What Did Romans Look Like?

 

We all want to know what the Romans looked like, and all we've got are these marble statues. Augustus, Nero, Claudius, Septimus Severus, Caracalla, Marcus Aurelius, Constantine himself and on. Result, these give us a picture, and mostly we think a lifelike one, of imperium, but what did these rulers of the world, and perhaps more importantly their subjects actually look like?  Thanks to a ring found near Rome in 2000 AD we have a glimpse.

The ring's remarkable for its holographic properties, displaying the face, perhaps, of Titus Carvilius Gemello, buried in the same tomb as his noble mother, Aebutia Quarta. Whether the image on the ring is Aebutia's son or not, it was found on her finger when the tomb was reexamined at the turn of the Millennium.

I call Aebutia, not Titus

Specific identity aside, this remarkable ring shows us what at least one Roman looked like, whether it's the image of Titus, his Mother or someone else. The image is heroic, I think, as well as haunting. Sic transit and the days of man are but as grass.

DFTR,

LSP

PS. Dear readers, did you know the Romans could do holograms? Huh, now we know.

Ice Age Catastrophe

 

Climate boffins at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of California, San Diego, believe that Global Warming is about to usher in a new Ice Age because melting glacial ice will cause ocean currents like the Gulf Stream, which carry warm water to the Northern Hemisphere, to stagnate. 

This, say the experts, will cause a massive, catastrophic drop in temperature, especially on the US East Coast, as well as the UK and Europe, where weather conditions will soon resemble Arctic Canada with temperatures dropping by as much as 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

Oops, there goes New York. What a horrible tragedy.

What a disaster. It'll be far, far colder in the very near future, especially if you live in places like Martha's Vineyard, London, Dublin, Brussels or Calais, where once green and verdant pastures will resemble the frozen, wind blown steppes of Canada. 

Consider the irony of the Green Zone suffering the very fate it worked so hard to produce, deindustrialization. How, dear friends, will they pay for their immigrant votes when their factories are frozen blocks of ice? With cheap imports from Russia? Hardly. The US? Of course, we'll gladly heat the homes of our vassals, at a price.

That aged well

In the meanwhile, Russia continues to advance in the hideous Ukrainian proxy war, peace talks are vaguely in the air; the UK has the highest electricity costs of any developed nation, and 47's suggested Germany shoulder the burden of NATO defense. Is this latter some kind of off-ramp for US disengagement from European defense? 

Perhaps, why should we spend literal fortunes on defending countries which loathe, hate and despise us. Because Russia will take them over, ban transing kids and levy a flat tax, instead of rainbow hued wealth redistribution?

What an unpleasant unit patch

Maybe so, but it's all hypothetical because the EU didn't pay enough tax to prevent it turning into a frozen block of ice. Neither did Martha's Vineyard. Oh well. Parting shot. Is Alexandr Dugin a new Berdyaev or something else? 

Your Old Pal,

LSP

Musical Interlude

 

Do you like Cole Porter? Maybe you'll enjoy this tribute or, if you're more mechanically minded, the good old Ground Hogs:

Heh, what can I say, bikers... moar later.

Cheers,

LSP

Short Sunday Sermon - Apocalypse

 

If you follow the new-fangled three year lectionary you will have heard Luke's "Little Apocalypse," in which Our Lord prophecies the end times, the great and terrible day of the Lord. When that comes, as it will, the wicked will be eradicated "root and branch" and burned away like stubble in an oven (Malachi). So yes, the righteous will be vindicated mightily even as the wicked apparently prosper. Are we there yet?

No, we're not. For sure, certain signs have been fulfilled, Elijah's returned in the form of John the Baptist, the Church around the world is persecuted as never before an the unrighteous, per Malachi, prosper and escape justice, for now. In fact, they appear to wax ever stronger and that's as it should be. As we approach the definitive battle between good and evil, between God and Satan, each respective side will become more clearly defined. We see that now, if you have eyes to see.

