tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13611816145228402572024-03-14T00:53:07.423-04:00the dive spellCulture,History,Art,Mysteries,Life,Death.divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-81711492434972803392010-12-08T22:02:00.007-05:002010-12-08T22:12:26.375-05:00Damien Hirst: "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/TQBIB84UwTI/AAAAAAAAAiY/pFR3l3_0hCQ/s1600/damien-hirst-shark-art-info.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 311px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/TQBIB84UwTI/AAAAAAAAAiY/pFR3l3_0hCQ/s400/damien-hirst-shark-art-info.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548513939279888690" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living is an artwork created in 1992 by Damien Hirst, an English artist and a leading member of the "Young British Artists" (or YBA). It consists of a tiger shark preserved in formaldehyde in a vitrine. It was originally commissioned in 1991 by Charles Saatchi, who sold it in 2004, to Steven A. Cohen for an undisclosed amount, widely reported to have been $8 million dollars, however the title of Don Thompson's book, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art, suggests a higher figure. It is considered the iconic work of British art in the 1990s,[2] and has become a symbol of Britart worldwide.[3]<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/TQBIIYklGyI/AAAAAAAAAig/FFdfZKNGb4E/s1600/hirst_impossibility.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 263px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/TQBIIYklGyI/AAAAAAAAAig/FFdfZKNGb4E/s400/hirst_impossibility.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548514049792482082" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Its technical specifications are: "Tiger shark, glass, steel, 5% formaldehyde solution, 213 x 518 x 213 cm."<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/TQBITBbEzOI/AAAAAAAAAio/IKISeAkTXso/s1600/shark-install2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/TQBITBbEzOI/AAAAAAAAAio/IKISeAkTXso/s200/shark-install2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548514232557161698" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"Mr. Hirst often aims to fry the mind (and misses more than he hits), but he does so by setting up direct, often visceral experiences, of which the shark remains the most outstanding. In keeping with the piece’s title, the shark is simultaneously life and death incarnate in a way you don’t quite grasp until you see it, suspended and silent, in its tank. It gives the innately demonic urge to live a demonic, deathlike form."[8]</span></span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/TQBIbHRPgWI/AAAAAAAAAiw/KDajiQ8jWHM/s1600/damien-hirst-shark.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 130px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/TQBIbHRPgWI/AAAAAAAAAiw/KDajiQ8jWHM/s200/damien-hirst-shark.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548514371565486434" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">*Due to deterioration of the original 14-foot (4.3 m) tiger shark, it was replaced with a new specimen in 2006. It is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City until 2010.[1]<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:78%;">1. ^ Smith, Roberta (16 October 2007). "Just When You Thought It Was Safe". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/arts/design/16muse.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin. Retrieved 2007-10-16. 2. ^ Brooks, Richard. "Hirst's shark is sold to America", The Sunday Times, 16 January 2005. Retrieved 14 October 2008. 3. ^ Davies, Serena. "Why painting is back in the frame", The Daily Telegraph, 8 January 2005. Retrieved 15 October 2008.4. ^ a b "Saatchi mulls £6.25m shark offer", BBC. Retrieved 23 February 2007 5. ^ a b Barber, Lynn "Bleeding art", The Observer, 20 April 2003. Retrieved 1 September 2007. 6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Vogel, Carol "Swimming with famous dead sharks,2 New York Times, 1 October 2006. Retrieved 23 February 2007 7. ^ "Damien Hirst", The Artchive. Retrieved 23 February 2007 8. ^ Smith, Roberta (16 October 2007). "Just When You Thought It Was Safe". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/arts/design/16muse.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin. Retrieved 2009-08-16. 9. ^ Akbar, Arifa. "A formaldehyde frenzy as buyers snap up Hirst works", The Independent, 16 September 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008. 10. ^ Kennedy, Maev "Art market a 'cultural obscenity'", The Guardian, 3 June 2004. Retrieved 1 September 2007. 11. ^ Alberge, Dalya. "Traditionalists mark shark attack on Hirst", The Times, 10 April 2003. Retrieved 6 February 2008. 12. ^ "A Dead Shark Isn't Art" on the Stuckism International web site Retrieved 21 September 2008</span>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com64tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-29318077900099158772010-06-16T22:11:00.009-04:002010-06-19T10:35:14.744-04:00Go To Hell: Darvaza, Turkmenistan<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hgL2zTvu1kA/TBmJ_xycrhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3GMQ7_rWKlk/s1600/1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hgL2zTvu1kA/TBmJ_xycrhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3GMQ7_rWKlk/s400/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483565750089985554" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />"</span>In the hot, expansive Karakum desert in Turkmenistan, near the 350 person village of Derweze, is a hole 328 feet wide that has been on fire, continuously, for 38 years. Known as the Darvaza Gas Crater or the "Gates of Hells" by locals, the crater can be seen glowing for miles around.<br />The hole is the outcome not of nature but of an industrial accident. In 1971 a Soviet drilling rig accidentally punched into a massive underground natural gas cavern, causing the ground to collapse and the entire drilling rig to fall in. Having punctured a pocket of gas, poisonous fumes began leaking from the hole at an alarming rate. To head off a potential environmental catastrophe, the Soviets set the hole alight. <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >The crater hasn't stopped burning since."</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hgL2zTvu1kA/TBmKRjZFZ_I/AAAAAAAAAAk/kDdGE-N9da4/s1600/300px-Turkmenistan_location_map.svg.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 213px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hgL2zTvu1kA/TBmKRjZFZ_I/AAAAAAAAAAk/kDdGE-N9da4/s320/300px-Turkmenistan_location_map.svg.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483566055463151602" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hgL2zTvu1kA/TBmKJbmEBaI/AAAAAAAAAAU/uS7HXmGBFAw/s1600/3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hgL2zTvu1kA/TBmKJbmEBaI/AAAAAAAAAAU/uS7HXmGBFAw/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483565915931149730" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Though little information is available about the fate of the Soviet drilling rig, presumably it is still down there somewhere, on the other side of the "Gates of Hell."</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hgL2zTvu1kA/TBmKNtu5uhI/AAAAAAAAAAc/RgBKFp4GLV8/s1600/4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hgL2zTvu1kA/TBmKNtu5uhI/AAAAAAAAAAc/RgBKFp4GLV8/s320/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483565989519538706" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">John H. Bradley went and documented the trip. <a href="http://www.johnhbradley.com/">Check out his story and other photos.</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2008/03/25/darvaz-the-door-to-hell/">English Russia</a><br /><a href="http://static.atlasobscura.com/place/the-gates-of-hell">Atlas Obscura</a></span>DIVESPELLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407843998349224200noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-24287988457887856542010-03-04T15:01:00.021-05:002010-03-04T15:50:50.304-05:00"The Mysterious Stranger" by Mark Twain<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S5AacI7M8mI/AAAAAAAAAgY/QTxyNQ6Axe0/s1600-h/09_cover.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S5AacI7M8mI/AAAAAAAAAgY/QTxyNQ6Axe0/s320/09_cover.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444881020225385058" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The Mysterious Stranger is an unfinished work and the last novel attempted by the American author Mark Twain. It was worked on periodically from roughly 1890 up until his death in 1910. The body of work is a serious social commentary by Twain addressing his ideas of the Moral Sense and the "damned human race". A "complete" version was published posthumously in 1916 by Twai</span><span style="font-size:85%;">n's biographer Albert Bigelow Paine under the name The Mysterious Stranger, A Romance, but this version is under scrutiny concerning the extent of editing performed on Twain's manuscripts by Paine. The published version is a novella.<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S5AaTneVaWI/AAAAAAAAAgI/biwZfis6ieA/s1600-h/6474478.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 193px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S5AaTneVaWI/AAAAAAAAAgI/biwZfis6ieA/s320/6474478.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444880873806981474" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Twain actually wrote multiple versions of this story, each unfinished and each involving the character of "Satan". <span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >The first</span> substantial version is commonly referred to as The Chronicle of Young Satan and tells of the adventures of Satan, the sinless nephew of the biblical Satan, in an Austrian village in the Middle Ages. The story ends abruptly in the middle of a scene involving Satan entertaining a prince in In</span><span style="font-size:85%;">dia, suggesting Twain died before he finished writing it.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >The second</span> substantial version Twain attempted to write is</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> known as Schoolhouse Hill which involves the familiar characters of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer an</span><span style="font-size:85%;">d their adventures with Satan, referred to in this version as "No. 44, New Series 864962", and is set in America. Schoolhouse Hill is the shortest of the three versions.</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >The third</span> version, called No. 44, the Mysterious Stranger: Being an Ancient Tale Found in a Jug and Freely Translated from the Jug, returns to Medieval Austria and tells of No. 44's mysterious appearance at the door of a print shop and his use of heavenly powers to expose the futility of mankind's existence. This version also introduces an idea Twain was toying with at the end of his life involving a </span><span style="font-size:85%;">duality of the "self",</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> one being the "Waking Self" and the other being the "Dream Self". Twain explores th</span><span style="font-size:85%;">ese ideas through the use of "Duplicates", copies of the print shop workers made by No. 44. This version contains an actual ending, however the version is not considered as complete as Twain would have intended.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S5AaX2oqs0I/AAAAAAAAAgQ/9Iup5SPhbWI/s1600-h/459009eeec08e50f873c73142db6d33a-tm.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 263px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S5AaX2oqs0I/AAAAAAAAAgQ/9Iup5SPhbWI/s320/459009eeec08e50f873c73142db6d33a-tm.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444880946596328258" border="0" /></a><br />The most famous version of "<a href="http://www.classicreader.com/book/1370/">The Mysterious Stranger</a>"<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S5AaJrw2HwI/AAAAAAAAAf4/sIhobZMaAls/s1600-h/TwaMysS.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 52px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S5AaJrw2HwI/AAAAAAAAAf4/sIhobZMaAls/s320/TwaMysS.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444880703159672578" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">An Excerpt. </span> The Final Chapter: 11<span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036177"><br />For</a> as much as a year Satan continued these visits, but at last he came less often, and then for a long time he did not come at all. This always made me lonely and melancholy. I felt that he was</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> losing interest in our tiny world and might at any time abandon his visits entirely. When one day he finally came to me I was overjoyed, but only for a little while. He had come to say good-by, he told me, and for the last time. He had investigations and undertakings in other corners of the universe, he said, that would keep him busy for a longer period than I could wait for his return.</span> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036178">"And</a> you are going away, and will not come back any more?"</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036179"></a></span><a class="anchor" name="1036179"></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036179"></a></span><a class="anchor" name="1036179"></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036179">"Yes,"</a> he said. "We have comraded long together, and it has been pleasant--pleasant for both; but I must go now, and we shall not see each other any more."</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036180">"In</a> this life, Satan, but in another? We shall meet in another, surely?"</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036181">Then,</a> all tranquilly and soberly, he made the strange answer, "There is no other."</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036182">A</a> subtle influence blew upon my spirit from his, b</span><span style="font-size:85%;">ringing with it a vague, dim, but blessed and hopeful feeling that the incredible words might be true--even must be true.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036183">"Have</a> you never suspected this, Theodor?"</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036184">"No.</a> How could I? But if it can only be true--"</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036185">"It</a> is true."</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036186">A</a> gust of thankfulness rose in my breast, but a doubt checked it before it could issue in words, and I said, "But--but--we have seen that future life--seen it in its actuality, and so--</span><a class="anchor" name="1036187"> "It</a> was a vision--it had no existence."</p><span style="font-size:85%;"></span> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036188">I</a> could hardly breathe for the great hope that was struggling in me. "A vision? --a vi--"</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036189">"Life</a> itself is only a vision, a dream."</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036190">It</a> was electrical. By God! I had had that very thought a thousand times in my musings!</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036191"></a></span><a class="anchor" name="1036191"></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036191">"Nothing</a> exists; all is a dream. God--man--the world--the sun, the moo</span><span style="font-size:85%;">n, the wilderness of stars--a dream, all a dream; they have no existence. Nothing exists save empty space--and you!"</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036192">"I!"</a></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036193">"And</a> you are not you--you have no body, no blood, no bones, you are but a thought. I myself have no existence; I am but a dream--your dream, creature of your imagination. In a moment you will have realized this, then you will banish me from your visions and I shall dissolve into the nothi</span><span style="font-size:85%;">ngness out of which you made me....