Pharaoh RutinTutin

France Why should a French victory seem like a disappointment? They have won it before. They will be hosting the next Women's World Cup. And no one has a more violent National Anthem. But even with all that, a French championship still feels some how incomplete. Or is that just my impression?

July 16 1054 – Three Papal Legates break relations between Western and Eastern Christian Churches through the act of placing an invalidly-issued Papal bull of Excommunication on the altar of Hagia Sophia during Saturday afternoon divine liturgy. Dividing the Church by interrupting services? And without a properly issued order from Rome? Why must schisms be so sloppy? 1790 – The District of Columbia is established as the capital of the United States after signature of the Residence Act. This is why the most important person in Washington is the Resident of the United States. 1935 – The world's first parking meter is installed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Insert coin and turn knob. Return and repeat every hour. Or if you don't want to pay the quarter now, you could have your car ticketed, booted, towed, and impounded. Then face a judge or another court officer before paying a fine and fees that are significantly more than the quarter you couldn't bother paying in the first place. 1941 – Joe DiMaggio hits safely for the 56th consecutive game, a streak that still stands as an MLB record. He would be on the All Star Team in thirteen seasons and be named MVP three times. With the Yankees, he would win nine World Series and ten American League Pennants. He would marry Marilyn Monroe. And generations of Americans would know him best as the spokesperson for Mr Coffee brand Coffee Makers. 1945 – Manhattan Project: The United States successfully detonates a plutonium-based test nuclear weapon near Alamogordo, New Mexico. Reactions to the event continue to be mixed. 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 11 is launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Kennedy, Florida. With less than half a year before Kennedy's deadline, they better get this one right. 2013 – As many as 27 children die and 25 others are hospitalized after eating lunch served at their school in eastern India. What elementary student hasn't suspected this to be possible since the first School Lunch was served?

All we know with certainty about the Dunkels is that Elliot's mother was very young when he was born. Other than that, almost anything else could be true. So anything that does not directly contradict what has been shown in the comic is within the realm of wild plausibility. So this is what happened. First the Earth cooled. And then the dinosaurs came, but they got too big and fat, so they all died and they turned into oil...

Quatorze Juillet Every year, I celebrate the day with the most historic French song I know

Is BeeGrace a Worker or a Queen?

July 13 1573 – Eighty Years' War: The Siege of Haarlem ends after seven months. North-east Manhattan would never be the same. 1878 – Treaty of Berlin: The European powers redraw the map of the Balkans. Serbia, Montenegro and Romania become completely independent of the Ottoman Empire. No more elevating their feet while sitting. From now on, the people of the Balkans can keep their feet on the floor like everyone else. 1940 – The birth of good taste as actor Patrick Stewart and Cajun Chef Paul Prudhomme are both born on the same day. 1956 – The Dartmouth workshop is the first conference on artificial intelligence. Someone is finally doing something about the lack of genuine intelligence in the world. 1973 – Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of the "Nixon tapes" to the special Senate committee investigating the Watergate break-in. A highly secure facility like the White House may be recording what people say and do while there? Ridiculous! 1985 – Vice President George H. W. Bush becomes the Acting President for the day when President Ronald Reagan undergoes surgery to remove polyps from his colon. Is this really something that needs to be announced as news and recorded as history?

I asked them to bring me some light reading material. I did not want his decree on the Light of the Aten.

There is an alternative. Many, but not all, American Colleges and Universities require Freshman students to live in campus housing. Sarah, and any of the other EGS regulars who would help advance the story arc in which Sarah is involved after High School, may elect to enroll at a school that does not have this requirement. Renting a house near the campus is quite common for a group of students.

Did Tedd really need to phrase his closing comment in such a manner? One of the most emotional scenes in EGS, and the specific wording makes me think of My Little Pony.

Those librarians were RUTHLESS when it came to collecting overdue fines.

