The Shape Of Rome

The new Mayor of Rome, Ignazio Marino, recently announced plans to make the area of the Roman Forums "the greatest archaeological park on the planet".  The biggest impediment to his plan is the Via dei Fori Imperiali, the grand avenue ploughed through the area by Benito Mussolini in the 1930s.  The road covers about 1/3 of the Forum area and is also a major traffic thorofare in the city, the closure of which will cause many problems but if he can succeed the results will be spectacular.

The Forum area consists of a series of areas built over several centuries.  The original Republican Forum sits in the valley between the Palatine and Capitoline hills.  Adjacent Forums were built by Julius Caesar and the Emperors Augustus, Vespasian, Nerva and Trajan.

On this Google Map you can see the Via Imperiali running from the Victor Emmanuele monument to the Colosseum.
(All photos and pictures from Ex Urbe)

This is the original Forum.
The start of the Via Imperiali.
In the course of researching this post, THC found an outstanding new blog, Ex Urbe, written by a young anonymous Professor of European History.  Read his post, The Shape of Rome, which does the best job THC has ever seen in clearly explaining the centuries of building layering within the city of Rome.  He uses as his example, the Basilica of San Clemente, a church near the Colosseum, taking us on a beautifully illustrated tour from the Baroque era back to the time of the Roman Republic, all within the same structure .  THC has read about layering but never really understood it until this post.

The author then embarks on a comprehensive overview of the geography of the city during various historical periods, astutely using pictures and maps (many of which THC had never seen before).  Take a little time and read The Shape of Rome on Ex Urbe.

40 Different Ways To Look At The World

Something for everyone.  Via Twisted Sifter.

The first one below is what the world looks like if you break in into regions of 1 billion population each.  The second is per capita coffee consumption.  Take a look at the other 38 which include; The only 22 countries never invaded by Britain; Map of Pangea with current international borders; Economic center of gravity since 1 AD and Map of Europe showing literal Chinese translations of country names.

Monty Bruckheimer

Ever wondered what Monty Python and the Holy Grail would have been like if produced by Jerry Bruckheimer?  Now you can find out. Via msn

Ozymandias

It's the title of Sunday's Breaking Bad episode which we are still recovering from.  Most cable dramas are amoral at their core, however entertaining they may be.  Breaking Bad inhabits a different world, a moral universe in which people are capable of making choices and must pay for those choices if they are morally corrupt.  We didn't realize that was the theme of the show when we started watching but now it is very clear.

While there are only two more episodes before the end of the series, Sunday night had to be the emotional climax of the show - it better be, we can't take much more.  When the murder of a major and sympathetic character early in the hour ends up being perhaps only the fifth most wrenching moment (and no one else dies in those other moments) in the episode it makes for riveting, though hard to watch, viewing.  As a reviewer at the Huffington Post wrote (no link because the piece contains spoilers):

"The thing is, we're at the point in the story where all the chickens are coming home to roost. Every consequence of every single choice Walter White has made is landing with unbelievable force. Given how many terrible things he's done and the awful events he's set in motion, those consequences should land like a ton of bricks. I just didn't expect so much of it to land in such a concentrated way in one episode."

And Walter started the series as a nice guy high school chemistry teacher diagnosed with terminal cancer.

The title of the episode is from the Percy Shelley poem which ends:

'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

If Humans Crossed The Street Like Animals

To see deer, possums and dogs take a look at GangMan's Soup

Since I've Been Loving You

Live Led Zeppelin, recorded at a Los Angeles concert in June 1972, finally released as part of How The West Was Won in 2003.  This is the band at its peak, before Robert Plant lost his ability to hit the high notes, but the highlight is the transcendent guitar playing of Jimmy Page.  His playing is crisp and stunning throughout but reaches new heights during the solo which begins at 3:47 and roars along for the next 76 seconds managing to be both massive sonic assault and melodic.  A contender for the best live rock guitar solo.