</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036194">"I</a> am perishing already--I am failing--I am passing away. In a little while you will be alone in shoreless space, to wander its limitless solitudes without friend or comrade forever--for you will remain a thought, the only existent thought, and by your nature inextinguishable, indest</span><span style="font-size:85%;">ructible. But I, your poor servant, have revealed you to yourself and set you free. Dream other dreams, and better!</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036195">"Strange!</a> that you should not have suspected years ago--cent</span><span style="font-size:85%;">uries, ages, eons, ago! --for you have existed, companionless, through all the eternities. Strange, indeed, that you should not have suspected that your universe and its contents were only dreams, visions, fiction! Strange, because they are so frankly and hysterically insane--like all dreams: a God who could make good children as easily as bad, yet preferred to make bad ones; who could have made every one of them happy, yet never made a single happy one; who made them prize their bitter life, yet stingily cut it short; who gave his angels eternal happiness unearned, yet required his other children to earn it; who gave his angels painless lives, yet cursed his other children wit</span><span style="font-size:85%;">h biting miseries and maladies of mind and body; who mouths justice and invented hell--mouths mercy and invented hell--mouths Golden Rul</span><span style="font-size:85%;">es, and forgiveness multiplied by seventy times seven, and invented hell; who mouths morals to other people and has none himself; who frowns upon crimes, yet commits them all; who created man without invitation, then tries to shuffle the responsibility for man's acts upon man, instead of honorably placing it where it belongs, upon himself; and finally, with altogether divine obtuseness, invites this poor, abused slave to worship him!...</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036196">"You</a> perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly creations of an imagination that is not conscious of its freaks--in a word, that they are a dream, and you the maker of it. The dream-marks are all present; yo</span><span style="font-size:85%;">u should have recognized them earlier.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036197">"It</a> is true, that which I have revealed to you; there is no God, no universe, no human race, no earthly life, no heaven, no hell. It is all a dream--a grotesque and foolish dream. Nothing exists but you. And you are but a thought--a vagrant thought, a useless thought, a homeless thought, wandering forlorn among the empty eternities!"</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036198"></a></span><a class="anchor" name="1036198"></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><a class="anchor" name="1036198">He</a> vanished, and left me appalled; for I knew, a</span><span style="font-size:85%;">nd realized, that all he had said was true</span></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S5AaOUigN8I/AAAAAAAAAgA/kImBV7Id0VE/s1600-h/mark+twains+the+mysterious+stranger+and+the+critics.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S5AaOUigN8I/AAAAAAAAAgA/kImBV7Id0VE/s320/mark+twains+the+mysterious+stranger+and+the+critics.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444880782824847298" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">*A scene about this story also appears in the 1985 claymation film The Adventures of Mark Twain, where Satan gets Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn and Becky Thatcher to construct small clay people to bring to life and live in a small kingdom together before Satan destroys them through fighting, plagues and natural disasters, depicting the futility of mankind. The scene also quotes Satan's last line from the book.</span><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S5AZYWG7gvI/AAAAAAAAAfg/9sNkHs5brcs/s1600-h/bhah00.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 138px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S5AZYWG7gvI/AAAAAAAAAfg/9sNkHs5brcs/s200/bhah00.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444879855533130482" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S5AZcr5naWI/AAAAAAAAAfo/FdN7armZ3BI/s1600-h/1111111155555666666666.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 155px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S5AZcr5naWI/AAAAAAAAAfo/FdN7armZ3BI/s200/1111111155555666666666.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444879930102344034" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S5AZhMOhJrI/AAAAAAAAAfw/9uB4DZ1zb_w/s1600-h/0.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S5AZhMOhJrI/AAAAAAAAAfw/9uB4DZ1zb_w/s200/0.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444880007499425458" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The Scene is left out when shown on television.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hhb45_5FkQ&feature=related">Link to the scene</a></span></span>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-42472505314624126942010-02-02T17:22:00.015-05:002010-02-02T17:47:54.740-05:00The Illustrations of Laurie Lipton<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">School has got me busy, sorry about the lack of posts. I have a lot to post but very little time to do so. Thanks for checking back. I promise you that it's going to get interesting....</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S2ipwMbdwuI/AAAAAAAAAfY/MRoy10R8fJA/s1600-h/710_1_1a_LAURIE_LIPTON_Death_the_Maiden,_43_x_34cms,_pencil.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 315px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S2ipwMbdwuI/AAAAAAAAAfY/MRoy10R8fJA/s400/710_1_1a_LAURIE_LIPTON_Death_the_Maiden,_43_x_34cms,_pencil.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433779595857740514" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S2ipsEuS6BI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/hwZSW_8jScE/s1600-h/221.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 218px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S2ipsEuS6BI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/hwZSW_8jScE/s320/221.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433779525069760530" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">"Laurie Lipton was born in New York. She was the first person to graduate from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pennsylvania with a Fine Arts Degree in Drawing (with honours). She has lived in Holland, Belgium, Germany and France and has made her home in London since 1986."</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S2ipnjkiqZI/AAAAAAAAAfI/GpoE4xtmVvI/s1600-h/710_1_1a_LAURIE_LIPTON_Lady_Death,_58_x_41cms,_pencil.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S2ipnjkiqZI/AAAAAAAAAfI/GpoE4xtmVvI/s320/710_1_1a_LAURIE_LIPTON_Lady_Death,_58_x_41cms,_pencil.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433779447451003282" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S2ipj0PFG-I/AAAAAAAAAfA/cOtXQ-Yi7Q0/s1600-h/44392007_1152006101_81.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 287px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S2ipj0PFG-I/AAAAAAAAAfA/cOtXQ-Yi7Q0/s400/44392007_1152006101_81.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433779383204912098" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">"It was all abstract and conceptual art at my university. I cut my classes and sat for hours in the library copying Durer, Memling and Van Eyck. So even though I went to one of the best universities for art in the USA, I am self-taught. My weird way of drawing took a horrendous amout of time, but I was able to get the same kind of luminous quality that the Renaissance Flemish painters had achieved. My teachers tried to dissuade me and get me to "draw for drawing's sake" and loosen up, but I knew what I wanted. I ached to make something no one had ever seen before with pencil."</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S2ipWUINGRI/AAAAAAAAAeo/op8CfkLFLYQ/s1600-h/L10-714561.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 282px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S2ipWUINGRI/AAAAAAAAAeo/op8CfkLFLYQ/s320/L10-714561.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433779151247841554" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S2ipfmuj4RI/AAAAAAAAAe4/SR8zOyIcH8I/s1600-h/artwork_images_424462699_435308_laurie-lipton.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 196px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S2ipfmuj4RI/AAAAAAAAAe4/SR8zOyIcH8I/s320/artwork_images_424462699_435308_laurie-lipton.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433779310859378962" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S2ipbGzyLfI/AAAAAAAAAew/XzVJ7Qda-jE/s1600-h/DrinkingintotheNightbyLaurieLipton.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 323px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S2ipbGzyLfI/AAAAAAAAAew/XzVJ7Qda-jE/s400/DrinkingintotheNightbyLaurieLipton.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433779233571876338" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">"Diane Arbus was another of my inspirations, and her use of black and white (the color of ghosts, memory and madness) opened up a world of possibilities for me."</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S2ipTeHDvuI/AAAAAAAAAeg/53Bh0ddJLBQ/s1600-h/laurie-lipton-4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/S2ipTeHDvuI/AAAAAAAAAeg/53Bh0ddJLBQ/s320/laurie-lipton-4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433779102387781346" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Check out Laurie's <a href="http://www.laurielipton.com/default.asp">site</a>. Prints are available for purchase.</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-202337397063856252009-09-29T18:39:00.028-04:002009-10-03T14:15:25.705-04:00Artist Harry Clarke<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2Nq2RSPI/AAAAAAAAAbg/jvcw5ZoeKBo/s1600-h/3564051051_b4fd303939_b.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 289px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2Nq2RSPI/AAAAAAAAAbg/jvcw5ZoeKBo/s400/3564051051_b4fd303939_b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387349925221714162" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2YhDM6xI/AAAAAAAAAbw/6AAVfGKBujI/s1600-h/3564869670_f342694a61_b.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 287px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2YhDM6xI/AAAAAAAAAbw/6AAVfGKBujI/s400/3564869670_f342694a61_b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387350111570160402" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO3fQlgiFI/AAAAAAAAAdg/MJnI8zzqYpU/s1600-h/masqueofthereddeath-clarke.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 306px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO3fQlgiFI/AAAAAAAAAdg/MJnI8zzqYpU/s400/masqueofthereddeath-clarke.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387351326921361490" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2_MNny1I/AAAAAAAAAcw/LGYBT1i2nZk/s1600-h/fTLORZVHonylwcflGfSWBLOEo1_500.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 287px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2_MNny1I/AAAAAAAAAcw/LGYBT1i2nZk/s400/fTLORZVHonylwcflGfSWBLOEo1_500.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387350775991618386" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO3jUU7R5I/AAAAAAAAAdo/JC-muor0nyk/s1600-h/The%2BPit%2Band%2Bthe%2BPendulum%2B-%2BHarry%2BClarke%2B1919.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 305px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO3jUU7R5I/AAAAAAAAAdo/JC-muor0nyk/s400/The%2BPit%2Band%2Bthe%2BPendulum%2B-%2BHarry%2BClarke%2B1919.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387351396645029778" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2eyiDJTI/AAAAAAAAAb4/VUzICdr9heE/s1600-h/3564882660_a4204c5f13_b.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 296px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2eyiDJTI/AAAAAAAAAb4/VUzICdr9heE/s400/3564882660_a4204c5f13_b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387350219342161202" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2H6z6q5I/AAAAAAAAAbY/KpxehPEkMP0/s1600-h/3564049001_12ed1bd597_b.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 236px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2H6z6q5I/AAAAAAAAAbY/KpxehPEkMP0/s320/3564049001_12ed1bd597_b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387349826427595666" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">''Clarke was born in Dublin in 1889. His father was a craftsman who produced, among other objects d'art, stained glass windows. Most know Clarke's work from his drawings which are all too often and all too unfairly compared to Beardsley, but it was as a stained glass designer and artisan that he devoted the most of his too-short life. He studied in his father's studio and for a short time in London. In 1907 he was exposed to the works of Beardsley at the Irish International Exhibition, but was likewise entranced by the art of Rossetti, Annie French, E.J. Sullivan and others. By 1909 he was accepting the occasional graphic commission and working at the more creative and critical aspects of the stained glass process. That same year he was awarded a Scholarship in Stained Glass and commenced daily classes with A.E. Child at the Dublin Art School.</span>''<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2onh-I7I/AAAAAAAAAcI/PCN98x3rxhQ/s1600-h/clarke4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2onh-I7I/AAAAAAAAAcI/PCN98x3rxhQ/s320/clarke4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387350388187734962" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO3LMOq1YI/AAAAAAAAAdA/ueMNxoy0C-k/s1600-h/harry-clarke-3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 316px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO3LMOq1YI/AAAAAAAAAdA/ueMNxoy0C-k/s320/harry-clarke-3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387350982154442114" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO3aNb2pkI/AAAAAAAAAdY/hGo4ngstA0s/s1600-h/harry_clarke_1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 186px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO3aNb2pkI/AAAAAAAAAdY/hGo4ngstA0s/s320/harry_clarke_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387351240176215618" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">''His first entry to the Board of</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> Education National Competition won the Gold Medal in the stained glass competition in 1910. It was The Consecration of St. Mel, Bishop of Longford, by St. Patrick, as seen at left, and demonstrates the maturity he displayed early on in his chosen field of endeavor. His education continued via scholarship and he won the Gold Medal for stained glass in the National Competition three times. After his three year course, he traveled to London where he began his illustrative career with two major efforts that never saw print: The Rape of the Lock and Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The former was a private commission that raises a lot of questions. Beardsley had illustrated the poem not 20 years prior and comparisons would have been inevitable due to the stylistic similarities. It strikes me as perhaps a youthful challenge that Clarke dared not refuse. It may never have been intended for publication and the extant images are not that impressive. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner was much more mature and displayed the density of texture and design that would be his trademark.</span>''<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO1-QyObfI/AAAAAAAAAbI/fmVWBppQsEU/s1600-h/3270290332_02990d8bdc.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 207px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO1-QyObfI/AAAAAAAAAbI/fmVWBppQsEU/s320/3270290332_02990d8bdc.