 2014

The Tuesday Sundries - Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet

Over on the Metropolitan Museum of Art YouTube channel, you can find out how many secrets the Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet might hold.  Enjoy.



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Monday, November 24, 2014

RPG Media Monday - First Red Riding, Darker Fairy Tales, & Gaiman's New Story

Over on the Medievalists.net, they expound on "The Earliest Little Red Riding Hood Tale."  Read more here.


Also, over on NPR.org, they remind us that "Today's Fairy Tales Started Out (Even More) Dark And Harrowing."  Check it out here.


Finally, on the Telegraph website, there is an article titled "Neil Gaiman: Why Disney's Sleeping Beauty doesn't work."  Learn more here.


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Sunday, November 23, 2014

Setting & Society Sunday - St Cuthbert's Bones, Victorian Celebrity, & Neolithic Toolkits

Over on the Medievalists.net, there is an article discussing "The Bones of St. Cuthbert: Defining a Saint’s Cult in Medieval Northumbria" here.


Over on the Telegraph, they examine "Sex, opium and bizarre outfits: How Victorian artists invented celebrity" here.


Finally, archaeology.org takes a look at "The Neolithic Toolkit" here.


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Saturday, November 22, 2014

Saturday in Space - Rocket Tanks, Philae Finds Organics, & Your Existence Questioned

Over on the SpaceX YouTube channel, a quick timelapse video shows Rocket Tank Production.  Enjoy.



Also, it seems Philae may have found some organic molecules on that comet.  Read more here.


Finally, BuzzFeed was kind enough to share "26 Pictures Will Make You Re-Evaluate Your Entire Existence." See them all here.


Saturday in Space on GRYMVALD.com
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Friday, November 21, 2014

Flora & Fauna Friday - GoPro Squirrel, Russian Foxes, & Book Scorpions

Over on the Viva Frei YouTube channel, there is a recent video with a Squirrel's Eye view using a GoPro camera.  Enjoy.



Also, as reported by Bored Panda, "Russian Miner Spends His Breaks Taking Photos Of Foxes In The Arctic Circle" and they have the pics to prove it.  See more here.


Finally, scientificamerican.com featured a story about how "These tiny scorpions would like to perform an important inspection of your old book collection."  Learn more about them here.


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Thursday, November 20, 2014

Historical Thursday - Law and the Undead, Book of Ballymote, & Tudors of Central Europe

The Medievalists.net feature and article discussing the hauntings in the Eyrbyggja saga here.


Also, over on the Royal Irish Academy website, they look more closely at the Book of Ballymote here.


Finally, from the University of Oxford news pages, a "Major new history project will investigate the 'Tudors of Central Europe'" here.



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Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Worldbuilding Wednesday - Turkey's Underworld, Peruvian Sarcophagi, & Destructive Prehistoric Farming

Over on Allen Varbey's website, he shared an article originally published in Dragon Magazine #201 from January 1993 titled "Turkey's Underground Cities: Real-world dungeons" discussing how places like Derinkuyu is rich with ideas for RPG worldbuilding.  Read more here.


Also, a recent article on viralnova.com is titled "Wanna Go Exploring? Check Out These Sarcophagi Deep In Peru" and highlights Karajia, "the site of the tombs of ancient wise men."  See more here.


Finally, io9.com explores "How Farming Almost Destroyed Ancient Human Civilization" here.


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Tuesday, November 18, 2014

The Tuesday Sundries - Greek Mosaics in Turkey, Art of Swords, & an Iberian Prince's Tomb

Over on eu.greekreporter.com, there is a recent article on "Mosaics Revealed at Ancient Greek City of Zeugma in Turkey."  See more here.


Also, you can check out some wonderful weaponry art (not just swords) at Art of Sword here (art-of-swords.tumblr.com).  You will let out an audible gasp when scrolling down the archive page here or you are not a gamer with whom I will associate.


Finally, ibtimes.co.uk reported last month of a "Bronze Age Palace with Prince's Tomb Discovered on Iberian Peninsula."  I posted link to an article at the time but I love the aerial shot of the site in this one.  See more here.


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Monday, November 17, 2014

RPG Media Monday - Tolkien's Lost English Mythology, Island, & Hobbits

Over on Amazon, you can get a copy of Simon J Cook's October release "J.R.R. Tolkien's Lost English Mythology" here.


Also, over on yemachine.com, there is a recent article titled "The island at the heart of Tolkien’s imagination" here.


Finally, now is the time to grab your tickets for IMAX showings of all three Hobbit films on the same day here.


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Sunday, November 16, 2014

Setting & Society Sunday - Knighthood Reflected, Legally Slayed, & Park Place

An article on the Medievalists.net website is titled "Late Medieval Knight Reflecting on his Public Life: Hugo de Urriés (c. 1405-c. 1493), Diplomacy and Translating the Classics" but follow the link and dive right into their detailed treat.  The fella was a knight for fifty-one years and had some thoughts on the matter.  Read more here.


Also, sometimes the reflection is cut short, as in the article titled "The Slaying of Sir William Pennington: Legal Narrative and the Late Medieval English Archive" here.


Finally, there is a look at "The Importance of Parks in Fifteenth-Century Society" here.


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Saturday, November 15, 2014

Saturday in Space - Philae Sleeps

There is really only one story I can put in this corner of the CMG Blog Triad on this Saturday in Space, and it's all about Philae landing on a comet and now going to sleep after doing some science.  Read more here and here.




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Friday, November 14, 2014

Flora & Fauna Friday - Stinkbugs, Durian Fruit, & New Zealand’s Moa

Over on the National Geographic YouTube channel, there is a recent video discussing "Fighting the Invasive Stinkbug."  Enjoy.



Also, speaking of stink, the Durian Fruit is "regarded by many people in southeast Asia as the 'king of fruits', the durian is distinctive for its large size, strong odor, and formidable thorn-covered husk."  Read more here.


Finally, on archaeology.org, there is an article discussing how "The Arrival of People Doomed New Zealand’s Moa."  Learn more here.


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Thursday, November 13, 2014

Historical Thursday - Fatal Victorian Fashion

Over on hyperallergic.com there is an article titled "Fatal Victorian Fashion and the Allure of the Poison Garment."  Read more here.


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Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Worldbuilding Wednesday - Chinese Tomb Murals, Roman Skeletons, & the Teotihuacan Tunnel

Over on Live Science, a recent article describes how a "1,000-Year-Old Tomb Reveals Murals, Stars & Poetry."  Read more here.


Also, on sobadsogood.com, discover "Unbelievable Skeletons Unearthed from the Catacombs of Rome."  See more here.


Finally, from the Huffington Post, "Archaeologists Make Incredible Discoveries In Tunnel Sealed 2,000 Years Ago."  Find out more here.


Worldbuilding Wednesday on GRYMVALD.com
The nuts and bolts of Worldbuilding
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