EgonSpengler
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*backs slowly out of thread*
Random Thoughts XII - Floccinaucinihilipilification
- Thread starter Arakhor
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I'm waiting for someone to to post pics and say your wish has come true, make your next trip to....
Look up the origin of the name of Barbados!
The name "Barbados" is from either the Portuguese term os barbudos or the Spanish equivalent, los barbudos, both meaning "the bearded ones". It is unclear whether "bearded" refers to the long, hanging roots of the bearded fig-tree (Ficus citrifolia), indigenous to the island, or to the allegedly bearded Caribs who once inhabited the island, or, more fancifully, to a visual impression of a beard formed by the sea foam that sprays over the outlying coral reefs.
In what region of the world?
I've read that women shaving basically everywhere except their heads was something done in Egyptian times (among the harem women, at least). And if you were one of the uppercrust women who wore those fancy, heavy Egyptian wigs all the time, you'd even shave your head - or at least cut your hair short - for comfort.
Depends on if you were royalty or merely aristocratic.
There are a few YouTube historical series on how women dressed in which centuries, if the topic interests you. It gives me the shudders, personally, to think about things like corsets (worn as intended, they will make you look impossibly skinny, but will also break your ribs and damage your lungs and other internal organs).
I'm just as happy in a century where my medieval costumes can be made of cotton, poly-cotton, or even polyester and I can look the part without suffering the consequences of wool. Some purists complained and I got a talking-to from the Seneschale about my choice of fabrics, but I explained that I'm extremely allergic to wool. I can't wear it. I can't even touch it.
"So use a lining," they said cluelessly.
"I won't be able to touch the outside of it, even to put it on," I told them.
Some people go as authentically as possible in the SCA. I was not willing to suffer rashes and extremely debilitating pain for the sake of authenticity. I suppose I could have had my outfits made of silk or velvet... but then those are crazy-expensive for the real stuff and I'd never have dared get dirty.
So the purists in that case could mind their own nose-in-the-air business. Heath reasons are a valid exemption.
In history, women who had to wear many layers would have had help to put everything on. And keep in mind that in some centuries, underwear didn't include what we would consider THE essential piece of underclothing.
I did, in my first paragraph. Unless I'm not "people."
I'm not the only one. The current generation doesn't seem to care much, since they have their pick of whatever sub-fandom they want. If you're born after about 1995 or so, it's all been handed to you on a dilithium plate and you've never had a significant wait for anything or frustration at the lack of information, the slowness of the postal system, wondering if that "rated adult" fanzine is going to make it through customs, and so on.
I think it was David Gerrold who laid out the difference in one of his books. Trekkies watch the shows, talk about them with friends, maybe go to a convention or two. Trekkers do those things as well, but Trekkers also create. It's a deeper kind of involvement that goes beyond surface consumption of the entertainment they see on-screen.
I was reading a book about the making of the TV series Tenko (about a group of British and Dutch women POWs in a series of Japanese camps in WWII) and one thing that was stressed to the actresses was that under no circumstances were they to shave their underarms (and presumably anywhere else).
They even shaved their heads! So did the men.
I was thinking more about post-Rome I guess.
It's not that you're ‘not “people”’ but that ‘people’ means ‘people in general’. I.e. is a distinction generally made?
(which you're answering as quoted below so let's move on)
I'm not born anywhere near 1995 so I'm from almost that same era as yours. What I gather from what you say is that some people make a distinction and some, well, don't.Valka D'Ur said:
I suppose that the distinction probably will only subsist among those who consider themselves trekkers and to the others it will be mostly the same.
amadeus
Serenity now
Just tried to talk with some water in my mouth and I sounded like one of the grown-ups in a Charlie Brown special, but in the pool.
If you wondering what the above awesome graphic is, no it's not a boa constrictor which has fully digested the elephant, but my lazy presentation of 1/4+1/16+1/64+... = 1/3.
Basically each time you divide by four, you immediately lose half of the operating area you had, with the first fourth being automatically filled and the remaining second fourth being now the new operating area, which means that ultimately you lose twice as much as the area you get to work on for the next step, so end up with 1/3 of all.
Of course this isn't a special case; it is analogous for all such geometric progressions. In the simplest case, that of 1/2+1/4+1/8+..., you never lose ANY area, so naturally end up filling the entire provided space (=1).
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Sofista
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@The_J has already summed it up; I'll just add that to the Romans the first time a boy shaved was a bit of a 'coming of age' ritual (depositio barbae). Whatever strands were thus obtained were offered to the gods. Yet, they associated a beard with youth, and kept some beard (barbula; I suppose it was something like a 3-day stubble) until maturity.
amadeus
Serenity now
I was asked to be part of a survey on cognitive dissonance.
I had mixed feelings about it and was somewhat uncomfortable.
I had mixed feelings about it and was somewhat uncomfortable.
I can't think of anything at least two people on this forum won't argue about.What is the one thing people on this forum won't argue about?
amadeus
Serenity now
Did those toy car people ever actually make matchboxes or is this just some kind of macho head game?
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