SORRY!!! :/

Hey its ryon, sorry that i forgot to post yesterday.

We will start fresh in the new year with some new quote and a better schedule..

I am writing this in the back of my brothers car on the way back from my grans, she lives in Hythe, Kent.

As i said i am sorry for not posting yesterday, i ended up watching a movie with my mother and drinking, so by the time i had straightened my hair and painted my nails (while trying to get netflix to work) i had actually forgotten to post and the busy day i have had, didnt remember until now. 

So its not my usual post and i am sorry i completely spaced for once on this blog. Ok so this weeks quote... Um... 

"Life is not about finding yourself, life is about creating yourself"

Basically dont be a little bitch about things, do things that make you happy and stop thinking about what everyone else thinks. It's helped me for a few years now, i hope it helps you.

Song of the day, you will need to youtube it coz i dont have a link... I will put one in next week if i remember. 

Song: Second & Sebring - Of Mice & Men

We wish you a merry 27th of December

Hello to all! I hope you have all had a merry Christmas, and will have a happy new year! I certainly have done- it's fantastic all the family being home again!

ANYWAY!

Because of such a wonderful christmas- I haven't been able to write a post this week. I have simple been too busy- so shall tell you an excellent joke I found on tumblr instead- which does have a historical (and Christmassy!) theme.

In Moscow during the 1960s, a husband and wife were walking through a square on Christmas Eve, when the husband comments it's raining.
'Don't be silly' his wife replies 'this is clearly snow'
They argue for a while, when the husband sees a communist party officer.
'Lets ask him' the husband suggests 'because whatever he says will be right'
So they go over and ask
'Officer Rudolph- is it raining or snowing?'
He tells them it's raining.
As they walk away the husband turns to his wife and says 'I told you I was right- Rudolph the red knows rain dear'

Sorry for nothing else to day- I promise to make a better show of it next week!

On the Ning Nang Nong, where the cows go Bong!

It is Christmas eve, so I doubt anybody is going to read this, but Happy Christmas, one and all! I hope Santa is kind to you.

(Also, I found out this week that my final grade in A Level Literature was an 'A', so I feel officially awesome enough to talk about literature on Wednesdays!)

I am writing this issue whilst listening to the Comedy genius of John Finnemore in the final episode of the Radio 4 sitcom Cabin Pressure. So in honour of the occasion, I want to talk about another comedy genius, the fantastic Spike Milligan.

If you've heard the name before, it was probably in reference to his gravestone, the immortal words 'I told you I was ill' inscribed in Celtic upon the stone. A brilliant man, a bizarre and yet wonderful sense of humour and with a cynical wit that was totally unparralelled, he wrote comedy in the form f poetry, plays, doodles, and several years of TV and radio comedy including the famous 'Goon Show'. Recently some clips of his comedy show 'Q' have been played on the BBC, so if you want to look on iPlayer, they'll be there.

Born 1918, Milligan grew up in India to a military family, and moved to London some time later, he fought in WW2 and after suffering a severe blow to the head was later invalided out of the army for mental health reasons. He suffered severe bouts of depression all the rest of his life although he claimed that the two were not related. He often referenced the war in his works, especially his poetry;

There was a young soldier
who went off to the war
which is the thing
that soldiers are made for
But then that little soldier
was blown to bits, was he.
All for his king
he did this thing:
how silly can you be?

Milligan's mental health was a very pblic affair, at a time when such things were only just starting to be treated correctly he was one of the first men willing to discuss his mental health in interviews and in the media, he even tried to explan it in his poems (See: Manic Depression Writting during his stay in hospital). And he was unafraid to make a statement and be outrageous in his works, whether it be political or environmental or whatever. His sketch 'Pakistani Dalek' is only a fine example of this, or this poem;

Said prince Charles
when they placed
the crown on his head
I suppose this means
that Mummy's dead.

But, mostly, it is Milligans randomness that makes him so wonderful, the strange little ditties and wordplay that came out of a desire to connect with his children after his divorce. And so I shall leave you with such a poem; thos is one of my favourite poems, and was shown to me by my dad, who picked up a random book in a shop in Swansea thirty years ago and also found it brilliant. The book was 'The Essential Spike Milligan' and I have it next to me as I write this having stolen it from his shelf and adored it. And the poem was 'Silly Old Baboon'. It's daft, random and witty, quite refreshing after a lot of heavy poetry being studied this year, and I hope it puts you all in a good mood for Christmas!

There was a baboon
Who one afternoon
Said I think I will fly to the sun
So with great palms
strapped to his arms
he started he takeoff run

Mile after mile
He galloped in style
But never once left the ground
You’re going too slow said a passing crow
Try reaching the speed ofsound

SO
he put on a spurt
My God how it hurt
both the soles of his feet caught on fire
As he went through a stream
There were great clouds of steam
Buthe never got any higher

On and on through the night
both his knees caught alight
clouds of smoke billowed out of his rear!!!
Quick to his aid
Were the fire brigade
They chased him for over a year

Many moons passed by
Did Baboon ever fly
Did he ever get to the sun
I’ve just heard today,
he’s well on his way
He’ll be passing through Acton at one.

PS – well, what do you expect from a baboon?

Merry Christmas! I know this was short and vague again, I'll try and be a bit more up to scratch in the new year once I'm back in Cardiff and Christmas is out the way.

Emily.

'Tis the season to be jolly

Set It Off - This Christmas (I'll Burn It To The Ground)

I guess this is kind of a bah-humbug post, which is strange for me because this time of year I am normally so excited and happy. I love Christmas. I'm just not feeling the Christmas spirit today, which just so happens to be the day for me to write this blog. I only really check every Monday so when I come on and find that only 3 of us have been posting it's kind of disappointing. I'm not going to bad mouth the girls in anyway I know that sometimes people are busy and everything, but guys we are meant to say if we cant post. But as it seems like it, that is not why I am not in a christmassy mood today. It's just a minor thing I have been meaning to mention to everyone on here for a few weeks now. 

THE REASON I AM BAH-HUMBUG. Well the reason is that I have work today... and I wouldn't mind if it was at normal hours, but no. They tell me that we all have to do at least one late night... so here I am working from 6pm-midnight -.- I am not looking forward to it. That is my downtime normally. well after those 6 hours. I am free to be Christmassy :). 

