Suchian Musings And Ramblings About General Designs Involving Notable Estuaries

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  • More people have said that and been killed than there are thorium decay products.
    Matilda sure did some stuff. :o
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    In 1141, her forces captured Stephen!

    Eventually, Stephen was forced to acknowledge Matilda's son Henry as his heir (Stephen had planned for his own son, Eustace, to take the throne after he died; but nope, forced oath.  Eustace died a couple weeks later, and then Stephen died a while after Eustace.)

    Henry II can now be King!  He, throughout his life, follows his mother's advice, adn learned from her to never underestimate someone just because she's a she.
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    So, we see how Geoffrey of Anjou ended up with his son on the throne in a series of events that started when he (Geoffrey) was seven years old.

    Now, in Aquitaine, in 1121, as I've said, Eleanor of Aquitaine was born.  In 1137, at age 16, she married Louis, the oldest surviving son of King Louis The Fat of France (not making that up, that's his real epithet.).  She soon discovered that Louis, her husband, wanted to be a monk, and had always wanted to be a monk.  In fact, Louis had never wanted to be a king in the first place, it was his older brother Phillip who was supposed to be king; but Phillip got killed by a boar in the streets of Paris when Louis was young, so yeah.

    Louis was all like, "but I don't want to marry!  I want to be all celibate and stuff!"; and Eleanor was, well, a woman who probably should have been born in this century.  After a few years, they had two daughters and some miscarriages and stillborns.

    Well, Eleanor had spent her entire life up to sixteen in Aquitaine, the land of troubadours, song, chivalry, courtly love, chansons, and gallant knights.  Shocking the neighboring lands with their bawdy songs and liberalness towards marriage and annulment, Aquitaine was the party school of Gaul.  Except that they were actually quite educated and knew dang well how to write poetry and walk the walk that they talked.  This is the high middle ages.  Eleanor grew up adoring her parents, but her mother died young, and her father would go off on campaigns.  She had a sister named Petronilla.

    SO, her father, William X, inherited Aquitaine from his father, William IX, who inherited it from his father, William VIII.

    Wiliam X was all like, "Dudes, all that I have, I give to my daughter Eleanor when I die.  Seriously, dudes, I'm not even kidding." and he made DANG sure she'd get Aquitaine when he died.  Which she did.  Since Aquitaine is now about one third to one half of modern France, this is a very important area.

    Eleanor, in her childhood, had an uncle, Raymund, who was eight years older than her, and was the younger brother of her father.  They were great friends; and they were raised as brother and sister, until Raymund had to move away and Eleanor had to get married.

    So, Yeah, the marriage.  1137, Eleanor leaves Aquitaine with its books and poems and its language, to go to France and marry Louis Capet.  Everyone in France speaks the Langue d'Oil, not Eleanor's Langue d'Oc.  And, well, Louis wasn't so keen on the troubadours, and always felt kinda guilty about how stupid in love he was with Eleanor, because dang it, why couldn't he have been a monk and why couldn't she give him sons, why'd he have the worst of both worlds?  Neither celibacy nor sons? 

    Also, she wanted him to go conquer Toulouse, which she always considered to be part of Aquitaine, even though nobody in Toulouse had thought that for eighty years.  Sort of a china-Taiwan situation
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    Miko said:

    Matilda sure did some stuff. :o

    Yep.  Yep she did.
  • edited 2014-04-07 15:20:05
    ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    To make a long story short, Louis failed to conquer Toulouse, making Eleanor even more ughhhhhhed at him.  She wanted some dashing exciting fighter-man, not this monkish dweeb.

    So, in 1147, after ten years of marriage, Eleanor and Louis go on Crusade!  Louis always wanted to go on crusade, and had promised his brother Phillip that he'd go to Jerusalem and pray for Phillip's soul (Phillip had always wanted to go crusading, and, while dying, had made Louis promise him to go crusading in his place).  Eleanor had always wanted to go on a crusade like at least one of the Williams she was descended from.  She brought dresses and silks and swords and armor and dressed as a knight herself, though she only held the standard and never was anywhere near the fighting.  I mean, what, you think this is 1066?