The question is, which side are you on? On the side of truth, beauty, goodness and light, on the side of God, obviously. Accordingly, as the Apostle tells the Thessalonians, don't be idle but get to work, we must apply ourselves to the opus dei, the work of God. Christ narrows the focus, "By your endurance you will save your lives."

Endurance. Never, ever give up. Not on the Faith, the Gospel of life, Not in prayer. Not in the active pursuit of holiness and in that daily endeavor to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Christ. Is this hard? Of course, and no one ever said it'd be easy. Does it involve hardship? It should, endurance and duress are cognate. Does it have a reward? Assuredly yes, eternal life.

That's our goal. Run accordingly, and do not be dismayed at the present ascendance of the apostate and heathen, they will meet their reward. Here endeth the lesson.

God Bless,

LSP

Tranquil

 

Yesterday evening before Vespers, aka Evening Prayer (1928 BCP, thank you very much) was tranquil. Flags flew, dog slept with vigilance, pumpkins waited for their turn at the range and all was well. Quite unlike, when you think on it, the furor at Broadcasting House where the once venerable and now despised and scorned BBC is busy spewing lies. Hey, sic transit, let's see Senor take that gang of rich leftist, cough, journalists down. 

Imagine having to pay, if you live in the UK, for a, please don't throw up in your mouth, news service which really hates you, a lot. But what am I saying? We were paying for it too, remember USAID?

That Pink/Red Dem cash cow's gone now, thank God. Maybe this latest episode of egregious tax payer funded malfeasance will bring down the once vaunted BBC, and in doing so play a part in freeing the beleaguered people of the Sceptered Isle.

Yes please, I'm at peace with that.

Your Pal,

LSP

For What It's Worth - A Brief Musical Interlude & The BBC

 

I say my man, are you a real cowboy?

Neil was never attractive

In obviously related news, the faked up, loathed, despised, smug, condescending, deceitful, taxpayer funded nest of Lefty Luvvies known as the BBC is looking down the barrel of a 1BN$ lawsuit.

Yes, that paragon of impartial, ahem, news was caught altering video evidence to make El Senor look bad in not one but two, yes, two  mockumentaries. Because, you know, they're so totally unbiased. Two prominent BBC luvvies have resigned in shameful disgrace, and the state agitprop media organ's issued some kind of apology not apology. 

Will that be enough to persuade 47 to walk away and leave the rich Pink/Red grifters at Broadcasting House alone, or will he hold this crew of Britannic limo libs to account and sue them into oblivion. Your call.

Situation Developing,

LSP

Patton

 

Did General Patton actually say, in 1945, as Military Governor of Bavaria, "Gentlemen, I have come this morning to the inexcusable conclusion that we have fought on the wrong side. This entire war we should have fought with the fascists against the communists and not the other way around. I fear that perhaps in fifty years America will pay a dear price and become a land of corruption and degenerate morals."

The Internet, our modern Delphi, mostly tells us that he didn't, that the quote's a neo-Nazi invention fabricated to enthuse low-info patriots with anti-commie fervor. Yes, please; it then goes on to say that the quote's maybe not verbatim but that Patton probably said something like that given his deep, visceral abhorrence of Communism. Tick.

Perhaps Patton missed the point? Zu Befehl!

To be fair, it doesn't take a huge leap of the imagination to picture Patton chafing under the burden of being allied with Stalin's Soviet Mega Army. The same held true for Evelyn Waugh, when you think about it, read the Sword of Honour trilogy, and doubtless others. Still, regardless of veracity, is "in fifty years America will pay a dear price and become a land of corruption and degenerate morals" actually wrong? Check out the nearest drag queen story hour as you arrest someone for praying outside an abortion kill clinic and find out.

Patton, born 1885, strikes me as a late Victorian, an old school patriot not unlike Churchill, rising up anomalously into the modern age of jets, atom bombs and nihilist Communist degeneracy. For what it's worth, I'm glad we defeated the satanist NSDAP. Too bad the murderous Bolsheviks weren't. Patton died in a car crash in December 1945, Hillary Clinton was not alive at that time.

