Welcome to Saturday ...

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The more a thing is perfect, the more it feels pleasure and pain. ~ Dante Alighieri


The Divine Comedy

Eighty-eight rarely seen drawings of Dante’s The Divine Comedy have been put on virtual display as Italy begins a year-long calendar of events to mark the 700th anniversary of the poet’s death.

The drawings, by the 16th-century Renaissance artist Federico Zuccari, are being exhibited online, for free, by the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

“Until now these beautiful drawings have only been seen by a few scholars and displayed to the public only twice, and only in part,” said Eike Schmidt, the Uffizi’s director. “Now they are published in full, alongside a didactic-scientific comment, where from [Friday] they will be freely available.”
https://www.uffizi.it/en/online-exhibitions/dante-istoriato-hell#31

Picks for lunch, chicken, duck or horse?

Frescoes on an ancient counter discovered during excavations in Pompeii, Italy. Photo: Pompeii Archaeological Park/Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism/Luigi Spina via Reuters.

Rome: Archaeologists in Pompeii, the city buried in a volcanic eruption in 79 AD, have made the extraordinary find of a frescoed hot food and drinks shop that served up the ancient equivalent of street food to Roman passersby.

Known as a termopolium, Latin for hot drinks counter, the shop was discovered in the archaeological park’s Regio V site, which is not yet open the public, and unveiled on Saturday.

Traces of nearly 2,000-year-old food were found in some of the deep terra cotta jars containing hot food which the shop keeper lowered into a counter with circular holes.

The front of the counter was decorated with brightly coloured frescoes, some depicting animals that were part of the ingredients in the food sold, such as a chicken and two ducks hanging upside down. https://science.thewire.in/the-sciences/archaeologists-uncover-ancient-s...

