docoflove1974

Jeeves and not Baldrick as your servant? At least with the latter the turnips would be of an interesting shape....

Heh yeah, Mr. Prescott seems to have turned out just fine, regardless of his actions. Protests...there's plenty of them. The problem comes in that much of the time (at least in California) they're organized by the unions...a hugely powerful lobby in their own right. So the government often does indeed somewhat ignore the protests, or at least in that they don't often act immediately. They wait until they need to, which funnily enough tends to coincide with election season. Then they make promises, the unions decide to back or batter a given candidate, and John and Jane Q Public vote. Then the same thing happens again. Take the governor's race right now. One major candidate is a former governor, who comes from a political family. Of course, he once famously called himself 'Moonbeam.' The other major candidate is a billionairess who ran a major corporation...but has never once publicly done anything in government. Many voters under 40 do not remember the former candidate's governorship, and therefore are relying on political ads and blasts from the latter candidate's campaign for info; I hear it on the street all the time. The thing is, we've had a billionaire of business (of sorts) who had at least a hint of political background with his in-laws, and he's shown the political leadership skills of a ninny. I doubt this billionairess will be much better. The unions are for the latter candidate, but if he does win, and if he governs like he did in the past, the unions won't necessarily get all the concessions that they think they will. So I'm sure there will be more protests. Vicious cycle, eh?

I just did a quickie search on here, as the topic of 'corn' has come up several times. We used to have a regular contributor, Andrew Dalby, who was an expert in this field. At any rate, it seems that most of the time the consensus here is that 'corn' refers to either a grain, or either wheat or barley.

Another local headline, another news item about education, but yet this one strikes me as almost humorous. It has been reported that parents in the East Bay are suing the state. Why, you may ask? Because the state has not addressed the "broken" way that the education system is funded in the state, and these parents (as well as several school districts in the state, who filed a prior lawsuit in May) want to force the Governor and the Legislature to change and amend this. So our society is so litigious that we now have to sue the state in order to initiate change? Quite comical, really. As I was growing up, I was instructed by my parents that the three areas of government that must be funded and given priority were: education, infrastructure, and the penal system. We must make sure that everyone is educated through high school (and, in my view, at least a bit beyond), we must make sure that the roads and canals and such all are in best working order, and we must make sure that the baddies are locked up and can't get out. Once those areas are addressed, then you go on to the other items. And I would argue that most people wouldn't mind a rise in taxes for any of those purposes *if* the money was well spent and done in an effective manner. I think that's still true. And while technically there are laws in place protecting the spending (or preventing of major cuts) with regard to education in this state, they are often either ignored--at least, it seems to me to be that way. Meanwhile, the Legislature hasn't passed a budget on-time and in-balance in so long, I don't honestly know when the last time was...I'm not being facitious, I really don't think it's been in my adult life. It's not a pretty site in Sacramento right now, nor anywhere else for that matter. And the people are fed up. Weak leadership plus a Legislature that feels like they can stall all they want (to hell with the people), well, it leads to this. Somehow I still expect the lawsuits will have no effect, that things will continue. Not that I'm a cynic...well, I am, but that's not the case here. I very much doubt that the Courts will find that they have jurisdiction to tell the Governor and the Legislature to get their heads out of their asses and fix anything. That would be legislating from the bench, something that the Courts are not allowed to do, and dare I say are not usually prone to doing. But will it lead to change regardless...I truly hope so.

What is the latest issue to boil under the skin of educators and universities in this country? This week the focus seems to be on the use of technology in the university. This morning I read in my paper online (of course) that a major research university wishes to fully explore online education. Then I go to my mailbox and in the alumni association's magazine there is an article on e-textbooks. I originally started writing this blog entry, and got really, really, really detailed in the argumentation. Let's face it, both issues are at the core not just of my job, but at who I am as a person. I have benefited from both 'traditional' and online elements of both issues. There is no question that face-to-face education is almost a requirement in foreign language education

D'oh...now I gotta wait 6-9 months to watch that episode...the weird part is that I received the tweets about the Top Gear special, it didn't do me a lick of good, since I must wait for BBC America to get around showing it here. *sigh*

Wow, very interesting. I hadn't known about the linguistic link, although when I had last studied anything on it there were rumors of the link with Lemnos. Now I have to go back and check that out!

