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Survive the Jive presents a short video describing several of the pre-Christian customs for May Day in Europe, and how they derive from a tradition related to the proto-Indo-European goddess, Hausos. Happy May Day!

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On November 11th, 2011, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game consoles and Microsoft Windows, to the joy of millions of anticipating gamers. Of the 7 million units shipped, 3.4 million copies were sold within the first two days at retail outlets, mostly in North America and Europe. Online sales numbered a record-breaking 280,000 within the first 24 hours. These numbers are expected to increase steadily in the coming months. (more…)

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Nathaniel Drake, the hero of "Uncharted" II: "Among Thieves"

On October 13, 2009, Sony Computer Entertainment released Uncharted 2: Among Thieves for the Playstation 3 video gaming console. It was received warmly by nearly every video game critic in the US, having won numerous awards including “Best PS3 Action Game” and given a nearly perfect rating across the board. Adam Sessler of G4 (a video gaming news channel) even claimed it is the “best single-player game I have ever played” in a recent review. (more…)

Rembrandt, “Aristotle Contemplating a Bust of Homer,” 1653

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Translated by Greg Johnson, German translation here

For the Ancients, Homer was “the beginning, the middle, and the end.” A vision of the world and even a philosophy are implicitly contained in his poems. Heraclitus summarized his cosmic foundation with a well-turned phrase: “The universe, the same for all beings, was not created by any god or by any man; but it always was, is, and will be eternally living fire . . .” (more…)

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In today’s world, cell phones, pagers, iPods, computers, video games, and the like are as common a part of life as food and sleep. For the most part, these things are a distraction, and in case of video games, an outright form of escapism comparable to drug addiction. (more…)