Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes

@tarquinhh

Oxford Law Research Admin, dabbler in history, philosophy & sociology of the life sciences & medicine.

6.332 Folgt3.022 Follower3.704 Posts

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Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· 1d

"Le savoir gendoir"

Michel Foucault looking to left, microphone in left hand, right hand gesticulating with fingers pointing upwards in a grasping pose

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· 7d

My favourite plaque from the Helsinki Museum is admittedly the one that asks 'why did cave bears and Neanderthals take the L?'

Plaque depicting artistic representations of a cave bear in top left and a Neanderthal in bottom right, with text, the English translation of which begins with "What made the cave bear and the Neanderthal man losers?"

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· 8d

Very naïve and socially detrimental, but also with very longstanding support among Anglophone elites.

The cover of Stephen Jay Gould's The Mismeasure of Man (green background with red lettering and central cream insert with 19th century depiction of human skull facing left with lines and angles annotated.

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· 10d

Many Rallidae are cryptic in behaviour, but some of them, such as this Brown Wood Rail, seem to be edging over into cryptid.

A slightly blurry photo of a brown bodied bird with a greyish neck and head and somewhat elongated yellow bill, with long pink legs. The body is roughly potato shaped, wings tucked and not particularly visible, the neck is also somewhat elongated, and the lanky legs give it a bit of a Fresno nightcrawler vibe.

Brown wood-rail (Aramides wolfi) in Colombia by Daniel van der Post, photo image used for the Wikipedia of the species https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_wood_rail

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· 11d

Oh, he's still at Whitby, he's just hiding in another infernal disguise.

Juvenile herring gull stands on railing in front of splendid view of Whitby harbour (abbey just about visible on hill in mid-left upper-centre of photo)

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· 19d

Superintendent Chalmers holding forth a burger sceptically from the 'Steamed Hams' sequence of The Simpsons episode, 22 Short Films about Springfield, with the text:
"Yes, and you call it 'Ohio and America's 250th birthday' when Ohio's 250th birthday isn't until 1 March 2053."

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jul 21

Mr Burns with a phrenology model wielding calipers, with text: "Why, these amateurs couldn't even distinguish the cranium of a Hamitic-Capoid hybrid from a gracile Boskop-type".

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jul 17

'The Midlands' on The Twilight Zone screen card in similar font

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jul 14

Mr Burns, gnostic.

Mr Burns looking menacingly out the window, with text: "I call this enemy the Sun"

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jul 12

Saruman the White, as played by Christopher Lee

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jul 10

The Scary Door from Futurama (white door and frame at slanted angle, slightly open against dark background, with text text 'The Scary Door' in Twilight Zone font superimposed over centre of door).

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jul 8

The bit in Homerpalooza where a drugged-up Otto hallucinates his shoes talking to him (red and white canvas shoes with heinous toothy grins like a Mass Production Evangelion saying "Don't worry. We won't hurt you. We only want to have some fun").

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jul 8

Star Trek Villains Wrong answers only

The monster from Hammer Horror's 1966 classic The Reptile.

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jul 8

Beers falsely marketed as foreign imports, eh?

Moe from the Simpsons holding a bottle of Duff beer that he was drawn an ümlaut over the 'u' so as to claim that it's "Düff beer, from Sweden" (scene from the classic crossover episode 'The Springfield Files')

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jul 6

Blue Steel Vs Gravitas

A liver and white spaniel seated on a sofa with a Princess Mononoke print on wall in background, mouth open and tongue lolling in a wistful fashion

A black and white spaniel on a sofa, with left front leg propped up on a pillow, looking like he's posing for an oil painting as lord of the manor.

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jul 6

Young East German philatelists:

A young Bart Simpson sitting in front of sofa and parents' legs clutching knees in fear. Text: "Can't sleep. Sorbian clown will eat me"

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jul 2

Rational reconstructions of the history of science

Philsoopher of science Imre Lakatos (Black and white head shot of a balding man with thick glasses in a suit and tie)

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jun 29

"England is nothing more than a cartographer's conspiracy" The cartography in question:

Thrór's map of the Lonely Mountain from The Hobbit

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jun 28

"Stolen Bao Buns"

Liver and white springer spaniel lying in her bed with her nose tucked under a blanket, possibly hiding a look of guilt.

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jun 27

The start screen from the Waterworks game in The Simpsons episode 'The Springfield Files', showing a sailboat passing in front of a floating settlement with the text above 'Please deposit 40 quarters'.

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jun 26

"They have a Fetterman"

Boromir (played by Sean Bean, with shield on back, leaning against a heavy wooden door) from the "They have a cave troll" bit of the Mines of Moria in Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jun 26

Otto from the Simpsons standing in front of a store saying "Man, that is flagrant false advertising"

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jun 24

Quite the amusing introductory chat-up line from Hitchcock

They had first met in the JPL canteen, where Hitchcock introduced herself to Lovelock with a joke: “Do you realise your surname is a polite version of mine?” The question delighted Lovelock. As they got to know one another, he also came to respect Hitchcock’s toughness in her dealings with her boss, her colleagues and the scientists. He later saw her yell furiously at a colleague in the street. “They were frightened of her. Nasa was very wise to send her down,” he recalled. They found much in common. Both had struggled to find intellectual peers throughout their lives.

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jun 17

Well, my wife also, but don't know anyone else who watched it.

Title card for mid-2010s Swedish crime/folk horror show Jordskott

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jun 14

Simpsons scene from the Poochie episode of Nelson, Lisa, Milhouse and Bart sitting watching unseen TV, with Milhouse speaking frustrated: "When are they going to get to the lighthouse?"

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jun 7

Recent student piece on how archaic Oxford exams remain: cherwell.org/2026/05/27/o...

Perhaps my most personal gripe when it comes to the pomp and circumstance of exams is the gowns. My friend told me I looked like Henry VIII when I tried on my scholar’s gown – and she was right. There was more gown than person. The University website advises that the scholar’s gown should reach the student’s knees – mine was practically floor-length. Largely, this is the result of having to wear a gown designed for young British officers when you’re a 5”2 woman. The first reference to sub fusc is from 1636, a time at which I, as a Jewish woman, would not even have been allowed into England.

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· Jun 2

If the writers of Spaceballs 2 are on the mark they'll make it that this time the Spaceballs are stealing the oceans rather than atmospheres of planets in order to run their orbital data centre.

The Mega Maid from Spaceballs (a transformed version of the Spaceballs I station that resembles a maid with a vacuum cleaner)

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· May 27

In fairness, less than a fortnight ago night time temperatures in parts of southern England were hovering around freezing. Going from 14 degree highs to 33 degree highs in 10 days is pretty jarring

Oxford weather for 15th and 16th May, with lows of 0 degrees and highs of 14 degrees.

Oxford weather for 25th and 26th May, with lows of 13 degrees and highs of 33 degrees.

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· May 26

"If you have Level 5 security clearance, you qualify to handle this document"

Homer Simpson reading a black and white booklet with a crossed out bold 'SECRET' at topped, followed by text: "Are you authorised to handle this document?", followed by more crossed out text. Is an edited screenshot from original in episode 'King-Size Homer', where Homer is reading 'Am I disabled?'

Tarquin 'Howling Mad' Holmes@tarquinhh· May 25

The embarrassment when you put on Incantation - Onward to Golgotha (anti-Christian) for your congregation, when you meant to put on Mortification - Scrolls of the Megilloth (pro-Christian)