Archive for September, 2010
Please enjoy this regurgitated article as we scramble to deal with a parade of unrelated but time-consuming crises. This item was originally published on 29 October 2007.
Under normal circumstances, one would expect a wandering throng of students to demonstrate animated displeasure upon encountering a human corpse in the woods; particularly a corpse as fragrant and festering as that which was found on an August afternoon in Knoxville, Tennessee. From a short distance the male figure almost appeared to be napping among the hummingbirds and squirrels, draped as he was over the pebbled ground. But something about his peculiar pose evoked a sense of grim finality– the body language of the deceased.
The students knelt alongside the slumped form, seemingly untroubled by the acrid, syrupy tang of human decay which hung in the air. They remarked on the amount of decomposition that had become evident since their last visit, such as the sloughed skin and distended midsection. The insects which feasted upon the decommissioned man were of specific interest, prompting a number of photographs and note-jottings. After surveying the scene to their satisfaction, the students strolled across the glade to examine a considerably more decayed corpse in the trunk of an abandoned car. Their lack of alarm wasnt altogether surprising, for they were part of the organization responsible for dumping these corpses– along with dozens more– throughout the otherwise serene forest. They were forensic anthropology students from the University of Tennessee.
[Editors note: What follows may be unsuitable for the squeamish, read on at your risk.]
pThis is pretty cool: A href=http://www.pyramidtextsonline.com/library.htmlPyramid Texts Online/A allows you to read/browse a number of the classics of Egyptology in their original form, directly with your browser. Youll find Budges hieroglyphic dictionaries, Vyses three-volume series iOperations Carried on at the Pyramids of Gizeh in 1837: With an Account a Voyage Into Upper Egypt/i, and other words from the likes of Maspero, Gardiner, Charles Piazzi Smyth, Flinders Petrie and Adolf Erman. If the text is a little too small for you, the website also offers links to download PDF/DjVu versions or print a hardcopy via print-on-demand./ppJust remember that these are old, public domain works – so while they are influential and fascinating in their own right, they arent exactly up to date./p
We mourn the loss today of Tomoji Tanabe, who, until early this morning, was better known as the worlds oldest living man.
Tanabe (right) died in his home in southern Japan…