Greek and Roman Folklore. Book review

This series of folklore handbooks is outstanding for the expertise displayed, which is not surprising, when one considers that each writer is a recognised authority in his or her field, and skilled in conveying a wealth of information in a clear, lively, and modern manner. They follow the same pattern, the major sections being: definitions and classifications of various genres; examples and texts; the history of folklore collecting, scholarship and interpretation in the area concerned; and contexts, including the use of folklore material in literature, song, film, etc. This enables the authors to alternate their approach between the general and the particular, in some chapters offering guidance on various broad issues which could apply to many cultures besides the one under discussion, and in others illustrating the necessarily brief treatment of individual topics by a selection of well-chosen illustrative texts. Needless to say, the chapter notes and bibliographies give ample guidance to further reading.

Space does not permit a detailed review of the contents of each book, but I can warmly commend them not only as guides to the traditions of these particular regions, but as excellent models of modern folklore scholarship.

Futurama

Today, I watched a few episodes of Futurama, an animated scifi series, about a delivery company in the 30th century. The company is in New new york after all it is new york in the 30th century. If you are familiar with simpsons, it has simpsons like characters in appearance. Most episodes are really cool and contain parodies of major TV series such as startrek, Friends, Seinfeld etc. The coolest character in Futurama is a bending robot called “Bender” who used to work in a factory and is laid off. He works for the delivery company and his role in the series is awesome. Futrama is an amazing tv series worth your time.. I was thrilled to hear that the series is being renewed. It is original and entertaining which has fantastic humor.

The captain kirk principle

A few months ago, I was reading scientific american and came across an article called ” The captain kirk principle” . It was about an episode of Star trek Tos called “The enemy within”.
In this episode captain kirk ( William shatner ) is separated into two separate persons with different personalities because of a transporter malfunction .. when scotty “beams ” him up
Captain James T. Kirk has just beamed up from planet Alpha 177, where magnetic anomalies have caused the transporter to malfunction, splitting Kirk into two beings. One is cool and rational. The other is impulsive and irrational. Rational Kirk must make a command decision to save the crew, but he is paralyzed with indecision, bemoaning to Dr. McCoy: “I can’t survive without him. I don’t want to take him back. He’s like an animal-a thoughtless, brutal animal. And yet it’s me!”
This psychological battle between intellect and intuition was played out in almost every episode of Star Trek in the characters of the ultrarational Mr. Spock and the hyperemotional Dr. McCoy, with Captain Kirk as the near perfect synthesis of both. Intellect driven by intution is what.t he author says.. “The captain kirk princple” . Kirk is the perfect sythesis of what an ideal man should be . We see his character in many episodes of startrek like The enemy within, The arena, The omega glory , The squire of gothos , Plato’s stepchildren where you can see his judgement is unbiased and sound and he is the most ideal captain starfleet command ever had. William shatner is the best captain on startrek has ever produced. If you are a startrek fan and havent seen the original series yet.. check it out on the scifi channel .. There are great stories to watch …… which are awesome !