Pertinax

Oh let joy be un-confin-ed! PP is truly the apex of Metrosexual cool, What a find ...they are never caught drinking with Oriental Women. So.... no plastic money anymore... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey9ie1L4Z1g is Viggen watching?

I think Dr Johnson would have described him as "An Enthusiast" .... which is not a compliment.

Do I recall correctly that you yourself used one of these DNA kits (from this site)?

Wasnt this technique also used by the late period Auxillia Palatina (infantry)?

If the historians had been left to tell the "story" and guide us around the site I think the whole thing would have been much better, the Ercolano sewer finds were very interesting, as was the house with the decorators working on the day of the eruption .I watched Snow in the Battle of Hastings documentary and had to switch that off as well because of his vapid posturings.

Any Brits on the board -this is showing now! Looks like it will be a "popularised" fake excitement fest, but some nice shots so far. De La Bedoyere is on the show.The two presenters are rather irritating already, but its worth a look. edit: definitely middle/low brow De La bedoyere is fine as scene setter, his small chat about the water system was useful but the presenters are really superfluous with lots of pointless arm waving and crass oversimplification, a voiceover would have been better. edit 2 : I gave up, Jon Snow is just too irritating with his pointless histironics

What always amuses me is the universal "ancient inhabitants may have been more sophisticated than previously believed..." Rather than assuming that we have dumbed-up . Perhaps the Amazonians paddled balsa canoes to deliver the stones for the Bosnian pyramid? Henges seem to be a universal diffuse culture occurence.

Another old codger-Happy Birthday and all the best to your family.

If you were carrying it "all day" yes indeed ,but if being carried by suspension to the rear of the soldier then that load is well spread, if waiting for contact the shield would be rested on the ground: in combat id suggest you wouldnt notice it was there given the amount of endorphins released by your brain. The "punch grip" , as we might call it, seems to be the simplest way to utilise the offensive capabilities of the shield boss, and requires very little movement of any joint.

And along with that, I wonder with some of the aforementioned if they have any grasp on the geography of the world of Jesus Christ or if words like Galatians or Ephesians are just words meaning people who got converted... I am most intrigued as to the debate regarding the "Poverty of Christ" (and that he owned things only in common with his disciples) as a hugely subversive episode in the establishment of the church as a multinational corporation -I tentatively suggest this as the real moment of schism when the role of Christ's Vicar stepped outside of the spiritual realm and into international finance.Please put this in another thread if considerd oftop, but these two "contextual" posts provoked my thoughts.

Quite a few POWs didnt bother going home-some from rural backgrounds enjoyed farm life (because usually they were assigned to farms to help out food production) and not a few people have Austrian /German Grandpappies . Our local Bratwurst comes from a delicatessen founded by such a "stay behind".

I totally agree! My ultimate holiday indulgence is to: take the ferry to Capri from Sorrento, the funicular from the harbour to the Piazetta, to walk five minutes toward the Vila Jovis from the piazetta, to the shop of Signor Bruno Valestra -thence to be smothered in hot towels and regaled with a stream- of- consciousness rant as to why Gianfranco Zola and Diego Maradonna were the saviours of Neapolitan football. I use a "Cyril Salter" badger bristle brush and shaving cream from Napoli.I am smooooooth!

A most excellent days excursion . I was unable to fly any bird to the lure on this trip, as the resident Peregrine is now retired and of pensionable age-a shame , because they strike hard and you need to have your nerves still and head calm as they swoop in at speed, all very exhilarating if it comes off well. The weather was warm and calm, so that ruled out any possibility of flying the vultures , as decent thermals are needed to get them airborne , also the large Lappet Vulture was resting due to egg laying exertions. However I had the whole day to work with other birds, and some of them were a joy to handle. The Barn Owl is a featherweight and a sociable little chap, you will get pecked but only in a very gentle way, they enjoy being stroked and tickled on the back of the head, but they have very sharp little talons .The seem to be able to eat all day, without guilt or indigestion.Short tail vole is the dish most desired and a pair require 300 acres of untouched grassland to forage over-so if you can keep a pair in comfort you are doing the species a favour. http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=866 Here's a small African Owl. http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=868 The Harris Hawk is a recent addittion to hawking, halfway between buzzard and eagle but mistaken for a carrion bird because of its sociable habit (unique for a hawk).These animals are paragons of numerous Pagan virtues- haughty, proud, clever, inclined to sloth, immaculately well dressed, yet sociable hunters and well mannered. I forgot I had the bird on my hand when we were walking out this afternoon,(she was quite happy to sit on the glove or take to the tree tops) http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=869 however when presented with a rabbit my hand was held in a vice whilst she concentrated on eating. http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=870 Quite an interesting mechanism the claws, if the prey squirms the talons bite deeper and deeper by reflex -so if you havethe hawk on the bare flesh you must cease any movement, let the bird peck at you (which hurts) to see if you are a large rabbit or vole and wait till she realises you are a large human and lets go.You should always wear a glove but sometimes the wrong arm gets sat upon, that being the case you should lower the hand and the animal will move toward the shoulder for a more secure perch.You find yourself chatting quite happily to the bird, other handlers and other birds without any unease. The Snake Eating Eagle is big, heavy, bad tempered and fairly dim. However he has "kickass" killing feet, apparently able to deliver the force of the bite of two alsatian dogs per foot, so any snake is spaghetti. http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=867 An extra glove is neede to handle these birds as the talons are fearsome-in this photo I thought my arm was going to snap, you have to fly these birds off quickly.They are also very very lazy, feed them and they pack up for the day. And...here's young Toby, he's only just into Owl Jump School and hasn't got his wings yet, but he did some decent hops and jumps this morning....and he blinks cutely and is even tempered. http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=871 for those who are interested I will post off site on my msn blog-plenty of vera the vulture! http://triclinium.spaces.msn.com/ you cant miss her , she is the seriously ugly one. Look at the equipment you need! http://www.falconiformes.co.uk/wip_falconiformes_014.htm and finally , wikipedia has a useful little note on the Japanese art (Takagari) , notice the congruity with English feudal rules. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takagari