I really can't wait for Christmas. I can't wait to spend it with my family and to hopefully spend new years with my friends. And as strange as it sounds I cant wait to go back to college and see everyone and actually be able to do work with my own camera. I am literally going to spend the rest of the holidays reading the manual. I WILL know this camera inside and out. 

I don't expect anyone to post on Thursday I guess... we will all be too busy with family as presents and shizz. oh and stuffing our faces.

well I shall watch the rest of this episode of Sherlock and get ready for work.

Merry Christmas guys, see you next Monday.

Loves and Hugs 

Ryon 

xxx

And an Iconoclast in a Pear Tree

Hello, bonjour, all

Before I get started I would like to clarify I DID NOT call Bryony and Emily rude things in Ancient Greek- if only because I don't know the vocab yet!

I wasn't sure what to write about this week, I wanted to do something Christmassy as it's my last post before Xmas- but was stuck for what to say! I considered writing something about Augustus- the roman emperor for the FIRST Christmas, but alas all I know about him is from I, Claudius (a good book and better show, I recommend it!) which may not be the best source.

So keeping with a religious theme, I thought I could talk about iconoclasm. I know Emily studied this regarding the puritans in the (17th? 18th?) century, but I'm going to push back well beyond that to the 600s, where the whole issue began.

So, some clarification rachael, what the hell are you on about?

Iconoclasm is a centuries long debate that has existed between the Catholic and Orthodox Church (later as Emily would explain, the Protestant as well, but they don't turn up for another 900 years to what I'm looking at so let's just pretend they don't exist right now) regarding the nature of images in religion. Orthodox priests argue that by praying to an image of a saint or Christ, it is the same as praying to the saint of Christ themselves.  Catholics dispute this- saying praying to an image is heresy (or something along those lines)

What kicked this all off then?

To understand the catalyst for iconoclasm we have to go back to 626, when the Persians and Avars attacked Constantinople. While the roots of the conflict go back far beyond that- it's probably the best starting point. I'll explain the awesome story of how the Byzantines exploded the Avar fleet another day, but the myth that surrounded Constantinople's victory was that Patriarch Sergius paraded a cloth used by Christ around the city walls, and it's holy power destroyed the attacking armies. Its a great story (also not true) but it also serves as one of the first examples of a relic being powerful because of its inert holiness. Over the next few decades, as rapid Islamic conquests weakened the empire and ignited a new religious fervour in the people, relics became much more important to the Christian world, eventually becoming objects of worship. Of course, there are only so many pieces of cloth used by saints, and finger bones to go round, so people unable to acquire a real relic (well, probably fake but real as far as they were concerned) began to focus their worship on an image of Christ or a saint instead. People began to use these images as an intermediary to Christ, which sort of breaks a few commandments, and therefore didn't go down well with everyone.

So who were the iconoclasts and iconophiles?

Iconoclasts hated the use of images as a way or worship. While they had no issue with holy figures being represented in art, they resented the idea of people praying TO an image, rather than straight to God. Meanwhile, iconophiles supported the use of images as an intermediary. It's also important to remember a vast amount of the ancient population was illiterate, so the only way they could really access holy teachings was through these icons. Consequently, there were a lot more iconophiles than iconoclasts.

How did the Pope come into this?

Brief structure of the ancient church- in rome you had a pope, in several other cities (including Constantinople) the leading Christian figures were patriarchs. Now, these WEREN'T the same as the pope, but that is maybe the easier way to think of them right now.  So the pope was an iconoclast- but the Byzantine patriarchs were iconophiles. Therefore, through the western world succeeding popes continued to fuel developments in religion in keeping with their version of Christianity, driving further splits down the centre of the ancient church.

And then they got petty, right?

Exactly. They got REALLY petty. It became a competition to see who could convert more people to their brand of the religion, and when the Byzantines won by converting the king of Bulgaria, the pope was angry. Suddenly a new piece of church doctrine, Filioque appeared in Rome, and without going in to much detail about what it meant- it seriously angered the Byzantines. For the next 200 years the two factions tolerated each other, but in 1054 the inevitable split occurred. The first major division in the Christian church would be followed by several more over the next few centuries.

So Rachael, other than a vague religious overtone how do you intend to relate this post to Christmas?

Ah ha, now there you have me. What's interesting to note, is that due to the division in the church, while many catholic countries adopted the gregorian calendar after it was created by pope Gregory in 1582, orthodox churches continued to use Julius Caesar's Julian calendar. The consequence? While both churches celebrated Christmas on the 25th December, no one agreed when this was, and the date was several days apart. This continued until 1923, when the Greeks adopted the gregorian calendar.

So... Merry Christmas! That's all I have to say for now. I'll be back next Saturday- on the account I get time to write something! :-)

Xxx

Don't Panic!

Right.

I spent ages wondering what to write about today, and I have eventually decided to keep to the theme of radio series-cum-books, I also wanted something a bit more cheery in the run up to Christmas, so here it is: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
((NB, I would like to add, for your amusement, that I had to check that my English was correct in the above sentence. It is now sadly ingrained forever into my internet history that on 17/12/2014, I asked Google to define 'cum'. In retrospect, I really should have just used a different word))

Unlike The War of the Worlds, Hitchhikers began life as a radio series, and was later created into a book, or the infamous 'Triology of Four', which incidentally contains five books, with a sixth by Eoin Colfer. This messy logic is only fitting for this damn book, which will forever be one of the strangest things ever written, with it's ridiculous made up language and even more ridiculous plotline. If you want an overview of the plotline, here's Wikipedia, because I have neither the time nor patience to go into enough detail: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy_(novel)

Douglas Adams may be the most famous writer to come out of Doctor Who, having written several episodes in the 1970s, he's had several spin off books too, and his works are constantly referenced even into the reboot series, Hitchhikers is a favourite book of the God of modern Who, Russel T Davies, it is an icon of British science fiction, for sure.

One of the main reasons this book is so special is the brilliance of the wordplay and command of language. Adams skirts just on the line between logic and nonsense, so much of the stuff you read reads like it ought to make sense. You know it doesn't make sense, but you can't deny the reasoning behind it. For example...

