The Boxer

Roman boxing ,two opponants would slog it,or should I say slug it out.When one guy had enough he just put his arms by his side.He was declared loser, of the brutal and I reckon bloody affair.The Etruscons a pre roman people employed Gladiater combats at funerals,some must have been boxers.Please correct me if I"m wrong about this,as I would love to be an expert but amwell aware I am not.Combat boxers wore a pair of gauntlets or gloves,leather strips bound around the hands with metal plate.A leather cap was worn on the head to proctect the temples and ears.The gauntlets were called the Cestus,this tool was to add voilence to thier allready nasty blows.These guys knew how to put on a show,and were adept at avoiding blows.Like everything in rome,there may have been those who went hell for leather bashing left right and centre.They probably did not last as long as the more thoughtfull athletae.Sparing and dodging opponants was the best way to wear him out and when tired and worn down with enough blows on the head,the head and face being the favourite place to bash your foe.No matter how good a boxer was he would eventually be worn down by the voilence of his occupation.Boxing was and still is one of the roughest and dangerous gymnastic sports,people who indulged were crippled or killed by the exertions and hasazrds of this "SPORT." You might hear someone say in a dirty tavern "see him over there,the blind guy with the lumpy face he used to be a boxer.Yours truly dave.

making morter

Morter is made from a black sandy but slightly wet substance,added to water it becomes mortor.There is lime in the mix and cement,but I allways mixed in cement and a little uni-bond .This last to make it water proof,and to give it a nice consistancy.I mixed it for brick or concrete block layers.They can be a funny lot who have thier own indivual preferance of mix.They don"t take long about telling the poor atendant what they want.getting the mix just right is his first task.Cement is mostly lime,and pollybond or uni-bond is a water based glue.Sand and cement mix is mostly used for plastering.A plasterer is a tradesman who use"s a plastering trowel (a rectangular shaped tool with a handle on one side) to spread the mix evenly over the surface of a wall mostly outside.A plasterer is sometimes referred to as "Spread".A good spread is an artist and commands respect or at least good money they,are few and far between.Other types of plaster are Gypsom,known as bonding a rough rough thick consistancy plaster for indoors main walls.Load bearing walls,these are made from brick,or modern walls are block.When the walls are prepared cleaned and applied with uni-bond in water,then bonded with gypsum(originally a laten word to describe a soft white plaster, it allways looked pink to me,except plaster of paris another application).When the bonding is dry a finish coat of wall finish is applied.Wall finish is or was in my day mixed in a bucket of water ,then put in the plaster and mix it with a "podger"sounds like something rude ,a two and half foot long metal pole with handle at one end and at the other around shaped with four spars inside the circle.This was pushed up and down,and turned right and left simultaneusly,you did this until the mix was just right.When the spread said"thats a grand cake nora" it was o k otherwise you could find your self walking down the road(meaning you are sacked).Lately plasterboard is used more freqently in new house"s.A eight by four foot slab of plaster board,is nailed on battons of two by one inch rough wood itself nailed to the wall with masonary nails.This can be done with a hilty gun.The boards are taped at the joins with " scrim"or paper tapecovered with board finish.This is then plastered with a finish coat of board finish,when dry it can be painted.There is one other type of plaster thats used to stick plasterboards to a wall prepared without battons.Its called hard wall adhesive it looks a bit like bonding only stronger you throw blobs on to the wall and apply the board,pushing firmly and evenly.when dry "scrim" then plaster your wall finish.I am not keen on this last method as there are too many things that can go wrong.The wall may not have been prepared enough and the whole process could unravel leaving a mess to sort out.In conclusion there are a few types of board some have foil back to combat damp ,and I did not include cealings in my little chat,they are not diffucult to deal with asthey mostlytake plasterboard,some types of ceiling must be double slabed(a slab is a board) for fire regulations,otherwise they are straight forward.Soon I hope to talk about moldings and arctraves ect.....ect.See ya all soon Dave.

