Return to Cali

Very hard to leave the NW this time, I had to say goodbye to Madaline in between her school and volleyball practice. I am sitting in the airport terminal in Seattle wondering how my life has become so spread out with an out of control schedule. Time at home was good, but the chaos surrounding the house remodel was pretty extreme and it was hard to get comfortable. Hopefully, it will be worth it in the long run as it should turn out really nice. I will be flying back on Oct 2nd for 4-5 days to see Madaline when my brother be there also to see the new house for the first time. We'll see what he thinks about the new casa. Now I have to finish reading another script and formulate my plan to escape jury duty. I think I'll tell them I'll apply Roman Law to everything or suggest trial by ordeal/combat. Maybe that will work.

House Renovation Chaos

My family's house renovation is rapidly becoming a major mess that is about to drive my father insane. Contractors are a nightmare to deal with on so many levels. The mess at the place makes productive work at that location a near impossibility. I'm starting to worry about getting all my work done in the next 3 weeks. Hopefully, I can get in the right mindset and environment. At least I was able to have a quick trip to Eugene to see E and C a couple of days ago. Much too short, but it was good nonetheless. I hope everyone is doing well - now I must try to be productive.

Close to recovery

After the return flight from hell, I have finally started to recover and get back in sync with things stateside. Italy was great this year, but there are many bureaucratic messes to clean up after being away that long. Will be leaving for the Northwest within the next few days, once I get stuff together. There is some chance for a trip to Eugene in late Aug- early Sept, depending on a variety of factors. Then I have to return to do the jury duty in LA County I delayed before I left, an absolute nightmare. Somehow, I don't think the judge will want me on one and they will kick me loose on the first day. I would refuse to abide by instructions on the law and thoroughly do not believe in the legal system in any way. Anarchy is ideal. Have a great remainder of the summer all - be well!

Great time in Italy

Having a great time in Italy with lots of food and drink. Thought I would show this tidbit that got released by my studio over the past couple of days. I give them the history - they take it where they want to go. With any luck, it will be TIS worthy. Looks like it could have a large audience. I hope all is well for everybody.

Off to italy

After extensive fun times with Madaline, I am now off to Italy for 6 weeks. Hopefully, I can dig up something good this year, but it will be great food and drink in any case. I'm hoping my smartphone will work properly over there this year, so we'll see if I can give some degree of updates - who knows. I hope to have trips work out where I can meet some friends in Siena one week and then hang out with Peter W and his wife one weekend at their villa on the Bay of Naples - it will depend on their schedule. Should be fun if it works out. I hope everyone has a great summer!

In a Cycle of Entertaining Activities

most of the month has been spent in an intense cycle of entertaining activities with Madaline. Had her 12th birthday yesterday at Disneyland. It should be memorable for her and stand out from other birthday's for years to come. It seemed an appropriate place to have her final childhood birthday there with the next few being the teenage years - hard to think about for me. In any case, she was very happy. the last 3 weeks have been filled with Universal Studios, museums, time at the beach, Medieval Times this last Thursday (our knight incompetently died early in the show - Madaline thought I could take them all with my battle axe when I was still in my prime), tomorrow we go down to the wild animal park outside of San Diego and possibly the zoo as well. Should be fun. I hope everyone is doing well.

Heart like a Racehorse

Cardiologist decided today my heart was functioning within normal operating parameters and was rather large like that of a racehorse (not the roided up ones) with good bloodflow and oxygenation levels. Anomaly spotted on tests was likely a genetic issue from my grandfather that causes EKG rythms to read different. Prior chest pain was apparently pleurisy where fluid builds up in lining of chestwall to cause stabbing pain with each breath. Lots of antibiotics and pain meds, but I'm much better now. On a good note, I will fly Madaline down here soon to have fun for 3 weeks before I go to Italy to dig on July 6th. Lots of SoCal fun with Madaline before my dig. In addition, Peter and his wife said last night I could go down and visit at their villa they own just outside of Pompeii on the Bay of Naples. That should be real nice. Now I've got to grade some bad papers for tomorrow.