"a towel has immense psychological value.... What the strag will think is that any man that can hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through and still know where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with."

Secondly, Hitchhikers is amazing because of how ingrained into culture it has become without anybody really noticing. Walk into any room of people anywhere in the world and ask them what the meaning of life is, guaranteed at least one person will shout out '42!', they may not even know why, but it's a reference to the answer the great computer 'Deep Thought' gave when the mice gave it 7.5 billion years to answer the same question.

The randomness of it all just makes sense, mostly due to the existence of the 'Infinite Probability Drive', which makes unlikely things more likely to happen:

Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as it fell was Oh no, not again. Many people have speculated that if we knew exactly why the bowl of petunias had thought that we would know a lot more about the nature of the Universe than we do now.

Once you have read the book, it will be forever ingrained in your brain that 42 is just the answer, because it is, that you should never, ever let a Vogon read you poetry, that the Norwegian Fjords were designed by Slartibartfast and he won a competition for them, that you should always carry a towel upon your person and that your best friend might be from a small planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse and not from Guildford as he usually claims.

Having spent an hour trying, I now realise there is absolutely no way to explain this book other than to use the word 'odd.'. So I am going to finish up here, leave it short and sweet, and let you go.
Emily.

Dear Karma, I have a list of people you missed.

On The Brightside - NeverShoutNever

Hey guys it's my day again, I had a photoshoot at college and then I went to meet Emily and Rachael (Wednesday and Saturday) It was great to have a catch up and marvel in the fact that neither Emily or I could understand what Rachael was writing in Ancient Greek... she could have written that we were dickheads and we probably would believe that she had written that we were her friends. OK I joke, she didn't write that.... but she could have, just saying.

So that paragraph was just so I could finish my blackcurrant tea... when it gets colder it starts to taste funny :/... I don't think I like it as ice tea I shall have to try it properly some time. 

OK so lets talk about today's quote. I don't know why I chose it, I just liked it... and it was pretty short, so perfect title. But when we all think about we have that list somewhere in our head that we may not have even realise we had made. The more I thought about it, I realised that I did have a list, but as a strong believe in Karma, I realise that their time will come, Karma is just waiting until the right time to strike.

Ok so as for the song, I have had it stuck in my head for days. I just needed to share it. Right now I am listening to a dude called Iain Archer, don't know who he is but he sounds chill... I was listening to Matt Hires. I will share his song below.

Turn The Page - Matt Hires

I'm not going to do a challenge this week because only 3 of us post now so what's the point?

loves and hus 
Ryon
xxx

Akhenaten- Or how to make the Ancient Egyptians hate you in 3 easy steps

Good news Everyone!

I am home for Christmas! I arrived back today and am now prepared for 4 weeks of vague relaxation, and most importantly CHRISTMAS!

This week Bryony asked us to try at something. I had an essay to write, and I feel that counts as trying- so challenge achieved! Unfortunately I didn’t get a medal, as life isn’t like Mario Kart.

So I have been very busy this week, what with writing my essay, then celebrating having written my essay, and haven’t had much time to sit down and write a blog post. Consequently, my planned epic on Egyptian history is shortened to a few pieces of information on one pharaoh, but as I usually ramble too much maybe being snappy will help!

So I’m going to discuss Akhenaten. I also left my book in my suitcase, meaning this is all from memory- and therefore I may make mistakes, or misspell Akhenaten. But nevertheless!

Who was he?

Akhenaten was an 18^th Dynasty Pharaoh, ruling from around 1353-1336 BCE. His 17 year reign contained some of the most drastic changes that ever occurred in Egyptian history, impacting the religion, art and empire of the country.

So what did he do to religion?

Egypt was a polytheistic country, with an awesome pantheon of gods with wings and cat heads and stuff. Osiris had blue skin and ruled the underworld. Hathor had cow ears. Pretty cool deities’ right? Well Akhenaten decided he’d had enough of that, and thought monotheism was the way to go. He began closing (some) temples, determined everyone would now worship the ‘Aten’, the solar disc. Akhenamun (as he was then known) changed his name to reflect the new state religion, and built a new capital city called Akhetaten (I know these names are confusing! But bear with me) with a grand temple to worship the sun from.

What happened to the artwork then?

It’s fair to say Egyptian art wasn’t very exciting. Governed by rules and decorum it is pretty dull, figures forming the same positions, and committing the same actions to display an intended message. Anyway, under Akhenaten the repetitive nature of Egyptian art decreased. Figures became more relaxed, there was some diversity in bod shape and expressions, and notably faces became elongated. Intimacy in the royal family had been a feature of the art for the entire 18^th dynasty, but under Akhenaten this became much more pronounced, and there are many famous works of him, his queen Nefertiti and their daughters together. Also, the Aten appeared A LOT. Unlike previous gods the Aten wasn’t depicted with a human form, but as a circle with sun rays coming from it. Essentially, an ancient form of this:

Perhaps without the sunglasses though

How did he screw up his empire?

Ah, now that is where you have me. I don't know. I haven’t got my notes beside me. I’ll check Wikipedia for you. Nope, not that useful. Basically, he was instrumental in LOSING the empire. He didn’t get on that well with the neighbouring Kings, and the Hittites took at least one province. My lectures focuses mostly on his artwork, so I can’t tell you much more!

So how did people feel about him?

They HATED him. The priesthood held a lot of power, and owned a lot of land in ancient Egypt. Having their temples closed and their gods persecuted did not go down that well with them. While the dynamics of the Egyptian religion made the Pharaoh infallible, and therefore prevented any reaction during Akhenaten’s life, he was pretty much wiped out of the history books afterwards, along with his son, Tutankhamun (born Tutankhaten!)

Overall, Akhenaten didn’t have a great record.

Oh well, have a picture of him- until next week my friends!

The babies in this image are maybe the strongest evidence that aliens DID in fact live in ancient Egypt!

No-one would have believed, in the last years of the 19th century, that this world was being watched...

I entirely forgot to write a post last week. Sorry. I have no excuses, I had nothing to do all day but I still failed. No matter...

