SPQR Blues part XXXIV - 1

[spqrblues]

More to come...

Comments

[pikku-gen.livejournal.com]

"No discounts for flirting."

She's a cynic. I like her. =)

Also, I like the decorations near the door. Did the Romans already use forks?

[meritahut.livejournal.com]

They had various poking implements for agitating meat, but no actual table forks. For eating they used knives and spoons and the pointy end of the spoon handle. And hands.

Hence, having a wound from an enormous two-pronged kitchen implement would probably give your doctor a good clue as to where you got injured....

[pikku-gen.livejournal.com]

That's what I thought. I know something of medieval eating implements and the table fork was practically nonexistent even then, until the 16th century and huge collars. The reason was, as I've been told, that forks were a sacrilege. "God hath given us hands, why should we not use them?"

Just how big were the kitchen forks? I started planning a little murder mystery... I know I could just Google it, but if I know someone has already done the research... I'm lazy. ;)

[lignamorren.livejournal.com]

You may find this and this informative.

[pikku-gen.livejournal.com]

Should have remembered... Thanks! =)

[mummpizz.livejournal.com]

I like the folding doors. And btw. I like your avatar, too, pikku_gen.

[meritahut.livejournal.com]

I utterly did not know that huge collars were an impetus for using forks. Fashion strikes again.

Now, to figure out what unusual factors led to huge collars, and then what unexpected results the usage or manufacture of forks led to, until we uncover a chain of events leading from, oh, Hannibal's elephants to ENIAC.

[daftnewt.livejournal.com]

"...a chain of events leading from, oh, Hannibal's elephants to ENIAC."

You've watched James Burke's "Connections"!

...or if you haven't, you should!

[meritahut.livejournal.com]

Oh my yes, I am a total raving fangirl for James Burke's "Connections." There needs to be much, much more of that. I wanted to grow up and do historical reenactments with brainy snarky narrators, too :D

[ndgmtlcd.livejournal.com]

Collars started out at a small size and grew because they were considered as an indicator of wealth and social status. Laws were passed in the 16th century, giving size limits according to social rank. The newly rich bourgeois couldn't help themselves and wore bigger and bigger collars. At times the authorities stationed soldiers with shears, and the order to cut down to size any collar offender.

[meritahut.livejournal.com]

Oh. I was thinking:

1. Wave of stricter Protestantism encourages wider collars as "kissing-chastity belts"

2. Importation of ferrets from New World leads to new European breed with tendency to leap for the jugular

3. Attempt made by wealthy women to convince King of England they have already been beheaded, so he won't try to marry them

4. Anti-whiplash devices for horse-and-carriage hotrodders.

Something like that.

[ndgmtlcd.livejournal.com]

I don't know about collars for number 1, but in France there's a wide and fairly rigid women's hat/coif/hood called Quichenotte. The name is supposed to come from "kiss not", which the local women shouted to the English soldiers stationed in parts of France during the hundred years war.

http://maurelili.chez-alice.fr/coiffes.html

[meritahut.livejournal.com]

I love a good origin story :)

Women will put some remarkable things on their heads.

I love hats.

[pikku-gen.livejournal.com]

Thank you, so do I! Which one, BTW? This?

[mummpizz.livejournal.com]

Xes, this one – I'm a great Miyazake fan, you know.

[pikku-gen.livejournal.com]

I didn't, but now I do. I too am a fan, and the Kodama are my fav creatures!

[mummpizz.livejournal.com]

… mine are the dust puppies (susuwatari).

[kyleen66.livejournal.com]

Very nice.

Now what sort of mischief could Felix get into having a WHOLE day off?

Heh. I think someone is going to get his nose broken again, maybe.

[meritahut.livejournal.com]

Maybe Felix can hit him from the other side and straighten in out. I'm sure the man will thank him for it >:)

[kit-the-brave.livejournal.com]

Ooh, what's the usual? It can't be pizza already, can it?

*wants pizza*

[meritahut.livejournal.com]

Some flat bread, sausage, a hunk of cheese, minced garlic, a drizzle of oil... I bet Miriamne regularly whips up something that looks pretty close to pizza.

Oooh, now I'm hungry for a slice or two. And it's only time for elevenses XD

[dr-phil-physics.livejournal.com]

Argh! Don't make me hungry. I'm giving my Final Exam, half an hour in, and I've already eaten my sandwich, and sampled too many of the Final Exam cookies. (I always bring cookies to exams.)

Dr. Phil

[kit-the-brave.livejournal.com]

We're having pizza in a little bit at the Dance Dance Revolution tournament! But considering that the ravening hordes get first dibs, I don't think I'm going to see any of it. Miriamne's pizza is probably better anyway. :D

[meritahut.livejournal.com]

Oh boy, do the students get cookies too for turning in their exam books early, or are the cookies just to sustain the prof through the long haul? My profs never brought cookies. Though one did bring a couple of bottles of homemade honey-and-oak-leaf mead. I miss that class.

Now I'm missing final exams, too... yes, I liked final exams... yes, I am some sort of nerd. Actually, I suppose I just like things that can objectively tell me whether I'm doing something well XD (Even my anxieties are nerdy.)

[dr-phil-physics.livejournal.com]

Cookies are to sustain "the little gray cells" during a Physics exam. Or as a reward on the way out the door. Or as emergency rations for those who forget to eat breakfast or lunch. Hard to be too mad at a prof who just gave you cookies, after kicking your brains across the lecture hall. (grin)

Regular exams get cheap sale cookies. Finals get Name Brand ones -- starting with Real Fig Newtons (can't do Physics without Newtons) and Oreos.

I also wore my fish hat today -- the one with the rainbow trout sticking through it. Hard to be mad at a prof or not smile before a final when you have a guy wearing a fish hat. My mom-in-law bought it for me, figuring I was the only person she knew who'd actually wear it.

Dr. Phil

[http://users.livejournal.com/_w_o_o_d_/]

If memory serves, Pizza originates from the bay of Naples, which is where Pompeii and Herculanum were located...

[pikku-gen.livejournal.com]

Food for the poor. Back in times when the rich ate from plates made of bread, all the good sauces and juices went into the bread which was then given to the poor, who just warmed it up with maybe a little cheese on the top, and ta-dah!

[palusbuteo.livejournal.com]

Oooooh, no discount for flirting...That makes a soldier's life difficult ya know :P

Anyway I hope the ruffians let ol Felix finish his food before they attempt to rough him up.

He needs some loyal backup *points to self* ;D

[meritahut.livejournal.com]

Someday, when Felix least expects it, there you'll be...

Anyway, you know, soldiers know how to eat fast and run. Luckily, it isn't ruffians coming after him this time :)