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 “History Rx” 2009-11-15
By Dr. Margaret Cochran (Los Gatos, CA USA)
So many historians treat history like a cadaver, it’s dead, dead, dead. By Dr. Goldsworthy revives the patient and treats us to stories about our past that are relevant, alive and well. I thoroughly enjoyed having his as a guest on my show and I can’t wait until his novel comes out! For those of you suffering from historical post-traumatic stress disorder Dr. Goldsworthy’s book will cure what ails you. Carpe Diem!

 “Excellent history” 2009-10-04
By Saul Rosenthal (San Antonio Tx)
The author does a great job in describing a government falling in on itself, as each Emperor lived in constant threat of assassination, constantly purged his officers, and felt it was much more important to prevent rebellions than guard the frontiers. There were almost constant civil wars, and each time troops were pulled off the frontiers to fight. Almost no Emperors died of natural causes. almost all were assassinated or killed in battle against usurpers. In fact many lasted only months and the average was only a couple of years or so. If someone lasted 10 years he was practically setting records. When each was replaced, the new, victorious usurper killed many of the old administrators as loyal to the old Emperor. You can imagine what effect this had on moral and consistency. Officials came in with the idea of making as much money as fast as possible, and few cared at all about good governing. It seems fairly evident after reading the book that this was the cause of the fall, rather than any overwhelming power destroying the Empire. The powers that existed at the time of the fall would have been crushed by the early Empire.

My only complaint, and it’s a small one, is that the author must have written the chapters separately instead of sequentially, so that he frequently repeats in one chapter what he had stated in a different context in another. Perhaps it was intentional as he felt it was important in both contexts, but it was occasionally off-putting.

 “Good book–but it could have been great.” 2009-09-21
By Cato
I want to start off by noting that any book dealing with the fall of the Roman Empire will be unsatisfactory to some because an author has only two choices: 1) cram as much info into a set amount of space to make the book marketable or 2) publish an academic treatise. In this regard, any commercial work on the subject will not be fully complete.

Operating within these confines, this is a good book. To answer another commentator, this book is intended for the serious amateur or armchair historian and provides a great narrative of the last centuries of the glory that was Rome and a convincing explanation for the primary cause of its collapse. This book is also clearly meant to refute Peter Heather’s work, which claims that Rome fell not because of internal weakness, but because of the superiority of newly formed barbarian supergroups.

What I find fascinating is that both authors use the same evidence to reach drastically different conclusions. For instance, a cache of weapons found in a lake in Northern Europe is used by Heather to demonstrate that the Germanic tribes had achieved a new level of sophistication and material wealth, as well as weapons equal to that of Rome. Goldsworthy uses the same find to conclude that only the top echelon of Germanic tribes had access to such weapons.

Although I believe the truth lies somewhere in the middle, I believe Goldsworthy has the better argument. Although I do not find Goldworthy’s assessment that the Germanic tribes were no different than those facing Caesar to be persuasive (on this point Heather wins), at the same time I cannot accept Heather’s conclusion that Rome post-3rd century crises was as vibrant and stable as before.

Here is where Goldsworthy really shines. To me, it seems a matter of common sense that the main contributing factor to the demise of the Roman Empire was the almost constant civil wars from the beginning of the third century. Almost everything else–debased currency, changed social order, new religious beliefs–all flows from the fact that beginning in the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was operated essentially as a logistics base for the army. The wealth of Rome was based on looting and demolishing of other societies and civilizations. Once Rome stopped expanding, the wealth stopped coming in and the enemies of Rome were no longer worth conquering. However, the army still needs to be paid, and the generals still needed to find glory.

As such, Rome went from conquering other peoples to conquering itself. Unlike past civil wars, these conflicts were not about ideology or social issues–the were purely about money and power. Whereas the troops in Caesar’s time were fighting for land grants and citizenship, by the time of Diocletian, citizenship was universal, money was worthless, and land ownership on a small scale was cost-prohibitive due to high taxation. In every civil war more and more Roman troops were killed, more cities were looted, more land was devastated, more “ordinary” people began to see the imperial power as oppressive and turned to new religion. The coinage was debased because emperors needed to pay (bribe) the troops to pay for wars against contenders for the throne; the senatorial order was destroyed to prevent usurpations; resources previously used to build civic monuments and facilities were instead used to build walls and fortify cities; the middle class was destroyed by oppressive taxation, etc. In the end all of Roman society was reorganized for a singular purpose: to provide resources for emperors to fight each other.

