Unusual Blogs: Post Links Here

[BurtWorm]

http://martialis.blogspot.com/2004/06/introductory.html

Thursday, June 03, 2004
Introductory
This is an insanely ambitious project. On this blog I intend to present the Latin text and an English translation of all the epigrams of the first-century AD poet Marcus Valerius Martialis, better known to the English-speaking world as Martial. By my reckoning there are 1565 epigrams together with the five prose prefaces - which at a rate of one a day will take the better part of four-and-a-half years to cover.

By concentrating on one poem a day I hope to encourage readers to make their own observations in the comments section and develop a discussion to which anyone can contribute on matters of translation and interpretation: some books and some poems are rather better served than others by existing translations and exegetical works....


<samples from the blog>

Wednesday, September 22, 2004
I.110
scribere me quereris, Velox, epigrammata longa.
ipse nihil scribis: tu breuiora facis.


You complain, Velox, that I write long epigrams. You write nothing yourself: you create shorter ones.

posted by Nick at 12:00 AM 1 comments

Tuesday, September 21, 2004
I.109
Issa est passere nequior Catulli,
Issa est purior osculo columbae,
Issa est blandior omnibus puellis,
Issa est carior Indicis lapillis,
Issa est deliciae catella Publi.
hanc tu, si queritur, loqui putabis;
sentit tristitiamque gaudiumque.
collo nixa cubat capitque somnos,
ut suspiria nulla sentiantur;
et desiderio coacta uentris
gutta pallia non fefellit ulla,
sed blando pede suscitat toroque
deponi monet et rogat leuari.
castae tantus inest pudor catellae,
ignorat Venerem; nec inuenimus
dignum tam tenera uirum puella.
hanc ne lux rapiat suprema totam,
picta Publius exprimit tabella,
in qua tam similem uidebis Issam,
ut sit tam similis sibi nec ipsa.
Issam denique pone cum tabella:
aut utramque putabis esse ueram,
aut utramque putabis esse pictam.


Issa is naughtier than Catullus' sparrow, Issa is purer than a dove's kiss, Issa is more endearing than all the girls, Issa is dearer than Indian gemstones, Issa is Publius' pet puppy. If she complains, you will think she is speaking; she feels sorrow and joy. She lies up against his neck and takes her slumber, in such a way that not one of her breaths is felt. And when she is forced by the desire of her bladder, she has never disappoints the bedspread by a single drop, but with caressing paw she rouses him and warns to put her down, and asks to be lifted up. So great is the modesty within the chaste puppy that she knows not of Venus; nor have we found a man worthy of such a tender girl. So that her final day might not snatch her away completely, Publius is producing her likeness in a painted board, in which you will see an Issa so like her that she herself is not so like herself. So put Issa alongside the picture: either you will think both are real, or you will think both are painted.

posted by Nick at 12:00 AM 1 comments

[ghostsofgiants]

1. ...

This is mine: http://subvertanddestroy.modblog.com/

I haven't posted anything on it in like a month, and probably won't ever again, but there it is.

[BurtWorm]

3. That is the most slacker blog I've ever seen.

:toast:

What is the phrase Sweet Zombie Jesus doing on there? Is that a known phrase, a line from a song or something? There used to be a Sweet Zombie Jesus who posted on DU. I wonder where he's gone...

[miss_kitty]

2. Random Acts of Reality

http://randomreality.blogware.com/

This is a great blog written by an EMT or Ambulance guy in England...here's an evening's report:
18 September 2004
"Cannibals, Schizophrenics and Hermaphrodites (Oh My...)
by Reynolds on September 18, 2004 07:59PM (BST)
We got called as a 'second crew' to an address. Sometimes, when a situation is beyond the capability of one crew to deal with, they will request another crew - normally this is because they have two patients, or the one patient that they have is too heavy for one crew to lift on their own.

We got the job as "female giving apple to 7 day old baby", which had us wondering...

As we turned up we saw the other ambulance and a police car, on entering the flat we saw two policemen standing in the corner, with a 5'2" female ambulance crew sitting on a young woman (Patient Number 1), her crewmate was dealing with a male who had a nasty bite on his arm (Patient Number 2). The police were talking between themselves deciding what to do, as we got a quick briefing from the crew who was sitting on the woman.

It turned out that the woman (who had a previous mental illness episode), had given birth by Cesarean section seven days earlier, and today had tried to feed the baby apple pie, she had then 'freaked' (note the professional medical terminology) shouting that the man wasn't her husband and had attacked him. The ambulance crew had been called and as they arrived the woman had sunk her teeth into her husband's arm. The crew had fought the woman to, ahem, disengage her teeth, and this is why they were sitting on her. The police had been called, but were reluctant to do anything (I got the impression that they were a rather crap pair of coppers) and the second crew (us) had been called to deal with the husband (with new teeth-mark wound) and baby.

This woman was (brace yourself for more medical terms) 'completely bonkers', she had the rolling eyes, the delusional thoughts and the inability to communicate that separates the mildly strange from those who need immediate medication. It was actually quite sad to see this family come apart at the seams, the husband was shell-shocked, the wife was completely detached from reality and the police weren't being very helpful (which is unusual).

We got the husband and baby out of the house and into the back of our ambulance, and then returned to see the police (finally) manhandling the woman out of the house, and into the back of the first ambulance. She was securely strapped down (although we don't have restraints and so she could have easily gotten free if she so desired), and we had to lend the first crew a belt-strap as the one on their trolley was broken. The first crew then forewarned the hospital about what they were bringing in (violent schizophrenic female) and we all set off for the hospital.

We got there first and advised the nurse in charge that this was a 'real' warning, and that security guards would be needed, along with the private 'psychiatric' room. It took her twenty minutes to arrange both, while the ambulance took less than five minutes to get to the hospital. So while the secure room and security was being arranged this very disturbed woman was laying on the ambulance trolley...Not a good situation, and it made the job a lot harder than it should have been.

The husband was completely stunned, he had no idea how to look after a baby and quite simple couldn't cope. Social services were informed, and the child was admitted to the paediatric ward for a while, until the husband could be taught how to look after a baby. The woman was sent to the local psychiatric unit for assessment and treatment, hopefully this is a temporary condition brought on by childbirth (Puerperal psychosis). The husband had his wound treated, and was sent home.

Oh, and the baby is a hermaphrodite."

[BurtWorm]

4. Sad, funny and interesting. This will probably be a book someday.

How'd you find this blog?

[miss_kitty]

5. the Guardian

wrote an article-i posted it on another site awhile ago.

Link to Guardian article:
Random reality bites
Jane Perrone meets the shy paramedic whose blog has readers hooked on tales of life and death in London
http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/weblogs/story/0,14024,1254467,00.html