Firtsly, I would like to pick up on a point Rachael made on Friday about time periods and the end of 'Ancient History.' I had a great lecture last week about Periodization, chopping the past up into manageable chunks, it is essential for the study of history, but nearly impossible to do right, because it's not a natural way to divide History. I currently study three periods of history which by rights shouldn't overlap, but if you take ancient Rome and say (for example) it ends in the 5th Century AD, you're already well into the medieval period, and when does this end? With a sudden surge of technological advancement in the 13th Century? Somewhere along this line it blurs into Early modern period, the end of which is a source of great controversy - is it in 1517 when Martin Luther pins his theses to a church door in Germany, or the 1790s during the French Revolution - That's a 200 year disagreement that makes History a bugger to study. But it has to be done. If you can't devide History into the such called Frameworks (Periodization, history of individual nations, history of individual people...) you have to write about everything. And that would be impossible. Paradoxically, by limiting your studies using a framework, you unavoidably add severe bias to your work and cut off potentially argument changing facts. Historians are fighting a constant battle they can never win!

Couldn't resist adding it in

(Basically, people who tell you History is a soft subject have never studied it. And you should supply is cookies when you see us because we are often found lying in piles of books in confusion and exhaustion)

On the other hand, linking to the theme, to me studying history is living the dream. Because I want to be a historian? No. Because I want nothing more than to get in the TARDIS and fly away to travel in time. Studying history is about as close as the average girl can get to doing so, I want to be prepared for when we invent time travel. Of course they wouldn't send scientists back into the past, that would be stupid, they'll send the people who know what they're doing. The same way they didn't get engineers to fly airoplanes in the early days, they got the Navy, because they knew how to navigate big metal boxes.
On the subject of Time Machines....

This week I am going to talk about The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. It's a classic, has been transformed into almost every medium available. Possibly most famously on the Radio; more recently in a musical by Jeff Wayne (You know the one - 'The chances of anything coming from Mars, are a million to one, he said... But still, they come!!) and firstly as a news bulletin style Drama that was so realistic there were reports of mass hysteria throughout America as people believed the Martians were actually invading. Later the American public and it's suggestibility, not Welles and his convincing performance, was blamed as the cause. Definitely one of my favorite true stories about the 20th Century.

To summarise the story, the Martians invade, build a huge metal army, cause destruction, cause the renouncement of faith, separate families, drive people to insanity (My poor artilleryman...) and all the author wants to do is to find his wife and be safe. For most of the book it's your typical post-apocalyptic science fiction technology-dooms-us-all Victorian epic, one of the first of it's kind in describing conflict between men and extraterrestrials. Graphic description, a variety of characters from different settings tell the story brilliantly, since we hear of the unnamed author's experience of the invasion from his small rural village, it is destroyed, but the majority escape shaken, but unharmed, following the road away, and we also see it from his brother's POV in the middle of London where he is a student, the utter chaos caused in an industrial area, the huge loss of life and the last hope of mankind as some of them (including the mysterious 'Carrie', whose relation to the narrator we don't know) escape on a steamer under protection of the battleship 'Thunderchild'. This protection is quickly melted by the martians, and the humans despair.

"What good is religion if it collapses under calamity?"

Shockingly for a novel, the lack of characterisation is key. It's very personal, involving the reader by telling a first person narrative but main characters are not named, only adding to the fact that they are not important, they are just another person fighting to survive against the martian invasion, wallowing in dispair and mourning their loved ones. There's a particularly thrilling part where he has to kill a curate, who has gone insane, to stop the martians finding them through his shouting. He feels guilty, bu realises overall that he did what he had to, the martians had pulled apart a civilized society and humanity was reduced to a scrawling rat-like state, the artilleryman trying to dig underground and people fighting to the death over scraps of food. They are vermin compared to the elegant, powerful martians.

I loved reading this book, but there is one thing I will never quite get over. And that is that the end of this book is possibly THE BIGGEST ANTICLIMAX in literary history.
After so much chaos and horror and death and hunger the narrator is finally driven to death. He chooses to give himself up to the martians, the reader is geared up for a graphic, heroic ending but it never comes. Because, without warning, the martians just... die. Just before the final chapter the Martians are killed off by bacteria;

"These germs of disease have taken toll of humanity since the beginning... But by virtue of this natural selection of our kind we have developed resisting power; to no germs do we succumb without a struggle, and to many... [we are] altogether immune. But there are no bacteria in Mars, and directly these invaders arrived, directly they drank and fed, our microscopic allies began to work their overthrow. Already when I watched them they were irrevocably doomed, dying and rotting even as they went to and fro. It was inevitable. By the toll of a billion deaths man has bought his birthright of the earth, and it is his against all comers; it would still be his were the Martians ten times as mighty as they are. For neither do men live nor die in vain."

Clearly it is a very metaphorical ending, in this Victorian post-industrial age there was widespread terror of the dangers of science, apparent in almost every sci-fi novel of the 20th century (Frankenstein, for example). Bacteria kills the martians where man had failed (Though the ultimate victory is still attributed to man, since Britain was a prospering, ruling nation it would be awful to suggest we might lose a war...) But the suddenness of it shocks the reader as much as it does the narrator - this is all in the final chapter alone - and we are rewarded by a heartwarming reunite with his wife and brother and a threat that the Martians might return, not in the narrators future but maybe in the readers future. *Shiver*. It's not quite what we thought the novel was building up to, but there we are. One science defeating another. That's a new one for Victorian literature.

It's a very good book, I recommend it. I also recommend the radio musical by Jeff Wayne. I don't so much recommend the film starring Tom Cruise and annoying whiny child Dakota Fanning, though I liked it as a kid.
Emily.

Go, Live Your Dream!

I have a Dream - Tangled

OK so this week I almost forgot... so I will keep it short and sweet.

This quote comes from the one and only Hazel Griffiths, who writes for us on Fridays. She will blame me for this as I was on the phone to her and we were discussing Disney and Teatox. 

