Hola darlings!
I'm continuing this absolutely fascinating encyclopedia entry by Barbara G. Walker in her "The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Legends" under Hair, picking up from the blog entry a few posts ago:
The same idea prevailed among prophetic priestesses or witches, who operated with unbound hair on the theory that their tresses could control the spirit world. Mother Goddesses like Isis, Cybele, and many emanations of Kali were said to command the weather by braiding or releasing their hair. Their corresponding mortal representatives could cause to be bound or loosed in heaven what they bound or loosed on earth -- hence the unflagging superstition belief in Christian Europe that witches' hair controlled the weather. Churchmen said witches raised storms, summoned demons, and produced all sorts of destruction by unbinding their hair. As late as the 17th century the Compendium Maleficarum said witches could control rain, hail, wind, and lightning in such a way.(7) In the Tyrol, it was believed that every thunderstorm was caused by a woman combing her hair. Scottish girls were forbidden to comb their hair at night while their brothers were at sea, lest they raise a storm and sink the boats.(8) A Syrian exorcism for werewolves invoked "that Angel" who judged the woman that combed the hair of her head on the Eve of Holy Sunday," suggesting a connection between hair-combing women and the "werewolves" mythologized as dogs of doomsday.(9) [Note the supernatural connection between females and dogs -- a connection well expressed in ancient mythologies around the world -- I've posted about it elsewhere, check under "dogs" and "goddesses and dogs"].
St. Paul greatly feared The "angels" (spirits) that women could command by letting their hair flow loose. He insisted that women's heads must be covered "because of the angels" (1 Corinthians 11:10.) Thus it became a Christian rule that women's heads must be covered in church, lest they draw demons into the building. Modern women wearing hats or head shawls to church unconsciously defer to the ancient superstition about their hair. [Nothing unconscious about it, darlings! I was born in 1951 and in the "mixed" marriage of my Luthern mother and Roman Catholic father, was pledged to be raised as a Roman Catholic in order for the two of them to receive permission to wed. I was thus raised in the Roman Catholic Church until I finally rebelled at age 14 or so and refused to continue what was clear to me even at that age was sheer nonsense and very demeaning to females! We were taught - not unconsciously - that we must wear a head covering when we entered a church. Period. No exceptions. We weren't given any explanations or scriptural authority for such a law, and it seemed like baloney sausage even then. So, in the early 1960's, before I quit, it was quite the thing to see just how far we (teens, some single women and even some married owmen) could go with wearng as little a head covering as possible. We ended up wearing on our heads what were basically lace doilies -- the machine-made kind, not the hand-crocheted kind like my Grandma Jablonski used to make with thicker thread that may have provided a bit of more "substantial" coverage for our "shame." We plopped the little lace circles on top of our head, added a few hair pins, and off we went. We were not called out by the priest for being Jezebels or agents of Satan, as far as I can recall!] Due to identification of bats with demons, the erroneous notion that bats tend to tangle themselves in women's hair arose from the same superstition.(10)
I will continue to post the rest of Barbara Walker's excellent encyclopedia entry on this fascinating subject of hair, but not tonight! But before I say goodnight, I want to share with you the biblical text surrounding Paul's infamous injunction againt women appearing in "church" with their hair uncovered. Pay close attention, please. You will be tested on this later on :) I believe it gives great insight into what Paul wanted the true role of woman in "his" vision of The True Church to be (sounds very Islamic, actually).
From the King James Version of the Bible, 1 Corinthians Chapter 11, verses as follows:
11. Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. [Notice how Paul emphasizes HIS importance - BE followers of ME - and puts Christ second!]
2. Now I praise you, brethern, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.
3. But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of the Christ is God. [This, of course, totally ignores that women are eligible to become the "elect" 144,000 as spoken of in Revelation; but of course, Revelation was written by John, and everyone knows that John was a "wussy." One must examine the historic record further, to reveal that there was a great deal of turmoil in the early church congregations at this time, because as many female as males were being blessed with the Holy Spirit and able to prophesy and "teach" and perform miracles as men -- but in the Jewish tradition, this was a NO GO! And, where was the early church established -- in the heart of the Judaic system! So you can imagine that as the "Word" of christianity spread across the Roman empire, different peoples who did NOT have the tradition of treating their women as gutter vermin created some, er, problems... And so "St." Paul took it upon himself to treat the infidels a little bit about how the Jews of his day actually treated women.]
4. Every man praying or propheysying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.
5. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head for that it even all one as if she were shaven.
6. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn; but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. [Why then, did practicing Jews shave the heads of women who married -- a shaved head was a mark of shame -- that is what I was raised to believe! And why did nuns have their hair cut off short or even sometimes, their heads shaved, upon entering the convent (coven????)
7. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of the man. [WHAT BULLSHIT!]
8. For the man is not out of the woman, but the woman is out of the man [the old myth about Eve being created out of one of Adam's ribs.]
9. Neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man. [Totally ignores biology, of course, that shows all fetuses begin as females, har! One would have thought that a man inspired with the TRUE word of God Almighty would have least have got that little fact right. Geez!]
10. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. [Yes, this is what the King James Version says: That the woman has power on her - uncovered? - head because of the angels.]
11. Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. [Oh, a reprieve from the men killing off ALL the females because of those pesky angels giving them "power" IN OR ON THEIR HEADS. Can you imagine? Can't have uppity women running around teaching us about the real meaning of Christ's words. Oh no! But hey, if we kill them all off, all we've got left is each other -- and sheep... Not a way to continue the species, ahem...]
12. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman, but all things of God.
Food for thought, indeed. And one doesn't need any hair, bound or othewise, on one's head in order to appreciate it!
'night, darlings.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
DNA Study Reveals How The Peopling of the Americas Took Place
Hola darlings!
How cool is this - check it out:
DNA reveals details of the peopling of the Americas
How cool is this - check it out:
DNA reveals details of the peopling of the Americas
Migrants came in three distinct waves that interbred once in the New World
By Tina Hesman Saey
The first people to settle the Americas had a distinctive genetic style, and additional waves of migrants added regional flair, a new analysis of mitochondrial DNA from Native Americans from Canada and the United States suggests.
About 15,000 to 18,000 years ago, the first migrant wave spilled from Asia down the Pacific coast and then pushed inland, eventually peopling the land from “the tip of South America all the way to Hudson Bay,” says Andrew Kitchen, a genetic anthropologist at the University of Iowa who was not involved in the new research. That first migrant wave contained the ancestors of all South and Central American tribes, and North Americans, too. But something different was going on in North America, an international team of researchers has discovered.
The scientists examined the DNA of mitochondria, tiny power plants within cells that get passed down from mother to child. Scientists use mitochondrial DNA from living populations to decipher ancient movements of their ancestors. Most studies have examined only a small part of the mitochondria’s circular piece of DNA. But Antonio Torroni, a geneticist at the University of Pavia in Italy, and his coauthors compiled complete mitochondrial genomes from 41 native North Americans and combined that data with information from previous studies.
The result is the clearest picture yet of the complicated movements of people into the Americas, says Theodore Schurr, a molecular anthropologist at the University of Pennsylvania.
The analysis, published August 12 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, supports the widely accepted notion of an initial coastal migration wave. A second wave of migration probably left Siberia only a couple thousand years after the first wave. Instead of trickling down the coast, the second group slipped through an ice-free corridor running from Alaska into what is now southern Canada, the team found. The second wave never made it south of the present-day United States.
The mixture of first-wave and second-wave genetic signatures in some Native Americans today indicates that the newcomers and existing populations interbred.
A third wave of migration started around 4,000 years ago in Alaska and swept mostly eastward across Canada.
Previous studies of human migration into the Americas have sometimes focused on two types of languages that emerged among the tribes: the Na-Dene language family, including Navajo, Apache and Tlingit, and non-Na-Dene languages, including Algonquin, Ojibwe and Chippewa. Scientists had thought the language groups reflected genetic separation, with the second wave being restricted to the Na-Dene language family. But Torroni and his colleagues discovered that second-wave genetic marks occurred in people who spoke languages from both groups. The finding suggests that the languages developed after the people arrived, and gives a more dynamic picture of what was happening in eastern North America, says Kitchen.
And the cultural change could even have happened within a generation, Torroni says. “Language mutates much faster than the DNA.”
Geez, are we back once again to Merritt Ruehlen... Oh Yeah!
Web edition: August 12, 2013
About 15,000 to 18,000 years ago, the first migrant wave spilled from Asia down the Pacific coast and then pushed inland, eventually peopling the land from “the tip of South America all the way to Hudson Bay,” says Andrew Kitchen, a genetic anthropologist at the University of Iowa who was not involved in the new research. That first migrant wave contained the ancestors of all South and Central American tribes, and North Americans, too. But something different was going on in North America, an international team of researchers has discovered.
The scientists examined the DNA of mitochondria, tiny power plants within cells that get passed down from mother to child. Scientists use mitochondrial DNA from living populations to decipher ancient movements of their ancestors. Most studies have examined only a small part of the mitochondria’s circular piece of DNA. But Antonio Torroni, a geneticist at the University of Pavia in Italy, and his coauthors compiled complete mitochondrial genomes from 41 native North Americans and combined that data with information from previous studies.
The result is the clearest picture yet of the complicated movements of people into the Americas, says Theodore Schurr, a molecular anthropologist at the University of Pennsylvania.
The analysis, published August 12 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, supports the widely accepted notion of an initial coastal migration wave. A second wave of migration probably left Siberia only a couple thousand years after the first wave. Instead of trickling down the coast, the second group slipped through an ice-free corridor running from Alaska into what is now southern Canada, the team found. The second wave never made it south of the present-day United States.
The mixture of first-wave and second-wave genetic signatures in some Native Americans today indicates that the newcomers and existing populations interbred.
A third wave of migration started around 4,000 years ago in Alaska and swept mostly eastward across Canada.
Previous studies of human migration into the Americas have sometimes focused on two types of languages that emerged among the tribes: the Na-Dene language family, including Navajo, Apache and Tlingit, and non-Na-Dene languages, including Algonquin, Ojibwe and Chippewa. Scientists had thought the language groups reflected genetic separation, with the second wave being restricted to the Na-Dene language family. But Torroni and his colleagues discovered that second-wave genetic marks occurred in people who spoke languages from both groups. The finding suggests that the languages developed after the people arrived, and gives a more dynamic picture of what was happening in eastern North America, says Kitchen.
And the cultural change could even have happened within a generation, Torroni says. “Language mutates much faster than the DNA.”
***************************************
This information about the language "families" is particularly important, because it demonstrates just how arbitrary such distinctions can be! Here we have genetically related founding populations that probably spoke a mother language at the point of arrival; it mutated over time as the founding population grew and divergerd across the continents.Geez, are we back once again to Merritt Ruehlen... Oh Yeah!
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
2013 FIDE World Cup
Hola darlings!
