GhostOfClayton

I think I have it on DVD. Will let you know when I get back home. PM me next week if I haven't got back to you.

New one coming up next week

I think I may know this one. If it isn't Glanum (near St Remy de Provence), then it looks an awful lot like it!

Sorry, I should just warn anyone planning on watching the above that their are some quite graphic descriptions on the various methods adopted by Roman doctors/midwives when dealing with difficult births. Sufficiently graphic for Mrs OfClayton to put her fingers in her ears and say "LA LA LA LA LA" very loudly. You have been warned!

Can be downloaded from here. (For those who would prefer to listen to it on their iPod.

Apologies for the late arrival of this one - I stumbled across it in the scedules just 5 minutes before it aired . . . and it was the last of the series! 'History Cold Case: The Woman & Three Babies' Country: UK Channel: BBC2 Date: Thursday, 21st July Time: 2100 Episodes: Last of 4 (this is series 2) Link: BBC Website This was superb television, and the link will take you through to a page with the option to watch on iPlayer - as usual, those from outside this Green & Pleasant Land may have difficulties getting at the BBC iPlayer, but give it a shot. Just one more comment, only a Female Archaeologist could say "awwww!" when presented with a collection of tiny baby vertebrae! Male archaeologists wouldn't, and I'm not sure even the most maternal non-archaeologist could see babies' innards as cute.

You just can't make that kind of stuff up.

I'd be surprised if this was France, so let's guess Spain/Portugal.

Oh, Lord, no!

Nice - where did you unearth these gems?

The nearest visible Roman remians (if you ignore a little bit of wall core in Caistor) are in York. You may also be interested in the little known Cawthorn Roman Camps, just north of Pickering, or (moving much further north) Aldborough Roman Town, near Boroughbridge. Coming south of the Humber (Abus Fluvius), Lincoln has an outstanding quantity of visible Roman remians.

I may well be game for this - is it easy to reach from Zeebrugge?

Go for that hike! It's free, healthy, and you may just meet that hunky hiker-type. And let me know which trail you chose - always interested in that kind of thing. PS Even after 21 years, Mrs OfClayton hasn't given up trying to change me. It's not that I'm actively resisting the effort, but I can't even change myself, so what chance does she stand?

If you mean Brough, East Yorkshire, nothing visible.

Thanks, Melvadius. I was intrigued, but not to the tune of

Obviously Murdoch must go, and it'll be a great day when him and his demon spawn do fall, but I'm more intrigued by one of the other headlines from that Economist cover, "Remembering the Orgasmatron".

Oooh . . . walls . . . my favourite subject. That doesn't mean I'm an expert, but I'm hoping this thread will allow me to be argued with by experts so that I may become one. We have plenty of Opus Vittatum about the place, for example the Jewry Wall in Leicester, and to a lesser extent, the Mint Wall in Lincoln. I think, though, that 'Vittatum' is more to do with the shape of the blocks used on the facing stones than the presence of brick layers. It may also be the material. Pompeii would use tuff, but other rocks like limestone would be used in Britain. However, there's a similar design using terracota tile rather than brick, and I've never known that described as 'Vittatum'. 'Mixtum' ususally refers to two different stiles of Opus in the one wall, so it'd be good to know where you got 'Opus vittatum Mixtum A' information from, for the Pompeii Mausoleums. It may be a good source of info for me. There is a little booklet you get from Pompeii with short descriptions of the various Opus stiles in the back page. Is it that? I was always lead to believe that the brick/terracotta layers were structural rather than decorative. After all, most would be rendered and painted. Not sure about the bricks, but the tiles (I believe) helped the facing stones bond with the wall core (facing layers falling outwards, away from the core could be a significant problem.) Also, these layers helped to ensure a fresh straight baseline as the wall was built upwards. Otherwise, the top courses of facing stones could end up like a roller-coaster ride, in comparrision to the nice, straight course just above the foundation. What does anyone else think?

