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Not dead.
The New Olympian Agora blog isn't dead, and neither am I, but I'm still technically on a hiatus right now. I'm back from studying in England, but right now, I'm swamped with work, trying to get research lab and volunteer work sorted-out, and doing a lot of intense research on graduate school programs -- looks like the MPhil in Criminology at Cambridge is my first choice right now, but I'm also looking at Oxford, LSE, and Edinburgh -- so online fandom stuff isn't a priority for me right now.
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Hiatus.
Shutting-down the newsblog.
Yeah, I'm kind of losing interest in 'Class of the Titans' myself, so I'm shutting the newsblog down (see announcement here). Sorry, guys.
Art thieves are scum.
Dear art thieves and their fangirls,
Don't you dare justify stealing other people's artwork with 'but it's a compliment' or 'you should feel lucky people like your art enough to steal it'. If you really respected the artists like you claim you do, then you would have asked for their permission first and credited them back.
And let's put this another way -- let's say someone broke into your house and stole your belongings and I told you to shut-up about it because you ought to feel lucky that someone liked your stuff enough to steal it. I'm sure you'd feel very respected and appreciated after that.
Also -- ASKING SOMEONE TO REMOVE STOLEN ARTWORK IS NOT A PERSONAL INSULT. Seriously, a lot of fangirls need to learn what an insult actually is before dragging it out all the damn time.
Don't you dare justify stealing other people's artwork with 'but it's a compliment' or 'you should feel lucky people like your art enough to steal it'. If you really respected the artists like you claim you do, then you would have asked for their permission first and credited them back.
And let's put this another way -- let's say someone broke into your house and stole your belongings and I told you to shut-up about it because you ought to feel lucky that someone liked your stuff enough to steal it. I'm sure you'd feel very respected and appreciated after that.
Also -- ASKING SOMEONE TO REMOVE STOLEN ARTWORK IS NOT A PERSONAL INSULT. Seriously, a lot of fangirls need to learn what an insult actually is before dragging it out all the damn time.
Good historical site for Trojan War enthusiasts.
http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/
A fantastic site to check-out if you're interested in the Trojan War, but don't know very much about the style of armour, shields, etc. of the Bronze Age. Definitely look at the figurines page with the specific characters.
A fantastic site to check-out if you're interested in the Trojan War, but don't know very much about the style of armour, shields, etc. of the Bronze Age. Definitely look at the figurines page with the specific characters.
Tell the Spartans, passerby, that here, obedient to their laws we lie.
So I was watching the new TV spots for '300' and -- yeah, I'm willing to make concessions because the movie is meant to make Frank Miller's graphic novel come to life rather than be a true-to-history dramatization of the Battle of Thermopylae, but seriously. Xerxes with a body piercing fetish? Hoplites not wearing armour (okay, I'm fairly willing to accept the depiction as something akin to the use of the 'heroic nude' in artwork)? The Persians using ELEPHANTS? Sparta as being great lovers and defenders of democracy is also, in my opinion, makes me snicker (hello oligarchy and the institution of the Thirty Tyrants in Athens after the Peloponnesian Wars?), but eh, I'll let it go.
Now that said, I'll still watch it anyway and will probably dress-up in some kind of red cloak (I have neither the time nor money to do a full Spartan panoply right now) -- I doubt it will make me as ANGRY as 'Troy' did. Seriously, it's been years since that film came out and IT STILL MAKES ME ANGRY, especially when so called 'mythology fans' defend it as being fairly accurate (!!). Bah, have we been reading the same sources? But I won't get into that right now, because if I do, I will probably end-up writing several blog entries' worth of complaints.
On a different note -- I'm still chugging along on those 'Class of the Titans' academic/classical/pop cultural/etc. references, and after some of the discussions we had in CLST 311 (Greek and Roman Epic), I'm compelled to write an annotation likening Archie's bit at the end of 'Little Box of Horrors' as being very much like a Homeric aristeia. Really, if you compare it to the aristeias (aristeiae?) of the various characters in the 'Iliad', it follows the pattern quite well. What I'm wondering though, is whether there are any other moments in the series that scream aristeia -- certainly all of the other characters have their moments that I suppose can be classified as an aristeia on a smaller scale, but the 'Little Box of Horrors' ones is the only one that I find REALLY strongly fits the model. That, or it's just the best one, which would fit given that Achilles' aristeia is supposed to be the grandest of them all in the 'Iliad'.
Anyway -- let me know what you think in terms of who else in the series has a true aristeia that follows the models in Homer. I'm sure there has to be other people reading this who understand the structure of epic poetry better than I do (my area is still in mythology, not literary structure) who may be able to offer some INTELLIGENT ideas.