Here's a blog I posted as a comment - sorry

I'm absolutely hammered right now having gone to a nice dinner in an exclusive cigar bar in Beverly Hills with P. Weller (Robocop), followed up by more martinis and 18 year old scotch at a bar in Westwood. I have to teach a section at 8am, but it is good to have cut loose for this evening. It is still weird being in LA with people like Jessica Simpson's dad next to us in the bar = less than impressive on that note. I've been dealing with a variety of issues lately and I have to see a cardiologist tomorrow (hopefully I'll live), but I've fully embraced the motto of live in the now and screw the future. Academics take themselves way too seriously and don't realize they are irrelevant to 99.99% of the population. It was good to see Cabiria yesterday and have a good lunch together. She said all of you seemed to be doing well. I do miss the close-knit nature of past years, but I am adapting to LA lifestyle. TV show is going well and I am off to Italy soon for the summer. Sorry my blogs have been non-existent, but here is one. I'm off to sleep it off.

Early Version

Here's how I pay the bills now. Historicity is becoming more difficult in this show, but I'm willing to take cash over preserving academic integrity in the midst of this economy. I have hopes it can be entertaining while still being informative of a long-lost time when it was honorable to be badass; a less hypocritical moral system than we are stuck with nowadays.

Random Airport Blog

I have a few minutes before my flight leaves SeaTac to return to SoCal after a week with Madaline. I have resurrected my laptop after an untimely death earlier in the week that has caused me to fail behind. I was actually assigned a weeks worth of Greek translation that is due by 2pm tomorrow on the first day of the quarter. Needless to say, I am less than pleased with such a heinous situation. I'll probably have to stay up much of the night to start the quarter - how lovely. In any case, everything else progresses, despite the snail's pace. I'll be happy to get the summer in Italy again as it is the only time I can recharge. I'm supposed to make it back for my big high school reunion, but the dates look like I might still be in Italy. Such is life, and Italy is the better situation, but the reunion would have been comical if nothing else. We'll see how it goes. TV show is going off it's own way, but the checks keep coming. I'll likely have to slap a historical disclaimer on my involvement, but I'm content to prostitute my academic soul for money. Be well - I'm off to the plane.

Holding Together

Forgive the lack of blogging. I no longer have the mental energy to compose my moderately entertaining blogs as I used to. My brain is on cruise control with all focus dealing with my present schedule. I no longer have the invested emotion necessary to comment on society's absurdity, the ridiculous political environment, or the economy. Thus, my blogs will be boring for awhile - until I have a renewed sense of vigor and recover my active contempt for society. Right now it is passive contempt that lacks an appropriate edge worthy of TIS blogs - hence, no blogging. On a better note, I had a nice respite last week when my daughter came down to stay with me for awhile. We had fun and she really enjoyed herself. She was able to attend a lecture on Egyptology that she loved. We did lots of shopping at a variety of malls, she happily splurged with my studio money. I felt like we were trying to stimulate the economy all on our own, but it was good overall. She is doing well enough and that is pretty much all I care about anymore. Everything else in my life has faded away at present and I find myself simply going through the motions to advance to the next stage of my academic situation. I've already been in my present phase too long, I'm pretty much functioning as an academic robot until i can get to Italy this summer. It appears to be 95% viable, but it is still dependent on student commitment to provide the necessary funding. Hard to say in a bad economy, but it looks good so far. I need time in Italy to recharge. I didn't realize how important it was until last year. Hopefully it will work out. I hope everyone is doing well. I'll try to muster the energy to blog more, but we'll see.

Return Trip to Italy for Dig this Summer is now Confirmed

I just got word I was able to secure my position as a staff member on the excavation in central Italy again. It was good this job came through again because the administration and funding of the site moved to a completely different institution on the east coast. Thankfully, I proved valuable enough last year that the new administration will fund my return and costs in Italy, which I can add to the additional summer funding I already have put in place from my school. I'm trying to horde some of the money from my studio job so I can have a completely kickass summer and decompress my brain again. It should allow me to stay in Italy for about 6 weeks from the beginning of July with a pretty good budget to have a great time and still have plenty of money for the remainder of the summer when I will be able to stay in Oregon until the end of Sept. The arrangement of things this year should be much better than last year for a variety of reasons. The break from my present routine will be of the utmost importance in maintaining sanity. I'd give anything to be in Rome right now, but it is coming soon enough. Now I'm off to a birthday party for a 1 year old girl with some friends.