musician

Please allow me to introduce myself"I"m a man of poverty and tastlessness".I loved the stones when I was a young "fellor".Dave and I used to go to a large musical instrument shop in town,him to oogle at the Premier Drum Kits,me I went to a floor above to play guitar with at least 10 others.I say play,but I really mean stare at others in the hope of picking up a "riff" or three.The Beatles "Get Back" was a big hit with the circle.I say circle as the guitar want-a-be"s formed the round shape of the display area.Each guitar player adopting his,at that period girls were absent from the rock world,favourite guitar posture .Some guys were uncomfortably cool,these tending to be the best,of the bad bunch.Still I learned a lot of stuff,sometimes though I would get to the magic third floor and the familior sound I may have mastered would be replaced,one week by "Classical Gas",a tune so difficult it leaft me close to tears.Like a sublime guitar guru,who thought Nirvana was in my grasp,only to find re-birth as a tone deaf sqirt.Ah shucks I wont stop fo a million bucks.The beatles and the rolling stones were at odds in the minds of a good deal of my peers.If a stones fan,you were rough n ready,but a beatleite was probably middle class and a dope smoking reader of comics like The Avengers or worse Dr Strange.I liked both,Bands and Comics.This meant in the small town mental paronioa that I was a dangerous spanner,who after a few pints would forget who I was talking to and say"ah the beatles are incredable look at all the cars they own",wondering why the guys were developing enormous red faces,I might have made an error smoking that joint before the pub.Then revalation these dudes are not beatle fans,maybe if I mention Jimi Hendrix.No I ran it being the kind of guy I am.There is one abiding memory of Mr Dempsey,a man who owned a musical shop on a triangle of shops in cabple st.He allowed us ,dave gorman and I to pay him a small amount of money every week.I got my first base guitar there and my first acustic an Eco.Dave got a bass drum with peddle, a snare and several Symbals,other stuff too.Mr Dempsey was patient and wise in the ways of the music scene.Truth is we loved and trusted him he allways had a smile for us.In an instrument shop in Caple St we met Greg,he could play like Hendrix,Clapton,Page,and if pushedGeorge Harrison,all rolled into one.I lived near by and took him home ."Ma" I said" give him my slice of cake","mine too" quiped Dave,She knew we were in the presence of an important person.I don"t give cake to just anybody,looking him up and down I guessed she was thinking there must be some mistake, but she handed over the cake.Greg devoured my slice "mm good" ,looking for more,when my ma say that Idid not rise to this monumental request she gave him another slice,a little smaller than the last,and a mug of tea.This done we got down to brass tacks,"will you join our band,he looked at our eager face"s and said "eh O K".We had a band we had no clue what that it meant,but what the hell.see ya soon dave

science fiction

Hi there dave here I bring you opinions and sacred bios from the Twenty Fifth Galaxy Birmingham.When I was a snotty nosed kid I read "Dune" by Frank Herbert.I was so impressed that I Launched into reading all books about Dune,Arrikis,and the myriad of bloodthirsty charactors and byzantine plots.Incredable stuff,I was scarred stiff as Paul(Dune Messifancypants)plunged his hand into the Gom-Jabber,I understood he wanted to pull it out,but knew he would not "wow".Anyway recently I came across some Prequels by Brian Herbert,and Kevan J Anderson.One was about the original Rulers of IX,the techno planet,with a bumbly explanation of how Leit-kynes met and won the hearts of the original Blue Eyed Boys.I am refering of course to the desert hardened Fremen of Dune.Not to give too much away not impressed.However thier Tome House Corrino is a better read I am reading at present,I would say that more effort and perhaps reserch went into "Corrino".I this simply a money making enterprise or a real tribute to a True Genius,I hope the latter,House Atreides is the book I read ,Ithouth it was about IX,there you go.In my defence I do have to travel eleven light years to get milk and books and stuff.See you in the past and soon dave.

