Miskatonic School for Girls
Category: Gaming
So yeah, Kickstarter now offers you the opportunity to back a card game set in a Lovecraftian girl school. Via Kenneth Hite....
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 1 Comments •
Aardvarchaeology
Martin Rundkvist's blog. Archaeology, skepticism, Sweden. And books and music and stuff.
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Dr. Martin Rundkvist is a Swedish archaeologist, journal editor, public speaker, chairman of the Swedish Skeptics Society, atheist, lefty liberal, bookworm, and father of two.
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Recent Posts
- 17th Century Pastoral Novel
- My Autumn's And Winter's Work
- Roy Zimmerman: You're Getting Sleepy
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- Recent Archaeomags
- Opportunity Mars Rover Still Working After Eight Years
- How Is Energy Consumption Moderated In A Car?
- Baby Aardvark
- Spring Travel & Speaking Schedule
- De-Lurk
Recent Comments
- Bengt Gabrielsson on Digging at the Finnestorp War Booty Sacrificial Site
- Martin R on 17th Century Pastoral Novel
- Birger Johansson on 17th Century Pastoral Novel
- Birger Johansson on 17th Century Pastoral Novel
- Martin R on 17th Century Pastoral Novel
- Martin R on 17th Century Pastoral Novel
- Birger Johansson on 17th Century Pastoral Novel
- Martin R on 17th Century Pastoral Novel
- Birger Johansson on 17th Century Pastoral Novel
- Martin R on My Autumn's And Winter's Work
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Blogroll
Humour:
Singer And Jowly Do Drugs On The Commuter Train
Category: Health
Singer got out a pharmacy-style box of pill blisters from which he extracted two yellow/green capsules. "This is like cocaine, I promise! Strong shit! Have some!"
Posted by Martin R at 4:37 PM • 12 Comments •
Hot Troll/Cow Action in Big One Magazine
Category: Children
Bamse magazine is one of Sweden's most beloved childrens' publications, with a readership mainly about age 10. Its title character's name does mean "The Big One". But still, I must say that I was as surprised as Bamse himself...
Posted by Martin R at 9:23 AM • 2 Comments •
On My Mind, Sunday
Category: Archaeology
I'm a single dad now for two weeks while my wife's in China shooting interviews for a documentary series. Aard's been getting a lot of comment spam lately, and the filter isn't working properly, so I've turned on comment moderation....
Posted by Martin R at 3:54 AM • 5 Comments •
With the Theme of Engrish
Category: Children
Fecal sample submission window....
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 13 Comments •
Restaurant Engrish
Category: China
"Lie Fallow" means "in your spare time, without a prior appointment" in Engrish. Everybody loves Engrish, the surreal dialect of English found on signs, in menus, on clothing etc. in the Far East. Much of it seems to stem...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 20 Comments •
Spring is Here, Life is Skittles & Beer
Category: Humour
I was reminded of this timely song when discussing an odd 7th century burial at Norsborg with my friend Dr. Ing-Marie Back Danielsson. The buried individual has been murdered, which triggered the association....
Posted by Martin R at 6:23 AM • 8 Comments •
Cthulhu Tract
Category: Humour
Jack Chick is an insane Christian cartoonist. Howard Phillips Lovecraft was an atheist horror writer who wrote about people being driven insane. In Fred Van Lente and Steve Ellis's brilliant 2000 tract, Chick and Lovecraft are made one. Thanks...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 7 Comments •
Sanity Claws
Category: Humour
I seem to be on a poetry roll here, kids. When I was 14, Citadel Miniatures put out a small run of a novelty pewter miniature named Sanity Claws: a tentacled menacing monstrosity for the festive season. And now...
Posted by Martin R at 9:54 AM • 4 Comments •
And the Earl of Dalkeith's Wreath Was Very Pretty Too
Category: Humour
When I turned 25 my friend Sanna gave me a little poetry anthology that I have since treasured. Kathryn & Ross Petras's Very Bad Poetry (1997) is a lovely read. One of the versifiers most voluminously represented there is W.T....
Posted by Martin R at 5:38 PM • 20 Comments •
"Do You Need A Fish?"
Category: Humour
A Gambian moment. We're in an extremely dilapidated taxi that has stalled at the roadside, just a stone's throw from Tanji village's main taxi hub. Before getting into the car, my wife and I had to haggle for ten minutes...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 9 Comments •
Arthurian Romance in the Gritty Field
Category: Archaeology
Thanks to Dear Reader Kate L....