Lots of interesting things going on during Round 1. I am concentrating on the chess femmes for now (but see my comments below the results table):
Deysi Cori - eliminated by Hikaru Nakamura
Anna Ushenina, current Women's WCC, defeated Peter Svidler in the 2nd round of their mini-match, forcing a play-off. You go, Girlfriend!
Hou Yifan and Alexi Shirov tied both of their games and face play-offs. Can she win to advance?
Judit Polgar - eliminated by someone I've never heard of, Isan Reynald Ortiz Suarez. If I knew at one time that Judit Polgar was playing in this event, I sure didn't remember it tonight. I thought she was retired. Maybe she should have stayed retired. Okay - OUCH. Call me a bitch. She wasn't ready for this event!
Oh my, I saw several players that I've been watching for years and cheering for -- they didn't do too well. I am getting old, and so are they, I think. Sigh. Several more players I give a shout-out to, for sentimental and with respect to some players working hard under the USA flag, patriotic purposes:"
Gata Kamsky heads for a play-off. Dude, you can do it.
GM Bator Sambuev who now plays for Canada, also heads to a play-off after tying his mini-match score with that great (to my heart) swashbuckler, Alexander Morozevich! Cheering for the GM from our neighbor to the north. Mr. Don became acquainted with him a little bit while covering some of the events that Goddesschess provided some sponsorship and/or prize money for in Canada. Good luck. Sentimental favorite.
Ray Robson advances to Round 2 with two win under his belt. Well done! Another sentimental favorite.
Fellow American player Alexander Onischuk did what he needed to do to also advance to Round 2.
For this report, information obtained from The Week in Chess.
Lots of interesting things going on during Round 1. I am concentrating on the chess femmes for now (but see my comments below the results table):
Deysi Cori - eliminated by Hikaru Nakamura
Anna Ushenina, current Women's WCC, defeated Peter Svidler in the 2nd round of their mini-match, forcing a play-off. You go, Girlfriend!
Hou Yifan and Alexi Shirov tied both of their games and face play-offs. Can she win to advance?
Judit Polgar - eliminated by someone I've never heard of, Isan Reynald Ortiz Suarez. If I knew at one time that Judit Polgar was playing in this event, I sure didn't remember it tonight. I thought she was retired. Maybe she should have stayed retired. Okay - OUCH. Call me a bitch. She wasn't ready for this event!
| Bd | Player | Player | Game 1 | Game 2 | Score | Qualified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aronian, Levon | Markov, Mikhail | 1-0 | 1-0 | 2-0 | Aronian, Levon |
| 2 | G., Akash | Caruana, Fabiano | 0-1 | 1/2 | 0.5-1.5 | Caruana, Fabiano |
| 3 | Kramnik, Vladimir | Bwalya, Gillan | 1-0 | 1-0 | 2-0 | Kramnik, Vladimir |
| 4 | Bjelobrk, Igor | Grischuk, Alexander | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-2 | Grischuk, Alexander |
| 5 | Karjakin, Sergey | Ali, Sebbar | 1-0 | 1/2 | 1.5-0.5 | Karjakin, Sergey |
| 6 | Cori T., Deysi | Nakamura, Hikaru | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-2 | Nakamura, Hikaru |
| 7 | Gelfand, Boris | Rahman, Ziaur | 1-0 | 1/2 | 1.5-0.5 | Gelfand, Boris |
| 8 | Lou, Yiping | Kamsky, Gata | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 9 | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | Shoker, Samy | 1-0 | 1/2 | 1.5-0.5 | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar |
| 10 | El Gindy, Essam | Dominguez Perez, Leinier | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-2 | Dominguez Perez, Leinier |
| 11 | Ponomariov, Ruslan | Hansen, Torbjorn Ringdal | 1-0 | 1/2 | 1.5-0.5 | Ponomariov, Ruslan |
| 12 | Liu, Qingnan | Wang, Hao | 1/2 | 0-1 | 0.5-1.5 | Wang, Hao |
| 13 | Svidler, Peter | Ushenina, Anna | 1-0 | 0-1 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 14 | Wan, Yunguo | Adams, Michael | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 15 | Leko, Peter | Johannessen, Leif Erlend | 1-0 | 1/2 | 1.5-0.5 | Leko, Peter |
| 16 | Sambuev, Bator | Morozevich, Alexander | 1-0 | 0-1 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 17 | Vitiugov, Nikita | Holt, Conrad | 1-0 | 1-0 | 2-0 | Vitiugov, Nikita |
| 18 | Salem, A.R. Saleh | Giri, Anish | 0-1 | 1/2 | 0.5-1.5 | Giri, Anish |
| 19 | Ivanchuk, Vassily | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | 1/2 | 1-0 | 1.5-0.5 | Ivanchuk, Vassily |
| 20 | Cori, Jorge | Radjabov, Teimour | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 21 | Andreikin, Dmitry | Darini, Pouria | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 22 | Durarbayli, Vasif | Korobov, Anton | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 23 | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | Shabalov, Alexander | 1-0 | 1-0 | 2-0 | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime |
| 24 | Wei, Yi | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 1/2 | 1-0 | 1.5-0.5 | Wei, Yi |
| 25 | Navara, David | Mareco, Sandro | 1-0 | 1/2 | 1.5-0.5 | Navara, David |
| 26 | Agdestein, Simen | Bacrot, Etienne | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-2 | Bacrot, Etienne |
| 27 | Alekseev, Evgeny | Adhiban, B. | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 28 | Paragua, Mark | Jakovenko, Dmitry | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-2 | Jakovenko, Dmitry |
| 29 | Le, Quang Liem | Barbosa, Oliver | 1-0 | 1-0 | 2-0 | Le, Quang Liem |
| 30 | Kaidanov, Gregory S | Areshchenko, Alexander | 0-1 | 1/2 | 0.5-1.5 | Areshchenko, Alexander |
| 31 | Malakhov, Vladimir | Hansen, Eric | 1-0 | 1/2 | 1.5-0.5 | Malakhov, Vladimir |
| 32 | Ramirez, Alejandro | Tomashevsky, Evgeny | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 33 | So, Wesley | Ipatov, Alexander | 1-0 | 1/2 | 1.5-0.5 | So, Wesley |
| 34 | Christiansen, Larry M | Fressinet, Laurent | 0-1 | 1/2 | 0.5-1.5 | Fressinet, Laurent |
| 35 | Riazantsev, Alexander | Felgaer, Ruben | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 36 | Flores, Diego | Vallejo Pons, Francisco | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-2 | Vallejo Pons, Francisco |
| 37 | Eljanov, Pavel | Brunello, Sabino | 1/2 | 1-0 | 1.5-0.5 | Eljanov, Pavel |
| 38 | Fier, Alexandr | Wojtaszek, Radoslaw | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1 .0-1.0 | |
| 39 | Moiseenko, Alexander | Adly, Ahmed | 1-0 w/o | 1-0 w/o | 2-0 | Moiseenko, Alexander |
| 40 | Hammer, Jon Ludvig | Movsesian, Sergei | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 41 | Shirov, Alexei | Hou, Yifan | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 42 | Ortiz Suarez, Isan Reynaldo | Polgar, Judit | 1-0 | 1/2 | 1.5-0.5 | Ortiz Suarez, Isan Reynaldo |
| 43 | Jobava, Baadur | Kravtsiv, Martyn | 1-0 | 0-1 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 44 | Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son | Akopian, Vladimir | 1-0 | 1/2 | 1.5-0.5 | Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son |
| 45 | Bruzon Batista, Lazaro | Najer, Evgeniy | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 46 | Robson, Ray | Volokitin, Andrei | 1-0 | 1-0 | 2-0 | Robson, Ray |
| 47 | Li, Chao b | Postny, Evgeny | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 48 | Popov, Ivan | Ragger, Markus | 1-0 | 0-1 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 49 | Inarkiev, Ernesto | Leitao, Rafael | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 50 | Melkumyan, Hrant | Granda Zuniga, Julio E | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 51 | Kryvoruchko, Yuriy | Negi, Parimarjan | 0-1 | 1-0 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 52 | Hracek, Zbynek | Bologan, Viktor | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 53 | Dreev, Aleksey | Azarov, Sergei | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 54 | Dubov, Daniil | Fedorchuk, Sergey A. | 1-0 | 1-0 | 2-0 | Dubov, Daniil |
| 55 | Onischuk, Alexander | Iturrizaga, Eduardo | 1-0 | 1/2 | 1.5-0.5 | Onischuk, Alexander |
| 56 | Smeets, Jan | Matlakov, Maxim | 1/2 | 0-1 | 0.5-1.5 | Matlakov, Maxim |
| 57 | Shimanov, Aleksandr | Jones, Gawain C B | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 58 | Filippov, Anton | Romanov, Evgeny | 1/2 | 1-0 | 1.5-0.5 | Filippov, Anton |
| 59 | Safarli, Eltaj | Amin, Bassem | 0-1 | 1-0 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 60 | Lupulescu, Constantin | Sasikiran, Krishnan | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 61 | Zvjaginsev, Vadim | Swiercz, Dariusz | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 62 | Kobalia, Mikhail | Khismatullin, Denis | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 63 | Yu, Yangyi | Beliavsky, Alexander G | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1.0-1.0 | |
| 64 | Istratescu, Andrei | Lysyj, Igor | 0-1 | 1/2 | 0.5-1.5 | Lysyj, Igor |
Oh my, I saw several players that I've been watching for years and cheering for -- they didn't do too well. I am getting old, and so are they, I think. Sigh. Several more players I give a shout-out to, for sentimental and with respect to some players working hard under the USA flag, patriotic purposes:"
Gata Kamsky heads for a play-off. Dude, you can do it.
GM Bator Sambuev who now plays for Canada, also heads to a play-off after tying his mini-match score with that great (to my heart) swashbuckler, Alexander Morozevich! Cheering for the GM from our neighbor to the north. Mr. Don became acquainted with him a little bit while covering some of the events that Goddesschess provided some sponsorship and/or prize money for in Canada. Good luck. Sentimental favorite.
Ray Robson advances to Round 2 with two win under his belt. Well done! Another sentimental favorite.
Fellow American player Alexander Onischuk did what he needed to do to also advance to Round 2.
For this report, information obtained from The Week in Chess.
Monday, August 5, 2013
Men and Hair and Strength and Sex and All That Jazz....
Hola darlings!
Since writing the post on Samson last Saturday, in which I copied out Barbara G. Walker's interesting observations on Samson from her The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, I couldn't get HAIR out of my mind. I wondered what on earth would possess the ancients to believe that a man's strength was somehow connected with his hair? I wondered is this some kind of inborn genetic thing, and is that why men start to panic and use all kinds of chemicals and drugs and even resort to hair transplants when their hair starts falling out, leaving them looking like Prince William by the age of 28??? They feel the need for hair, but they don't understand WHY.
