Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Et in Akkadia ego

"When you look at the cultural role of Dr Who over the last five thousand years," sez I in the Explaining Voice, "he has always been a kind of Trickster archetype -- unconcerned with social strictures, even unstable in his physical boundaries. In the Sumerian city-states when tales of the Doctor and the Tardis first appear (as documented in cylinder seals from Uruk), the reason why his adventures appealed so much to the average peasant was the contrast between his taboo-breaking insouciance and the rigid, regimented temple-dominated society."
Tardis flanked by Khybermen

"You're making that up," Another Kiwi vouchsafed.

"It is Humour in Cuneiform," I said.

17 comments:

mikey said...

Huh.

I find Readers hard to Digest...

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Shouldn't you be banning yourself, S.C.?
~

tigris said...

Tardis flanked by Khybermen

Going. To. Hell.

Substance McGravitas said...

Sumer's over, upside-downies.

M. Bouffant said...

Ouch.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

In Chicago, the telephones were restricted to police use, but the boxes also contained a dial mechanism which members of the public could use to signal different types of alarms: there were eleven signals, including "Police Wagon Required", "Thieves", "Forgers", "Murder", "Accident", "Fire" and "Drunkard".

/ things I learned today
~

Hamish Mack said...

I'm sorry I can't reed cunieform.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

I type "drunkard", and look what the cat drags in.
~

Smut Clyde said...

I'm sorry I can't reed cunieform.

Upgrade to a tablet.

Hamish Mack said...

Upgrade to a tablet.
That ain't my stylus, man.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

there were eleven signals, including "Police Wagon Required", "Thieves", "Forgers", "Murder", "Accident", "Fire" and "Drunkard".

In my neighborhood, the "Drunkard" code would get quite the workout.

Smut Clyde said...

I wonder how often the average pedestrian found an urgent need to use the Forgers signal.

Hamish Mack said...

"look out there are forgers! Run for your lives!"
"Stay calm, old chap I shall ring the police on the forger phone'
"Drat it's not working! Why this must be a phony forger phone!"
"A phony phone?"
etc.

Smut Clyde said...

"OK, the first priority is to destroy the forged phony forger phone so that no-one makes the same mistake."
"We need a hammer and anvil."
"I shall phone the forge."

tigris said...

I've been receiving complaints, looks like I'll have to institute a smelter-in-place request.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Better have a coke machine, too...
~

C.F.Lange said...

Such wordsmith!