fajrdrako | Scrabble and Troy...

Went for an early-morning walk, since the weather was nice for a change. The Glebe is quite at 8 a.m. on a Sunday in February.

I wated the first half of The Spartans on DVD. It's loosely based on Paul Catledge's book; it was wonderful to see visually the places I'd been reading about, and the lovely art. I was amused to see that while the Spartan art all showed the Spartans fighting naked with helmet and shield and sometimes breatplate, the re-enacments all put the Spartans in skirt. (Bunch of prudes!) I liked the narrator, Bettany Hughes. And the Spartans remain fascinating.

Got lunch at Quiznos - the Italian sandwich; still a little hot for me. Went to Tasia's and she helped me with some pronunciation of ancient Greek: I must remember that it's "Leo-NI-dhas" not "Le-ON-idas" as I'd always said. played three Srabble games; won the fist (put down the word "auditors") and lost the next two, one to Tasia, one to Harry, that one on Beulah's new SuperScrabble board. Suitably, at one point I had the word CLEX. Wish I could have put it down.

Beulah and Donna then left. Tasia, Harry, Sheila and I ordered Chinese food and watched Troy and I enjoyed it as much as ever. We had great fun quibbling through the movie, but Brad Pitt's thighs remained superb. Sadly, Briseis remained annoying. I would have liked that movie so much without her role, or even with a different actress. The best: Sean Bean as Odysseus - another example of a favourite role being played by a favourite actor - and Peter O'Toole as Priam.