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Jay Rubenstein

@medievaljay.bsky.social
2.1K followers 918 following 1.7K posts

Medieval historian interested in other stuff

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Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
Katie Hodges-Kluck, PhD @klhkhistorian.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I took a personal day today and finally had time to read @medievaljay.bsky.social's excellent latest article, "Rebellion, Adultery, and Romance in Frankish Jerusalem: Melisende and Hugh of Jaffa Reconsidered," 𝘊𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴 (Jul. 2026). DOI: 10.1080/14765276.2026.2688757. I'm convinced!
A set of five screenshots from the movie "The Princess Bride," showing the Grandfather (Peter Falk) explaining the book he's about to read to his Grandson (Fred Savage). Grandson: "Has it got any sports in it?" Grandfather: "Are you kidding? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenger, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles..." Grandson: "Doesn't sound too bad. I'll try and stay awake."
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Josh Mankiewicz @joshmankiewicz.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Game recognizes game
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
My cat loves watching Dateline and @joshmankiewicz.bsky.social
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
This neighborhood dirt road is one of the remnants of the Los Angeles Red Car electric trolley line. Time was I could step outside, walk down a public staircase and catch a train to downtown LA.
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Andy Marshall @fotofacade.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Sometimes the greatest treasures are hiding in plain sight. At St Ellyw’s, Wales, a medieval rood screen survives - painted in ox-blood, with a trace of a ghost rood still visible above. A real glimpse into a medieval church. More photographs here 📸 👉 www.digest.andymarsh...
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Sign spottted today on my morning walk, in the form of a warning about road work: “REAL MEN WORKING IN TREES.” Then smaller print, “Real men respect women honor creator respect the trees that they climb and the animals there. These are my men.”
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Every morning that I walk by the reservoir, I see this Canadian goose standing alone in the same place staring out over the water. What is he thinking? What keeps bringing him back)
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Found this old favorite scrolling through my photos
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This is the perfect diner meal, imo. The patty melt. A hamburger served on toasted rye bread with cheese, mustard, and fried onions. Heaven. Never found one in London. Los Angeles is full of places that does them right. This one is from my neighborhood diner, the Astro. W/fries & slaw.
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This is the perfect diner meal, imo. The patty melt. A hamburger served on toasted rye bread with cheese, mustard, and fried onions. Heaven. Never found one in London. Los Angeles is full of places that does them right. This one is from my neighborhood diner, the Astro. W/fries & slaw.
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Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
David Lynch and Jocelyn Montgomery collaborated on a haunting album of Hildegard’s music. It does not aim for historical authenticity but does, I think, achieve emotional authenticity, which is more difficult and admirable. faroutmagazine.co.uk/lux-vivens-d...
faroutmagazine.co.uk
David Lynch's esoteric ode to a 12th-century nun
David Lynch was an avid musician, and he once produced an album based on Hildegard von Bingen's 12th-century compositions with Jocelyn Montgomery.
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
David Lynch and Jocelyn Montgomery collaborated on a haunting album of Hildegard’s music. It does not aim for historical authenticity but does, I think, achieve emotional authenticity, which is more difficult and admirable. faroutmagazine.co.uk/lux-vivens-d...
faroutmagazine.co.uk
David Lynch's esoteric ode to a 12th-century nun
David Lynch was an avid musician, and he once produced an album based on Hildegard von Bingen's 12th-century compositions with Jocelyn Montgomery.
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Michael Warburton @michaelwarburton.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
THE KINKS - one of the greatest British bands of all time.
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
This essay is helpful on how to approach the ginned up AI panic. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | How Scared Should We Be of A.I. Right Now?
The dark and distressing way that Silicon Valley talks about A.I. can be traced to a philosophy that influenced many tech executives.
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Dwight @dwightreads.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is: #Silhouette; any bird in silhouette. Alt is, #Finches #Tricolored #Heron #waterbird #Wadingbird #birds #BlackAndWhite #Monochrome #ClassicMono #scape #ECK #nature #outdoors #photography
A black and white photo of a Tricolored heron standing in the shallows of a lake. In the foreground there are grasses and a tree branch. Sunlight is sparkling on the water.
