James Enge

@jamesenge.bsky.social

1166 Followers 463 Following

Classics by day; sword-and-sorcery by night. The other way 'round sometimes. https://jamesenge.com

screenshot of the linked blog post
screenshot of the linked blog post
A screenshot from BLAZING SADDLES. Attorney General Hedley Lamar (Harvey Korman), Territorial Governor Le Petomane (Mel Brooks), and the Governor's secretary Miss Stein (Robyn Hilton) look off-screen to their right. The governor is pointing angrily. Imposed in Impact font on the image is Brooks' line: "I didn't get a harumph out of that guy!"
A photo of Donald Trump, holding up one finger and looking coy. Imposed on the photo are the words "Every confession is an accusation".
From WONDER STORIES, November 1934. In the foreground are two guys in explorer outfits. In the midground is an alien being, looking something like an ostritch with hands and a long beak. In the background is a torrent of ghostly forms, mostly (but not exclusively) women. The caption reads: "I saw every beautiful woman I've ever known, and all of them pleading for my attention."
A screenshot from DUCK SOUP (1933). Chiccolini (Chico Marx) is saying to Mrs. Teasdale (an offscreen Margaret Dumont), "Who you gonna believe—me or your own eyes?"
Screenshot of the linked blog post.
A black-gray keyboard-case for a tablet; it’s covered with stickers: an impressionistic rendering of a hippogriff (artist unknown); renderings of Ariadne, a Gorgon, a Harpy, and an Amazon (the artist is Tyler Miles Lockett); renderings of Smaug and the Misty Mountains (by JRR Tolkien).
The Dell paperback edition for Vonnegut's novel CAT'S CRADLE. The illustration by M. Tinkelman has four panels. Upper left is a mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion. Upper right is a pair of pinkish-white hands playing cat's-cradle with some thread. Lower left is a Caribbean island adorned with palm trees, with mountains in the background and blue water in the foreground. Lower right is a personified sun with a goofy smile on its face.
Frank Paul's illustration for the first appearance of "A Martian Odyssey" by Stanley Weinbaum, WONDER STORIES (July, 1934).
A glass ashtray seen from above with a black "no smoking" logo on the inner surface.
A screenshot from BEDAZZLED (1967). George Spiggott (Peter Cook), walking through a door, says "Evening, Anger". Anger (Robert Russell), standing nearby, wears an irritable expression and a t-shirt saying MAKE WAR, NOT LOVE.
An ikon for NO IMAGE AVAILABLE.
Parody of a "CAUTION: WET FLOOR" sign. On a yellow background, black text reads "CAUTION SCHADENFREUDE". Sandwiched between the two words are two stick figures in black. One is taking a tumble. The other is pointing and laughing.
A poster for the AppleTV show CAPE FEAR, featuring closeups of Javier Bardem's eyes (above) and Amy Adams' eyes (below).
screenshot of the linked blog post
A poster for HELVETICA (2007). The poster is all text. The tagline is "Meet the cast: ABCD EFGHIJK LMNOP QRSTUV WXYZ "Now see the movie: "Helvetica "A documentary film by Gary Hustwit"
A cartoon of the old Office avatar Clippy. In Clippy's word-bubble we see the words, "It looks like you are trying to install Windows 10. Would you like me to spy on you?" In the dialog box there is only one option ("Yes") which is preselected.
a slider made with ham and melted cheese
In the foreground, the Minotaur, seen from behind, an almost featureless silhouette, except for his red eyes. In the midground, a dark-skinned man holds up a hand and sword in defiance. In the background: a hallway with several doors, and a line of thread or yarn going in/out of some of them.
3 tarot cards by Bonifacio Bembo: the Queen of Swords, Death, and Time
screenshot of the linked blog post
screenshot of the linked blogpost about ZATOICHI'S REVENGE (1965) and PERSONAL SHOPPER (2016)
A photo of 4 books from the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library: CARMINA BURANA vols 1 & 2, edited/translated by David Traill; YSENGRIMUS, edited/translated by Jill Mann, and THE OLD ENGLISH AND ANGLO-LATIN RIDDLE TRADITION, edited/translated by Andy Orchard.
A fawn-colored French bulldog with a black mask tilts his head and looks toward the camera with a goofy expression on his face. Behind him is some guy in a Hawaiian shirt feature cartoons of planets and stars.
A cartoon by Steve Sack. Elon Musk is shown at the edge of a cliff, tootling on a pennywhistle, with a herd of piggybanks (marked INVESTORS) capering after him. He's leading them toward a ramp marked SPACE X with a sign MISSION TO MARS sprouting from it. There's nothing but empty space beyond the ramp.
screenshot of the linked blog post
A black and white photo of raindrops on a window.
Waterhouse's painting of Odysseus and the Sirens.
A cartoon by Steve Sack titled "Reflecting Pool". Trump is standing in front of a square reflecting pool. The water of the pool is algae-green; Trump's reflection in the pool is full of garbage. Over the garbage is superimposed in white: EVERYTHING HE TOUCHES
Horsey's cartoon "How a Republic Dies...": a caricature of Trump stands on a balcony facing the viewer; he's wearing a laurel wreath, Roman military cloak, breastplate, and tunica. Trump's word bubble says "If I win, it's a fair election; if I lose it's rigged and I'll stay in power." Behind him and below the balcony is a crowd, with signs that read "OIL CO.S", "FOX NEWS", "WHITE POWER", "EVANGELICALS" and "Q". The crowd is shouting "HAIL, CAESAR!"
A photo of the cover of the Avon paperback edition of Fromkin's A PEACE TO END ALL PEACE: The Ottoman Empre and the Creation of the Modern Middle East (1989).
The covers of OMQ 9 and 10. The cover painting for OMQ 9 displays a knight in plate armor, wounded by several arrows, lying prone on the back of their horse. The horse hold a golden crown in its mouth. In the upper left a cowled figure with a skeletal face gestures toward a castle seen in the distance in the upper right. The monochrome cover of OMQ 10 shows a knight in plate armor in friendly conversation with a griffin. There are some human bones scattered around the griffin's feet, suggesting that earlier conversations haven't been as friendly.