Posted by Martin R at 4:21 AM • 4 Comments •
Surrender to Your Darkest Dreams, Kids, in Church
Category: Music
Last night I attended Junior's school concert in the church of St. Catherine in Stockholm. Here are some of the lyrics sung by the 13-14-year-olds in front of the altar. Because the world is round it turns me on Because...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 8 Comments •
Absurd Tractor
Category: Children
A buddy and namesake of mine has a father who is a literature scholar. He wrote his thesis on absurdist drama, Beckett and Ionesco, that sort of thing. This influenced his son's vocabulary. Once about 1970, when the scholar was...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 5 Comments •
Sex Advice From An Amateur
Category: Health
The other day I happened upon a sex-related search term about someone with a problem looking for help. And feeling that I should offer what assistance I can, I'll give some free amateur's sex advice.
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 11 Comments •
Mitchell & Webb Fake the Moon Landing
Category: Humour
Would it have been cost-effective to fake the Moon landing?
Posted by Martin R at 2:52 AM • 3 Comments •
Jane Austen's Fight Club
Category: Film
Via Luftwaffe Flak at Boardgamegeek.com...
Posted by Martin R at 4:42 PM • 2 Comments •
Heretical Room Mate
Category: Humour
My buddy Micke and his Japanese college room mate: "I'm Ken Nakamura. Ken means 'heresy'!" "Really? That's kind of... odd." "Yes! It means 'HERESY'! Rike when you are never sick!" "Ahaaa, you mean 'healthy'..." "Yes! Correct! What does your name...
Posted by Martin R at 3:33 PM • 9 Comments •
Archaeological Zombies
Category: Archaeology
Image by Joseph Hewitt of Ataraxia Theatre. Archaeology is a famously ghoulish pursuit whose practitioners are always on the look-out for dead bodies to gloat over. If we can't find a grave, then at least we'll try to get...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 11 Comments •
Kinky Ikea Bathrobe
Category: Humour
So Ikea sells this bathrobe called "Njuta". It's a verb, meaning "experience (intense) pleasure", and it's usually reserved for pretty powerful kinds of pleasure such as good food, good music, good sex. And Junior's robe size here is Small...
Posted by Martin R at 2:01 PM • 7 Comments •
Becoming Lord of the Afterlife
Category: Books
I'm reading a collection of my favourite music critic's journalism, Strage Text. Fredrik Strage and I were born the same year and both grew up loving Depeche Mode and Swedish role-playing games. He has a hilarious way of taking things...
Posted by Martin R at 4:15 PM • 4 Comments •
Dark Vengeance of Cryptic Slaughter
Category: Humour
Discreetly hidden under the northern side of the eastern bridgehead of rural Täckhammar bridge is a spray-painted mural. I found it while checking for geocaches. It depicts an evil-looking male face accompanied by a really funny piece of Satanist...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 12 Comments •
Royal Hats
Category: Humour
Who knew that it would be so much pure childish fun if someone with decent Photoshop skills put a collection of silly hats on Carolus XVI Gustavus? There's even rumoured to be an unedited picture there, but I certainly...
Posted by Martin R at 5:44 AM • 3 Comments •
A Modest Proposal to Eradicate Square Dance
Category: Humour
In many of the world's most affluent countries, the population is shrinking because people aren't having enough children to replace the folks who die. This offers some hope to solve global overpopulation, though unfortunately the solution involves eradicating poverty and...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 16 Comments •
A Strong Smell of Turpentine Prevails Throughout
Category: Humour
"The one great truth which underlies all human experience, and is the key to all the mysteries that philosophy has sought in vain to solve, flashed upon me in a sudden revelation."
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 7 Comments •
Mess With This Rabbit Only After Careful Consideration
Category: Humour
Posted by Martin R at 4:40 PM • 5 Comments •
The Gangs of Åstorp
Category: Humour
Sunday "... five men were indicted, some of them members of the Black Cobra criminal gang. They are suspected of involvement in cake theft from the Godbiten bakery in Åstorp [pop. 8500] earlier this week. The cake was stolen from...
Posted by Martin R at 8:10 AM • 6 Comments •
Hernia Brand Glue
Category: Language
Scandinavians generally speak pretty good English. But every now and then you come across reminders that they are still very far from being native speakers. Witness this pail of wall-paper glue that I bought earlier today. Dear Swedish glue-maker,...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 13 Comments •
French Soft Drink Promises to Change Your Sexual Orientation
Category: Food
Christian fundamentalists like to believe that homosexuality is an illness that can -- and should -- be cured. The factual belief is contradicted by a solid scientific consensus, and the value judgement is widely considered to be a repressive...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 21 Comments •
Two Puns
Category: Humour
The Web helps you check if your ideas are original. Recently I've come up with two puns that proved to be unoriginal but still surprisingly uncommon. Ronald McDonald is the Lord of the Fries. The famous fantasy role-playing game should...