~~

Thanks for the rolling laughs and years of TV fun; RIP Mary Ann

"Dawn Wells, who played the wholesome Mary Ann among a misfit band of shipwrecked castaways on the 1960s sitcom Gilligan’s Island, died Wednesday of causes related to Covid-19, her publicist said. She was 82."

~~~

“The man who lies asleep will never waken fame, and his desire and all his life drift past him like a dream, and the traces of his memory fade from time like smoke in air, or ripples on a stream.”

~

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smiley7's picture

Enough good food to last weeks, a morning benefit thought of holiday splurging and cooking. And age does give one recipe knowledge delivering flawless collards, blackeyes and ham.

A day to feel grateful for being alive when so many depart unexpectedly with covid. My best friend in Hawaii underwent a two-valve heart surgery before xmas and contracted covid in hospital; thankfully he's survived, scheduled to be removed from hospital quarantine tomorrow, but not from hospital. He has a long row to hoe in rehabilitation.

Please don't let your guards down, stay safe out there.

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15 users have voted.

@smiley7
I know old people, one just out of chemotherapy, who had COVID and it was like a bad cold or flu. I heard of others that were young and healthy that died. Why? It seems all attention is on vaccine. Now I'm hearing you might need the vaccine four times a year. What a boon to big Pharma! Their prayers are answered.

BTW, the only person I know personally that actually died was a mid-50's heavy smoker. Probably have other health problems too. Heavy smokers usually do and often other bad lifestyles like heavy drinking and bad diet.

I'm following Lookout's advice to take Zinc, Vitamin's A, C & D from food plus supplements. Maybe someone in Europe is studying treatment. there must be something better than "hook them on a ventilator then stay away from them and see if they recover or die" I guess the big money is in drugs not cheap prevention or treatment. it's all abut the $$$$$

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10 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

@The Voice In the Wilderness

she was youngish - 50's but worked in a nursing home.
Obese, yet non smoker / drinker. Her husband tested positive
but hasn't been knocked down by it, also obese, NS/ND.

Wish there were more reliable studies to explain these
anomalies. We have yet to have a consistent testing protocol here.
All the focus is now on the guinea pig phase of vaxx.

Some experiment with humans as lab rats.

good luck

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@QMS
Heard it on the news. He's facing federal felony charges of deliberate endangerment plus a few more felonies. What's with these pharmacists? Others refuse to give out birth control pills.

Was this guy an anti-vaxxer? Hey dude, become a truck driver instead of a pharmacist if you have religious objections to your job.

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4 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

@The Voice In the Wilderness
Might just be a psychopath. Or a bitter Trumpista, lashing out in the only way available. Or an anti-vaxxer. Or a disgruntled health-worker angry at anti-maskers. Or a Christianist angry about the use of fetal tissue. Or ... ?

We'll probably find out in a few days. Until then, I'm going to carefully avoid making an ass of myself by leaping to any conclusions.

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7 users have voted.

The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

@UntimelyRippd
And I heard of another pharmacist refusing to give vaccines "because they are made of fetal tissue".
I don't know where the mRNA comes from. If it is actually fetal tissue, even if I beleived the anti-abortion position, I couldn't get excited over a few cells.

No leap to say that if you have religious scruples about your job, find another line of work. Nor to say that if employees are sabotaging product, call the police then fire them.

Now all the people he vaccinated have to wonder if he ruined their vaccine. Can't even get another vaccination because maybe he didn't.

I wouldn't touch this vaccine with a ten foot pole, but I'll defend to the death YOUR right to get it although I oppose the recent legal opinion that employers have the right to fire employees who refuse vaccination. What happened to medical privacy?

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3 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

@The Voice In the Wilderness
fetal tissue, and the mRNA is originally made "from scratch", built up one base at a time in sequence synthesizers, and then (typically, I don't know that they've released the details) fed to cell cultures that can replicate the synthesized mRNA. those cell cultures don't generally need to be fetal tissue, or even vertebrate -- they're quite possibly bacterial.

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6 users have voted.

The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

@UntimelyRippd

And I have heard anti-vaxxers claim that vaccines are made with parts from aborted fetuses.

I have a bone graft that came from the bones of a dead person. Many people have corneas and hearts and kidneys from dead people. A little creepy but isn't better than just burying those bodies in the ground? Or burning them? Burning them and scattering ashes over farmland I can see. And I wouldn't mind it at all if that's what happens to me. My atoms becoming part of the human race? Not a bad idea.

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2 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

smiley7's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness

strange in how it impacts folks in different ways.

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7 users have voted.
mimi's picture

“The woman who lies asleep will never waken fame, and her desire and all her life drift past her like a dream, and the traces of her memory fade from time like smoke in air, or ripples on a stream.”

What would I give to be so educated as your are. Many, many, hugs and kisses for you and your work.

I simply love this place and have found so many people to learn from and enjoy their humor and their music.

Thanks for ever. Rippling away now is desirable.

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smiley7's picture

@mimi

And thanks for reminding us of the special people who populate this place.

Longing for Italy in the mind and that retreat we've had fun dreaming of ... maybe, this is the year.

Stay safe, old friend.

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magiamma's picture

@mimi
Wonderful world we live in.

You’re the best!

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7 users have voted.

Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

lotlizard's picture

as I find it in the year 2021, is how “security rules / security settings” prevent me from viewing as ordinary and uncontroversial a website as the one for Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu.

https://www.ksbe.edu

Access denied
Error 16
www.ksbe.edu
2021-01-02 13:48:15 UTC

What happened?
This request was blocked by the security rules

Are all IP addresses from Germany blocked, I wonder? From Europe? From anywhere outside the U.S.? Why?

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smiley7's picture

@lotlizard

have encountered similar difficulty trying to view European videos.

One of our geeks will know, most likely.

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6 users have voted.

@lotlizard

https://www.ksbe.edu

good luck