A black and white photo of a potato with a smiling face. Could you peel and grate this protato?
A photo of Mr. Potato Head.
Illustration by the thrice-greatest Chuck Lukacs for "A Book of Silences" from BLACK GATE 10. In the foreground: the upper left quadrant of a horse's face. In the background, a man of medium height and tangly dark hair holding a book. His right shoulder is distinctly higher than his left shoulder.
Ad for Bernard's THE HOLLOW EARTH from the April 1965 issue of AMAZING STORIES. The dense but somehow empty text for the ad challenges to reader to answer questions like "If it is not hollow and warm inside the Earth at the Poles, then why does colored pollen color the Earth for thousands of miles?"
[Text of the popup message:] All your favorite AI Models for only $20.00/mo ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok — all in one dashboard, plus a Research Agent, Article Writer, & Presentation Builder. [There are two buttons on the popup:] Get All Four Models (preselected) Keep Paying For Them Separately
screenshot of the linked blog post
screenshot of the linked blogpost
A photo of THE VAMPIRE STOTIES OF ROBERT BLOCH (Haffner Press, 2026). The cover, by Gahan Wilson, shows a Lugosi-like vampire on a park bench, feeding fanged bats as if they were pigeons. Next to it is a postcard-sized replica of Robert Bloch’s certificate as governor of the Count Dracula Society.
screenshot of the linked blog post
The previous post in the thread, with a moderation label hiding the attached image.
A screenshot of DuckDuckGo's "NO AI" search page.
Screenshot of a Guardian news story headlined DOG SHOOTS WOMAN AT NEBRASKA CONVENIENCE STORE
Newsphoto of the 47th President of the United States looking like the stupid orange clown that he is.
Screenshot of part of the Wikipedia entry on kayfabe. The text reads: Although its origin remains uncertain, the earliest known written evidence of the word "kayfabe" comes from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Yearbook for 1988, as the Oxford English Dictionary notes. Merriam-Webster suggests kayfabe might be carny-speak for "be fake", a theory supported by sports figure Chael Sonnen, or altered Pig Latin for the same. Other possible origins are the French challenge phrase qui vive, "long live who?", which came to mean "alert; lookout" in English, as in the phrase "on the qui vive", or the Latin cavere, "beware; avoid", source of the synonymous British idiom "keep cave." The same phrase, as "keep cavey", was used by Jews in East London during the interwar period and could have been corrupted by U.S. promoters and wrestlers.
A photo of the record sleeve for Rollins’ double album, TAKIN’ CARE OF BUSINESS (1978) on a neutrally colored surface next to a white flower.
A slightly out-of-focus photo of the Boxer, a Hellenistic bronze statue, taken in the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme in May 2011.
screenshot of the linked blog post
A fuzzy image of the lyrics of the Dan Hicks song "Sure Beats Me". The song is an instrumental, so the lyrics are illustrated with a musical note and a swoosh indicating motion.
Tu ne quaesieris, scire nefas, quem mihi, quem tibi finem di dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babylonios temptaris numeros. ut melius, quidquid erit, pati. seu pluris hiemes seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam, quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare Tyrrhenum: sapias, vina liques et spatio brevi spem longam reseces. dum loquimur, fugerit invida aetas: carpe diem quam minimum credula postero. —Horace, _Odes_ 1.11 _____ Listen, beloved, don't ask what is evil to know: what death the gods will deal you, what destinies astrologers may show: endure it, whatever it is— whether God Sustainer gives you many more winters or this is your last, lashing the stones of the Broken Shore. Be wise; pour your wine; put away your long hopes for a little while. As we stand talking time runs. Seize the day; don't trust tomorrow. _____ Hey, Leuconoë don't seek prophecy _astrologique_ to know when you or I will die. I'd rather take it on the fly. If God will send you years galore or this the last that you've in store, slow your planning to a trickle. Take today; tomorrow's fickle.
A photo of varied physical media. Recently delivered vintage paperbacks (Clarke, 2001; Lovecraft, FUNGI FROM YUGGOTH; Goldstein, THE DREAM YEARS; Laumer, THE MONITORS; Stoddard, THE HIGH HOUSE; deFird, THE OVERBURY AFFAIR; Niven, THE SHAPE OF SPACE); recently delivered hardback (THE LEIBER CHRONICLES); an old favorite hardback (Suetonius, DE VITA CAESARUM); sime old comics (Niven’s THE DEFENSELESS DEAD; Gerber et al., SLUDGE); some freshly delivered vinyl LPs (from the Sorcerers, the Lying Hats, and the Lewis Express).
Photo of the Spring 2026 issue of GOBLINS & GALAXIES.
Photo of a partially assembled piece of furniture made of prefabricated parts. Also seen: a page of assembly directions with two ling flat screws atop it.
Tenniel's illustration for Carroll's "Jabberwocky". ’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. “Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!” He took his vorpal sword in hand; Long time the manxome foe he sought— So rested he by the Tumtum tree And stood awhile in thought. And, as in uffish thought he stood, The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, And burbled as it came! One, two! One, two! And through and through The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head He went galumphing back. “And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!” He chortled in his joy. ’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe.
Photo of the cover of the Kinks' "Sunny Afternoon". The Kinks are seen crammed into the front seat of a psychedelically-painted sports car.