April 2008 POTENT MIND Finalists

[Keys]

From the April 2008 Potent Mind nominations we have selected two (2) finalists for your consideration.

Please select your nominee from the information provided below and then vote. Note: This is a public vote.

Nominees listed in alphabetical order.

All are very worthy finalists. Check the links to the threads and see what your fellow Bay 13 posters have said about each of the finalists. Tough choice ahead for you all.


Potent Mind is defined as: The Poster you wish you could emulate - that poster who has the perfect answer for almost any situation. They think fast. They counter with logic or argument that their adversary offers. They maybe a troll, but that is not the only string in their bow. They always seem to have the right answer at their fingertips. They provide such a compelling argument that they develop a following. Neutral posters see things their way after reading their post.

 

[Keys]

Biffinator has once again been rewarded for his good work with a nomination for these threads :

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=433696


http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=438668

 

[Keys]

Oogac has also been nominated again for general brilliance, but this thread in particular

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=429439

 

[Keys]

I'm not sure why, perhaps because of the sheer brilliance of oogac's heat map thread discouraging anyone nominating someone else, but these were the only two posters who were seriously nominated.

So it becomes a race between our last two winners.

 

[H2F]

Biff is a gun and his reward is being lined up against the best ... But Oogac is the man this month ...

Now if only he could make a nice big fat animation with Tigertoilet hiding behind the bowl, waiting for Gasper ...

 

[Stronzo]

Biff for me this time, last time it was oogac. Very hard to split them so its one month oogac one month Biff.

 

[showdownhero]

Biff is a gun and his reward is being lined up against the best ... But Oogac is the man this month ...

Now if only he could make a nice big fat animation with Tigertoilet hiding behind the bowl, waiting for Gasper ...

Please stop it ... every time I read about tigertoilet I ____in nearly die laughing ... your gonna kill me

 

[Biffinator]

Please stop it ... every time I read about tigertoilet I ____in nearly die laughing ... your gonna kill me

Thanks for the nomination (and the kind words guys) but I am staggered that I even got a few votes in light of Oogac's brilliance.

To be a Master.

Please, can we not just hand him the award?

Biffinator

 

[bushie]

Two very different, but brilliant posters.

Both have me laughing out loud with their wit and talent.

But it is oogac for mine this month.

Some of his work has been nothing short of stupendous.

Well done to both, and please keep it coming.

 

[westdog54]

I find myself in a rather difficult conundrum here, as I provided both nominations, and am very torn as to who to vote for.

I shall ponder my options and vote later in the week.

 

[H2F]

Please stop it ... every time I read about tigertoilet I ____in nearly die laughing ... your gonna kill me

bro I can't ... I'm in the same boat... no matter how busy I am at work I can't help sneaking in for a Tigerboyz defecation session ...

 

[Hoffy95]

bro I can't ... I'm in the same boat... no matter how busy I am at work I can't help sneaking in for a Tigerboyz defecation session ...

Don't forget to BYO cup...

 

[oogac]

Anyone who has a greater warped sense of humour than myself gets my vote . . .

Congrats Biff

 

[westdog54]

After much consideration, I have come to a decision.

Oogac's skills and sense of humour cannot be understated and he would be a very worthy winner.

But Biff brings a supreme intellect that has never been present on BigFooty, let alone Bay 13.

And he turns that intellect into a very very dangerous weapon.

Biff by a whisker this month.

 

[Jef Costello]

Almost impossible to choose. Congratulations to both posters for regular high quality posting.

Make it potent left and right brain and give them one each.

 

[showdownhero]

Thanks for the nomination (and the kind words guys) but I am staggered that I even got a few votes in light of Oogac's brilliance.

To be a Master.

Please, can we not just hand him the award?

Biffinator

I think you're just upset that you can't quote Caligula correctly

 

[Biffinator]

I think you're just upset that you can't quote Caligula correctly

Really ????

Is it not dangerous to argue about translations into English, particular when the Royal "We" might intrude arbitrarily?