Well, it was one of the most lackluster final games I've seen in a while, but Spain deserved the win. That goal by Iniesta was quite sweet. Buen hecho, Espa

I'm still working on the Tuscany pictures, but I finished the pictures I have of Chiusi and the Etruscan museum, including pictures of the cineraries and sphynx that I was mentioning. They're on Photobucket.com: click here (edit to add: When my parents give me their pictures, I'll post them, as I'm almost positive my dad took some of the fibulae.)

No problem! Now that I have finished your paper, I'll be working on the Tuscany pictures this afternoon. I'm sure that the Etruscan Museum at Chiusi will be finished today...and then they'll be up on Photobucket.

Smart cephalopod

VIVA ESPA

Ah ha...yeah, he's all over the place. Freaks me out.

Huh...amazing how things have changed over the years. I'm guessing that the education system there is much like it is here: what used to be a 'if you show talent, I'll push you, otherwise you're just a kid in a chair' mentality has for about 15 years been changed to 'hey, you can do anything, so let's show you a wide range of possibilities, and I'll push you regardless.' If you had been in the recent system, who knows what could have happened.

Happy Independence Day, all

Well, one massive undertaking has been finished. I just went through all of the pictures I took in Rome. 3 days (well, 2 1/2 really), and over 500 pictures. Yikes. Ya think I was camera happy? In all honesty, I did a lot in those 3 days. And, yes, I do wish I had more time to truly explore the museums, the hidden gems and the real essence of the Eternal City, I know that I made the most of my time there. (And, yes, I'm jealous of my parents, who tomorrow return home after a full week in Rome. Hah!) And I think part of what was behind the taking of so many pictures was that I was amazed, awe struck, and floored by what I saw. As I wrote earlier, Rome holds a very soft spot in my heart. Actually, Rome isn't just a place for me; it's an archive of learning, pondering, and wonderment. My father instilled a love of history in me, and this love has been nurtured for my entire 35 years. While he enjoys more of the Renaissance historical aspect of Italy, for me it's the entire palate--if you don't understand and enjoy the ancient cultures and peoples, then you cannot hope to understand the importance and significance of both the Medieval and Renaissance histories of Italy, and by extension all of Europe. There is no question that walking through the Palantine and the Forum were breathtaking...literally. I caught myself sucking in air a couple of times, usually as I walked upon some place or a monument that I had only seen in books and on film...but here it was, right in front of me. There's a picture of me sitting on a brick element in Septimus Severus' baths--maybe it was originally a bench, but my gut tells me it was a wall--where I'm seen writing in my journal. I wanted that picture taken on purpose...yes I was writing in my journal, and I sat there for a good 10 minutes, trying to soak in what I could. I was sitting in an ancient palace, overlooking the Circus Maximus, on a glorious June morning, trying to get a sense of what life would have been like right there. What would one hear? What could one smell? Where would this corridor really take me? It was difficult, and yet it wasn't. Here's the link to the pictures; it's on PhotoBucket, which should be easy for everyone to see. Some of the pictures are pretty good--comments from my dad, not me--and others are more mundane. I wanted to capture what I could, so that I could remember what caught my eye. Sometimes it was just the brickwork on a building, or the cobblestones forming the street, which explains some of the pictures. Anyway, check them out at your leisure: Click here--Note that the sub-folders are on the left sidebar: Santa Maria Maggiore, Pantheon, Palantine Forum and Capitoline, and Vatican. Next up is the Tuscany pictures, which will take a considerable amount of time to do, as there are quite a bit more of those. I somewhat want to wait to get my tourbook back from my parents, since there were notes in there that I took to help me with the pictures. On the other hand, I can get started now I suppose. Or tomorrow. Whichever works.

Do you mean the ?? Has he ?

Just out of curiosity, did anyone try to encourage you to study engineering, aeronautical or otherwise? Or was it thought of by others as full of dreams, not to be pursued? It seems as though you had the imagination to go into that realm, but were kept out for some reason.