You're right, Caldrail . . . it's a sad truth that nothing seems worthwhile doing unless there's a montery gain to be had at the end of it. That's why Universities are losing so many science degree courses and gaining so many Media, HR, Hospitality, Golf Course Management (etc.) degree courses. PS Dr. McCoy gets more girls than I used to, let alone Captain Kirk.

Very nice idea!

I've just added links to the sub-regions on the Italia entry on Wikipedia. That should make it easy for you to access each and tot up the total.

For those of you who may be interested in helping out, this dropped onto the doormat at OfClayton Towers the other day. If anyone would like a copy (it's not that easy to print out from the Forum,) please PM me, and I'll get one to you. I couldn't find it online anywhere (get your fingers out, Senhouse!) Can't seem to post it full size. Anyone help? Beckfoot Coin Hoard.pdf

Hello all, and welcome to the GhostOfClayton twice-fortnightly blog. Little warning: some of it may contain �adult themes�, but all in a proper, medical context. A letter arrived on the doormat here at OfClayton Towers last week, and I recognised it straight away. It had a cute little anthropomorphised blood drop (who I understand to be called Billy) on the back, and I have had one of these every three months for about the last five or six years. It was the notification that the time had arrived for me to do my bit for society, roll up my sleeves, and give blood. This all started due to the tragic death of a colleague. Not a close colleague � I didn't know him. I can't even remember his name, if I'm honest. However, I do remember he was quite young, and that he died as a result of injuries sustained in an accident. A huge quantity of blood was used by the medical team in an attempt to save his life, but sadly they were unsuccessful. Following his funeral, those colleagues that did know him better than myself decided it would be a fitting tribute to recruit as many new blood donors as possible. This sounded fitting to me as well, and so I put my name forward. Have you ever given blood? If not, here's how you go about it: The first step is to answer the many questions on the form, which includes such gems as "Have you had oral or anal sex with a man?" (only men need answer this one) or "Have you had sex with a man that has had anal or oral sex with another man" (no-one is exempt from answering this one!) They also ask about your movements abroad, and get quite specific about the countries/dates. Anyway, assuming you haven�t had anal/oral sex with a man, or shared a needle with same in a drug den, then you can proceed to the next stage. You hand the form to the nurse, who confirms your name/address/date of birth, pricks your finger, and squeezes a drop of your blood into a test tube of liquid. Like a medieval test for witchcraft, if it sinks, you�re OK, otherwise you�re out on your ear. Next step, lay on your back to have your blood pressure taken (after confirming your name/address/date of birth once again!) If that's OK, they . . . I don�t know what to call it . . Hoover your arm with a wet plastic Hoover, before inserting a needle with the bore of a Volvo exhaust into your vein. Then you wait while your life force drains into a plastic bag, imagining what would happen if no-one took it out, and it just kept on draining and draining, slowly but surely emptying your body until you lost the fight with consciousness, knowing you'd never wake up again . . . . that's the kind of thing I think about, anyway. So far, it's been fine. A nurse has always been around to remove the drainpipe from my arm, and use industrial adhesive to stick some kind of dressing over the wound. There then follows a very carefully timed lie down, sit up, swing your legs over, and back to the waiting area for orange squash and a biscuit . . . and a little sticker to say what a brave boy I�ve been. So why do I do it. What makes the experience make me feel so good? Is it because I'm doing my 'bit' for society? Is it because the nurses there invariably have . . . well, let's just say they make the rockin' world go round, if you follow my meaning? No, none of that. It's just so I can feel smug and superior for the rest of the day. A lovely, lovely feeling.

I think you've nailed this one, Medusa. Today's spotters badge goes to you. Also, there's a wikipedia entry on "tabula ansata". Fairly short, but with quite a few good references.

My thinking was that, in the space-race tortoise/hare metaphor, the USA was the hare, and the Chinese (etc.) the tortoise. But will those problems ever be solved, one way or the other? The choice seems to be between a 'race of beings with insoluble problems', or a 'race of beings with insoluble problems, that have been into space'.

You see this shape (ignoring the text) and variations on it everywhere in the Roman world. You also see it quite often in post-western empire, early Christian contexts. It's so ubiquitous that it must have some meaning, but what?