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I may have never identified more closely with a song lyric than this one from “High Lonesome” by the astonishing Gaslight Anthem: “And in my head there's all these classic cars and outlaw cowboy bands// I always kinda sorta wished I was someone else”
The cover the album “The ‘59 Sound” by the Gaslight Anthem.
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Did I mention how much I hate UPS? Here is the response I received from an email of complaint to customer service.
ACTION REQUIRED: MAIL UNDELIVERABLE
AKTION ERFORDERLICH: EMAIL UNZUSTELLBAR
ACCIÓN REQUERIDA: CORREO ELECTRÓNICO NO ENTREGADO
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Maybe it's not so obvious that this is part of a grift. People were turning against AI, and the tech overlords were like, "No, we could destroy the world by accident, our technology is so powerful! Stop us before we Armageddon!"
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Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
3. That college is about reading for “the workforce.” No, it’s about development for the adult force. Of which work is a part. 4/
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I know it’s obvious, but the “AI can destroy the world” line is all part of the grift. “Our tech is so great that it could actually kill us all! You need to give us even more money to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Celebrity sighting on my morning walk. Wile E. Coyote without the makeup
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I am missing England. uk.news.yahoo.com/chester-zoo-...
uk.news.yahoo.com
Chester Zoo advertises 'unfortunately named' £25 'child predator tour' tickets
The zoo quickly rectified the mistake, which it said was due to a 'default naming convention in the system'
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Possibly the greatest lede to any news story ever: “A former Scottish Laird who once ordered a hitman to kill his ex-partner has been jailed for throttling a woman because she was singing during Queen musical We Will Rock You” www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
independent.co.uk
Property tycoon who throttled theatregoer for singing during Queen musical is jailed
The former property tycoon was previously jailed for hiring a hitman to murder his ex-partner
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Michael Warburton @michaelwarburton.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
STAN LAUREL and DICK VAN DYKE pose together in Stan’s apartment at the Oceana Motel - Santa Monica, California in 1964. Dick idolised Stan, gave the eulogy at Stan’s funeral and was left a hat by Stan which he still treasures.
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Nothing like the crisp cool air of a mid September day.
Yes. 102 degrees.
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
What’s an example of perfect casting? Everyone in The Maltese Falcon. Every goddam person.
Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Mary Astor, and Sydney Greenstreet.
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AJ Butterwick @btrwkart.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Some of the best line deliveries ever. Greenstreet's "I like to talk to a man who knows how to talk." Lorre and Bogart's exchange: "You have a smooth answer for everything. "You want I should learn how to stutter?" I'm not sure other actors could do that movie/set of lines better.
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Betsy @betsy0316.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
The, uh, stuff that dreams are made of.
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Paths of Glory. Criminally underappreciated
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
What’s an example of perfect casting? Everyone in The Maltese Falcon. Every goddam person.
Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Mary Astor, and Sydney Greenstreet.
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
In the hopes that AI bots are following my social media, I don’t need a loan. Okay? Stop calling.
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Here is the view this morning from 162 steps up the Earl Street Staircase.
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Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
The Earl Street Staircase. An occasional, brutal part of my morning walk. 212 steps, opening up onto a vista over the reservoir, just barely visible in photo #4
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
The Earl Street Staircase. An occasional, brutal part of my morning walk. 212 steps, opening up onto a vista over the reservoir, just barely visible in photo #4
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High Priestess, Low Patience @cheriepriest.com · 29/08/2026
Fwiw: Here’s the collapsed Burra Burra mine in Ducktown, Tennessee. Pic by me. The museum there was fascinating and horrifying in equal measure.
A crater filled with water, surrounded by sloped red hills with scraggly brush. The town was so thoroughly destroyed that LIFE magazine did a profile on it.
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
My tiny hometown (population c. 8000 when I left), one of the lead stories in the NYT. My folks loved driving visitors around the tank farm. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/28/b...
nytimes.com
These Tanks Can Hold 90 Million Barrels of Oil. They Have Just 22 Million.
Oil companies and governments are consuming their once vast stockpiles as Iran and the United States continue to struggle for control over the Strait of Hormuz.
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Boze Herrington, Library Owl @sketchesbyboze.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Dolly Parton rose from poverty to stardom. She gave $500 to every student in her hometown who finished high school; she built hospitals & bald eagle preserves; her Imagination Library has gifted 300 million books to children. Roger Ebert met her and came away thinking she was a literal angel. RIP.
