caesar novus

To get a sense of racetrack structures, walk a quarter mile SE from Circus Maximus to Baths of Caracalla. Your ticket there will include the best preserved Circus of Maxentius which is a reasonable couple mile walk towards Via Appia. Visiting hours are exasperatingly sparse:

I've tried to appreciate the sculptures from that collection since they were unveiled 5 or so years ago, but they lack Roman trademark pensive demeanor and warts-and-all vibe that I value. Kind of florid and artsy like from Greece, or those retouched during the renaissance like what Michelangelo did on some famous Vatican pieces. Same goes for some pieces in the overrated Galleria Borghese (now timed entrance tickets - ugh).

Exhibits moved back onsite: https://ercolano.cultura.gov.it/the-wood-that-didnt-burn-at-herculaneum-at-the-archaeological-park-antiquarium-the-exhibition-on-woods-visitors-immerse-themselves-in-the-setting-of-a-domus-of-ancient-herculaneum/?lang=en

Afraid of being banned from tourist donkey rides? Or getting stuck in ancient passageways? US medicare has just launched a historic affordable diet pill program at a tiny fraction of hitherto prices. Yes the famously effective ones that kill your appetite, benefit cholesterol and insulin modulation, and I guess revive kidney function. The paperwork is rather byzantine, so I will post some tips. The approval documents can be exasperating; I brought info sheets with points relevant to my case highlighted into doctors office. They may fail to make clear that most Advantage plans include the needed medicare Part D coverage. Pharmacies may not handle this program (Amazon) or stock your preferred pill. I went to the (eccentric) source LillyDirect pharmacy. Which pill/needle jab for you? My humble opinion is that you'd be insane to take anything other than the carefree Foundayo pill. This 18 month program is described in following doc (has an omission that pre-diabetes will qualify you at middle BMI). Questions? https://delivery-p137454-e1438138.adobeaemcloud.com/adobe/assets/urn:aaid:aem:c11dd4ec-5a2d-467f-bdf7-a106863e9513/renditions/original/as/CMAT-30456-Digital_Medicare_HCP_Resource.pdf?assetname=CMAT-30456-Digital_Medicare_HCP_Resource.pdf

True spy thriller in Naples: "How I caught an Illegal Russian Spy" only on youtube but with 6k comments urging Netflix to adopt it. Prize winning journalist tracks down honeytrap spy trolling Naples Nato base officials for blackmail potential due to illicit romance or finances. Found due to her fraudulent passport number being in sequence with known spy assassins and kidnappers. Her several fake identities tied together via ID chip in her cat. I always suspected one of the top U.S. youtube publisher of the ancient and modern around greater Naples of being a history teacher for K-12 schools of that Nato base. Sounded like such a nice gig, but now can see threats of sinister or sometimes buffoon operatives. P.S. not in the headlines for murder so much today because spys get the same reward for dead or alive (kidnapped into Russia):

Coupling: 2001/2 BBC's edgy answer to "Friends" sitcom. Find 3 seasons streaming on Kanopy or Hulu. Sample: Trailer for "Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald" aka "Radio No Jikan" (Japan 1997). Next the whole hilarious film (click on closed captions). Also available on archive.org if you need to avoid ads.

That last video has such a wretched AI style, but I wish AI would enumerate logical possibilities beyond we-are-thieves stereotype morality tale. For my perspective, I have read German memoirs of 1930's and 40's over 1000's of hours which should have been consumable to AI in a couple seconds. Looted by whom, let's consider possibilities that could and did occur. Maybe looted by the original museum in 1920s, or by a Nazi official taking it in exchange for an exit visa for a wealthy Jewish family in 1930s. Or liberated post bombing by a starving German family to trade for food other than the fare of decaying shrapnel-ridden horses. There was frantic such foraging towards the end, and why would a valuable sit available from bombing until later occupation? Finally maybe formally registered 1945 as war booty by a US soldier, who was allowed to request silverware, cameras, jewelry, weapons, etc. I think the last two likely and while the latter stretches certain ideals, compare organized looting by German henchmen, sometimes for public display. For instance Hitler unlike Goering paid for every artwork, which he aimed to install in a hometown Austrian museum. These US soldiers who may have stretched war booty rules were pretty altruistic about what they risked their lives to accomplish. They put a stop to tough adversaries who on average killed 7 to 11 victims per German soldier (I forget which, but Japanese soldiers killed 7-11 mostly Chinese civilians each, and German soldiers killed 7-11 mostly Russian civilians each).