Here is where Goldsworthy could have offered more detail and analysis and really thrown a knock-out punch so-to-speak. However, the narrative takes up so much space, that there is little time left for analysis and empirical study. Also, while Goldsworthy should be praised for indicating areas where the historical and archeological records are incomplete (or not known at all), I would have liked Goldsworthy to attempt to fill-in-the blanks using available sources and logical deduction.

However, Goldsworthy’s thesis is ultimately sound: For three centuries emperors and so-called usurpers fought over the same pie of resources. After each civil war the pie got smaller and smaller and yet the fighting continued. “Barbarians” were only dealt with once the new Augustus had secured his place (usually by wiping out a significant portion of Rome’s available manpower). Eventually, Rome became too weak fighting itself to fight others.

I give this book four stars instead of five because Goldsworthy should have shortened the narrative and expanded his discussion and analysis of the real economic and social effects of constant civil warfare. Also, the “modern analysis” at the end was quite unnecessary and felt like a scrap thrown to the table to appease fellow academics.

What I would really like to see is a book that combines Goldsworthy’s narrative and thesis with an economic and sociological analysis of the effects of the three centuries of constant warfare both internally and how this affected Rome’s foreign policy. Maybe Goldsworthy, Heather and Brian Ward-Perkins can team up to write such a book.

Long story short (too late, I know)–this is a good book that provides a compelling narrative, but falls short of greatness.

 “Does not deliver even 1%” 2009-09-15
By Peter R. Dinella (North Granby, CT)
I simply cannot believe how bad this book is. The reviewers that gave it a 1 star were right on.

After reading 150 pages I gave up. I skipped to the last two chapters hoping it would offer some information about why Rome fell, but those chapters were vague and indecisive.

So, the book is 424 pages long filled with boring information about this guy killing that guy, which barbarians raided Italy, etc., etc., etc. The last two chapters were 20 pages long and did make some academic statements like: “In spite of its propaganda, no empire-or, for that matter, superpower-is guaranteed its supremacy. This is as true for modern America as it was of Rome.” Duh! And Duh again.

Man, what a hot bit of information found on page 422. Goldsworthy really put his neck on the line with that bold statement.

I am going to donate this book to the local library for their annual sale. The title and the front cover will have some poor person offer up $1.50 for it, so I guess it will do someone some good.

Yale University Press should be ashamed of themselves.

 “good stuff” 2009-09-14
By D. Carlton (Austin, Texas USA)
We know that we can’t predict the future, but it is news that it is difficult to predict the past as well. History keeps changing. Who knew? This book is not your grandfather’s history. History gets better and better with more archeology and less cultural prejudice. For some reason, the fall of Rome is hot right now. Is it because everyone draws a parallel to current US history?

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Actor Shane West was so drunk after spending at a club in Los Angeles where Katy Perry performed, that he fell and cut his face.

The 31 year old star had great fun in a club in Los Angeles with his girlfriend and several other friends. But Shane apparently drank too much, lost his balance, fell and cut himself in the face. Besides the bad cut on his face, he also got a few bruises on various parts of the body.

The actor left the club immediately after the incident to treat his wounds and to escape, perhaps, the paparazzi’s flashes.

Heute müssen wir Baks untersuchen lassen. Es steht eine Ultraschalluntersuchung auf dem Plan. Die Haare auf dem Bauch mussten dafür entfernt werden. Man glaubt es nicht, aber das Fell, das auf den Fotos zu sehen ist, kommt nur von Baks’ Bauch )

Adam Lambert had his debut performance earlier this evening at the AMA’s with his first single, “For Your Entertainment.” The performance featured many surprises from kisses to even Lambert falling on stage. Although the performance featured a Lambert and a male kiss, the kiss was censored in the West Coast.