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387349660527390194" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2CbaCgFI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/pUYcxk6Og28/s1600-h/3358130525_28659f8dd9.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2CbaCgFI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/pUYcxk6Og28/s320/3358130525_28659f8dd9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387349732098211922" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO3C5F-lLI/AAAAAAAAAc4/tidCbz9Gya0/s1600-h/harry%2Bclarke%2B48_poe_mysteryimag_ltailpiece.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 301px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO3C5F-lLI/AAAAAAAAAc4/tidCbz9Gya0/s400/harry%2Bclarke%2B48_poe_mysteryimag_ltailpiece.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387350839578760370" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2vwk-VZI/AAAAAAAAAcY/xHXc1XUZa48/s1600-h/clarke_nightgale3-cropped1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2vwk-VZI/AAAAAAAAAcY/xHXc1XUZa48/s320/clarke_nightgale3-cropped1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387350510875334034" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO3nbhS3dI/AAAAAAAAAdw/OaUBFL9j9-w/s1600-h/wine_4-23-9_-_caption_illustration_of_the_cask_of_amontillado_by_harry_clarke_-_1919__large.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 304px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO3nbhS3dI/AAAAAAAAAdw/OaUBFL9j9-w/s400/wine_4-23-9_-_caption_illustration_of_the_cask_of_amontillado_by_harry_clarke_-_1919__large.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387351467295432146" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">''While in London in 1913, he made the rounds of the publishers looking for illustration work. He met with no success at a dozen publishing houses. Then George Harrap divined his genius and hired him, on the spot, to provide illustrations for an edition of Andersen's Fairy Tales in both a trade and deluxe edition - almost unheard of for an untested, unknown and very young illustrator. The image at right is from The Nightingale and shows Clarke's debt to both Dulac and Nielsen. The Rime was put on hold and work began immediately on the Andersen. This was to occupy several years and finally see print in 1916, the same year that The Rime project was abandoned after most of the drawings and all of the blocks were destroyed in a devastating Dublin riot called the "The 1916 Easter Rising." By this time, however, Harry was already planning and working on Tales of Mystery and Imagination by E.A. Poe.''<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO15fx-DfI/AAAAAAAAAbA/cWQy2yPCPzk/s1600-h/03Beardsley507.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO15fx-DfI/AAAAAAAAAbA/cWQy2yPCPzk/s320/03Beardsley507.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387349578653502962" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO266eXfDI/AAAAAAAAAco/oSMGkFUmn3E/s1600-h/clarke_snowqueen4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 219px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO266eXfDI/AAAAAAAAAco/oSMGkFUmn3E/s320/clarke_snowqueen4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387350702510537778" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO3R7ssnSI/AAAAAAAAAdI/6zcF4riOAVI/s1600-h/harry-clarke-descent-into-maelstrom.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO3R7ssnSI/AAAAAAAAAdI/6zcF4riOAVI/s320/harry-clarke-descent-into-maelstrom.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387351097976069410" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO3Wm1qHpI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/l9-y4ubJ6ko/s1600-h/harry-clarke-poe-5.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 319px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO3Wm1qHpI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/l9-y4ubJ6ko/s320/harry-clarke-poe-5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387351178275856018" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2Sm1_frI/AAAAAAAAAbo/O0SUNhGBeqI/s1600-h/3564869056_ed081279f4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 232px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2Sm1_frI/AAAAAAAAAbo/O0SUNhGBeqI/s320/3564869056_ed081279f4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387350010046152370" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">''Swinburne was published in 1928, giving him a total of six major books illustrated in 15 years. Compare that to the more than 130 stained glass windows that he and his studio designed and crafted and it becomes very evident where his passions lay. His techniques and talents in glass often surpassed the drawing skills of other artists. The colors, patterns and expressions surpass much of what was being published at the time. And this is merely a small portion of one half of one of eight panels of one stained glass job.''<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2j6fgF2I/AAAAAAAAAcA/OZZWoTBzR4Y/s1600-h/clarke2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 230px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2j6fgF2I/AAAAAAAAAcA/OZZWoTBzR4Y/s320/clarke2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387350307378304866" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2zZIF_gI/AAAAAAAAAcg/q1kAivw6vS8/s1600-h/clarke_sleeping4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 244px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2zZIF_gI/AAAAAAAAAcg/q1kAivw6vS8/s320/clarke_sleeping4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387350573299662338" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">''Ill-health plagued him much of the last years of his life. He worked at a feverish pace creating glass and book illustrations while trying to maintain his father's decoration studio, which he and his brother Walter ran after the untimely death of their father in 1921. In 1930, shortly before his death, he split the stained glass business off from the decorating business and closed the latter. Walter died in July and Clarke worked even harder, despite his own frailty, to inspire confidence in his newly formed studio. He died in early 1931 while trying to recuperate from his efforts. He was 41.''<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2saIYugI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/SXaa4e614ew/s1600-h/clarke11.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 179px; height: 215px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SsO2saIYugI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/SXaa4e614ew/s320/clarke11.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387350453310241282" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><br />Nicola Gordon Bowe, 1979 Douglas Hyde<br />Nicola Gordon Bowe, 1983 Dolmen<br />Nicola Gordon Bowe, 1989 <a href="http://www.iap.ie/" target="_blank">Irish Academic Press</a><br /><br />source of text & <a href="http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/clarke.htm">more</a> on Clarke<br /></span></span>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-15935913726312385262009-08-24T20:24:00.018-04:002010-12-07T18:51:21.409-05:00Nikola Tesla: Master of Lightening<span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SpSZrlyDnCI/AAAAAAAAAaA/Lgy-5DXs-WA/s1600-h/tesla-age40.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 306px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SpSZrlyDnCI/AAAAAAAAAaA/Lgy-5DXs-WA/s400/tesla-age40.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374089229515332642" border="0" /></a><br />Born an ethnic Serb in the village of Smiljan, Vojna Krajina, in the territory of today's Croatia, Tesla was a subject of the Austrian Empire by birth and later became an American citizen.[2] After his demonstration of wireless communication through radio in 1894 and after being the victor in the "War of Currents", he was widely respected as one of the greatest electrical engineers who worked in America.[3] Much of his early work pioneered modern electrical engineering and many of his discoveries were of groundbreaking importance. During this period, in the United States, Tesla's fame rivaled that of any other inventor or scientist in history or popular culture,[4] but <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><br />due to his eccentric personality and his seemingly unbelievable and sometimes bizarre claims about possible scientific and technological developments, Tesla was ultimately ostracized and regarded as a mad scientist</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >.</span>[5]<br />[6] Tesla never put much focus on his finances. It is said he died impoverished, at the age of 86.[7]<br /><br />Aside from his work on electromagnetism and electromechanical engineering, Tesla contributed in varying degrees to the establishment of robotics, remote control, radar and computer science, and to the expansion of ballistics, nuclear physics,[8] and theoretical physics. In 1943, the Supreme Court of the United States credited him as being the inventor of the radio.[9] A few of his achievements have been used, with some controversy, to support various pseudosciences, UFO theories, and early New Age occultism.<br /><br />During his early life, Tesla was stricken with illness time and time again. He suffered a peculiar affliction in which blinding flashes of light would appear before his eyes, often accompanied by hallucinations. Much of the time the visions were linked to a word or idea he might have come across; just by hearing the name of an item, he would involuntarily envision it in realistic detail. Modern-day synesthetes report similar symptoms. Tesla would visualise an invention in his brain with extreme precision, including all dimensions, before moving to the construction stage; a technique sometimes known as picture thinking. He typically did not make drawings by hand, instead just conceiving all ideas with his mind. Tesla also often had flashbacks to events that had happened previously in his life; this began to happen during childhood.[22]<br /><br />On 6 June 1884, Tesla first arrived in the US in New York City[26] with little besides a letter of recommendation from Charles Batchelor, a former employer. In the letter of recommendation to Thomas Edison, Batchelor wrote, "I know two great men and you are one of them; the other is this young man." Edison hired Tesla to work for his Edison Machine Works. Tesla's work for Edison began with simple electrical engineering and quickly progressed to solving some of the company's most difficult problems. Tesla was even offered the task of completely redesigning the Edison company's direct current generators.[27]<br /><br />Tesla claims he was offered US$50,000 (~ US$1.1 million in 2007, adjusted for inflation)[28] if he redesigned Edison's inefficient motor and generators, making an improvement in both service and economy.[22]:54–57 Tesla said he worked night and day on the project and gave the Edison Company several profitable new patents in the process. In 1885 when Tesla inquired about the payment for his work, Edison replied, "Tesla, you don't understand our American humor," thus breaking his word.[29][30] Earning a mere US$18 per week, Tesla would have had to work for 53 years to earn the amount he was promised. The offer was equal to the initial capital of the company. Tesla then immediately resigned when he was refused a raise to US$25 per week.[31]<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SpSZ33ZIynI/AAAAAAAAAaI/2EDAyRyNRDc/s1600-h/NikolaTesla.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 353px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SpSZ33ZIynI/AAAAAAAAAaI/2EDAyRyNRDc/s400/NikolaTesla.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374089440401082994" border="0" /></a><br />Tesla, in need of work, eventually found himself digging ditches for a short period of time for the Edison company. He saw the manual labor as such a terrible job, but Tesla used this time to focus on his AC polyphase system.[22]<br />In 1886, Tesla formed his own company, Tesla Electric Light & Manufacturing. The initial financial investors disagreed with Tesla on his plan for an alternating current motor and eventually relieved him of his duties at the company. Tesla worked in New York as a common laborer from 1886 to 1887 to feed himself and raise capital for his next project. In 1887, he constructed the initial brushless alternating current induction motor, which he demonstrated to the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (now IEEE) in 1888. In the same year, he developed the principles of his Tesla coil and began working with George Westinghouse at Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company's Pittsburgh labs. Westinghouse listened to his ideas for polyphase systems which would allow transmission of alternating current electricity over long distances.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SpSaiJN53JI/AAAAAAAAAaY/2QA500PBuFs/s1600-h/Nikola_Tesla2_op_270x346.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SpSaiJN53JI/AAAAAAAAAaY/2QA500PBuFs/s320/Nikola_Tesla2_op_270x346.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374090166740311186" border="0" /></a><br />In April 1887, Tesla began investigating what would later be called X-rays using his own single node vacuum tubes (similar to his patent #514,170). This device differed from other early X-ray tubes in that they had no target electrode. The modern term for the phenomenon produced by this device is bremsstrahlung (or braking radiation). We now know that this device operated by emitting electrons from the single electrode through a combination of field electron emission and thermionic emission. Once liberated, electrons are strongly repelled by the high electric field near the electrode during negative voltage peaks from the oscillating HV output of the Tesla Coil, generating X-rays as they collide with the glass envelope. He also used Geissler tubes. By 1892, Tesla became aware of the skin damage that Wilhelm Röntgen later identified as an effect of X-rays.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SpSa3IWAV5I/AAAAAAAAAag/vE80wwSQOdw/s1600-h/tesla.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SpSa3IWAV5I/AAAAAAAAAag/vE80wwSQOdw/s320/tesla.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374090527283107730" border="0" /></a><br />On 30 July 1891, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States at the age of 35. Tesla established his 35 South Fifth Avenue laboratory in New York during this same year. Later, Tesla would establish his Houston Street laboratory in New York at 46 E. Houston Street. There, at one point while conducting mechanical resonance experiments with electro-mechanical oscillators he generated a resonance of several surrounding buildings but, due to the frequencies involved, not his own building, causing complaints to the police. As the speed grew he hit the resonant frequency of his own building and, <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><br />belatedly realizing the danger, he was forced to apply a sledgehammer to terminate the experiment, just as the astonished police arrived.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">[</span></span>55]<br />He also lit vacuum tubes wirelessly at both of the New York locations, providing evidence for the potential of wireless power transmission.[56]<br /><br />In 1899, Tesla decided to move and began research in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he would have room for his high-voltage, high-frequency experiments. Upon his arrival he told reporters that he was conducting wireless telegraphy experiments transmitting signals from Pikes Peak to Paris. Tesla's diary contains explanations of his experiments concerning the ionosphere and the ground's telluric currents via transverse waves and longitudinal waves.[63] At his lab, Tesla proved that the earth was a conductor, and he produced artificial lightning (with discharges consisting of millions of volts, and up to 135 feet long).