Bryaxis, this is very interesting; I knew that Google was big in the document translation arena, and that with their resources are probably able to go to the forefront. I know on LinguistList there are a bevy of job listings for computational linguistics, especially with translation, and no doubt that there will be a breakthrough shortly.

Heh this is what I know I've been telling my students for 11 years now...and many more before me have as well...as of now, most computer translations don't work. There are only a couple of dictionaries I use with my Spanish classes: one larger one (SpanishDict.com, which uses definitions from various sources) and a smaller one (WordReference.com), which is used in SpanishDict.com. And even still, for a single word they're great, but for a translation they're not good. Nothing is. However...the issue of corpora is an interesting one. More and more there are larger and larger online corpora for many languages, particularly ancient languages. Perhaps with a dead language it's possible to do some further analysis into translation, simply because you don't have a live morphology or syntax that is changing. I'd be curious to see what really comes of all this.

Well, a week (almost) being home, and I'm about halfway done with the pictures. This is taking a while...mostly because I have things to do this week and don't have as much time as I thought to go through them. But it's getting done, bit by bit. World Cup has been incredibly interesting to me, now that I can finally watch it. I think the winner of Germany/Argentina has the tournament, but that's just my 2 cents. I can't wait to see that match! Should be amazing, if nothing else than to see Diego Maradona on the sidelines. I still can't get used to seeing him in a suit. So now that I'm home, what have I taken away from the trip? What has changed, and what is still the same? Well, for one, I can't wait to get out of this apartment and into the new one; definitely my allergies (as well as my cat's) are reactivated, and the daily minutiae that goes on here are getting on my nerves. I'm so ready to move onto the next phase of my life, and yet there has been a minor setback, a month delay. Ugh. I was so ready to start packing and moving, but patience, grasshopper. But despite that, there was so much good that came from the trip, and while I needed to get back home for economic reasons, I really could have stayed in Italy for a long, long time. It's the only place that I've been to outside of the Bay Area where I felt at home, amongst people who felt familiar to me. And not only with the cousins I met, but also with the locals that I met, the people that were at the piazze and other places. Very helpful, friendly, and accepting. Or to my eye, at least. In some ways it was like Spain, with the Mediterranean culture, but so very different in vibe. Spain can be cold if you don't seem like you can fit in; Italy didn't give off that feeling at all. Let's put it this way: with my dad's dark complexion and dark eyes, he wouldn't be readily accepted in Spain, but in Italy he was just fine. Weird how long-embedded feelings just don't seem to go away. Hopefully soon I'll have the Rome pictures finished, and then I'll post the link. Pictures to capture a lifetime of emotions. More to come

Heh here I am, at the airport in Rome. It's 10pm local. I couldn't get a hotel room near the aiport for the night, and since my flight out is bright and early, I'll just sleep here. Oh, I've done it before, with more luggage than what I have now. And while I had talked people into thinking that I was very comfortable with this, the truth is that I'm only relatively comfortable with this. In some way, I hope that a repeat of 2003 doesn't happen. **flashing back to 31 July 2003** I had taken the train from Alicante to Madrid the night before my flight--same situation as now--and camped out in the Madrid airport near the Delta international desk. This woman was sitting next to me, and we started what I then thought would be a short conversation. She said she was from a very small town outside of Grenada, on the coast, and was on a trip to the US. How nice, you say. But there's more, of course. This woman had never been to Seville, let alone Madrid...and she's on her way, alone, to Los Angeles. Um. Yeah. Turns out her husband of 22 years gave her a trip to LA for her 40th birthday, so that she could visit a gentleman friend she made online...who lives in the San Fernando Valley and worked as an actor. Alone. (For those of who you do not know the area, when someone (especially under the age of 25) says they live in the San Fernando Valley and is an actor, you can pretty much bet that they are in the type of films that require very little clothing and a whole lot of lubrication.) At any rate, this woman kept me up *all night long* talking about herself, her life, her trip, etc. I did impart wisdom on her--mostly about how while there are Spanish-speakers in the area, don't count on everyone speaking the language, and other important information that one should have when visiting SoCal. But by the time I finally got on the plane the next morning, I was so exhausted that I passed out in my chair, despite sitting in the middle seat of the row. I don't remember much from that flight home. **returning to the present** Anyway, hopefully I'll be writing next from my apartment. It's a long day tomorrow: 1 hour flight from Rome to Zurich, 2 hour layover, then a 10 hour flight from Zurich to San Francisco, followed by a 2 hour public transit ride home. But I will be home. And with so very many stories to tell and pictures to show. Ci vediamo pronto!

