You've reached the homepage of Walter M. Shandruk. If you ever frequent IRC chat rooms on Undernet then you may've run into me under the nickname Lasker, especially on the #history or #archaeology channels. Odd nickname? Not really, it's the surname of the amazing chess champion Emanuel Lasker, who passed away back in 1941. As a graduate of LaSalle University in both Computer Science and Philosophy, I worked in the IT industry for a year at the fantastic sweat shop known as The Vanguard Group and became sick of both the place of employment and the industry. Although still a fan of UNIX and particularly the Open Source Operating System FreeBSD UNIX which is powering the webserver - maintained by me - that you loaded this page from, I've chosen to follow a more interesting path, which brings me to my current status as student, once again, at Penn State University majoring in Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies.
As strange as it sounds, the inspiration for a homepage came to me only two days ago, on Friday April 24th, 2002, after not having one since my first year of internet access. Why the sudden desire? I needed a convenient place from which to disseminate some ancient Greek music. You say that's the sort of thing that hits you every other day? Thought so. Now, I know you're burning with desire to listen these, so here they are:
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Athenian composer, circa 138 B.C.E.
By Limenios, circa 128 B.C.E. Pindar, 522-446 B.C.E. Mesomedes of Crete, circa 130 C.E. Uncertain; possibly Homeric melody. Circa 2nd-3rd c. C.E. Uncertain; preserved in various Byzantine manuscripts. |
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Sculpture of Atlas from Villa |
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The study of Roman Mithraism is another side interest of mine, and I highly recommend my wildly informative website on the topic: http://www.mithraism.org. The site is ever-evolving and expanding, so check back to it every now and then to catch the updates. It is my solemn desire that the site helps in bridging the gap that popular misinformation about the cult has only managed to keep between inquirers and the facts. |
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And who doesn't enjoy collecting coins? How about ancient ones? I don't have a site up yet that shows off my personal collection, but I do have a little commercial site started last year: http://www.ancientstrikes.com. What better way to get to examine many coins in person, gain experience from studying them and then get my money back? Needless to say, ancient Numismatics is very rewarding; not only is it an affordable way to hold a piece of history in one's hands from a place and time one usually only gets to read about, but many ancient coins are veritable masterpieces and are worthy of owning in their own right. However, there is no better means to appreciating ancient coins and not getting cheated when collecting them than studying ancient Numismatics, so buy the reference books first! Try this for a beginner's book, Handbook of Ancient Greek and Roman Coins, by Zander H. Klawans. |
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You might also want to check out a short, not overly impressive, essay I wrote on the motif of Baal on Cilician coinage, here, and a longer, more impressive, essay on the origin of coinage in the Mediterranean here, or a much shorter essay on identifying counterfeits, here. Incidentally, The Ancient Coin Forum is a good all-around source for ancient Numismatic information as well as the coins themselves. Check it out, and if you purchase something, mention my name in your order, ok?
Recently, I returned from a wonderful trip to Greece and am in the slow process of making available online many of the photos I took. Below are links to each of the regions that we visited:
 Mycenae |
 Delphi |
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Anti-Americanism. It's pretty popular today, and all the moreso among those that know least about America and how it works. Sadly, much of it comes down to a hatred of Capitalism and jealously of America's successes. It is fueled by a latent Marxism which has refused to die among European intelligentsia, despite its utter failures, and fails to recognize that American rise to power is intimately linked with European failure while in power; but why trust what an American has to say about it? Check out this Frenchman's perceptive insights into anti-Americanism. |