July 12 100 BC – Birth of Gaius Julius Caesar, Roman politician and general. Historians, please ink your quills. 1543 – At Hampton Court Palace, Catherine Parr maries the third of her four husbands, King Henry VIII of England. She would outlive Mr VIII by a year, dying after she married Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, and brother of Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour. Were there only a dozen people residing in sixteenth century England? 1776 – Captain James Cook begins his third voyage. Britain's rebellious colonies across the Atlantic have just declared their independence, and the British Admiralty orders their best Captain to an exploration mission in the Pacific? Something does not add up. 1806 – Sixteen German imperial states leave the Holy Roman Empire and form the Confederation of the Rhine. Giving up their nominal status as vassals of the Pope and their practical status as vassals of Prussia, the princes ruling these sixteen small states bravely become vassals of Napoleon. 1962 – The Rolling Stones perform their first concert, at London's Marquee Club. Keith Richards begins his experiments in modern mummification techniques about the same time. 1973 – A fire destroys the entire sixth floor of the National Personnel Records Center of the United States. The US is leaving a war it can not win and the US President is under investigation. Suddenly a third of all the personnel records of the US Military are "accidentally" damaged or destroyed?

When Justin had the one Grace, he carried her. But now Justin apparently has more than one. But we still only see one. And that one is walking. Perhaps Graces stack internally like nesting dolls? That would explain why Justin is making Grace walk even though she is obviously tired. With the mass of two (or more) Graces, she is too heavy for Justin to carry.

Personally, I am intrigued by the idea that Merlin was a kind of split personality for Arthur. An elaborate imaginary friend who had the wisdom to guide Young Wart through the trials of his early reign, because the abused foster son of a minor knight would not have the knowledge or confidence to become King of the Britons.

Is this related to the phenomena that will make me gain five pounds if I eat a one pound box of candy?

July 11 472 – After being besieged in Rome by his own generals, Western Roman Emperor Anthemius is captured in St. Peter's Basilica and put to death. This lesson in history would not be ignored. 813 – Byzantine emperor Michael I, under threat by conspiracies, abdicates in favor of his general Leo the Armenian, and becomes a monk (under the name Athanasius). It is possible to learn from the mistakes of others. Losing power does not necessarily need to mean losing your life. 1796 – The United States takes possession of Detroit from Great Britain under terms of the Jay Treaty. What a lousy trick those lousy limey #@^%*(%$ pulled on a young nation. And you know they won't take it back. 1804 – A duel occurs in which the Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. Politics can be so much simpler. 1893 – The first cultured pearl is obtained by Kokichi Mikimoto. Uncultured pearls are a symptom of an educational system that does not provide adequate opportunities for mollusks. 1895 – Brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière demonstrate movie film technology to scientists. Movie night for the lab techs is a well established tradition. 1921 – Former President of the United States William Howard Taft is sworn in as 10th Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the only person ever to hold both offices. He is also the heaviest person to hold both offices. He's a complicated man and no one understands him but his court stenographer. They say this Taft is one bad mother... 1924 – Eric Liddell won the gold medal in 400m at the 1924 Paris Olympics, after refusing to run in the heats for 100m, his favoured distance, on Sunday. Of course he won. Everyone else was running while he was driving an Chariot of Fire. 1979 – America's first space station, Skylab, is destroyed as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere mostly over the Indian Ocean. A 4% error in re-entry navigation calculations causes some large debris to land in Western Australia. The Shire of Esperance gave NASA a $400 citation for littering.

My reaction to seeing Adrian Raven unkempt and disheveled is about the same as my reaction to seeing any of my own teachers in a relaxed state. That is, not in the fully kempt and sheveled condition required for the job. Much like Susan, he went numb when confronted with so many different and overwhelming thoughts and emotions. But unlike Susan, he literally embraced an offer of human contact.

http://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/gam-10 Gracemander can't melt mountains? I guess we are stuck with waiting for erosion to smooth over the Himalayas.

The first rule of being immortal? YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT BEING IMMORTAL! The second rule of being immortal? YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT BEING IMMORTAL! No matter how much you may like some mortals, as a group, they will find ways to make your unending existence unbearable. Even if you are immune to the normal threats like aging, disease, or starvation, and even if you can regenerate and recover from any injury you have suffered so far, DO NOT underestimate the ability of humans to annoy, hurt, and even possibly destroy you. They might do all three at once without even trying.