Honey's gel-like moistness may be key, like emphasized in video below. Citizen Surgeon has about a dozen videos saying don't let wounds dry and don't apply antibacterials - only petroleum jelly. Honey sentimentalists, please be aware it's spores can cause fatal infant botulism under age 1.

- Two aqueducts and possible soldier bath house discovered in Slovakia https://spectator.sme.sk/culture-and-lifestyle/c/roman-soldiers-in-slovakia-might-have-lived-way-better-than-we-thought - Additional half mile of sprawling 90 mile Agrippan underground aqueduct straddling Naples area found (in 2023) https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/66353 P.S. These volcanic villages west of Naples have stunning ruins & scenery, and are quite walkable with ferry access too. Sophia Loren grew up there.

There are many videos on finds from recent Rome Metro station excavations and how they will be showcased, but this one takes a broad picture over the long term. While the train tunnels dive below archeological layers, the stations with associated shafts to surface have bumped into sprawling features whose preservation in place will rival the largest underground museum space in the world except the Louvre. It isn't a Metro project with a spinoff of archeology, but Europe's largest archeo digs with a spinoff of (delayed) metro project:

The Last Film Festival 2016 is a satire/farce about independent film world as well as small town USA. It centers around hanky-panky of it's star Dennis Hopper, who appears tip top and vital altho he died well before this film was released. There is a touch of amateurism to the film which probably delayed release, but that just makes it refreshing. I have been to countless film festivals, so really resonated to their cavalcade of gags with a lot of truth to them. I here show a trailer, then a very low res youtube of the whole film which doesn't do it justice compared to the Kanopy or Youtube full res. P.S. youtube is raising their no-ad subscription rates but be aware they offer a half price "lite" plan which doesn't stop ads for music or shorts.

Compare to sumo wrestlers, who supposedly cultivate subcutaneous rather than bad visceral fat (thanks to exercise):

Here is an appetizer of brief videos on Roman mini-monuments; subscribe as appropriate:

Just a heads up that the best Columbo reruns (from the 1970s) has started/resumed on a channel called Great American Family. Not a stream so you can dvr it and skip commercials; weekdays mid day. Columbo is about the only (crime investigation) drama I watch because it's both subtle and a time capsule. Same channel is rerunning best Perry Mason courtroom episodes from about 1958-1964. Here is Columbo with iconic Peugeot econo car. My dad went to Canada to get a later model at favorable currency exchange rates, and a tiny Renault for my mother. I can't imagine where he got it serviced; all neighbors preferred 1 standard US "land yacht" per family.

Playlist with more of the best of retro-shoegaze-psychedelia!

"A New Leaf" 1971 with screwball comedy legend Walter Matthau. His co-star was a ground breaking comedienne from the 1950's and is still making movies in her 90's. Most of Matthau's excellent movies were often shown on TV with themes of schemers trying to pass as old money New Yorkers, but not this one maybe due to slightly dry and mean spirited humor: "The Seven Year Itch" 1955 one of Marilyn Monroe's most memorable screwball comedies also had an excellent comedian co star which this trailer hardly does justice. I watch this about every 5 years, and it's kind of a companion to the previous movie of New York City family (non workers) going north in the summer before air conditioning was common:

It gives me headaches to figure out quantum archeology, but something else caught my ear in their latest podcast which is widely followed by the tech elite. They have already been documenting how AI is lowering starting wages for college graduates, and how they can navigate this. I think of their concept like "elasticity of demand" where AI makes brain work cheaper, incentivizing consumer demand and giving a bigger job ecosystem for AI leveraged workers. And they point out that older workers or retirees can see 401k/Roth and real estate assets mushroom in AI growth. That hillbilly mudpatch or desert shack may mushroom in value due to workers fleeing overpriced city real estate and commuting by flying AI robotaxis, etc. More presently, watch financial assets that support AI, bubbly or not (crashed about 10% in today's stockmarket wipeout). This can be observed by gov't filings by the most successful investors as briefly pointed out starting 2h03m47s in latest podcast below. I followed David's directions to find one of the most successful AI investment funds "Situational Awareness" reporting 20x growth per year with simple approach following AI power and optics stocks BE and LITE in the top holdings: https://13f.info/manager/0002045724-situational-awareness-lp . You can click on recent quarter for more details (beware of "CALL" labels which indicates a bet on those many shares going down) So I sanity check by charting much of a year showing 500% to 750% growth https://stockcharts.com/freecharts/perf.php?$SPX,BE,LITE . Worth watching for their next updates mid-May etc, if not prematurely committing to.

"The Dirty Picture", one of the top India movies of 2011, is available on youtube free. It is about a real 1980s actress who skirted India's quite demure standards of sensuality, Her career skyrockets, then is considered tawdry, then is redeemed, then sags... well, you won't miss much skipping the last half hour of attempted resolution. But the first 90 min sparkles and has wonderful metaphorical observations (on love, women, spouses, etc) in english subtitles. There are many versions on YT (and Kanopy) but I will post a suggested one and beforehand a kind of feeble trailer:

For anyone interested in getting EARLY warning of MD, you can taken a test described in the below video. Since I took it, device sales have been taken over by a different company which I leave to track down on your own. The old company had a lookup tool to tell nearest doc with device.

Sampler from groovy garage band "The Brian Jonestown Massacre"; studio, live, and full concert:

"The Wheel" with ethereal pedal steel guitar from Jerry Garcia's debut solo album 'Garcia':

I've been taking those, which are freely covered by my insurance OTC allowance, but my ophthalmologist insists I need an additional "Z..." (IIRC) ingredient. "Lucky" for me he sells those for about $75 (monthly?), so my frugality can counteract his high pressure tactics. He also turns every visit to include a followup for more tests. I am torn between his genuine skill in measuring acuity vs his fee harvesting from both me and admittedly penny-pinching insurance.

I must apologize for above lists giving terrible first impressions with dud first episodes. One is unsolved, another releases the bad guy, and another was so old that the formula wasn't developed yet. It is supposed to cover the dramatic first few days leading to arresting a maniac, without time for armchair reflections, woke or otherwise. The lists go on to include recent and not so recent years, the latter being rarely available from normal rerun sources. Most episodes adhere to this minimally edited ideal, including an honorable mention docu-series "homicide squad new orleans" which just finished a 3rd season with reruns in the usual places. It has flaws but at least they utilize effective policing tools such as excellent traffic camera network, and quick ability to access perp phone data.

- "The First 48" is doing something right to approach 30 seasons on a TV channel entitled A&E, who now has put dozens of full episodes free on youtube. I think it succeeds due to the discipline of following immediate post murder investigation live action, with a minimum of narrator spin. Whodunnit, and can they be legally put out of action gives the drama. Here is a playlist of 22 episodes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdWZXmdm7-Y&list=PLcviVtB85dLyp0kc6U2ORjYdLZyYZo3B5 Here is a playlist of 33 pairs of episodes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9s68I8W9GI&list=PLcviVtB85dLyBgKiAiiIWLVIUnyC-KKxv Let me know if I encoded these wrong. Save these lists to your own library by clicking 3 dots near the buttons for looping or shuffling. Maybe A&E will add or delete or change what costs or is free. I had a setback due to my TV streaming stick burning out its power block, so those don't last forever. Whew, TV used to be so simple, but I need diversion during an approaching 4 day storm.