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6 users have voted.

@QMS Using this browser: http://www.palemoon.org/

EDIT: BTW, open source from the UK

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3 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Lookout's picture

@lotlizard

allows me to set the apparent location to any country. If you have that feature it would be worth a try.
https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-vpn-services

Good luck!

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7 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

enhydra lutris's picture

@lotlizard
protect the privacy and also, at least indirectly, the identities of its citizens. The US of course has no such provisions and has several companies that screamed and howled and demanded to be exempt because of the difficulty to install regionally selective protections. (They could not, of course, install them globally because they made too much money violating them, and possibly because links and such to other US asshole companies). What you experienced could all be fallout from that.

be well and have a good one

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8 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris I know a little about this. As it was explained to me by someone claiming to understand, if you have a site accessible to the EU, it has to be compliant with those EU privacy laws. If not, you leave yourself open to potential legal action. Or so the word on the street goes.

IANAL, so I can’t say for sure if that’s true. However, I had heard about smaller sites who felt EU access wasn’t needed cutting it off for that reason.

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4 users have voted.

Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.

lotlizard's picture

@Dr. John Carpenter  
think about (= pay some expensive consultant to think about) what EU law might require re cookies, etc.?

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@lotlizard my knowledge comes in part from being an IT guy at a small school. Wink

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3 users have voted.

Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.

mimi's picture

@lotlizard
on the internet. It started out differently in the mid to late nineties. May be they could have two different internets, one which is public and free (no fees to pay for nothing) and one is commercial? I like the substacks, at least you know exactly who and what you pay for.

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Lookout's picture

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!

So warns the inscription on the gates of the inferno, the first realm of Dante Alighieri’s celebrated work, now known as the Divine Comedy. “La Commedia”, as Dante originally named it, is an imaginary journey through the three realms of the afterlife: inferno (hell), purgatorio (purgatory) and paradiso (heaven).
Dante wrote the comedy during his exile from Florence between 1302 and his death in 1321. It is the first significant text written in the Italian vernacular and is written in terza rima, an interlocking three-line rhyme scheme invented by the author.

https://theconversation.com/guide-to-the-classics-dantes-divine-comedy-8...

Loved the hot food bar. Got a little too hot I guess.

Lovely day here. Hope you all have a good one!

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11 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

smiley7's picture

@Lookout

wonder if they served hot vinegar or spiced wines? Did they have franchises?

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7 users have voted.

@smiley7 @smiley7

tabasco with a twist
hot lava plus a touch of
roman spice

really makes the horse stew!

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8 users have voted.
smiley7's picture

@QMS

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6 users have voted.

@smiley7

Horse or wolf like dog? - based on posture.

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smiley7's picture

@QMS

about the origin of 'stroke.' Smile

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6 users have voted.

Parable Of Faith, by Louise Gluck

Now, in twilight, on the palace steps
The king asks forgiveness of his lady.
He is not
Duplicitous; he has tried to be
True to the moment; is there another way of being
True to the self?

The lady
Hides her face, somewhat
Assisted by the shadows. She weeps
For her past; when one has a secret life,
One’s tears are never explained.

Yet gladly would the king bear
The grief of his lady: his
Is the generous heart,
In pain as in joy.

Do you know
What forgiveness mean? it mean
The world has sinned, the world
Must be pardoned

“I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.”

― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

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smiley7's picture

@QMS

Mesmerizing

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magiamma's picture

@smiley7
It is the weight of the soul
Taking flight
Freedom

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Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

Raggedy Ann's picture

From the Z's
We are regenerating the old parts
of ourselves that cannot transform.
We are generating the new.
Let the new in.
Leave old identities behind.
You came here for NOW!
The freedom of expression
is what we are
and how we
birth the new.
Infuse creation.
Creation is an act of expression
from within.
Our connection to one another
is more
telepathic
more finely wired,
so that
creative collaboration and
community collaboration
becomes easier.
Free yourself
from the human density
that blocks
your deep soul
cosmic connection
with others.

Enjoy the day! Pleasantry

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8 users have voted.

"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

smiley7's picture

@Raggedy Ann

thanks, RA.

All the best.

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magiamma's picture

And all...

A Dent in a Bucket
BY GARY SNYDER
Hammering a dent out of a bucket
a woodpecker
answers from the woods

Thanks for all of the above. We have two great horned owls in the preserve. My neighbor sent me this last night.
.

The nightly owl duet that we are enjoying involves a pair of great horned owls. I thought you might get a kick from these sound samples.
watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANkMW_hbZpA
watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqcmukhiGs0
Happy new year, with better days - and baby owls - ahead

.

Be safe and take good care, everyone!

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10 users have voted.

Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

smiley7's picture

@magiamma

grounded in technique enriches taking flight.

All the best.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@magiamma

or less when they begin calling with some regularity; nesting is mid February to mid April. They mate for life and are very territorial, though it one dies then they seek another. They don;t migrate, but when young disperse, they have to locate mates and territories which is one source of the Ocotober calling, another is just to remind others that "this is our territory, buzz off". What that means is that you are likely to have them around to enjoy for many years, unless something happens to the trees or the prey.

be well and have a good one.

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7 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

magiamma's picture

@enhydra lutris
Hear calls all night. Feed the rats so they have food. Heh. Crows hate them and harass. Wish I could interfere. Did a bit last year and the crows left and the owl just sat there. So cool that they are here.

