caesar novus

I refer NOT to the bland 2023 Max TV series of the same name, but to the original proof of concept short animation Fired on Mars (2016). I'll be tightening my hernia prevention belt and re-streaming this hysterical dark comedy frequently. It involves a new hire recruited to travel millions of miles to mars only to be downsized with no apparent means of support or return. All is unfolded in upbeat euphemistic terms by the company and main character. He seeks to make the best of things in spite of series of setbacks, like realizing his girlfriend no longer plans to follow him and now lives with her meditation teacher. Great graphics which this trailer hardly does justice to; I found it on Kanopy under Stash Short Film Festival: Comedy episode 1.

Here are reviews and previews of exceptional movies and TV series. First is Playtime (1967, France), whose second hour comprises one of the funniest slapsticks of opening night in a posh restaurant. The first hour is a fine satire on misguided modernity, but the second is worth streaming over and over. Don't worry about subtitles because there is minimal dialogue and partly in english anyway. Still skeptical? Read from first review: Second recommendation is new TV documentary series Crime in Progress (Arts & Entertainment) which is unsullied by narrators or anything other than real bodycam. And the bodycam isn't hashed up and sensationalized except by step by step unveiling of truly horrific crimes, usually in "nice" neighborhoods with multiple bodies. The police conduct is usually highly professional, or else they'd unlikely be releasing the surveillance and interview room footage. It's sort of like perfecting their successful "The First 48" documentaries which along with it's spinoffs has bordered on over sentimentalism recently.

If so repulsive, what was demotivating folks from voting with their feet and moving to smaller towns or countryside? Rome on the other hand had an abundance of fresh water, the grain giveouts, and lack of local warfare etc: https://www.youtube.com/@ancient-techie/shorts

I had thought of that, and felt the sepia was a bit overdone. But did you know the colored turret roofs of the Excaliber Casino/Hotel used to have to be repainted 10 times a year to retain vibrancy? I think the sooty, dusty, sun baked environment of Rome would indeed turn much into sepia with little interest in restoring older stuff. Think of pre-war photos of Paris and London where everything was blackened. Altho that was from coal, Rome seems to have even less of cleansing wind and rain in my experience.

Here is a new AI reconstruction of Rome 300AD with amazing granularity, and not that usual sterile look. Garnered rapturous review from a @Teddy-u8z9j:

This topic reminded me to finally put pool testing strips in my amazon shopping cart for the frequent times I am looking for a small extra item to attain the price threshold for free shipping. Don't have to be a pool owner but a swimming pool visitor. They have strips for regular water as well; I bet hot water taps reach toxic levels when the tank cooks down concentrated sludge.

Fans of somewhat edgy TV sitcom still in reruns "The Office" may be surprised that character "Creed" played in a famous 1960's counterculture band "The Grass Roots", here playing "Temptation Eyes". Pretty impressive playing of a red guitar (not on thumbnail) which seems to match the guitar in a more recent recognizable photo below: Picture above is from Wiki but quote below is from vastly superior (but pictureless) https://grokipedia.com/page/Creed_Bratton. P.S. for the one subscriber I noticed to this thread: I have tried to live up to your loyalty here, but can no longer maintain discriminating standards due to my new laptop having crap little speakers. Old large Macbook Pro had a luxurious multidimensional sound that brought out the best of songs...

I like this video history of why some gladiator types were phased out and in:

The article talked about Balkan Muslim areas dampening the top averages for height and possible effect of dietary restrictions. Wiki "Islam in Europe" shows heavy concentrations in non-mixing southern shorter areas, as well as some tall areas. Maybe it's switched on/off by EPIgenetics? Map:

So I guess we have a case for tall Romans. Nearby Montenegro has the tallest folks in the world, and tallness seems to go back centuries. I seem to recall that all Montenegro legislators were at least 6.5 feet tall a few years ago. Diet and genetics of that whole greater tall zone are discussed in https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/not-dutch-montenegro-tallest-people/ but I note the tall types may have migrated in or out since Roman times. Tall map including Serbia:

Here is a US gov't search tool I use to kind of sniff out if a charity is currently legit, and it's official name and tax number: https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/ I override it's database choice to "Pub 78 Data" and search by "Organization Name" rather than EIN number. To be US tax deductable, it has to spend most donations in US rather than Italy, but they structure it to somehow benefit Italy or whatever. Even if deductability isn't a concern, this provides some checks due to paperwork they must regularly file. But there are some sketchy organizations that get approved and on the list.

