Classics Club

It seems I've been put in charge of managing the Classics Club Tumblr blog. I'd rather not expend the energy, but it seems I have no choice in the matter. As my code dictates: "If I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, make it quick." What does the Classics Club even do, exactly? Is it about Greek learning, or old literature, or what? I don't feel like solving that mystery, so I guess I'll just reblog a few interesting-looking things and respond to fan mail.

[climbthestacks]

Sometimes I get so immersed in my own company, if I unexpectedly run into someone I know, it’s a bit of a shock and takes me a while to adjust.

Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go (via climbthestacks)

[indigenous-maya]

Some Interesting Things About The Native People of Mexico

Indigenous people in what is now Mexico were the first people to domesticate corn 

The oldest human skeleton to be found in the Americas was found in Mexico. The remains date back 13,000 years.

Vanilla was first cultivated by the indigenous people of Mexico

Cacao was also first cultivated by the indigenous people of Mexico which gave us chocolate

Mexico has the largest indigenous population in all of North & South America

Native people of Mexico independently invented the wheel despite claims saying there was no knowledge of it in the pre-colombian Americas

The earliest archaeological evidence of the use of rubber was by the indigenous people of Mexico

The first country in the New World as well as the only one in North America to have an indigenous president is Mexico

Nahuatl, an indigenous language of Mexico, is one of the most (if not the most) spoken indigenous languages in North America with over a million speakers

Turkey’s were first domesticated by the indigenous people of Mexico and all of the commercial domestic turkey varieties today descend from the domestic turkey raised in Mexico

Indigenous people of Mexico had pressurized plumbing before it was introduced to the Americas by Europeans

Their creations -

[yesterdaysprint]

[factoseintolerant]

in Germany, Holocaust survivors come to our schools to talk about World War II, we study the events extensively, we visit concentration camp sites to understand the horrors of the past. it’s an integral part of our education. there’s never the question of “well, there were many sides”

to see people march through the streets of Charlottesville with swastikas on their flags is not only surreal, but terrifying. learn your history and understand it. there’s no room for debate or dialogue when it comes to nazism. it’s not “just” an opinion. it’s dangerous and destructive and can never be underestimated

[houtarin]

Iskander: How much for the horse tornado?

Sales person: Sir, that's a carousel.

Iskander: I must have it.

[liquidlightandrunningtrees]

I detest the masculine point of view. I am bored by his heroism, virtue, and honour. I think the best these men can do is not talk about themselves anymore.

Virginia Woolf, The Pargiters (via liquidlightandrunningtrees)

[g4zdtechtv]

Around the Net - Shenmue Premiere

Shenmue III is coming, so here’s a rare documentary on the making of the first game!

[mediamattersforamerica]

This is spot-on. 

[gardnerhill]

Seth Meyers has been brilliant for months - the kind of humor that springs straight from righteous anger. So have Stephen Colbert and Samantha Bee and John Oliver.

In a time of lies, only the jesters are telling the truth.

[colourscience]

Paintings in Detail - Cravats part nine

[houtarin]

The invincible underdog for whom a sharp wit, a clever tongue, or, in lieu of these, a loud mouth can serve as a weapon (when no other is at hand) against a social order that would deny his individuality by confining him to a permanently inferior or even inhuman status....the comic hero is no less subject to humiliation and defeat than any other mortal, even though his willingness to risk---and indeed to invite---that defeat may prove to be his most enduring and irrevocable triumph.

Robert Torrance

[houtarin]

“It is easy to tell the toiler how best he can carry his pack, but no one can rate a burden’s weight until it has been on his back.”

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

[houtarin]

Theseus, the legendary founder of Athens, had an impressive ship in which he had fought numerous battles. To honor him, the citizens of Athens preserved his ship in their port. Occasionally a plank or part of the mast would decay beyond repair, and at some point that piece would have to be replaced to keep the ship in good order. Once again, we have a question of identity: is it the same ship after we've replaced one of the planks? If you think it is, what about after we've replaced all of the planks, one by one? And (as Thomas Hobbes went on to ask), what if we then took all the old planks and built a ship out of them? Would that one suddenly become the Ship of Theseus?

Sean Carroll, The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself

[maciek-nia]

Mass Effect Andromeda - Something to fight for 

Ben Lo

[capt-biglou]

Oh my god why didn’t we get this?

[shattered-earth]

It’s time for someone to confiscate my tablet pen. 

[theartofanimation]

Damian Handzlik  -  https://www.facebook.com/idaisanart?ref=hl  -  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9DnAuUO_KtmSPxJeN1SldA  -  https://www.artstation.com/artist/daisan

[houtarin]

Political cartoon c. 1900, showing the United States Congress as “Buridan's ass,” hesitating between a Panama route or a Nicaragua route for an Atlantic–Pacific canal.

[houtarin]

My brother's a Yakuza maniac and I have to say, it's the cutscenes that drew me in while I was watching him. I especially love the stylistic still-image scenes!