Greek to you!

Hello again. Sorry, for not putting up a post in so long but a lot has been happening. Currently I am writing a paper about the battle of Thermopylae, one of the most important battles of the western world. Here is small excerpt of it telling about the equipment used by the Greeks against the Persians  

     The backbone of the Greek army was the heavy infantrymen called a “hoplite”. The hoplite was typically armored with a bronze or leather (lamalar) cuirass that covered both the back and the front. The hoplite also wore a Corinthian helmet that covered the whole head and had small eye holes formed into it.  Lastly, the hoplite had a large round shield called a “hoplon” where their names were derived from.  The hoplon was about three to four feet in diameter, wood, with a bronze layer covering the outside. The most important thing about the hoplon was the Argive grip on the inside. Traditional shields had one handgrip directly in the center but the Argive grip moved the handgrip to the right edge of the shield with a leather strap on the left side that the hoplite could slide his arm through.  This was an extremely important military advance as it allowed greater maneuverability with the shield and a lot more force could be applied to block a blow. In addition, the shield could be thicker to provide more cover with the extra weight resting further up the arm. All of this provided the hoplite with massive protection and a hit to the eye was about the only deadly wound Xerxes archers could inflict

  For armament, the Hoplite carried a seven-foot long spear called a dory. This spear was typically made of ash wood with a bronze or iron tip that was some four inches wide and six to eight inches long. This spear was the hoplites main weapon and he would use it much like an extra-long sword for slashing and stabbing. If his spear broke, he would draw his Korbo a short sword some 24 inches long made of bronze. This sword was designed to deliver a powerful stab to the chest of an opponent killing or at least immobilizing him.

   The Persian light infantry on the other hand wore no armor and carried only wicker shields of woven reeds. For weapons, they carried short swords and javelins (small wooden spears without metal tips). Overall the Persian outnumbered the Greeks but the Greeks out equipped the Persians.

Bear

Wonders of Rabbits

  Recently I have started raising rabbits both as pets and as a source of meat. Currently I have 5 rabbits of four different types California giant, Harlequin rex, Chilean giant Black satin mix, and American Cotton tail. All of them are very tame. My favorite one is the Chilean giant black satin mix male Basta. I Feed them on wild grasses, Leftover lettuces, cabbage, carrot peels,  and turnip greens. Most of them are tame enough to be put on a leash to go for walks around the yard.

Basta

                                               The Harlequin Rex

                                                    The California giant

The American Cotton tail

and Cloud

 

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Flag

Here is a picture of a flag that my granddaddy gave to me. It is one of my most treasured artifacts as in 1986 it flew over the White house when Ronald Reagan was President. Later it flew over my grandparent’s porch for another 4 or 5 years.

                                                  Here it is

                                          Folded and ready to hoist

 Post by Bear

Music

 Music

I am not a great fan of music but I do like some songs especially older ones from the 60s and 70s . Here is a quick list of my favorite 10 songs in no particular order.

1. CALIFORNIA DREAMING, THE MAMAS AND PAPAS

2. MR TAMBOURINE MAN, THE BYRDS

3. SLOOP JOHN B, THE BEACH BOYS

4. BLEECKER STREET, SIMON AND GARFUNKEL

5. THE SOUND OF SILENCE, SIMON AND GARFUNKEL

6. LEAVING LOUISIANA IN THE BROAD DAY LIGHT, THE OAK RIDGE BOYS

7. GENTLE ON MY MIND, GLEN CAMPBELL

8. DO YOU WANT TO DANCE? , THE MAMAS AND PAPAS

9. SALVE CAPUT CRUENTATUM, FROM THE CD CHANTS SACRED JOURNEYS

10. BE THOU MY VISION, FROM THE CD CHANTS SACRED JOURNEYS

The Lord of The Rings CDs done by the Tolkien Ensemble from Denmark are all good too. My favorites are  The Road Goes Ever on, & The Song of Earendil.

Sounds retro huh? Except for the last 2 songs and the Lord of The Rings all of them are older (recording wise). You should really check out these songs they're all pretty cool.

More Art

                                ONCE AGAIN, MORE ART by Artist
Here is another post all on art! I am sure you are very excited. However, I promise I will do a post concerning something other than art next time... well, can't actually say I can promise that. But anyway, here are the pictures from this week. Enjoy!

Water color of the two famous airborne division patches. 

Colored pencil B-17 bomber crewman.

U.S sailor 1943.

SUPERMAN! After watching the 1978 movie I thought I would try drawing Superman. I drew this in crayons. The cape was the most fun to shade. And the S on his shirt was very tricky to draw.

Rangers from LOTR.

Happy Birthday to Myself

On February 13, 2014 I celebrated my thirteenth birthday! We went out to Stubby’s Barbecue, ( which I have only been to once yet is still a favorite of mine) and celebrated with my Grandparents, who met us up there. I ordered last time: barbecue ribs, baked beans and a REALLY big baked potato with butter and sour cream, and a little bag of Doritos.

My birthday picture with Bear on the left and Ajax sitting next to him.

Another great picture of me!

 Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to me! As you can see plaid is pretty much our standard winter wear. Everybody together now, Happy Birthday to me ! Happy Birthday to me! What , you think I’m vain or something? Does it remind you of Peter Pan saying “Oh, the cleverness of me!”?

  

By Artist  

A DAY OUT

   Yesterday my mom took me on a special outing with just the two of us. We stopped at the army surplus store. As I have undoubtedly said before this is my favorite store to shop at. When we went in the first thing we saw were 10 steel M-1 helmets with canvas liners from the Vietnam War. They all had NATO forest camouflage covers on them and one even had a sergeants chevrons. Hangings on one rack were several sets of army tactical vests. Mom got me this set of SP0100-00C-5007 Tactical Load Bearing Gear. This set has 4 M-16 ammo pouches, two small pouches for whatever, and several clips to attach flash lights, canteens, first aid kits, and whatever else one might need.

Here is a patch from the U.S.N SEAL team 4. It is in my patch collection my first navy one.

This ribbon is for service in the Korean Conflict. The owner of the shop said that the gold frame around it was for gallantry in action.

This pin as the picture shows is from the Special Forces, the shop owner said it was worn by The Green Berets and the Army Rangers

This is a Purple Heart dress pin. It was supposed to be worn on suits to show the decorations that had been won.

      On the same day we also stopped at Dick’s Sporting Goods here we got several interesting items

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This is the airsoft gun I got for Christmas. It has full automatic fire and can shoot almost 150 BBs a minute.

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And of course if you have a gun you need ammo. This container of 10,000 was on sale for 7.49!

And last but not least arrows. Yes I Know they are purple but that was the only color they had.

The crowning touch to our day out though was a trip to the PURPLE COW I got a BBQ, Bacon, and Cheddar cheese Burger!

Post By Bear