    Well, at one point, going through arabia, they are attacked and the thirsty horses simply won't run fast enough to outrun the infidel Moslem's mules.  For completely logical reasons, everybody blames Eleanor for bringing silks, which obviously were so heavy as to slow down everybody's horses, or rather, to slow down her own horses so everybody had to go the speed of her horses and die from arrows.  Also, a bunch of them die of thirst, and they're all like "Eleanor!  This is your fault!".  Because logic.

    Eleanor, used to the green and lush lands of Aquitaine, and the loud bustle of humid France, was unprepared for the trek across the holy land.  Take, say, the president's most pampered daughter, and make her walk the Oregon trail without sunscreen or bug spray.  Eleanor, ticked at everyone for blaming her, ticked at these conditions, sick to flipping hades with the Langue D'oil, keeps swearing up a storm in her Langue D'oc; which nobody else can really understand.  She, having always been well-dressed in her life, has her mother's dresses ruined by sand and wind, washed away in rivers, or sold to buy water for the soldiers that blame her for everything.  Eleanor is flipping miserable and sees that in all probability, they're gonna be here for years.

    And then, and then, a wonderful thing happens to her.

    They.  Reach.  Antioch!
  • edited 2014-04-07 15:19:23
    ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    Antioch's ruler is Raymund!  Eleanor's brother/uncle!  It's in an oasis (at the time), and the official language is the Langue D'oc!  Another section of her old family clothes stash is there!  There are freaking carpets and flowing water and indoor plumbing!  You can take a bath!  Sure, there are "Moslems" in Antioch, but they and the Christians are at peace.  The Christians even wear long beards and turbans, like the "Moslems", and the "Moslems" decorate the city in their wonderful style.  Even the Christian Churches look like Mosques, and Christian and Muslim live side by side in peace.

    Well, not everything peaceful with Antioch.  But the troubles are from without, not within.

    Antioch is at siege and is within a few weeks of falling.  The army that Eleanor and Louis bring is a godsend.

    But, best of all, best.  Of.  All.  Is Raymund himself.  So many years to catch up on!  She can hear tales of the time Raymund went on campaigns with her father.  Eleanor becomes best friends with Raymund's beloved wife; and she adores their three little kids.  It reminds her of Aquitaine.  From her depression, she is now elated.  A whole lot her soldiers notice her and Raymund talking in this language they don't understand, see how they hug and how happy she is, and conclude, logically, that she is having an incestuous affair with him.

    Most modern scholars disagree with the "incestuous affair" theory.  I mean, Aquitaine was liberal, but not that liberal; and it makes a lot more sense as a meeting with a long-lost brother/uncle right out of the hardest time of her life so far.  Also, it would be completely out of Raymund's character to have an affair; from all accounts of him.

    Raymund was all like ,"need halp plz.  After this siege, we're planning to build up our forces and take Aleppo, the gateway to Edessa.  Remember, Edessa is the actual stated purpose of this crusade in the first place?  Also, to do this, we need the help of Damascus, the only nearby Muslim city not against the crusaders, and it might even be willing to go to our side.  They're sending us supplies and stuff."

    Eleanor spent only ten days in Antioch before Louis was all like, "we're outta here.  We're not saving this city.  We're gonna attack Damascus, and then go to Jerusalem."

    And Eleanor was all like "What?  Heck no!  We're not supposed to attack Damascus!  They're planning to accept crusaders as friends, and open their gates to us!  And I wanna stay in Antioch!  Don't let Antioch fall, we'll lose all chance of claiming Edessa.".

    And Louis was all like, "whatevr."

    So, in the tenth night, (the year was 1148) Louis's soldiers tore Eleanor from her bedroom and took her from the city by force.  They went to Damascus, which had prepared to receive the Crusaders with open arms. They decided to catapult the city, and start a siege.  Joining the crusaders to do this siege is the forces of Baldwin of Jerusalem and King Conrad.  This city, which would have just let the crusaders come in and drink, which was a rich but strategically unimportant city, could last quite a while against a siege.  But, well, never again would a Muslim town be so eager to welcome Crusaders.  Eleanor was ticked, but had no way to run away.
  • edited 2014-04-07 13:32:45
    ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    Antioch held on until 1149, Raymund held out hope that Eleanor would come back and bring help.

