Pet Shop Obama
I’ve been wanting to take a picture of this mural at a pet shop in West LA for weeks now. Obama, holding a lizard and proffering a turtle, standing in some alien landscape, the slogan behind him: “Forget About Politics. Support Small Business.”
“Do you need me to write a note?” Obama asked. The crowd laughed, but the president was serious.
On a piece of paper, he wrote: “To Kennedy’s teacher: Please excuse Kennedy’s absence. She’s with me. Barack Obama.” He stepped off the stage to hand-deliver the note — to Kennedy’s surprise.
Me with the “real” Commodus.
Photo taken by my slightly creepy student in Rome last year.
Fun fact about Commodus: he renamed the months of the calendar after himself when he became emperor. Must have made long-term event planning very confusing ;)
DS and I are in major disagreement over this movie. I <3 it; he, not so much. Oddly enough, he doesn’t hate it because of the tremendously distracting anachronisms. He just think it’s a shit movie. Somehow I manage to see past the historical errors—of which there are plenty.
I actually know the woman who was the historical/archaeological consultant for Gladiator. She was so upset with the final product that she asked her name be taken off it; the producers said no, but they did make it so her name was the very last one in the credits.
Maybe I just love the movie because Joaquin Phoenix is TEH HOTNESS as Commodus. Way better looking than the real one. (But that is one of my favorite Roman portraits ever.) Additional evidence that archaeologists can be brats about Hollywood versions of antiquity: my grad school advisor refused to ever watch Gladiator because Phoenix was beardless, contrary to Commodus’ historical appearance. OH COME ON.
“Imagine having that sensual cold weather look all the time.”
Great. These are the Canadian standards of beauty to which I must adhere!?
