Getting Medieval

If there is one subject about which I know little, it is Medieval history. For some reason, those of us who were lucky enough to have Fr. Boudreaux for Latin at Jesuit didn't have to take Western Civilization sophomore year. I suppose the thinking was that Latin was enough "civilization" for one year.

In an effort to understand more about the "Middle Ages," I have tried several tactics to prepare.

I went to the public library to check out some books. It turns out they don't have a book on Medieval history, per se. I did get a book called Europe: Century by Century; it's ok, but it assumes I know much more than I do.

I contacted some publishing houses to order some sample textbooks. I ordered on from Houghton-Mifflin and one from Pearson. They are designed for middle school kids, but there are a lot of gaps where even I have questions. Hopefully, these books will reveal a vast repository of books in their bibliographies. Hopefully.

I also ordered a few books online from amazon.com. I haven't looked at them since they appear to be college textbooks, and college textbooks intimidate me. One is a sourcebook and the other is something like "The History of the Middle Ages" translated from the French.

Many of the girls and women I know are fascinated by this time period and read books all about Elizabethan court and intrigues in Medieval palaces. Much of my knowledge on this subject comes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.



Here is my take on Medieval history (names and such are beyond me at this point):

Trade Routes
Byantium (Justinian and Theodora)
The Rise of the Church and Eastern vs. Western
Charlemagne (Holy Roman Empire?)
Huns and Goths and Visigoths (oh my) and Vandals
Rise of Islam (Mohammed, Mecca, five pillars)
Vikings!!!
Feudalism (Lords, Counts, Dukes, barons and baronesses(whoo!) and kings and queens galore. Oh yeah, and serfs.)
Vikings again!!
Kiev
Turks (but not Caicos:))
Vikings (Surprise!)
Franks and Normans (I tend to like people with these names. Is that a coincidence?)

I of course leave out Persia, India, China, Japan, the Americas, and Africa. Apparently, nothing of interest was occurring in these places. (This is highly sarcastic.)

So that's that. I think I am ready to get teaching!

Update: So I have been waking up at night with the odd feeling that I had forgotten something here. I did. The Crusades. How could I mention Islam and the Church and not mention that. Oh well.

Funniest Comedian Ever

Years ago, just around the time my father had passed awayl, I stayed home one Saturday night. I opened a beer and started watching a comedy show on HBO. The comedian was Jake Johannsen, and his show was called "This'll Take About An Hour." I laughed for the entire hour as my beer got warm. I had one sip and spit it out I was laughing so hard.

I recorded the show on VHS to show my college roommate, Derek. He never really laughed at TV shows or comedians. However, when he returned from winter break and watched the Jake video, he nearly suffocated from laughing so hard. It really is that funny. We would go out drinking, return home, and watch until we couldn't breathe.

I misplaced that tape somewhere along the way. And I even found Jake's website and wrote him an email asking to send me a copy. He wrote me back, but I was too broke to send him a check or a blank tape. I never stopped looking though. I really think it's in a box in my attic somewhere. I just haven't fast forwarded all of them far enough.

In any case, I still use quotes from this show in my regular daily life as a teacher. Some things are just that good. Like the aliens living and working among us bit or "The laws of physics would still apply."

Then, miracle of miracles, youtube.com came into being. And here is that show that all those years ago made me cry from laughter, when I really needed it.

Honestly, if you have 5 minutes to spare, you won't regret it. I don't know why he isn't more famous. Watch Jake do his thing:

Must be a Myth-take

Unfortunately, it's not. Robert Asprin, one of my favorite science fiction writers, passed away this last week. I honestly had no idea that he was a resident of New Orleans.

I fondly remember reading his Myth books (with Skeeve and Aahz) and laughing gently at all the wonderful puns. If you ever get the chance to read one of his books you will smile, too. My favorite part was the misattributed quotes at the beginning of each chapter. He was obviously a clever man with a great sense of humor (he was reading a Terry Pratchett book when he died).

I suppose now I will go back and read the ones I have and purchase the ones I don't. I wish I could attend his memorial pub-crawl at Fahy's.

God Speed, Mr. Asprin.

This is why

I am going to return to my old school - Yesterday they had a baby shower for baby George. And I don't even work there. The other place I worked did not even mention such a thing. People from all divisions and offices of the school attended we got all kinds of great gifts for our little boy.

Thanks to all the wonderful folks at RPS. It was great to see them all.

On another note, I may be becoming Medieval History Teacher instead of LatinTeacher. A long time ago, I realized that what I teach is irrelevant. I teach children.

Musical Roots

My neighbor is going to Bonnaroo with his family this year. And I just read that they will have an entire stage set up for music from New Orleans. It's not JazzFest, but I would love to go see the sets on this stage. Looks like a lot of quality music!

SIDE NOTE - I love listening to Anders Osborne, but I was so upset with his performance at JazzFest that I will never plan a trip in order to see him (he was part of the reason I went to the first week of the fest.

Expectations

Despite having a five week old, we have been tempting fate by going out to eat dinner while on vacation on Virginia Beach. Obviously, it's a coastal community and seafood abounds in the area. Being from a place that knows how to cook and eat (especially seafood), I am a harsh critic of the places where I eat. And I have been watching my new favorite show - Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares on BBC America (best channel on TV, IMHO) which gives me a whole new kind of vocabulary and reference point for criticism.

So here is my problem:

Is it so much to ask that I get a good food prepared correctly when I go out to eat? Isn't that at least part of the the purpose of going out - paying someone else to use their expensive kitchen and tools and knowledge to do something better than I can at home?

I had wahoo that was overcooked, a seafood au gratin that was swimming in sauce and had sandy scallops (which I don't like anyway), and softshell crab that was bland and tasteless. I was afraid to eat shrimp, flounder, or crabs (especially as they do them the "Maryland style" where all the seasoning is added on the outside of the shell?) for fear of being disappointed.

I am starting to get to the point where I don't want to eat out anymore. It's sad at best. Do other people in the world not know what good food tastes like?

I just don't get it.

Places to avoid in the Virginia Beach area:

Baja - Seafood Au Gratin was awful, the scallops were sandy.
The Anchor Inn - wahoo with lynnhaven sauce - the fish was cooked to death.
Margie and Rays - all in all this was the best restaurant we went to. I had softshell crabs, and they were good. Just not great.

I am sure there are good restaurants around here, but these are not they.

Links of the day

Funny

Unbelievable

Love for New Orleans