xanthous

[k8cre8.livejournal.com]

Rain finally has come to fire-filled Colorado, Residents have gotten to return to their homes, and it's time to hope the mudslides aren't too horrible. 

In yet another example of the losses of rights and freedom in our country, a member of the International Yo Society was sent to jail for doing nothing more than engaging in his “God given right to Yo.”

Homer Frederickson, 28, was put in jail for two days when a judge spied Frederickson “Shoot the Moon” with his xanthous Duncan Hyper-Imperial Yo-Yo. Frederickson was jailed for contempt.

Judge Moore explained, “I saw this yellowish thing zip by my head, and I have to admit, it just about scared me to death.”

When released, Frederickson expressed his anger at what many have described as a “grave injustice to the people.” 

Frederickson declared “I didn’t do anything wrong. I was merely expressing myself. The Yo, and by extension, being in the State of Yo, should be regarded as a freedom alongside life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We will longer stand idly by while our rights are violated! The Yo and happiness for all!”

Frederickson was in the court room for the trials of several members of the International Yo Society who are accused of inciting riots over the “Yo Manifesto,” which identifies the tenets of Yoda, the Great Master.

The violence between the anti-Yo faction and the non-violent Yo Masters has continued to escalate, despite repeated attempts at peace. Many of the Yo Masters continue to claim human rights violations have been committed against their peaceful society by various anti-Yo factions, and demand that the guilty “shatterers of the serenity of the string” be brought to justice.

Have you seen the Mountain Dew commercials with the yo-yos as weapons? I love that commercial. There are quibbles about whether yo-yos would make an actual weapon, but, I won’t bore you with the minutia, I happen to have a link…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZr2nlOQiks

xanthous: \ ZAN-thes \  adj, Greek. yellow, or yellowish.


This word is simply stolen from the Greek, where it means "Yellow." It's most often seen in science and medicine. 

Comments

[goldvermilion87.livejournal.com]

Fun fact: The reason slaves in Greek plays are often called "Xanthius" is that a lot of slaves came from Thrace, where people apparently have blond hair.

(And if that's not a fact, I'll be really annoyed, because I distinctly remember learning it in school.)

[k8cre8.livejournal.com]

Well, the archaic usage, is primarily "golden hair" or auburn hair, so that fits. I'm not sure about the Thracian slave angle, but, it seems to at least have "good roots."

[goldvermilion87.livejournal.com]

It's possible that that's just a theory as to why so many slaves are named Xanthius.

[sileni.livejournal.com]

I have a friend called 'Xanthe' and, while I've always loved her name, this will be an awesome thing to tease her about!

[k8cre8.livejournal.com]

That's neat! I am a fan of "x" names... :)

[goldvermilion87.livejournal.com]

But then, if there's one thing I learned in college, it's that nearly everything we "know" about the ancient world is just someone or other's best guess...

[k8cre8.livejournal.com]

That's true, indeed. It's worth knowing that tidbit, really, and, I say, the story is worth remembering even if, ultimately, it's not true. Good stories are always worth remembering, I think.

[goldvermilion87.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I had one professor who would grumble about having to tell us things about Ancient Greece or Rome that were mythological. The story of Romulus and Remus, for example. He would because ultimately the story of Romulus and Remus is important to Roman history, even though whatever grains of fact might be there are impossible to identify. I always thought it was sort of sad that he only cared about what he was scientifically certain of -- it seemed so... impoverished and boring...

Reminds me of Tolkien's story of the man on the tower: [yes, I did take the time to type the whole thing out a few years ago... because it is wonderful. :-D]

A man inherited a field in which was an accumulation of old stone, part of an older hall. Of the old stone some had already been used in building the house in which he actually lived, not far from the old house of his fathers. Of the rest he took some and built a tower. But his friends coming perceived at once (without troubling to climb the steps) that these stones had formerly belonged to a more ancient building. So they pushed the tower over, with no little labour, in order to look for hidden carvings and inscriptions, or to discover whence the man’s distant forefathers had obtained their building material. Some suspecting a deposit of coal under the soil began to dig for it, and forgot even the stones. They all said: “This tower is most interesting.” But they also said (after pushing it over): “What a muddle it is in!” And even the man’s own descendants, who might have been expected to consider what he had been about, were heard to murmur: “He is such an odd fellow! Imagine his using these old stones just to build a nonsensical tower! Why did he not restore the old house? He had no sense of proportion.” But from the top of that tower the man had been able to look out upon the sea.

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

Excellent story.

---L.

[k8cre8.livejournal.com]

Indeed. The myth of Romulus and Remus adds a unique flavor to the character of Rome, and it's a shame to try and parse it out in the name of truth.

That's a really wonderful story. Thank you for sharing it.