A queen of Carnival

The Big Picture has a collection of striking pictures of Carnival celebrations in a number of places around the world. They are all worth looking at, but I was particularly taken by these two pictures of Carmen Eneida Carballo Rivero of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, featuring her costume Flashes of Atlantis:

For any of a number of reasons, wow.

Don't forget to click to see the pictures large size.

Unleashed upon a waiting world -- Carnivalesque!

Bloggers with a particular interest in ancient, medieval or early modern history occasionally get together at the grand carnival called Carnivalesque. A carnival is one of those "Internet traditions" you sometimes hear about. Some hapless volunteer is dragooned into looking over recent contributions by her or his peers, and choosing the ones to recommend to everybody else. Carnivalesque comes out roughly monthly, and alternates between ancient/medieval material and early modern mostly European. Today Gill Polack, who claims to come from someplace more remote than Bonfield, Ontario -- a mythical antipodes? -- has put together a compilation of the earlier eras. Go read!

Two sides of the Venice Carnival: From the Big Picture

Carnivalesque is here!

Gillian Polack at Food History has posted the June edition of the ancient/medieval/early modern Carnivalesque. Go have a look!

For me, the best discovery is the existence of Food History itself, which somehow had never lodged itself firmly in my brain.