The Vatican’s Painful Typo – How Jesus became Lesus

The Vatican wanted to commemorate Pope Francis’ first year of reign with a medal.

The Italian State Mint created and minted a few thousand medals in gold, silver and bronze for purchase.

The medals feature the Pontiff’s coat of arms and motto and went on sale on October8, 2013. Soon after, it was noticed that “Jesus” was misspelled as “Lesus” in Pope Francis’ motto.

His official motto is Vidit ergo Jesus publicanum, et quia miserando atque eligendo vidit, ait illi, “Sequere me” [Jesus therefore sees the tax collector, and since he sees by having mercy and by choosing, he says to him, “follow me”]

Once the typo was detected, Vatican officials quickly recalled thousands of medals slated for sale to collectors. However, four of the “flawed” medals were already snapped up by collectors before the embarrassing mistake was detected, which makes their value soar.

According to Francesco Santarossa, a coin and stamp shop owner close to St. Peter’s Square, no such a mistake has ever happened before in the 600-year-long history of papal medals.

In the current social media age, puns like “Lesus” Christ. “I blame the Lesuits” quickly made the rounds on Twitter.

Moral of the story: also the Vatican needs a good proofreader! Quod est demonstrandum!

Nick Brandt’s Haunting Photos in His New Book “Across the Ravaged Land”

Photographer Nick Brandt released his latest book Across the Ravaged Land.

It features haunting photos of a deceptively still body of water in Tanzania with holds a deadly secret, Due to its unique chemical makeup, it turns any animal it touches to stone. Brandt captures the petrified creatures on camera. The whole area around the lake petrifies animals due to its constant pH of 9 to 10.5, which is an extremely basic alkalinity that preserves these creatures for eternity.

Brandt explains:

"I unexpectedly found the creatures - all manner of birds and bats - washed up along the shoreline of Lake Natron in Northern Tanzania. No-one knows for certain exactly how they die, but it appears that the extreme reflective nature of the lake’s surface confuses them, and like birds crashing into plate glass windows, they crash into the lake. The water has an extremely high soda and salt content, so high that it would strip the ink off my Kodak film boxes within a few seconds. The soda and salt causes the creatures to calcify, perfectly preserved, as they dry.

I took these creatures as I found them on the shoreline, and then placed them in ‘living’ positions, bringing them back to ‘life’, as it were. Reanimated, alive again in death." 

The haunting images look like stills from a horror movie or a Dr. Who/Warehouse 13 episode. But the poor creatures featuring in Brandt's book are (too) real, and it is therefore strongly recommended to stay away from the real thing….and whatever you do - don't touch it!

Shana Tova - Happy New Year

The Man Behind Fictional Austrian Cartoonist Rachel Gold

Austrian editorial cartoonist Rachel Gold is a “young, pretty Jewish immigrant girl from Israel”. She got a job as a cartoonist at the Wiener Zeitung, replacing Markus Szyszkowitz. The Kronen Zeitung editor Hans Dichand let Markus go since some of his cartoons had offended politicians – especially Werner Faymann who serves as Austria’s chancellor since 2008 despite some scandals. Faymann and Dichand were very close friends until “Uncle Hans” passed away in 2010.

Rachel was hailed as one of the only two female political cartoonists in Austria. According to her Wikipedia page, Ms. Gold was born in Tel Aviv in 1978. She was raised in Israel and moved to Vienna in 1999, where she has been a freelance artist since 2004. She also has a Facebook page and her own website where she posts her cartoons. Apart from working for the Wiener Zeitung, she also created cartoons for the Tiroler Tageszeitung.

All was well in the editorial cartoon world until an editor became suspicious of Rachel and started digging. In the end, Gold’s cover was blown. Neither Szyszkowitz nor Gold commented or made any statement.

However, Daryl Cagle, a fellow editorial cartoonist for MSNBC. thinks that he understands what drove Markus. “Rachel was created in response to Markus’ frustrations, working under editorial constraints at his former newspaper, the Kronen Zeitung.”

He also believes that Szyszkowitz purposely chose a Jewish identity. He argues that “Markus is convinced that his editors, and the Austrian readers, were willing to accept more hard-hitting, liberal cartoons from the young, pretty, Jewish immigrant girl from Israel. Given Austria’s harsh history, Markus believes that Rachel gets more editorial leeway because she is Jewish, rather than because she is a woman.”

Whatever the reason, it worked out fine in the end. Both Szyszkowitz and his alter ego Gold are currently working at other newspapers happily posting their cartoons for our amusement.

JK Rowling Claims “ANGER” At Lawyer For Leaking Her Pseudonym – Righteous Indignation?

In another interesting twist, Ms Rowling has said she feels "very angry" after finding out her pseudonym Robert Galbraith was leaked by a legal firm.

As widely covered by the media, JK Rowling has penned a crime novel (The Cuckoo's Calling, the first in a series) under the pen name “Robert Galbraith”.

As it turns out, Chris Gossage, a lawyer at her law firm Russells, told his wife's best friend Judith Callegari, who promptly blabbed it to whoever wanted to know in the Twitter universe.

