Formosus Viriustus

Nice work, Nephele. You are going places ! But now, I still haven't found an answer to that nagging question : 'What was the fourth girl in the row named ?' We have plenty of references to Primas, Secundas, Tertias and Quintas, Quintias or Quintilias. But we never hear about number four. Did they just skip that one because it sounded too akward and nobody bothered to count that closely anyway ? F rmosus

How could I possibly forget this tribute to the man himself ? Yes, in his younger days he was known as either 'God' or 'Slow Hand'. 'God' for the guys. No, unlike all those other musical sistas, the Pointers' really are sistas. Originally there were even four of them. But after Anita left, June, Cute and Bug carried on as a trio. ( Those names are made up, in case you wondered, all the rest is the godgiven truth.) F rmosus

Too bad I wasn't arouind yet at the time to help those guys out. But if it is a 19

Ave Nephele, It is very presumptious of me perhaps to correct other people on their own language, but the Latin word used is 'implacabiles'. The only reasonable translation for that term in English seems to me pretty self-evidently 'implacable', not 'merciless'. To me that last word means a completely different thing. So I can see no justification for it whatsoever. The least I could say is that if that English translation is acceptable and not misleading to people who have English as their first language

)( )( Before we got lost in linguistics : The point I actually wanted to make was that although Piso was found as good as guilty by both the emperor and the senate, they didn't consider it worthwhile to have his slaves tortured, even though they were just the slaves of an as good as convicted man who made the offer himself. And those slaves might well have had some valuable information, relating or not to the accusation in question. But the Romans were probably as aware as anybody that evidence given under torture is not very reliable. On consideration, Piso's offer seems pretty absurd to me : did he really expect those slaves to maintain his innocence under torture even though he had offered them up for that himself spontaneously ? Formosus

The question seems to me to be : 'who do you consider to be an artist ?' If by that you mean someone who has actually accomplished something that is of any artistic value

I don't think so, Nephele, I am sure it is so. That is exactly my point : the Dutch translation leaves no doubt about that, but, unless it is me, I think the English one could at least be misleading to less attentive readers. On reading the Latin text, I am even more mystified : the Latin word used is 'implacabiles'. Now, we don't use that word in Dutch, so you'll have to translate it into a similar one or an equivalent expression. The one used in the Dutch translation to me seems to be pretty correct. ('Onverzettelijk' would also be a correct word here.) But in English you do have the word 'implacable'. So why change it into 'merciless' ? (That last word I would translate into the Dutch word 'genadeloos' which really is something completely different from 'onverzettelijk' or 'niet toe te bewegen'.) I'm sorry, I am not a scholar at all, but I'll venture to say I find that rather sloppy translating : you have the exact word that is used in the original text in you own language, yet you exchange it for one which is maybe somewhat similar in meaning, but nonetheless has a very different connotation. What's the use of that ? Formosus PS - Edit : this does not reflect my opinion about the quality of English translations in general.

Lost in translation ? I am reading Tacitus' Annals at the moment. And I came across another curious passage involving slaves : the trial of Gn. Calpurnius Piso on suspicion of having poisoned Germanicus - III, 14 , 2-3 I am reading it in a Dutch translation and here's the text : 'De beklaagde bood zijn eigen slaven voor verhoor aan en vroeg met klem het bedienend personeel op de pijnbank te ondervragen. Maar de rechters waren daar om uiteenlopende redenen niet toe te bewegen, Caesar [Tiberius] niet omdat Piso de vrede in de provincie verstoord had, de senaat niet omdat men eenvoudig niet kon geloven dat de dood van Germanicus niet aan kwade opzet te wijten was.' Dutch translation by M.A. Wes, edition Voltaire, The Netherlands, 1999 ISBN 90 5848 001 1 And then I looked it up on the net and this is what I found : 'And, besides, the defendant offered his slaves to the torture, and insisted on its application to the attendants on that occasion. But the judges for different reasons were merciless, the emperor, because war had been made on a province, the Senate because they could not be sufficiently convinced that there had been no treachery about the death of Germanicus.' English translation by A.J. Church & W.J. Brodribb http://classics.mit.edu/Tacitus/annals.3.iii.html Now there seems to me to be quite some difference between the two translations, particularly where the fate of those slaves involved is concerned : the Dutch translation leaves no doubt whatsoever concerning that : neither the emperor, nor the senate were interested in torturing them, since they were convinced of Piso's guilt anyway. But the English translation is much more ambiguous : it even seems to suggest that those slaves were indeed tortured. The Dutch expression ''niet toe te bewegen'' means ''not willing to''. That's something totally different from ''merciless''. Can anyone help me out here ? Formosus