Cahill Parrish-Wood, like any three year old boy, was determined to watch the fish in a pond outside the kitchen window of his two storey home. So he made himself some stairs out of drawers and climbed on top to check them out. Only problem was he fell out the window. Whoops. Yes, despite falling 4m and landing on the solid concrete floor below, narrowly missing a glass table and 5ft ceramic pot, he managed only a little bruising to his hip and a “tiny bit of damage to his spleen”. Ta-da! When asked what the heck happened he told his dad “I went to look at the fish and I fell out the window. I was flying. I didn’t fall backwards.”

The Legacy of 1989 Is Still Up for Debate

New York Times/Steven Erlanger—The historical legacy of 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell and the cold war thawed, is as political as the upheavals of that decisive year.

The events of 1989 spurred a striking transformation of Europe, which is now whole and free, and a reunified Germany, milestones that are being observed with celebrations all over the continent, including a French-German extravaganza Monday evening on the Place de la Concorde.

But 1989 also created new divisions and fierce nationalisms that hobble the European Union today, between East and West, France and Germany, Europe and Russia.

From left, Mikhail Gorbachev, Henry Kissinger and former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher next to a piece of the Berlin Wall.

Some of the intensity of those divisions is evident in the tug of war, in both Europe and the United States, over the achievements of 1989 — whether they owe more to the resolute anti-Communism of Ronald Reagan or its inverse, the white-glove embrace of the East by many in Western Europe.

And while many in the West saw the wheel of history spinning inevitably, causing the rise of democracy and banishing serious rivals to American power, China forestalled its own revolution in 1989 and catapulted itself to prominence through an authoritarian capitalism that the leaders of Russia are now studying.

“The Chinese ended up with a Leninist capitalism, which none of us imagined in 1989, and which is now the main ideological competitor to Western liberal democracy,” said Timothy Garton Ash, a chronicler of 1989 in his book “The Magic Lantern.”

It is a tribute to 1989, not unlike the French Revolution 200 years before it, that its meaning is hotly contested. Different groups in different countries see the anniversary differently, usually from their own ideological points of view.

A group of Russian tourists gathered in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Friday.

In general, said James M. Goldgeier of George Washington University, a historian of the period, “the big question out there for 20 years is who gets the credit.”

For many in the United States, he said, most of the credit now goes to President Ronald Reagan and his aggressive military spending and antagonism toward Communism. That view has largely eclipsed another American perspective, which was that globalization and democratization were so powerful that a Mikhail Gorbachev was inevitable, and that the cold war ended through “soft power” — propaganda, diplomacy and the Helsinki accords.


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Managed to get out on a cold, damp wintery afternoon for a blast round a variation on the Ian Robert’s Fell Race route. Great fun apart from the vicious nettle sting on my knee from the path off Old Mount Road.  I dediced to try to better my 2009 result in 2010.  As the 2009 race came after 4 or 5 months of no training whatsoever it shouldn’t be too much of a challenge.

Video of Ian Roberts Fell Race Sunday 8th March 2009. With that famous fall at the begining. If you look closely you can see me near the back looking well prepared.

Looking stylish in 2008

Just cleaning my pc up and found the results for the 2009 Ravenstones Brow Fell Race. This led to me digging out the results for the 2008 race and comparing my times, something which I have been meaning to do since May.

They are:

• 2009: 1.36.13
• 2008: 1:34:30

Flying in 2009

By May of 2008 I had been training since December 2007 for our attempt on the Welsh 3000s in June and the Ravenstones Brow Fell Race (my first ever actual race) was part of that training. A red-hot day, the race was a difficult slog, I still remember the dehydration and my pulse trying to break through my temples. In 2009 I had done very little training and was barely able to complete the race, at one point – at the top of the brow – even planning an early retirement and scoping out escape routes. My initial tactic of gaining a fast start and holding my position fell apart on the ascent of Ravenstones Brow where I completely ran out of steam. I’m surprised that my time in 2009 is only 1 minute and 47 seconds slower than 2008 when it felt like about half an hour.

