April 2020
Various Shakespeare
30/04/20 13:53 Filed in: History
I mentioned Blackadder insults a few days ago. Now it is to get more highbrow with Shakespearean insults.
"When Hamlet refers to mankind as the “quintessence of dust” he acknowledges that while we are human, we are also just dust."
If you want to be insulted more, just check out this story of the best Shakespearean insults here.
At the same time, one can get some good online source information on Shakespeare. This is a piece of analysis on lectures given by Paul Cantor at the University of Virginia. This sounds interesting and well worth checking out! Go here.
"When Hamlet refers to mankind as the “quintessence of dust” he acknowledges that while we are human, we are also just dust."
If you want to be insulted more, just check out this story of the best Shakespearean insults here.
At the same time, one can get some good online source information on Shakespeare. This is a piece of analysis on lectures given by Paul Cantor at the University of Virginia. This sounds interesting and well worth checking out! Go here.
Comments
Finding Shackleton's Lost Ship
29/04/20 11:14 Filed in: History
In the early 1900s, many explorers planned and executed expeditions to find unexplored parts of the globe. From the Arctic or Antarctic Seas to the deepest jungles of Central and South America. One expedition that made the history books and legends was the one of the Antarctic by Ernest Shackleton. His ship, Endurance, went down and was lost in the Weddell Sea in 1915. He and his men hiked out across the snow and ice on the continent after their ship was lost. They have not been able to find the lost ship though they are trying. The story of this effort is found in National Geographic here.
Insults the Blackadder Way
28/04/20 12:21 Filed in: Personal
As my family knows, I LOVE Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean and Blackadder. I could watch these over and over again. The humor and sarcasm is so special. I wish I could use these as well as Blackadder does. I am surrounded by Baldricks though. 
)
There is a compilation of insults somewhere but the woke likely had YouTube take them down.
)There is a compilation of insults somewhere but the woke likely had YouTube take them down.
Dubrovnik the Ancient city
25/04/20 19:11 Filed in: History
During the mid to late 1300s, the Black Death as a plague raged around the world and into Europe. Venice was one city that was a port of entry for the disease. In fact, the word quarantine is rooted in Italian.
"The word “quarantine” has Italian roots: in an effort to protect coastal cities from the Black Death ravaging 14th-Century Europe, ships arriving in Venice from infected ports were required to sit at anchor for 40 days (quaranta giorni) before landing, a practice that eventually became known as quarantine – derived from ‘quarantino’, the Italian word for a 40-day period."
In addition, across the Adriatic Sea, the early city of Ragusa (later Dubrovnik) passed a law preventing ships and trade caravans from entering the city until they submitted to 30 days of isolation.
More about these quarantine medieval cities here.
"The word “quarantine” has Italian roots: in an effort to protect coastal cities from the Black Death ravaging 14th-Century Europe, ships arriving in Venice from infected ports were required to sit at anchor for 40 days (quaranta giorni) before landing, a practice that eventually became known as quarantine – derived from ‘quarantino’, the Italian word for a 40-day period."
In addition, across the Adriatic Sea, the early city of Ragusa (later Dubrovnik) passed a law preventing ships and trade caravans from entering the city until they submitted to 30 days of isolation.
More about these quarantine medieval cities here.
Earlier Epidemics in History
24/04/20 06:33 Filed in: History
Was our nation's capital planned to be another city other than the Washington, DC area? What may have happened to make that change? Could it have been an unforeseen epidemic?
Was the potential capitol Philadelphia which was the business and cultural center of the new nation made up of states (or former colonies). It appears that Philadelphia was hit with a significant epidemic of yellow fever in the year 1793 which devastated and changed the city. While DC was likely going to be the capitol location, Philadelphia was still being considered. No longer - after this epidemic. The tiny mosquito knocked down this big city's plans and reputation. Hard to believe this could happen and Yellow Fever was not understood as far as cause and pathogenesis until a century later at the time of the Spanish-American War. Much like how history changed in the eastern Roman world if you read Justinian's Flea about the onset of the plague.
Read more about this epidemic here.
Was the potential capitol Philadelphia which was the business and cultural center of the new nation made up of states (or former colonies). It appears that Philadelphia was hit with a significant epidemic of yellow fever in the year 1793 which devastated and changed the city. While DC was likely going to be the capitol location, Philadelphia was still being considered. No longer - after this epidemic. The tiny mosquito knocked down this big city's plans and reputation. Hard to believe this could happen and Yellow Fever was not understood as far as cause and pathogenesis until a century later at the time of the Spanish-American War. Much like how history changed in the eastern Roman world if you read Justinian's Flea about the onset of the plague.
Read more about this epidemic here.
The F Word
21/04/20 11:54 Filed in: Personal
The Hill's Global Symposium for this year was held online yesterday and today. Everyone had to present remotely. One speaker is a co-founder of Brief Media which produces Clinician's Brief magazine. She mentioned at one point about how people don't like to use the F word. Not the one that seems to capture bad language attention but F for Failure. We focus too much on our failures and try to avoid any yet it is often through failures that we learn how to do better. I hate to focus on failure too, I certainly have done enough in this area yet as I will mention in the Winn FIP Symposium webinar on April 30th, it is through failure of treatment that we learn more about how to treat disease better. We's love to but we can't win every time in our lives.
Sadly though it seems that in this day and age of social media, any presumed failure or disagreement that is considered a failure from the perceived norm is treated savagely. Failure is not allowed to be a learning experience but an experience to destroy that individual. This is unfortunate and I hope will change but I don't expect it will anytime soon. This challenge of COVID 19 pandemic is bringing out the best and worst in people and as it goes along, it promotes more of the worst above all else.
Sadly though it seems that in this day and age of social media, any presumed failure or disagreement that is considered a failure from the perceived norm is treated savagely. Failure is not allowed to be a learning experience but an experience to destroy that individual. This is unfortunate and I hope will change but I don't expect it will anytime soon. This challenge of COVID 19 pandemic is bringing out the best and worst in people and as it goes along, it promotes more of the worst above all else.
Long time, No Posts
19/04/20 14:21 Filed in: Personal
I can see it has been about 2 1/2 years since I did a post. I stopped due to time and also some difficulty publishing the posts every day. I guess we shall see what happens when I try to restart. I do want to do this again.
We are starting the second month of safe at home due to the COVID 19 pandemic problem. Oregon is not as severely affected with numbers of cases and deaths due to the virus. You wouldn't know that listening to our Governor. She needs to give a better description to people in this state on a date she is hoping to allow more businesses opening. This is harmful to the economy of this state.
Well, enough for the moment. Let's see if this will publish as I hope it will and I can get back to doing more for my personal benefit.
We are starting the second month of safe at home due to the COVID 19 pandemic problem. Oregon is not as severely affected with numbers of cases and deaths due to the virus. You wouldn't know that listening to our Governor. She needs to give a better description to people in this state on a date she is hoping to allow more businesses opening. This is harmful to the economy of this state.
Well, enough for the moment. Let's see if this will publish as I hope it will and I can get back to doing more for my personal benefit.