Posted by Martin R at 4:43 PM • 8 Comments •
Swedes Do, Normal People Don't
Category: Food
Writes Dear Reader Bruce Paulson of Gillett, Wisconsin:Your article the other day about rutabagas whet my appetite so on Friday I went to the local grocery store with a friend who was staying for supper. I unloaded three of them...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 10 Comments •
Norm Sherman is an Elder God
Category: Music
I've listened to Escape Pod, the science fiction short-story podcast, for four years now. And lately I have become increasingly awed by one of the newer hosts, Norm Sherman. His writing is acerbic, his delivery is deadpan, the guy is...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 3 Comments •
Like an Elephant
Category: Humour
My 6-y-o daughter usually sleeps really solidly over in her room and is not easily woken by sounds she's accustomed to. But this morning she told me over breakfast, "Dad, you and Mom made the weirdest noises last night and...
Posted by Martin R at 4:00 PM • 9 Comments •
Intellectual Aristocrat
Category: Humour
One of the best friends I made during my decade in the Tolkien Society is Florence Vilén; poet, novelist, connoisseuse of art and letters. She recently published a volume of poetry, Purpurpränt. Dikter med rim och reson. And earlier tonight...
Posted by Martin R at 3:26 PM • 0 Comments •
Mika's Place for Underwear
Category: Music
11-y-o Junior bought his first own album last Saturday: Mika's The Boy Who Knew Too Much. (My own first was Depeche Mode's Some Great Reward, bought at age 12 in '84 or '85). It's an excellent record once you've...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 4 Comments •
GothNet
Category: Humour
In a somewhat less subculture-savvy move, an Internet service provider in Gothenburg has chosen to call itself GothNet. Nothing on their web site suggests that they have any inkling what "Goth" means to most English-speaking people today. The etymology...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 8 Comments •
Heyting Algebras, Pointless Topology
Category: Humour
My friend Tor reports, "Complete Heyting algebras are a central object of study in pointless topology"....
Posted by Martin R at 12:18 PM • 1 Comments •
Phobos-bound Tardigrades Portrayed
Category: Space
Stacy L. Mason is an Aard regular and a talented artist. Check out his awesome interpretation of the Swedish tardigrades that are going to Phobos! In other news, I have issues with the lyrics of the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas...
Posted by Martin R at 2:33 AM • 8 Comments •
Homeopathic Emergency Room
Category: Health
Thanks to Felicia for the tip-off....
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 4 Comments •
Hello Dear Spammer
Category: Humour
I really like the spam letters I get with the subject line "Hello Dear". Sometimes the spammer is even named Hello Dear. Here's the latest example.Hello dear how are you today i hope that every things is OK with you...
Posted by Martin R at 5:30 AM • 2 Comments •
Beowulf Saves the Royal Pub
Category: Archaeology
The conflict that drives the first two thirds of the long poem is centred upon certain problems King Hrothgar of the Danes has with his mead-hall "The Hart".
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 8 Comments •
Tom Lehrer Got It From Agnes
Category: Humour
From 1980, a television appearance by the brilliant Tom Lehrer, where he performs a song that never made it onto any of his records back in the day. (I hear it's on the CD re-issue, though.) Via David Nessle....
Posted by Martin R at 4:23 PM • 6 Comments •
Makin' A Lastin' Impression
Category: Humour
A lesson in Swedish from the mall at Sickla. Last = noun from the verb lasta, "to load". In = in Fart = noun from the verb fara, "to travel", cf. "wayfarer" and "fare thee well". Load-in-travel. Delivery entrance....
Posted by Martin R at 8:27 AM • 13 Comments •
The Onion on a Lovecraftian School Board Member
Category: Books
ARKHAM, MA--Arguing that students should return to the fundamentals taught in the Pnakotic Manuscripts and the Necronomicon in order to develop the skills they need to be driven to the very edge of sanity, Arkham school board member Charles West...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 4 Comments •
Mais Non, Mais Non
Category: Music
With thanks to Dear Reader Shelley, here's a 1969 French cover version of the Muppets' famed song: "Mais non, mais non", as written and sung by Henri Salvador....
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 1 Comments •
Sophus the Cat
Category: Humour
My first wife had a cat named Cassandra, and she had a litter of three kittens. One was grey, black and white, and we called him Batman. Two were ginger, and I don't remember what we called them, but the...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 15 Comments •
Never Say Please To Mother
Category: Language
In Chinese, polite figures of speech mark a distance.
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 65 Comments •
Inventive Gay Dolphins
Category: Biology
I am impressed by the gay dolphins' invention of nasal intercourse.
Posted by Martin R at 7:21 AM • 14 Comments •
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