So as you may know this quote is in Tangled. And it may mean something to you and to be honest, it should. If it doesn't, then it's ok you just haven't found out quite what you want to do with your life. So take as many wrong turns as you need to end up on the right track again. (I feel like I just plagiarised there... but that could also not be a quote and if so... I'm an insightful little fucker haha)

To me it's where I am right now... well almost. I am going to college to get the skills that I need to follow my dream. Hazel is also on the same course, it was great that I knew someone to go onto the course with... and even better that she is in my class. 

Right so back onto your dreams. It's ok to not know what you are dreaming. Some people just haven't figured that out yet. In fact some people never do. I have known what I have wanted to do since I was about 14 and then I realised that I had the wrong options for my GCSE... I mean come on what does Italian have to do with Photography? Absolutely nothing. Then I TRIED to pick things to help at A level. Again... I don't know how DT would have helped, but somehow I thought it would. What I am saying is, if you haven't realised your dream yet or if you don't know how to get there. DON'T WORRY, you will figure it out. 

OK girlies, this week your CHALLENGE is to Try. OK so I have no idea what I mean by this challenge. But take it how you will... I don't mean it like you need to try harder, but what ever you feel you need to try at... just go for it... I hope it goes well for ya!

Until Next week

Love and Hugs

Ryon 
xxx

All roads lead to Constantinople

Χαιρετε φιλε!

^ behold, ancient Greek. The accents have been entirely ignored because frankly life’s too short, but nevertheless look what I can do! (FYI that says hello friends)

Anyway, on to some sort of topic, this week the challenge was to do something that made me happy, then write about it. I’ve been too busy to do much, but today (or Thursday, as that’s when I’m writing this) I had an induction for a curatorial volunteer role with my universities research and collections- which is a MASSIVE step in the right direction for what I eventually want to do with my life. So that has made me happy, and was sort of fun. Also, I have started looking at houses- which is also good- if stressful! J

Nevertheless, onto the rest of my post!

The Roman Empire is not ancient history. Well, it depends on who you ask, but for the purposes of this post I am going to pretend that you have asked me and then just rant about Byzantium for 600 words.

When I decided I wanted to study ancient history, I found a lot of people felt it necessary to test my credentials by asking ‘when does ancient history end?’ Of course, this is an important question, for when did we slip from hoplites and helots into Saxons and serfdom? When did the Middle Ages (the so called dark ages that were confined only to Europe, I might add) take over from the emperors and legions? The answer, as with all historical analysis, is decidedly unclear. And to be honest, it seems a bit unfair to expect a first year student to know the answer! Nevertheless, I will avoid the question, by answering another one. While the line between ancient and medieval is decidedly blurred, I propose that the Roman Empire did not end until 1453.

I know what you’re thinking, and it’s probably ‘shut up’. It’s a well-known fact that in 476 CE the Goths invaded Rome, and with the collapse of the city, was the collapse of civilisation until the renaissance. As problematic as this view is, even taken on face value, it can be only argued this was the collapse of western civilisation, for the eastern Roman Empire was still going strong.

So some clarification, when I say Byzantium/Constantinople I am referring to the capital of the eastern Roman Empire, originally a fishing village where modern Istanbul lies, and expanded under the emperor Severus. Due to power struggles in Rome, occasionally two emperors would emerge, one in the west, and another in the east. The eastern emperor has control of Egypt, parts of Africa and the other Asian provinces. The emperor Constantine I (last week’s funny looking fellow) renamed the town (Byzantium at this point) Constantinople, and greatly expanded it, making it Constantine’s capital city. And when Rome fell, Constantinople was still being ruled by the eastern Roman emperors.

So how Roman was this Roman city? Its undoubtable the state mutated, being so removed from Rome, though I firmly believe it’s still the Roman Empire. Byzantium had been a Greek village, and Constantinople’s Hellenistic roots were apparent throughout its history. Further, Constantine’s reason for expanding the city (well one reason- but I won’t go into too much on it now) was to create a Christian capital, removed from the pagan associations of Rome, and some argue (though not necessarily me) it was chiefly a Christian city. Therefore, with these two factors in mind, I shall explain why Byzantium, was still Rome.

With Greek roots, Constantinople is often considered to be a Greek city after Rome’s fall. With all due respect to those who hold this view, it’s quite blatantly wrong. The Greek influence in the city was apparent, but this is no way invalidated the romaness (that’s a word now deal with it) of the state. While Greek was the most commonly spoken language, and became the legal language under Heraclius in the 600s, Greek had also been the lingua Franca of Rome; therefor this change in no way prevents the city being considered roman. Further, much of Rome’s roots as a civilisation had been in Greek colonies. Aeneas, their mythological founder, was a hero of the Trojan War. In Sicily, Naples and all of central Italy Greek city states had existed for centuries before the foundation of Rome, to the extent Italy was considered Magna Graecia, by the Greeks. I won’t even begin to explain the similarity between the gods, because it would take far too long. Nevertheless, much of the art, architecture and society of Rome were based in the society of the Greeks who migrated there, and consequently it would be ignorant to look at the Hellenism within Byzantine society, and argue this made it un-roman.

The second argument against why Constantinople was simply a continuation of Roman society is that is became Christianised. Personally, I don’t believe Constantine intended the city to be a Christian capital, however I could write 1000+ words on that matter, and you don’t want to hear me talk about it right now. But even on the assumption that Constantinople was meant to be Christian alternative to Rome- it certainly didn’t have any religious pretentions that Rome didn’t. At the council of Nicaea in 325, three Christian cities were established, each ruled by a Patriarch. These included Alexandra, Antioch, and Rome. Constantinople was not given the role of a Christian city within Constantine’s lifetime- and it was Rome where he built 7 churches. It’s doubtable that Constantine even built any churches in Constantinople, besides that attached to his tomb. Besides, between 250 and 350 the Christian population of the empire had grown from 1 million to 34 million- Christianity as a major religion was in no way endemic to Constantinople, and by 476, Christianity was a vital part of Roman society, and by continuing the religious traditions Byzantium was continuing the Roman Empire.

The Roman Empire in 96 CE

The Byzantine empire in 555 CE... does it look a bit familiar to anyone?

