M j M

A windy day in the port of Olbia. (from outside - https://www.facebook.com/PortalMorski/videos/342043563061046/ )

The first Kangaroos in the UK. The mascot couldn't cope with the cold and later died.

I hate to **** on one of Rugby League's great images but... the picture's doctored... http://www.myyorkshire.org/jpage.asp?jpageid=171&journeyid=102

Oh ****. (this morning in Barcelona).

I find myself in Rennes for the afternoon today where the locals have filled the main square on a national day of striking and protest. When looking up what it was they're striking about I learned instead about The Great French Moustache Strike of 1907.

The can opener bridge.

No matter how bad your day, scrolling through In Otter News for a couple of minutes will make you happy again. https://twitter.com/Otter_News

The art of old B&H ads

Puffin beaks are fluorescent and we had no idea

Took a day-long round trip on the Umea-Vaasa ferry between Sweden and Finland the week before last. It was absolutely freezing - the coldest I've ever been (beating Workington vs Leeds in December '94) but we spent an amazing day crunching between the two countries.

That Andrew Harris was years ahead of his time - probably too many years. They have the modern equivalent of his brochures here - http://www.visitoldham.com/ (which mentions Kevin Sinfield as one of a list of famous people from the town )

The abandoned Eurostar

CJ Supercut

Colour footage of Brian Bevan right at the end of his career and Thrum Hall (pretty sure the ground still looked much like that when it was demolished).

The Charlie Brown Christmas Special Dancers You Most Want To Party With https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-a-charlie-brown-christmas-special-dancers-you-most-want-to-party-with/amp/

Happy Christmas from Yorkshire

Alan Lomax roamed the world for 60+ years recording folk and gospel music before some of the songs which had previously been handed down from generation to generation died out. Although he largely appears to have made sound recordings, a lot of the videos that he made in later years are now on Youtube; some of the footage here is quite remarkable: https://www.youtube.com/user/AlanLomaxArchive/videos?view=0&sort=p&flow=grid One of my favourites is Boyd Rivers and his wife Ruth from 1978 who modestly introduce themselves before launching into perfect duet of Come out the Wilderness -

Levi's Monkey Mike by George Formby with modern animation - http://www.georgeformby.co.uk/monkey/report_htm_files/Levi1-1.mp4

Whilst waiting for McDermott's press conference to appear I was absent-mindedly wandering around the Leeds website and found that they had some interesting stuff on each season going back to the start (although 1895 is perplexingly missing) - perhaps this is from the Ken Dalby books? http://www.therhinos.co.uk/club/history/season-by-season.php#.WPUHbWe1vGg Obviously it is mostly about Leeds but there are a few interesting snippets from NRFU meetings in the early years - such as (1903) When the Annual meeting of the Northern Union clubs was held at Huddersfield on July '4th, some eight weeks before the commencement of the season, the delegates voted strongly in favour of a proposal that the Rugby game should be played by twelve players on each side. Indeed, the "ayes" had it by 54 votes to 24, but the necessary three-fourths majority was not obtained and the reformers had to yield to the minority. This question of minority rule was to be the stumbling block to many other reforms half a century later. I also like this explanation for our poor performance in the 1904/05 season - At the Annual General Meeting of the Football Section the Chairman was most forthright in stating that "we might have held a much stronger position in the table and also done better in the Cup-ties had it not been for matters which had concerned the Committee very much during the season. The club played 36 matches, and on no fewer than 19 occasions referees from Bradford officiated."

How long did Otley stay in the sport for? It looks like they switched then swiftly disbanded? Seems a bit odd for a club with 30 years history to just give up. The current RU club were formed/reformed in 1908, playing on the same ground as the NU one (the one still used today).

The first Kangaroos, 1908.

Regulars entertaining themselves on a Saturday night in a Blaxhall pub in the 1950s: http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/5