This day in history

This Day in Ancient History
ante diem xvi kalendas februarias

Ludi Palatini (day 1)

86 B.C. -- death of Marius (or possibly on the 13th)

38 B.C. -- Octavian marries Livia

6 B.C. -- dedication of the ara Numinis Augusti in Rome

42 A.D. -- consecration of Livia as divine

All from http://www.atrium-media.com/rogueclassicism/Posts/00005155.html

Old notes

Two old notes of mine jotted down in haste:

While listening to a political ad, hearing declamation of commonsense repudiation of the neocon manus, hearing demands essential to liberty, one stands aghast at the naked brutality behind these noble platitudes. Reverse tax cuts, more school funding, and as ever, up the alma mater.

Anglo-saxons consider themselves messianically.

Retro Video Game

On a cold September night, the first real chill of the season as August was still a vibrant memory. The compelling imprint still shakes my reflexive assertion of the day’s date, on occasion myself slipping from my mental acuity. Regardless, I had been in the pool house relaxing after a day’s work. Very dim like night. Still two hours till South Park. So, I started silently walking up to the house at a slow, staggered pace. It was then that a vision overcame my imagination wherein my perspective became that of my dog Sadie’s, as if she were in a video game, an early Sega Genesis style, maybe even SNES. A sinister and ominous 8-bit techno theme reverberated through the pixellated screen. While otherwise a character engaged in various attempts to gain objectives, a new objective now appeared with immediate priority. Since her health was low from extended guarding of me, she was chomping at the bit to leave the pool house, so she did. But, she hates most the idea of being abandoned outside. So, she had to get inside with me, or be forced to bark her way in. Her head perks up as she notices my path, a clear route to inside. She immediately whips round and makes for the door, only to be distracted by sub-missions either left unresolved or newly discovered. She dodges through the hostile wilderness of the backyard, heading through new perils to the mission goal, while mopping up the odd loose end. She sees me getting closer, surely a time-limit. A repeated command in a compelling tone, time flees. Her quick, if arthritic, trot suddenly turns into a run. Just in time; music accordingly.

Pretense and TGIF

I am utterly repulsed after just watching a TGIFriday's commercial. A woman annoying the hell out of me by reading the entire menu, "this, no this, OOH, no, this," but the final blow was the hyper-enunciated "Mah-hee Mah-hee" in isolation from the context of the sentence or any regard for organic, colloquial speech. Instead, it was crisply intoned with a self-conscious pretension, the knowledge of knowing, enlightened and sophisticated. Of course, this disgusting display neglects the fact that this is simply not how the word is spoken, or ever used, as the word is Hawaiian, and such usage is inimical to any real understanding of the word and food. A false intellectual reading of the word phonetically, clearly proving a mental midget, see "Fill-ette Mig-Non" or innumerable examples in transliterated Chinese.

Dean ?

The dean publicly claimed credit for brokering the settlement, when in reality he had been nothing but a nuisance. The student-teacher committee was a sham, and I left it swiftly. My other professors were careful not to call on me, fearing, quite rightly, that I would refuse to participate in their classes, just as I'd done in contracts. My potential ladyfriend struggled but got better over time (and she would, in fact, graduate), but I felt regret that while I'd succeeded in being left alone, I wasn't able to help anyone else.

Moreover, I'd seen too much politicking over what was clearly an issue of justice, fairness and freedom. The dean was obviously nothing but a political animal, a glad-handing prevaricator who smiled out of every corner and cranny of his mouth.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/fischer/fischer22.html

History evidently does repeat itself.

Kindergarten & Elementary

The first exposure of kids personally to the state is in the kindly form of gentle teachers. As with the Prussians, kindergarten separates these malleable young minds from the corrosion of parental nurture. Lex quam iustitia.

http://freedomain.blogspot.com/2005/10/disproving-state-four-arguments.html

Tropics

I just can't say enough about Rockstar Guava. Far and away, it is the best energy drink that I've ever had the pleasure of pounding. The initial flavor is like a blast of POG, only to be followed subtly by a gradual mellowing aftertaste. Altogether, very satisfying, no, absolutely deliciously exhilarating. As if a tropical vacation, the entirety of experiences eating fresh coconut, fresh pineapple from the fields, fresh mai-mai, swimming on beautiful beaches of golden, red, and black sand, gently relaxing in the life of leisure, with every notion of hard-nosed workaholicism a distant memory, as if all this were condensed into a single, majestic can, from which the nectar flows as a gracefully undulating billow of smoke, a weak yet elegant manifestation of its power.

Interestingly enough, as I looked at the Rockstar website in order to buy a case or two of this precious drink, I discovered not only that there is no mention but, more surprisingly, that Rockstar was founded by the son of none other than Michael Savage, of radio fame. Really makes you wonder whether any psychotropics...

Wedding

Having now attended my second wedding in a few weeks, in a significantly different condition, I must expound on the different standards that prevail, whether as a matter of course or as per the wedding party's preference. Namely, the truly open bar, where drinks are free and cards neglected. Of course, should one preparty, the point is moot. Nonetheless, I am extremely grateful for the thought and kind sentiment that doubtless must accompany such arrangements. It is always a wonderful thing to see once again the extended family of the neighborhood, even those neighbors who have long since been departed. And, with respect to the ceremony itself, the periodic cigarette along with numerous Rockstar Guava Energy Drinks helps to make fly the time. To this new energy drink, I wholeheartedly and with the greatest earnestness give the Loudon seal of approval.

The end of an era

Tragically, the isle of Sark has now abandoned its feudal system. As with the Cayman Islands, such initiatives are usually counterproductive in light of the utter corruption of modern democratic government. Were such aristocratic governments in need of change, they would long ago have been changed, and not prompted from sanctimonious bureaucrats who need to get a grip on practical affairs.