Next year I might try my 2009 tactic with my 2008 fitness.

The best way to learn script writing is by reading as many scripts as possible. What I’ve learned by reading scripts is that there doesn’t seem to be any rule book for formatting. Let me rephrase that because maybe “rule” is the wrong word, I think guideline may be better. There doesn’t seem to be any set-in-stone guidelines for script writing, at least not in comics. What makes script writing so interesting is that, more than anything else, what you are trying to accomplish seems simple: you want the artist to read your instructions and visually create this world that you’ve imagined. Ah.. but there is a catch, you can’t be too detailed, you have to get your point across to this artist in such a way that your vision becomes the illustrators vision. On top of all of that, you must realize that the artist will have his or her own style.

With all this in mind, I have found one of Warren Ellis’s actual scripts for the comic book “Fell” which he did with Ben Templesmith some years back. I think you will enjoy how Warren writes. The script is almost conversational, it’s like a letter to the artist. I’m posting a portion of the script here. I am also supplying a link at the end that will allow you to download the whole script in MS Word format.

FELL

1

WARREN ELLIS

FELL © Warren Ellis & Ben Templesmith 2005

PAGE ONE

Pic 1

All the pages are built on a nine-panel grid. Because they scare me. And one of the kinds of establishing shot we’re going to do, I’m going to call the PHOTO ESTABLISH.

Take one whole tier of the nine-pic-grid. On the left hand side of the grid, you have the image itself, in a frame, the size of two pics in the tier. So that’s two thirds of the tier. In the dead space that’s left, we put a yellow post-it note, with something scribbled on it, and that scribbled note is the caption. Imagine the photo’s stuck on a wall, and the post-it note is stuck next to the photo to remind the owner of what it is. Yeah? Okay, me too, but I thought we’d try it. We’ll try other things too.

And this, then, is the first PHOTO ESTABLISH: the most sinister, grey, awful five-floor tenement building you ever saw, under dull daylight.

CAPTION MY NEW HOME. I THINK MAYBE A LOT

OF PEOPLE KILLED THEMSELVES HERE.

Pic 2

And from here, we go into the bottom six panels of the grid.

INT. APARTMENT: RICHARD FELL looking out the uncurtained window of the unfurnished apartment, his back to us. I’m trying not to type Flat. Apartment = Flat. Do you say Flat in Australia too? Anyway, he’s standing there, and a withered little woman REALTOR is standing on profile to his side, holding a bunch of keys.

FELL: CAN I MOVE MY STUFF IN TONIGHT?

REALTOR: GIMME THE MONEY, YOU CAN DO

WHAT YOU LIKE WITH IT.

REALTOR: IF YOU’RE GONNA SHOOT PORNO,

DON’T CLOG THE DRAINS.

Pic 3

Cut to: FELL, locking the door of his new place, APT 5B according to what’s daubed on the door in orange paint. He looks over his shoulder as someone speaks. (NOTE: there’s a paperback in his pocket.)

FROM OFF CLEAR THE WAY, BUDDY. COMING THROUGH.

Pic 4;

Two ambulance men are wheeling a gurney out of a door across the hall, where a sour WOMAN in her fifties stands, smoking. There’s a body on the gurney, but a sheet is pulled over it.

WOMAN: HE JUST DROPPED DEAD. REALLY.

Continued over page

Page ONE continued

Pic 5;

Fell walks to the gurney, makes a face.

FELL: YOU SMELL THAT?

AMBULANCE GUY: WHAT?

WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM?

FELL: SORRY. DETECTIVE RICHARD FELL,

JUST TRANSFERRED IN FROM OVER

THE BRIDGE.

Pic 6;

He pulls back the sheet, leaning in and making a face. The guy, also in his fifties, appears to have died in unspeakable agony.

FELL: JESUS.

AMBULANCE GUY: YEAH. HE DIDN’T GO EASY.

SO?

FELL: SO I CAN SMELL WHISKY. BUT IT’S NOT…

Pic 7

The wife is defensive, one arm folded across her and the other holding his cigarette up close to her lips. Fell looks across at her, as she stands in her open door.

