Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine Overrated concepts

Sub-zero temperatures with 25 mph winds. I just don't see the attraction.

Gushing over celebrities. Yes, admire them for their contributions, but don't turn them into idols. They're just humans (albeit generally very pretty and rich humans).

French Fries.

There, I said it. And I'm not sorry.

(Onion Rings, on the other hand, deserve all the praise in the world).

Comedy panel shows with the same rotating cast moving between shows. Mainly as they just happen to be represented by the production companies behind the shows.

Tired concepts with fairly unfunny comedians.

Salted caramel.

Word! Overused flavor on everything!

And while we're at it,

Cronuts.

I don't get it. They're good, but they're not THAT good.

Greek yogurt. I don't hate it by any stretch, but I don't understand its massive popularity--especially considering its price point as compared to "regular" yogurt.

^ I like it quite a bit...but not enough where I'm cool with the price it comes with.

Yeah, I buy, like, a 32 oz. store brand container of vanilla yogurt for less than 2 dollars. Same size generic Greek yogurt is, like, $4.50! NOT worth it!

I hear you! $4.50 yogurt? What am I, Twyin Lannister?! Especially when it takes me 35 seconds to eat it.

I know, right? If I had that kinda money, I'd eat it while sitting on the loo! But, then....

If the 300 could see the price of their yogurt now, they'd have surrender to Xerses.

"This is SPAR--! Fuck! Why be-ith our yogurt so expensive?!? Boys, put some clothes on! We're going the fuck-eth home!"

"The only thing that makes me angrier than loss of democracy is overpriced yogurt. Oh, and when frank miller draws me in a sword fight with my dong and grundle hanging out"

I heard, historically speaking, that Frank drew TOO MUCH clothes on the Spartans! And then, of course, the film adds more to protect the audience from the perils of massive dong-age!

Is it true that Spartans were nekkid?!?

I think we can add "fighting naked" to the list of overrated concepts

This article says they didn't fight naked, but artists of the time depicted them naked in the battlefield.

This article says the Spartans always wore body armor - "The Spartan warriors armour did change over time but they would usually have a chest plate to protect themselves from melee attacks to their torsos, bronze cuirasses, Leg greaves and a helmet most typically in the Corinthian style."

This article does say that it's true the Spartans were encouraged to take same-sex lovers so they would fight harder in battle and would behave better. "Lycurgus believed that love ties between men who were comrades-in-arms increased allegiance to their ranks. In a word, homosexual love promoted battlefield determination -- lovers joined in the battle field side-by-side, the lawgiver felt, made for better soldiering -- and all the better fostered the love of state.". "Lycurgus ordered lovers accountable for each other’s actions. "

It's widely accepted by historians that the Spartans wore armor in battle. Miller took a few liberties.

Homosexuality in Spartan armies is a historical fact. The real question comes in how exactly was this done. In the subsequent centuries in Ancient Rome, whenever there were gay lovers (or straight lovers) there was always a clear, dominant lover. That dominant one clearly was seen as the masculine Roman "man". There is a school of tonight to suggest lesbian relationships were the same. In Rome, there simply were no equals. Someone had the upper hand.

But what if...as some suggest...in Spartan culture--or Athenian culture--the relationships between men were truly partnerships? Not one partner having a clear dominant role over another?

I personally think the next 50 years will see a ton of great historiography being done on this topic.

That's a good point, Cobie. With society finally coming out of the social dark ages with views on homosexuality, we should see more things coming to light about homosexuality in history that were suppressed because of its "immorality".

Yeah, I think there's a whole school of history to come to really delve into this. Shit, who was last homosexual ruler whose preferences were accepted during his life? Hadrian? There's a lot of insight to be gained.

For example, everyone has always known Alexander the Great was either gay or bi, but it was a topic you'd hardly ever hear about outside acemdia. Let's get into it. Here is a man widely considered by ancients as the pinnacle of western civilization in terms of warfare and leadership. His image, and his wise acceptance as a hero say a LOT.

I'm looking forward to that. Imagine the faces of all those "all gay men are effeminate weaklings" thinkers when history and research prove that tough men like the Spartans engaged in homosexual partnerships!

The Spartans were, at times, not huge fans of relations between men, using 'boy lover' as an insult for their Athenian rivals, and the Athenians themselves preferred an Eromenos relationship between an older married man and a younger unmarried one, like a mentorship with sex on the side.

The Thebans, on the other hand, took it to a whole new level, and even their military enemies afforded them respect (although the scholarship is in dispute, since the best records were kept by the Athenians, who ended up hating them, and provided conflicting reports...).

Sacred Band of Thebes

They were so effective in fighting off the Spartans, while allies with the Athenians, that the Athenians betrayed them and let the Spartans wipe them out, because they were becoming too much of a dominant rival to Athenian power in the area.

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Anywho, fighting naked, bad. Like cooking bacon naked, only with even more tragic results.

Overrated:
Greek Yogurt.
Fighting naked.
300 the movie.
James Franco.

I'm going to start making my own yogurt. In Peace Corps, a lot of the volunteers made their own out of whatever powdered milk was available and a bit of starter. It's supposed to be simple enough and I can control the amount of sugar. There's an amazing dose in store bought.

This should be it's own thread.

Speaking of the Sacred Band, it's believed they were eventually extinguished by Phillip of Macedon (Alexander's father). I'd doubt Phillip cared much about their sexuality though; there is a crazy legend that while in a drunken festival, he dared some of his comrades to have sex with ah enormous filthy pig, and promised if they it, he'd do it too. They did it. Phillip was true to his word.

I'm not a king so I'll just say that some things I don't quite understand about ancient leadership.

Oh yes, Greek yogurt is yuk. Do not get that, at all. Even sweetened Greek yogurt is bitter and sour and yuk.

I will eat horseradish and sauerkraut with great abandon, but when I'm eating yogurt, I don't want mouth-shrivelage.

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Lobster. Also very overrated. If you drown it with butter, it tastes like yummy butter. You know what else also tastes great in yummy butter? Toast.

And toast isn't $24.95 a pound.

Twenty-five bucks is a whole lot of juicy hamburgers covered in bacon, swiss, portabella and BBQ sauce, by comparison.

Agree 100% on lobster! And that's the same thing I always think too about how many burgers, etc I could get!