And what is the WHY, anyway?
But before I get into that, I can't help myself, darlings, I've just got to put up this You Tube video of the fab song Hair from the musical by the same name. I saw a live performance of it in 1970 at the old Palace Theatre in Milwaukee, WI (my hometown) way back in 1970 I think it was. The Palace has long since disappeared, but the memories live on. We were in the nosebleed section of the balcony but the music was SO loud, and once again my affinity for the stage and performing was confirmed. I SHOULD have followed my instincts as a child and turned myself into the next Debbie Reynolds. Oh well. A road not followed. Maybe in my next life...
So bear with me, and I do hope you enjoy this as much as I do! This is the 1969 version by the Cowsills -- Yes, the COWSILLS? Is anyone out there still alive who remembers THEM? Talk about wholesome middle-America! LOL! And then they came out with Hair and of all the versions I've heard, even the stage versions, I love this one best of all! The pronunciation of the words and how the music flows together, just fabulous! I could understand every single word in this version of the song, and the lyrics are JUST.SO.AWESOME! Even 40 plus years later, I still sing that damn song every now and then...
So, now, on to the serious stuff!!!!
Hair
As shown by its importance in witch-charms and in the mutual exchange of talismans between lovers, hair was usually viewed as a repository of at least a part of the soul. At the ancient temple of Troezen, youths and maidens dedicated locks of their hair to the savior-god Hippolytus before marriage; this was "designed to strengthen his union with the Goddess." (1)
When the Goddess-mother became Queen of Shades for each god or man at the end of his life, his soul was likened to a child seeking safety in the mother's shadow. The Great Mother's hair cast its shadow over the approaching soul. An Egyptian found salvation by identifying himself with Osiris, for whom the Goddess made resurrection-magic with her hair: "He is found with her hair spread over him; it is shaken out over his brow."(2) When Isis put on mourning garments for Osiris, she cut a lock of her hair to preserve his soul. Egyptian widows similarly buried locks of their hair with deceased husbands, as a charm of protection in the after-world.
When Isis restored vitality to the dead Osiris, entitled the Still Heart, she created his new life with her hair, made his heart beat again and his penis move so she could conceive his reincarnation, Horus. She "produced warmth from her hair, she caused air to come...She caused movement to take place in what was inert in the Still Heart, she drew essence (semen) from him, she made flesh and blood, she suckled her babe alone."(3) She further protected her Divine Child by "shaking out her hair over him."(4)
Mortal women often claimed the same preservative magic for their own hair. Ptolemy III was protected from harm on his Syrian campaign in 247 B.C. by his wife Berenice, who dedicated locks of her hair on Aphrodite's altar for this purpose. When the hair vanished from the temple, it was discovered among the divine figures in heaven, where it appears to this day as the constellation Coma Berenices, "Berenice's Hair."(5)
Signs and wonders in the heavens were usually intepreted as significant omens of future catastrophes, particularly a comet, "spirit of hair." A comet was supposed to be a tendril of the Great Mother's hair appearing in the sky as the world was slowly overshadowed by her twilight shadow of doomsday. Most forms of the Death-goddess showed masses of hair standing out from her head, sometimes in the shape of serpents, as in the Gorgoneum of Medusa-Meta-Neith-Ananti-Athene. On the magic principle of "as above, so below," women's hair partook of the same mystic powers as the Goddess's hair. Tantric sages declared that the binding or unbinding of women's hair activated cosmic forces of creation and destruction.(6)
WOW! That is totally awesome information. I'm calling it a night now. My energy level is not what it used to be.
I will continue with Barbara Walker's fascinating information on HAIR tomorrow night.
Since writing the post on Samson last Saturday, in which I copied out Barbara G. Walker's interesting observations on Samson from her The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, I couldn't get HAIR out of my mind. I wondered what on earth would possess the ancients to believe that a man's strength was somehow connected with his hair? I wondered is this some kind of inborn genetic thing, and is that why men start to panic and use all kinds of chemicals and drugs and even resort to hair transplants when their hair starts falling out, leaving them looking like Prince William by the age of 28??? They feel the need for hair, but they don't understand WHY.
And what is the WHY, anyway?
But before I get into that, I can't help myself, darlings, I've just got to put up this You Tube video of the fab song Hair from the musical by the same name. I saw a live performance of it in 1970 at the old Palace Theatre in Milwaukee, WI (my hometown) way back in 1970 I think it was. The Palace has long since disappeared, but the memories live on. We were in the nosebleed section of the balcony but the music was SO loud, and once again my affinity for the stage and performing was confirmed. I SHOULD have followed my instincts as a child and turned myself into the next Debbie Reynolds. Oh well. A road not followed. Maybe in my next life...
So bear with me, and I do hope you enjoy this as much as I do! This is the 1969 version by the Cowsills -- Yes, the COWSILLS? Is anyone out there still alive who remembers THEM? Talk about wholesome middle-America! LOL! And then they came out with Hair and of all the versions I've heard, even the stage versions, I love this one best of all! The pronunciation of the words and how the music flows together, just fabulous! I could understand every single word in this version of the song, and the lyrics are JUST.SO.AWESOME! Even 40 plus years later, I still sing that damn song every now and then...
So, now, on to the serious stuff!!!!
Hair
As shown by its importance in witch-charms and in the mutual exchange of talismans between lovers, hair was usually viewed as a repository of at least a part of the soul. At the ancient temple of Troezen, youths and maidens dedicated locks of their hair to the savior-god Hippolytus before marriage; this was "designed to strengthen his union with the Goddess." (1)
When the Goddess-mother became Queen of Shades for each god or man at the end of his life, his soul was likened to a child seeking safety in the mother's shadow. The Great Mother's hair cast its shadow over the approaching soul. An Egyptian found salvation by identifying himself with Osiris, for whom the Goddess made resurrection-magic with her hair: "He is found with her hair spread over him; it is shaken out over his brow."(2) When Isis put on mourning garments for Osiris, she cut a lock of her hair to preserve his soul. Egyptian widows similarly buried locks of their hair with deceased husbands, as a charm of protection in the after-world.
When Isis restored vitality to the dead Osiris, entitled the Still Heart, she created his new life with her hair, made his heart beat again and his penis move so she could conceive his reincarnation, Horus. She "produced warmth from her hair, she caused air to come...She caused movement to take place in what was inert in the Still Heart, she drew essence (semen) from him, she made flesh and blood, she suckled her babe alone."(3) She further protected her Divine Child by "shaking out her hair over him."(4)
Mortal women often claimed the same preservative magic for their own hair. Ptolemy III was protected from harm on his Syrian campaign in 247 B.C. by his wife Berenice, who dedicated locks of her hair on Aphrodite's altar for this purpose. When the hair vanished from the temple, it was discovered among the divine figures in heaven, where it appears to this day as the constellation Coma Berenices, "Berenice's Hair."(5)
Signs and wonders in the heavens were usually intepreted as significant omens of future catastrophes, particularly a comet, "spirit of hair." A comet was supposed to be a tendril of the Great Mother's hair appearing in the sky as the world was slowly overshadowed by her twilight shadow of doomsday. Most forms of the Death-goddess showed masses of hair standing out from her head, sometimes in the shape of serpents, as in the Gorgoneum of Medusa-Meta-Neith-Ananti-Athene. On the magic principle of "as above, so below," women's hair partook of the same mystic powers as the Goddess's hair. Tantric sages declared that the binding or unbinding of women's hair activated cosmic forces of creation and destruction.(6)
WOW! That is totally awesome information. I'm calling it a night now. My energy level is not what it used to be.
I will continue with Barbara Walker's fascinating information on HAIR tomorrow night.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Turks Claim Finding a Piece of the "True Cross" of Jesus Christ - What Crap!
Yeah, since the Muslims have taken over the government in Turkey and are trying to turn the country into a Muslim theocracy (but the army and the judges are fighting back -- does this sound familiar...), tourism has decreased significantly by the biggest spenders, that is, us folks from North America. Gee, I wonder why???
Stoopid politicians have now ordered all departments to do whatever is necessary in order to re-generate that lucrative tourism. What better way than the recent story about potential new evidence for verifying the existence of Noah's Ark and, even better, because it appeals to 1 billion "Christians," that possibly a piece of the TRUE CROSS has been discovered.
Yeah, right. But, never say I've a cynical eye (despite having two). Here's the story, darlings! From no less reliable source than THE MAIL ONLINE. Oh yeah! There is nothing quite like an English tabloid to throw baloney sausage at one (that's B.S. in long-hand for the dyslexic, ahem...) and, since they're still selling in-print newspapers these days and showing a profit, no less, they must be doing SOMETHING right...
Anyway, reading this article is nearly as good as reading a quote from Governor Scott (Scooter) Walker of the venerable state of Wisconsin, USA. Stay tuned. This silly ass tool may actually run as a candidate in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election - as a Republican. Bwwwwwaaahhhhaaaaa! Oh, I can hardly wait to see what the suck-me-offCock Koch Brothers have up their sleeves when they offer up Scooter as a candidate. Who knows, he could win! Ever seen a President try to destroy one of "his" own nuclear submarines just to present a "scenario" to Congress in order to start a nuclear war? Except the submarine's commander refuses to accept the order because the correct codes weren't given. Gee, wasn't that just on television???? It actually was a pretty damn good show.
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Archaeologists in Turkey believe they have found a small piece of the cross used to crucify Jesus.
It was discovered in a stone chest on the site of seventh-century Balatlar Church in Sinop and tests are now being carried out to try to determine its authenticity.
Legend has it that the cross was discovered in 325 AD and parts were sent to religious leaders around the world and this may explain how the piece ended up in Turkey.
Professor Gülgün Koroglu who headed up the excavation told the Hurriyet Daily News: 'We have found a holy thing in a chest. It is a piece of a cross, and we think it was [part of the cross on which Jesus was crucified]. This stone chest is very important to us. It has a history and is the most important artifact we have unearthed so far.'
Professor Koroglu believes the relics inside the chest are holy because crosses were carved into the sides. [GASP! Imagine that!]
According to religious legend, Helene Augustus, the mother of Constantine travelled to Jerusalem in around 325 AD to learn more about the crucifixion and try to find the True Cross.
The cross was said to have been divided - part of it is believed to have remained in Jerusalem while other parts were sent to religious leaders in Rome and Constantinople, the modern-day Istanbul in Turkey.
A number of relics purported to be parts of the True Cross, or nails used during the crucifixion have been found by churches, including a 2,000-year-old chest discovered in 1981.
French archaeologist Charles Rohault de Fleury supposedly said in the 19th-century that if all of these catalogued relics were put together they would still only make up less than a third of the cross, which is thought to have been around 12ft high.
This suggests that there may still be parts of the cross that are yet to be uncovered. Koroglu and her team began working on the site at the Balatlar Church, built in 660 AD, site in 2009.
