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The Hebrew Bible contains a particularly puzzling book commonly referred to as “The Song of Songs.” Considered one of the five megillot (scrolls) of the Hebrew Bible, the book is also known as the “Song of Solomon,” “Solomon’s Song of Songs” and “Canticles.” The book contains frankly erotic and romantic imagery, and the poem suggests movement from courtship to consummation. Although the poem is attributed to King Solomon in the traditional title (Song 1:1), the language and style of the work, among other considerations, point to a time after the end of the Babylonian Exile (538 B.C.). Thus, most scholars believe that an unknown poet composed this masterpiece. The structure of “Songs” is difficult to analyze; here it is regarded as a lyric dialogue, with dramatic movement and interest.
Moreover, despite its placement in the Hebrew Bible, “The Song of Songs” has no overtly religious content. Thus, “Songs” is often interpreted as an allegorical representation of the relationship of God and Israel, or for Christians, God and the Church or Christ and the human soul, as husband and wife. Many Jews believe that the author of “Songs” intended it as an allegory of the ideal Israel, and a parable in which the true meaning of mutual love-whether it exist between husband and wife, or God and “the chosen people”-is explored in its powerful (albeit brief) 117 verses. Ashkenazi Jews often recite “Songs” on the Sabbath during the intermediate days of Passover. It is even more popular with Sephardic Jews, who commonly recite the book every Friday night.
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Stoicism (the name derives from the Greek word for ‘porch’ (stoa poikilê)- the place where members of the school congregated, and their lectures were held), was a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early 3rd century B.C. Stoic doctrine was one of the most durable and influential philosophical traditions of the Hellenistic period, and it enjoyed the membership of many of the most educated people in the Graeco-Roman world (including such luminaries as Epictetus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius). In modern times, the word ‘stoic’ has become synonymous with ‘philosophical,’ and has come to signify a preternatural courage and calmness in the face of physical, psychological, emotional and situational adversity.
Like most of the educated men of his day (and ours too, come to think of it), Zeno deeply admired the teachings and character of Socrates. Interpreting the Socratic model from the point of view of the Cynics, Antisthenes, Diogenes, and Crates of Thebes (of whom Zeno was for a time a disciple), Zeno was most impressed by Socrates’ strength of character and his ability to detach himself from the trivial concerns of the external world. From Zeno’s point of view, virtue resided not in external fortune, wealth, honor, and the like, but in self-sufficiency and a kind of rational ordering of intention.
Furthermore, the Stoics believed that ‘passionate’ emotions-such as fear, envy or romantic love-arose from false judgments and that a person who had attained a kind of moral and intellectual perfection (the ‘sage’) would not be swayed by them. Stoics were concerned with the active relationship between cosmic determinism and human freedom, and the belief that it is virtuous to maintain a will (called prohairesis) that is in accord with nature. Because of this, the Stoics presented their philosophy as a way of life, and they thought that the best indication of an individual’s philosophy was not what a person said but how he behaved.
Stoicism remained popular until the closing of all philosophy schools in 529 AD by order of the Emperor Justinian I, who believed that the pagan character of stoicism was at odds with the Christian faith.
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A tampon (French from tapon, ‘plug, stopper’) is a plug of soft material (usually cotton, rayon or a mixture of the two), which is inserted into the vagina to absorb menstrual blood during a woman’s monthly period. While we tend to think of tampons as a relatively modern invention, the first tampon prototype was invented by the ancient Egyptians, which they fashioned out of “softened” papyrus (ouch!).
In the Fifth Century B.C., Hippocrates wrote about an ancient Greek version of the tampon, made out of lint wrapped around a small piece of wood (even louder ouch!). Even Physicians in the medieval Islamic world described the use of tampons, often for contraceptive purposes. Other materials that have been allegedly used in early tampons have included: wool, paper, vegetable fibers, sponges and even grass.
The modern tampon (with applicator) was invented in 1929 by Dr. Earle Haas, who had set out to invent a tampon that could effectively be mass produced. He obtained the patent on his tampon in 1931, and subsequently sold it to Gertrude Tendrich, who went on to found the Tampax Company for the mass production of the lengthwise expanding tampon.
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Umami is one of the five discrete tastes-along with sweet, sour, bitter and salty- which is sensed by receptors on the human and animal tongue. It is a loanword from Japanese that means “flavor” and it refers to the ‘savory’ flavor of foods such as meat, cheese and mushrooms.
Umami was first discovered in Japan in 1908, when food scientist Dr. Kikunae Ikeda concluded that kombu, a type of seaweed, had a distinctive taste that was not present in most foods. He discovered that kombu’s uniquely delicious flavor was the result of its high concentration of glutamate. From there, he crystallized monosodium glutamate (MSG), the delicious seasoning that was sadly fated to become fear fodder for American hypochondriacs in the 1980s.