My Cat Peeing in the Toilet ! F rmosus

Does anyone here supports Fabius Cunctator ? I don't know terribly much about him, but if I am correct, without him Hannibal might well have won a total victory. In which case we would probably never have heard about any of all those famous Romans that came after him. We might even be speaking completely different languages. Or am I giving him far too much credit ? But from a present day perspective there can be little doubt : Julius Caesar and Augustus are the only Roman figures that are known to every schoolkid in the world, and they each have a month of the calendar named after them. (So has L. Iunius Brutus, but most people don't know that.) Formosus

Coming back to the subject. I must admit I have never read Wolfram von Eschenbach, nor Chretien de Troyes, nor Sir Thomas Mallory. I'm afraid German and French 12

In an humble gesture of reconciliation, I send you this link http://www.remove-cat-urine-odor.com/?a_ai...CFYmD3godUTZ3BQ Or just google 'cat pee smell'

The Tiny Toilets of Homvncvlvm ? http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?autoco...si&img=2466 F rmosus

Oh My Goth ? Ha ha, funny one, Nephele ! But that's pretty harsh of you, Kosmo. The pictures are really cool and the second song is quite good by itself, I think. Why is it only white men can rap ? The first one, to be fair : the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band did similar things in the 60s. That was rather funny too at the time, but who remembers them ? And where did they get their inspiration from ? Right, Pete Seeger & Co. And making songs about Star Trek ? You have to be a real trekkie to be able to make any sense of it. Why appeal to the lowest common denominator ? People who watch sci-fi series on tv ? You can make funny songs about great works of art as well. Of course, you're appealing to an audience with a bit of culture then. kate bush - wuthering heights At your service, F rmosus

My mother always used horse shit for that.

That is actually not too bad, Nephe, you surprise me. So how do you call that genre then ? 'Post-acid xeno-goth ethno-rap' ? F rmosus

Hahahaha! For those unfamiliar with Voltaire (the goth musician -- not the dead philosopher), here's Voltaire singing his own Trek song (as Captain Kirk)... "The USS Make-Shit-Up" -- Nephele Nice pictures Neph, but really, you have no taste in music whatsoever, I'm sorry to say. That's not goth at all, you know : that is fifties protest song. The only thing worse than hip hop and rap. That is Pete Seeger himself that, Lord save us ! All this stuff belongs in the truly diabolical thread, really. F rmosus

I tought that Man U actually won ? 2-1, wasn't it ? A brilliant deflection by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the Baby Faced Assasin, in the very last minute of added time, no ? Did I miss something ? Anyway, the Mancunians shouldn't feel too depressed : they still have two good football teams left : City and City Reserves. I'd really like to see those Bengal Tigers play that Bar

Yes, let's try the more gentle, feminine approach, instead of trying to reason with them. There's no reasoning with those people. ( Whoever we are talking about, I'm not sure.) F rmosus

Yes, what happened to : 'Speak softly and carry a big stick' ? The liberals have completely taken over the media, that's what I say. F rmosus

England vs. West Indies, 3rd ODI, 26th May '09 Eng 328/7(50) | WI 270/10(49.4) Eng won by 58 runs. Man of the match: Prior, Man of the series: Broad Last 2 overs : 1 1 . 1 1 . | 1 . 1 W www.cricinfo.com F rmosus

This must surely be one of the worst records ever. That's life ! You take the joy, you take the sorrow ! You're ( Unless your grandmother likes it of course, in which case : 'great song !' ) F rmosus

Star Wars in Latin ? Looks promising .... Temporis iamdiu ab longius .... BELLUM STELLAE now in the languaje of Roman Empire. Latin ! (sic) (0:23) All voices recorder in ancient languaje (sic) (0:33) Interactives menus > Document tv : Vader vs August (sic) (1:11) * The absolut edition of collectors (sic) (1:51) * .... Who wins ??? (non sic) F rmosus

Chick music We've had quite enough boys' stuff here already. Time to think about the ladies. So here's a few of my favourite chick songs. sinnead o'connor - nothing compares 2u ( He looks quite sophisticated here, doesn't he, girls ? A professor and a rock musician ? What more can you want ?) And the ultima tearjerker. Yes, I'm a schmuck, I know. bread - if Formosus xxx