    In 1149, some muslim allies of raymund come to help, but even with their help, Aquitaine cannot stand.  It falls June 29, 1149, to Nur Al-din (Saladin's uncle) at the battle of Inab.  (Nur Al-Din had defended Damascus against Louis, Conrad, and Baldwin's forces; until those forces gave up and went to Jerusalem.) (Also, Nur Al-Din had taken command of Aleppo, which is why he was fighting Raymund.)

    Raymund is killed, his head and arm removed that day.  His head is sent to the Caliph of Baghdad.  Antioch is pillaged and its popluation reduced.  It's walls and many buildings destroyed.  Aleppo, the gateway to Edessa, is untakeable now.  Eleanor had tried to convince her husband during those months to go fortify Antioch, to go help, but nope. 

    In the end, the Second Crusade is a loss.

    Eleanor, by the time she and Louis return to France, is determined that she will obtain a divorce...
  • edited 2014-04-07 15:48:06
    ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    So, time for a weird anecdote:

    So, there's a story, told by the Minstrel of Reims that Eleanor, on that fateful tenth night, had decided to run away forever from Louis, and she had one foot on the boat out of town when Louis himself found her, took her by the hand, and brought her back to her room.  As he did so, he asked her why she was running away, she said,  (This is Marion Meade's translation of the Minstrel's chronicle.) "In the lord's name, because of your own naughtiness!  For ye are not worth one rotten pear!  And I have heard so much good of Saladin that I love him better than you; and know ye of a truth that henceforth shall ye have no joy of keeping me".

    What's awesome about this is that Saladin in that year (1148) was twelve.  (not sure if he turned twelve, or was twelve turning thirteen).

    Seriously? 

    I mean, it was Saladin's Uncle Shirkuh (the brother of Saladin's father) who had personally killed Raymund in the battle.

    (also, Nur Al-din wasn't Saldin's uncle.  He was just the boss/commander of Saladin's father and uncle, but considering how close he was to that family, he might as well be considered an uncle).
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    So, yeah, Eleanor is an enemy of Shirkuh in the second crusade, and her son Richard the Lionheart will be an enemy of Shirkuh's nephew Saladin in the third crusade.
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    Tthe very muslims who had been on Raymund's side at Antioch before Elanor and Louis arrived were lead by Mu'in; who had been running Damascus.  When Louis besieged Damascus, Mu'in's forces went from defending Antioch to defending Damascus; and Mu'in, desperate to save Damascus, allied with his old enemy Najm (Saladin's father.  Mu'in had besieged the town Baalbeg and conquered it away from Najm.).  As payment for his help, Najm demanded that he be the one to rule Damascus.  Mu'in agreed.

    So, Najm calls for help from his brother Shirkuh and his boss Nur Al-din; and they come to help defend Damascus, and they gain power in that area.  Mu'in would have never let them come there and gain a foothold if Louis hadn't besieged Damascus and forced him to join with his enemies Najm and Shirkuh and Nur  Al-din.

    And, well, Nur Al-din and his general Shirkuh, after the crusaders had left Damascus to go to Jerusalem, had gone and taken Antioch.

    Even Raymund's other muslim allies, who come to help in 1149, are too little, too late to save Antioch.

    In fact, Louis's attempted capture of Damascus was the catalyst for Najm's family to gain power in the area of edessa, aleppo, damascus, and Antioch. 

    But, to Louis, all muslims were as one, and it didn't matter who hated who. 
  • edited 2014-04-09 12:57:05
    ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    When Louis and Elanor left for the crusades in the beginning of 1147,  Empress Matilda looked to be losing the war against Stephen.  Stephen's wife was named Matilda, and she was the daughter of King Malcom of Scotland and Saint Margaret of Scotland, and was the Countess of Bologna, and Stephen was the count of Moraine.  Some close relative of Stephen had married some close relative of Louis, and Louis was a loyal ally and friend to Stephen and his wife.  Stephen was first cousin to Empress Matilda.  Matilda brought the Scottish to Stephen's side, and is remembered as good in Scottish history.  She brought in forces of Bologne and Flanders.

