"we're all shitty in our own way, regardless of religion, culture, or nationality."
This was news to you? Huh.

I don't have the energy to get into this in detail, @avclub-0c3e626d1a287cdc48c77515c8dcc243:disqus (stupid home sick) but what you were taught in 8th grade English class (Zeus = Jupiter) is a gross oversimplification. SUffice it to say that the Romans had a fully-formed, very elaborate religious system before they…

Even in the first phase of monarchy (from founding by Romulus to expulsion of Tarquinius Superbus), Rome was an odd conglomerate. The Senate nominated a king, & the people voted to ratify the choice. Kings weren't chosen by "divine right", & dynastic succession didn't occur (though Tarquinius Superbus did follow his…

Everybody in the field of classical studies knows that the Pax Romana was just a period of relative peace, not TOTAL peace. Even considering troubles along the German border & the eastern conflicts mentioned in this peace, it was still comparatively stable & prosperous. Note that the author here refers to the Roman…

I hate when people do that!

They made Dad sick-E-mart!

Ay, Luigi bring-a you kids-a the pizza—why you make-a the fun?

Especially when you consider that their first three albums already contained such colossal tunes as "My Generation", "The Kids Are Alright", "A Quick One, While He's Away", & "I Can See for Miles", & then they released fucking Tommy, all before Live at Leeds. Anyway, if The Who "hooked their entire career" on any one…

Me, too, @avclub-3e91970f771a2c473ae36b60d1146068:disqus. In fact, this piece made me watch the video IMMEADIATELY after "Surrender" ended.

Can you think of a BETTER reason for retaining it?

Probably, but if Apuleius' novel is similar, there might have been some connective tissue, if not a plot per se. Definitely episodic, though. ("Picaresque" is a lovely word, isn't it?)

Petronius was dead by 65 BC, forced to commit suicide rather than face execution—given the choice, no sane person would let Nero choose his manner of death. So, "mid-1st century A.D.", rather than "late in the 1st century A.D.", is what I'm getting at.

Parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus is actually a complete sentence, quoted from Horace (Ars Poetica, line 139). It literally means, "Mountains will be in labor, a ridiculous mouse will be born." That may sound like nonsense out of context, but it's really a pretty amusing piece of advice for writers—don't…

One would also assume there would be wizard populations, & the concomitant wizarding schools, in the Americas, no?

And they pronounced it "foine".

I wish!

They sell mediocre coffee now? So, it's a step up from the terrible coffee they used to sell?

The principal of the school where I work is actually named Skinner.

I read it as "Bricks and dicks", which sounds like a bad combination.

A practical question: What make & model of drumsticks? The kind the kid uses in the movie? (I haven't seen Whiplash, so I don't know what sticks he uses.) Presumably the winner wouldn't actually use 'em, so maybe it doesn't matter.