So, some time ago I promised you Saskatoon pics, so here you are! If you can't tell, I'd been playing with the "panorama" feature on the camera again.
Here's a look at the Saskatoon skyline from the place we were inhabiting for the weekend:
On the way back home, we made a quick stop at a little site about which I will write more later, and I took these photos there. And there you basically have eastern Alberta. 
As always, click to make big!
...because this is the internet, where cat pictures are de rigeur! Also because she's a cute cat.
Nefertiti in a box:
Nefertiti, ready for her close-up:
* Reads newspaper *
Hmm, so, let's see, what's up in the world these days? Well, everything seems to be going swimmingly in regards to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Why, the next attempt to contain the leak will probably only INCREASE the rate of flow from it by 20%!!!!!!!! Sucks to be you, things that live in, on, or by the Gulf! Fortunately, the head cheese of British Petroleum says that things aren't that bad at all, and we should all just settle down and not pay any attention to those horrible sciencey people, with their science and everything. Next up - hurricane season!
And... look over here! An attempt to lessen, in some minor and perhaps symbolic way, the suffering of the city of Gaza has been met with lethal force, thus providing the extremist wings of both sides of the Israel-Palestine debate with a prime chance to get up and scream at each other. At press time, Gaza itself remained more-or-less screwed.
On the local front, someone took it upon him/her/itself this past weekend to wander down to the zoo and wipe out the guinea pigs. "Why?" you ask? Nobody knows. However, I feel strongly that The Stealthy Dachshund's response has much merit to it.
Nothing for it, I guess, but to run a nice picture of a tulip, taken by me. Click to embiggen, as always!
The phenomenon of political leaders hitting the lecture circuit after their terms of office are finished is well-known and widespread, so it's really no surprise that George W. Bush is packing his teleprompter and hitting the road. However, given how unpopular Bush was at the end of his presidency, he has had to be a little bit circumspect about where he kicks off his public speaking career. So where does he feel that he will find a friendly, or at least not outright hostile, audience? Well...
Bush picks Cowtown for debut
Private meeting will be ex-president's first speaking engagement
Michelle Magnan, Calgary Herald
Published: Friday, February 13, 2009
Former U. S. president George W. Bush is coming to Calgary for his first confirmed speaking event since leaving office last month.
The private event, which is being called A conversation with George W. Bush, will be held March 17 at the Telus Convention Centre.
Lest you think I'm reading something into Bush's choice of venue that may not actually be there, consider this quote from a poli sci type in Calgary:
"Alberta's a very conservative province and he's certainly seen as friendly to the oil industry," says David Taras, a political analyst at the University of Calgary.
"He's choosing a safe place to go test his image."
Interestingly, the Premier of Alberta seems rather less than thrilled about the whole thing:
Asked whether he welcomes Bush's visit to Calgary, Premier Ed Stelmach's response was curt before leaving a media conference Thursday.
"He's a free man, can travel to any country he wants," the premier said.
A very sincere "well done" to you Mr. Stelmach! And now, to get our minds off George W. Bush, here's more Nefertiti:
Oh come now, you knew I was going to do that eventually...
Anyway, Nefertiti, who lived during the 14th century B.C., was the consort of the Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, who later changed his name to Akenhaton. Were it not for the famous bust shown above (now on display in Berlin), she would likely be known mostly for being the mother-in-law and stepmother of Tutankhamen.
And so here, some 3350 or so years on, is another video of her namesake (this is the video to which Chorus refers in the comments below)! Incidentally, the original Nefertiti is described in an inscription from Karnak as "Possessed of Charm, Exuding Happiness, Mistress of Sweetness, beloved one,... soft-spoken in all." Ok, the last one maybe not so much, but the first four definitely apply to the little kittoon as well!
Oh, I don't think there's going to be any shortage of blogging material this week!
Hey, get back here! * chases down and tackles *
Anyway, here's the kitten dealing with her fiercest nemesis - a wadded-up paper towel (and also the curtains).
Behold, pictures of a cat! The cat is named Nefertiti, and she is about four months old. And you had better believe that there will be more pictures in the days to come (as always, click on the pictures to make them larger)!
There was much coverage here of the Winter Classic game between Detroit and Chicago at Wrigley Field a couple of weeks ago. However, I feel moved to point out that there was in fact another match played outdoors recently; the newly-created Continental Hockey League (KHL) played its inaugural All-Star game outside as well - in Red Square.
Here is a very nifty-looking picture from the event:
Go check out the 50 best astronomy pictures of the year (the page may take a minute or two to load, but it's worth it)!
