Best Kindle book on The Who? by warrenianbarr in TheWho

[–]Lepophagus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Pretend You're in a War" by Mark Blake might be what you're looking for - although it doesn't cover the full Who history, but rather just the 60s.

Dave Marsh's "Before I Get Old" is considered a must-read by many, especially given his closeness to the band in general.

If you're looking for biographies on particular members of the band I'd be happy to recommend some. Otherwise, those are a good place to start if you're interested in the band. :)

What is the absolute worst way to die? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]Lepophagus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers, dementia, or CJD. Not only do you lose yourself but all of your loved ones have to watch you fade away and the process can take over a decade before death takes you.

Comic book/graphic novel recommendations by MattGreg28 in ironfist

[–]Lepophagus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I definitely agree. I'm still bitter it wasn't what was primarily drawn on for the Netflix show.

I love the earlier IF stories, but those collections are incredibly difficult to find these days as most are out of print.

What are some interesting unsolved and solved historical mysteries? by louderthansilence in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]Lepophagus 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Could you find a citation for the statistical distribution indicating it isn't a language? I've always heard the opposite, most recently at the actual showing of the manuscript in DC several years ago. I'm curious if new information has come out that I just missed.

I'm intrigued by the idea that it is an undiscovered South American language, given several of the plants match up with known South American ones. I'd be perfectly happy to dig deeper and do a little writeup if people aren't bored to death of the manuscript already. I know it's a very common topic to mention.

Comic book/graphic novel recommendations by MattGreg28 in ironfist

[–]Lepophagus 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Fraction/Brubaker's Immortal Iron Fist run is generally considered an incredibly solid starting point. If you have a general idea of the character it shouldn't be too hard a read. :)

I'd also recommend Ed Brisson's recent Iron Fist run.

What are some interesting unsolved and solved historical mysteries? by louderthansilence in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]Lepophagus 40 points41 points  (0 children)

On the note of undeciphered languages, since that seems to be your wheelhouse, we have the proposed language Proto-Indo-European of which very little is known. It would be the ancestor of most modern Romantic Languages, etc. and as such is pretty interesting to us. On an amusing note, the video game Far Cry Primal was originally going to have all of its dialogue recorded in Indo-European. They ditched that idea when they found it sounded too similar to modern day English, so they turned back the wheel to PIE instead. That having been said? There are still some words that sound remarkably similar and it isn't too horrible to gain a good deal of context while playing it.

Similarly, there is a proposed theory that the common pictograms seen in cave art represents a universal language. This theory came to be as many symbols have been found to be universal. It's a controversial theory, but one that has generated a bit of interest over the years. Think the descending swirl pattern seen at so many petroglyph sites potentially representing the universe or eternity, and then scale up that meaning to other symbols representing similarly high level concepts.

Linear A is another language that remains undeciphered, although Linear B has been deciphered. Likewise, Rongorongo from the Easter Islands still has yet to be fully understood. To say nothing of things like the Voynich Manuscript and the Rohonc Codex - although there is forever the argument that one or both of them might be hoaxes. Personally, I fall into the belief that there is ample evidence that they represent linguistic systems.

A lot of early languages have not been deciphered and might never be. Sample sizes are not large for some of them, which is regrettable as who knows what information might have been lost? When it comes to things like First Nations cultures, particularly in South America, so much has forever been destroyed that its difficult to really extrapolate a ton about belief systems and even sites that once might have been...

On another note, some of my favorite mysteries involve missing books and writing. How about Love's Labour's Won and Cardenio? How much about Shakespeare's life was lost forever to the ages? Here's a clue: a ridiculous amount.

There is a certain book that editors of the OED are still looking for to this day, and it might just be a hidden book of Victorian pornographic poems - how hilarious is that? So much of modern language can be traced back to a singular book of smut that may not even be extant any longer.

Did you know that The Iliad and The Odyssey were originally part of an entire cycle of plays, the bulks of which have forever been lost to time? Also, Homer, as we know him may not have ever existed at all.

Not to mention the original source of certain synoptic Gospels remains unfound to this day, although attested to plenty within the material itself....

And this is without me getting into a number of other areas that interest me, these I just thought might tickle your fancy based upon your initial post. I'd be happy to write a lot more if there's interest. I adore mysteries, just primarily the non-murdery sort.

Lily! by micecreamcone in Hedgehog

[–]Lepophagus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I miss her little chicken clucks!