And all the more so when the phrase is commonly utilised in modern day discussions, say, in talking about Imperial America and its relations to the wider world.

Now, Showdown Hero (no less), I was not quite sure off the top of my head whether the source for the quote is Cassius Dio (fragmentary at this point), Suetonius or one of the late Fourth Century epitomators (Aurelius Victor, Eutropius et al).

As you know surely know, Showdown Hero, the relevant books of Tactitus' Annals (VII - XII) are sadly missing (the key manuscript from the Monastery of Fulda disappeared a long, long time ago). Velleius Paterculus peters out with Sejanus still serving as Praetorian Prefect in the declining years of Tiberius.

Nor have I ever been able to track down a copy of Philo's work: he headed a mission to Caligula himself and his account is extant.

As it turns out it is Suetonius' Life of Caligula 30. Here is an online translation for your edification, Showdown Hero:


30 He seldom had anyone put to death except by numerous slight wounds, his constant order, which p453soon became well-known, being: "Strike so that he may feel that he is dying." When a different man than he had intended had been killed, through a mistake in the names, he said that the victim too had deserved the same fate. He often uttered the familiar line of the tragic poet:53

"Let them hate me, so they but fear me."
​

2 He often inveighed against all the senators alike, as adherents of Sejanus and informers against his mother and brothers, producing the documents which he pretended to have burned,54 and upholding the cruelty of Tiberius as forced upon him, since he could not but believe so many accusers. He constantly tongue-lashed the equestrian order as devotees of the stage and the arena. Angered at the rabble for applauding a faction which he opposed, he cried: "I wish the Roman people had but a single neck," and when the brigand Tetrinius was demanded,55 he said that those who asked for him were Tetriniuses also. 3 Once a band of five retiarii56 in tunics, matched against the same number of secutores,56 yielded without a struggle; but when their death was ordered, one of them caught up his trident and slew all the victors. Caligula bewailed this in a public proclamation as a most cruel murder, and expressed his horror of those who had had the heart to witness it.


I could provide the Latin text, but, sadly, my six years of training in the greatest of all languages have wasted away over time, replaced by much less useful knowledge. I am not even going to pretend that I can make any headway into such a text anymore.

So where does that leave us Showdown Hero?

Well, if there is one thing I was taught in my training is that one always should revert to the original source, which in this case is Suetonius 30.

I ignored your first barb because yes, I am a pretender in general, but the second pin-prick caused me to fuel up and then despatch the B-52s - hence the ordnance above.

If you have any other questions, particularly on (Imperial not Republican) Roman History, please let me know, Showdown Hero.

And have a nice day.

Biffinator.

 

[Jef Costello]

now that is a potent mind

 

[bushie]

It appears that Showdownhero will be ok eventually.

Doctors have advised,, that although the wounds are deep and telling, he should make a reasonable recovery as long as he doesn't try to be smart again..

However, he will be unable to sit down properly for over a month!!




That was one big "OUCH" Biff!!

 

[Oscarman]

Oogac for me. Laughed, cried and nearly pissed myself in the space in 30 seconds.

Top effort.

 

[Rodger Pedactor]

I can testify to the bona fides of the Biffinator's latin scholarship. His PhD thesis in Roman history was actually entitled "Quoting Caligula in Contemporary Internet Fora".

Challenge him at your peril.

 

[Stronzo]

It appears as though showdown hero lost the showdown..

 

[keefriffhard]

Biff is awesome and one of my favourite all time posters. The example shown in this thread is magnificent. His work is almost always of a quality and intellect far above the level expected in Bay 13.

But without doubt OOgac owns the picture mantle in here. And not much surpasses this fine effort:

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10994486&postcount=977

So hard to choose....

 

[Jef Costello]

this should stay on p1.

 

[showdownhero]

So in short ...

Vini, Vidi, Vici

Biffinator.

I might keep my history lessons to myself in the future mate.