Of course, there are plenty of differences between Byzantium post-476 and the Roman Empire at its peak- however I hope I have made my point clear, that for all intents and purposes, Byzantium was Rome, the people spoke the languages of the empire, followed one of its largest religions, and most importantly considered themselves Roman. Just to highlight this even further, following the Ottoman occupation of Constantinople in 1453, Sultan Mehmed II took the mantle Kaysar, which was the Turkish translation of Caesar. The title was still being used in Constantinople, as it had in Rome. So next time you are asked when ancient history ended and the middle ages began (for some reason- seriously is it just me who gets asked this all the time?) tell the questioner you have no bloody clue whatsoever, but the Roman empire did last until 1453. 

Hello Again

Hi there peeps,
I am so sorry I haven't posted in a while, but it's been a bit hectic haha So this weeks challenge is to talk about something that makes us happy. So this is hard one because SO many things make me happy, no word of a lie. I am so happy with life at the moment... But if I'd have to specify I'd say I'm most happy for my friends. They just keep me going so much!!!! With out them I don't think I'd be here today, or be the person I am today.

Banana MalkShake 

Bananas x6

Water 1.2lr

Blend these together and there you have it!

I apologies for the short post, but I have been really busy (and still am really busy) I will hopefully pick up the posted again soon, but for now, Adios 

Happiness Can Be Found in The Darkest of Places, If One Only Remembers To Turn On the Light

My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark - Fall Out Boy

Hey Guys, I'm gonna keep this short and sweet, I almost forgot this week, but I eventually remembered. I will get this posted before midnight, and while I sit there listening to the song above that has little to do with the quote, other than the words 'light em up' in it, I realise that the task I have set my self is entirely possible. Well lets face it, I'm not a slow typer, but the song did end, so I will briefly get some more music on and get back to work. 

OK so I am now listening to country. 

So today's quote, well to me it really only means that I was stuck for a quote so I discussed it with Hazel and since neither of us could remember what she had sent me before, I went with this one. That isn't to say that I didn't like it, only to say that if I had more time I would have chosen a different one. 

As I wrote the paragraph, Hazel found them, I was certain that she sent in in a personal message, not the group but hey there you go... we have 2 more quotes. 

In all seriousness, this quote does have it's way of clicking with me. And before you guys say anything, it's not because pretty lights make me happy (even though they do). It's because, through all those dark times you may go through, there is always that one light that you turn on. Be it a friend (mine was), or a mother, a daughter, grandparent, dad? It doesn't matter who your light is, or what it is for that matter, it just matters that you remember to turn it on. Now I am not saying that you need to turn on your theoretical light, it could be something as having a simple conversation, completely different conversation, to forget your troubles, or it can be sitting down and talking them through. It doesn't matter how, it is what ever works best for you. 

With that I think we should lead to our CHALLENGE. This week, I want you guys to do something that makes you happy, and talk about it on your post. Or well mention it. you can explain why it makes you happy, or what ever makes you happy.

I put up my Christmas Decorations today, I love Christmas.

Well guys I liked this being a happy post. We'll see what comes next week. I think I have an idea. You'll find out.

Loves and Hugs

Ryon

xxx

oops

well i am a complete
fuck
up,
im
a
shit
friend
and
a
shit
blogger

i completely forgot that today was sunday and that i even write a blog XD been bussy with rehersals droping out of a tv programe (which if i get the balls to do so one day then i will talk to ya'll about it) because i am going back slowly to the side of myself which i hate and think that im too ugly to be on tv so thats why i dropped out. BUT today i went to comic con for the first time, i meet Dominic, Emily and Luke (from in the flesh) got hugs and advice. i also meet the guy who acts as bronn from game of thrones and he singed it calling me tyrian so that was cool!!! and i also meet sean and jesse from storage hunters (i am gonna add some photos which i have, my phone ran out of charge so i have to wait for my friend to post em on facebook) i meet an owl called gandalf, optimus prime and loads just check the photos bellow not in the mood no more. BUT IT WAS AWSOME!!!! :D

but on the 2nd of decemember at midnight i will be on tv doing some shit acting (this was back in college where i really wanted to do it but we did not get a chance to rehearse it so its gonna be cringy) so you can give it a watch if you want. i really dont wanna right todays blogg really not in the right mindset just gonna watch some pewdiepie videos and comment on them coz i can XD ucch good bye my pritties

ginger out

Too busy plus too tired equals bad post

Bonjour,

Before I continue- I have an apology. What is it? It’s simply I have nothing to say. Nothing of interest to tell you. I have an epic post discussing Greek women planned, but I haven’t been able to write it coherently yet, so the idea is shelved for now, hopefully to reappear once I have studied the topic further. I am also incredibly busy, and lack the time to write, or even think, of another topic. I really am sorry, and I apologise to Bryony as well for this terrible post, but I really have nothing to say. I have some pictures from my trip to the British museum to upload- but am too busy/ lazy/tired to sort that now.

So, I am going to sign off apologetically, but not without answering this week’s challenge. What motivates me? Failure. I am terrified of failure, and I am going to fail my Greek test if I don’t go and do some work now.

So, au revoir, mes amis. I apologise for my rude and brief conduct, and as a final apology leave you with a picture of Constantine, because, for all I find him fascinating, you can’t deny he was a bit of a funny looking chap.

-Rachael xxx 

He had some great ears, you can't deny

P.s- I just saw my Sparta post had two whole page views! This is internet fame right?

The Chronicles of Narnia

I have wanted to do a piece about these wonderful books for some time, so here we are; Today I am going to discuss the beautiful series that is C.S Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia. There are seven, some of which are more widely known than others:
- The Magician's Nephew
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

My Boy Caspian. 

- The Horse and his Boy
- Prince Caspian
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- The Silver Chair
- The Last Battle
These books were very important to me as I grew up, Prince Caspian was one of my first loves and the casting of Ben Barnes when I was twelve didn't help this. Possibly paralleled with Michael Morpurgo, they are he reason I enjoy reading so much now I am (Almost) an adult. (I just arranged my first rented house this morning - official passage to Adulthood?)

