Dulce et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blod-shod. All went lame, all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick boys! - An ecstacy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the crud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, -
My friend, you would not tell me with such high zest
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

- Wilfred Owen

Translation: "How sweet and proper/becoming/graceful it is to die for the Fatherland"

Politics in a Nutshell

Johnny goes to his dad and asks, "What is politics?" Dad says, "Well son, let me try to explain it this way. I'm the breadwinner of the family, so let's call me Capitalism. Mommy is the administrator of the money, so we'll call her the Government. We're here to take care of your needs, so we'll call you The People. The nanny, well, consider her The Working Class. Your baby brother, we'll call him The Future. Now go think about this and see if it makes sense."

So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said. Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying and runs to his room only to find that his diapers are very soiled. So the little boy goes to his parents' room. Mom is sound asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room. Finding the door locked, he looks through the peephole and sees his father in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed.

The next morning, the little boy says to his father, "Dad, I think I understand what politics is now."

"Good son, tell me in your own words then what politics are."

The little boy replies, "Well, while Capitalism is screwing the Working Class, the Government is sound asleep, the People are being ignored and the Future is in deep shit."

Gotta swim, gotta float
God I wish I had a boat,
not to mention a licence
and an ability to talk gooder.
You know, a sense of timing wouldn't be bad
I can't rhyme and it makes me sad.
At least I know where I stand;
I'm the nice guy in the band.
Hey look I learned to rhyme
Much better then drinking slime.
Now I think I have to go
Cause ya mum's a crazy ho.

Answers to Odd Questions 1

Question: Why are the months divided into 7 days and how long has this been accepted?

The notion that there is seven day week lies with the the notion that each month has 28 days. This was understood by the Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and most, if not all, of the Ancient Empires. The 28 day month is relient on the phases of the moon, which has 4 distinct phases. The devision of the month into 4 parts made it easy for people to tell what time of the month it is in an age before calendars and clocks. 28 divided by 4 is 7, and hence the week has 7 days. The mathematics of this have been known for thousands of years, and the system did not change until the time of Julius Ceaser when he revolutionised the calendar.

The seven days of the week gain their current names from celestial bodies and Roman Gods, the exceptions being English (which has been bastardised by the Vikings, in this case) and German. In Italian, a close relation to Latin, the names are as follows:
Lunedi - Luna (The Moon)
Martedi - Mars
Mecolerdi - Mercury
Giovidi - Jupiter
Venedi - Venus
Sabatto - The Sabbath (Jews were plentiful in the Roman world).
Domenica - The Day of the Lord (Christian Lord).

This is in contrast to the English names:
Monday - The Moon
Tuesday - Tiw
Wednesday - Woden
Thursday - Thor
Friday - Frig
Saturday - Saturn
Sunday - The Sun

The English names have been affected by Norse Mythology while the Roman influence maintained Saturday and Sunday. Before Christianity in Rome the Seventh day was also named after the Sun. Constantine had it changed at the time of his Conversion.

The 28 days to a month was changed in the time of Julius Ceaser. Up until this time in Rome an extra month had to be added every so often in order to keep the months accurate. Julius added days to all the months bar Febuary (which was the end of the year) to a total of 29 extra days. He did this instead of adding an extra month in order that there would be 3 months to a season and 6 months to half a year. 13 is such an icky number.

Sex Pistols - Submission

I'm on a submarine mission for you baby
I feel the way you were going
I picked you up on my TV screen
I feel your undercurrent flowing

Submission
Going down down
Dragging it down
Submission
I can't tell ya what I've found

Youve got me pretty deep baby
I can't figure out your watery love
I gotta solve your mystery
Your sitting it out in heaven above

Submission
Going down down
Dragging me down
Submission
I can't tell you what I've found

For there's a mystery
Under the sea in the water
Come share it

Submission going down down
Dragging me down
Submission
I can't tell ya what I've found
'Cos it's a secret
Under the water, under the sea
Octopus rock

Got me pretty deep baby
I can't figure out your watery love
I gotta solve your mystery
Your sitting it out in heaven above

Submission
Going down down
YOU'RE DRAGGING ME DOWN
Submission
I cant tell ya what Ive found

Submission
Submission
Going down down under the sea
I wanna drown drown under the water
Going down down under the sea

A Music Challenge

Alex purported to the fact last night that my musical taste is odd and different to everyone of the same age group. I am not concerned with the validity of his statement but it gives me an excuse to write a short quiz. I'm interested to see what becomes of this..

*Click Here to Take the Music Challenge*