[64] Tesla also investigated atmospheric electricity, observing lightning signals via his receivers. Reproductions of Tesla's receivers and coherer circuits show an unpredicted level of complexity (e.g., distributed high-Q helical resonators, radio frequency feedback, crude heterodyne effects, and regeneration techniques).[65]<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SpSaKLgGCjI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/4kWcBsQxLE8/s1600-h/800px-TeslaWirelessLightsCS.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SpSaKLgGCjI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/4kWcBsQxLE8/s320/800px-TeslaWirelessLightsCS.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374089755036617266" border="0" /></a><br />Tesla may have suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder,[93] and had many unusual quirks and phobias. He did things in threes, and was adamant about staying in a hotel room with a number divisible by three. Tesla was also noted to be physically revolted by jewelry, notably pearl earrings. He was fastidious about cleanliness and hygiene, and was by all accounts mysophobic.<br /><br />Tesla was obsessed with pigeons, ordering special seeds for the pigeons he fed in Central Park and even bringing some into his hotel room with him. Tesla was an animal-lover, often reflecting contentedly about a childhood cat, "The Magnificent Macak." Tesla never married. He was celibate and claimed that his chastity was very helpful to his scientific abilities.[22] Nonetheless there have been numerous accounts of women vying for Tesla's affection, even some madly in love with him. Tesla, though polite, behaved rather ambivalently to these women in the romantic sense.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SpSa6h1KvRI/AAAAAAAAAao/Yw-S5azBnaI/s1600-h/tesla.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SpSa6h1KvRI/AAAAAAAAAao/Yw-S5azBnaI/s320/tesla.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374090585664306450" border="0" /></a><br />Tesla was prone to alienating himself and was generally soft-spoken. However, when he did engage in a social life, many people spoke very positively and admiringly of him. Robert Underwood Johnson described him as attaining a "distinguished sweetness, sincerity, modesty, refinement, generosity, and force." His loyal secretary, Dorothy Skerrit, wrote: "his genial smile and nobility of bearing always denoted the gentlemanly characteristics that were so ingrained in his soul." Tesla's friend Hawthorne wrote that "seldom did one meet a scientist or engineer who was also a poet, a philosopher, an appreciator of fine music, a linguist, and a connoisseur of food and drink."<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SpSbBkmFXNI/AAAAAAAAAa4/f6s81jlywpk/s1600-h/180px-Twain_in_Tesla%27s_Lab.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 227px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SpSbBkmFXNI/AAAAAAAAAa4/f6s81jlywpk/s400/180px-Twain_in_Tesla%27s_Lab.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374090706665430226" border="0" /></a><br />Close friend, Mark Twain in Tesla's lab.<br /><br />Tesla was widely known for his great showmanship, presenting his innovations and demonstrations to the public as an artform, almost like a magician. This seems to conflict with his observed reclusiveness; Tesla was a complicated figure. <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br />He refused to hold conventions without his Tesla coil blasting electricity throughout the room, despite the audience often being terrified, though he assured them everything was perfectly safe.<br /><br /></span>Tesla died of heart failure alone in room 3327 of the New Yorker Hotel, on 7 January 1943.[100] Despite having sold his AC electricity patents, Tesla died with significant debts on the books.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SpSa-Og6MyI/AAAAAAAAAaw/TW21YbjMvek/s1600-h/teslapic00.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 251px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SpSa-Og6MyI/AAAAAAAAAaw/TW21YbjMvek/s320/teslapic00.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374090649198539554" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">#2 ^ "Electrical pioneer Tesla honoured". BBC News. 2006-07-10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5167054.stm. Retrieved 2009-08-15.<br />#3 ^ "Nikola Tesla - electrical engineer and inventor". Serbian Unity Congress. http://www.serbianunity.net/people/tesla/index.html. Retrieved 2009-08-15.#4 ^ Valone, T. Harnessing the Wheelwork of Nature: Tesla's Science of Energy. Adventures Unlimited Press. pp. 102. ISBN 1931882045.<br /># 5^ Childress, David Hatcher (ed.) (2000). The Tesla Papers: Nikola Tesla on Free Energy & Wireless Transmission of Power. Kempton, IL: Adventures Unlimited Press. ISBN 0932813860.#6 ^ Robert Lomas (1999-08-21). "Spark of genius". Independent Magazine. http://www.robertlomas.com/Tesla/Independent_Article.html. Retrieved 2008-07-29.# 7^ White MJ (2001). Rivals: conflict as the fuel of science. London: Secker & Warburg. pp. 174. ISBN 0-436-20463-0.#8 ^ Cheney M (2001). Tesla : Man Out of Time. New York, NY: Touchstone. ISBN 0-7432-1536-2.#9 U.S. Supreme Court, "Marconi Wireless Telegraph co. of America v. United States". 320 U.S. 1. Nos. 369, 373. Argued 9–12 April 1943. Decided 21 June 1943.#22 Cheney, Margaret (2001) [1979]. Tesla: Man Out of Time. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0743215362. http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0743215362&id=ti2Jt7XarzMC. Retrieved 2007-06-17.#26 ^ "Master of Lightning" by Public Broadcasting Service. Website#27 ^ "Tesla Says Edison was an Empiricist. Electrical Technician Declares Persistent Trials Attested Inventor's Vigor. 'His Method Inefficient' A Little Theory Would Have Saved Him 90% of Labor, Ex-Aide Asserts. Praises His Great Genius.". New York Times. 19 October 1931. "Nikola Tesla, one of the world's outstanding electrical technicians, who came to America in 1884 to work with Thomas A. Edison, specifically in the designing of motors and generators, recounted yesterday some of ..."#28 ^ http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ Adjusting the reported given amount of money for inflation, the US$50,000 in 1885 would equal US$1,140,112.60 in 2007#29 ^ Clifford A. Pickover, Strange Brains and Genius: The Secret Lives of Eccentric Scientists and Madmen. HarperCollins, 1999. 352 pages. P. 14. ISBN 0688168949#30 ^ "My Inventions" by Nikola Tesla, printed in Electrical Experimenter Feb–June, 1919. Reprinted, edited by Ben Johnson, New York: Barnes & Noble, 1982. ISBN# 31^ Jonnes,"Empire of light" p. 110#55 ^ O'Neill, "Prodigal Genius" pp 162–164#56 ^ Krumme, Katherine, Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla: Thunder and Lightning. 4 December 2000#63 ^ Tesla, Nikola, "The True Wireless". Electrical Experimenter, May 1919. (also at pbs.org)#64 ^ Gillispie, Charles Coulston, "Dictionary of Scientific Biography"; Tesla, Nikola. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. ISBN#65 ^ Corum, K. L., J. F. Corum, and A. H. Aidinejad, "Atmospheric Fields, Tesla's Receivers and Regenerative Detectors". 1994.#93 ^ Kerryr.net#100 ^ "Nikola Tesla Dies. Prolific Inventor. Alternating Power Current's Developer Found Dead in Hotel Suite Here. Claimed a 'Death Beam'. He Insisted the Invention Could Annihilate an Army of 1,000,000 at Once.". New York Times. 8 January 1943, Friday.</span>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-60795166919972553192009-08-10T22:14:00.016-04:002009-08-10T22:47:12.186-04:00Sable Island: Shipwrecks & Wild Horses in the North Atlantic<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDZFnQQC5I/AAAAAAAAAZ4/fTjrNSHCH9g/s1600-h/Sable_island.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDZFnQQC5I/AAAAAAAAAZ4/fTjrNSHCH9g/s400/Sable_island.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368529446285347730" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Sable Island is a small Canadian island situated 180 km southeast of mainland Nova Scotia in the Atlantic Ocean.<br />The island is a narrow crescent-shaped sandbar with a surface area of about 34 km². Despite being nearly 42 km long, it is no more than 1.5 km across at its widest point. It emerges from vast shoals and shallows on the continental shelf which, in tandem with the area's frequent fog and sudden strong storms including hurricanes and nor'easters, have caused over 350 recorded shipwrecks. <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">It is often referred to as the Graveyard of the Atlantic</span></span>[3], as it sits astride the great circle route from North America's east coast to Europe. The nearest landfall is 160 kilometres to the northwest near Canso, Nova Scotia.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDZBvbyKiI/AAAAAAAAAZw/FCRteJycBDQ/s1600-h/sableisland2-illsley.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDZBvbyKiI/AAAAAAAAAZw/FCRteJycBDQ/s320/sableisland2-illsley.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368529379761728034" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDY93ZMzVI/AAAAAAAAAZo/QXELUOnq1Ok/s1600-h/sbl_map.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 224px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDY93ZMzVI/AAAAAAAAAZo/QXELUOnq1Ok/s320/sbl_map.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368529313178897746" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Sable Island was named after its sand—sable is French for "sand". It is covered with grass and other low-growing vegetation. In 1901, the federal government planted over 80,000 trees on the island in an attempt to stabilize the soil; all died. Sable Island is believed to have formed from large quantities of sand and gravel deposited on the continental shelf near the end of the last ice age. The island is continually changing its shape with the effects of strong winds and violent ocean storms. The island has several freshwater ponds on the south side between the station and west light and a brackish lake named Lake Wallace near its centre.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDY4wJlusI/AAAAAAAAAZg/oQW9TGb-htE/s1600-h/5aeiral-island.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDY4wJlusI/AAAAAAAAAZg/oQW9TGb-htE/s320/5aeiral-island.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368529225335028418" border="0" /></a><br />"The most famous, and perhaps the most popular, of Sable Island's fauna are the wild horses. Although access to the island is restricted - both by location and by regulations - the horses are well-known, and are of great interest, culturally and scientifically. The Sable Island horses have been featured in several documentaries and numerous books and magazine articles, and they were the subject of an exhibition at the Equine Museum of Japan in Yokohama (1994), and a photography exhibition in New York City (Roberto Dutesco, 2002). This population of horses has been the topic of doctoral research (Welsh 1975), and long-term studies have been underway since the mid-1980s (e.g. Lucas et al. 1991)."<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDY1BdUj-I/AAAAAAAAAZY/wPiJKQ206Ps/s1600-h/DHP0414600-DEV01514.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 202px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDY1BdUj-I/AAAAAAAAAZY/wPiJKQ206Ps/s320/DHP0414600-DEV01514.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368529161261715426" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDYyH3ZUWI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/oJuT_lE5w9U/s1600-h/h-2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 255px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDYyH3ZUWI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/oJuT_lE5w9U/s320/h-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368529111442084194" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDYvHkwCFI/AAAAAAAAAZI/HFlGuHwpG2Q/s1600-h/h-5.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 211px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDYvHkwCFI/AAAAAAAAAZI/HFlGuHwpG2Q/s320/h-5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368529059824273490" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDYri88NQI/AAAAAAAAAZA/sCjdJBAxpg8/s1600-h/h-16.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 255px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDYri88NQI/AAAAAAAAAZA/sCjdJBAxpg8/s320/h-16.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368528998454015234" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">"The romantic notion that Sable Island horses are descended from shipwreck survivors persists."</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDYogBGgvI/AAAAAAAAAY4/RFOa9Re-eRk/s1600-h/h-76.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 255px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDYogBGgvI/AAAAAAAAAY4/RFOa9Re-eRk/s320/h-76.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368528946126553842" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDYlCq1ZqI/AAAAAAAAAYw/IEOgVysGQFc/s1600-h/5aeiral-island.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDYlCq1ZqI/AAAAAAAAAYw/IEOgVysGQFc/s320/5aeiral-island.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368528886708922018" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">There are frequent heavy fogs in the area due to the contrasting effects of the cold Labrador Current and the warm Gulf Stream. During winter months, the moderating influence of the Gulf Stream can sometimes give Sable Island the warmest temperatures in Canada.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDYdltZ2lI/AAAAAAAAAYo/gnnVDrNyxA4/s1600-h/ns-sableislandwreck.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 241px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDYdltZ2lI/AAAAAAAAAYo/gnnVDrNyxA4/s320/ns-sableislandwreck.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368528758675987026" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDYacNPsqI/AAAAAAAAAYg/xNuX_ZD19gQ/s1600-h/Horses_Main.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 174px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDYacNPsqI/AAAAAAAAAYg/xNuX_ZD19gQ/s320/Horses_Main.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368528704585577122" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDYT6J4R8I/AAAAAAAAAYY/jahwGVyrWIc/s1600-h/photographic_experience_by_paul_illsley_1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 237px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDYT6J4R8I/AAAAAAAAAYY/jahwGVyrWIc/s320/photographic_experience_by_paul_illsley_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368528592365438914" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><br /><a href="http://www.greenhorsesociety.com/horses/horses.htm">Green Horse Society</a><br /><a href="http://www.dutescoart.com/gallery/sablehorses/">http://www.dutescoart.com/gallery/sablehorses/</a></span>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-6807910411831874722009-08-10T21:41:00.010-04:002009-08-10T21:45:37.602-04:00Randoms: Death<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDNIvkIbMI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/u7aZLm41gNA/s1600-h/LEGEND.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 388px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDNIvkIbMI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/u7aZLm41gNA/s400/LEGEND.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368516305916292290" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDNAFEDpMI/AAAAAAAAAYI/JxjrHpEZZYg/s1600-h/when_death_comes.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDNAFEDpMI/AAAAAAAAAYI/JxjrHpEZZYg/s320/when_death_comes.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368516157068518594" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDM7T2xhvI/AAAAAAAAAYA/KjkUdr4vXxE/s1600-h/WCorpseCoffinEmb.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDM7T2xhvI/AAAAAAAAAYA/KjkUdr4vXxE/s320/WCorpseCoffinEmb.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368516075139991282" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDM2E50fxI/AAAAAAAAAX4/8DhUBavEa30/s1600-h/seventh-seal.