Now that said, I'll still watch it anyway and will probably dress-up in some kind of red cloak (I have neither the time nor money to do a full Spartan panoply right now) -- I doubt it will make me as ANGRY as 'Troy' did. Seriously, it's been years since that film came out and IT STILL MAKES ME ANGRY, especially when so called 'mythology fans' defend it as being fairly accurate (!!). Bah, have we been reading the same sources? But I won't get into that right now, because if I do, I will probably end-up writing several blog entries' worth of complaints.
On a different note -- I'm still chugging along on those 'Class of the Titans' academic/classical/pop cultural/etc. references, and after some of the discussions we had in CLST 311 (Greek and Roman Epic), I'm compelled to write an annotation likening Archie's bit at the end of 'Little Box of Horrors' as being very much like a Homeric aristeia. Really, if you compare it to the aristeias (aristeiae?) of the various characters in the 'Iliad', it follows the pattern quite well. What I'm wondering though, is whether there are any other moments in the series that scream aristeia -- certainly all of the other characters have their moments that I suppose can be classified as an aristeia on a smaller scale, but the 'Little Box of Horrors' ones is the only one that I find REALLY strongly fits the model. That, or it's just the best one, which would fit given that Achilles' aristeia is supposed to be the grandest of them all in the 'Iliad'.
Anyway -- let me know what you think in terms of who else in the series has a true aristeia that follows the models in Homer. I'm sure there has to be other people reading this who understand the structure of epic poetry better than I do (my area is still in mythology, not literary structure) who may be able to offer some INTELLIGENT ideas.
Achilles = emo-kid for the win!
I love my CLST 311 (Greek and Roman Epic) professor. He is SO AWESOME and passionate and funny and everything, not to mention that he even removed 'Civil War' from the reading list, which brought great joy and relief to my heart. I doubt I'll do well in the course because it's almost all written work, but it's going to be a lot of fun (at least until I get my grade back).
I'm definitely going to get pwned in CLST 201 (Roman History) though -- I am NOT a Roman history fan at all, and it seems like everyone else in the class is AND knows all of the material extremely well already too. Alas.
And I totally pwned the Ancient Greece slide for PSYC 333 (Human Sexuality) today, which was a lecture on the historical views of a certain part of the male anatomy that I'm not sure I'll allowed to type-out on this site without being censored. Anyway, I got to give the definition of 'pederasty' AND I knew the answer to the question about the ideal type of the cryptically aforementioned body part for the ancient Greeks. CLST 205 (Ancient Humour), you taught me almost everything there was to know and the ancient Greeks and that bit of anatomy.
I'm definitely going to get pwned in CLST 201 (Roman History) though -- I am NOT a Roman history fan at all, and it seems like everyone else in the class is AND knows all of the material extremely well already too. Alas.
And I totally pwned the Ancient Greece slide for PSYC 333 (Human Sexuality) today, which was a lecture on the historical views of a certain part of the male anatomy that I'm not sure I'll allowed to type-out on this site without being censored. Anyway, I got to give the definition of 'pederasty' AND I knew the answer to the question about the ideal type of the cryptically aforementioned body part for the ancient Greeks. CLST 205 (Ancient Humour), you taught me almost everything there was to know and the ancient Greeks and that bit of anatomy.
Stuff.
Yeah, I still don't really use this blog very often because I have a LiveJournal anyway -- anyway, nothing particularly interesting has happened lately anyway. My professor for CLST 311 -- an upper-year course on Greek and Roman epic/heroic poetry -- was changed at the last minute to a Professor Emeritus, so I have no idea what his grading and marking scheme will be like. Eh. I wouldn't mind if 'Pharsalia' was replaced with 'The Satyricon' and 'The Golden Ass' in terms of the texts, but I doubt it. Wooohoo.
And I still want to know my final grade for CLST 200 (Greek History) because dammit, I was the top-ranking student in that class before the final and then the exam instructions were really weird (bah, you cannot write about the War of the Successors after the death of Alexander the Great in half a page! Nor can you analyze Lysias' speech on the murder of Eratosphenes and what shows about the role of women in 4th century Greece in the same short amount of space!).
And I still want to know my final grade for CLST 200 (Greek History) because dammit, I was the top-ranking student in that class before the final and then the exam instructions were really weird (bah, you cannot write about the War of the Successors after the death of Alexander the Great in half a page! Nor can you analyze Lysias' speech on the murder of Eratosphenes and what shows about the role of women in 4th century Greece in the same short amount of space!).
Not another rant.
Copied and pasted from my deviantART.com journal, for the most part.
1. If the best way you can serve fans is by copying and pasting someone else's writing and research and then passing it off without proper credit, you should re-consider what the hell you have to offer.
2. Likewise -- making-up false news, then pretending someone official in the business said it? Yeah, misrepresentation is totally awesome!