WIFE: HE WAS AN ALCOHOLIC SON OF A BITCH.

WIFE: SATAN’S GOING TO BE HUMPING HIM

RIGHT IN THE BUNGHOLE FOR THE NEXT

MILLION YEARS, YOU MARK MY WORDS.

WIFE: I LOVE JESUS.

PAGE TWO

Pic 1;

Over her shoulder: there’s a kitchen counter just inside the door, and there are booze bottles (all wine) and tubes on it. And two big empty bottles of whiskey. I have a ref photo.

(no dialogue)

Pic 2;

She steps behind the door, scowling out at us as she closes it.

WIFE: QUIT YOUR NOSING.

FELL: (OFF) COME DOWN TO THE

STATION LATER SO WE CAN TIDY

THIS UP FOR YOU?

WIFE: MAYBE. DEVIL COP.

Pic 3;

The ambulance guy grins. Fell, facing us, not sure what just happened, runs his hand through his hair.

FELL: DEVIL COP. I AM DEVIL COP NOW.

AMBULANCE GUY:  YOU WANT TO SNIFF

DEAD GUY:  SOME MORE, OR…?

FELL: OH, GOD, I’M SORRY, YEAH, TAKE

HIM. TELL THE CORONER TO CALL THE

HOMICIDE DESK?

Pic 4;

EXT. APARTMENT: Fell comes out of his front door, towards us – the top of his car in the foreground, he’s walking towards it. On the right of the door (that’s our right, the right-hand part of the panel), we can see part of something we’re going to be seeing a lot of: THE SNOWTOWN TAG.

It’s got to be pretty simple – and you’ll see why later in the script, I don’t want to give it away right now because I want you to have a reader’s experience off this script, first time through. I’m thinking that if you take an X and superimpose a S on top of it, that’s the basis of the tag design.

(no dialogue)

Pic 5;

And he stops (put him on the hard left of the panel), turns his head to look at the tag, which we can now see in full, scrawled on the building’s wall there.

(no dialogue)

Download the full script: Sorry the link has died. I am searching for another but for now the excerpt will have to suffice. I’m sorry.

Die kalte Jahreszeit ist Zeit für wärmende Accessoires – seien es Jacken mit Teddyfell, Plüsch-Kopfhörer oder Pelzmützen. Warum also sollte es mein iPhone nicht auch entsprechend kuschelig haben? Zeit, meinem Lieblings-Gadget was Gutes zu tun und eine wintertaugliche Behausung zu besorgen. Wie wär’s also mit einer flauschigen iPhone Hülle?

Animal-Style von Cute Cases

Cute Cases, ca. 30 USD

Playboy iPhone Case

Playboy Case,  ca. 30 USD

Kuhfell iPhone Case

Kuhpelz, ca. 30 AUD

Für die Gewissenlosen: iPhone Case aus echtem Chinchillafell

Chinchilla, ca 258 EUR

via

Heute habe ich auf Ebay ein kleines Schnäppchen gemacht.
Der Furminator L für 10 Euro ^_^v

Wenn’s eine Fälschung ist gibt’s auf die Finger, dood.

UPDATE:

Ich wollte nur noch einmal erwähnen, dass es sich um ein Original handelt.
Bereits drei Tage später war er in meinem Briefkasten.

Super Qualität.

Eine verspielt-putzige Straßenkatze.

Wo: La Palma
Wann: Oktober 2009
Kamera: Fuji FinePix S7000

Full credit to Dr Ali for this one. The rain started as he arrived at my door at 8.45. My lightest waterproof in the back of the car which had been taken away to be repaired, I had to brave the elements in only a windproof top – Ah well! It wouldn’t do to be getting soft now would it?

To Tunnel End and then up the relentless but enjoyable slog which is the north side of Pule Hill. The rain stopped but the going underfoot was wet and boggy. Talk was of twitter and running in the dry but it’ll never happen. Nearing the top of Sentinel – though difficult to be accurate as my head torch batteries were on the way out – we were hit by a blast of rain and wind which stayed with us until we reached the summit. Dr Ali’s trusty hip flask, furnished with a fine drop of Jura was enough to raised spirits and we set off east towards Worlow to pick up the ‘bumpy ridge’ back towards Marsden.

