Doug Merrill 🌻

@bagatsen

Writer, editor, translator, project manager, reformed bookseller. Now Berlin previously Moscow, Tbilisi, Munich, DC, Warsaw, Budapest. Hoya Saxa! YSR! (he/him) Book reviews and oddments at

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Ist das dein Profil?Übernimm es — dann gehört dir bagatsen.dirty.social.Profil übernehmen

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Jul 11

"I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure." That year went really, really hard.

An early poster for the 1986 movie Aliens. On a black background, "Aliens" appears in blue, slightly glowing type. The letter I is stylized to suggest something breaking through a slit.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Jul 3

These are what I would describe as very different covers. Anyway, I'm not surprised that the two Charity & Sylvia works gravitated toward what Olivia Waite pointed out above are the only existing likenesses of the two, it's a sensible and expected design choice. 1/

Cover design of a German edition of George Orwell's 1984 that shows either the sun and clouds or an explosion. Lettering is in the style of the movie poster for A Clockwork Orange.

Cover design of a German edition of George Orwell's 1948. There is a partial industrial cityscape, with a tattered note in the foreground that reads "I love you." The illustration was done in chalk, and the color palette is all muted grays except for some red in the title.

Cover of a German edition of George Orwell's 1940. The title and author's name are in classic serif type in the center of the cover, within a white circle. The rest of the cover is filled with stylized eyes within overlapping circles, suggesting omnipresent surveillance.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Jul 2

Are both covers primarily silhouettes of two women with similar profiles and similar hair styles facing each other, or is one minimalist and the other an exuberant collage of early American life with two women at its center?

A comparison of the two covers, as posted at https://comicbookclublive.com/2026/06/30/charity-sylvia-biographer-rachel-hope-cleves-calls-out-cartoonist-tillie-walden-for-adapting-my-book-without-credit-or-compensation/

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Jul 2

SEC Champion 1864–65. And they were all road victories, too.

Black and white photo of Gen. Wm. Tecumseh Sherman in his Union blues, arms crossed on his chest. Caption that reads, "SEC Champion 1864-1865."

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Jun 26

Möhre is ready to assist!

An orange tabby cat, sprawled on a bed, the image of calm and un-panic.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Jun 26

I said U can be the New York Mayor, I'd rather B the Pope www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKRR...

The text "Your closest match: Pope Leo XIV" accompanied by a picture of Pope Leo XIV.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Jun 15

Kittens!

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Jun 5

oof.

"The launch of MTV is now closer to D-Day than to today."

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· May 23

Tabloid history.

An edition of the New York Post with the banner headline "Headless Body in Topless Bar."

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· May 23

Not sorry in the least.

Title card for an episode of Star Trek: Voyager, impertinently named "But They Were All of Them Deceived, For a Sixth Mambo Was Made."

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· May 23

Works with these letters, too!

Title card for Star Trek: The Next Generation featuring a close-ish shot of the Enterprise, a blue-ish planet in the background and the episode's title, "გამარჯობათ!"

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· May 20

Found the cover of their first album!

The cover of the first album by Przecławice, "Dream Only By Night" is as dark as its Edgar Allan Poe inspiration. A narrow band of sun and cityscape separates dark waters and low-hanging purple-to-black clouds. The band's name is at the top in white letters, while the title is at the bottom in blue letters that would definitely not pass EU accessibility guidelines for contrast.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· May 17

I mean, really.

Hardbacks of all three volumes of The Lord of the Rings, simple covers with the titles, a ring viewed from above and the inscription from the One Ring around a black circle, in which is a baleful red eye.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· May 16

The presence of Australia, explained. #Eurovision #Australia

A map of the Australo-Hungarian Empire, with a flag inset in the lower left. Historians will note that this map shows the post-WWI losses to the Hungarian half in Transylvania, Slovakia and the Balkans.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· May 11

Why limit ourselves to half measures?

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Apr 21

I'll just leave this here.

The cover of the book Critter Cuisine. It features a supine armadillo, its paws and tail going straight up into the air. The armadillo rests on a bed of lettuce, on a platter surrounded by garnishes of tortilla chips, strawberries, grapes, basil leaves and small blocks of cheese.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Apr 18

A banger year: Aliens, Platoon, Top Gun, Crocodile Dundee, Start Trek IV, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Blue Velvet, Out of Africa, The Mission, Children of a Lesser God, Little Shop of Horrors, 9 1/2 Weeks, Highlander, Labyrinth, Big Trouble in Little China, She's Gotta Have It, Stand By Me ...

Daniel Day Lewis and Helena Bonham Carter semi-silhouetted, as through a window, against the eponymous view of Florence.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Apr 15

Truly, it is a mystery for the ages. I suspect treats.

A white woman is playing with almost a dozen Pomeranian dogs on a corner of a lawn. They look astonishingly un-threatening.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Apr 9

Berlin moment.

Construction at Alexanderplatz in the springtime. The completed Park Inn is visible to the right; in the center a new skyscraper is being built by its attendant cranes. In the background the TV tower can be seen against a bright blue sky.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Apr 9

I'll just leave this here.

Gen. Wm. Tecumseh Sherman, in his Union blues. Captioned "SEC Champion 1864–1865."

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Apr 8

Best Star Trek crew, wrong answers only.

In the movie Sinners, the people of the juke joint prepare to defend themselves against the undead.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Apr 8

Berlin moment — Allesandersplatz

The former GDR central statistical office building on a bright sunny day with a clear blue sky, photographed from a distance of about 200m. The lower stories of this 1970 socialist edifice are blocked by a wooden fence in the foreground. At the roof level are large letters that spell "Allesandersplatz," a play on the building's location near Alexanderplatz in central Berlin.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Apr 2

Chaser:

The Pale Blue Dot is a photograph of Earth taken Feb. 14, 1990, by NASA’s Voyager 1 at a distance of 3.7 billion miles (6 billion kilometers) from the Sun.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Apr 2

There's a simple solution to that.

A photograph of President Richard Nixon's one-line resignation letter.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Apr 2

I had been looking forward to reading Trace Elements, and had been expecting delivery yesterday. (I'm in Berlin, but when I placed the order speedy-ish delivery is what Amazon promised.) Overnight, a six-month delay. @torbooks.bsky.social your distributor is not doing you any favors.

A screenshot taken on April 2, showing an item that had been expected for delivery on April 1, has suddenly experienced a delay of more than six months.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Mar 30

Berlin rainbow moment.

A rainbow as seen over trees and the roofs of nearby houses.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Mar 22

Berlin moment.

Berlin cityscape near Zoo Station. In the foreground a large street. On the other side, a mix of medium-rise early 20th century and contemporary buildings. In the background, new skyscrapers.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Feb 28

Oh hey, army.mil and navy.mil are down right now.

Screenshot from downforeveryeoneorjustme.com, showing that army.mil is down.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Feb 28

"Friends" is a beloved American sitcom that aired from 1994 to 2004, following six young adults—Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe—living in New York City. The show explores their friendships, romances, careers, and personal growth over ten seasons.

Doug Merrill 🌻@bagatsen· Feb 8

Are you sure? I was not kidding. (And deffo don't tell the menswear guy.)