“In Dallas for the premier of '9 to 5', I had an uncanny experience, and on the plane home to Chicago I confessed it to Siskel: I had been granted a private half hour with Dolly Parton, and as we spoke I was filled with a strange ethereal grace. This was not spiritual, nor was it sexual. It was healing and comforting. Gene listened and said, "Roger, I felt the exact same thing during my interview with her." We looked at each other. What did this mean? Neither one of us ever felt that feeling again. From time to time we would refer to it in wonder.”
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
About halfway through Aliens, which I haven't watched since it first came out. In contrast to Alien, it has not held up well at all ... no matter what K it's in, I suspect.
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Thomas Lecaque @tlecaque.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
I started my PhD program with an eight week old at home, sole income being my doctoral stipend, in a history program, in Knoxville, TN. And every month we got a new book to read to my son, free, mailed to us, so my kid, my kids, grew up in rooms full of books even when I had no money. That's Dolly.
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Medievalist.net @medievalists.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
How did the Crown of Thorns become one of Christianity’s most important medieval relics? 👑 Faith Tibble traces its remarkable history and explores how it became a powerful symbol of devotion, kingship and sacred authority. www.medievalists.net/2025/08/fait... #Relics
medievalists.net
Faith Tibble and the Crown of Thorns: Rethinking a Medieval Icon - Medievalists.net
Faith Tibble’s new book, The Crown of Thorns: Humble Gods and Humiliated Kings, challenges centuries of assumptions about one of Christianity’s most iconic symbols. Drawing on meticulous research and…
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Mateusz Fafinski @calthalas.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Late antiquity was often seen as a time of crisis in urban politics. But this is a narrow view: cities were very full of activity, with groups and individuals vying for power and influence. A trip to Edessa lets us rethink this vibrant political culture. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
A Restless City: Edessa and Urban Actors in the Syriac Acts of the Second Council of Ephesus
The Syriac Acts of the Second Council of Ephesus offer an opportunity to look at the evolution of urban structures in the middle of the fifth century at the edge of the Roman Empire. Observing a ci...
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
I just watched the 4K version of "Alien." First time I have seen it in years. Still a great movie. But 4K is too clean. "Alien" had a grainy, dirty look that made space travel unglamorous and the monster more elusive & terrifying. Wish computers could leave things the fuck alone sometimes.
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
I’m missing professional snooker and darts and God help me cricket
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Turned on ESPN, hoping to catch a baseball game. Instead, they’re showing … Professional Pillow Fighting. This used to be a great country.
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Turned on ESPN, hoping to catch a baseball game. Instead, they’re showing … Professional Pillow Fighting. This used to be a great country.
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Anyone interested in adultery? Political upheaval? Assassination attempts during a dice game? The crusades? My new article on Melisende of Jerusalem has all of that, and there's a link available to it, free to the first 50 customers! www.tandfonline.com/eprint/YYTC4...
tandfonline.com
Rebellion, adultery, and romance in Frankish Jerusalem: Melisende and Hugh of Jaffa reconsidered
Sometime in the 1130s, Hugh of Jaffa rebelled against King Fulk of Jerusalem. William of Tyre states that rumors circulated at the time that Queen Melisende and Count Hugh were inappropriately clos...
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Morning walk. I had remembered Hampstead as being hilly.
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
This is brilliant: “And we must continue utilizing Flock technologies so that we can follow and surveil the Rebel scum as they move from playground to playground, from playground to pool, from pool to gymnasium” www.latimes.com/california/s...
latimes.com
‘The Emperor is a fan’: Darth Vader backs San Diego Flock surveillance cams
Darth Vader defends controversial Flock surveillance cameras at San Diego city meeting.
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Especially for my friends in the UK, this is what a smash burger looks like. It’s not just a double meat burger. Rather, the patties are so thin (“smashed”) they cook quickly, sealing the juice inside and leaving a tell tale crusty edge. You don’t need to dress them up and give them a funny name.
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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Especially for my friends in the UK, this is what a smash burger looks like. It’s not just a double meat burger. Rather, the patties are so thin (“smashed”) they cook quickly, sealing the juice inside and leaving a tell tale crusty edge. You don’t need to dress them up and give them a funny name.
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