We stopped before the farm and decided not to wake the dog but to cut off towards Old Mount Road. Standing in the full moon it seemed like every detail was visible turning the ‘bumpy ridge’ into an eerie moonscape. We were soon back down the hill, into the village and back home having enjoyed a fine nocturnal run.

Der Wind, der Wind — man denkt gar nicht wo überall leichter Wind ist, den man normalerweise nicht bemerkt. Außer als Tontechniker bei der Aufnahme oder eben mit Hörgeräten. Im Grunde bräuchte man da jederzeit einen dicken, fluffigen Fell-Windschutz am Ohr. Ein Glück für die, bei denen der eh angewachsen ist. Pech für alle anderen.

Übrigens, wir reden hier von keinem leisen Flüstern. Sondern von einem markerschütternden Heulen. Auch bei modernsten Hörgeräten ist die Windautomatikerkennungsfunktion noch optimierbar. Wir reden von einem grausigen Geräusch.

Město, které tak trochu připomíná les ze Záhady Blair Witch, nebo třeba Silent Hill. Hříchu tu je tolik, že by i Sin City mohlo závidět, a takových úchylů, jako byl ten ze Sedmičky, tu je nepočítaně. Tak to je Snowtown, Kruté město tam za mostem, kde se střílí po kamionech, které sem vezou jídlo a zásoby…

Trochu to připomíná distrikt Sitku z Židovského policejního klubu Michaela Chabona, jen je tu ještě míň slunce než na Aljašce a nejspíš i míň Židů. Zato jsou tu uprchlíci z Kambodže a další podivní starousedlíci, kteří si nechali vpálit cejch tohoto nehostinného místa, ve kterém operuje tři a půl detektiva (ta půlka nemá nohy), přímo do mozku.

Do téhle aglomerační pustiny, kde je slovo vražda vyslovováno stejně často jako nezaměstnaný, je jednoho dne přeložen detektiv Richard Fell. Blonďák s jiskrou v oku a skvělými výsledky. Pan správňák. Pan dokonalý. Ale i on, stejně jako všichni ostatní obyvatelé Snowtownu, má co skrývat. Jde o to, kdo objeví slabé stránky toho druhého dřív a vyhraje – Fell, nebo Snowtown?

Tahle série rozhodně není optimistická a radostná. Vlastně není ani usměvavá. V zásadě nebude ani vážná. Spíš bude pochmurná, depresivní a děsivá. V celé první knize není jediná nadpřirozená věc, ale stejně jako v lese čarodějnice z Blair máte pocit, že něco strašného a nelidského se skrývá hned v dalším centimetru obrázku, právě za jeho okrajem, kde se na to už Ben Templesmith schválně vykašlal a schválně to nejděsivější nenakreslil.

Atmosféra. Hluboká, hustá a temná. Právě ta se daří Templesmithovi dokonale vystihnout. Při čtení Fella není těžké získat pocit, že se v místnosti zešeřilo a z potemnělých koutů sálá chlad. Nikterak precizní kresba, bez barev by to celé vlastně připomínalo skicář, ale o to tu jde. Z mála je na stránkách Krutého města vykřesáno maximum.

A to se přitom bavíme jen o vizuální stránce celé záležitosti. Libreto má na svědomí Warren Ellis, kterého měli čeští čtenáři před nedávnem možnost „ochutnat“ v poněkud starším Transmetropolitanovi. Zatímco v něm si Ellis počínal někdy až příliš živelně, zde postavil celé vyprávění na pravém opaku.

Rezervovanost vyprávění je jeho hlavní devizou. Celé to působí tak civilně, až při čtení běhá mráz po zádech. Fell je blonďatý frajírek, ale během prvního sešitu si ho zamilujete. Jste jeho stejně jako všichni ti gauneři a vrazi, proti kterým stojí ve Snowtownu. Jste jeho úplně stejně, jako mu patří celý Snowtown, do kterého vás milostivě pustí, abyste mu mohli koukat přes rameno při jeho rutinní práci.