The excavation has already uncovered more than 1,000 skeletons.
Stoopid politicians have now ordered all departments to do whatever is necessary in order to re-generate that lucrative tourism. What better way than the recent story about potential new evidence for verifying the existence of Noah's Ark and, even better, because it appeals to 1 billion "Christians," that possibly a piece of the TRUE CROSS has been discovered.
Yeah, right. But, never say I've a cynical eye (despite having two). Here's the story, darlings! From no less reliable source than THE MAIL ONLINE. Oh yeah! There is nothing quite like an English tabloid to throw baloney sausage at one (that's B.S. in long-hand for the dyslexic, ahem...) and, since they're still selling in-print newspapers these days and showing a profit, no less, they must be doing SOMETHING right...
Anyway, reading this article is nearly as good as reading a quote from Governor Scott (Scooter) Walker of the venerable state of Wisconsin, USA. Stay tuned. This silly ass tool may actually run as a candidate in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election - as a Republican. Bwwwwwaaahhhhaaaaa! Oh, I can hardly wait to see what the suck-me-off
Is this Jesus's true cross? Archaeologists in Turkey may have uncovered a relic from the crucifixion
- Relic was discovered in a stone chest on the site of a church in Sinop
- Legend claims parts of the cross were sent to religious leaders
|
Archaeologists in Turkey believe they have found a small piece of the cross used to crucify Jesus.
It was discovered in a stone chest on the site of seventh-century Balatlar Church in Sinop and tests are now being carried out to try to determine its authenticity.
Legend has it that the cross was discovered in 325 AD and parts were sent to religious leaders around the world and this may explain how the piece ended up in Turkey.
Professor Gülgün Koroglu who headed up the excavation told the Hurriyet Daily News: 'We have found a holy thing in a chest. It is a piece of a cross, and we think it was [part of the cross on which Jesus was crucified]. This stone chest is very important to us. It has a history and is the most important artifact we have unearthed so far.'
Professor Koroglu believes the relics inside the chest are holy because crosses were carved into the sides. [GASP! Imagine that!]
According to religious legend, Helene Augustus, the mother of Constantine travelled to Jerusalem in around 325 AD to learn more about the crucifixion and try to find the True Cross.
The cross was said to have been divided - part of it is believed to have remained in Jerusalem while other parts were sent to religious leaders in Rome and Constantinople, the modern-day Istanbul in Turkey.
A number of relics purported to be parts of the True Cross, or nails used during the crucifixion have been found by churches, including a 2,000-year-old chest discovered in 1981.
French archaeologist Charles Rohault de Fleury supposedly said in the 19th-century that if all of these catalogued relics were put together they would still only make up less than a third of the cross, which is thought to have been around 12ft high.
This suggests that there may still be parts of the cross that are yet to be uncovered. Koroglu and her team began working on the site at the Balatlar Church, built in 660 AD, site in 2009.
The excavation has already uncovered more than 1,000 skeletons.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Samson Mosaic Uncovered in Ancient Jewish Synagogue
From The Jewish Press (online):
Ancient Mosaic Depicting Samson Uncovered in a Galilee Synagogue
By Rachel Avraham
Published July 4, 2013
Excavations in a late Roman era synagogue at Huqoq in Israel’s eastern lower Galilee have uncovered a new mosaic depicting the biblical hero and judge, Samson. Jodi Magness of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who has been conducting archaeological excavations at Huqoq since 2011, notes that while scenes from the Bible are not uncommon in ancient synagogues, mosaics featuring Samson are. Last summer (2012), excavations in the Huqoq synagogue brought to light a scene depicting Samson and the foxes (Judges 15:4). This summer, another section of the mosaic floor was discovered which shows Samson carrying the gate of Gaza (Judges 16:1-3).
[Okay - Google Blogger is being pissy today and will not allow me to upload photographs all of a sudden -- tried several times during this post and the prior post done this evening and NADA. Assholes! So, where the image SHOULD BE, there is THIS, instead. When will I finally run out of patience and move this blog to Wordpress...]
Wadi Hamam is the only other ancient synagogue in Israel which has a mosaic with a scene of Samson, while outside of Israel only one ancient building in Turkey which may be a synagogue has a Samson mosaic. However, the Samson mosaics are not the only unusual aspect about the excavations at Huqoq. Magness states, “In most ancient synagogues in Israel with a decorated floor featuring figured designs such as people and animals, the figured decoration is in the center of the synagogue and the aisles have geometric patterns.” However, at Huqoq, there are mosaics with figured scenes in the aisles.”
Magness is puzzled by why mosaics depicting Samson are found at Huqoq, as it was not in the tribal area of Dan. Furthermore, many rabbis of the Talmudic period were not fond of Samson because of his attraction to non-Jewish women. While Magness stated that some positive depictions of Samson survive in rabbinic literature, these traditions are preserved mainly in the Babylonian Talmud, not in the Jerusalem Talmud. Thus, the glorification of Samson in a synagogue mosaic in Galilee goes against the generally negative view of Samson held by many rabbis at that time.
According to Magness, the surviving rabbinic traditions that depict Samson positively “suggest that some Jews considered Samson as a prototype or forerunner of the messiah. He had the potential to be the messiah but wasn’t. The popularity of Samson is connected with those traditions, with traditions that viewed Samson as a deliver and redeemer of Israel. In the area of Mount Arbel and Tiberias, these traditions were popular. This may be why the Samson scenes appear here.”
Interestingly, the mosaics of Samson depict him as a giant figure, even though Samson was not described as such in the Tanakh. However, Magness notes that some rabbinic literature describes Samson as a giant. She emphasized, “By the time of the Mishna and Talmud, there were all sorts of traditions about different figures in the Bible.” Depicting Samson as a giant accords with traditions that considered Samson as a redeemer of the Jewish people!
Adjacent to Samson carrying the gates of Gaza on his shoulders are riders with horses, who apparently represent Philistines. According to Magness, “In the Bible, they have chariots; they are not riding horses. In later Aramaic translations (Targumim), there are descriptions of Philistines riding horses. It is a reflection again of something that doesn’t occur in the biblical account, but in later traditions.”
DEMISE OF THE HUQOQ JEWISH COMMUNITY
Magness is unsure how the Huqoq synagogue met its demise. In front of the synagogue’s bema, there was a pile of stones mixed with ash that was found elsewhere in the synagogue, apparently from the later robbing-out of the bema. Above the synagogue, a medieval structure was built. There are no signs that the synagogue suffered a violent or sudden destruction. Although the synagogue was built in the 5th century, Huqoq is mentioned in the Tanakh in connection with the settlement of the tribes of Asher and Naphtali, and it was a Jewish village in the late Second Temple period and in the time of the Mishna and Talmud. Ishtori Haparchi (1280-1355) mentions a synagogue in Huqoq in his time, perhaps referring to the medieval building above the late Roman synagogue. By the Ottoman period, Huqoq was a Muslim village.
On a whim, I checked "Samson" in Barbara G. Walker's The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, and lo and behold, here is what I found:
Samson
Hebrew version of the sun god called Shams-On in Arabia, Shamash in Babylon, identical with Egypt's Ra-Harakhti and Greece's Heracles, Samson's lion-killing, pillar-carrying, and oher feats were copied from the Labors of Heracles, signifying the sun's progress through the zodiac. Samson's "mill" was the same as Omphale's wheel, to which Heracles was bound. His loss of hair meant the cutting of the sun god's rays, in the season when he became weak.
As Heracles was controlled by Omphale, and Ra was "made weak" by Isis, so Samson was deprived of his strength in due season by Delilah, "She Who Makes Weak." Another interpretation of her name was Lily of the Yoni, that is, the female principle that deprived the phallic god of strength by drawing his "rays" or energy into herself. Hair-cutting was a common mythic symbol of castration, since phallic power was supposed to reside in a man's hair, according to ancient eastern beliefs. (1) The castrating priestess Delilah was a Semitic copy of Heracle's deadly consort Deianira [note the DEI - means goddess/god], the instrument of his destruction. Blinding, also, meant putting out the "phallic eye."
Talmudic tradition viewed Samson's "grinding" in Philistia as a symbol of fornitication - suggesting a sacred-king cult in which a strongman assumed the role of the sun hereo, deflowered all the virgins until his strength was gone, then faced castration and sacrifice.(2) [In other words, another version of ancient king sacrifice.] It has been supposed that Sampson's wrecking of the Philistine temple stood for the sun's power to dry and crumble a structure made of mud and bricks. [Nah. I think it's a rather more recent gloss added by archivists who didn't want to see an old, traditiuonal hero made so wimpy due to a female's power, while at the same time demonstrating the strength of their phony patriarchal god, Yawheh/Jehovah.]
Notes:
(1) Rawson, E.A., 25.
(2) Legman, 520; Silberer, 97.
Ancient Mosaic Depicting Samson Uncovered in a Galilee Synagogue
By Rachel Avraham
Published July 4, 2013
Excavations in a late Roman era synagogue at Huqoq in Israel’s eastern lower Galilee have uncovered a new mosaic depicting the biblical hero and judge, Samson. Jodi Magness of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who has been conducting archaeological excavations at Huqoq since 2011, notes that while scenes from the Bible are not uncommon in ancient synagogues, mosaics featuring Samson are. Last summer (2012), excavations in the Huqoq synagogue brought to light a scene depicting Samson and the foxes (Judges 15:4). This summer, another section of the mosaic floor was discovered which shows Samson carrying the gate of Gaza (Judges 16:1-3).
[Okay - Google Blogger is being pissy today and will not allow me to upload photographs all of a sudden -- tried several times during this post and the prior post done this evening and NADA. Assholes! So, where the image SHOULD BE, there is THIS, instead. When will I finally run out of patience and move this blog to Wordpress...]
Wadi Hamam is the only other ancient synagogue in Israel which has a mosaic with a scene of Samson, while outside of Israel only one ancient building in Turkey which may be a synagogue has a Samson mosaic. However, the Samson mosaics are not the only unusual aspect about the excavations at Huqoq. Magness states, “In most ancient synagogues in Israel with a decorated floor featuring figured designs such as people and animals, the figured decoration is in the center of the synagogue and the aisles have geometric patterns.” However, at Huqoq, there are mosaics with figured scenes in the aisles.”
Magness is puzzled by why mosaics depicting Samson are found at Huqoq, as it was not in the tribal area of Dan. Furthermore, many rabbis of the Talmudic period were not fond of Samson because of his attraction to non-Jewish women. While Magness stated that some positive depictions of Samson survive in rabbinic literature, these traditions are preserved mainly in the Babylonian Talmud, not in the Jerusalem Talmud. Thus, the glorification of Samson in a synagogue mosaic in Galilee goes against the generally negative view of Samson held by many rabbis at that time.
