docoflove1974

I do like Clancy's early novels...while the movie was well-done, The Hunt For Red October was a fantastic read. But he got long-winded, boring...and uses ghost-writers. Nope, no more for me. Same with Michael Crichton. I forgot one big one: AA Milne. Winnie the Pooh was a childhood favorite...but I still read it today. I have a crush on Pooh Bear, I admit it

RE: Obesity It's not a question of how much food in general costs. Here in the States, the cheapest items *per item* (not by weight...so this tosses out produce and meats) are high carb itmes--pasta, rice--and the packaged/processed foods which are high in fat and salt. But what compounds this is that people don't know how to shop nor do they know how to plan. For a long time I thought that veggies and meat were too expensive...when in reality I was an eejit. I bought stuff that I couldn't use up, lots of Kraft mac n cheese (and added extra cheese to it). As a result, I got very heavy. I finally woke up, and figured out how to plan to get the most out of everything...and realized how to plan the produce and meats so that I could afford pretty much whatever I wanted. It also helps that I know how to cook pretty well...another skill which seems to be dying. Make things out of a box! Cripes...with so many programs on TV showing you how to cook the simplest things, there's no excuse anymore!

I'm a part-time professor of Spanish at a variety of colleges (currently I'm all at one campus, which I consider my 'home' campus). I'm in the process of finding a full-time position. I also continue research on historical Romance linguistics and language change theories. History is more than a passing interest for me...in order to understand how the languages change, one has to understand the history of the people, among other things...so I study Roman history and 'Western Civilization' (aka European history) so that I understand the lives of the people, the migrations, and anything else I feel is necessary to get the general picture.

Actually, the King of England owned a large part of France and it was only in the 1200's that the French Kings began to make serious inroads and re-establish their rule!! I thought that was due to the Norman Conquest...so that it is true that officially the 'King of England' owned that land in France, it was really the Normans, who were on the throne, that were in control. Or am I off? (yes yes, technicalities)

I'm surprised there hasn't been a mention of leeches...

Actually, I see one of two things happening: 1) The Giants that have appeared recently is the team that shows up in Glendale, AZ, and then it will be a close game (one which I think the Pats will win, but I wouldn't wager on it)--good game to watch. OR 2) The Giants of old show up, and it's a total blow out. Tommy has a career year, rivaling that of Steve Young in 1995, and Eli will suck his thumb along the way--BAD game. There are too many variables here, but the Pats *should* win...but I wouldn't put money on it.

I'd start with a well-discussed thread that Nephele started and has added to: click here

When I think about such statements about a historical topic, I tend to recall very sage advice: subjectivity and bias run rampant...and we always will compare the modern time with a previous one...which really shouldn't be done. But, oh well... I think you hit the nail on the head by setting the dates of 1000-1500 CE. Much of the truly 'dark ages' were beforehand; by 1000 we have the Franks firmly in control of Frank-dom (I don't think the term 'France' came about until a little later, but I could be wrong); the Castilian, Leonese and Aragonese were battling the Moors, and were really starting the Reconquista in earnest. What I'm not sure about is the status of the various Italian and German city-states; I know that there was incredible power-fighting within some of the states, and one has to include the Vatican as the #1 power-center of Europe. So...I look at the 1200s as a crucial era. At that time you have the emergence of very strong Castilian kings (Alfonso X and his father, Sancho) and the reconquering of Toledo and the northern half of the Iberian peninsula. France is a very strong area politically, and England (I believe) is gaining strength. Italy has several city-states which are still fighting it out for power (and will continue to do so for several centuries to come). But more importantly, the Crusades ramp up...for a variety of reasons. Also at this time we start to see what we now recognize as true literature--the formation of the first universities (Emilia-Romagna, Oxford, Bologna, Salamanca, Paris) started in the late 11th and early 12th century, but really kicked into gear in the 13th century. This fuels literature, I think; early attempts at writing down the stories of the people (as well as the so-called original works) starts in the 1200s in France and Castile, and in the monasteries of Italy. This then explodes in the 1300s. So...was 1000-1500AD (or, really 1000-1400AD) a productive era? I would say yes...without trying to compare it with the Renaissance or the Greek and Roman empires, let alone anything much later. But without the political moves (which, to be fair, were a bit brutal), we don't have the set-up we do for the Renaissance...which leads to everything else. (I've often wondered what some of these so-called Soldier Kings would have thought about ethnic-cleansing of the modern era, or of modern warfare. I bet there would be an element of disdain...at least the Soldier Kings of that era fought hand-to-hand (or sword to sword)...no planes flying high above and dropping bombs!)

If I recall correctly, Corsica was under the jurisdiction of the Genovese city-state for many years, until they lost it to France. For this reason the Italians who are still on the island are of Genovese-descent.

Thanks, Neph. Let's hope your predictions are correct! At least in part!

Of course! It won't be worth much, but, hey, why not.

Well, in this thread it's only fiction, so I didn't put it on my list. I put it under literature/non-fiction; it's really a treatise and 'book of council' by Machiavelli, and is one that also must be studied by all students.

