Friday, July 04, 2025

It's me.  This video is my story. 
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Thursday, July 03, 2025

Sargon, King of Battle translated by Benjamin Foster (from Before the Muses): Summary & Discussion





Related Playlists




* Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x4Cvg1Yw4LQyKEXIwDwo1m0&si=X6OZ7Ectw-fzHbCn

* Akkadian Literature: The Mature Period 1500-1000 BC Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x545tikwEDqcgD_qmFqtLUF&si=XlI2gaYNnh1HGPyf

I was able to read this book thanks to the Michigan statewide state-wide interlibrary loan service called MeLCat, which may be in danger thanks to a Presidential executive order.  If you, like me, enjoy using MeLCat, contact your local representatives and let them know. 

Did you enjoy this review? Consider supporting me on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/joelswagman

Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/JoelSwagman

Check out this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4k08VgZ            (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)
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Wednesday, July 02, 2025

Hymn to Tiglath-Pileser I translated by Benjamin R. Foster (from Before the Muses): Discussion

Alternative title: A Heroic Poem in Celebration of Tiglath-pileser I's Muṣru-Qumanu Campaign





The article From Chicago University Press is available here: https://archive.org/details/hurowitz-westenholz-1990-musru-qumanu

Related Playlists




* Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x4Cvg1Yw4LQyKEXIwDwo1m0&si=X6OZ7Ectw-fzHbCn

* Akkadian Literature: The Mature Period 1500-1000 BC Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x545tikwEDqcgD_qmFqtLUF&si=XlI2gaYNnh1HGPyf

I was able to read this book thanks to the Michigan statewide state-wide interlibrary loan service called MeLCat, which may be in danger thanks to a Presidential executive order.  If you, like me, enjoy using MeLCat, contact your local representatives and let them know. 

Did you enjoy this review? Consider supporting me on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/joelswagman

Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/JoelSwagman

Check out this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4k08VgZ            (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)
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Tuesday, July 01, 2025

House of Cards Season 1: TV Series Review


Links to stuff mentioned:

This is part of my so-called "Scripted Review" series, in which I make a Youtube video based on an old blogpost.  For more information on what this is and why I'm doing it, see HERE:

This is also part of my Television Addiction series.  For my explanation of what the Television Addiction series is and why I'm doing it, see: https://youtu.be/T5CEQ9-35xA and http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2021/04/television-addiction-article-on.html


House of Cards

          I had high hopes for this series.  I love political dramas, and I’m a big fan of Kevin Spacey.
            Alas, I regret to say that the series was awful.  So awful, in fact, that I didn’t even bother finishing the last few episodes.  (What was the point?  None of the characters seemed at all like real people, and I the plot was obviously manufactured and contrived.)
            The AVclub has an excellent rundown of all this show episode by episode, and I basically find myself in agreement with their analysis of all the show’s faults.


Did you enjoy this review? Consider supporting me on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/joelswagman

Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/JoelSwagman

Check out this series on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3TlSbWG           (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)
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Monday, June 30, 2025

Bone Handbook by Jeff Smith: Book Review

 (Book Review--Bone Series)


(This is my first time reading this book, so according to my new rules, I'm doing this as a video only review.)





I was able to read this book thanks to the Michigan statewide state-wide interlibrary loan service called MeLCat, which may be in danger thanks to a Presidential executive order.  If you, like me, enjoy using MeLCat, contact your local representatives and let them know. 

Did you enjoy this review? Consider supporting me on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/joelswagman

Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/JoelSwagman

Check out this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/40wTuFU             (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)
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Sunday, June 29, 2025

Now that I'm back in America, I'm listening to the the American radio again.  
When I first got back to America, I was only listening to NPR in the car.  Or sometimes I would use my phone and listen to my podcasts.  But the past few weeks, I've started switching over to music stations, because when the wife and kids are in the car, it's nice to have music on for background.
Radio in America has of course changed since I've been gone.  Although not as much as I thought it had.  I had been under the impression that oldies radio stations were permanently gone from the cultural landscape, but oldies and classic rock stations are actually still around.  They've changed, of course.  I feel like the Doo-wop songs from the 1950s and early 60s are gone.  (e.g. when I was a kid, it wasn't unusualy to hear a song like Bristol Stomp on an oldies station, but you'd never hear this song on the radio nowadays, would you?)


(BTW, I'd completely forgotten this song even existed until Family Guy reminded me of it.  But once upon a time, it used to be a staple of oldies stations.)
But while the 1950s seems to have fallen off the radar,  oldies stations seem to have increased in their scope on the other side.  I've noticed that when I listen to oldies and classic rock stations, songs from the 1980s and 1990s are now considered oldies.  Well, fair enough I suppose.  Time has moved on.  Those songs are objectively old now.
But what does confuse me is how I seem to keep hearing the same songs over and over again.  Now that oldies/classic rock has expanded to include the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, I would expect that these stations would have a lot more songs to draw on, and I would hear a new song each time I turned on the radio.  But instead, it seems to be the same 10 songs over and over again.  Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd seems to be always on.  Sweet Emotion by Aerosmith is another one that I think I've heard 3 times this week already.  