According to Magness, the surviving rabbinic traditions that depict Samson positively “suggest that some Jews considered Samson as a prototype or forerunner of the messiah. He had the potential to be the messiah but wasn’t. The popularity of Samson is connected with those traditions, with traditions that viewed Samson as a deliver and redeemer of Israel. In the area of Mount Arbel and Tiberias, these traditions were popular. This may be why the Samson scenes appear here.”
Interestingly, the mosaics of Samson depict him as a giant figure, even though Samson was not described as such in the Tanakh. However, Magness notes that some rabbinic literature describes Samson as a giant. She emphasized, “By the time of the Mishna and Talmud, there were all sorts of traditions about different figures in the Bible.” Depicting Samson as a giant accords with traditions that considered Samson as a redeemer of the Jewish people!
Adjacent to Samson carrying the gates of Gaza on his shoulders are riders with horses, who apparently represent Philistines. According to Magness, “In the Bible, they have chariots; they are not riding horses. In later Aramaic translations (Targumim), there are descriptions of Philistines riding horses. It is a reflection again of something that doesn’t occur in the biblical account, but in later traditions.”
DEMISE OF THE HUQOQ JEWISH COMMUNITY
Magness is unsure how the Huqoq synagogue met its demise. In front of the synagogue’s bema, there was a pile of stones mixed with ash that was found elsewhere in the synagogue, apparently from the later robbing-out of the bema. Above the synagogue, a medieval structure was built. There are no signs that the synagogue suffered a violent or sudden destruction. Although the synagogue was built in the 5th century, Huqoq is mentioned in the Tanakh in connection with the settlement of the tribes of Asher and Naphtali, and it was a Jewish village in the late Second Temple period and in the time of the Mishna and Talmud. Ishtori Haparchi (1280-1355) mentions a synagogue in Huqoq in his time, perhaps referring to the medieval building above the late Roman synagogue. By the Ottoman period, Huqoq was a Muslim village.
******************************************************
On a whim, I checked "Samson" in Barbara G. Walker's The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, and lo and behold, here is what I found:
Samson
Hebrew version of the sun god called Shams-On in Arabia, Shamash in Babylon, identical with Egypt's Ra-Harakhti and Greece's Heracles, Samson's lion-killing, pillar-carrying, and oher feats were copied from the Labors of Heracles, signifying the sun's progress through the zodiac. Samson's "mill" was the same as Omphale's wheel, to which Heracles was bound. His loss of hair meant the cutting of the sun god's rays, in the season when he became weak.
As Heracles was controlled by Omphale, and Ra was "made weak" by Isis, so Samson was deprived of his strength in due season by Delilah, "She Who Makes Weak." Another interpretation of her name was Lily of the Yoni, that is, the female principle that deprived the phallic god of strength by drawing his "rays" or energy into herself. Hair-cutting was a common mythic symbol of castration, since phallic power was supposed to reside in a man's hair, according to ancient eastern beliefs. (1) The castrating priestess Delilah was a Semitic copy of Heracle's deadly consort Deianira [note the DEI - means goddess/god], the instrument of his destruction. Blinding, also, meant putting out the "phallic eye."
Talmudic tradition viewed Samson's "grinding" in Philistia as a symbol of fornitication - suggesting a sacred-king cult in which a strongman assumed the role of the sun hereo, deflowered all the virgins until his strength was gone, then faced castration and sacrifice.(2) [In other words, another version of ancient king sacrifice.] It has been supposed that Sampson's wrecking of the Philistine temple stood for the sun's power to dry and crumble a structure made of mud and bricks. [Nah. I think it's a rather more recent gloss added by archivists who didn't want to see an old, traditiuonal hero made so wimpy due to a female's power, while at the same time demonstrating the strength of their phony patriarchal god, Yawheh/Jehovah.]
Notes:
(1) Rawson, E.A., 25.
(2) Legman, 520; Silberer, 97.
Lettuce and the Ancient Egyptian God Min
Min - a creator god. You may not know the name but you may recognize the sillouhette:
You know, the mummy with the erection...
Turns out the dude luuuuvvvveeeeedddd lettuce - so much so that it was coveted by the ancient Egyptians as an aphrodisiac (wonder if today's Egyptians still believe the same thing, hmmm.....)
Read all about it, tres cool!
From the Smithsonian online, see also story at the Daily Mail online.
Salima Ikram, Professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo who specializes in Ancient Egyptian food explains Min’s part in lettuce history. “Over 3,000 years, [Min's] role did change, but he was constantly associated with lettuce,” she says.
The first of these depictions appeared around 1970-80 B.C. in the The White Chapel of Senusret I, though there may be earlier examples, Ikram says.
This relief, from the funerary temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu, for example, depicts Min’s harvest festival. At the center is a statue of Min. Behind him, a procession of priests holds a small garden of lettuce. Min is also sometimes depicted wearing a long, red ribbon around his forehead that some say represents sexual energy.
“One of the reasons why [the Egyptians] associated the lettuce with Min was because it grows straight and tall—an obvious phallic symbol,” Ikram says. “But if you broke off a leaf it oozed a sort of white-ish, milky substance—basically it looked like semen.”
When the butt of modern Romaine lettuce is cut off, a similar substance oozes from the plant and gives it a bitter flavor. Lettuce’s scientific classification lactuca sativa, is derived from the Latin word for milk and shares the same root as lactose, the sugarenzyme found in dairy products. (Ed. — corrected thanks to feedback from reader joelfinkle) (While we’re talking etymology, raw lettuce dishes known as herba salata (“salted greens”) gave rise to the English word “salad.”) Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book provides further options for what the lettuce milk of the “ithyphallic god of increase” may represent:
The Greeks and Romans later popularized the leafy veggie as an appetizer during the 81-96 A.D. reign of Domitian. When they first introduced a set order of courses, the meal included a salad at the beginning to stimulate the appetite and also at the end to encourage digestion, according to author Gil Marks. It was still considered a medicinal goldmine by the Greeks and Romans, but for a different reason than the Egyptians—they believed it helped people sleep. Under Domitian’s reign, as the story goes, the ruler would force his guests to eat lettuce before the meal so as to make them struggle to remain awake for the remainder of the visit.
Another interesting lettuce-related story in Ancient Egypt, not for the faint-of-stomach: In Egyptian history there are many battles between the Egyptian deity Horus and Set, the god of the desert. Though the argument was usually over which of the two had the rightful claim to rule Egypt, one rather odd battle involves lettuce. According to Papyrus Chester-Beatty I, as interpreted by Ikram, Set at one point tries to overpower Horus by seducing him and then having intercourse with him. Horus places his hand between his legs, catches Set’s semen and throws it into the river. “Horus [then] tricks Set by basically spurting his sperm and throwing it into a lettuce plant, ” Ikram says. Because Set eats the semen-covered lettuce, in the eyes of the gods, Horus was dominant—at least until the next battle.
Got to love me a little Min, darlings :)
You know, the mummy with the erection...
Turns out the dude luuuuvvvveeeeedddd lettuce - so much so that it was coveted by the ancient Egyptians as an aphrodisiac (wonder if today's Egyptians still believe the same thing, hmmm.....)
Read all about it, tres cool!
From the Smithsonian online, see also story at the Daily Mail online.
July 16, 2013
Lettuce has been harvested for millenia—it was depicted by ancient Egyptians on the walls of tombs dating back to at least 2,700 B.C. The earliest version of the greens resembled two modern lettuces: romaine, from the French word “romaine” (from Rome), and cos lettuce, believed to have been found on the island of Kos, located along the coast of modern day Turkey.
But in Ancient Egypt around 2,000 B.C., lettuce was not a popular appetizer, it was an aphrodisiac, a phallic symbol that represented the celebrated food of the Egyptian god of fertility, Min. (It is unclear whether the lettuce’s development in Egypt predates its appearance on the island of Kos.) The god, often pictured with an erect penis in wall paintings and reliefs was also known as the “great of love” as he is called in a text from Edfu Temple. The plant was believed to help the god “perform the sexual act untiringly.”
The first of these depictions appeared around 1970-80 B.C. in the The White Chapel of Senusret I, though there may be earlier examples, Ikram says.
This relief, from the funerary temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu, for example, depicts Min’s harvest festival. At the center is a statue of Min. Behind him, a procession of priests holds a small garden of lettuce. Min is also sometimes depicted wearing a long, red ribbon around his forehead that some say represents sexual energy.
“One of the reasons why [the Egyptians] associated the lettuce with Min was because it grows straight and tall—an obvious phallic symbol,” Ikram says. “But if you broke off a leaf it oozed a sort of white-ish, milky substance—basically it looked like semen.”
When the butt of modern Romaine lettuce is cut off, a similar substance oozes from the plant and gives it a bitter flavor. Lettuce’s scientific classification lactuca sativa, is derived from the Latin word for milk and shares the same root as lactose, the sugar
Lettuce was sacred to him because of the “straight vertical surge” of their growth, milky juice they exude which could be taken as a symbol of mothers milk or semen.Ancient Egyptians used the lettuce differently than those who would come later. The leaves had a greenish blue color and were often removed from the plant due to their bitter taste. Instead of being part of a meal, the seeds from the bud of the flowers were harvested and pressed for their natural oils which were used for cooking, medication—even mummification. Lettuce oil was a standard in the Egyptian materia medica and even today is used as a traditional remedy for hair regrowth.
The Greeks and Romans later popularized the leafy veggie as an appetizer during the 81-96 A.D. reign of Domitian. When they first introduced a set order of courses, the meal included a salad at the beginning to stimulate the appetite and also at the end to encourage digestion, according to author Gil Marks. It was still considered a medicinal goldmine by the Greeks and Romans, but for a different reason than the Egyptians—they believed it helped people sleep. Under Domitian’s reign, as the story goes, the ruler would force his guests to eat lettuce before the meal so as to make them struggle to remain awake for the remainder of the visit.
Another interesting lettuce-related story in Ancient Egypt, not for the faint-of-stomach: In Egyptian history there are many battles between the Egyptian deity Horus and Set, the god of the desert. Though the argument was usually over which of the two had the rightful claim to rule Egypt, one rather odd battle involves lettuce. According to Papyrus Chester-Beatty I, as interpreted by Ikram, Set at one point tries to overpower Horus by seducing him and then having intercourse with him. Horus places his hand between his legs, catches Set’s semen and throws it into the river. “Horus [then] tricks Set by basically spurting his sperm and throwing it into a lettuce plant, ” Ikram says. Because Set eats the semen-covered lettuce, in the eyes of the gods, Horus was dominant—at least until the next battle.
Got to love me a little Min, darlings :)
Thursday, August 1, 2013
What's Happening at the World Chess Hall of Fame
Hola Darlings!
I have been on hiatus and may be so (although on good days I will be here) for the foreseeable future. I have been dealing with health issues, which is an absolute fricking bummer, let me tell you! I have experienced a set-back and at the present time, I do not know if things will get better. This sucks, big time! But I'm here tonight, at least for a short time -- nope, I haven't croaked yet, Thank Goddess. I'll do what I can, when I can.