Perhaps the Powers-That-Be wish to move some of the posts on the Don Quixote thread here...which would suit me fine. But we were starting to tangent off of the topic...and brought up an interesting topic in and of itself: Favorite literature. Yes, this is fiction-related. As for me, the list isn't nearly as long as it probably should be...but years of research burned me out for a while. The concept of reading 'for pleasure' (aka not for research) was headache-inducing. But, now that I have more free time, as well as a self-imposed pace, I'm reading more and more. So, just for kicks and grins...let's discuss! Among my favorites are many, many classics--all of which should be read by the time one graduates from college: [*]Don Quixote--I read it in Spanish, but there are various English (and other) translations which are very good. [*]La Divina Commedia--same as DQ, in that I read it in Italian, but there are some very good translations, even online! [*]The Decameron--sadly, I've only read this in English, but I do wish to read it in Italian. [*]The Miracles of Our Lady--I've read the Castilian ones (Milagros de Nuestra Se

Well, it's official. I just sent off my first paper, with the hopes that it will get published. Ok, let's not get our egos pumped up hugely here. It's a working paper, meaning that it's not posing a 'novel' idea per se, rather it's going to lead to a bigger, better paper. Also, the chances of it getting published are slim...you just can't expect everything you send off to be published. But still...there's a sense of accomplishment associated with this. I have officially taken the next step in the academic world. Do I think it will get published? Eh, I hope it does, but I'm looking through my grey bifocals now, not through the rosy lenses. I definitely have bigger ideas that I want to work on, but they'll take time, maybe even a grant...but I can't really think about that now. In my district, any grant monies to be awarded are to full-time faculty, and I am but part-time. Basically, I have to wait until I'm in a full-time position before I can even think about grants. It'd be nice, but the full-time job is the priority now. But it's still a nice feeling. BTW, going into this 5-week break, I had a very long laundry list to accomplish...and with the paper submission, I just completed it. So, come Tuesday, I start a new semester, a new set of goals...and I will accomplish them. Gee...I get to watch football in peace this afternoon!

What were the leaves saying? Stay outside longer...go pick wild flowers...throw rocks at my brother...ok, maybe not that one lol

Figures that there were others. Oak leaves...I did that as a kid, mostly because it was fun to sit in the back field on a breezy day and listen to everything. Maybe I was receiving divine messages!

Granny was most likely saying "moloik" as an abbreviated form of the Italian malocchio, which means "evil eye." A lot of Italian words here in the U.S. have been changed or abbreviated -- particularly in Sicilian slang -- almost to the point where they are hardly recognizable in the original Italian, such as "goomah" from comare and "proshoot" from prosciutto. UNRV member docoflove can most likely shed some more information on this, as she is not only of Italian ancestry but she is also a specialist in Romance languages. -- Nephele Yep, Neph is right. Most likely, it's a version of mal occhio 'the evil eye'...and it does sound more Southern Italian. In the US, most of the Italian-Americans on the East Coast (and in Chicago) tend to have roots in Southern Italy (Sicily, Lucania, Calabria), and the Italian-American-isms there are decidedly influenced by the dialects of that region. By contrast, on the West Coast (California and Washington in particular) most of the Italian-Americans have Central and Northern Italian backgrounds (in particular Genoa, Lombardy, Tuscany), which affects the Italian-American-isms and local flavor here. For example, my grandmother (whose parents were from Lombardy) never used the phrase mal occhio--the phrase was ocə d'assass

It's one of my favorite books of all time, and it's a must-read for any college student, in my mind. But the phrase isn't one that I remember; I must admit that I read it in the original Spanish. I've tried searching it (I'm using Online Literature.com so that I can use the English translation that you'd be referring to, and it doesn't bring any references up. In which part of the movie did the phrase occur? Also, just as a side note, there are so many versions of Don Quixote in both play and movie form, that often the 'text' or quotes are off from what Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra wrote. And this is not limited to this work, but any that has been adapted over the years. Playwrights and screenwriters take quite a bit of liberty!

So then, after Delphi was 'closed down', was there a 'central' oracle that everyone moved to? Or was there another 'standard' way of talking to the gods in order to find out about the consequences of their decisions? I know that the reading of entrails had often been done both before and since, but to be honest, nothing seems as widely 'accepted' at the time as Delphi.

Eh, that was the one 'upset' I had predicted. The Giants have been playing too well as of late, and I really thought that the Cowboys have been overrated all year. San Diego over the Colts I didn't see coming at all...I'm shocked. But, man, that SD @ NE game is going to be rough....

Definitely some birthday props, NN. May you continue to have a wonderful year, and may your wishes come true!

Sounds great, AC. Thanks for making this as flexible as possible!

I'm going to give it my best shot...now that the dollar is so weak, my limited budget might not be able to sustain it. The other possible 'spanner' in the monkeyworks is that if I start a new full-time position, I might need to be doing activities for that. But I'm gonna try...is there a way that I can say 'yes' now and back out if need be? (It really depends on how much money I can save up, and whether I will need to be elsewhere at that time.)

It's all good, Ramses...thanks!

It's used with this meaning here in Romania. In Israel means to wait, while in Turkey - beautiful. Interesting. And yet in Italy (palm toward the giver) that's the dreaded i due corni 'the 2 horns'...essentially the same as the American middle finger gesture or the British 'V', if shown to men it loosely translates to 'your a cuckhold'. I never did figure out if whether it's shown to a woman it means she's a slut...but could be. Oh, and if you went to the University of Texas, whose mascot is the Longhorn (steer)...if you turn the palm away from the giver, it's the school 'sign': HOOK 'EM HORNS!