    When Stephen was captured by Empress Matilda's forces, Stephen's Matilda kidnapped Empress Matilda's half-brother Robert and arranged for an exchange of prisoners.  (Note how when Empress Matilda was captured, she escaped on her own and did awesome stuff and got back to england.)

    Not for nothing is this sometimes called by historians the war of two Matildas.

    When Louis and Elanor left for the crusades in the beginning of 1147, Henry (son of Geoffrey of Anjou and Empress Matilda) was just a boy with
    no real position; and Eustace (son of King Stephen of Blois and his Matilda of Bologna) was a crown prince.  Empress Matilda was losing the war; and it looked like good relations between France and England would remain for the next century.  When they came back in the end of 1152, Henry Fitzempress (the future Henry II) was a
    man, and the Count of Anjou and Duke of Normandy (but not king of england); and it looked like Empress Matilda was winning.

    Geoffrey and his Empress Matilda agreed on three things:  They hated each other on every conceivable level, they adored their children, and the best way to transfer leadership was to (have your son start ruling small areas and then gradually give him more responsibility until he is co-ruler, and keep gradually giving him responsibility until he can run the place on his own and then by the time your son is actually the boss, he has experience).

    In short, Louis and Elanor were very strong allies of Stephen and his Matilda; and when they took their forces on Crusade, Stephen and his Matilda ended up losing important land and battles in the war against the Empress Matilda.

    So, in another way, they'd really messed up by going on crusade.  In fact, in 1151, the Pope had tried to reconcile Elanor and Louis, to the point of outright bribing them to not hate each other.

    Elanor, during 1152, met Henry Fitzempress.  In that year, Elanor tried to get a divorce from Louis and it was granted by the pope.  She then, eight weeks after the divorce, married Henry Fitzempress, or, rather, Henry Plantagenet; who, strangely enough, had once been suggested as a suitable husband for Elanor's daughter Marie.  Elanor was eleven years older than Henry.  In 1153, Stephen was forced to declare Henry his heir, and he died.  Also, Stephen's son Eustace died.  Empress Matilda had won.  Stephen's Matilda had died in 1152.

    In 1154, Elanor and Henry were crowned king and queen of England; and Aquitaine, which is a third to a half of modern france, had joined the Normandy-Poitou-Anjou-England empire.

    Louis had lost Stephen, wth him had lost Blois, had lost Stephen's Matilda and with her Scotland, Bologne, Flanders (the flemish, Moraine, had lost the Holy Land, had lost his wife and with her half of his empire, had lost his vassal Geoffrey of Anjou (father of Henry) who had rebelled, taking Poitou, Anjou, Normandy, and England out of his nominal control though he still swore fealty.  All he had were his daughters (he was given custody with the divorce this time.  Sometimes the mother got custody, sometimes the father, sometimes it was split.).

    Remember, we are now in the 1150's.

    The White Ship sank in 1120, when Geoffrey of Anjou was seven years old.  He was 37 in 1150.  The Norman Conquest was in 1066. 
  • edited 2014-04-09 12:57:08
    ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    Which one should I honor with the title of Matilda1?
  • edited 2014-04-09 14:00:41
    ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    I just realized in the Gravit yFalls opening for, like, a split second, you can see some white lines. I think it's maybe on one or two frames, you have to keep your eyes open and not blink to see it.

    I can't pause it quick enough on the dvd-vcr at home to get it.
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    So, I've seen seven episodes of Gravity falls.  How many episodes are there?
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    After repeated attempts, all I've gotten from that split-second image at the end is a ^ shape..  Maybe triangle?   Argh, too fast for me.

    I have noticed that in the last half-second, the logo flips upside down; and since it's in every episode I've seen, it can't be unintentional.
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    So, in the intro, when Grunkle Stan seems to be telling some sort of ghost story around a campfire, we see a fishing pole near the guy who resembles patrick; and a guitar by that one girl. 

    Also, a crescent moon where you see the right side.  That's a waning moon.