Received this email today from the World Chess Hall of Fame and Museum in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, and it's really cool, about all the goings-on in St. Louis. Enjoy! Some day, Goddess willing, I will travel there again. It's only about a 30 minute jet ride from Milwaukee. Would love once again to visit the World Chess Museum and the Scholastic Center and Chess Club right across the street from it, and walk the surrounding neighborhood. It is a beautiful area. I posted tons of photographs during my visit - when the hell was that? September, 2011? Don't take my word for it. The heart meds I'm on causes "fuzzy brain" syndrome, unfortunately. Ach! If you're interested in reading about the Chess Collectors International Regional Meeting that took place in St. Louis, MO that coincided with the Kings Versus Queens Chess Tournament hosted by the St. Louis Scholastic Center and Chess Club, please do a word search on this blog. Without further ado, here's the email:
I have been on hiatus and may be so (although on good days I will be here) for the foreseeable future. I have been dealing with health issues, which is an absolute fricking bummer, let me tell you! I have experienced a set-back and at the present time, I do not know if things will get better. This sucks, big time! But I'm here tonight, at least for a short time -- nope, I haven't croaked yet, Thank Goddess. I'll do what I can, when I can.
Received this email today from the World Chess Hall of Fame and Museum in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, and it's really cool, about all the goings-on in St. Louis. Enjoy! Some day, Goddess willing, I will travel there again. It's only about a 30 minute jet ride from Milwaukee. Would love once again to visit the World Chess Museum and the Scholastic Center and Chess Club right across the street from it, and walk the surrounding neighborhood. It is a beautiful area. I posted tons of photographs during my visit - when the hell was that? September, 2011? Don't take my word for it. The heart meds I'm on causes "fuzzy brain" syndrome, unfortunately. Ach! If you're interested in reading about the Chess Collectors International Regional Meeting that took place in St. Louis, MO that coincided with the Kings Versus Queens Chess Tournament hosted by the St. Louis Scholastic Center and Chess Club, please do a word search on this blog. Without further ado, here's the email:
****************************************************************************
July was a great month here at the World Chess Hall of Fame! We received some exciting press coverage in the Wall Street Journal and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for our upcoming exhibition A Queen Within: Adorned Archetypes, Fashion and Chess, celebrated International Chess Day on July 20, and hosted Jon Crumiller, who led a fantastic guided tour and discussion of Prized and Played. Looking ahead, we're excited to see what the rest of summer and fall will bring!
Due to upcoming exhibition needs, please note that Bill Smith: Beyond the Humanities has a new closing date of August 25. From September 4 - 15, we will host a small exhibition in our first floor gallery highlighting the Piatagorsky Cup, a series of high-profile chess tournaments during the 1960s sponsored by chess benefactor Jacqueline Piatagorsky. This exhibition will coincide with the groundbreaking Sinquefield Cup tournament taking place at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis and serve as a preview to Jacqueline Piatagorsky: Patron, Player, Pioneer, appearing on our third floor October 25, 2013 - April 18, 2014.
Following the closing of Prized and Played: Highlights from the Jon Crumiller Collection on September 15, we will be closed to the public September 16 - October 18 for the installation of A Queen Within. But even though our exhibitions will be in transition, we will be keeping busy behind the scenes! In addition to preparing our upcoming shows, we are thrilled to host two concerts on September 18 and 25, in coordination with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra respectively. Stay tuned for more information on these special events!
Whether your plans this month involve vacations, back-to-school errands, or just staying in the air conditioning, we at the WCHOF wish you a safe and happy August, and hope you will make time to visit us soon!
Checkmate,
Susan Barrett, Director
Thursday, July 18, 2013
The Mother of All Carved Lionesses? 40,000 Years Old!
Just about fell off my chair reading this article! This lioness is an incredibly beautiful work of art -- and 40,000 years old. Best of all is the re-uniting of the head with the body after so many years.
I've featured many carved lions and lionesses at this blog since it's founding back in April 2007. I believe this one is the oldest thus far discovered.
Ice Age Figurine's Head Found: Archaeologists Put New and Old Finds Together to Reassemble Ancient Work of Art
July 18, 2013 — Researchers from the University of Tübingen have successfully re-attached the newly discovered head of a prehistoric mammoth-ivory figurine discovered in 1931. The head was found during renewed excavations at Vogelherd Cave, site of the original dig in 1931. The recent excavations, between 2005 and 2012, have yielded a number of important finds. The discovery of this ivory head helps to complete a figurine which now can be recognized as a lion -- and demonstrates that it is possible to reassemble often fragmentary figurines from the earlier excavation.
The new discovery is presented in the 2013 edition of the journal Archäologische Ausgrabungen in Baden-Württemberg.
Vogelherd Cave is located in the Lone Valley of southwestern Germany and is by far the richest of the four caves in the region that have produced examples of the earliest figurative art, dating as far back as 40,000 years ago. Overall, Vogelherd Cave has yielded more than two dozen figurines and fragments of figurines. While the work of fitting together thousands of small fragments of mammoth ivory from Vogelherd is just beginning, the remarkable lion figurine, now with its head, forms an important part of the display of the earliest art at the Museum of the University of Tübingen (MUT) in Hohentübingen Castle.
Professor Nicholas Conard and his excavation assistant Mohsen Zeidi today presented the new discovery and discussed its scientific importance, after which the find rejoined the permanent exhibit at MUT.
I've featured many carved lions and lionesses at this blog since it's founding back in April 2007. I believe this one is the oldest thus far discovered.
Ice Age Figurine's Head Found: Archaeologists Put New and Old Finds Together to Reassemble Ancient Work of Art
July 18, 2013 — Researchers from the University of Tübingen have successfully re-attached the newly discovered head of a prehistoric mammoth-ivory figurine discovered in 1931. The head was found during renewed excavations at Vogelherd Cave, site of the original dig in 1931. The recent excavations, between 2005 and 2012, have yielded a number of important finds. The discovery of this ivory head helps to complete a figurine which now can be recognized as a lion -- and demonstrates that it is possible to reassemble often fragmentary figurines from the earlier excavation.
The new discovery is presented in the 2013 edition of the journal Archäologische Ausgrabungen in Baden-Württemberg.
Vogelherd Cave is located in the Lone Valley of southwestern Germany and is by far the richest of the four caves in the region that have produced examples of the earliest figurative art, dating as far back as 40,000 years ago. Overall, Vogelherd Cave has yielded more than two dozen figurines and fragments of figurines. While the work of fitting together thousands of small fragments of mammoth ivory from Vogelherd is just beginning, the remarkable lion figurine, now with its head, forms an important part of the display of the earliest art at the Museum of the University of Tübingen (MUT) in Hohentübingen Castle.
Professor Nicholas Conard and his excavation assistant Mohsen Zeidi today presented the new discovery and discussed its scientific importance, after which the find rejoined the permanent exhibit at MUT.
Research Reveals World's First Calendar from 10,000 Years Ago
I would add the caveat -- that we have thus far uncovered... This is really really cool!
Found after 10,000 years: the world’s first calendar
More On the Controversy Surrounding Claim of Oldest Chinese Inscriptions Uncovered
Ooooh, it just makes me tingle all over when the experts get all bitchy with each other :) Prior post.
From Art Daily, July 14-15, 2013
Experts row over 'earliest' Chinese inscriptions find at the Zhuangqiaofen archaeological site
BEIJING (AFP).- Fierce debate has erupted among experts in China over the discovery of 5,000-year-old inscriptions that some believe represent the earliest record of Chinese characters.
Pottery pieces and stone vessels unearthed at the Zhuangqiaofen archaeological site in the eastern province of Zhejiang push "the origin of the written language back 1,000 years", the state-run Global Times newspaper reported.
The inscriptions predate the oracles, writings on turtle shells dating back to the Shang Dynasty (C.1600-1046BC), which are commonly believed to be the origin of the written Chinese language system.
Some of the inscriptions were written together in what some experts believe resembles a short sentence.
Li Boqian, an archaeology professor from Peking University, said the symbols reveal the ancient Liangzhu civilisation -- which existed in Zhejiang and neighbouring Jiangsu in the Neolithic Age -- had already developed the basic structure of sentences from independent words, the Global Times said earlier this week.
Other specialists dismissed the significance of such a find. Xu Hong, an archaeology researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, expressed scepticism on links between the inscriptions and the development of Chinese script.
"Even if those signs on the stones were characters, they were simply from a long dead east Asian country before the Middle Kingdom existed," he said on Sina Weibo, China's version of the social network Twitter.
"Many signs and character lookalikes earlier than the oracles have been found in east Asia."
Xia Jingchun, a professor of Chinese language from Beijing Technology and Business University, also wrote on Weibo: "It's long been believed by experts that there were more ancient characters than the oracles, because the oracles were too mature, and older languages are supposed to be less developed."
The inscriptions were found among artefacts unearthed between 2003 and 2006, state media said.
© 1994-2013 Agence France-Presse
From Art Daily, July 14-15, 2013
Experts row over 'earliest' Chinese inscriptions find at the Zhuangqiaofen archaeological site
BEIJING (AFP).- Fierce debate has erupted among experts in China over the discovery of 5,000-year-old inscriptions that some believe represent the earliest record of Chinese characters.
Pottery pieces and stone vessels unearthed at the Zhuangqiaofen archaeological site in the eastern province of Zhejiang push "the origin of the written language back 1,000 years", the state-run Global Times newspaper reported.
The inscriptions predate the oracles, writings on turtle shells dating back to the Shang Dynasty (C.1600-1046BC), which are commonly believed to be the origin of the written Chinese language system.
Some of the inscriptions were written together in what some experts believe resembles a short sentence.
Li Boqian, an archaeology professor from Peking University, said the symbols reveal the ancient Liangzhu civilisation -- which existed in Zhejiang and neighbouring Jiangsu in the Neolithic Age -- had already developed the basic structure of sentences from independent words, the Global Times said earlier this week.
Other specialists dismissed the significance of such a find. Xu Hong, an archaeology researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, expressed scepticism on links between the inscriptions and the development of Chinese script.
"Even if those signs on the stones were characters, they were simply from a long dead east Asian country before the Middle Kingdom existed," he said on Sina Weibo, China's version of the social network Twitter.
"Many signs and character lookalikes earlier than the oracles have been found in east Asia."
Xia Jingchun, a professor of Chinese language from Beijing Technology and Business University, also wrote on Weibo: "It's long been believed by experts that there were more ancient characters than the oracles, because the oracles were too mature, and older languages are supposed to be less developed."
The inscriptions were found among artefacts unearthed between 2003 and 2006, state media said.
© 1994-2013 Agence France-Presse
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Chess Femme News
Unless otherwise noted, information from The Week in Chess.