As always, take everything I say with a grain of salt, because I've only been back a short time, and these are just my observations from the past few weeks of listening to the radio.  Those of you who've been listening to the American radio for the past few years will know better than me, I'm sure.

Nevertheless, despite my complaints about how repetive the classic rock stations have gotten on the radio, I have encountered a few songs the past week that I've not heard in years, and it's reminded me of how good some of these songs are.  And I may start sharing them on this blog as part of my Sharing Music I Like project.
Stay tuned for future posts.
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Tukulti-Ninurta Epic translated by Benjamin R. Foster (from Before the Muses): Summary & Discussion





Related Playlists




* Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x4Cvg1Yw4LQyKEXIwDwo1m0&si=X6OZ7Ectw-fzHbCn

* Akkadian Literature: The Mature Period 1500-1000 BC Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x545tikwEDqcgD_qmFqtLUF&si=XlI2gaYNnh1HGPyf

I was able to read this book thanks to the Michigan statewide state-wide interlibrary loan service called MeLCat, which may be in danger thanks to a Presidential executive order.  If you, like me, enjoy using MeLCat, contact your local representatives and let them know. 

Did you enjoy this review? Consider supporting me on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/joelswagman

Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/JoelSwagman

Check out this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4k08VgZ            (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)
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Saturday, June 28, 2025

Revolutions Podcast by Mike Duncan: Review

(Podcasts--History) 

Started this project: November 9, 2021
Started my final runthrough of this podcast: September 19, 2024

(This is my first time reviewing this podcast on this blog. So, according to my new rules, I'm doing this as a video only review.)





Notes:
I've gone back and forth on whether or not I was going to do one or two listenings for my final runthrough of the podcast.  But in the end, I decided one final listening was enough.  My listening progress, for anyone who is interested, is chronicled on my started post and also listed below:

Listening Progress
September 19, 2024--1.1- The Kingdoms of Charles Stuart
September 20--1.2- Personal Rule
September 21--1.5- Cavaliers and Roundheads
September 22--1.8- Checkmate
September 23--1.11- The Crowning Mercy
September 24--1.12- In The Name of God Go
September 25--1.15- The Good Old Cause
September 26--2.1- The Thirteen Colonies
September 27--2.2- The Stamp Act
September 29--2.4- The Boston Tea Party
September 30--2.5- The Guns of Ticonderoga
October 1--2.6- Independence
October 2--2.7- Crossing the Delaware
October 3--2.8- Saratoga
October 5--2.12- Yorktown
October 6--2.15- The Rising Sun
October 7--3.1- The Three Estates
October 8--3.4- Necker and the Necklace
October 9--3.7- The Séance Royale
October 10--3.9- What is the Third Estate?
October 11--3.10- The Tennis Court Oath
October 12--3.14- The Women's March on Versailles
October 13--3.17- A Temporary Summit
October 14--3.19- The Massacre of the Champ de Mars
October 15--3.21a Supplemental- Talleyrand
October 16--3.27- Advance and Retreat
October 18--3.29- The Purge of the Girondins
October 20--3.30- The 250th Episode
October 21--3.31- The Man of Blood Part Deux
October 22--3.33- The Geography of Terror
October 23--3.34- Saturn's Children
October 25--3.34a- The Republican Calendar
October 27--3.35- The Law of 14 Frimaire
October 28--3.37- The Republic of Virtue
October 29--3.38- Thermidor
October 31--3.41- Bread and the Constitution of 1793
November 2--3.43- The Conspiracy of Equals
November 5--3.47- The Directorial Terror
November 7--3.50- The Second Coalition
November 8--3.52- There is Your Man
November 9--3.55- The Retrospective
November 10--4.03- Free and Equal
November 11--4.05- The Citizens of April 4
November 13--4.07- The Citizens of June 20
November 14--4.12- Toussaint's Clause
November 15--4.15- The Leclerc Expedition
November 20--4.16- Dying Like Flies
November 21--4.17- Independence
November 23--4.19- The History of Haiti
November 25--5.01- The Conquest
November 26--5.03- The Precursors
November 27--5.06- The Abdications of Bayonne
November 28--5.07- The First Cry For Liberty
November 29--5.08- The Patriotic Society For The Development of Agriculture and Livestock
November 30--5.10- War To The Death
December 1--5.12- The Desired One
December 2--5.13- The Letter From Jamaica
December 3--5.15- The Centaur of the Plains
December 4--5.16- Over The Mountains
December 5--5.17- The Big Rock On The Side Of The Road
December 6--5.17a- Supplemental Gregor MacGregor
December 7--2016 Fundraiser!
December 8--5.18- Liberation
December 11--5.19- The Army of the Andes
December 12--5.22- The Guayaquil Conference
December 13--5.23- Ayacucho
December 14--5.24- The Republic of Bolivar
December 15--5.25- The Tangled Swords
December 16--6.02- Charles The Simple
December 17--6.03- Help Yourself And Heaven Will Help You
December 18--6.05- The Barricades
December 19--6.06- The Duc d'Orleans
December 21--6.07- The Last King of France
December 22--6.8a- The Fait Accompli of 1830
December 23--6.08c- Metternich
December 24--6.08e- The June Rebellion
December 25--The Storm Before The Storm: Chapter 1- The Beasts of Italy
December 26--7.03- The German Confederation
December 27--7.04- The Austrian Empire
December 28--7.06- The Kingdom of Hungary
December 29--7.07- The Hungry Forties
December 30--7.12- The Provisional Government
January 5, 2025--7.13- The Spectre of The French Revolution
January 9, 2025--The Calm Before the Storm Before the Storm
January 11--Politics & Prose Oct 28: The Storm Before the Storm Book Event
January 19--7.14- The Fall of Metternich
January 20--7.15- Slaves No More
January 21--7.16- We Crawled On Our Stomachs
January 22--7.17- The Five Days of Milan
January 25--7.18- Democracy In Action
January 26--7.19- The June Days
January 31--7.20- Where Do You Draw The Line?
February 12--7.21- Cracking Down and Backing Down
February 16--7.22- The April Laws
February 22--7.23- The First War of Italian Independence
February 23--7.24- The Turn of The Tide
February 24--7.25- The Parliament of Professors
February 25--7.27- The Flight of the Pope
February 26--7.28- Prince President Bonaparte
February 27--7.29- The New Emperor
February 28--7.30- The Crown From the Gutter
March 1--7.31- The Assembly of the Damned
March 2--7.32- The Bitter End
March 3--7.33- What the Heck Just Happened
March 4--8.2- The Franco-Prussian War
March 5--8.3- The Government of National Defence
March 6--8.5- The Cannons
March 7--8.6- The Commune
March 9--8.7- Year 79
March 10--8.8- The Bloody Week
March 11--9.02- The Cry of Dolores
March 12--9.04- The Porfiriato
March 13--9.06- The Presidential Succession of 1910
March 15--9.09- The Tiger
March 17--9.11- Not Quite President Madero
March 18--9.13- The Plan of Ayala
March 19--9.15- The Constitutionalists
March 20--9.16- The Legend of Pancho Villa
March 21--9.19- The Conventionists
March 24--9.21- Death To The Gringos
March 25--9.24- Swinging From A Tree
March 26--9.26- The Last Caudillo
March 27--9.27- The Institutional Revolution
March 28--10.1- The International Working Men's Association
March 29--10.3- The Three Pillars of Marxism.
March 30--10.4- Historical Materialism
March 31--10.7- Paris Commune Revisited
April 1--10.9- The Third Rome
April 2--10.12- The Decembrists
April 8--10.13- Orthodoxy, Autocracy, Nationality
April 9--10.14- The Tsar Liberator
April 11--10.15- The Tsar Must Die
April 12--10.16- The Russian Colony
April 13--10.17- The Emancipation of Labor Group
April 14--10.20- The Liberal Tradition (Such As It Is)
April 15--10.24- The Union of Struggle for The Emancipation of the Working Class
April 16--10.26- The Far East
April 17--10.28 The Spark
April 18--10.31 A Big Mistake
April 21--10.33- Bloody Sunday
April 22--10.35- Sinking Ships
April 23--10.37 The General Strike
April 24--10.39- The End of Part I
April 25--10.40- Relaunch and Recap
April 28--10.42- The Stolypin Reforms
April 29--10.44- Bolshevik Bank Heist
April 30--10.46- The Permanent Revolution
May 1--10.48- The Death of Reform
May 2--10.52- What You Already Know About The Origins of WWI
May 5--10.54- War or Revolution
May 6--10.55- Whatever Happened To The International?
May 7--10.58- Inflation and Scarcity
May 8--10.60- The Abyss That Lies Ahead
May 9--10.62- International Women's Day
June 3--Appendix 1- Coming Full Circle
June 4--Appendix 3- From Equilibrium to Disequilibrium
June 5--Appendix 7- The Entropy of Victory
June 6--Appendix 9- The Second Wave
June 7--Appendix 10- The Revolution Devours its Children
June 8--Appendix 11- Meet the New Boss
June 9--Appendix 12- Coming Full Circle One Last Time
June 10--11.1- The Colonization of Mars
June 12--11.2- In With the Old
June 15--11.4- The Election of 2244
June 17--11.5- The New Protocols
June 18--11.7- The Annulment of Contracts
June 19--11.10- Red Justice Red Freedom
June 20--11.11-The Three Days of Red
June 23--11.14-The Mutual Blocade
June 24--11.28-Bloody Sunset

Did you enjoy this review? Consider supporting me on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/joelswagman

Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/JoelSwagman
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Friday, June 27, 2025

Revolutions Season 11: The Martian Revolution by Mike Duncan: Review (plus other thoughts)

(Podcasts--History) 


(This is my first time reviewing this podcast on this blog. So, according to my new rules, I'm doing this as a video only review.)




Did you enjoy this review? Consider supporting me on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/joelswagman

Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/JoelSwagman
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Thursday, June 26, 2025

Mission Impossible 8: The Final Reckoning: Movie Review


This is my first time watching this movie, so according to my new rules, I'm doing this as a video only review.



Did you enjoy this review? Consider supporting me on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/joelswagman

Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/JoelSwagman
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