I'm puzzled by seeing about 1/3 customers at my regular mega food mart wearing masks. And I can no longer get a flu shot on demand due to full appointment bookings. No worries, since my once-in-a-lifetime pneumococcal vax has seemed to make respiratory problems a thing of the past.

Here are 2 more standouts for narrative-to-sleep channels. https://www.youtube.com/@ShadowsofConflicts/videos is mostly eastern front ww2 German memoirs of extreme hardship and regret on the retreat. https://www.youtube.com/@Mossad-Vault/videos covers Israeli secret service taking out genocidal technocrats all over the world in ingenious ways. Overall mostly historical bad guys getting what they deserve, and in the Mossad cases maybe a message to bad guys to retire early?

There seems to be some redefinition of white in US law enforcement record keeping, where many dark middle eastern areas of origin were recently changed over to white. Made for strange wanted posters and conspiracy theories about fudging crime statistics. Not sure if this was some coordinated interpol revision or what.

My beloved macbook pro just melted down after 4 years of hard labor. Just ordered a new one from best buy - I like their "opened box" discounts and ease of returns.

Holidays may bring slack time for watching videos or listening. I have come across some under-subscribed fascinating history channels: https://www.youtube.com/@frontlinewhispers https://www.youtube.com/@historyonmaps examples:

I had trouble too. After reading about a huge number of passwords posted for sale on the dark web, I got notified that someone broke in and was trying to change my password. Also I would lose my cursor and freeze on youtube while my device got hot. I guess two step verification, which I hate, saved me in the end.

These 2 songs seem endearing because the classic pop artists play straightforwardly rather than in trademark avant garde posturing. Lou Reed does "Rock N Roll" while blurring the creepy lyrics. I actually bumped into him in Rome days after his concert. He was accompanied by an exquisite supermodel rather than some satanic transvestite more befitting his reputation. David Bowie accompanies him for "Waiting for the Man". I saw him in a small concert on the east coast, whose edgy vibe influenced him more than the California scene.

https://ancientromelive.org/about/ is fundraising for it's educational activities, and has set up a tax deductible way for Americans to do this thru nonprofit https://ancientromelive.org/support/. But they don't mention an especially painless way to do this which is a Transfer-On-Death provision to financial accounts such as retirement or bank. I have done this easily online, allocating various percentages to people and non-profits, with backups in case some recipients expire. As I understand this is put into action with death certificate long before probate and wills, and can be updated without witnesses (but confirm all independently) To set up you will need the EIN number, and the exact name of American Institute...

Here are many glorious Roman mosaic images. From bing on laptop, I like the way you can click on one, hit expand, then rapidly cycle thru the hundred or so with right arrow key in near full screen: https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=roman+mosaic+book&form=HDRSC3&first=1 https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=roman+mosaic&form=HDRSC3&first=1

Above YT short is so devoid of any info that it actually seems too long. Here is a bit better one I posted earlier, but I would appreciate seeing another vid that did more justice to cool Roman mosaics. There are probably fine coffee table books on the subject in landfills.

These short "licks" are best played in loop mode (summer madness - kool & the gang):

His son continued ruling an additional 8 or 9 years with moderate success, so Rome plodded onward:

Pressure mounting due to sensing the crumbling resolve of western civilization, with it's woke readiness to appease in a spirit of suicidal empathy. Egypt has long been on the brink of radical islamic takeover (think Afghan buddha demolition or Syria Roman destruction), and suffered thousands of artifacts looted from museums and archeo sites in 2011 revolution. Still there are a six figure surfeit of items remaining under the watch of tiresome Z. Hawass, whose "reinstatement sparked protests from museum workers and archaeologists, who struck in April 2011 demanding his removal over alleged cronyism and suppression of dissent within the antiquities sector" according to https://grokipedia.com/page/Zahi_Hawass Let's stiffen our spine and preserve selected hieroglyphs and Greek sculptures in the 1st rather than exclusively 2nd or 3rd world! Look how much Egypt benefited by the stone laying around France and England for scholars to eventually solve the puzzle. Think how many hieroglyphs have meanwhile been sandblasted in Egypt. Egypt is awash in same-theme artifacts as is Greece in same-theme artifacts. Maybe they should instead ask for donation of artifacts from outside-civilizations for local museums for diversity and education. (Athens does have a cool Hellenic Air Force museum if you are need a change of pace or the regulars are on strike.) Following graph shows world bank estimate of negative Egyptian political stability: