A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
A look at history and popular culture
Fireside this week! I am still a bit behind after attending the annual meeting of the Society for Military History - conferences always leave me a bit tired and slow to get back to writing, even as they also stimulate my thinking - so the conclusion of our look at Rings of Power must wait … Continue reading Fireside Friday, April 4, 2025
Hey folks! Happy Valentine's Day. Fireside this week and then hopefully next week we'll start into our look at the Siege of Eregion in Season 2 of Rings of Power and also the larger Tolkien legendarium. I confess, watching the show, my suspension of disbelief fell much faster than the city did. But in the … Continue reading Fireside Friday, February 14, 2025 (On Grant Funding)
Hey folks, Fireside this week! I'm currently working on a post "On the Gracchi" taking a somewhat darker look at everyone's favorite Roman reformers (though hardly the same black takedowns Alexander and Cleopatra got) , which will hopefully be ready for next week. Trustworthy Librarian Ollie helping me work on my book sorting solution, also … Continue reading Fireside Friday, January 10, 2025
Hey, folks. Another Fireside this week! I had hoped to have the science fiction body armor post ready to go this week, but in addition to the continued work on the book project, I was asked to write a review of the now-out-in-the-USA Gladiator II and that consumed a fair bit of my time, pushing … Continue reading Fireside Friday, November 22, 2024 (Roman Naming Conventions)
Hey folks, Fireside this week! For the musing this week, I want to talk about, at least for a humanities field, what 'research support' from a university means and why it is valuable, but before we get to that, I just want to make a note going forward. In particular, there have been a few … Continue reading Fireside Friday, November 15, 2024
Fireside this week! I find I have my thoughts more or less together for the last part of the Imperator series, but I have not yet gotten them into a satisfying order - a common hazard of writing - so they will have to wait for next week. It's not yet clear to me if … Continue reading Fireside Friday, August 16, 2024
Fireside this week! I had hoped to have the start of the Imperator Teaching Paradox series ready for this week, but it has been a bit stubborn and I do not want to derail my book writing/revising schedule in order to push it out before it is ready. So that will almost certainly come next … Continue reading Fireside Friday, July 12, 2024
Fireside this week! My hope in terms of the upcoming schedule is to have my usual July 4th post next week (we're discussing political philosophy in an election year, so I am sure everyone will be very chill; regardless let me repeat you will be civil) and then after that to dive into the Teaching … Continue reading Fireside Friday, June 28, 2024
Fireside this week! I am spinning up to write a Teaching Paradox series on Imperator later this week, but not quite ready to get started yet. I'm also thinking, perhaps before that, of doing a short post or set of posts on the organization of non-state 'tribal' societies in pre-Roman western Europe, looking at one … Continue reading Fireside Friday, May 31, 2024 (Academic Departments)
Fireside this week! Next week, with luck, I'll have my 'On the Reign of Alexander III of Macedon' up as an addendum to our discussion of Hellenistic armies. But in the meantime, it is a fireside, and I thought, since it was just recently May the Fourth, we might talk some Star Wars (and history). … Continue reading Fireside Friday, May 10, 2024