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDM2E50fxI/AAAAAAAAAX4/8DhUBavEa30/s320/seventh-seal.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368515985226891026" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDMy4efLOI/AAAAAAAAAXw/5gFBChl9kMg/s1600-h/rolleston_demonangel.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 221px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDMy4efLOI/AAAAAAAAAXw/5gFBChl9kMg/s320/rolleston_demonangel.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368515930351414498" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDMtjAZQYI/AAAAAAAAAXo/geGv--aUBSE/s1600-h/img13.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 258px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDMtjAZQYI/AAAAAAAAAXo/geGv--aUBSE/s320/img13.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368515838688706946" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDMmSlmltI/AAAAAAAAAXg/yOzDkQHFFTA/s1600-h/456d.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDMmSlmltI/AAAAAAAAAXg/yOzDkQHFFTA/s320/456d.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368515714022282962" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDMhw0tezI/AAAAAAAAAXY/wVy1tM4qeeE/s1600-h/6a00e550caa66d8834010535850dda970b-320wi.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 166px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDMhw0tezI/AAAAAAAAAXY/wVy1tM4qeeE/s320/6a00e550caa66d8834010535850dda970b-320wi.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368515636239366962" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDMdHPOKpI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/aNT65bs56HA/s1600-h/3226308293_6ffd6e38c7.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 246px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SoDMdHPOKpI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/aNT65bs56HA/s320/3226308293_6ffd6e38c7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368515556356795026" border="0" /></a>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-55208459646771516432009-07-25T23:33:00.014-04:002009-07-25T23:50:04.913-04:00Theta Nu Epsilon: Skull & Bones II<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvPeoWTJ5I/AAAAAAAAAV4/vuPIHXcA3ic/s1600-h/HA03.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 307px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvPeoWTJ5I/AAAAAAAAAV4/vuPIHXcA3ic/s400/HA03.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362607906448680850" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">From the TNE site:<br /><br />"The Society operated from 1870 to 1872 under the Skull & Bones Constitution, and existed happily as such as a chapter of that organization. It is not known what caused the break between Yale & Wesleyan; there are a number of possibilities, and a number of them may have contributed together to the separation. One of the most likely explanations is that Wesleyan sought to create more chapters, and Yale sought to stop the process. One thing is clear. Immediately after a constitution was adopted for the independent Theta Nu Epsilon in 1872, the first thing done was to issue a charter to a group of students at Syracuse. One can also note that the chartering process outlined in the constitution of 1872 was extremely short, and wholly under the control of the Alpha at Wesleyan."</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvPkH7ygKI/AAAAAAAAAWA/0OjlPb9uM3s/s1600-h/1917.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 189px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvPkH7ygKI/AAAAAAAAAWA/0OjlPb9uM3s/s320/1917.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362608000826769570" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">"T.N.E. is a sophomore class society, and in a traditional type chapter, members were chosen near the end of their freshman or start of their sophomore year. Once selected, the new members were active and responsible for operation of the chapter during their sophomore year. As juniors and seniors, they were considered honorary members and only had authority in an advisory role. The society always excluded freshmen. From the beginning, the identities of the sophomore members were kept secret. In yearbooks, the names of the sophomores appeared in code. The Alpha Chapter and legitimate chapters continue this traditional type. Several latter types of chapters developed over time: one type is that of the three-year society, adopted by chapters at many institutions without a class society system, a third type was as a feeder organization to a senior society, a fourth type was where the chapter acted as an interfraternity coordinating body, and a fifth type was as a wholly secret society, (which were usually chapters that had notorious reputations)."</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvQESFO6YI/AAAAAAAAAWo/VR50ogdLWfU/s1600-h/Hist06.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 138px; height: 106px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvQESFO6YI/AAAAAAAAAWo/VR50ogdLWfU/s200/Hist06.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362608553306548610" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvQBCRDJjI/AAAAAAAAAWg/XM4PkGaUinM/s1600-h/Hist03.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 128px; height: 161px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvQBCRDJjI/AAAAAAAAAWg/XM4PkGaUinM/s200/Hist03.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362608497521534514" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvP1fz9wjI/AAAAAAAAAWI/kvJmEHgm5sI/s1600-h/1896DePauwchapter.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 155px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvP1fz9wjI/AAAAAAAAAWI/kvJmEHgm5sI/s200/1896DePauwchapter.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362608299294179890" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvQRfNu22I/AAAAAAAAAXI/xFN961u80B8/s1600-h/SK09.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 127px; height: 137px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvQRfNu22I/AAAAAAAAAXI/xFN961u80B8/s200/SK09.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362608780170156898" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvQHmjNBQI/AAAAAAAAAWw/LBN3dv9Q-uA/s1600-h/Hist08.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 158px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvQHmjNBQI/AAAAAAAAAWw/LBN3dv9Q-uA/s200/Hist08.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362608610340570370" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvP5G1KAZI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/inXHNO4e6Dk/s1600-h/3223941585_5e76f5f8c1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 127px; height: 127px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvP5G1KAZI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/inXHNO4e6Dk/s200/3223941585_5e76f5f8c1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362608361307767186" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvP9OeXcFI/AAAAAAAAAWY/fqi6evm-hQg/s1600-h/Hist01.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 168px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvP9OeXcFI/AAAAAAAAAWY/fqi6evm-hQg/s200/Hist01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362608432079138898" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">"Theta Nu Epsilon is simply a society dedicated to good fellowship and the exercise of those social practices that knit together succeeding generations and academic communities. Theta Nu Epsilon has no beliefs or credo, because it is not meant to supply the place of those institutions in society that do. Theta Nu Epsilon has no real or special secrets. Our initiation is challenging, dynamic, and possibly amusing, but it does not teach any truths any more significant, or any less so, than that one should be honorable, true to oneself, an upstanding member of the community, and should not forget to keep alive those social ties upon which we all must rely. Theta Nu Epsilon is not involved in any kind of political or social agenda. The Society can only exist as a point of union amongst its members if it remains a neutral ground of friendship, collegiality and nostalgic sentiment. Theta Nu Epsilon is designed for those who want more out of college, and who have more to give. Any attempt by anyone to pretend that Theta Nu Epsilon is anything more than this is a misrepresentation. Theta Nu Epsilon is not a cabal or a conspiracy, nor is it connected to any other organization, nor is it the tool or dupe of any conspiracy. Those who propagate such tall tales either, believe in such fantasies and are fools themselves, or they wish to make other people into fools and take advantage of them. Honesty and honor are the opposite of pretense."</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvQOuBZUpI/AAAAAAAAAXA/XbhfQcYPzKU/s1600-h/SK02.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 141px; height: 188px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvQOuBZUpI/AAAAAAAAAXA/XbhfQcYPzKU/s200/SK02.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362608732605338258" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvQKz9NXoI/AAAAAAAAAW4/jdzkS-yH-Yg/s1600-h/Hist10.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 118px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmvQKz9NXoI/AAAAAAAAAW4/jdzkS-yH-Yg/s200/Hist10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362608665478913666" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.thetanuepsilon.org/"><br />Theta Nu Epsilon</a>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-88612992045197227842009-07-19T21:26:00.010-04:002009-07-19T21:49:07.504-04:00The Commissioned Art of Michael J Deas<span style="font-size:85%;">"Michael J. Deas is one of the nation’s premier illustrators, combining a "sense of grace and serenity" (in the words of <em>Communications Arts Magazine</em>) unrivaled by today's realists. His superb eye and phenomenal control of the oil medium has earned him numerous awards and citations, including four Gold Medals and one Silver Medal from the Society of Illustrators. His luminous redesign of the Columbia Pictures logo led to a feature article on the cover of America's leading graphics publication, <em>Communication Arts, </em>Sept/Oct 1998. The extensive story included more than 15 illustrations, highlighting portraits, advertising art, logos, editorial & book designs, and U.S. Postage Stamps."</span><br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmPI1Uo1_aI/AAAAAAAAAVY/ga0-woCaS00/s1600-h/earthbound+good+copy.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 291px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmPI1Uo1_aI/AAAAAAAAAVY/ga0-woCaS00/s400/earthbound+good+copy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360348799899663778" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">My favorite. </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Earthbound</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmPI5Co1UkI/AAAAAAAAAVg/pDv_W6DXtKM/s1600-h/Hell_House_High-1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 303px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmPI5Co1UkI/AAAAAAAAAVg/pDv_W6DXtKM/s400/Hell_House_High-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360348863787258434" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Hell House</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, novel by Richard Matheson, 1999</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmPJFV-kYsI/AAAAAAAAAVw/v9vTEWhFqnY/s1600-h/The_Vanished_Child_460.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 257px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmPJFV-kYsI/AAAAAAAAAVw/v9vTEWhFqnY/s400/The_Vanished_Child_460.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360349075137127106" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(239, 238, 187);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><em style="font-style: italic;"><strong></strong></em></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >The Vanished Child</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, novel by Sarah Smith, 1995</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmPJAHImP6I/AAAAAAAAAVo/12KkhejpB9c/s1600-h/The_Empty_Summer.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 265px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmPJAHImP6I/AAAAAAAAAVo/12KkhejpB9c/s400/The_Empty_Summer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360348985253314466" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >The Empty Summer</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, 1993</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmPIugL66rI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/mN13VIozm4k/s1600-h/Anne_Rice_515_High.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 286px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SmPIugL66rI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/mN13VIozm4k/s400/Anne_Rice_515_High.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360348682740492978" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Interview With The Vampire</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, Anne Rice</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /> "His paintings have graced the cover of <em>Time Magazine</em> and more than a dozen postage stamps commissioned by the U.S. Postal Service. He is the artist behind two of the best-selling postage stamps in United States history, Marilyn Monroe and James Dean. In addition to painting numerous private portrait commissions, Deas has illustrated dozens of book covers, most notably the 25th-anniversary edition of Anne Rice's <em>Interview with the Vampire</em>. The Columbia Pictures logo remains one of the most familiar icons in cinema history. Michael J. Deas is cited in Walt Reed's definitive history of illustration, <em>The Illustrator in America, 1860-2000</em>, and in 1999, his work was featured in major exhibition at The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Check out Deas <a href="http://www.michaeldeas.com/default.htm">site</a>. </span>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com68tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-8352165149796819852009-07-06T22:18:00.006-04:002009-07-06T22:30:38.932-04:00Cover Art: The Royal ScamOne of the greatest rock albums of the 1970s. I have always been fascinated by the album artwork though its hated by many... including the band.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKyVMTktxI/AAAAAAAAAU4/H1SDJQrGkCc/s1600-h/SteelyDan-theRoyalScam.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKyVMTktxI/AAAAAAAAAU4/H1SDJQrGkCc/s400/SteelyDan-theRoyalScam.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355538984047261458" border="0" /></a><br />The Royal Scam is an album by Steely Dan, originally released in 1976. The album went gold and peaked at #15 on the charts.<br />The album cover, which shows a somewhat well-dressed, possibly homeless, man sleeping underneath (or perhaps dreaming of) images of mutating skyscrapers, is a satirical take on the American Dream. The drawing and painting of the skyscrapers topped with various animal heads (snake, etc.), was considered dark, eerie, and gothic. The cover was designed by Larry Zox, and at least a portion was originally created for a Van Morrison album from 1974-75 that was never released. In the liner notes for the 1999 remaster of the album, Fagen and Becker claim it to be "the most hideous album cover of the seventies, bar none (excepting perhaps Can't Buy A Thrill).<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKyiBdUnMI/AAAAAAAAAVI/qLm95VxIWos/s1600-h/steely_dan-can_t_buy_a_thrill-big.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 120px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKyiBdUnMI/AAAAAAAAAVI/qLm95VxIWos/s200/steely_dan-can_t_buy_a_thrill-big.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355539204473658562" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKye6RIGzI/AAAAAAAAAVA/PNgf3V6gMbU/s1600-h/walt_don.