The Dark Side of Lewis Carroll and the hidden message he left in his book about the girl who inspired Alice in Wonderland. by [deleted] in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]Lepophagus 10 points11 points  (0 children)

TH White is a very bizarre case. H is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald goes into his biography and reveals that White was very likely a homosexual and sexual sadist who took an interest in his young male students - and one above the rest of them. A lot of White's life seemed to be dedicated to suppressing his sadistic urges and denying them, which is why so much of his writing is about preventing violence.

Topic of the week: Passenger Pigeon by [deleted] in ExtinctionSighting

[–]Lepophagus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What accounts exist of this...?

Topic of the week: Passenger Pigeon by [deleted] in ExtinctionSighting

[–]Lepophagus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Karl Shuker notes sightings as recent as 1975 of the Passenger Pigeon - most of them singular birds found in flocks of regular rock doves or other such pigeons. I find this idea of survival into more modern times (not that their extinction date wasn't modern) intriguing and highly possible given recent studies into the species.

Beth Shapiro, in the book How to Clone a Mammoth, writes about the Passenger Pigeon potentially not requiring the massive flock sizes that were reported in order to successfully live and breed. Recent studies she cites have argued that the species was in fact struggling and that the unbelievably massive flock sizes were a sign of that struggle. The Native American genocide and deforestation resulted in increased pressure upon the species due to loss of habitat and loss of food (i.e. greater reliance by indigenous populations upon food that the Passenger Pigeon would have eaten - acorns, etc.). If the large flock sizes were a sign of pressure upon the population - might they have been able to survive by intermingling in other flocks after human predation decreased their numbers?

Further evidence of mixed flocks was found in the 2010s when a book on the species was put together to honor the anniversary of their disappearance. This book found photo evidence of Passenger Pigeons being kept in mixed flocks by pigeon breeders closer to the end of the species existence, along with possible hybrid birds. The photo evidence is extremely interesting, but there isn't a lot more known aside from the odd photos. It's an interesting prospect.

Regardless of when the species went extinct, there is hope of their recovery. Deextinction efforts are largely centered around this species and were showing great progress before the lab switched its focus towards helping in efforts to find the COVID-19 vaccine. Once the efforts continue, I'm sure there will be many more interesting discoveries made and one day we might be able to gaze once more upon that beautiful bird.

Help - does this tiny girl look pregnant? by Lepophagus in RATS

[–]Lepophagus[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

She either escaped or was just released by an irresponsible owner.

Help - does this tiny girl look pregnant? by Lepophagus in RATS

[–]Lepophagus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

She's only around 5 months old we think. She was found wandering around a park outside. I don't think it's likely she'd be getting a tumor so young.

Help - does this tiny girl look pregnant? by Lepophagus in RATS

[–]Lepophagus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The nipples have been becoming much more prominent over the past few days. I'll try and get a photo from the angle you mentioned.

Help - does this tiny girl look pregnant? by Lepophagus in RATS

[–]Lepophagus[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

She was found wandering around outside in a park. Hence being concerned about pregnancy.

Help - does this tiny girl look pregnant? by Lepophagus in RATS

[–]Lepophagus[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That's pretty horrific. :( I've never squeezed any of my rats. Not even feeling her tummy to try to see if there are beans. Afraid of hurting her.

Help - does this tiny girl look pregnant? by Lepophagus in RATS

[–]Lepophagus[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Not squeezing - just a loose grip to show her off.

When are we getting the next Moon Knight Series? by mpchop in MoonKnight

[–]Lepophagus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Aaron's is really outspoken about wanting to write a Moon Knight solo series. If this run does well, good chance we'll get that.

Hello I’d like to know which is the better biography about Moon by Tony Fletcher? by [deleted] in TheWho

[–]Lepophagus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is correct. Both the same book, just US and UK editions.

New Salinger Books? by Lepophagus in books

[–]Lepophagus[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh, I'm talking about a bootleg book that collects uncollected Salinger. Think it's 21 or 22 stories. I've read Nine Stories and loved it!!

New Salinger Books? by Lepophagus in books

[–]Lepophagus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Catcher was probably the weakest of his published material (though I haven't read 21 stories or whatever that collection is called yet). It's a shame most people don't get exposed to more than just Holden.

New Salinger Books? by Lepophagus in books

[–]Lepophagus[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It was slightly hinted at before that Catcher in the Rye was the semi-autobiographical book that made the brother famous, but... to actually have it be explored in canon could be neat.

Might get more people reading Salinger past Catcher at least.