Judit Polgar sighting! She surprised me by coming out of retirement to play in this event. She cut her eye teeth playing rapid and blitz chess, as did 12th Women's World Chess Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, who also played in this event. It was evident Polgar was rusty.
Geneva Chess Masters 2013 (Geneva SUI) Mon 24th Jun 2013 - Sun 30th Jun 2013 -Official Site - Live
WGM Deysi Cori and her brother both played in the 21st Montacado Open (101 players):
If I were the organizers, I would consider coming up with a somewhat different name for this tournament (45 players). Okay, it's probably just in American English that "Lazy" is lazy (meaning something similar to no-account slothfulness) - sorry, I couldn't resist!
WGM Joanna Majdan-Gajewska -- I'm not familiar with her but she finished plus 5 and in 3rd place overall. Now if I could ever achieve a result like this I'd next run for President of the United States. Holy Hathor!
The top finishing female in the 41st World Open took place 29th June to 7th July 2013) was IM Irina Krush. There was a 10 way tie on 6/9. Varuzhan Akobian drew with black in an Armageddon game vs Yuniesky Quesada to win the event. (113 players)
Judit Polgar sighting! She surprised me by coming out of retirement to play in this event. She cut her eye teeth playing rapid and blitz chess, as did 12th Women's World Chess Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, who also played in this event. It was evident Polgar was rusty.
Geneva Chess Masters 2013 (Geneva SUI) Mon 24th Jun 2013 - Sun 30th Jun 2013 -Official Site - Live
Geneva Masters GpA (4 players 3 Rds DRR Indiv TC:25m+10spm) - Games in PGN: GpA Games
Geneva Masters GpB (4 players 3 Rds DRR Indiv TC:25m+10spm) - Games in PGN: GpB Games
Geneva Masters KO (4 players 2 Rds KO Indiv TC:25m+10spm) - Games in PGN: KO Games
Geneva Open A 2013 (43 players 9 Rds Swiss Indiv ) - Games in PGN: Open A
| Geneva Masters GpA Geneva SUI Mon 24th Jun 2013 - Sun 30th Jun 2013 Leading Final Round 3 Standings: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Rk | Name | Rtg | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Pts | TB1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | 2753 | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Kramnik, Vladimir | 2803 | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Pelletier, Yannick | 2574 | 0 | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Polgar, Judit | 2696 | 0 | 0 | 0 | * | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4 players
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WGM Deysi Cori and her brother both played in the 21st Montacado Open (101 players):
| 21st Montcada Open Montcada i Reixac ESP Tue 25th Jun 2013 - Wed 3rd Jul 2013 Leading Final Round 9 Standings: | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Name | Ti | FED | Rtg | Pts | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
| 1 | Flores Rios Mauricio | GM | CHI | 2492 | 7.5 | 40.5 | 0.0 | 40.0 |
| 2 | Cabrera Alexis | GM | ESP | 2525 | 7.0 | 36.5 | 0.0 | 37.0 |
| 3 | Cori Jorge | GM | PER | 2549 | 7.0 | 35.5 | 0.0 | 38.5 |
| 4 | Gleizerov Evgeny | GM | RUS | 2553 | 7.0 | 34.0 | 0.0 | 35.5 |
| 5 | Burmakin Vladimir | GM | RUS | 2575 | 6.5 | 36.0 | 0.0 | 42.0 |
| 6 | Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter | GM | ROU | 2667 | 6.5 | 34.0 | 0.0 | 39.5 |
| 7 | Cuartas Jaime Alexander | GM | COL | 2484 | 6.5 | 33.5 | 0.0 | 37.0 |
| 8 | Guerra Mendez Jose Angel | IM | CUB | 2505 | 6.5 | 30.5 | 0.0 | 34.0 |
| 9 | Saptarshi Roy | IM | IND | 2447 | 6.5 | 29.0 | 0.0 | 34.5 |
| 10 | Ortiz Suarez Isan Reynaldo | GM | CUB | 2612 | 6.0 | 35.0 | 0.0 | 42.5 |
| 11 | Ulibin Mikhail | GM | RUS | 2523 | 6.0 | 30.5 | 0.0 | 35.0 |
| 12 | Fluvia Poyatos Jordi | IM | ESP | 2445 | 6.0 | 29.0 | 0.0 | 33.0 |
| 13 | Anurag Mhamal | FM | IND | 2401 | 6.0 | 27.5 | 0.0 | 30.5 |
| 14 | Cruz Cristhian | GM | PER | 2499 | 5.5 | 31.5 | 0.0 | 36.5 |
| 15 | Cori T. Deysi | WGM | PER | 2437 | 5.5 | 31.0 | 0.0 | 36.0 |
If I were the organizers, I would consider coming up with a somewhat different name for this tournament (45 players). Okay, it's probably just in American English that "Lazy" is lazy (meaning something similar to no-account slothfulness) - sorry, I couldn't resist!
| 9th Lazy Open 2013 Lazy POL Sat 29th Jun 2013 - Mon 8th Jul 2013 Leading Final Round 9 Standings: | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Name | Ti | FED | Rtg | + | Pts | TB1 | TB2 |
| 1 | SHISHKIN, Vadim | GM | UKR | 2502 | 4 | 6.5 | 39.50 | 50.00 |
| 2 | WARAKOMSKI, Tomasz | IM | POL | 2488 | 5 | 6.5 | 38.50 | 46.50 |
| 3 | MAJDAN-GAJEWSKA, Joanna | WGM | POL | 2375 | 5 | 6.5 | 36.00 | 46.00 |
| 4 | SIECIECHOWICZ, Marcin | IM | POL | 2462 | 3 | 6.0 | 40.00 | 50.00 |
| 5 | WEICHHOLD, Pawel | k+ | POL | 2382 | 5 | 6.0 | 39.00 | 49.50 |
| 6 | URBAN, Klaudiusz | IM | POL | 2462 | 4 | 6.0 | 39.00 | 48.50 |
| 7 | ALIAVDIN, Nikolai | IM | BLR | 2349 | 4 | 6.0 | 35.50 | 45.00 |
| 8 | KANAREK, Marcel | IM | POL | 2478 | 4 | 6.0 | 35.00 | 43.00 |
| 9 | BUGALSKI, Michal | k | POL | 2161 | 5 | 5.5 | 36.50 | 45.50 |
| 10 | EGGINK, Ryszard | I++ | POL | 2121 | 5 | 5.5 | 35.50 | 46.00 |
WGM Joanna Majdan-Gajewska -- I'm not familiar with her but she finished plus 5 and in 3rd place overall. Now if I could ever achieve a result like this I'd next run for President of the United States. Holy Hathor!
The top finishing female in the 41st World Open took place 29th June to 7th July 2013) was IM Irina Krush. There was a 10 way tie on 6/9. Varuzhan Akobian drew with black in an Armageddon game vs Yuniesky Quesada to win the event. (113 players)
| 41st Annual World Op Arlington USA Sat 29th Jun 2013 - Sun 7th Jul 2013 Leading Final Round 9 Standings: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Name | Ti | Rtg | Pts |
| 1 | Akobian, Varuzhan | GM | 2612 | 6 |
| 2 | Yuniesky, Quesada | GM | 2639 | 6 |
| 3 | Bruzon Batista, Lazaro | GM | 2689 | 6 |
| 3 | Laznicka, Viktor | GM | 2684 | 6 |
| 3 | Negi, Parimarjan | GM | 2634 | 6 |
| 3 | Erenburg, Sergey | GM | 2615 | 6 |
| 3 | Gelashvili, Tamaz | GM | 2572 | 6 |
| 3 | Holt, Conrad | GM | 2531 | 6 |
| 9 | Milov, Vadim | GM | 2643 | 5.5 |
| 10 | Shankland, Sam | GM | 2601 | 5.5 |
| 11 | Panchanathan, Magesh | GM | 2583 | 5.5 |
| 12 | Ramirez, Alejandro | GM | 2583 | 5.5 |
| 13 | Mikhalevski, Victo | GM | 2552 | 5.5 |
| 14 | Shulman, Yury | GM | 2542 | 5.5 |
| 15 | Arnold, Marc Tyler | GM | 2525 | 5.5 |
| 16 | Fishbein, Alexander | GM | 2504 | 5.5 |
| 17 | Robson, Ray | GM | 2628 | 5 |
| 18 | Kacheishvili, Giorgi | GM | 2588 | 5 |
| 19 | Izoria, Zviad | GM | 2574 | 5 |
| 20 | Shabalov, Alex | GM | 2553 | 5 |
| 21 | Lenderman, Aleksandr | GM | 2548 | 5 |
| 22 | Molner, Mackenzie S | IM | 2501 | 5 |
| 23 | Yang, Darwin | IM | 2485 | 5 |
| 24 | Krush, Irina | IM | 2480 | 5 |
| 25 | Vioreanu, Bogdan | IM | 2404 | 5 |
| 26 | Neimer, Vitaly | IM | 2393 | 5 |
| 27 | Harmon-Vellotti, Luke C | FM | 2368 | 5 |
2013 Netherlands Women's Chess Championship
The Dutch Championships took place 5th to 11th July 2013. Final standings:
| ch-NED w 2013 Amsterdam NED Fri 5th Jul 2013 - Thu 11th Jul 2013 Leading Final Round 7 Standings: | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Name | Ti | Rtg | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Pts | TPR |
| 1 | Schut, Lisa | WIM | 2277 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 6.0 | 2559 |
| 2 | Haast, Anne | WIM | 2277 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 4.0 | 2300 |
| 3 | Lanchava, Tea | IM | 2287 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4.0 | 2299 |
| 4 | Peng, Zhaoqin | GM | 2389 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.5 | 2234 |
| 5 | Bensdorp, Marlies | WIM | 2263 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.0 | 2202 |
| 6 | Van Weersel, Arlette | WIM | 2176 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 2214 |
| 7 | Paulet, Iozefina | WGM | 2228 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.5 | 2155 |
| 8 | Middelveld, Martine | 2130 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.0 | 2113 | |
| 8 players More news at Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chessblog. | ||||||||||||
I'm An American Dog, Woof Woof!
From the Alpha Galileo Foundation
They may look different from each other but, just like us, they're all the same underneath the skin.
Once thought to have been extinct, native American dogs are on the contrary thriving, according to a recent study that links these breeds to ancient Asia.
The arrival of Europeans in the Americas has generally been assumed to have led to the extinction of indigenous dog breeds; but a comprehensive genetic study has found that the original population of native American dogs has been almost completely preserved, says Peter Savolainen, a researcher in evolutionary genetics at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
In fact, American dog breeds trace their ancestry to ancient Asia, Savolainen says. These native breeds have 30 percent or less modern replacement by European dogs, he says.
“Our results confirm that American dogs are a remaining part of the indigenous American culture, which underscores the importance of preserving these populations,” he says.
