Month: January 2011
A fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy
"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio". And now, we can too. The 1700 year old skeletal remains of an African male have been found near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, by gravediggers archaeologists excavating a Roman cemetery. The wonderful find not only emulates the infamous Act 5, Scene 1 of Shakespeare's Hamlet, but also "suggests that African immigrants were living and working outside major Romano British settlements as early as the third or fourth century AD". While this may strike some as being unusual, it is in fact a fine example of the widespread multicultural reality of life, death and taxes within the Roman Empire; as well as the varied networks of trade and communications it took to run such a monster entity. Whatever he was, citizen or merchant, soldier or slave, our African Yorick chose to end his life far from the region of his birth. In Stratford. The Horror. Seriously...
Arizona Shootings Conspiracy Theory Round-Up
'Saguaro National Monument', Arizona by Ansel Adams. CC license, via Flickr Commons Whilst the various screaming heads do their best to make political hay from the shootings carried out by 22-year-old gunman Jared Lee Loughner, others have focused on Loughner's online life - notably his interest in the world of conspiracy theory. I'll be using this thread to post links to stories about Loughner's online output, looking specifically for the tropes, tricks and syllogisms typical of some recent conspiracist thinking. Check back for updates over the next few days. SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATES Youtube The following videos are from Loughner's Youtube channel. Keep an eye out for the references to currency, a noted topic of libertarian conspiracy. There's some references to 'brainwashing': A second video, entitled 'My Final Thoughts': It's been suggested that Loughner has ties to the American Renaissance group, an alleged anti-immigration group. Make sure to read Who...
Nights with my Demon Lover
By Ann D'Artry Delaroche My lover and I are face to face, and intimate; kissing, laughing, and joyous. We make love, and pillow-talk nonsense. I open my eyes and stare into the dark. I am alone. I close my eyes; the light and his presence are strong. We are two seas and a thousand kilometres apart. This is my initiation into psychic sex. The Holy Ghost is the most famous incubus, the male supernatural being who visits slumbering women by night. Catholic pre-marriage guidance teaches that the Holy Ghost is the third presence in the marital bedroom but otherwise warns against contact with such beings, citing health risks, even death. Perhaps this is no more than an attempt to colonise the supernatural and corral the infinity of soul within prescribed boundaries. Yeats and Maud Gonne practised the rituals of the mystical society, the Order of the Golden Dawn, to meet...