Fez tip to Maru.
One day, near my office...
Ok, not much of tale... But it's a tale nonetheless!
When I teach Latin in the summer, I am usually placed in a so-called "smart" classroom, which has built-in multi-media capabilities. However, this fall I am in an old-fashioned classroom, and thus have to lug the multi-media in on my own. Which is why this morning found me hauling an LCD projector and laptop into the classroom and fiddling with them while my students wrote their quiz. Yes, today was their first introduction to Roman inscriptions! And here's what I showed them (Warning: Roman tomb inscriptions can be quite powerful!):
The inscription from the Pantheon in Rome! Translated, it reads "Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, made [this] during his third consulship." Agrippa, the son-in-law and close friend of Augustus, did indeed oversee the construction of the Pantheon in 27 B.C. However, his edition of the building burned down in A.D. 80, and was rebuilt under Hadrian. Hadrian, however, decided to go with the original inscription.
One of the inscriptions from the Arch of Titus (actually constructed by Domitian in about A.D. 81). "The Senate and the People of Rome [dedicate this] to the divine Titus, son of the divine Vespasian, and to Vespasian Augustus." The little holes in the letters are nail-holes; originally, there were inset bronze letters, but these have been looted. Interestingly, the name of the emperor does not appear here. This omission is possibly the result of Domitian trying to distance himself from his brother Titus, whom he quite possibly murdered.
Leaving aside public architecture, here we have the base of a statue from Britain. The inscription reads: "The soothsayer Lucius Marcius Memor gives [this] as a gift to the goddess Sulis." Sulis was a Celtic deity associated with the hot-springs at Aquae Sulis (literally, "Waters of Sulis"), the city now known as "Bath." What's interesting about this particular inscription is the tremendous use of ligatures, which is what you get when you combine two or more letters into one. Note, for example, the "M," "A," and "R" in "Marcius." Incidentally, we still make use of a common Latin ligature; it's "&," which is comprised of an "e" and a "t" squashed together, thus giving you the Latin word "et," meaning "and."
Most of our Latin inscriptions come from tombstones, of course (I mean, where would you go if you wanted to see a bunch of English inscriptions in one place?). Here's one that reads: "To the divine Shades and to Dionysius her most pious brother, [who] lived 21 years, Chrysopolis, his sister, made [this]." Given that we have Greek names showing up on a Latin inscription, it's very likely that both Chrysopolis and Dionysius were slaves. Obviously, though, they'd managed to salt away enough money to afford a tombstone; either that, or they had a master generous enough to pay for it himself and let Chrysopolis put her name on it. In either case, they were probably skilled slaves; field-hands or galley-slaves would not have been able to afford something like this.
This one's rather sweet, I think. We have here the tomb of a young boy. The inscription reads: "To the divine Shades of Anthus. Lucius Julius Gamus, his father, [made this] for his most sweet son." I particularly like the puppy; the Romans did keep pets (cats, dogs, birds, etc.), and if we are to judge by the image here, young Anthus had a little dog of whom he was fond.
"To the divine Shades of Minicia Marcella, daughter of Fundanus. She lived for 12 years, 11 months, 7 days." We actually know a little bit about Minicia Marcella. Her father, Fundanus, was a good friend of the writer Pliny the Younger, and thus we have the following, from a letter written by Pliny:
"Caius Plinius greets his friend Marcellinus." (i.e. "Dear Marcellinus") "I, very sad, write these things to you, the younger daughter of our friend Fundanus having died. I have seen no-one anywhere more pleasant, more lovable, or more worthy of a longer life than that girl. She had not completed 13 years, but already had the wisdom of an old woman, the dignity of a matron, and yet a girlish sweetness. How she clung to her father's neck! How both lovingly and modestly she embraced us, her father's friends! How she loved her nurses, her tutors..." The letter goes on to complete the portrayal of a well-educated, well-brought-up, and immensely beloved young lady.
And, finally, my favourite. This one's from northern England, up near Hadrian's Wall. The grammar in the inscription is a bit shaky, but, loosely translated, it reads: "To the divine Shades. Regina, freedwoman and wife, Catuvellaunian by nation, lived 30 years. Barates the Palmyrene [made this for her]." We have here the story of a man (Barates) from Syria moving to northern Britain, and one wonders how he dealt with his first British winter. There, he falls in love with one of his slaves, a Celtic woman named Regina (the Catuvellauni were one of the Celtic tribes of Britain). He subsequently frees and marries her, and I would take this opportunity to point out that neither of those would have been necessary if all he'd wanted to do was sleep with her. After her death, he commissions an enormous, elaborate tombstone (compare it to that of Minicia Marcella, whose father had been consul!). And, as a final touch, he adds, at the bottom of the inscription, a single line in Aremaic, his first language. It reads, poignantly, "Regina of the Catuvellauni, alas!" I nice little story, I think!