Co sešit, to jedna vražda. Co sešit, to jeden případ. V první knize je jich osm a všechny stojí za to. Od bizarní vraždy alkoholika přes vyřezávače plodů z děloh a utopence až k ujetému pedofilovi. Snowtown má co nabídnout. Turistická okružní cesta, na kterou vás vezme detektiv Fell, se vám určitě nezají. Při čtení totiž nebudete s to spolknout jediné sousto.

Ennis zde ukazuje, proč patří mezi uznávané komiksové scenáristy. I další vypravěčský postup je zcela odlišný od Transmetropolitana. U něj se nechal unášet na vlnách příběhu, kam jej pero zaneslo. Fell je striktně nalajnovaný, jedná se o ukázkový seriál, kde se kromě epizodních příběhů rozvíjí ještě jeden větší a nejspíš ještě temnější (i když tomu se dá jen těžko uvěřit). Ellis odměřuje informace o Richardu Fellovi jako důchodkyně švédské kapky, všechno má své místo a čas.

Aby byl obrázek o Fellovi celý, bylo by zřejmě ještě dobré říci, že většina příběhů je založených na skutečných případech. Pochopitelně že komiks snese o něco víc než svět, ve kterém reálně žijeme, ale pokud se vám tato informace dostane ještě před přečtením, není možná nejrozumnější vzít si Kruté město do postele před usnutím. Mít ve snech Ellisovy scénáře v Templesmithově provedení je to poslední, po čem toužíte, věřte tomu.

Český překlad má na svědomí opět Darek Šmíd a dlužno podotknout, že větší střídmost svědčí i jemu. Jak v Transmetropolitanovi, tak ve Fellovi jsme ale teprve na začátku cesty a teprve se uvidí, jak se s Darekem dohromady skamarádí. Zatím to ale vypadá docela dobře.

Ich könnte natürlich jeden neuen Absatz mit einer neuen Frage beginnen.
Das wäre wohl die einfachste Art klug zu wirken. Ich habe nämlich das Gefühl, mit jeder Frage, die ich dem Leser stelle, mich selbst aus der Verantwortung zu entziehen, sie beantworten zu müssen. Es ähnelt dem “Schuld-in-andere-Schuhe” stecken.

Wenn ich mir selbst Fragen stelle, geschiet es meistens, dass ich von dem Versuch eine Antwort darauf zu finden, in eine weitere Frage hineinrutsche. Man könnte mir vorwerfen, ich würde ständig Fragen stellen und sie jedoch niemals beantworten.
Das trifft allerdings nicht zu. Ich beantworte sehr wohl meine Fragen, wenn auch auf eine andere Art, die nicht jeder gewohnt ist.
Ich bin beispielsweise allein schon zufrieden wenn ich von einer Frage zur nächsten komme. Ich sehe es nicht als Sinnlos, da die gestellte Frage doch zu einem Ergebnis führte, wenn auch nicht zu einer Antwort.

Es stellt sich auch die Frage, ob man das “Fragen-stellen” als Beweis der Dummheit liefern könnte.
Mit diesem Gedanken beschuldigte ich mich selbst, stempelte mich als Versager ab und geriet so in ein tiefes Loch der Verzweiflung. Ich scheiterte unaufhörlich in allen Situationen und sah mich an der untersten Stufe einer Leiter der Gesellschaft.
Die Depression vertiefte sich innerhalb 5 Jahren bis zu Suizid-Gedanken, die mich nicht mehr losliesen und ich somit (freiwillig) in der Psychatrie landete.
Ich war schon soweit, dass ich die Tat von Amokläufern zutiefst verstand. Mein Hass richtete sich gegen die Gesellschaft, welche mich zu einem Versager abstempelte. Mein Selbstbewusstsein war bis auf die Knochen abgefressen, wie ein nacktes Tier, dessen schützendes Fell von seinem Körper gezogen wurde. Ich erkannte das Hauptproblem der Amoktäter, denn ich verglich meinen Gedanken und Zustand mit deren. Das Selbstbewusstsein ist schuld an allem, mal davon abgesehen wer an dessen Fehlen Schuld hat.