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 117px; height: 84px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKye6RIGzI/AAAAAAAAAVA/PNgf3V6gMbU/s200/walt_don.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355539151003851570" border="0" /></a>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-59793792439031820192009-06-28T20:48:00.017-04:002009-06-28T21:33:16.552-04:00Wewelsburg: Himmler's Occult Castle<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgW0jn52WI/AAAAAAAAATQ/4SMhxHssJFc/s1600-h/wewelsburg-2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 132px; height: 168px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgW0jn52WI/AAAAAAAAATQ/4SMhxHssJFc/s320/wewelsburg-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352553249301453154" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgW6BArPzI/AAAAAAAAATY/igkf0VUG4rY/s1600-h/wewelsburg-svatyne.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 170px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgW6BArPzI/AAAAAAAAATY/igkf0VUG4rY/s320/wewelsburg-svatyne.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352553343089327922" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgWubMdlLI/AAAAAAAAATI/Q53B0_Cttac/s1600-h/wewelsburg-1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 259px; height: 186px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgWubMdlLI/AAAAAAAAATI/Q53B0_Cttac/s320/wewelsburg-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352553143959655602" border="0" /></a><br />Wewelsburg is a Renaissance castle located in the northeast of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the village of Wewelsburg which is a quarter of the city Büren, Westphalia, in district of Paderborn in the Alme Valley. The castle has the outline of a triangle. After 1934 it was used by the SS under Heinrich Himmler and was to be expanded to the central SS-cult-site. After 1941 plans were developed to enlarge it to the so-called "Center of the World".<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgV7tCGt4I/AAAAAAAAASo/6O4JnlTb4AQ/s1600-h/frei.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 168px; height: 210px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgV7tCGt4I/AAAAAAAAASo/6O4JnlTb4AQ/s320/frei.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352552272574723970" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The castle crew consisted of members of both SS branches, the "General SS" ("Allgemeine SS") and the "Armed SS" ("Waffen SS"). Also working at the castle were proponents of a kind of SS esotericism consisting of Germanic mysticism, an ancestor cult, worship of runes, and racial doctrines: Himmler, for example, adapted the idea of the Grail to create a heathen mystery for the SS.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgWaUL8nJI/AAAAAAAAAS4/pb-XF942xdc/s1600-h/P2041.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 203px; height: 272px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgWaUL8nJI/AAAAAAAAAS4/pb-XF942xdc/s320/P2041.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352552798481063058" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Meetings of SS-Group Leaders at "spring conferences" were planned since 1939. Probably some talks took place at Wewelsburg Castle; the only documented meeting was in June 1941. Another source mentions three or four ceremonies a year of SS-leaders which took place at the castle.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgW_xcbv6I/AAAAAAAAATg/O-n4KLg_Lsw/s1600-h/wewelsburg_4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 181px; height: 252px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgW_xcbv6I/AAAAAAAAATg/O-n4KLg_Lsw/s320/wewelsburg_4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352553441990000546" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">In 1938 Himmler ordered the return of all Death's head rings of dead SS-men and officers. They were to be stored in a chest in the castle. This was to symbolize the ongoing membership of the decedent in the SS-Order. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The whereabouts of the approximately 11,500 rings after the Second World War is unclear.</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgVGBAsozI/AAAAAAAAASQ/7Qt0GqnT3WY/s1600-h/wewelsburg03.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 157px; height: 243px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgVGBAsozI/AAAAAAAAASQ/7Qt0GqnT3WY/s320/wewelsburg03.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352551350224593714" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgVq1tH5VI/AAAAAAAAASg/V8asy4icZEM/s1600-h/Crypt.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 173px; height: 218px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgVq1tH5VI/AAAAAAAAASg/V8asy4icZEM/s320/Crypt.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352551982844863826" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Where primary a cistern was a vault after the model of Mycenaean domed tombs was hewn into the rock which possibly was to serve for some kind of commemoration of the dead. The room is unfinished. The floor was lowered 4.80 meters. The fundament of the tower was firmed with concrete. In the middle of the vault probably a bowl with an eternal flame was planned. In the middle of the floor a gas pipe is embedded. Around the presumed place for the eternal flame at the wall twelve pedestals are placed. Their meaning is unknown. Above the pedestals wall niches existed. In the zenith of the vault a swastika (which ends run out in an ornamental way) is walled in. The swastika (Hakenkreuz) was understood as "the symbol of the creating, acting life" (das Symbol des schaffenden, wirkenden Lebens) and as "race emblem of Germanism" (Rasseabzeichen des Germanentums). The vault has special acoustics and illumination.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgVTJzDt0I/AAAAAAAAASY/J2lNMzyOcjg/s1600-h/wewelsburg_dungeon.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 174px; height: 127px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgVTJzDt0I/AAAAAAAAASY/J2lNMzyOcjg/s320/wewelsburg_dungeon.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352551575921604418" border="0" /></a><br />The axis of the sun wheel consisted of a circular plate of pure gold, which was to symbolize the center of the castle and thus the entire "Germanic world empire".<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgWp6uUhjI/AAAAAAAAATA/Rio40a2F-hA/s1600-h/wewelsberg2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 243px; height: 142px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgWp6uUhjI/AAAAAAAAATA/Rio40a2F-hA/s320/wewelsberg2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352553066523821618" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">n 1938, Siegfried Taubert was in charge of developing the castle, when Himmler inquired about the cost of installing a planetarium[citation needed]. To round off the subjects taught at the Wewelsburg SS school a teacher was sought who should draw cross connections between astronomy and history and the folklife of the ancestors so that the historical and ideological schooling was to be enhanced and deepened by the "cosmic view" (kosmische Schau).</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgWFcO2gHI/AAAAAAAAASw/9H251g74kD8/s1600-h/orange-Himmler-podium-3.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 162px; height: 218px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkgWFcO2gHI/AAAAAAAAASw/9H251g74kD8/s320/orange-Himmler-podium-3.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352552439863476338" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wewelsburg">Footnotes</a> at bottom. </span>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-21023649163118226372009-06-25T00:38:00.004-04:002009-06-25T01:13:54.192-04:00It's A Good Life: Jerome Bixby & the Twilight Zone<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkMGoAjUkZI/AAAAAAAAASA/w7xtFn-5jLY/s1600-h/twilight+zone.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 260px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkMGoAjUkZI/AAAAAAAAASA/w7xtFn-5jLY/s320/twilight+zone.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351128066658963858" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">"It's a Good Life" is a short story by Jerome Bixby, written in 1953. In 1970 it was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of the 20 finest science fiction stories ever written. The story was first published in Star Science Fiction Stories No.2.<br /><br />This is among the most popular Twilight Zone episodes. </span>It Contains the longest opening narration of the series.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Tonight's story on The Twilight Zone is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction. This, as you m</span><span style="font-style: italic;">ay recognize, is a map of the United States, and there's a little town there called Peaksville. On a given morning not too long ago, the rest of the world disappeared and Peaksville was left all alone. Its inhabitants were never sure whether the world was destroyed and only Peaksville left untouched or whether the village had somehow been taken away. They were, on the other hand, sure of one thing: the cause. A monster had arrived in the village. Just by using his mind, he took away the automobiles, the electricity, the machines - because they displeased him - and he moved an entire community back into the dark ages - just by using his mind. Now I'd like to introduce you</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> to some of the people in Peaksville, Ohio. This is Mr. Fremont. It's in his farmhouse that the monster resides. This is Mrs. Fremont. And this is Aunt Amy, who probably had more control over the monster in the beginning than almost anyone. But one day she forgot. She began to sing aloud. Now, the monster doesn't like singing, so his mind snapped at her, turned her into the smiling, vacant thing you're looking at now. She sings no more. And you'll note that the people in Peaksville, Ohio, have to smile. They have to think happy thoughts and say happy things because once displeased, the monster can wish them into a cornfield or change them into a grotesque, walking horror. This particular monster can read minds, you see. He knows every thought, he can feel every emotion. Oh yes, I did forget something, didn't I? I forgot to introduce you to the monster. This is the monster. His name is Anthony Fremont. He's six years old, with a cute little-boy face and blue, guileless eyes. But when those eyes look</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> at you, you'd better start thinking happy thoughts, because the mind behind them is absolutely in charge. This is the Twilight Zone.</span>"<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />Six-year-old Anthony Fremont looks like any other little boy, but looks are deceiving. He is a monster, a mutant with godlike mental powers. Early on, he isolated the small hamlet of Peaksville, Ohio. In fact, the handful of inhabitants do not even know if he destroyed the rest of the world or if it still exists. Anthony has also eliminated electricity, automobiles, and television signals. He controls the weather and what supplies can be found in the grocery store. Anthony creates and destroys as he pleases, and controls when the residents can watch the TV and what they can watch on it.<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkMGzk1QRPI/AAAAAAAAASI/PqDQX8gtjn0/s1600-h/It%27s_A_Good_Life.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 357px; height: 264px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkMGzk1QRPI/AAAAAAAAASI/PqDQX8gtjn0/s400/It%27s_A_Good_Life.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351128265376417010" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />The adults tiptoe nervously around him, constantly telling him how everything he does is "good", since <span style="font-weight: bold;">displeasing him can get them wished away "to the cornfield", where they are presumably met by a less-than-happy ending.</span> Finally, at Dan Hollis' birthday party, Dan, slightly drunk, can no longer stand the strain and confronts the boy, calling him a monster and a murderer; while Anthony's anger grows, Dan begs the other adults to kill Anthony from behind - "Somebody end this, now!" - but everyone else is too afraid to act. Before Dan is killed, he is shown, indirectly by his shadow, transformed into a jack-in-the-box, causing his widow to break down.<br /><br />Because he is angry at what has happened, Anthony causes snow to begin falling outside. His father observes that the snow will kill off at least half the crops and that they may not have enough food to make it through the winter and people may starve to death. But as the adults look on, worried smiles on their faces, his father smiles and tells Anthony "...but it's a real good thing you did. A real good thing."<br /><br /><br />Here is the story in its entirety. <a href="http://nickelkid.net/docs/greats/its_a_good_life.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">"It's a Good Life"</span></a> by Jerome Bixby<br /><br />You can also view the episode in three segments through Youtube. (at least for now)<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfGWvexg90w&feature=related">Part 1</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi21BDWmKyQ&feature=related">Part 2</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk1NNVs6O3c&feature=related">Part 3</a></span><b><br /><br /></b>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-25668044907937812032009-06-22T21:16:00.007-04:002009-06-25T01:14:22.058-04:00The Plague Doctor<span style="font-size:85%;">The most famous image of a plague doctor is Paul Furst's 1656 engraving, "Doktor Shnabel von Rom", the doctor beak of Rome.<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkAueGyHkeI/AAAAAAAAAQw/Sy8f8kWcSXY/s1600-h/Doktorschnabel_430px.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 332px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkAueGyHkeI/AAAAAAAAAQw/Sy8f8kWcSXY/s400/Doktorschnabel_430px.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350327452067926498" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">A plague doctor's duties were often limited to visiting victims to verify whether they had been afflicted or not. Surviving records of contracts drawn up between cities and plague doctors often gave the plague doctor enormous latitude and heavy financial compensation, given the risk of death involved for the plague doctor himself. Most plague doctors were essentially volunteers, as qualified doctors had (usually) already fled, knowing they could do nothing for those affected.</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Considered an early form of hazmat suit, a plague doctor's clothing consisted of:<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkA3v-QPv9I/AAAAAAAAARw/OFrGEFlZGN4/s1600-h/plaguedoctordrawing.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 98px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkA3v-QPv9I/AAAAAAAAARw/OFrGEFlZGN4/s200/plaguedoctordrawing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350337654620667858" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkA381qfvVI/AAAAAAAAAR4/nvkGDVo2oyQ/s1600-h/barnard.the-plague-doctor1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkA381qfvVI/AAAAAAAAAR4/nvkGDVo2oyQ/s200/barnard.the-plague-doctor1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350337875653147986" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">A wide-brim</span><span style="font-size:85%;">med black hat worn close to the head. At the time, a wide-brimmed black hat would have been identified a person as a doctor, much the same as how nowadays a hat may identify chefs, soldiers, and workers. The wide-brimmed hat may have also been used as partial shielding from infection.