Galbraith/Rowling stated: "I feel very angry that my trust turned out to be misplaced. To say that I am disappointed is an understatement. A tiny number of people knew my pseudonym and it has not been pleasant to wonder for days how a woman whom I had never heard of prior to Sunday night could have found out something that many of my oldest friends did not know."

Needless to say, Russells Solicitors went into “mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa” mode, apologizing "unreservedly". In good lawyerly fashion, the firm pointed out that the secret was leaked "during a private conversation" and that "the disclosure was made in confidence to someone he trusted implicitly. On becoming aware of the circumstances, we immediately notified JK Rowling's agent."

Rowling reacted to the apology by suing the lawyer and the friend. Her attorney, Jenny Afia, argued in High Court that her client felt "angry and distressed that her confidences had been betrayed.”

Russells agreed to reimburse Rowling's legal costs and to make a "substantial" donation to The Soldiers' Charity, which helps former military personnel and their families.

What do you think – another clever marketing move?

Pippa Middleton Takes Legal Action Against @PippaTips - The Streisand Effect

Mat Morrisroe and Suzanne Azzopardi started tweeting as @PippaTips. Their hilarious tweets spoofed
Pippa’s predictable party tips.

Some gems include:

@PippaTip: avoid awkward silences by talking

@PippaTip: when driving at night lights aren't only a legal requirement, but a fun way of seeing the road and other things

@PippaTip: if you're shopping on a budget, try purchasing things that cost less to buy

@PippaTip: breakfast is a yummy way to get rid of hunger after waking. Toast (re-cooked bread), cereal or eggs with bacon are always winners

@PippaTip: the weekend is a good opportunity to do things you don't have time to during the week

@PippaTip: headache tablets can be a great in helping deal with a headache

@PippaTip: form friendships by being nice to people you like

@PippaTip: a refreshing afternoon nap can be enjoyed by taking a nap in the afternoon

With more than 50,000 Twitter followers, the dynamic duo launched "When One is Expecting: A Posh Person's Guide to Pregnancy and Parenting". It’s a parody of Pippa’s quite unsuccessful book Celebrate.

Ms. Middleton was not amused and instructed her lawyers Harbottle and Lewis LLP to demand that the @PippaTips Twitter account must be deleted

Part of Pippa’s chagrin could be the fact that the spoof is outselling the original on Amazon. Celebrate ranks at #3,370, while the @PippaTips book ranks at #961.

Sales in bookshops are still better for Celebrate. Pippa did not do herself a favor with her public outcry. It generated a lot of publicity that only helps to boost sales for @PippaTips. It’s a classic example of the Streisand Effect.

What If Ancient Rome Had Internet? This Is How Social Media Could Have Looked....Feel Free to Add Your Own!

Sometimes I wonder ancient Romans would have used social networks. Feel free to add your own 2 asses!

Amazon.com

Buy the latest Roman Gazette Bestseller list scroll “De Bello Gallico” by Gaius Julius Caesar now! 15% discount if you order before the Ides of March. 

Best customer review: “An amazing read” Octavius

Worse customer review: “Hate it, hate it, hate it”! Widow of Vercingetorix 

eBay

Sword used to kill Gaius Julius Caesar. Features original blood stains. Only used once for murder. Condition: fair. Current bid: 100 dinarii excluding shipping.

Facebook

Like pages:

“How to poison without leaving a trace” – Empress Livia (1,000,360 likes from the female Roman population and all slaves)

“Kinky stuff” – Caligula (likes from Emperor Tiberius)

“How to commit patricide” – Brutus (likes from all Roman nobles)

Texting

"Noticed that my husband is sexing another hussy" (Caesar’s wife to BFF)

"I am here, let’s kill the SOB" (Brutus to fellow conspirators))

"Why does oracle4u keeps texting me “Beware of the Ides of March” (bewildered I am NOT bold Caesar to his mistress). 

YouTube

Most popular:

- How to cross the Alps with elephants (posted by Hannibal) 10 minutes

- Cleopatra taking a bath (posted by MarcAntony) 3 X-rated minutes

- Speeches by Cicero (too many minutes of "Furthermore, consider that Carthage must be destroyed")  

Netflix and Hulu

The black widow (documentary about Empress Livia 1 hr and 10 min.)

My Space

Emperor Nero featuring playing the violin against a stunning Roman background

Google+

- Friends circle Roman oppressors

- Friends circle Roman wives scorned

- Friends circle slaves revolt

Pinterest

Featured boards:

- Enemies I conquered (by Caesar4u)

- Enemies of Caesar (by Pompey)

- Toga fashion (by Valentinus of Roma)

- Lares (by Matrona)

- Favorite Scrolls (by Virgil)

- Volcanoes (Pliny the Younger)

Twitter

Kicked the s*** out of those #barbarians! #RomaVincit (Posted by #Caesar4u)

Lost another bloody #elephant. Stupid #Alps! (Posted by #Hannibal)

Hate my Daddy#Caesar4u sucks! (Posted by Julia, Caesar’s daughter)

Google translation (utilizing Babylon.com software) of an e-mail in Gallic to Latin:

“You Jules Bold murder wives and children. The Parisii and Gauls cannot take this. Wine and Women superior to Matrons Roman are. So exhaust fluid from this. Fornicate you!”