docoflove1974

*BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT* Wrong...arguably some of the worst officiating ever. I lost count of the yellow cards.

Nah, they're just typical LA 'smog on the brain' 'don't know what the bleep they're doing' residents.

Herodotus...check! Will work on that soon enough. As for French...not a problem, AD...I can read it just fine. It's the speaking of it that I fail Forgot to add: any version of Herodotus that's recommended over others? Just a quick perusing of Amazon has many offered, and left to my own devices, I tend to go with either Penguin or Oxford.

Dude, those are LA pelicans...everything in LA is chemically altered.

Right now I'm watching a documentary on the History Channel on Alexander the Great (it's ok...quite pro-Alexander, a bit on the fluffy side, but decent enough for a Saturday night). I'm curious about the Persian empire. I know that, when we talk about Persia, we're generally talking about what is now the area in and around Iran. But the documentary is placing battles against the Persians in Asia Minor, specifically in Lydia (SW Turkey). How far did the Persian Kingdom extend? What good sources are there on Persian history that you guys can recommend? Thanks!

Elephant garlic works great here, since the cloves are large, but it's not so powerful that it'll kill Dracula from 10 miles out. But they're big as a mofo.

OZZIE OZZIE OZZIE!!!! OI OI OI!!! C'mon, how do you not get behind a team who chants this? That, and anyone who calls themselves the 'Socceroos' deserves a shot.

No kidding...huh. I guess if you're Celtic at heart, then you're admitted?

The first part of your question--the existence of Celts in Iberia--is pretty straightforwardly "yes": According to Elcock (1960: 173-6) Celts went into Spain ~7th c. BCE, and extended into western Iberia, and seemed to be "closely associated" in later years with Romanized Gauls. Elcock suggests that the Celtic ways and language were absorbed by the Iberian people who they conquered. Romans went into Lusitania ~148BCE (major loss to Viriathus). "In the course of the campaign which followed [the loss], the armies from Baetica [what is now Andalucia] became the first Romans to set foot in north-west Spain, the later Gallaecia." The Celts were in the western part of Iberia, the Iberians in the East, and in the middle the 'Celt-Iberians'...basically a mix of the two cultures. So the foundation is there...topographic data suggests heavy Celtic influence. It doesn't seem that--outside of lexical items which were incorporated into Latin--Celtic had any influence on the Latin/Romance speakers; there is discussion about it possibly being a strong substratum influence in Gallo-Romance, but it's unclear if Celtic, Germanic, or what played a stronger role. As far as having any current Celtic-speaking populations, I doubt it, but it could be.

Chimichurri is one of my all-time favorite Argentinian imports...that stuff makes the proverbial bumper taste good. Another garnish/sauce is a mint pesto...works wonderfully with a roasted leg of lamb. Same as any other pesto, just substitute mint leaves for basil.

For the French, I'm sure it does.

Will do...it'll happen later. I've got another couple of chapters left to write on the dissertation I would imagine that the 'standard' word for 'yes' is oc, being that it's called Languedoc 'the land of oc'...but I had heard that there is much use of si for 'yes', too...and being that Monsieur Dalby lives in yonder parts of the world, I wanted to know his observations.

What's wrong with being a wino?

Actually, I hesitated by saying 'tended'...I vaguely remember that CLat doesn't have the 'yes' and 'no' words in the language...but that doesn't mean they weren't there colloquially, as you and others have stated. But it was in all probability in the speech patterns of the speakers at some point, since most of the Romance world has the same words.

Well, the Swedes gave England a run for the money...good match overall. Germany is gonna get a handful in the Viking warriors.

I didn't know Gloria was sick...

Ouch...well, I knew I wasn't PWT, but that Democrat label hurt.

Such words are difficult, because they are so integral to the language, so in theory they should be 'native' and not borrowed...yet it happens often. The Slavic element is huge, to say the least, and I assume that it would be possible that they would be borrowed. I don't have a copy of Graham Mallinson's Rumanian (1986) on hand, but perhaps he says something.

Good song...but no Bernie and the guys! Now, for the quintessential (and highly abstract) New Order videos: True Faith, Blue Monday, and Bizarre Love Triangle

I don't think many would argue against Group E being the roughest one--three teams that are top 20 (regardless of FIFA rankings), and poor Ghana to clean up. Going in, Group F didn't seem that tough, but the match tomorrow Brazil v. Australia will be interesting; if Australia shows well, it'll do them a world of good. I don't know about the other groups, though; there seems to be 2 'strong' teams and 2 'weak teams' in every other group, or at least one 'strong' team and 2-3 'average' teams. Is it just me, or does there seem to be not only more African/Middle Eastern teams than usual, but they aren't half bad? I don't mean to say that they're good...but they're not poor, either. The only one I thought played poorly was Saudi Arabia. But Angola played strong against Mexico and Portugal, Cote d'Ivoire has done ok, and Tunisia and Ghana haven't exactly bellied-up. I haven't seen Togo or Iran play, so I can't comment on them.

I didn't understand the disallowed goal rule. I mean, it's one thing if you're standing and facing the goalie, knowingly blocking his view of the shot. But if your back is turned to the goalie, how the hell are you supposed to know that you're blocking his view? The tackle which got Mastroeni tossed...that was banned? (This is what I get for not keeping up with footie in forever.) Seemed like a late hit, so perhaps a yellow card...but a red? When he hadn't received a previous yellow? Seemed harsh.

Well, at least the USA tied Italy, even if it's an OG. And we played with much more skill and determination than the previous match. But still...that match was a bunch of horsebleep. The ref really needs to be strung up...offsides calls on both teams that were not, fouls called that weren't...yet 2 red cards for the US team that weren't even close. I really hope that dude gets taken out of the ref pool for the remainder of the tournament. At least Ghana won today...which means we still have a chance! We ain't dead yet!

I'll drink to that!

Yazz!!! Whoa, there's a flashback! The Winwood song was a good one, too.

Amen...although Mexico did their usual performance: flashes of brilliance along with flashes of idiocy. Too many times, especially when 1-man up, they would kick the ball right into Angola's defence. Duh. Anyway, moral victory for Angola...and now I need the USA/Italy game to be a good one.