In 1996, a team of University of Miami researchers studying taste perception made another breakthrough; they discovered separate taste receptor cells in the tongue for detecting umami. Many Asian foods are packed with natural umami, especially Thai cuisine, which uses fish sauce, a.k.a. umami in a bottle. Unfortunately, in the United States, this awesome discovery has spurred snack food manufacturers to jump on the umami bandwagon. Hydrolyzed protein, an addictive and unhealthy sounding new additive, keeps bringing shoppers back to the junk food aisle (and probably doesn’t help the American obesity epidemic very much, but I digress).
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I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
-Percy Shelley, “Ozymandias.”
Shelley allegedly wrote “Ozymandias” as the result of a light-hearted competition with his close friend and fellow poet Horace Smith. Both poets settled on the subject, story and moral point in advance. Smith’s “Ozymandias” was published a month after Shelly’s version of the poem (in the same magazine to boot). It was originally published under the same title as Shelley’s verse; but in later collections Smith retitled it, “On A Stupendous Leg of Granite, Discovered Standing by Itself in the Deserts of Egypt, with the Inscription Inserted Below.” This was a wise decision on Smith’s part, in light of the fact that his poem was vastly inferior his brilliant friend’s version.
Shelley deeply admired and cared for Smith, and once remarked of him that: “Is it not odd that the only truly generous person I ever knew who had money enough to be generous with should be a stockbroker? He writes poetry and pastoral dramas and yet knows how to make money, and does make it, and is still generous.” Sadly for Smith, his talents weren’t quite as prodigious as his brilliant friend (it’s a good thing he never quit his day job); alas, he didn’t stand a chance in hell in a poetry slam with the legendary talent of Shelley against him. Check out Smith’s mediocre “Ozymandias” below:
In Egypt’s sandy silence, all alone,
Stands a gigantic Leg, which far off throws
The only shadow that the Desert knows:
“I am great OZYMANDIAS,” saith the stone,
“The King of Kings; this mighty City shows
“The wonders of my hand.” The City’s gone,
Nought but the Leg remaining to disclose
The site of this forgotten Babylon.
We wonder, and some Hunter may express
Wonder like ours, when thro’ the wilderness
Where London stood, holding the Wolf in chace,
He meets some fragments huge, and stops to guess
What powerful but unrecorded race
Once dwelt in that annihilated place.
Ouch!
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A sinus infection, or sinusitis, is an inflammation of the sinuses and nasal passages that can accompany a viral, bacterial or fungal infection. A sinus infection can cause severe headaches and/or pressure in the eyes, nose and cheek area or on one side of the head. The sinuses contain natural defenses against germs. However, if a disruption occurs that affects the normal host defenses inside the sinuses, those defenses may allow bacteria, which are normally present in the nasal passages, to enter any of the sinuses. Once there, the bacteria may stick to the lining cells and cause a sinus infection.
Sinusitis usually follows a persistent cold, and symptoms include the following:
Bad breath or loss of smell;
Cough, often worse at night;
Fatigue and generally not feeling well;
Fever;
Headache — pressure-like pain, pain behind the eyes, toothache, or facial tenderness;
Nasal congestion and discharge; and
Sore throat and postnasal drip.
Acute sinusitis usually lasts less than 8 weeks or occurs no more than 3 times per year with each episode lasting no longer than 10 days. Antibiotics are usually effective against acute sinusitis. Successful treatment counteracts damage done to the mucous lining of the sinuses and surrounding bone of the skull. Sinusitis is characterized as ‘chronic’ if it lasts longer than 8 weeks or occurs more than 4 times per year with symptoms usually lasting more than 20 days.
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“Zee cabbage does not run away from zee corn-beef.”
- Pepé Le Pew.
The irrepressibly amorous cartoon skunk Pepé Le Pew is a character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, and he was first introduced by Chuck Jones in the 1945 cartoon “The Odor-able Kitty”. Pepé is always seen strolling around in Paris in the springtime; when everyone’s thoughts are of “love”, Pepé is constantly seeking “l’amour” of his own. However, he has one huge turnoff to any prospective mates: his malodorous scent. Furthermore, he can’t take ‘no’ for an answer, blissfully convinced that his beloved “Penelope Pussycat” is flirting with him, even when she goes to extreme lengths to escape from his persistent declarations of love and overtures of affection.
Pepé’s unrequited love is made all the more tragic by the fact that “Penelope,” who he believes to be a “petite femme skunk,” is actually a black cat who has had a white stripe painted down her back (frequently as a result of an accident of some kind). Alas, Penelope usually runs away from him anyway due to his putrid odor or because of his overly aggressive manner. Jones allegedly based the character of Pepé on the personality of one of his colleagues, writer Ted Pierce, who considered himself quite the “ladies’ man,” and remained blissfully ignorant of the fact that his infatuations were unrequited.
Poor Pepé has been called as a misogynist (if he is guilty of anything, it is liking women a little too much) and a xenophobe (don’t even ask). by some P.C. nutjobs who don’t have anything better to do than rip on a romantic cartoon skunk. I think these humorless ding-dongs are playa’ haters who are jealous of Pepé’s je ne sais quoi…..
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