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">A primitive gas mask in the shape of a bird's beak. A common belief at the time was that the plague was spread by birds. There may have been a belief that by dressing in a bird-like mask, the wearer could draw the plague away from the patient and onto the garment the plague doctor wore. The mask also included red glass eyepieces, which were thought to make the wearer impervious to evil. The beak of the mask was often filled with strongly aromatic herbs and spices to overpower the mia</span><span style="font-size:85%;">smas or "bad air" which was also thought to carry the plague. At the very least, it may have served a dual purpose of dulling the smell of unb</span><span style="font-size:85%;">uried corpses, sputum, and ruptured bouboules in plague victims.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">A long, black overcoat. The overcoat worn by the plague doctor was tucked in behind the beak mask at the neckline to minimize skin exposure. It extended to the feet, and was often coated head to toe in suet or wax. A coating of suet may have been used with the thought that the plague could be drawn away from the flesh of the infected victim and either trapped by the suet, or repelled by the wax. The coating of wax likely served as protection against respiratory droplet contamination, but it was not known at the time if coughing carried the plague. It was likely that the overcoat was waxed to simply prevent sputum or other bodily fluids from clinging to it.<br /><br />A wooden cane. The cane was used to both direct family members to move the patient, other individuals nearby, and possibly to examine the patient with directly.<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkA3jkEveyI/AAAAAAAAARo/B1QR_9vVMVc/s1600-h/plaguepic.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 133px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkA3jkEveyI/AAAAAAAAARo/B1QR_9vVMVc/s200/plaguepic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350337441434663714" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Leather breeches. Similar to waders worn by fishermen, leather breeches were worn beneath the cloak to protect the legs and groin from infection. Since the plague often tende</span><span style="font-size:85%;">d to manifest itself first in the lymph nodes, particular attention was paid to protecting the armpits, neck, and groin. It is not known how often or widespread plague doctors were, or how effective they were in treatment of the disease. It's likely tha</span><span style="font-size:85%;">t while offering some protection to the wearer, they may have actually contributed more to the spreading of the disease than its treatment, in that the plague doctor unknowingly served as a vector for infected fleas to move from host to host.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkA116NbkLI/AAAAAAAAARA/9nsg3GqJLJ0/s1600-h/LWplague+masks.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkA116NbkLI/AAAAAAAAARA/9nsg3GqJLJ0/s200/LWplague+masks.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350335557591077042" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">masks in picture designed by <a href="http://homepage.mac.com/rebekahwild/PhotoAlbum9.html">Lyndie Write</a>.</span><br /><br />There is quite a bit of interest today in plague masks for costume wear. Variations of the mask are traditionally worn during Venetian Carnivale.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkA1m1E-kDI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/cvjDeY_4N4o/s1600-h/IMG_8626.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkA1m1E-kDI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/cvjDeY_4N4o/s200/IMG_8626.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350335298515406898" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><a href="http://maskwerks.tripod.com/index.html">MaskWerks</a> sells a faithfully designed mask on their website. The mask sells for $150 and is very popular.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkA2s92Ga5I/AAAAAAAAARQ/DHE5LMh20fE/s1600-h/plaguedoctorfeature.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 132px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkA2s92Ga5I/AAAAAAAAARQ/DHE5LMh20fE/s200/plaguedoctorfeature.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350336503459769234" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkA3FzEc4GI/AAAAAAAAARY/viaF6CysWqE/s1600-h/plaguedr.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 151px; height: 98px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkA3FzEc4GI/AAAAAAAAARY/viaF6CysWqE/s200/plaguedr.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350336930063900770" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkA3VkmJjXI/AAAAAAAAARg/tQv1eO26JFo/s1600-h/smalldoctor2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 132px; height: 109px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SkA3VkmJjXI/AAAAAAAAARg/tQv1eO26JFo/s200/smalldoctor2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350337201056615794" border="0" /></a>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com48tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-30470176610090890802009-06-17T21:33:00.015-04:002009-07-06T22:31:19.913-04:00Earl Cunningham: His Atlantic Coast<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKsN5l6nBI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/osk89ZXKG0U/s1600-h/earl3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 169px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKsN5l6nBI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/osk89ZXKG0U/s200/earl3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355532261695069202" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKsKWUhdDI/AAAAAAAAAUI/dDgFu2CN8Yk/s1600-h/earl1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 82px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKsKWUhdDI/AAAAAAAAAUI/dDgFu2CN8Yk/s200/earl1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355532200687268914" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKsGWN2f9I/AAAAAAAAAUA/Aq37gGcYpwI/s1600-h/CaptainEarlCunninghamOnHokona1916.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 162px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKsGWN2f9I/AAAAAAAAAUA/Aq37gGcYpwI/s200/CaptainEarlCunninghamOnHokona1916.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355532131939811282" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKr-qw3pyI/AAAAAAAAAT4/tCvrYr_iq9Q/s1600-h/45810110.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 158px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKr-qw3pyI/AAAAAAAAAT4/tCvrYr_iq9Q/s200/45810110.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355532000016443170" border="0" /></a><br />1893-1977. "Cunnigham was a self-taught artist who painted mostly landscapes of the coasts of Maine, Nova Scotia, Georgia and Florida. He used vivid colors, flat perspective, and a few recurrent themes. He added incongruous details, such as flamingos in Maine and Viking ships in Florida, to his work."<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKsbqcDvII/AAAAAAAAAUw/eUoyy-TTPSg/s1600-h/windy-cove-earl-cunningham.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 155px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKsbqcDvII/AAAAAAAAAUw/eUoyy-TTPSg/s200/windy-cove-earl-cunningham.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355532498145361026" border="0" /></a><br />"Largely considered a folk artist, Cunningham painted the American landscape of the Atlantic coast and its intercoastal ecosystem with dock workers, fishermen, farmers, wildlife and even American Indian tribes. As he traveled up and down the coast he painted his reflections of the surroundings. He depicted accurately detailed shoreline features in the tradition of memory painting. He painted over 400 landscapes, of which a large number reside at the <a href="http://www.mennellomuseum.org/">Mennello Museum of American Arts</a> in Orlando, FL."<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKsVbXQ2HI/AAAAAAAAAUg/n4A3wdQK5fE/s1600-h/picture.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 84px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKsVbXQ2HI/AAAAAAAAAUg/n4A3wdQK5fE/s200/picture.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355532391019501682" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKsR2_kVAI/AAAAAAAAAUY/9vDskPlzCT4/s1600-h/EarlCunninghamInHisStore15Oct1976.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 152px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKsR2_kVAI/AAAAAAAAAUY/9vDskPlzCT4/s200/EarlCunninghamInHisStore15Oct1976.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355532329716831234" border="0" /></a><br />"Cunningham moved to Saint Augustine, Florida in 1949 and opened an art gallery and curio shop. In 1961 he sent a painting titled "The Everglades" to Jacqueline Kennedy that is on display at John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston. In 1969, his work began to attract serious notice, and in 1970 was exhibited at the then Loch Haven Art Center in Orlando. He reputation continued to grow, and a large number of his paintings were shown at the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach, Florida in August 1974. Cunningham took his own life on December 29, 1977. He was 84. "<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKsYns3htI/AAAAAAAAAUo/Ims3gDVH-iI/s1600-h/sunrise_pine_point.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 103px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SlKsYns3htI/AAAAAAAAAUo/Ims3gDVH-iI/s200/sunrise_pine_point.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355532445870950098" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br />Amy Crawford. <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Smithsonian</span></a><br /><a href="http://www.folkartmuseum.org/default.asp?id=2120">American folk art museum </a><br />Earl Cunningham: "Painting an American Eden". <a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Publishers Weekly</span></a></span>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-72832512329524060712009-05-30T22:35:00.016-04:002009-10-15T13:41:42.714-04:00Saint Pierre Island: site of the only guillotine execution in north america<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHv-l4-rHI/AAAAAAAAAPY/XARfH06hghs/s1600-h/pm_map2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 87px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHv-l4-rHI/AAAAAAAAAPY/XARfH06hghs/s200/pm_map2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341814491640147058" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHwGWEux6I/AAAAAAAAAPg/CDCtuF9kVX4/s1600-h/1029097-Overhead_View-Saint_Pierre_and_Miquelon.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 128px; height: 96px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHwGWEux6I/AAAAAAAAAPg/CDCtuF9kVX4/s200/1029097-Overhead_View-Saint_Pierre_and_Miquelon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341814624833423266" border="0" /></a><br />The Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon is a group of small French islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, the main ones being Saint Pierre and Miquelon, south of Newfoundland, Canada. The islands are as close as 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Newfoundland.<br />The archipelago is the only remnant of the former colonial empire of New France that remains under French control.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHweRsOWJI/AAAAAAAAAPw/-32fdagRc-4/s1600-h/st-pierre2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHweRsOWJI/AAAAAAAAAPw/-32fdagRc-4/s200/st-pierre2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341815035973752978" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHwWc_8QoI/AAAAAAAAAPo/t9K2UMtVgW8/s1600-h/miquelon.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 122px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHwWc_8QoI/AAAAAAAAAPo/t9K2UMtVgW8/s200/miquelon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341814901570290306" border="0" /></a><br />"On december 30th, 1888, two fishermen, Louis Ollivier and Auguste Neel, after a night of heavy drinking, decided to go eat dinner at the cabin of Francois Coupard, Louis' fishing boat captain. The cabin, located on l'Ile aux Chiens, across the bay from the harbor of Saint-Pierre, was expected to be vacant. The two arrived to find the door locked. Dismayed they proceeded to kick in a window and, crawling inside, they came nose-to-nose with Coupard, knife-in-hand, ready to defend his property. Neel disarmed the old man, picked up the knife and stabbed him. Ollivier did the same, at the instigation of Neel, who wanted his companion to share the blame for the attack. The two drunken men then got into an argument over whether Coupard was fat or just big. In an effort to find out they mutilated the body, then left it under a sail in the corner of the cabin. They stole whatever they could find then took Coupard's boat to sea in an attempt to reach Newfoundland. The wind and the rough seas threw them back on the coast of Saint-Pierre where they were arrested the next day."<br /><br />"Their trial was held in February 1889 and resulted in a sentence of death for Neel and ten years Hard Labor for Ollivier. Neel's sentence seemed harsh considering that the murder was not premeditated and not committed for the purpose of robbing Coupard but the horrible mutilation of the body seemed to have weighed heavily on the court. His appeal was rejected and the Governor of the islands made a recommendation of "no clemency" to the President, because it was felt that a rise in criminality on the islands had occurred since a few recent death sentences had been commuted because of a lack of means to carry them out. French law in 1889 not only required that "tout condamne a mort aura la tete tranchee" - every person sentenced to die shall have his head severed - but also that the sentence must be carried out in a public venue near the place where the crime was committed. Despite the inconvenience an example had to be made. The President rejected the clemency and the Governor then requested that Louis Deibler, Executeur des Hautes Oeuvres de la Republique, be sent, with his equipment, to Saint-Pierre to carry out the sentence. This request was turned down (Deibler did not travel outside metropolitan France) but arrangements were made to ship a guillotine from Martinique. The Governor was also told to find a local person to perform the grim task."<br /><br />"Meanwhile, Neel spent his days in the prison in Saint-Pierre in the care of Sigrist, the warden and his wife. The guillotine arrived on the island on August 22nd 1889 and Neel was executed two days later by a pair of local fishermen, of dubious reputation, who were paid 500 francs and given a pardon on a 3-month petty larceny sentence after the Governor failed to find an executioner among the local tradesmen and the military personnel stationned on the islands. The two headsmen were despised by the islanders for what they had done and everyone refused to accept their "blood money", forcing them to leave the islands before the winter."<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHwwz2nK6I/AAAAAAAAAP4/Pw8bxzsAo0Q/s1600-h/saint-pierre-and-miquelon-page-countryside-header.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 80px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHwwz2nK6I/AAAAAAAAAP4/Pw8bxzsAo0Q/s200/saint-pierre-and-miquelon-page-countryside-header.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341815354381773730" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHw8rN72mI/AAAAAAAAAQA/9tRHvC-gdu8/s1600-h/SP2.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 138px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHw8rN72mI/AAAAAAAAAQA/9tRHvC-gdu8/s200/SP2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341815558222109282" border="0" /></a><br />"Contrary to widespread reports, the execution was rather uneventful, although the head did remain attached by a thread that the executioner had to sever with a knife. The protocol followed "standard" French procedure, with the awakening before dawn, the mass, a glass of wine and a bowl of tea, the "toilette", a chew instead of the traditional last cigarette, the ride in a carriage to Place de l'Admiral Courbet where soldiers formed a square around the guillotine and most of the population of Saint-Pierre had come to see the event. Neel thanked the Sigrists for their care, told unlookers "Learn this lesson: I killed and now I will be killed, don't do like me" and then said to the executioner "Do not miss" before being basculed."