While Rome Burns

So we learn how Empires fall - by stupid people getting power, and being stupid. And thus today's American political scene: A bear ballet, dreamed up by Homer.

Which, like the nifty political drama for the Junkie, is funny! If not tragic.

The American Way

Creepy, right? Another longstanding meme - the so called "Roman Salute" -  obliterated because of use by the NAZI's. Yes, good, honest American children used to recite their pledge of allegiance by raising the right arm and pointing it forward. Like Romans did for hundreds of years, and many other nations. Until the NAZI's. Thanks again, Hitler.

And with that, let us celebrate the 4th in one of the two acceptable manners:

Drinking! Fireworks of course to follow.

Wonder, Woman

Here's one of the first sketches of Wonder Woman, who premiered in comic form in December 1941. It being December of 1941, she was of course fighting for Truth, Justice, and the American Way, even though she was an Amazon. Go figure! Did you know the non-fictional home of the Amazons was Bulgaria, along the Black Sea? Not very exotic.

But maybe this will do.

Or maybe this?

But definitely not this. Note the loss of the Eagle as the costume evolved. Also note that the Romans of yore used the Eagle as their standard - no coincidence, of course.

Choose the next Pope!

So the Pope's resigning, which is kind of weird. Hasn't happened in 600 years. And on the night of the resignation, LIGHTNING! Message from above, y'all. So it's time to choose a new Pope as per ancient tradition: Photoshop. From the good folks at Something Awful, here's some possible candidates.

Space Pope. He's got my vote, if I had one.

Owl Bear Jesus. He controls the Ironic Hipster voting bloc, but few others. Unlikely.

The first AI candidates - times are changing! Number 5 has made a lot of friends with his engaging style, while The Terminator is not a natural politician, to say the least. He does have some influence with the Inquisition wing of the Church.

A dark horse contender from South America, Weedlord Bonerhitler. He might serve as a compromise candidate other groups rally round to support.

Watch out for that white smoke, brahs! Gonna be exciting!

Here I sit

Graffiti from Pompeii. If you don't know about Pompeii, read the Wiki first. Here's how it looks today:

The volcano, Mount Vesuvius, in the background. Not my picture, and for that I am ashamed. The mountain plays a big part in Spartacus's revolt by the way. Anyways, the destruction of Pompeii and the manner of the destruction has been a blessing for humanity, as it gives us our best preserved example of Roman life from the period. Not so awesome for the poor folks who lived there at the time, of course:

Rome in a Gif

Some fun Rome chat! I've been really interested in Rome since I saw the show Spartacus. Lame, I know, but it's an awesome show and I think it gave a good feel for Rome of the day - sensationalized for X rated TV, of course. I've studied Roman history in the past in general classes (I studied Greece in far more detail, cuz of the philosophy, art, and cool science. But the conquering and wars were sweet too.), but never really got a feel for it, and recently I've learned I was sorely mistaken in a great many important details.  And so let's get to Rome chat!

Every would be warlord, strongman, king, dictator, Pope, you name it, since Rome has used Rome as an example, as a template. Here was an Empire that spanned the known world (sorry China - we knew about you and even traded with you but you play no big part in this myth). Look at Washington, D.C. for some evidence.

Fun fact 1! The words "Czar" and "Kaiser" are both derivations of Caesar, and who can argue with Caesar? Veni, Vidi, Vici brahs. In truth, the so called "Barbarian Germans" were not all so bad, and the ones who did finally cause Rome "to Fall" were Roman looking and acting, and in fact desired to rule the Empire, not smash it. The so called "Fall" of Rome is not so much a fall as a fading away, and even then, only in part. Read on!

Jogging through the ruins

Imagine Greece or Rome at the height of their splendor. Musta been pretty dope, especially considering the alternative - "barbarian lands", IE, anything outside the Polis proper. But all cities fall, eventually, and so I give you redshirt's Thanksgiving 2008 trip to Delphi:

Funny story. I missed the 8 AM bus cuz I went to the wrong subway terminal because apparently with Greek written in English you can spell things any way you want, and so the travel book sent me to the wrong station and even after sprinting, I missed the 8 AM. No problem, I thought, Delphi is open till 5, according to the same travel book. Plenty of time to explore. I catch the 10 AM bus and arrive at Delphi at 1. O hai! Winter hours, we're closing at 3. And so commences redshirt's quick jog through Delphi.

Some columns and tumble down stone and brick. Hop-hop!

Bitchin' amphitheater dudes. Also, vertigo. Hop-hop!

Whoop-Whoop! Top of the hill, home to the Delphi Rams. Fun fact! This stadium was a late addition to the most Holy sacred site of Delphi, a Roman construction. Leave it to the Romans to bring football into the Vatican plus Mecca and Jerusalem combined, figuratively speaking. Savages.

This is it - the Oracle at Delphi. Her temple, at least. Imagine those pillars extending all the way around that central stone structure, with a kick ass roof too. And then imagine standing within such a temple, overlooking that view, on some stormy night in 450BC and a General and entourage arrive in the dead of darkness, seeking prophecy. And some lady would give it to them, high on gas, and thus history unfolds.

Fun fact about Delphi you may not know! The site was not only the location of the famous Oracle, but also served as the bank of ancient Greece. Each major city-state had a building on site dedicated towards storing their wealth. Athens, Sparta, Corinth, you name it - if you were a city-state of any shake, you had gold stored at Delphi. Twas Holy, after all. And who better to protect your money than God?