    And the bus that goes past and presumably drops off Mabel and Dipper,  it says something like "speedy beaches".  Behind Mabel, we see an arrow pointing right.  When Stan appears, sparkles and spirals. 
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    Just when Stan appears, there seems to be another arrow pointing right.  Towards the Mystery Shack.
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    Why is there an ear in a jar?  Ewww.
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    So, Dipper uses a candle ot look at an upside down J, a box without a bottom with an x in it, a diamond with legs, and the letter f.  Is the ^ I see at the end the top of that diamond with legs?

    The Mystery Shack seems to be in disrepair, with holes in the wallpaper, and a lampshade that is crooked.

    Why are there eyes in the Salb(umatel) jar?  My dad used to use Salbumatel for his asthma.
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    Ooh, a page of the journal.  Oooh, a triskele!  Celtic imagery?  In a Disney show?

    "fig. 3" the number 5, and a triangle in a top hat with arms and legs and one eye.  Code decoder 8?  A triangle with the number three in it?  N?  7?  A capped pyramid?

    A stylish fancy m in a circle?  Fancy J with three lines through it?  Two sideways Omega symbols with a line through them?  W O I M?  Circle with a half circle on top of it with a line that goes left, up, left, down, left?  Stylish D and Z?
  • edited 2014-04-09 15:31:46
    ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    Next, an 8 ball from pool floats up.

    So, the photoes:

    Gnome, Gideon, this

       (  )
    <___>

    symbol that in the beginning (there was a lightbulb with that shape in the part where Dipper and Mabel walk past a jar with an ear in it)

    The AWESOME meme face on a grizzly bear, alien baby with big ears and big teeth and big eyes, hand with broken fingernails, fishy-looking alien guy with goggles,  guy with goatee, and guy with goggles.

    Wierd Photographs.
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    Pterodactyl?

    And then we see the logo.  There is a one penny stamp and that same

       (  )
    <___>

    thing.
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)

    Salbumatel jar?

    You only see the SALB, and part of the B is cut off.

    I probably remembered it wrong, it might be Salbumatol or something instead of Salbumatel.
  • edited 2014-04-09 15:40:13
    ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    And at the end, the image doesn't just flip, it goes all mirror image and upside down.

    The Salbumatel jar is in the intro (as are all the things I'm talking about)  It has eyes in it that turn to look at the viewer.

    Going bac kto the page of the journal in the intro, above the Fig. 3 is three diamonds and what is clearly the Pig Pen Code.  Stupid hand in the way, five-year-old me wants to translate that!

    Clearly, there the o] thing in that area, which is either B or H, depending on whether the top  has a line like =]  or not., or if it's _]

    Also, what is that whispering at the end?
  • The whispering's a clue to figuring them out. Your video player doesn't happen to have a play backwards function, does it?
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)

    The whispering's a clue to figuring them out. Your video player doesn't happen to have a play backwards function, does it?

    Nope.  It has rewind, though.
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    Cowboy boy is a great children's book.
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    image
  • edited 2014-04-11 16:26:51
    ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    Unrelated to anythign involving Elanor, the White Ship, or any of that.

    King Ladislaus, son of king Stephen, son of King Bela IV, son of king
    Andrew II, son of king Bela III, son of King Geza II, son of king Bela
    II.

    Chain is broken by Bela II's father, who was a prince doing
    the actual ruling but never crowned.  That guy (Bela II's father) was
    the son of King Geza I, son of king Bela I, son of a duke who was the
    son of a Duke.  THis duke (the father of the duke who was the father of
    King Bela I) was the son of Grand Prince (sort of an over-king, a high
    king) Taksony (the fourth Grand Prince), son of Grand Prince Zoltan (the
    third grand prince), son of Arpad, the leader of all hungarian tribes,
    son of Almos, uniter of the Hungarian Tribes, son of nobody important.

    So,
    Almos's grandson's grandson's grandson's grandson's grandson's
    grandson's grandson's son was Ladislaus.  Almos's great great great
    great great great great great great great great great great great
    grandson.

    16 generations.

    SO, King Ladislaus, son of king
    Stephen, son of King Bela IV, son of King Andrew II, son of king Bela
    III, son of king Geza II, son of king Bela II, son of prince Amos, son
    of king Geza I, son of king Bela I, son of duke Vazul, son of duke
    Micheal, son of Grand Prince Tacsony, son of Grand Prince Zoltan, son of
    great tribe leader Arpad, son of tribe-uniter Almos.