Hiermit spreche ich natürlich mein herzlichstes Beileid für all die Betroffenen der Amokläufe aus.

Es grüßt euch herzlichst,

Horwath

Overseas visits by UK residents fell 13% in the 12 months leading up to August, the Office for National Statistics has found…. From BBC News. Full story

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I’m going to attempt my hand at posting things about my life.  My kids, my church, caring for my Mom, etc.  I’m not sure anyone will want to know about my life, but, here goes…..

On Sept. 22nd, my Mom fell and broke her right shoulder, as she was attempting to pick something off of the floor in my bedroom. 

Dorothy Gay

She has Osteoporosis, so it didn’t take much to break it.  She also has dementia.  She has been diagnosed with that for about four years now.

Anyway, I didn’t get home until 5 pm that day.  She had been lying on the floor for at least two hours!  I felt so bad!  I took her to the emergency room and they admitted her and did surgery the next day.  She stayed there for three days.  During this time her dementia got worse.  I think that the pain meds that they were giving her intensified this. 

After she was released from the hospital, she went to stay at Millennium Nursing and Rehab Center in Huntsville, AL.  She has physical, occupational, and speech therapy there.  She is doing much better, however, due to her dementia, it is taking longer for her to recover.  For instance, they gave her a cane to walk with to make her more steady on her feet.  Except sometimes they have seen her carrying it instead of using it!

I met with all of her therapist’s this past Monday and they don’t think she’ll be ready to leave on Oct. 14th (which will be 20 days).  However, they are going to re-evaluate her on Monday and make a decision at that time.  Please pray for her.  Her name is Dorothy Gay.  She is ready to go home, yesterday!  If you know what I mean!

Hannibal Lecter, M.D.

((Fictional character from the novels Red Dragon, The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, and Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris. Also in the movies Manhunter (Brian Cox), Red Dragon, The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal (Anthony Hopkins),  and Hannibal Rising (Gaspard Ulliel)

Born: January 20, 1933
Aliases: Lloyd Wyman, Dr. Fell, Mr. Closter
Nicknames: Hannibal the Cannibal, The Chesapeake Ripper
# of Victims: 29+

Hannibal starts killing due to a traumatic experience during his teen years. During a war where he lived, he and his sister, Mischa, were captured by fleeing criminals. When the criminals had nothing left to eat, they decided that it was a good idea to eat Mischa, because she was smaller and weaker than Hannibal. They did so, leaving Hannibal traumatized. Later in life, he went on a hunt for the men who ate his sister, finding them, killing them, and filleting their cheeks. After this was over, he just couldn’t stop killing. What started as revenge had become an addiction for him, and he couldn’t stop eating human flesh.

Hannibal is known for his extremely violent physical and emotional torture methods, and he is very big into piquerism and cannibalism, like Albert Fish.

Hannibal Lecter: “First principles, Clarice. Simplicity. Read Marcus Aurelius. Of each particular thing ask: what is it in itself? What is its nature? What does he do, this man you seek?”
Clarice Starling: “He kills women…”
Hannibal Lecter: “No. That is incidental. What is the first and principal thing he does? What needs does he serve by killing?”
Clarice Starling: “Anger, um, social acceptance, and, huh, sexual frustrations, sir…”
Hannibal Lecter: “No! He covets. That is his nature. And how do we begin to covet, Clarice? Do we seek out things to covet? Make an effort to answer now.”
Clarice Starling: “No. We just…”
Hannibal Lecter: “No. We begin by coveting what we see every day.”

WARNING – VIDEO MAY NOT BE APPROPRIATE FOR PEOPLE UNDER THE AGE OF 13

Ein Männlein steht im Walde -

German
Ein Männlein steht im Walde ganz still und stumm,
Es hat von lauter Purpur ein Mäntlein um.
Sagt, wer mag das Männlein sein,
Das da steht im Wald allein
Mit dem purpurroten Mäntelein.

The little man stands on only one leg,
And has a little black cap on his head,
Tell me, who may be the little man,
Who stands in the woods all alone
With his little black cap.