Rest in Peace, General,

LSP

Veterans Day 2025

 

We were going to go for a shoot but blasting off into a sunny wind tunnel didn't seem so fun so, instead, it was all about burgers and hotdogs on the grill with some delicious macaroni cheese by way of a side. A young sergeant fell upon his scoff like a warrior, which is entirely apt. He tells me there's some kind of forward observer training in the near future, I'll keep you posted.

He also says that the latest intakes of recruits into his Company have been outstanding, a vast improvement over previous years. Clearly something's changed, for the better. This encouraging trend in mind, here's a prayer:

O King and Judge of the nations: We remember before thee with grateful hearts the members of our armed forces, who in the day of decision ventured much for the liberties we now enjoy; grant that we may not rest until all the people of this land share the benefits of true freedom and gladly accept its disciplines; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen.

 

Lest we forget,

LSP

Is This How It Ends?

 

We can but hope.

Of course this is totally hypothetical in the US. In related news, El Senor's threatening to sue the UK's pugnacious, deceitful, smug, condescending, agitprop, statist, rainbow dupe shill BBC, for over a billion bucks. Yes please.

Arduus Solem,

LSP

Stormy!

 

Stormy! What went wrong?

Dam! What Went Wrong!

Good question.  Perhaps you shouldn't have trusted Michael Avenatti and gone against El Senor. But you did, and now you have to pay the price. 

Cheers,

LSP

Yet More Fish

 

Thanks to the Government shutdown I was able to get out and fish (What? Ed.) on the mighty Brazos. Well, Lake Whitney's dam spillway, where there's a handy fishing pier. It was deserted and I gazed down into the murky depths of the pool, the hot blue Texan November sky overhead and the Brazos stretching south beneath me. Quite a sight, but were there any fish?

Not many, they seemed pretty much shut down, perhaps all those government subsidies had dried up and they were busy not working from home. Still, I spotted a few predatory Gar gliding beneath the surface like Poseidon armed Russkie subs off the coast of England without a navy and chanced a few casts at them with frozen shad.

Don't Scorn The Gar

Gar typically love frozen shad here. They look at it, snatch it, hold it in their beak, then swim with it, pause for reflection, and then run downstream, delicious frozen shad in beak. Let the fish get a hundred or so yards out and try and set the hook. 

If you you do, if you manage to get that far and it's not easy, you're in for a lot of fun. Bam, leaping, thrashing, diving big fish action as you attempt to bring this Jurassic monster up to the pier. Like poor man's sea fishing, I always think.

Would that happen today? No, the Gar weren't after my tasty, shiny frozen shad, they wanted the swarms of bugs flying over and swimming in the water. Still, I had a brief run, fun, but didn't close the deal, next time. So, leaving my Gar rod stationary, I cast off with a Mark Carney worm in search of anything else. Lo and behold, a turbulence, a thrashing on the water and down went the light rod, fight on.  And up came a decent Bass, great result, see top photo.

On Patrol

Word to the wise. Take full advantage of the Government shutdown to get out and fish, as in exercise your freedom to do so now that you're freed from the jackboot tyranny of our DC Overlords. If only, eh? As it is, we have the rainbow wing of the Uniparty holding its opposite number to ransom, at the expense of the people. 

At what point will this idiocy end? Perhaps, dear friends, when the money runs out and we've had enough. Is that point fast approaching? Perhaps, in the meanwhile, we fish on.

Tight Lines,

LSP

Just A Fish

 

Fishing was slow today. There we were, on the banks of Lake Whitney in the afternoon sun of a November Texan afternoon. Cast, retrieve, behold the beauty of lake, sky and majestic cranes sweeping across the water, but definitely not tight lines. Huh.

Then down went the rod to the left of me. Whoa, action! Something's on and lo and behold, the fun of a light rod. Up came a Black Drum who went back to fight again another day. Great result, unlike, say, today's election result in NYC.

Then, as the sun was beginning to set and the hour for catching had almost arrived, we climbed back in the rig to head for the Compound and the Super Moon. A good day had by all.

Fish On,

LSP