Thank you so much, all (I tried to do this yesterday, but the satellite connection sometimes doesn't wish to behave). After posting, Dad and I had a sneaky suspicion that the Etruscans traded with the Phoenicians, which lead to the other influences. This lead to another question, and probably one for another thread (if it's not already on here): why did the Egyptians (and others) let the Phoenicians have the sea trade? Why didn't they develop their own? But like I said, that's for another thread, probably another area of the site altogether. RE the fibulae...this helped us a lot. So were they only used for men? Were they only for the clasping of capes? How was the hair clasped back, if ever (by men or women)? Ci vediamo e grazie mille...tomorrow I'm on my journey home, so I'll check back in a couple of days.

My family and I went to the Etruscan Museum in Chiusi, which is in Central Tuscany; it was a wonderful experience, as my dad and I (the history buffs of the family) know very little about the Etruscan people. The range of artifacts, both of artistic and quotidianal in nature, were enlightening and amazing to behold. But we had a couple of questions and queries...maybe someone on here can help us? 1) Definitely there are known Greek influences (and of course Italic/Roman influences later), but many of the ossuaries, statues, and other personal carvings had almost an Egyptian element to them; certainly the various sphynxes, but even many of the faces (especially some of women) had the characteristic Egyptian eye and face shape. These statues were of the 7th through 5th centuries BCE. Was there a known link between the Etruscans and the Egyptians? 2)Also, there were some statues that were in positions and of likenesses that reminded us tremendously of Indian style (and specifically, more like the Buddha). These carvings were also of the 5th century BCE. Does this make sense to anyone? Or are we dreaming this? 3) There were on display pieces called 'fibulae' that totally puzzled us. All those on display were metal--mostly bronze, I think--and either semi-circular with a large clasp or flat. They seem to be decorative in nature; my dad thinks that they were used to hold hair back, but the name makes me think of the leg, so maybe it was an anklet? And if so, that explains the circular ones, or the ones with clasps...but not the flat ones. Any and all answers are very appreciated! I did take pictures, and I'll post them when I get back to the States; the signal here is fairly weak.

Yes, it's time to say...seeyas later. Yes, of course, I'm flying out here on the 24th, but I won't be back for sightseeing purposes for a while. The extremely small taste of this Eternal City has forever changed me...I'm in awe of the mix of modern, slightly modern, kinda old, really old, and ancient. Yesterday's giratina saw me start at the Pantheon. When outside, I marvelled at how it has stood up over time, especially compared to the Area Sacra--where my bus dropped me off. The Area Sacra, incidently, didn't feel very sacra...no tingle of amazement, no feeling that this was somehow an important place. But the Pantheon...well, that was impressive. Then I went inside...and it's been taken over by the Church, complete with frescoes and the burrials of two Italian kings and Rafaele himself. It's impressive, despite it's lack of Roman artifacts inside. The walls are definintively ancient, and you can sense that. Then onto the Vatican. I really only had time to enter St. Peter's and climb to the cuppola. Holy sh*t. I mean that in every way possible. The climb to the top is kinda harsh...the elevator only takes you half way up, and the rest of the way you have a very closed in, very windy staircase. But when you get to the top, you can see half of Rome...a-fricking-mazing. The way down...let's admit it, I have a fear of going down stairs, particularly windy, steep and small stairs. So, slowly, and with much praying and breathing reminders, I made it down, and into...St. Peter's. What an entry! I was truly in awe...yes, yes, it's the seat of not just a major religion, but the one I technically belong to, but this cynic couldn't help but be in awe. If you only have time for one, go to the Church. This is what I was told, and I gladly pass that advice along. Today, it's so-long to Rome, and onto Tuscany. No idea when I'll have a chance to log in again, but I'll find a way. Ciao!