The Drudgery of Academic Exile

I'm rapidly being drained of all passion and zest for life by my present academic situation. I've pretty much become a vacant entity that processes information throughout he day, relays that information to a few students and faculty, assimilates more information, eats some shoddily prepared food as quickly as possible, returns to small room in apartment, processes necessary interactions on computer, physically works out at a minimal level to keep blood flowing, returns to computer and books, lays down when back is tired and watches short bursts of tv while back stretches out, gets back up and processes info in isolation until 3am, sleeps 4.5 hours, gets up and does it all again in an endless monotony. The only time I have any life is during the holidays or when I travel abroad. I have another year and a half of existing in this hellish cocoon if everything goes smoothly. I'm hoping to break the drudgery if I can get back to Italy, but that is unknown at this point. I fondly miss the prior balance I had in my life in years past when I remember what it was to have a good time and not be thoroughly oppressed by a crushing schedule. I used to be able to have a life and get the necessary work done because the requirements were considerably less. I'm not sure there will be much left of me after all of this if I can't change some things. I am presently trying to secure a new living situation in a different area where I can try to build an actual life, but time is a problem. I advise everyone to never allow your life to become as fragmented as mine where the fundamental components of life are spread over three states in a way that stretches you so thin there is nothing left of you. Nevertheless, I will endure and give the finger to the world until the next phase of my life initiates a new transformation. I will live like a Taoist monk for a year and go with the flow until I shed my skin again in the next phase of my life. The only fundamental truth is that some level of change is inevitable. Thus spoke TIS.

Blog Reengagement

My apologies on dropping off planet. I will attempt to be more diligent in posting. Just went through a mild earthquake, which was moderately amusing. Schedule is ridiculous this quarter as I am TAing, grading as a reader for the survey of the Roman Empire course, taking both a Latin course on Tacitus and Greek course on Xenophon, history seminar on Romanization, all while serving as a historical consultant, for which I was anonymously referenced in a recent show promotional tour by the show-runner. For now, I will not allow my name to be formally attached to the project so that I can insulate my future academic reputation from such a stylized/CGI/graphic novel style show. The show will be designed to appeal to a pop culture audience, but I am providing primary sources on a variety of background topics as well as direct suggestions rooted in real historical context. However, the sources themselves are extremely thin in ways that allow them to make up purely dramatic plotlines for their own particular vision. They are making a very concerted effort though. In any case, we'll see how it goes and I hope it does well. This thing will probably be even so raw as to offend those with delicate sensibilities, moreso than HBO because this is the first time this show-runner has been unleashed from the restricitions of his past shows, but you all know I laugh at such weak sensitivity in this mollified society. Strength and Honor!

Snowed in!

Quarter is finally done. Leavenworth went great as I enjoyed excessive Bavarian style food and drink. I'm more in the holiday spirit now, and am presently snowed in with over a foot of powder at the homestead. I'm going to enjoy some Irish mead my brother brought me from his last trip to the land of leprechauns. Mead works well on a cold day. I'm shutting off my brain for a few days. I suggest everyone do the same. Be well!

Paper Done - On to grading - Need to Catch 6am Flight

Quarter is nearly complete as I just turned in my research paper on early Christian identity formation under the domination of the Roman imperial structure. Fun times with violent martyr accounts in the arena and the dynamics of pagan criticism concerning perceptions of weakness and passivity. I argue for a Christian appropriation and redefinition of Roman martial virtues and conceptions of nobility in the face of death; a dynamic which would gradually embolden the early church and facilitate militant Christianity in later years. Essentially, an integration of Roman social violence and an emerging Christian identity. Initial response by Prof seems to be very favorable. Now, I must grade as much as I can until I go to LAX at 4am for a flight back to the NW. I will be spending the weekend in Leavenworth, WA at an early Xmas celebration with my daughter. I was able to escape the studio work for a couple of weeks while they move offices from Beverly Hills to Burbank for production. I should be in NW until Jan 3rd for some much needed mental decompression. Be well!