3. So 'Class of the Titans' Season One is no longer being aired on Teletoon -- apparently, the right response to this is to start insulting the director in disgustingly rude ways, who has nothing to do with this cancellation at all. Right, let's forget about all the great stuff he's done with his blog and actually taking fan feedback into account for Season Two and start throwing around insults like 'fatty' or whatever it was. That's really damn grateful and not at all entitled.
4. It's disappointing that the show isn't airing anymore (but with re-runs having gone on continuously since May and probably not being very lucrative -- Teletoon's a business, after all -- was anyone honestly thinking this would never happen?), but the level of emotion some people are displaying is absolutely scary. If your life, happiness, health, and well-being (including mental well-being) depends COMPLETELY on whether a TV show is showing re-runs or not, I would honestly suggest you see a counselor. I do NOT mean this sarcastically at all -- those kinds of behaviour and/or thought patterns aren't functional or healthy at all.
5. On the plus side -- er, at least the TV.com forum seems to be on an upswing again? Yay?
1. If the best way you can serve fans is by copying and pasting someone else's writing and research and then passing it off without proper credit, you should re-consider what the hell you have to offer.
2. Likewise -- making-up false news, then pretending someone official in the business said it? Yeah, misrepresentation is totally awesome!
3. So 'Class of the Titans' Season One is no longer being aired on Teletoon -- apparently, the right response to this is to start insulting the director in disgustingly rude ways, who has nothing to do with this cancellation at all. Right, let's forget about all the great stuff he's done with his blog and actually taking fan feedback into account for Season Two and start throwing around insults like 'fatty' or whatever it was. That's really damn grateful and not at all entitled.
4. It's disappointing that the show isn't airing anymore (but with re-runs having gone on continuously since May and probably not being very lucrative -- Teletoon's a business, after all -- was anyone honestly thinking this would never happen?), but the level of emotion some people are displaying is absolutely scary. If your life, happiness, health, and well-being (including mental well-being) depends COMPLETELY on whether a TV show is showing re-runs or not, I would honestly suggest you see a counselor. I do NOT mean this sarcastically at all -- those kinds of behaviour and/or thought patterns aren't functional or healthy at all.
5. On the plus side -- er, at least the TV.com forum seems to be on an upswing again? Yay?
omg wtf
Okay, seriously -- the more I keep visiting the 'Class of the Titans' forum, the more it's honestly making me really annoyed.
If you're reading this, it's very likely not you -- I'm definitely still very fond of a lot of the old regulars, and also quite a few new members -- but I think it's pretty clear there are some major problems going on right now. Which sucks, because I was definitely realy getting back into the swing of things after my first hiatus.
I'll still drop-by the board on occassion, but right now, it's such a waste of time and not good for my blood pressure, apparentely. I'm still chugging along on the fansite, writing material for the newsblog, drawing fanart, starting-up the online academic forum, etc., but otherwise, I think I'm cutting-back on my message board participation until things improve.
That said -- am I overreacting, or is anyone else seeing some major problems lately?
-- xanthophiliac
If you're reading this, it's very likely not you -- I'm definitely still very fond of a lot of the old regulars, and also quite a few new members -- but I think it's pretty clear there are some major problems going on right now. Which sucks, because I was definitely realy getting back into the swing of things after my first hiatus.
I'll still drop-by the board on occassion, but right now, it's such a waste of time and not good for my blood pressure, apparentely. I'm still chugging along on the fansite, writing material for the newsblog, drawing fanart, starting-up the online academic forum, etc., but otherwise, I think I'm cutting-back on my message board participation until things improve.
That said -- am I overreacting, or is anyone else seeing some major problems lately?
-- xanthophiliac
Sort-of leaving.
I'll be really honest -- I don't like coming here or posting in the only forum I ever participate in anymore for a number of reasons I won't get into, so yeah, I won't be posting much, if at all. Maybe when things are actually interesting again.
To blog or to LiveJournal?
I'm still not very fond of using this blog system here, but if you do feel some strange compulsion to read about my very boring life both online and offline, I have a LiveJournal. Same username. You can't miss it.
I'm terrible at updating though, and if you like getting a lot of comments, well, I'm pretty bad at that too.
You may also want to leave a comment telling me who you are so that I don't think you're a random stalker.
I'm terrible at updating though, and if you like getting a lot of comments, well, I'm pretty bad at that too.
You may also want to leave a comment telling me who you are so that I don't think you're a random stalker.
Nothing much to add.
I basically do my 'Class of the Titans' fandom updates on either my deviantART account or LiveJournal. Seems like I have to write blog posts for my Level here to do up though. I don't really care which level I'm at, but it's nice to see the Flash meter move-up a bit.
First and only blog entry ever.
I already keep a blog somewhere else. However, I have this strange feeling I need to post here in order to proceed to Level 2. I've been at 98% of Level 1 for several weeks now despite frequent message board posting and visiting everyday.
Hmm.
Hmm.
