My spiders may have been slacking earlier today, but one of them just brought back something very interesting from the Wikimedia Boston list:

Hello Bostonians,

Prof. Gregory Crane (Head of Classics Department) from Tufts University is
looking for a ‘Classics’ experienced Wikimedian to assist on a new project.
The premise of the collaboration is to Wikisource and translatevClassic
texts, which will be annotated and interpreted collaboratively to form a
‘Wikiedition’. If you are, or know anybody in the intersection of the
Wikimedia and Classics please contact me.

• via: [Wikimedia-boston] Classicist wanted to collaborate with Tufts department on first ‘Wikieditions’ project. (the contact info is there)

Hopefully we’ll be hearing more about this project … it’s got huge potential (and I’ve suggested similar things in the past, back before there were wikis) …

I used to love reading the Weekly World News and its occasional strange reportage about the ancient world (and no, I didn’t believe a word of it) … what follows is a long-time-coming list of pages from the WWN (via Google Books) of items pertaining to Cleopatra:

• Cleopatra’s Beauty Secrets Discovered (these reappeared in various versions throughout the years; oddly, many of these still appear in one legitimate newspaper or another every day)
• Will the Real Cleopatra Please Stand up? (a couple of competing reincarnation claimants; there are a few of these over the years)
• Cleopatra Was Ugly as a Pan of Warts (self explanatory … the story also reappeared a number of times over the years; never figured out how that lined up with the ‘beauty secrets’ stuff)
• The Oedipus Complex (an ancient psychiatric institute which catered to Tony and Cleo at some point)
• WWN Rome (headlines from an ancient tabloid; Cleo mentioned in one of them)
• Alien Camera Found (clearing up the business about the asp)

… and one which doesn’t deal with that Cleopatra, but the exploits of some actress in ancient Roman times named Cleopatra Jolix (I couldn’t resist):

• First Celebrity Tabloid Found

… someone arrived at rogueclassicism while searching for this:

Check out the DC Database for a synopsis and other info …

With school about to start, it might be salutary to remind folks of the existence of this interesting little high tech toy:

• Google Earth Ancient Rome 3d layer.

From the Chronicle:

A NEW comedy called It’s Grim Up North follows the exploits of dodgy Roman auxiliary soldiers building Hadrian’s Wall in AD126, and listeners wanting a good laugh can tune in via the internet to hear the world premiere of the radio sitcom pilot.

It’s Grim Up North has been penned by Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood, the Tyneside-based writers whose comedy stage play hits include Dirty Dusting, The Revengers, Waiting For Gateaux, Son of Samurai and Maggie’s End.

The duo, who also scooped the Best Comedy Screenplay award at last year’s New York-based Gotham Screenplay Festival, have set the action when the Roman soldiers were constructing the famous Northumberland wall that is today a World Heritage Site.

There are a variety of characters based around Drizzlewort, a milecastle on the wall: Britons from south of the wall, rebellious Picts and auxiliaries from sunnier parts of the vast Roman Empire, who dislike the constant rain in the wilds of Northumberland’s picturesque but cold and wet moors.

Cast member and director Jackie Fielding said: “We all had a great time recording the show. It’s very funny and the characters are fantastic.”

Trevor added: “We‘ve put the full episode on our website and made it available for download on iTunes. We’d like people to listen to it and give us feedback via our website.

“The Customs House theatre in South Shields and Sunderland University have worked with us on this project and their support has been invaluable.”

• via Radio Stageplay: It’s Grim Up North, iTunes | ChronicleLive.

You can listen to the pilot (and read some more background) at Ed Waugh/Trevor Wood’s site (there’s a button near the bottom to listen/download) … I didn’t listen to the whole thing, but it seems to have potential.