Don't think I am diverging, for one of the key themes of the Narnia books is growing up. Maybe not in so literal a sense as aging, but religiously, for sure. Let us not forget that Narnia is a complex allegory of Biblical themes - The sacrifice and rebirth of Aslan to absolve Edmund from his sins; sound familiar? For three books we follow (mainly Lucy and Edmund's religious journey, they become good people (Queen Lucy the Valiant and King Edmund the Just) and when they have finished, culminating in the heroic 'death' of Reepicheep the brave mouse as he goes on to find 'Aslan's Country', Aslan appears as a lamb (!) and tells them that Lucy and Edmund cannot return to Narnia, for they must learn to find him in their own world; 

 "'I am [in your world],' said Aslan. 'But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little you may know me better there'"

To conclude this sectoin about Religion, I must skip to the final book; The Last Battle which is, quite honestly, sinister. Really damn creepy and, please excuse me if you are religious, denotes one of the things I don't like about religion. This idea that, even if one leads a good, fulfilling life, a lack of belief or being considered 'unworthy' or 'distracted' will mean that you are pretty much doomed. At the very end of the series, The entire realm of Narnia is ceasing to exist, Father Time has blown his horn, the stars are falling and the Pevensies, Polly and Diggory, and their friends and family have all been killed in a train crash in our world, with Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Eustace, Jill, Polly and Diggory, 'free from old aches' were dragged to Narnia by their loyalty. These, and select few others we have met through the series, are 'Saved', taken to Aslan's world. The others, mad with panic, are considered 'unworthy', the animals have their talking ability taken from them and are left to deal with the end of the world. Not cool.

You may have noticed that our dear 'Queen Susan the Gentle' was not mentioned in my list of the saved. She was, by luck, not in the train crash that killed her whole family. Was she saved? No. She was left to suffer. 'No longer a friend of Narnia'. It is made quite clear to us that Susan, all grown up, does not conform with societal ideals of womanhood. In Jill's words 

 "she's interested in nothing now-a-days except nylons and lipstick and invitations."

C.S Lewis was a mysogenistic little man, indeed. 
She has clearly stopped believing in Narnia (allegorically, she has moved away from religion) Eustace Scrubb tells us she said to the others:

"What wonderful memories you have! Fancy you still thinking about all those funny games we used to play when we were children," 

 Of course, these are very strong ideals from the time, we cannot automatically assume that Lewis was considered outrageous for his ideas. In fact, Susan's fate is left ambiguous, it is possible - probable, even - that in the wake of the train accident Susan re-established her faith and eventually found her way to Narnia after dying perhaps of old age. This is a very complex point, and I found some wonderful articles going into detail about Lewis' misogyny HERE and HERE. They make interesting reading.
Another example of opinions of the time is the slightly racist attitude shown in the books, with the dark haired and very Jewish-Like militants from Telmar, the antagonists in Prince Caspian, and the Calormenes in The Horse and His Boy who bear a striking resemblance to a Muslim faith where even the recial slur 'darkie' is used against them.  The first article above explains better and in more detail than I can in the time I have left. Of course, these do not stand true throughout, Prince Caspian himself is a Telmarine, and Susan later marries a Calormene, though Edmund is reported saying 'It is a wonder you could find it in your heart to show him such favour'

 But my main argument here is that whilst these are childrens books, these are not books to be read lightly. Lewis claims that the allegorical religion, misogyny and racism were not intentional, that he simply set out to make a story, but all the same, it is there. Clear as day.

In all, this series is a very much treasured and adored series, and even against a backdrop of religious allegories and possible misogyny and racism, these stories do catch the attention of children, of magical worlds that can be found in Wardrobes or in times of strife such as war torn Britain or the return to school, of fauns and talking animals and centaurs, battles where the good triumph and brave little comedy mice. Rambunctious and arrogant and greedy little boys are punished, they learn their lessons and it even becomes almost a competition, As this conversation between Eustace and Edmund shows:

"I'd like to apologise. I'm afraid I've been pretty beastly."

"That's all right," said Edmund. "Between ourselves, you haven't been as bad as I was on my first trip to Narnia. You were only an ass, but I was a traitor."

They are fantastic stories. And wittily written, simple, and all round lovely.I certainly couldn't leave without mentioning my favorite opening line of any book ever:

'There once was a boy named Eustace Clarence Scrubb. And he almost deserved it.'

Phew, that went deeper than I was intending it to, so sorry. I hope I didn't offend anyone or ruin your childhood. They are fantastic books, just with outdated ideas. I was also a little pushed for time. Wednesdays are pure chaos for me. 
Ta ta for now. 
Emily

Paint The Sky, Make It Yours

Dawin - Just Girly Things

Ok so this weeks quote has fuck all to do with anything. I just think it's a good message.

To me it says that I need to stop waiting for things to happen for me, that I have to make them happen for myself. 

For Example I am back at College basically getting my life on track... I want to do photography as a career, but that wont happen unless I am willing to put the work in and make it happen for myself. 

It took me a whole year to figure out what this quote has summed up in 6 words. And while I sit here with my head slightly like from drinking some Pina Colada (I haven't had a drink in a few weeks don't judge me) I think about this quote more. I hadn't heard this quote until about 3-4 hours ago, and I already want it on my motivational wall.

Ok so reading this (especially coz I schedule it for the date) you won't realise that I took a break for a sneezing fit, now I can't breathe. But, Man, does it sober you up. 

To be honest I'm not sure what this music Monday is about, especially as I have to write it on a Wednesday as I am fairly busy in the next coming days and the fact that I know I am going to be tired on Monday and wont want to post will be the death of me. 

That's really it from me. I will let you guys know that I am now employed, which is fantastic. 

I shall leave you guys with the CHALLENGE and go write my christmas cards, which I only have 20 of... THAT'S NOT ENOUGH!

OK CHALLENGE: so this week it is talk about what keeps you motivated. for me it is a Wall and my friends :)

Loves and Hugs
Ryon
xxx

Sparta: As recommended by Lenin

Hello friends. I hope you are well and not dead. But judging by the number of hits my
posts have received so far, you are likely all dead. In which case, that sucks mate, hope you feel better soon.

That paragraph above is sloppy writing. I mean seriously, as a former English student, I
should not have changed from talking to a group, as I first addressed you, to talking to one
person. I was aware as I wrote this, but by the end it seemed to work better comedically if I
spoke to you guys as one person, rather than a group.

