So here’s what she says: Teletubbies are cool. And they have a cool computer game. Get off the computer now,Mom, I want to play!
Month: November 2003
Myth of the Day #2: Hannibal of Carthage
(HAN-uh-buhl) A general from the ancient city of Carthage. During the second of the Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome, Hannibal took an army of more than 100,000, supported by elephants, from Spain into Italy in an effort to conquer Rome. The army had to cross the Alps, and this troop movement is still regarded as one of the greatest in history. Hannibal won several victories on this campaign but was not able to take Rome.
Hannibal’s march into Italy is legendary. The Roman Senate felt secure from land invasion and took too few precautions. Their confidence is understandable. There was Hannibal in Spain. He had to fight his way through a Roman army, cross the Pyrenees (themselves a difficult range of mountains), then fight his way across southern France, for this area was under Roman control, then cross the formidable Alps.
The scope of the accomplishment is sometimes overlooked in survey textbooks. Crossing the Alps was remarkable, but Hannibal did much more than that.
When word came that Hannibal had escaped from Spain, Rome was concerned but not panicked. The Senate sent a second army to hold the bridges at the Rhone River. This river is deep and swift in its lower courses. The Romans were sure they could prevent Hannibal from crossing, then defeat him in their own good time in southern Gaul.
Again Hannibal fooled them. He slipped northward, avoiding Roman sentries, and crossed the river on pontoons and by swimming. The crossing was treacherous; not only was the river in spring flood, but if he were discovered by the Romans during the crossing, his army would have been destroyed on the spot. Most remarkable about the crossing was the elephants. The river was too deep for the elephants to wade, and no pontoon bridge would hold them. So he had bladders filled with air — elephant water wings — and floated the beasts across, not without loss.
Once across, Hannibal marched quickly south again and caught the Roman army entirely by surprise. He won a resounding victory, and now nothing stood between him and Italy. Except the Alps.
The crossing of the Alps was a heroic effort. Many classical authors told the story; the account by Livy is as good as any. The mountains themselves were dangerous, of course, but they were made even more dangerous by the fact that local tribes cheerfully fought anyone who entered their mountains, so Hannibal had to fight his way over the mountains. He arrived in Italy with only 26,000 men and about two dozen elephants. So, while it is true that Hannibal brought his elephants across the Alps, he did so only at great loss. Most died either at the Rhone or in the Alps.
Shakespeare Play of the Day:Othello(The Moor of Venice)
Plot Summary of Othello
In the opening scene, Iago complains that Othello, his Commander, has passed him over to promote handsome Cassio to be his Lieutenant. He vows to get revenge. Iago first asks his friend Roderigo to tell Desdemona’s father Brabantio that his daughter has left to marry Othello, a marriage Brabantio opposes because Othello is a Moor (an African). Brabantio confronts Othello, and they take their argument to the Duke, who has summmoned Othello to ask him to sail to Cyprus to stop a Turkish invasion. Convinced by Othello and Desdemona that they love each other deeply despite their differences, the Duke gives Desdemona permission to travel with Othello. By the time they reach Cyprus the foreign threat is gone.
Iago has Roderigo get Cassio drunk and draw him into a street fight. Iago has his revenge on Cassio when Othello strips Cassio of his rank for misbehavior. Then Iago decides to make Othello believe his wife is unfaithful. He encourages Cassio to ask Desdemona to plead with Othello to be reinstated. Iago suggests to Othello that Desdemona is Cassio’s lover. Trusting Iago and mad with jealousy, Othello promotes Iago and asks Iago to help him kill Cassio and Desdemona.
Iago plants Desdemona’s handkerchief in Cassio’s room. Cassio gives it to his mistress, Bianca. Othello believes Bianca’s possession of the handkerchief is proof that Desdemona and Cassio are lovers. He verbally abuses his wife in front of others, who are shocked at the change in the noble and powerful man.
Iago has manipulated Roderigo into trying to kill Cassio. The attempt goes wrong, and Cassio wounds Roderigo; Iago stabs Cassio in the leg. Othello hears Cassio cry out and thinks Iago has killed him. He returns home, ready to kill Desdemona. Meanwhile, Iago “finds” the wounded Cassio and accuses Bianca of causing Cassio’s injury. Iago quietly kills Roderigo and sends Emilia (Iago’s wife) to Desdemona with news of what has happened.
Othello reaches the sleeping Desdemona first. Othello kisses her, wakes her, and accuses her again. Over her protests that she loves him and is innocent, he smothers her. Emilia enters and Desdemona revives for a moment, declaring herself guiltless but saying, as she dies, that Othello is innocent of her death. Iago and others enter, and Emilia defends Desdemona’s innocence, recognizing that Iago is behind the tragedy. Othello sees the truth and tries to kill Iago. Iago kills Emilia and flees; Othello condemns himself and commits suicide. Iago is seized and taken away.
At least telemarketing keeps people in jobs…
I’m being spammed by pop up ads. I’m on a search and destroy mission to find the elusive adware program that has somehow installed itself on my hard drive. I’ve already deleted/uninstalled about four of them. What the hell?
Funny bit from one of them. It was for a matchmaking service and promised “free matches for a year.” How confidence inspiring is that? That if you were single and using their matchmaking service the odds are apparently in favor of your still being unattatched after a year of using the service?