Savolainen's research group, in cooperation with colleagues in Portugal, compared mitochondrial DNA from Asian and European dogs, ancient American archaeological samples, and American dog breeds, including Chihuahuas, Peruvian hairless dogs and Arctic sled dogs. They traced the American dogs’ ancestry back to East Asian and Siberian dogs, and also found direct relations between ancient American dogs and modern breeds.
“It was especially exciting to find that the Mexican breed, Chihuahua, shared a DNA type uniquely with Mexican pre-Columbian samples,” he says. “This gives conclusive evidence for the Mexican ancestry of the Chihuahua.”
The team also analysed stray dogs, confirming them generally to be runaway European dogs; but in Mexico and Bolivia they identified populations with high proportions of indigenous ancestry.
Savolainen says that the data also suggests that the Carolina Dog, a stray dog population in the U.S., may have an indigenous American origin.
Savolainen works at the Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab www.scilifelab.se), a collaboration involving KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm University, the Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University.
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| An Alaskan Husky |
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| Hairless and long-coat Chihuahua dogs of Mexico |
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| Carolina "Yaller" dog |
Asian origins of native American dogs confirmed
10 July 2013 KTH The Royal Institute of Technology
Once thought to have been extinct, native American dogs are on the contrary thriving, according to a recent study that links these breeds to ancient Asia.
The arrival of Europeans in the Americas has generally been assumed to have led to the extinction of indigenous dog breeds; but a comprehensive genetic study has found that the original population of native American dogs has been almost completely preserved, says Peter Savolainen, a researcher in evolutionary genetics at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
In fact, American dog breeds trace their ancestry to ancient Asia, Savolainen says. These native breeds have 30 percent or less modern replacement by European dogs, he says.
“Our results confirm that American dogs are a remaining part of the indigenous American culture, which underscores the importance of preserving these populations,” he says.
Savolainen's research group, in cooperation with colleagues in Portugal, compared mitochondrial DNA from Asian and European dogs, ancient American archaeological samples, and American dog breeds, including Chihuahuas, Peruvian hairless dogs and Arctic sled dogs. They traced the American dogs’ ancestry back to East Asian and Siberian dogs, and also found direct relations between ancient American dogs and modern breeds.
“It was especially exciting to find that the Mexican breed, Chihuahua, shared a DNA type uniquely with Mexican pre-Columbian samples,” he says. “This gives conclusive evidence for the Mexican ancestry of the Chihuahua.”
The team also analysed stray dogs, confirming them generally to be runaway European dogs; but in Mexico and Bolivia they identified populations with high proportions of indigenous ancestry.
Savolainen says that the data also suggests that the Carolina Dog, a stray dog population in the U.S., may have an indigenous American origin.
Savolainen works at the Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab www.scilifelab.se), a collaboration involving KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm University, the Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University.
Off With Their Heads (Literally!)
A stake through the heart isn't enough to kill Polish vampires, evidently...
Vampire graveyard found in Poland?
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge 12.07.2013 09:21
Archaeologists in Gliwice, southern Poland have discovered a burial ground where the dead were laid to rest in accordance with practices for alleged vampires.
Four skeletons were found at the site, where mandatory digs were being carried out prior to the construction of a ring road. In each case, the deceased had been buried with the head between the legs.
According to folk beliefs, this prevented a possible vampire from finding his or her way back to the land of the living. There was no trace at the burial ground of any earthly possessions, such as jewellery, belts or buckles.
“It's very difficult to tell when these burials were carried out,” archaeologist Dr Jacek Pierzak told the Dziennik Zachodni newspaper. However, it is believed that they took place in the early modern period. [So what is the time frame for the early modern period???] Tests are due to me [be] made, so as to determine exact dates.
Archaeologists believe that the burials may have been done in such a fashion so as to protect locals from vampire attacks. Another theory is that the skeletons were the victims of cholera epidemic. [So it was a custom to cut off the heads of cholera victims???]
Further research will be undertaken.
The last recorded instance of a vampire burial within current Polish borders was in the village of Stare Mierzwice, Masovia, in 1914. A corpse was dug up in the village, and the head was cut off and placed between the person's legs. (nh) [Good Grief! 1914 -- the 20th century, and people were still going around chopping the heads off of "vampires." Amazing, just amazing. But then, people can behave really stupidly. Just watch the summer replacement television series "The Dome" and you'll see in the story line that is frightening because it rings so true just how ridiculous human beings can be. Pathetic - and lethal to anyone who becomes "suspect." Beware group think!]
According to folk beliefs, this prevented a possible vampire from finding his or her way back to the land of the living. There was no trace at the burial ground of any earthly possessions, such as jewellery, belts or buckles.
“It's very difficult to tell when these burials were carried out,” archaeologist Dr Jacek Pierzak told the Dziennik Zachodni newspaper. However, it is believed that they took place in the early modern period. [So what is the time frame for the early modern period???] Tests are due to me [be] made, so as to determine exact dates.
Archaeologists believe that the burials may have been done in such a fashion so as to protect locals from vampire attacks. Another theory is that the skeletons were the victims of cholera epidemic. [So it was a custom to cut off the heads of cholera victims???]
Further research will be undertaken.
The last recorded instance of a vampire burial within current Polish borders was in the village of Stare Mierzwice, Masovia, in 1914. A corpse was dug up in the village, and the head was cut off and placed between the person's legs. (nh) [Good Grief! 1914 -- the 20th century, and people were still going around chopping the heads off of "vampires." Amazing, just amazing. But then, people can behave really stupidly. Just watch the summer replacement television series "The Dome" and you'll see in the story line that is frightening because it rings so true just how ridiculous human beings can be. Pathetic - and lethal to anyone who becomes "suspect." Beware group think!]
Oldest Chinese Symbols (Writing?) Discovered to Date
Fascinating story - and open about the ongoing debate as to what constitutes writing and what merely constitutes "symbols." My question is - if a specific drawing of a symbol means something to the creator and to those who see it, isn't this writing? After all, isn't writing merely a tool to convey meaning apart from the spoken word and gestures?
This is the photo of the ax head from the article -- would have preferred to see a line drawing of the markings:
Story at The Guardian
guardian.co.uk,
Primitive inscriptions dating back about 5,000 years – and believed to be 1,400 years older than the most ancient written Chinese language – have been discovered in Shanghai, archaeologists report.
Chinese scholars are divided over whether the markings, found on artefacts at the Zhuangqiao relics site south of the modern city, are words or something simpler. But they believe the discovery will shed light on the origins of Chinese language and culture.
The oldest writing in the world is believed to be from Mesopotamia (now Iraq), dating back slightly more than 5,000 years. Chinese characters are believed to have been developed independently. [I wonder what the consensus will be 100 years from now? What if there is a missing link of writing akin to the missing link in human evolution?]
The Chinese inscriptions were found on more than 200 pieces dug out from the neolithic Liangzhu relics site. The pieces are among thousands of fragments of ceramic, stone, jade, wood, ivory and bone excavated from the site between 2003 and 2006, Xu Xinmin, the lead archaeologist, said.
Chinese scholars, of archaeology and ancient writing, who met last weekend in Zhejiang province to discuss the finding, thought the inscriptions did not indicate a developed writing system. However Xu said there was evidence of words on two pieces of stone axes.
One of the pieces has six word-like shapes strung together and resembles a short sentence.
"They are different from the symbols we have seen in the past on artefacts," Xu said. "The shapes, and the fact that they are in a sentence-like pattern, indicate they are expressions of some meaning."
The six characters are arranged in a line, and three resemble the modern Chinese character for human beings. Each shape has two to five strokes.
"If five to six of them are strung together like a sentence, they are no longer symbols but words," said Cao Jinyan, a scholar of ancient writing at Zhejiang University. He said the markings should be regarded as hieroglyphics.
He said there were also stand-alone shapes with more strokes. "If you look at the composition, you will see they are more than symbols."
But Liu Zhao, an archaeologist at Fudan University, Shanghai, suggested there was not sufficient material for a conclusion. "I don't think they should be considered writing by the strictest definition. We do not have enough material to pin down the stage of those markings in the history of ancient writings."
For now the Chinese scholars are calling the markings primitive writing, a vague term that suggests they are somewhere between symbols and words. The oldest known Chinese writing has been found on animal bones (known as oracle bones) dating to 3,600 years ago, at the time of the Shang dynasty.
This is the photo of the ax head from the article -- would have preferred to see a line drawing of the markings:
 |
| A stone axe from near the Zhuangqiao relics site, in east China, shows a newly discovered form of primitive writing, archaeologists say. Photograph: AP |
Story at The Guardian
Inscriptions found in Shanghai pre-date 'oldest Chinese language by 1,400 years'
Markings on artefacts from Zhuangqiao relics site date to 5,000 years ago and include string of words, says archaeologist
Associated Press in Beijing
Chinese scholars are divided over whether the markings, found on artefacts at the Zhuangqiao relics site south of the modern city, are words or something simpler. But they believe the discovery will shed light on the origins of Chinese language and culture.
The oldest writing in the world is believed to be from Mesopotamia (now Iraq), dating back slightly more than 5,000 years. Chinese characters are believed to have been developed independently. [I wonder what the consensus will be 100 years from now? What if there is a missing link of writing akin to the missing link in human evolution?]
The Chinese inscriptions were found on more than 200 pieces dug out from the neolithic Liangzhu relics site. The pieces are among thousands of fragments of ceramic, stone, jade, wood, ivory and bone excavated from the site between 2003 and 2006, Xu Xinmin, the lead archaeologist, said.
Chinese scholars, of archaeology and ancient writing, who met last weekend in Zhejiang province to discuss the finding, thought the inscriptions did not indicate a developed writing system. However Xu said there was evidence of words on two pieces of stone axes.
One of the pieces has six word-like shapes strung together and resembles a short sentence.
"They are different from the symbols we have seen in the past on artefacts," Xu said. "The shapes, and the fact that they are in a sentence-like pattern, indicate they are expressions of some meaning."
The six characters are arranged in a line, and three resemble the modern Chinese character for human beings. Each shape has two to five strokes.
"If five to six of them are strung together like a sentence, they are no longer symbols but words," said Cao Jinyan, a scholar of ancient writing at Zhejiang University. He said the markings should be regarded as hieroglyphics.
He said there were also stand-alone shapes with more strokes. "If you look at the composition, you will see they are more than symbols."
But Liu Zhao, an archaeologist at Fudan University, Shanghai, suggested there was not sufficient material for a conclusion. "I don't think they should be considered writing by the strictest definition. We do not have enough material to pin down the stage of those markings in the history of ancient writings."
For now the Chinese scholars are calling the markings primitive writing, a vague term that suggests they are somewhere between symbols and words. The oldest known Chinese writing has been found on animal bones (known as oracle bones) dating to 3,600 years ago, at the time of the Shang dynasty.
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