Trolling Trump.

Most people are at least marginally aware of the Tiny Tyrant’s recent claim that he turned down Time Magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’, which has been handily refuted by all the folks at Time Mag. There’s always a bit of room for trolling though, and for Pete Souza, the Obama administration photographer, it’s a fun pastime.

Someone has a lot of catching up to do.

Former President Obama’s White House photographer on Saturday taunted President Trump, sharing a series of 15 Time magazine covers featuring the Obamas.

Pete Souza shared the compilation of photos, which was originally posted by an account named @michelleandbarack,” on Instagram, with the caption: “Someone has a lot of catching up to do.”

You can read all about it at The Hill.

Helios Day Music.

Seether – Black Honey, Thrice cover. Thrice video here.

I keep swinging my hand through a swarm of bees ‘cause I …
I want honey on my table
But I never get it right … no I never get it right
I keep swinging my hand through in swarm of bees
I can’t understand why they’re stinging me
But I’ll do what I want, I’ll do it what I please
I’ll do it again till I got what I need
I’ll rip and smash through the hornet’s nest
Don’t they understand I deserve the best
And I’ll do what I want, I’ll do it what I please
I’ll do it again till I got what I need
I tried to stick this pin through a butterfly ‘cause I …
I like all the pretty colors
But it just fell apart so I flung it in the fire to burn with all the others
And this time I’ll get it right … yeah this time I’ll get it right
It’s gonna be this time I’ll get it right …
Oh God let it be this time I get it right
So I’m cutting that branch off the cherry tree
I’m singing this will be my victory then I …
I see them coming after me
And they’re following me across the sea
And now they’re stinging my friends and my family and I…
I don’t know why this is happening
But I’ll do what I want, I’ll do it what I please
I’ll do it again till I got what I need

The Daily Bird #542.

Hawfinch, from Charly & Giliell. It’s Charly’s first sighting, and I know how exciting those are: Extreme luck. This is the first time in my life I have seen this bird live, and I managed to get a picture. Unfortunately only one. The bird was quite patient and struck a good photogenic pose for relatively long time, but I struggled to get him into focus for a closer picture (it was raining again and the light was crappity crap) and when I finally found him, he whooshed and did not return. Even so, I was excited to get one good picture. I hope he returns and brings some companions, they are beautiful. Click for full size:

© Charly, all rights reserved.

And from Giliell, click for full size:

© Giliell, all rights reserved.

Snowflake Toast.

Snowflake Toast – Take 1 quart of milk, one-half cup cream and a little salt. Mix a tablespoonful of flour with a little of the milk, and add when the milk is boiling hot. Let it cook until the flour has no raw taste. Have ready the whites of 2 eggs thoroughly beaten, and after the milk and cream are well cooked, stir in the whites of the eggs lightly and allow it to remain over the fire long enough for the whites to coagulate – about half a minute is long enough. This quantity is sufficient for about 12 slices of bread well toasted. Dip the sliced in hot milk, take out quickly and pack together for about 3 minutes, then pour this snowflake mixture over them.

Oh, boiled milk, :shudder: I think I’ll pass on this, but the name is rather grand, is it not? From this 1897 book, the snowflake toast is on page 330.

Mira calligraphiae monumenta.

Joris Hoefnagel (Flemish / Hungarian, 1542 – 1600), and Georg Bocskay (Hungarian, died 1575)
Medlar, Poppy Anemone, and Pear, 1561 – 1562; illumination added 1591 – 1596, Watercolors, gold and silver paint, and ink on parchment. Leaf: 16.6 × 12.4 cm (6 9/16 × 4 7/8 in.) The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

Joris Hoefnagel (Flemish / Hungarian, 1542 – 1600), and Georg Bocskay (Hungarian, died 1575)
Crane Fly and Ants, 1561 – 1562; illumination added 1591 – 1596, Watercolors, gold and silver paint, and ink on parchment. Leaf: 16.6 × 12.4 cm (6 9/16 × 4 7/8 in.) The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

Joris Hoefnagel (Flemish / Hungarian, 1542 – 1600), and Georg Bocskay (Hungarian, died 1575)
Basil Thyme, Poppy Anemone, and Myrtle, 1561 – 1562; illumination added 1591 – 1596, Watercolors, gold and silver paint, and ink on parchment. Leaf: 16.6 × 12.4 cm (6 9/16 × 4 7/8 in.) The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

Joris Hoefnagel (Flemish / Hungarian, 1542 – 1600), and Georg Bocskay (Hungarian, died 1575)
Queen of Spain Fritillary, Apple, Mouse, and Creeping Forget-Me-Not, 1561 – 1562; illumination added 1591 – 1596, Watercolors, gold and silver paint, and ink on parchment. Leaf: 16.6 × 12.4 cm (6 9/16 × 4 7/8 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

Joris Hoefnagel (Flemish / Hungarian, 1542 – 1600), and Georg Bocskay (Hungarian, died 1575)
Rocket Larkspurs, Tulip, Scorpion, Millepede, and European Filbert, 1561 – 1562; illumination added 1591 – 1596, Watercolors, gold and silver paint, and ink on parchment. Leaf: 16.6 × 12.4 cm (6 9/16 × 4 7/8 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

In the 1500s, as printing became the most common method of producing books, intellectuals increasingly valued the inventiveness of scribes and the aesthetic qualities of writing. From 1561 to 1562, Georg Bocskay, the Croatian-born court secretary to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, created this Model Book of Calligraphy in Vienna to demonstrate his technical mastery of the immense range of writing styles known to him.

About thirty years later, Emperor Rudolph II, Ferdinand’s grandson, commissioned Joris Hoefnagel to illuminate Bocskay’s model book. Hoefnagel added fruit, flowers, and insects to nearly every page, composing them so as to enhance the unity and balance of the page’s design. It was one of the most unusual collaborations between scribe and painter in the history of manuscript illumination.

Because of Hoefnagel’s interest in painting objects of nature, his detailed images complement Rudolph II’s celebrated Kunstkammer, a cabinet of curiosities that contained bones, shells, fossils, and other natural specimens. Hoefnagel’s careful images of nature also influenced the development of Netherlandish still life painting.

In addition to his fruit and flower illuminations, Hoefnagel added to the Model Book a section on constructing the letters of the alphabet in upper- and lowercase.

Every page of these works are absolutely exquisite, in all aspects. There are a lot of them, too! You can see them all here, and they are free to download in several sizes.