I started in February (2 years ago) bc I figured the New Years people would be gone by then. I got a personal trainer for a couple months, then I got a gym buddy to go with. It’s great bc then if you need to skip, you have to contact them and apologize.
I looked this up bc of their reputation for showing up to a fight and not really fighting. This is a great example of how wikipedia articles differ in languages. The English version, in section titled “Decline” says:
In time, the financial and political interests of the condottieri proved serious drawbacks to decisive, bloody warfare: the mercenary captains often were treacherous, tending to avoid combat, and “resolve” fights with a bribe—either for the opponent or for themselves.[citation needed] Towards the end of the 15th century, when the large cities had gradually swallowed up the small states, and Italy itself was drawn into the general current of European politics, and became the battlefield of powerful armies—French, Spanish and German—the venture captains, who in the end proved quite unequal to the gendarmerie of France and the improved troops of the Italian states, gradually disappeared.
The soldiers of the condottieri were almost entirely heavy armoured cavalry (men-at-arms). Before 1400, they had little or nothing in common with the people among whom they fought, and their disorderly conduct and rapacity seem often to have exceeded that of medieval armies. They were always ready to change sides at the prospect of higher pay—the enemy of today might be the comrade-in-arms of tomorrow. Further, a prisoner was always more valuable than a dead enemy. As a consequence, their battles were often as bloodless as they were theatrical.
The age of firearms and weapons utilizing gunpowder further contributed to the decline of the condottieri. Although the mercenary forces were among the first to adapt to the emerging technologies on the battlefield,[citation needed] ultimately, the advent of firearms-governed warfare rendered their ceremonial fighting style obsolete. When battlefields shifted from chivalric confrontations characterized by ostentatious displays of power to an everyman’s war, they were ill-prepared to adjust.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condottiero#Decline
There were a lot of “citations needed” so I thought I’d compare the section to the Spanish version:
El declive de los condotieros llegó en 1494, cuando el rey francés Carlos VIII emprendió la primera invasión extranjera de Italia en más de un siglo. Sus tropas utilizaban masivamente la artillería, contra la que los condotieros no estaban preparados para combatir, además de estar basadas en un esquema militar donde jefes y oficiales dependían -para su paga y ascensos- directamente del monarca francés y no de señores feudales, lo cual hacía mucho más difícil que desertasen o cambiasen de bando. Aunque las tropas francesas utilizaban también mercenarios suizos, estos aspiraban a una buena paga antes que a influencia política sobre un señorío en un país desconocido, siendo así más confiables que los condotieros.
Para estas fechas, a fines del siglo XV, los condotieros italianos solían privilegiar sus intrigas políticas y el lucro antes que el “arte guerrero” donde lucían sus conocimientos en táctica militar: de hecho las campañas bélicas podían resultar incruentas si un bando lograba sobornar a la condotta enemiga, las batallas se tornaban en simples exhibiciones de fuerza donde los mercenarios evitaban riesgos mortales, y donde atrapar prisioneros (de preferencia, adinerados) resultaba más lucrativo para cobrar rescate, antes que matar soldados enemigos.
Los triunfos franceses de 1494 causaron pronto la intervención de España, reino que casi nunca utilizaba mercenarios, pero las tropas españolas aun así demostraron una valía militar que hacía innecesario recurrir a la costosa -y muy poco fiable- condotta. Muchos de los condotieros más famosos decidieron entonces ponerse al servicio de potencias extranjeras: Gian Giacomo Trivulzio por ejemplo, abandonó a Milán por Francia, Francisco II Gonzaga y Ludovico II de Saluzzo también se unieron a los franceses, y Andrea Doria se convirtió en almirante del emperador español Carlos V.
Las Guerras Italianas, en las cuales la península fue invadida por los modernos ejércitos de los Habsburgo y de Francia, marcaron el final de la edad dorada de los condotieros, incapaces de hacer frente a los piqueros suizos, los lansquenetes alemanes, la caballería francesa o los tercios españoles. Sobre todo, los condotieros carecían de experiencia en el uso de la artillería y los arcabuces o mosquetes que eran ya imprescindibles en los modernos ejércitos europeos, además que sus tácticas de riesgo mínimo eran poco útiles ante rivales cuya meta era inutilizar al enemigo. Así, la práctica de la condotta ya había desaparecido hacia 1550, pero la palabra condottiero, sin embargo, continuó utilizándose para denominar en Europa a los generales distinguidos de origen italiano, sobre todo cuando combatían al servicio de potencias extranjeras, tales como Marco Antonio Colonna, Ottavio Piccolomini y Raimondo Montecuccoli.
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condotiero#Decadencia_y_final
If you don’t read Spanish, just note the mention of “Carlos VIII” (Charles VIII of France) in the first paragraph, and “la intervención de España” (the intervention of Spain) in the third, which were absent in the English version.
So I figured I might as well check the Italian version:
Se da una parte è vero che talvolta i capitani di ventura ci tenevano soprattutto a risparmiare i loro uomini e i loro cavalli arrivando persino ai casi limite di combattimenti prolungati ma con scarsissimo spargimento di sangue, dall’altra si dimostrarono abili nel maneggio delle armi, introducendo per primi la tecnica dei combattimenti a cavallo con indosso pesanti armature. L’abitudine di far rivestire i propri uomini di ferro anziché di cuoio viene, per primo, attribuita al capitano Mostarda da Forlì.