Screaming Trees

All things fade in time. You, me, Rome, Earth, the Sun, the Milky Way, the entire Universe, some trillion trillion years from now. Not my fault, nor my picture. Lovely though, is it not? The power of entropy?

An abandoned factory in Japan, nature reclaiming the space. As entropy is nature, all order will be deconstructed, torn down, eaten up, broken into pieces and spread all about. Entropy is the way of things. All our deeds are but acts holding back the tide, so ever briefly.

Our end is inevitable. The only true questions are when and how. Probably asteroid, sometime in the future. But there's so many other options! Nuclear bombs, earthquakes, global warming, solar radiation, magnetic shift, name your apocalypse, and you'll find the likelihood is not insignificant. Ignore the possibility we do at our own peril. Life is fragile, we exist on the surface of a reality of harshness. Prepare yeself, mortal!

Built on Blood

The Colosseum, a Roman masterpiece. Used for Gladiatorial combat - men killing other men, most times one on one, sometimes with dozens of men fighting. Heck, the Romans flooded the Colosseum and used miniature war ships to have naval battle for the crowds. And it was all about the crowds - bread and circuses. The sport of men killing men was enjoyed for hundreds of years. How many died for this sport? How many more cheered? The Colosseum had an occupancy rate of 50,000. There were gladiatorial arenas all over the Republic/Empire, in every nook and corner. It was the NFL of the Roman era. Consider this when reading of the Spartacus rebellion - he was a gladiatorial superstar, leading a rebellion against the ruling order. Also remember that 40% of the population was enslaved. Slavery sucks, and though true slavery has been banned worldwide (above board), are we not all wage slaves? Forced to work in a system that enforces compliance?

Also too, tooth art rules. And as for bonus rulage, here's the Ludus from Spartacus, training ground of Gladiators:

When I win the MegaPowerBucksBall I shall build a proper Roman villa, with walled yet open garden areas within the space. Roman villas rule.

"Spartacus" employs the "Upstairs/downstairs" trope to the max. Downstairs, as you can see - beside the sheer cliff - is the slaves quarters, and it's grim and brutal. Above is the Dominus' level, and it's open and airy and beautiful, filled with pools, pillars, and marble halls lined with busts. Upstairs for the Master, downstairs for the slave. Is it not still so, in aggregate?

I Am!

Spartacus! I feel it necessary to add to the Intertubes record that I LOVE the Starz show "Spartacus". It's amazing beyond words and I'd encourage anyone who has a tolerance for sex and violence to watch it ASAP. For it is VERY sexy and VERY violent, and often mixes up the two - but is that not life?

I trust you all know the "true" story of Spartacus? If not, here be Wiki of it. An iconic story of FREEDOM and slavery - a story we live today, via dollars and wages.

The show is amazingly deep, yet plenty superficial. Here I give hunks and hotties:

There is an enormous amount of sex and violence in the show - X-rated levels, I'm sure. But this is our history - randy and filled with swords. We live today in the pinnacle of safety and sobriety. Back then, circa 70 BCE, it was a more Darwinian reality:

Think of how little truly changed from 100,000 BCE to approximately 1400 AD. It was almost completely swords and togas for most of our (humanity) existence. But then the Renaissance happened, and then the Industrial Revolution, and then computers, and now there's no speed limit, no end to it. We live in magical, fantastic times. Appreciate it, especially compared to our long, long history.

Also, appreciate the artistic beauty of the following screenshots of the show. Click for big as always. Spartacus!

The moment of revolt. Is it not beautiful? Well done, artistic people, say I!

Crazy good!

I may be a midget in a motorized wheelchair, but...

... at least I'm not black. Sigh. Probably what this guy is thinking, feeling, and has been thinking for a long time. No doubt he's had a tough life, but it's hard to feel sympathy for someone who is so misguided. I mean, it's understandable - people get into all kinds of things in order to feel the bliss that is belonging, that is feeling like you have a place. Doesn't matter what the thing is, mostly. But not all the time.

When you are actively espousing intolerance towards others - any others - you've crossed the line. I've long toyed with this idea: A good rule for living - a good basis for a religion, in fact - is tolerance to all. Except, alas, for the intolerant. Allowing the intolerant to actively work against the tolerant is like allowing a cancer to do whatever it wants, because "its alive too". Maybe, but by letting it live, you die. By allowing intolerance to bloom, tolerance is inhibited. 

Thus, defenders of tolerance must be intolerant towards the intolerant. Puzzling, is it not?

Also, fuck the KKK.

Cold Comfort

That's some cold ass shit right there mang. Literally.


Ice Toilet in Ice Hotel, Japan.

Made of Smoke

It's coming!

Fun note: A collection of artists drew up a variety of Lost themed posters - this here above is one of them. They were sold online, with only 50 available. They sold out within 15 seconds, which brought back all these old feelings in me - specifically, calling into radio stations in highschool, trying to be the 8th caller or whatever, and never getting through, and wondering what grand conspiracy was at work out there to prevent me.

Well, now I know what the conspiracy is, at least here: A browser with autofill already completed, and dedicated nerds. A dedicated nerd can be the most focused force in this world.

For Your Entertainment

When in Rome, you might as well race lions around spherical tracks.