    So, this
    isn't a succession of kings, though.  SOme of these are younger sons who
    suceeded ther brothers.  Some of them killed their brothers.  So, not a
    line of the authority.  BUt all these ruled Hungary.  Almos united the
    tribes and was in ruling power by 850, and Ladislaus's rule ended in
    1290.

    Almos was the son of Elod, who lead but one of the seven
    tribes of the land.  Elod was the son of Ugek, who lead that same tribe.

    18 generations, with Ladislaus as 18 and Ugek as 1.

    Almos
    is recorded by name from a contemporary record as the leader of one of
    the seven tribes.  Elod and Ugek aren't mentioned by name until records
    that were written a few generations after Almos.

    So, Andrew II
    had another son, named Stephen, who had a son named Andrew III, and that
    Andrew III became king when Ladislaus died.  Andrew III was the last
    surviving person to be only male-line (son of son of son of son of) back
    to Arpad; and he died in 1301, with a daughter but no son.  I hope there are other sons of sons of son.... of Almos, or
    of Elod, or of Ugek.

    But heck yeah, for Ladislaus, 20 generations back to Ugek.  And all of them leaders of men, people who lead hungarians.

    And that's the royal line of Hungary up to 1301.  SO, if you're confused with the lineage from William the Conqueror to Henry II, realize that Henry's only William's great-grandson.  Yer gettin' off easy.  Almos was elected by the seven tribes (one of which was his tribe) in 820.  481 years.
  • edited 2014-04-11 16:39:50
    ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    Well, for eight years, it was interrupted. 1036-1044

    King Peter, who was king for five years (like Grover Cleveland, his reign was divided in half with one other ruler in between), was the son of a daughter of Duke Micheal's brother.  This brother was Grand Prince Geza who was son of Grand Prince Taksony.  NOPE, WE GOT A FEMALE IN THERE.

    The ruler who Benjamin Harrisoned Peter was Samuel, who married Grand Prince Geza's daughter.  NOPE, SON IN LAW, NOT SON.

    But, after them, it went to Vazul's son, so back on track.

    But still, 820 to 1301, with eight years where it was ruled by the son of a daughter!!!!! of a male-line descendant and a husband of a daughter of a male-line descendant.

    Look, Americans, you don't get to claim "the end of the bush dynasty".  That ain't a dynasty.
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    Quoth the movie Tentacolino: "and like all prisoners, we have the right to escape!"
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    Take piano lessons. Practice a half hour, forty five minutes, or an hour a day. You will be able to play the piano. You didn't learn to walk in a week, or talk, or drive or swim.

    Children, when they learn scales and simple songs, are rewarded with sincere praise, and it is praiseworthy. Just because you are older doesn't make it any less praiseworthy. The children feel accomplished, and so should you. The children have parents to force them to practice, which is good.

    After years, look at how much you have learned.

    Piano is fun and can be invigorating or relaxing.

    You have that half hour or forty five minutes, somewhere. Stop playing things like solitaire and bejeweled, stop hitting refresh. Stop sitting around wondering what you want to do.

    It is so very worth it.

    The same applies to writing and drawing. Consistent practice!

    Step away from the timesinks and learn the things you want to learn.

    DO IT.
  • edited 2014-04-12 15:10:30
    ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)

  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    Morse code sounds best at 600 pitch/hz
  • edited 2014-04-12 14:36:19
    ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    And turn the speed up to 300 wpm.  With Farnsworth speed at 30.
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    Ooh, 150 hz.
  • edited 2014-04-12 14:45:04
    ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    Wait, no 350 with 35 farnsworth and 35 wpm is best.