Return from a Good Thanksgiving Trip

I was able to spend an entire week at the homestead with my daughter. My brother and his wife were up for most of the week for the first collective Thanksgiving in years. All was good and it was a much needed period of relaxation. I'm trying to get this quarter wrapped up in 11 days so I can travel for an early Christmas-themed Bavarian style weekend in Leavenworth, Washington. Quite a bit to get done beforehand, but it should be a good time. I might have to fly back briefly for a meeting with studio-execs, but then I can spend most of a month de-tuning my brain for awhile. Be well!

Schedule Juggling

My new consulting job has kicked off respectably well, but I am worried about the time demands. I went into the first two production meetings with the writers armed with some good stuff. At this point, they are extremely receptive and grateful for the assistance. I am pleased with their own research and their willingness to grapple with the primary sources in trying to provide as much historical context as they can within the constraints of their theatrical vision. My input is being incorporated directly into plotline and script production and they have already structured the scenes of the pilot episode based on many of my direct contextual suggestions. I am also pleased that I will be given scripts to go over as they emerge in hopes of being able to identify potential problems before the script is finalized and sent to the director. So far, the working dynamic has been great and they are adding as much historical context as they feel they can feasibly afford. My main concern at this point is not losing too much time dealing with this because of my other academic commitments. I brought in help to split the workload and it looks like it can be managed. It will still be tough though. My other concern in terms of the show is how the writers vision will be executed during production and the demands of studio execs outside of the project. I am required to remain vague on the nature and specifics of the show at this point, but it has a respectable chance to turn out well based on the collaborative writing and the allotted budget. It still has to be properly captured on film though. We'll see. Other than this business, lots of grading and research in preparation for going home for Thanksgiving for a week. I do get a whole week though due to a scheduling advantage in my courses. It worked out favorably. Be well!

Apparently, I'm a Historical Consultant Now

I was offered the position as a historical consultant on a highly stylized TV show in my field of specialization. As long as I can make my schedule match, it could be a somewhat fun and entertaining way to make additional money. I was able to drag in a colleague of mine, whom I trust, in order to split some of the workload and have a degree of plausible deniability when the storyline deviates from the historical sources for cinematic reasons. We'll see how it goes. In other news, I have a fractured tooth from an old football injury that had to be re-resined in Italy during the dig this last summer. My original resin lasted 10 years then had to be redone 5 years later. I loved Italy, but the Italian dental work lasted 4 months before it broke apart. I also observed problematic medical care given to a couple of injured students in Italy. Despite the medical care issues in this country, reform needs to be done in a careful way that protects the overall quality of care while improving costs and accessibility. From my personal experience and observation, the European medical system is lacking in a variety of things. Believe me, you don't want to be in need of healthcare anywhere overseas.

