History lessons of the day

From ConfessionsOfACidevant blog: remembering Lady Stoner

Cecily Stonor is my English heroine because she remained true to what she believed and she bore the consequences. She represents many Catholics during the long recusant era in England who faced great fines, suspicion, arrest, harassment, and even exile or execution because of their loyalty to their faith. Lady Stonor resisted the tide of conformity to the state’s demands; all she wanted was to attend Mass and practice her Catholic faith.

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Lileks remembers the stork 

so why is he holding a pickle?
If you are clueless to the reference, follow the link.

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So, General, how would you conquer Cinderella's castle?

Step 3:Send in catapults and trebuchets and mount them in the center island. They must be out of reach from archers and other retaliatory siege weapons. Begin the attack with these siege weapons, taking down sections of wall in the front. You must have truly powerful weapons as the walls of Cinderella castle are quite high. If possible, focus your fire on the highest towers because this is where the enemy will have the best vantage point for observing your movements.

ah, but they overlooked the Cinderella had a fairy godmother who could turn mice into horses and pumpkins into coaches. So maybe she might turn a pumpkin into a tank and a tweetiebird into a dive bomber, throwing acorns turned into huge boulders...
(headsup Gotmedieval)

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of course, the dirty little secret is that Disney based  his Sleeping Beauty castle design on one built by crazy King Ludwig II

Before the construction of Disneyland, Walt Disney and his wife Lillian took a European tour. A Disneyland representative confirms that the time he spent at Neuschwanstein Castle was indeed the inspiration behind the Sleeping Beauty Castle.

but when Disney world was built, the Cinderella castle had several inspirations behind the design, including the Sleeping beauty castle. and it used special effects to make it look taller (something that predates the movies: e.g. the Parthenon's columns)

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Ludwig II was "crazy" because he spent so much money building useless but pretty castles that they made him resign.
Ironically, they are now major tourist attractions bringing in money to the local economy.

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