As to the rest of it…well, one of the things about adware is that it supposedly targets ads to your individual tastes, which is a total and utter crock. I don’t want to connect to online casinos. I don’t need help refining my websearching techniques. I think we’ve already established that I’m not in need of penis enlargement. Now if they had some Zoloft ads, you’d know they were targeting me,since Zoloft ads seem to follow me everywhere. About the closest thing to an ad I’d be remotely interested in is the ad for the pop up ad blocker. And damned if I’m going to pay to keep from being harrassed by pop up ads. That’s just plain extortion, is what it is. Iwill find the damned thing and kill it once and for all, so help me god! Or whatever.
Tarot deck eclectica
Rather lovely tarot cards of the day…
From the William Blake tarot deck (which is what I want for Christmas):
Ace of Poetry (Inspiration): “I come in Self-annihilation & the grandeur of Inspiration / To cast of Rational Demonstration by Faith in the Saviour / To cast off the rotten rags of Memory by Inspiration / To cast aside from Poetry all that is not Inspiration”. The kiss of divine inspiration. Receiving an impetus to creative action. Getting in touch with higher consciousness or Spirit. Experiencing a personal vision of truth, beauty, ecstasy. Discovering sexuality as a metaphor for imaginative experience. Sense of being guided by a higher force. The “Yes!” card. A soulful new beginning. In the creative process: Being in contact with the purest and highest part of your being provides the impetus for fresh expressions in both art and life.
Woman of Poetry: “To go forth to the Great Harvest & Vintage of the Nations”. Radiating confidence, pride, and self-assurance. Being unafraid to promote yourself or reach for what you really want. Being generous and open-hearted, but also dramatic and assertive. Wanting to inspire others. Creative self-fulfillment. Gathering a rich harvest from the situation. Expressing intuitive knowledge and leadership. Mastery of expression. In the creative process: With complete confidence in your expressive abilities, you serve as a guiding light to inspire growth and confidence in others.
Coyote
Myth of the Day:
by Tamara Kazakova
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The Coyote mythlore is one of the most popular among the Native American. Coyote is a ubiquitous being and can be categorized in many types. In creation myths, Coyote appears as the Creator himself; but he may at the same time be the messenger, the culture hero, the trickster, the fool. He has also the ability of the transformer: in some stories he is a handsome young man; in others he is an animal; yet others present him as just a power, a sacred one.
According to Crow (and other Plains) tradition, Old Man Coyote impersonates the Creator, “Old Man Coyote took up a handful of mud and out of it made people” 1. His creative power is also spread onto words, “Old Man Coyote named buffalo, deer, elk, antelopes, and bear. And all these came into being” 2. In such myths Coyote-Creator is never mentioned as an animal, more, he can meet his animal counterpart, the coyote: they address each other as “elder brother” and “younger brother”, and walk and talk together 3. According to A. Hultkranz, the impersonation of Coyote as Creator is a result of a taboo, a mythic substitute to the religious notion of the Great Spirit whose name was too dangerous and/or sacred to use apart from a special ceremony 4.
In Chelan myths, Coyote belongs to the animal people but he is at the same time “a power just like the Creator, the head of all the creatures” 5. Yet his being ‘just like the Creator’ does not really mean being ‘the Creator’: it is not seldom that Coyote-Just-Like-Creator is subject to the Creator, Great Chief Above, who can punish him, send him away, take powers away from him, etc. In the Pacific Northwest tradition, Coyote is mostly mentioned as a messenger, or minor power, “Coyote was sent to the camp of the chief of the Cold Wind tribe to deliver a challenge; Coyote traveled around to tell all the people in both tribes about the contest.” sup>6 As such, Coyote “was cruelly treated, and his work was never done.” 7.
As the culture hero, Coyote appears in various mythic traditions. His major heroic attributes are transformation, traveling, high deeds, power. He is engaged in changing the ways of rivers, standing of mountains, creating new landscapes and getting sacred things for people. Of mention is the tradition of Coyote fighting against monsters. According to Wasco tradition, Coyote was the hero to fight and kill Thunderbird, the killer of people, but he could do that not because of his personal power, but due to the help of the Spirit Chief; Coyote was trying his best, he was fighting hard, and he had to have fasted ten days before the fight, so advised by Spirit Chief 8. In many Wasco myths, Coyote rivals the Raven (Crow) about the same ordeal: in some stories, Multnomah Falls came to be by Coyote’s efforts; in others, it is done by Raven.
More often than not Coyote is a trickster, but he is always different. In some stories, he is a noble trickster, “Coyote takes water from the Frog people… because it is not right that one people have all the water.” 9. In others, he is mean, “Coyote determined to bring harm to Duck. He took Duck’s wife and children, whom he treated badly.” 10.
The myth of the day is…
Coyote,the trickster.
Selfish bastards
People want to live in the desert. So they destroy the desert so that they can go live in it. And then drive its inhabitants into the city, where they’re ill equipped to survive. Really rather terrible. But I suppose they have a nice view, or whatever.
Catkillers.
There’s a coyote in my neighborhood
Saw her up close and in person. And not in the most flattering of circumstances, we’ll just leave it at that.