Anyway, the class seemed to enjoy looking at the inscriptions, which was the main thing. Hopefully, as well, it will have gone some way to reminding them that we are actually dealing with REAL people who ACTUALLY EXISTED! This message sometimes get lost when one is working almost exclusively with the canon of Latin literature.
Here are a couple more pictures from the Womens' Baths at Herculaneum (note: yesterday's squid is visible in the octopus picture!
And, a story, related to edible marine life. My corner of The Warrens is a long, long, way from the Big Water, which is somewhat inconvenient given that I do like teh seafood! So, whenever I find myself in an area where such fare is plentiful and good (like, say, the Bay of Naples), I tend to indulge liberally. And so, one evening this past summer, I found myself in a little restaurant in Vico Equense, examining the menu and discovering that it included grilled calamari. This seemed to be just the thing, so I ordered it. The waiter made approving noises, took my order and went away. A little while later he returned, bearing a plate.
And on that plate, there was a squid.
And I do mean, here, an entire squid (grilled, at that). Well, the internal bits had been removed, but it was otherwise intact. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera at hand, or I'd show photographic proof. I am used to calamari being in the form of deep-fried rings and sort of tentacly pieces, and I had never seen it fully assembled like that.
So I ate the squid, and it was good.
Editors' note: If you don't like creepy-crawlies, then you probably should read no further.
Anyhoo, this particular offering was made possible by the confluence of two circumstances this past May and June. These two circumstances were: a) I had a new digital camera, and b) there were bugs. Hence, pictures of bugs! Enjoy!
1. Ants:
Yes, it's blurry and fuzzy and out-of-focus (hooray for hendiatris!), but it was taken from a good 6 feet away. I really like my new camera...
2. Lizards:
Chunklets: I spotted this fine fellow... huh, what?
Kobold Minister of Accuracy: Uh, lizards aren't bugs. You do know that, right?
Chunklets: Of course they're bugs; they're like bats that way!
Kobold Minister of Accuracy: * Sighs *
Chunklets: Exactly. Now, I spotted this fine fellow sticking his nose out of a stone wall one evening, and for a wonder he hung around long enough to have his picture taken. I say "for a wonder" because this particular lizard was taking his life into his hands; he and his ilk were among the favourite prey of Agata, about whom we have written before.
3. Scorpions:
This is The Scorpion Who Lived Under The Window. It liked to relax in the cool damp space beneath one of the windows in the lab at Ossaia. This meant that throwing open said window first thing in the morning had the potential to be really, really, exciting if you forgot about the scorpion's presence. Note: One of these stung me once. It wasn't really all that bad.
4. Fred:
This is Fred, who was about the largest spider I have ever seen in the wild. She, too, dwelt in the lab at Ossaia, in a large and beautifully constructed web. She tended to sit, as shown above, at the entrance to the little funnel-y part of the web, presumably awaiting dinner (this was fine by me, since it meant that I knew where she was. The one time I went into the lab and discovered that she was "out and about" somewhere was a little bit nerve-wracking). Occasionally dinner would show up:
Yes, that is a moth. As I said, we are not dealing with a small spider here.
4. Snails:
* Sits on Kobold Minister of Accuracy *
They don't move so fast, as we all know, which is a bit of boon to the photographer. I also happen to think that they're pretty. I mean, is this not a thing of beauty?:
As always, click to see big pictures!
Lizards not bugs... what will they think of next? Sheesh...
Working backwards in time, then, here are a few pictures from the second bit of digging we got up to this summer. First of all, behold the glory that is the dig van, early on before it got tired:
Unlike most digs, the staff dwelling for this one was actually fairly luxurious:
However, I'm sad to report that our little apartment suffered from a faunal infestation. I opened the door the first morning we were there, and this wandered in and started sniffing things:
I'm pretty sure I didn't order one...
Sigh. The things we have to put up with on digs. Anyway, she was quite friendly, and entirely willing (sometimes) to be a lap-cat. Whe belongs to the owners of the residence, and pretty much had the run of the place while we were there.
A view from the outside:
Anyway, it was a lovely place to retreat to after work, especially as it was up on a hillside, and therefore breezy. This was especially nice in the last couple of weeks, when the temperature flirted with Very Hot.
Click on any of the pictures to make them bigger!
