docoflove1974

Funny, I've always found that drinking water before and after said period of intoxication prevents any sign of a hangover.

I'm about 6-8 months away from that...assuming that I stop procrastinating ^_^ :bag:

I use mine to keep in touch with a few friends...and mostly to waste time otherwise spent on research

More like: "Own goal? THAT'S TREASONOUS!" *chop*

Only if John Cleese approves

Andrew, your mention of the color of the wines of the time brought a thought to mind. I have spent quite a bit of time in Alicante, Spain (on the Mediterranean, province of Valencia), and there in the summer two wines are preferred (assuming there is no beer around): a ros

Check out: Buck, Carl Darling (1904). A Grammar of Oscan and Umbrian. Boston, Ginn & Company. I'm going off of memory, but I believe that both Oscan and Umbrian were still around, but dying out.

Amen *takes a sip of wine*

Julieboy, is this what you're talking about?

As far as I was aware of, the North Africans, by and large, are not Negroid, but a combination of many Mediterranean/Semitic groups of peoples. Carthaginians were Semitic-speaking, for example--modern Libyans are a good example. The Berbers of the Morocco area are also not Negroid. Even the ancient Egyptians were not Negroid--but their neighbors to the south, the Nubians, were. Perhaps there are others on here with exact references, but much about Severus = Negroid just because he's North African doesn't set right with me.

As outstanding a version this is, it's written by Prince, and it's worth noting that on his 'Hits' CD there is a live version with him and Rosie Gaines (who was part of his New Power Generation band). Both are classics.

LOVE AND ROCKETS!!! I'm alive....oh oh oh so alive... Ironically, I know few local bands, both past and present. Kinda sad, innit? But I'm interested in hearing them!

Unequivocally not. Proto-Indo-European was the 'mother language' from which derived several of the 'classic' languages--Latin (and the Italic branch), Ancient Greek (and other Hellenic languages), the Balto-Slavic family (Russian, Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian, and many others), the Germanic family (German, English, etc.), the Celtic family (Insular and Continental), Indo-Iranian (Persian/Avestan, Sanskrit/Hindi, etc.), Anatolian/Hittite, and a couple of isolets. Basque and Etruscan, while spoken in areas which were/are surrounded by Indo-European speakers, are not part of this family, and in fact are unrelated to any other language family studied thusfar.

Heh a nice mix. The Genovese in my family rarely reached over 5'8 for the men, 5'2 for the women...the Milanese are mixed. My great-grandmother was 4'9...but my grandmother was 5'6! (I get my height from my American 'mutt' dad )

And here I thought Hallmark was to blame for all of these retched holidays

I should try and scan a picture of my mom's family. My mom's reddish-brown hair, robin's-egg-blue eyes, and pale skin are very reminiscent of Germanic and/or Celtic blood...her father, a Genovese, was dark haired but blue eyed; her mother, a Milanese, had also had pale skin, but light brown hair and hazel-green eyes. And it's very common to still see such traits in the north of Italy...so much so, that when I went to Spain, they all marked me for an Italian, not an American (!). (I'm lt. brown hair, hazel eyes, and pale skin, like my grandmother.)

Ok, a couple of things: Remember the waves of cultures that have spent time on the Italian peninsula and the surrounding area. In particular to southern Italy and Sicily, the Greeks, the Northern Africans, the Phoenicians all were there in antiquity. As for the 'Nordic' look...remember that Sicily and Naples were 'property' of the Aragonese (Spain)--what is now the provinces of Aragon, Catalunha, Valencia, and a bit of Navarro...all areas where there are plenty of 'gueros' (= blonde hair, blue eye, light skin). If memory serves, there were some silly French k-nig-its (dancing around, knees bent) in the middle of the 2nd millenium AD, but I could be mistaken here. Oh! and plenty of theories that the Vikings made it to the Mediterranean! (don't know how true this is, though.) Very notable exception here is San Francisco, whose Italian population is Genovese- (this would be my family) and Toscano-rich, and for the most part didn't see too many Southern Italians until the 1930s. I've heard that Seattle also is very Northern-rich, but I don't know for sure, as I've never been there. But esp. in the eastern part of North America--NYC, Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto, Chicago, to name the big ones--Southern Italians are more the norm.

Not at all. The hand pump literally gets the air out...in theory, the wine can stay like that for a week or two. However, around me and my kin, a wine bottle will last *at most* 36 hours.

I love the rubber stopper and vacuum pump system that I have. Very easy to use, the hand pump is compact, and the rubber stoppers can be put in the dishwasher. But, yes, the screw-tops are becoming more popular in Europe than in the States...but it's growing.

*giggles* One might ask if Dr. von Ostermann had some Basque blood in him somewhere!

Very much so. It's a linguistic isolet--as in, we can't group it with any other known human language. There are rumors of it being linked to the Caucaus languages, but I believe those were proven to be false. I know the work of Dr. Luigi Cavalli-Sforza has been noted on here before...and he did work with the Basques and their bloodwork--is this what you're referring to, Pantagathus? I can't remember what, if any, links were made there, either.

Still do, as a rule. Few veggies/fruits truly grow well in the mountainous Basque country (I'm thinking of Spain, mostly). Lamb, in particular, is huge in the diet. This is 'modern' and 'rural' Basque gastronomy...cities on the coast will have a large fish compliment to their diet--Basques fashion themselves as big-time fishermen, and say their fishing/whaling boats got to North America before Columbus (who knows). Also, the big cities like Bilbao, San Sebastian, and even Pamplona, have a mix of cuisines and customs. The Basque History of the World by Mark Kurlansky is a good start for 'modern' Basque history, although I did find it a bit pro-Euskara biased (say it ain't so!). But it put into place a large chunk of why the Spaniards (in particular) won't let them have their own country--financial reasons play into it, which is what I long expected. The relationship between the Castilians/Leonese, the Aragonese and the Basques is a very interesting one, even today, in cultural and linguistic aspects. But I would love to hear what else the ancient sources say!

Still do, as far as I know. Never could do cephalopods, personally *shivvvvver* PP...that might be one for me to check out. Normally I'm not a Zin fan, but if it's a 'light' Zin, it's worth a shot. I don't ever pay more than $15, and that had better be spectacular. $8-12 is my range, depending. Will look for it!

Yeah, I remember reading/hearing this, too, and that the Roman women had a considerable amount of freedom. But damn if I can remember where I heard/read that. Also: Congrats, Mr. Dalby, on the new publication! I hope to add it to my collection!