Talking about good comedy, do you know what the secret to good comedy is? Timing.
Hmmm. Maybe that particular joke works better out loud.

Nevertheless, this weeks challenge dictates I tell you guys my favourite T.V quote. I've
been stressing over this since Monday- despite hours of back and forths with Emily over the
years, where we just scream quotes at one another, in my hour of need these have all
abandoned me. Alas, I am going to have to cheat, and revert to a radio show quote. Please
don't hate me. Anyway, has anyone listened to cabin pressure? 'Hey Cheif, I might be wrong, but I think we might be flying into a mountain'...

(That was the quote. Seriously, the show is great, and makes sense, unlike this post)
But onto my topic this week, and guess what? I'm actually organised! I'm writing this at
3 minutes to 11 on FRIDAY evening. Who knows, maybe I'll write a fantastic and complete
essay tonight, and I can get it posted early tomorrow. Likely not. Never mind- I'm going on
tangents a bit this week aren't I? Is that another tangent? Is it possible to get back to my main
point from here? Let's play word association... Tangent... Maths... Triangles... Pythagoras...
Ancient Greece... Sparta... SPARTA!

So, without further ado, I will talk about Sparta. Most famous in our generation for the
2006 film they inspired, or rather the comic they inspired, which was turned into a film, the
Spartans were many things. Communist (almost?) Fascist (says Hitler) yet most importantly,
badass. My Greek history professor is a massive fan of Sparta, so I had an extensive lecture
on the topic a few weeks ago, as a result I am basically going to use those notes right now, so
just sit back and pretend you are in my lecture theatre. (If you need help imagining just
picture some annoying guy eating crisps loudly is on one side of you, and on the other side a
girl is apologising profusely to a flatmate for throwing up in her sink last night- you get the
idea).

Anyway, why not use the film as guidance? (Because that's totally not what my lecturer
did, and I'm not copying him in any way, seriously guys, if copy-write comes into this, I
actually haven't) We see Spartans sporting glorious red capes, which is important because they actually DID. Well, sort of red. Also purple, probably looked a bit reddish though. You see,
Spartans were Lacedaemonians (Spartans is a bit easier to say) and around Lacedaemon
(Sparta) there was a special type of mollusc, that was needed to produce the red/purple dye.
This was incredibly expensive, but because of how many molluscs there were near Sparta,
lots of soldiers wore a red cape- basically to say 'look how badass we are- we all get fancy
capes, screw you Athens.'

Capes aside, that last sentence was most of Spartan history.

I'm not going to discuss the upbringing of Spartans too much. Essentially, it sucked.
Young boys were taken from their family at age 7, and immediately put into harsh training.
Food was limited to barley and groats, maybe bay leaves. They were given little clothes, and
routinely flogged. Life was no easier for the women either, so push aside any notions of the
demure and oppressed Greek mistress. No, women were made to exercise regularly, and
dance naked in front of men from childhood, so they were afraid to be overweight or
unattractive. Stories were spoon fed to both genders of the ideal and heroic Hoplite. But why
was this the case? Because Sparta was a military state, and they dreamed of making the
perfect soldier. Men joined mess halls, and were taught to fight, women were taught to bear
healthy sons, who could then become soldiers themselves.

According to some, namely the Russian government 1921-1991, Sparta was also communist. The polis has long been held up as an ideal of equality, men eat together from all
walks of life. Regardless of birth or status, you were a soldier, committed to your cause and
country. There was some measure of democracy, 'Ephors' and an assembly were elected, who
could, in theory, say yes or no to the decisions of the two kings. Generalships were held
annually. Currency wasn't gold, but iron rods, and everyone wore awesome and expensive
purple/red capes. Even the women seem to have had it better than in many other Greeks
states (though I shall contest this another time, when I can be bothered) and were respected
for being healthy and for being good, strong and proud mothers. On face value, maybe the
soviets were on to something, about Sparta at least. Not on everything else of course.
Especially Stalin. He was a bad idea.

But this was not an equal society, by any means. None of Greece is the pillar of
democracy we hold it up to be, and Sparta is no exception to the rule. While life was relatively
equal for citizens (in the last three sentences I have used italics twice, guess what I just found
out how to do?) it was by no means a classless utopia. Mess halls you entered were pretty
wealth oriented, and a farmers son was not going to end up in the same one as a prince. Also
the practice of eugenics doesn't seem that egalitarian, for you see, while in other Greek States
the father could decide whether or not to expose a child, in Sparta, that was the States
decision. Yes, the government had the power over life and death of every child born . Sparta,
unequivocally, was not an equal and democratic state.

But the biggest argument against spartan equality was that any arguments in its favour
are only applicable to citizens. And if you weren't a citizen? You were likely a helot. Helots
were slaves, from conquered Spartan territories usually, who had no land rights, and were
severely oppressed, despite vastly outnumbering their oppressors. These men and women
worked the farms and did the other seemingly menial tasks that kept the state running while
the rest of the polis was off playing soldiers. But do you know what happens when you leave
severely undermined and angry people behind while you go off to try and invade Athens
(again)? The answer, as Tsar Nicholas found out, is revolt.

(Disclaimer, I am not saying Tsar Nicholas II invaded Athens. That again is merely an
example of my sloppy writing and the fact I've referenced Russian history too much so now
it's stuck in my head)

Helots had a tendency to rebel when The Spartan army buggered off for any period of
time, or if there was an earthquake. Or if they were just generally annoyed. And the army
had to return, and put the revolution down. This worked, Sparta due to their efforts did have
an effective and good army, and they survived for a few hundred years without any major
government changes, but it still highlights the instability that lay at the heart of their state.
Their definition of equality was limited, and the internal issues it caused far too many for one
post.

So behold, Sparta. Not so much communists, fighting for glory and equality of man,
than viscous yet excellent soldiers. Life in the polis was hard, demanding, and dare I say it?
Spartan (there goes my one pun for the week, enjoy). It's now 23:40 Friday night, and my post
is practically written. Just one more movie quote for you guys

THIS IS SPARTA!
(Come on, don't judge me, it had to be said!)

Also, just an interesting point. My IPad recognised the word Stalin, but not Hitler. I wonder what that says- conspiracy theorists- away!

Rachael xxx