    250 with 35 and 35 sounds like a real telegraph.
  • edited 2014-04-12 14:53:12
    ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    250 with 150 wpm and 30 farnsworth.

    put in HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    at 75 wpm and30 farnsworth, it could be used as a video game laughing sound.
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    sos GIVES ME SHIVERS AT ANY SPEED.
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    ESPECIALLY AT 500 HZ AND 30 WPM AND FARNSWORTH
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    And now back to our scheduled history program.
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    Well, at and after the Norman Invasion (BOO HISS), loads of Normans came over to get land in England.  The Conqueror had a habit of pointing at random farms/fields/stables/buildings and then pointing at (a) random soldier(s) and saying, "you.  That's yours." and, since he was king and had all the marcher barons and their power, anyone who disagreed was a criminal and a rebel.

    One such random soldier we only know by his name Gilbert.  William, in a show of random whatever-we-call-it, said something along the lines of "Hey, you.  You near the back.  The one looking at the ground.  You're now royal marshal.".  Marshall is from teh old french/old high german marhskalk (same word in both languages), horse-servant/stableboy/horsekeeper-  Marh = horse (compare Mare).

    So, Gilbert got the job of official horseguy, stablemaster for William and his son Henry I, King of England, Duke of Normandy, and Chaser of Skirts; as reward for the great achievement of existing and being right there somewheres.  Likely, Gilbert was a squire at hastings to some knight.  So, this was, like a thirteen-fourteen year old kid.  Nobody knew Gilbert's last name, because nobody wrote it down, and nobody knew who Gilbert's father was, and I guess nobody cared.  In fact, the only way we know Gilbert exists is that his son John was called John Fitzgilbert, John Fitzgilbert was called the "John, the son of the marshall Gilbert" or, in shorter words, "John Marshal'.

    John Marshal succeeded Gilbert as serjeant and royal Marshall to Henry I; but then civil war happened between two matildas.

    So, during the war of two Matildas, Empress Matilda was at one point almost captured, with her soldiers weary and fleeing for their (and her) lives.  Not fleeing capture, fleeing death and slaughter this time.  Her soldiers had gotten to John Marshal's stable; where they asked for horses (even the ones who had horses asked for fresh horses).  He obliged, but noticed that Empress Matilda was riding sidesaddle, and since he knew horses, he knew that she couldn't spur her horse that way.  He knew she'd be slowing her men down.  So, he called out to her, "m'lady!  You cannot spur your horse like that.  Ride like a man, or die like a dog." or something along those lines (it's unclear, but what we get from all accounts is that he told her to ride like a man and get away.

    So, the forces of King Stephen and his matilda a few minutes after found John Marshal, and asked not for horses, but for the direction that Empress Matilda had gone.  John told them the wrong way, pointing the wrong direction.  They went that way.  When they came back, they stabbed John Marshal until they were certain he was dead, dragged him inside his stable, and burned the place down with him and his remaining horses in it (by one account, they stole the horses.  By another, John had given all his horses.  By another, John had given none of his horses to Empress Matilda's men.) and bolted the doors.

    The fires were so hot, it melted the lead frames of the roof, and the molten metal dripped.  Dripped in John Marshal's eye.

    He was found later, alive, but blind in that eye.

    when Empress Matilda was in power again in that region, she restored his stables and his position as royal Marshal, she gave him a town, too.  And a noble wife of some land, Isabel de Clare, countess of Pembroke.

    Stephen besieged that town some years later, and took John Marshall's fourth son, Wililam, hostage.  William was three to six years old.  Stephen declared that unless Marshal surender the town, his son would be killed.  John Marshal's reply was as follows: "Do it, false king.  I have the hammer and the anvil to make more sons, of finer stuff."  (the anvil is Marshal's wife).

    But, well, William was just a child, not understanding.  He swung from the ropes of the trebuchets that were supposed to hurl him to his death.  He picked up the sword that was supposed to be used on his head and tried to play soldier like a big boy, though he couldn't really lift the sword.  He was adorable and king Stephen was all like, "aw, crap.  I can't kill a little kid, mon.  I mean, just look at this.".  And, well, the town outlasted the besiegers, and William was returned to his father.

    Eventually, Empress Matilda won the war.
  • ...And even when your hope is gone
    move along, move along, just to make it through
    (2015 self)
    SO yeah, you see the kind of guy John Marshal was.
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    I wonder what English would be like if it hadn't absorbed so much vocabulary from Norman French. I know there's the Anglish Moot, but it seems a bit too conlang-ish, too Tolkien.
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