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Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

enhydra lutris's picture

@magiamma

striking silently from above as they do, the skunk never gets a chance to raise its tail, let alone fire.

be well and have a good one

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2 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

magiamma's picture

@enhydra lutris
Thanks for that. We have skunks and possums and rats. Raccoons. Sometimes a coyote but I think the neighbor soots them. Illegal in the city. Will turn my attention to supporting the skunks. Tvm.

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Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

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@magiamma . We have some around here and I generally hear them an hour or so before dawn. I hardly ever get a glimpse of them though. They are amazing.

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4 users have voted.

Enough good food to last weeks, a morning benefit ... of holiday splurging and cooking.

I do wish I had some of your flawless collards that have been informed by your many years of collards preparation. Smile They would have fit perfectly with my left-over curried butternut squash/lentil soup.

Thank you for the very interesting reports above. I will check them all out later in the evening. Today is a sparkling beautiful day here and I'm spending it outside.
Hope you all have a lovely day as well.

This was interesting because the interviewer really didn't want to accept what the professor had to say. Even now, in 2021, after all we have been through, some people still don't want to accept what is right in front of our noses.

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magiamma's picture

@randtntx
He never mentions the efficacy of the protections they put in place in China, Viet Nam, Taiwan etc. It sounds like the conference he went to on “long-term” covid found that many people are having ongoing problems and that the ‘jury’ is still out.

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Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

@magiamma that he didn't mention how well China and some other countries have done in keeping the number of covid cases and deaths very low in comparison to our numbers. The interviewer seemed to have the attitude that the bad outcome in Sweden and certain other western countries is inevitable. But China etc. are the examples that prove that that is not necessarily true.

The professor did mention that Sweden's healthcare system would not be able to handle this crisis if the number of infections continue to rise so precipitously.

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smiley7's picture

@randtntx

Hope you are enjoying the beautiful day, a special pleasure in winter. Napping weather, here, of which i've recently indulged, but hey, two sometimes is better than one. Sunshine predicted for Monday, yea.

Thanks for the video. Need a plan, a mass mobilization and strict rules in distancing, damn this charade, at the present pace, another whole year will be lost to covid.

Please stay safe and have a wonderful week.

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5 users have voted.

@smiley7 , no kidding. I don't understand how people can be cavalier about this and not do everything in their power to be careful.

I just got lost in Florence at the Uffizi Gallery for an hour or so. That was nice, thank you. I'll just have to go back. Can't see everything in one visit you know.

Hope you have a beautiful sunny Monday and a relaxing Sunday.
Take care and stay safe.

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enhydra lutris's picture

drizzled off and on throughout, but that's good because we need it. (Also rained some overnight, no idea how much).

Thanks for the column. Never saw Gilligan's Island. From what I heard about I didn't miss anything, like much of US TV of that era, especially the sitcoms and soaps.

Being very busy these past few days, hope it isn't some permanent behavioral change, but for now, off I go.

be well and have a good one.

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8 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

lotlizard's picture

@enhydra lutris  
before I moved to Europe in the mid-1970s, was Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.

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smiley7's picture

@enhydra lutris

Lazy day, had pancakes and maple syrup a little ham and blackberries after editing today's OT and found slumber. Not exhausted with the pea soup, but anticipate it's replacement.

Son and i have long-distance computer building project which keeps the wheels spinning.

Otherwise, not much brewing, fortunate period of reasonable health in the "sometimes i just sits" mood.

To clear skies and a great week

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6 users have voted.

rare around here
saw a small flock at the feeders
sparks me heart

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7 users have voted.

@QMS
to our seed feeders, but they really prefer insects. In the winter we put out freeze dried mealworms and they became regulars. We do not put out seed any more as we found it attracted various rodents and the deer ticks which hitch a ride on them.

A few years ago we put out a few nesting boxes and have had Bluebird families in one or more each spring. The first winter can be rough on the youngsters who will pig pile back into their nesting boxes to keep warm in frigid weather, as many as six at a time!

If you enjoy bluebirds as much as we do it’s worth providing the basics and they will visit all through the winter: open fresh water, food and shelter.

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6 users have voted.

Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes

but am so glad for your efforts, Smiley. Don't know why your OT always put me in a peaceful and reflective mood but it does and I appreciate.
Started this morning off deciding to work on bills and paperwork before OT and that was a mistake. Had to walk away from computer for a minute or two because was having problems. Stepping outside made all the difference in the world. The sun is shining and the birds are moving around and it automatically calms the frustrations at the moment.
Back at the game and no worries about food because we too have way to much food to choose from! Have a peaceful rest of your day and I too thought/longed for Venice with the images and stories about the release of more artwork about Dante's Inferno.

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Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.

This ain't no dress rehearsal!

smiley7's picture

@jakkalbessie

Hope those gates work, were it not for covid, i'd be there. Was dancing with Handel until the station changed to Russian composers, well, not in a Russian mood ...

Good to hear from you and wishing you all the best.

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5 users have voted.
travelerxxx's picture

Looking at that old Pompeiian food counter, I conjure up scenes of it in its day. I wonder whether it was a teen hangout? More a bustling diner-type image comes to mind, with laborers lined up for a hot lunch?

Do you suppose there was a menu posted? Betting there was. Perhaps one with only pictures? And where did they keep the cash register...?

I found more pictures of the counter, including of the left side, at Reuters UK:

Archaeologists uncover ancient street food shop in Pompeii

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