Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey – Table of Contents
This one translated by a team comprised of messrs. Leaf, Lang, Myers, and Butcher.
I’m looking for a rundown of all English translations, and keep coming up with new online versions.
Overload
Last week, and this week, I am numbing my butt at nearly every single press screening for the Seattle International Film Festival out of some masochistic curiosity.
I have learned that there are clearly more bad and so-so films made than good or great ones, so far. I have also learned that watching three movies in a day in a theater environment tends to produce very strange, dreamlike memory effects.
I had been warned about this by other toilers in the critical trenches and have been seeking to stave off the dreaded mental movie mashup by taking copious notes.
Of course, the notes are taken in the dark.
Antidote
How Much Does a Grecian Urn?, by the inimitable, and back in action, K-G, at the ID.
I urge you to peruse this prime slice of poesie. How this man remains unemployed is a mystery to me. But then, if I understood how it worked, I’d probably have a gig by now too, instead of spending my days soaking in SIFF press screenings.
Cicada outrage
Cincinnati’s premier Cicada information source:
From the FAQ:
What do Cicadas eat? Human children are the primary source of nutrition for Cicadas.
Are Cicadas poisonous? Yes, Cicadas have a deadly venom that is injected through a small bone like tube known as the “Cicada deadly venom tube”. The venom can kill a human being instantly. In 1987, the last time the Cicadas emerged in Cincinnati, over 7 million people died from Cicada injections. Many people escaped but most perished.
Lots more helpful tips!
[via this MeFi thread]
"…unbelievable photographs and then passing them off, against the law…"
In 1791, English philosopher Jeremy Bentham proposed an architectural innovation designed to lead to safe, humane prisons. He envisioned a prison space constructed as a circular array of inward-pointing cells. Solid walls between the cells would prevent any communication between prisoners, and a small window in the back of the cell would let in light to illuminate the contents. At the center of the ring of cells, Bentham placed an observation tower with special shutters to prevent the prisoners from seeing the guards. This “all-seeing place,” or panopticon, was designed to provide complete observation of every prisoner.
Who is the new number two?
Who is the new number two?
Be seeing you.
Meet the New Blog
MetaFilter notes that Blogger has relaunched. Single entry archives!
Does this mean that Ken is going to mess up his template again and come around looking for help?
Let’s consult the Mystical Smoking Head of Bob.
Pulling the plug
Some Battle
I found this striking image as the front cover of a circular for the History Book Club, I believe in a magazine.
It appears to show an epic but forgotten battle. On the desert plains of Egypt, the Civil War-era forces of Texas and the Ohio Volunteers are facing off. The ten-gallon boys look to be in for a pasting, given that a fleet of Flying Fortresses is providing close air support to the muzzle-loading sons of the Buckeye State.
Those scions of the green and rolling hills are accompanied by what detailed historic-ish sleuthing* has determined to be either a giant robot cunningly fashioned in the likeness of one Geo. Washington, or possibly a large sculpture of that same man. If it’s a sculpture, internal, structural cues lead me to believe that the Ohioans aim to install the sculpture in the bosom of the ozymandian cliffs the doughty Texians seek to hold.
Naturally, I scoured the circular for the book that would bring news of such a wonderment, never before seen on book nor History Channel. Alas, it never turned up.
The image sorta reminded me of Komar and Melamid.
*Historic-ish sleuthing, in this case, constituted leaning back in my char and rolling my eyes around in my head for about five seconds.
Brow Beatings
The Illuminated Donkey is back in action with a throwdown!
As it happens, I have been watching Asian cinema by the yard, and have recently corresponded with Mr. Frank concerning such matters as
- the importability via standard airmail of thousand year old eggs from the Pearl on the shores of the South China Sea
- layers of meaning in contemporary mainland chinese cinema
- food in general
- the ongoing torture scandal
I hasten to point out that I did not enquire as to the nature of Mr. Frank’s sainted grandparents’ family business. I can confirm, however, that Mr. Frank exhibited a thorough grasp of Hong Kong’s import and export laws regarding poultry products.