Solamente con l’introduzione delle armi da fuoco e di agguerrite milizie nazionali, il periodo aureo dei capitani di ventura tese progressivamente ad esaurirsi.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitano_di_ventura
Note that this entire article is much briefer by comparison (which was surprising) and the “decline” section was just those couple of paragraphs. However, this article did link to a separate article about “condottiero” throughout history (as opposed to just in the middle ages/early modern period) which had a section about how they’d be made fun of in movies and books:
Nella letteratura e successivamente nel cinema non è raro vedere messi in ridicolo soldati di ventura o capitani; l’intento è quello di ricalcare un’ironica e satirica, ma veritiera, rappresentazione della realtà attuale. Gli esempi più chiari sono la figura di Don Chisciotte della Mancia, capitano spagnolo errante e sfortunato che cerca nemici fittizi da sconfiggere, la nascita della maschera comica del capitano, uomo bello, robusto e pomposo, ma in realtà timoroso e imbelle, e infine il personaggio cinematografico di Brancaleone da Norcia nei film L’armata Brancaleone (1966) e Brancaleone alle crociate (1970), entrambi diretti dal regista Mario Monicelli.
While I was at it, I figured I’d look at the French page, even though I just barely read French:
Les guerres d’Italie qui débutent par l’arrivée des troupes françaises conduites par Charles VIII dans la Péninsule en 1494, marquent un tournant décisif qui défavorise les entreprises solitaires des capitaines d’aventures. L’arrivée à la fin du XVe siècle des stradiotes balkaniques, cavaliers légèrement équipés, armés d’arcs puis d’arbalètes, sujets de l’empire vénitien, bouleverse les méthodes de combat et met un terme à la brutalité exterminatrice. Quand Charles Quint domine l’Europe et engage des combattants professionnels pendant une longue durée qui ne se préoccupent pas des affaires politiques de leurs employeurs, la mentalité des gens de guerre évolue. Peu à peu, l’internationalisation des armées régionales met fin à la glorieuse époque des condottieri qui ne jouent plus les premiers rôles en Italie. Ils sont remplacés par des officiers prenant le commandement d’hommes de troupe salariés par les gouvernements. Les compagnies indépendantes sont marginalisées au profit d’armées de métier permanentes, celles des connétables à contrat. Déjà en 1467, Colleoni dispose de 15 000 fantassins sous les ordres de 36 connétables a provisione. En 1508, le sénat vénitien réorganise la défense de son territoire et installe une armée nationale composée, pour la première fois, de sujets vénitiens 4.
Les condottieres disparaissent dans les dernières décennies du XVIe siècle. Les historiens l’expliquent aussi par la domination espagnole sur la Péninsule, l’apparition d’Etats plus structurés ou bien encore la mise en place de la Contre-Réforme. Nicolas Machiavel, François Guichardin et Paolo Giovio ont multiplié les critiques face aux condottiere jugés responsables de cette mainmise étrangère sur l’Italie et de sa décadence4.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condottiere#Disparition
I’d have to look at it a lot more to really understand it, but note the increased emphasis on Charles VIII again. Wish I spoke more languages!
“One shipwreck at a time, sailor!”
Totoro-lookin creature.
Cognition has emotion and memory components, so yeah that’s kind of what happens.
Your question is related to a very difficult interdisciplinary research problem: “how does ‘meaning’ occur in human conversations?” You can approach it from e.g. philosophical, psychological, linguistic, or sociological disciplines, and fields as diverse as literary critical theory, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence also have a lot to say about it.
So to answer your question: nobody knows for sure, but if you’re interested in academic pursuits you’re headed in a great direction.
In theory it should be not too unhealthful, right? Esp if you use a hot-air popper.
Sorry to hear about your arm, fam, hope it gets better.
Same, except I’d skip the funeral, and on the last day I’d find a remote tree and tie myself there so I could be naturally excarnated:
The Moriori people of the Chatham Islands placed their dead in a sitting position … strapped to young trees in the forest. In time, the tree grew into and through the bones, making them one.
Littered where, on the ground? Find a stick, carry it to the trash. Take a pic for posterity.
It’s good to talk to a doctor about this kind of thing, especially as you get older. It’s usually nothing, but it might be a vitamin deficiency or something. A good family practitioner will know what questions to ask you.
I view the begining of scif as the 60s maybe late 50s.
If you’re making a point about pulp sci fi, the golden era of sci fi was in the early 40s, and there was plenty of pulp sci fi in the decades before then.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Age_of_Science_Fiction
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_US_science_fiction_and_fantasy_magazines_to_1950
Personally I’d go to a bar that played Nine Inch Nails Ghosts - all albums.
But then what? I just stop existing and it’s like I fell asleep?
If you’re asking about your cognitive state, it’s like a process or event that ends. Like if you roll a ball down a hill and the ball stops bc it’s at the bottom of the hill. The ball’s still there but the process of the ball rolling is over.
what scares me is if my agony would be slow and painful.
To some people it’s helpful if they read up on things like palliative care and hospice care. To other people it makes things worse to think about it, but personally I found it comforting to know that there are options and procedures to handle that.
Maybe he threw the cross up so it burned up on exit or re-entry. It would take bit of skill to throw a cross strong enough to burn up, instead of just returning to earth safely or escaping the gravity well. I bet Supes spends his spare time throwing crosses into the atmosphere like others might skip rocks across a pond…
I was going to recommend Shiko: https://youtu.be/YLvHesbDZUQ?t=30 it works many of the same muscles as the air squats but also builds your balance and “stretches” your legs.
So there are currently three 196 communities:
If you’re asking about why are people posting dancing cats to the first one, I think someone’s just trying to make that a thing, if it’s a real protest about something they haven’t made it very clear.
Very interesting, thanks for the info.
Yeah lel I was going to post that too. Surprised it didn’t get into “Active User Growth” as well, they went from 0 to 4k overnight.
Same! I browse by “Subscribed” - “New” and usually don’t reach the end of the new stuff.