Need to close the door on the last 45 years and Move Forward

I continue to wipe the slimy stain of democratic participation off myself following my act of voting today. Usually, my skepticism leaves me morally opposed to the democratic process because the masses are to malleable and stupid to realize what they are voting for or against. I want to institute a philosopher-king. Sound bites and factional politics designed to exploit general apathy and ignorance have led the electorate for decades. Despite this, I felt the absolute necessity to vote today in hopes of adding to the voice of opposition to the political dynamics that have dominated my entire lifetime. I'm old enough to remember the despair and frustration of the late 70's that enabled the rise of Reagan conservatism for 30 years. The 70's was the backwash of the social changes of the 60's and a decade of depressive disaster as society tried to stabilize itself after years of social turmoil. I'm not a big Reagan fan, he was not intellectually gifted and Reaganomics in combination with the S&L scandal of the 80's destroyed my families farming life. That said, the country required leadership and Reagan provided that in a way that unified the country when nobody else could. Leadership matters, sometimes providing a direction and vision, even if it is not always optimal, is better than the paralyzed stagnation of polarized factionalism. The attitude of the nation improved and the country advanced behind strong leadership - the nation moved out of a psychological despair. Attitudes in the 80's were improved, and it was a better time to live. I do not care about the marginal groups that were left out of this because the country needed to mobilized beyond Carter's ineptitude. He was not a leader; he was viewed as a joke and no recent attempts to rehabilitate his image will change how he was perceived at the time. I remember clearly what it was like. The only thing Reagan offered was manifest leadership, but it was enough. That transformation provided the nation what it needed until it devolved into the present conservative era of fissure politics that have dominated society. Even Clinton was still functioning in a conservative environment. My vote today was placed to try to end this era because it was necessary. Obama can provide dynamic leadership and has a chance to move the country in a time of need like Reagan did. Perhaps he can create a new era, but he must do it in a way that creates unity and not exacerbate factionalism. He can send a death blow to the conservative right if he does things properly. He needs to abandon cronyism and payback politics to eliminate backlash ammunition the far-right can use against him. He needs to incorporate and employ moderate right talent in appropriate areas. He needs to marginalize Pelosi and Reid because they are morons and always have been - they give fuel and fodder to right-wing attacks. He needs to throw them overboard on foreign policy, so that he can figure out a way to restore and project the appearance of military strength while improving European backing during the euphoria of his election. This still means getting out of Iraq, but engagements will continue around the Middle East and redeployment is more messy than the pacifist left will admit. Special operations and surgical strikes around the region will remain critical, but they need to be done properly. I have it on very high authority that the new strategy is to entice the factional leaders with the primary hallmark of civilization : greater access to power, leisure, money, and sex. Competing tribal factions are best pacified with these types of bribes. Nothing else is ever effective. Abstract concepts of democracy sure as hell aren't. It can all be boiled down to this and it is this present strategy that has enabled improvement. I'm not joking - I have it from the highest levels within my old contacts that this was an official policy change recently. These tactics are what has actually been implemented to a greater effect. Obama needs to use the military talent on the right to deal with defense issues. Powell needs to be brought in because he has respect across the board. Gates and Petraeus need to be left in place because they proved effective in the face of Bush's disaster and made the mess more manageable. Gates' PhD on Russian Studies is going to continue to be valuable as Russian nationalism rejuvenates under Putin. Obama needs to allow talented people to do what they specialize in, but incompetent people need to be held accountable. Obama needs to react shrewdly when he is tested on security. This type of test is how I wound up in Iraq during Clinton's first term. It will happen. Obama needs to let Petraeus and Gates craft a strong response that is not a knee-jerk Bush reaction. Allowing capable specialists to shape defense will improve Obama's credibility on defense in a way that will allow him to push for social program changes. If he allows the defense industrial complex to retain face, he can make gains in a variety of other social areas that will inoculate him from attacks from the far right. He needs to sell his middle class tax cut and couple it with infrastructure rebuilding that will provide jobs to build the tax base back up. He needs to tie social programs to public service in an attempt to get the disenfranchised engaged with the nation. Welfare and redistribution can't be unfettered entitlement - it must be tied to specific actions that build pride in accomplishment, self-sufficiency, and personal responsibility. It will defang the far-right attacks while accomplishing a greater cohesion throughout the nation. We must employ an inclusive policy where a wide variety of people can become mobilized to action because it is appealing and financially beneficial. The divisive loudmouth social activist champions of the politically correct left should be marginalized as the worthless whiners they are. They are as evil as the far-right loons - free discourse needs to be encouraged without the incessant fear that someone might say something wrong or offensive. Intent of speech should be the criteria as opposed to listener response. People need to toughen up and be less hyper-sensitive to everything. Speech, even hate-speech, should remain protected in this country. I was raised in the 70's indoctrinated in the old notion "I may hate what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." That concept was killed in the hyper-sensitivity of the 90's and it empowered the far-right nut-jobs on talk radio. It is the hyper-sensitivity that fuels the backlash flight to the far-right. Political correctness empowered the far-right much more than people realize because it took common sense and intent out of the equation. Obama has the leadership skills to close the door on the old divisive politics of Rove, Bush, Cheney, Gingrich, Delay, Pelosi, Reid, Clinton, and all those on both sides who made their living race-baiting. Obama is an exceptional figure with phenomenal leadership qualities and intellectual abilities. He has immense potential to possibly transform a nation. I want to be optimistically hopeful, but it goes against my skeptical nature. However, he is what the nation needed at the right time. I don't even care so much where he leads, as long as he leads everybody. However, if he mucks it up, you'll see the far-right re-energized with a vitriolic vengeance that could descend into a resurgence of fascism. He needs to succeed!