Constantine the great

Constantine was born in eastern Europe but traveled a lot with his fathers court.Diocletion had reorcanized the Empire,creating two Augusti.Himself as senior andMaximian as subservient.Diocletian vice-regent of Jupiter on earth,and Maximian was Hercules half god half human hero.Each promoted a Caesar.Diocletian chose Galerius Maximianus and
Maximian, called Flavius Constantius whom he married to his step daughter Theodora.Galerius,by all accounts a brute was married to Valeria,daughter of Diocletion.These military reforms were matched by social and economic reforms as well.Meanwhile Constantine was sent to the "Sacred Retinue" as a hostage for his "dads" good behavour.He did"nt see his parents again for twelve years.Eventully he did escape and made his way to his fathers death bed.The briton legions raised him on a shield declaring him Emperor.At that time in Europe the Augusti had no choice but to declare him Caesar.There were all sorts of problems manifesting not least of which was persian invasion.Constantine consoladated his position in Gaul and eventually moving to Byzantine as sole ruler.Of course this happened over the course of several years and battles.The most important being The Battle of Milvian Bridge where Maxentius was pushed over the bridge and,drowned in the Tiber.Constantine claimed he saw a message in the sky while on his way "somewhere".It said "by this sign conquer,and a strange cross apeared in the clouds.This was the sign of the Christians and meant that thier persecution was at an end.Diocletion and company had lost patience with this annoying jewish sect who would not give the Roman civic gods even lip service.Anyway constantines Edict of Toleration meant that the christians were to get government approval and all that entailed.Lots of Church property and plate were returned and all prisoners released from mines prisons ect.He even called himself the thirteenth apostle,and presided over the great church council at Nicia,in Asia Minor.His Mother Helan was to become a lunatic christion claiming to find the true cross and the site of the holy Sepulcra.There is more and much left out of this incredable story.I will be back.Dave

I have alot to learn,yesterday I wrote a piece on a Vandel,well half Roman half Vandel who I think is an interesting human being.I saved the draft and,now I can:t find it.I"m sure it will turn up.He "Stilicho" was asked by Theodosius the Great,on his deathbed to look after Theodosius"s two sons.Honorius(10years)Arcadius(17years).The latter had been left as regant for his younger sibling,and to look after the Eastern Empire.Theodosius went west to deal with the usurper Eugenius.Of course Stilicho was charged with looking out for the new Augustus"s.Some eastern troops were left at Milan to boost Honorius"s position,more on them later.Unfortunatly Arcadius was an imbecele and weakwilled falling under the strong personalitie of the Praetorian Prefect for the east Flavius Rufinus.An unprincipled,devious and ambitious Aquitainian.Not that his birth place had any bearing on this all to human tale.He had his beady eye on the Throne.First he would marry his daughter to the half-wit emperor,then as Father in law work out the details for his ambitious dream.As it turned out it was a dream nothing more.When Rufinus had to go east as far as Antioch on an empereal warant,the sneaky and wily Eutropius the Lord Chamberlain took advantage of Rufinus"s absence convinced Arcadius to marry Eudoxia a girl of exeeding beauty.They got wed allmost on the spot,she was a daughter of one of Rufinus"s victims.When Rufinus found out about this setback he was powerless to do anything about it.There is a great dealmore of this tale to come so watch this spot.

I got the sack today,I really don't know why,Its left me feeling confused and angry,I'm at a loss about what to do about this.Will I go to the union,or Management at head office,what!!!.I have been employed by this fine company for three months,I love my job what did I do to deserve this.Apparantly I'm not a team player,and I've written thinks about them in my diary.Well there is a limit to what there delicate female brains can cope with.According to the managers,I feel like I'v been picked on bullied in the school yard,and when I did not comply I'm told my probation was unsuccessfull.Fuck you very very much dave.Still I will not let this matter drop, I will get the union and Labour Court to fight on my behalf.If this does'nt work at least I'll have tried.thanks dave.