Singles can't multiply. You need at least two to multiply. I at least remember that much from Biology. Or do numbers reproduce asexually?

I watched Speed Racer (AKA Mach GoGoGo) and Battle of the Planets (The American adaptation of the anime series Science Ninja Team Gatchaman) weekday mornings before I went to elementary school on 50 WKBD-TV, Detroit. Voltron was on the same channel in the afternoons early in high school. In middle school, the afternoons were for Star Blazers (the heavily edited American translation of Space Battleship Yamato) on 41 WUHQ-TV, Battle Creek/Kalamazoo. Should I be scared that I can so clearly remember what I watched for an hour or so before and after school, and can barely recall what I studied at school?

Mint condition doesn't taste like mint? They really should have covered that in orientation. I wonder how often that sort of thing happens in the world we call "reality" at shops that sell comics, baseball cards, coins, antiques, and other "collectables"? Actually, I want to be clear about this. This is one of those very rare events where the parody is better than the original.

Quite correct. That tactic is far more suited to the hydrogen filled dirigible.

July 09 1540 – King Henry VIII of England annuls his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. Or as Mr VIII calls it, Friday. 1572 – Nineteen Catholics suffer martyrdom for their beliefs in the Dutch town of Gorkum. Today no major religion believes in the Dutch town of Gorkum. 1609 – Bohemia is granted freedom of religion through the Letter of Majesty by the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II. This leads to many Bohemians being unable to tell the difference between real life and fantasy. As if they were caught in a landslide with no escape from reality. 1850 – U.S. President Zachary Taylor dies after eating raw fruit and iced milk at a Washington Monument fund raising party on Independence Day. He is succeeded in office by Vice President Millard Fillmore. When will people learn that Fruit and Milk can be dangerous? Do yourself a favor and stick to junk food. 1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law. At least, on paper. Actual full citizenship and due process for everyone is taking a bit longer. 1877 – The inaugural Wimbledon Championships begins. Some neighbors complain about the racquet the athletes are raising. 1922 – Johnny Weissmuller swims the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds breaking the world swimming record and the 'minute barrier'. The stress would make this man go ape. 1962 – Starfish Prime tests the effects of a nuclear test at orbital altitudes. How is this not a supervillain plot? 1981 – Donkey Kong is released in arcades. How is this not a supervillain plot?

Don't shut out your friends too long, Susan. Considering her current inner turmoil, an extended mind altering game of Goonmanji may be just the thing to help her relax right now.

July 08 1099 – Some 15,000 starving Christian soldiers begin the siege of Jerusalem by marching in a religious procession around the city as its Muslim defenders watch. How did the Crusades accomplish anything when they were so often unprepared, ill equipped, and incompetently led? 1663 – Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal charter to Rhode Island. The full document was larger than the colony. 1822 – Chippewas turn over a huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom. Because they knew how much British Nobility appreciated huge tracts of land. 1853 – The Perry Expedition arrives in Edo Bay with a treaty requesting trade. Well, they requested trade with a treaty and several heavily armed warships. But it was a request. 1874 – The Mounties begin their March West. After an ill-planned and arduous journey of nearly 900 miles, someone finally asks why the "Mounties" were marching west and not riding. 1932 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, closing at 41.22. This is of course the time when your ancestors should have bought stock. But no, they spent their few remaining dollars on silly things like food, clothing, shelter... 1947 – Reports are broadcast that a UFO crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico in what became known as the Roswell UFO incident. Nothing to see here. Move along. 1970 – Richard Nixon delivers a special congressional message enunciating Native American self-determination as official US Indian policy, leading to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975. This sounds like a good idea proposed by the President. Why did it take so long to be enacted? It's almost as if the White House was distracted by something. 2011 – Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program. The Roswell team was supposed to have the next interplanetary transport system operational by this time...