<br /><br />"Contrary to other reports the guillotine was not an old machine from the French Revolution (I did see the report that stated this, but it was written by someone totally unfamiliar with guillotines) but a rather new Berger machine of 1880-1885 vintage. It was never used again and remains on the island to this day. It was stored in a museum basement for a number of years but is on display since June 2008."<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHxTmgUmeI/AAAAAAAAAQI/p-TRchF0XWs/s1600-h/LVDSP1.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 117px; height: 156px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHxTmgUmeI/AAAAAAAAAQI/p-TRchF0XWs/s200/LVDSP1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341815952094042594" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHxjXDUvlI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/CWuYsIkkKjQ/s1600-h/LVDSP2.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 119px; height: 158px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHxjXDUvlI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/CWuYsIkkKjQ/s200/LVDSP2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341816222823792210" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHx8BGlCtI/AAAAAAAAAQg/5oUuuYJp95k/s1600-h/LVDSP4.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 123px; height: 157px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHx8BGlCtI/AAAAAAAAAQg/5oUuuYJp95k/s200/LVDSP4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341816646428592850" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHxu9cX3eI/AAAAAAAAAQY/7YQbAhtkZY4/s1600-h/LVDSP3.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 117px; height: 156px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHxu9cX3eI/AAAAAAAAAQY/7YQbAhtkZY4/s200/LVDSP3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341816422107962850" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHyJ6jyjmI/AAAAAAAAAQo/qO2pKvohio8/s1600-h/LVDSP5.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 113px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHyJ6jyjmI/AAAAAAAAAQo/qO2pKvohio8/s200/LVDSP5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341816885190233698" border="0" /></a><br />The guillotine is exhibited at Musee de l'Arche, open to the public during the summer months, and is the only place in North America where a real guillotine can be seen. Access to Saint-Pierre is a bit difficult (ferry or small plane from Newfoundland) but well worth a detour if you want to experience a French village in the middle of North America and see "The Guillotine".<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />*credit due to the author of <a href="http://boisdejustice.com/Home/Home.html">http://boisdejustice.com/Home/Home.html</a><br />Incredible site, worth checking out. </span>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com61tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-30506766634755868272009-05-30T21:33:00.005-04:002009-05-30T21:50:55.148-04:00Esao Andrews: From his Jonathan LeVine exhibitionI love his Art!<br /><h2 style="font-weight: bold;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHiFVQwmnI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/N3R8RfU-7Tk/s1600-h/Petrosinella_72dpi.jpg.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 223px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHiFVQwmnI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/N3R8RfU-7Tk/s400/Petrosinella_72dpi.jpg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341799214272780914" border="0" /></a></h2><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Esao Andrews and Xiaoqing Ding"</span> </span><h2 style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Separate Lives, A Two Per</span><span style="font-size:85%;">son Exhibition in the Project Room.</span></h2> <h4 style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Opening reception - Saturda</span><span style="font-size:85%;">y, January 12th, 7pm-9pm</span></h4> <p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>January 12, 2008</strong> <strong>through February 9, 2008</strong></span> </p> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><strong>NEW YORK, NY (January 2, 2008) — </strong></span><span style="font-size:11;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Jon</span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:11;"><span style="font-size:100%;">athan LeVine Gallery is pleased to announce <strong><em>Separate Lives</em></strong>, a two-person exhibition featuring works by <strong>Esao Andrews</strong> and <strong>Xiaoqing Ding</strong>. Paired together, these two young Brooklyn-based artists will combine their talents to present new paintings and drawings, showcasing each of their distinctly creative voices. This will be the first time Andrews has shown at Jonathan LeVine Gallery. His work, full of dark and whimsical allegory will be put on display in a series of skillfully rendered oil paintings.</span> <span style="font-size:130%;">"Surrea</span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:11;"><span style="font-size:130%;">l, frightening and humorous all at once, his pieces are windows into a strange and imaginative dream world.</span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;">"</span><br /><h4 style="font-weight: bold;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHhvhoJYNI/AAAAAAAAAPI/fjhE8KWDAH0/s1600-h/ThePermanentVoyage_72dpi.jpg.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHhvhoJYNI/AAAAAAAAAPI/fjhE8KWDAH0/s400/ThePermanentVoyage_72dpi.jpg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341798839634976978" border="0" /></a></h4> <span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><strong></strong></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHhFFEYHAI/AAAAAAAAAPA/9iKBNMzV8c4/s1600-h/SeparateLives_72dpi1.jpg.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 301px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/SiHhFFEYHAI/AAAAAAAAAPA/9iKBNMzV8c4/s400/SeparateLives_72dpi1.jpg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341798110414248962" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><strong><span style="font-size:12;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />ABOUT THE ARTIST</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">Esao Andrews</span></strong><span style="font-size:85%;"> grew up in the Arizona desert, and moved to New York in 1996 to complete his BFA in Illustration at the <em>School of Visual Arts</em>. After graduating in 2000, he spent the next few years working as a flash animator while painting in his free time. Andrews exhibited his oil paintings in coffee shops and group shows before landing his first major two-person show at Fuse Gallery in New York with John John Jesse in 2003. He has since collaborated with Tara McPherson for a DC Comics project, and has created album artwork for several bands, as well. Esao Andrews has developed a signature cast of dark and surreal characters, blending erotic and sometimes frightening images, in a manner that is often compared with other American artists like Mark Ryden and John Currin.</span></span><br /><br />If you enjoyed these pieces remember to check out Esao's <a href="http://www.esao.net/">site</a>. Remember to check out the Jonathan LeVine <a href="http://www.jonathanlevinegallery.com/index.cfm">gallery</a> as well.divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-52253387789257543942009-05-26T02:08:00.010-04:002009-05-26T03:00:58.928-04:00Seppuku: ritual suicide<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuIC5aouaI/AAAAAAAAAOI/4hlP2-Pcuok/s1600-h/250px-Seppuku.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 175px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuIC5aouaI/AAAAAAAAAOI/4hlP2-Pcuok/s400/250px-Seppuku.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340011366531512738" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Seppuku, (Sape-puu-kuu) the Japanese formal language term for ritual suicide (Hara-kiri (Har-rah-kee-ree) is the common language term.), was an intregal aspect of feudal Japan (1192-1868). It developed as an intregal part of the code of bushido and the discipline of the samurai warrior class.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuH5WQCc-I/AAAAAAAAAN4/9KkRb1ZJjLg/s1600-h/182px-Seppuku-2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 125px; height: 174px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuH5WQCc-I/AAAAAAAAAN4/9KkRb1ZJjLg/s200/182px-Seppuku-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340011202472997858" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuH8bytJOI/AAAAAAAAAOA/McAUIq0vZaI/s1600-h/180px-Wakisashi-sepukku-p1000699.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 93px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuH8bytJOI/AAAAAAAAAOA/McAUIq0vZaI/s200/180px-Wakisashi-sepukku-p1000699.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340011255500186850" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Hara-kiri, which literally means "stomach cutting" is a particularly painful method of self-destruction, and prior to the emergence of the samurai as a professional warrior class, was totally foreign to the Japanese.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuHu4UDyDI/AAAAAAAAANo/7p3tMUbJ2_o/s1600-h/Seppuku.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 123px; height: 175px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuHu4UDyDI/AAAAAAAAANo/7p3tMUbJ2_o/s200/Seppuku.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340011022638106674" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuH1sRRDTI/AAAAAAAAANw/SRK2OMhm34M/s1600-h/200px-Akashi_Gidayu_writing_his_death_poem_before_comitting_Seppuku.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 117px; height: 172px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuH1sRRDTI/AAAAAAAAANw/SRK2OMhm34M/s200/200px-Akashi_Gidayu_writing_his_death_poem_before_comitting_Seppuku.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340011139664252210" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The early history of Japan reveals quite clearly that the Japanese were far more interested in living the good life than in dying a painful death. It was not until well after the introduction of Buddhism, with its theme of the transitory nature of life and the glory of death, that such a development became possible.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuHrXHrrDI/AAAAAAAAANg/PFbQY06_uT8/s1600-h/seppuku2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 166px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuHrXHrrDI/AAAAAAAAANg/PFbQY06_uT8/s200/seppuku2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340010962188217394" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">To the samurai, seppuku--whether ordered as punishment or chosen in preference to a dishonorable death at the hands of an enemy--was unquestionable demonstration of their honor, courage, loyalty, and moral character.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuHodMovCI/AAAAAAAAANY/VSoNiaFUYJM/s1600-h/Seppuku3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 141px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuHodMovCI/AAAAAAAAANY/VSoNiaFUYJM/s200/Seppuku3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340010912280001570" border="0" /></a><br />When samurai were on the battlefield, they often carried out acts of hara-kiri rapidly and with very little formal preparation. But on the other occasions, particularly when it was ordered by a feudal lord, or the shogun (as was directed of Lord Asano in the Tale of the 47 Ronin. ) , seppuku or hara-kiri was a very formal ceremony, requiring certain etiquette, witnesses and considerable preparation.<br />Not all Japanese samurai or lords believed in, even though many of them followed the custom. The great Ieyasu Tokugawa, who founded Japan's last great Shogunate dynasty in 1603, eventually issued an edict forbidding hara-kiri to both secondary and primary retainers.<br />The custom was so deeply entrenched, however, that it continued, and in 1663, at the urging of Lord Nobutsuna Matsudaira of Izu, the shogunate government issued another, stronger edict, prohibiting ritual suicide. This was followed up by very stern punishment for any lord who allowed any of his followers to commit harakiri or seppuku. Still the practice continued throughout the long Tokugawa reign, but it declined considerably as time went by.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Honor for the samurai was dearer than life and in many cases, self destruction was regarded not simply as right, but as the only right course. </span>Disgrace and defeat were atoned by committing hara-kiri or seppuku. Upon the death of a daimyo loyal followers might show their grief and affection for their master by it. Other reasons a samurai committed seppuku were: to show contempt for an enemy; to protest against injustice, as a means to get their lord to reconsider an unwise or unworthy action and as a means to save others.<br /><br />The ritual for disenbowlment was to be performed calmly and without flinching. If condemned to death, it was held to be a privilege to execute the sentence on one's own body rather than to be a disgrace and die at the hands of the public headsman.<br /><br />The location of an officially ordered seppuku ceremony was very important. Often the ritual was performed at temple (but not Shinto shrines), in the garden or villas, and inside homes. The size of the area available was also important, as it was prescribed precisely for samurai of high rank.<br />All the matters relating to the act was carefully prescribed and carried out in the most meticulous manner.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> <span style="font-style: italic;">The most conspicuous participant, other than the v</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">ictim, was the kaishaku (kie-shah-kuu), or assistant, who was responsi</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">ble for cutting off the victim's head after he had sliced his abdomen open.</span></span> The was generally a close friend or associate of the condemned.<br /><br />Although suicide is deplored in Japan today, it does not have the sinful overtones that are common in the west. People still kill themselves for failed businesses, involvement in love triangles, or even failing school examinations, death is still consider by many as better than dishonor.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">*all credit to the <a href="http://victorian.fortunecity.com/duchamp/410/seppuku.html">author/s</a>(?)</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Seppuku in modern Japan<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Seppuku as judicial punishment was officially abolished in 1873, shortly after the Meiji Restoration, but voluntary seppuku did not completely die out. Dozens of people are known to have committed seppuku since then, including some military men who committed suicide in 1895 as a protest against the return of a conquered territory to China[citation needed]; by General Nogi and his wife on the death of Emperor Meiji in 1912; and by numerous soldiers and civilians who chose to die rather than surrender at the end of World War II.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuOCvfN-PI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/ihNhoi9b_bA/s1600-h/2514176648_de12b4be90.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 95px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuOCvfN-PI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/ihNhoi9b_bA/s200/2514176648_de12b4be90.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340017960936143090" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuOTa0iMjI/AAAAAAAAAOY/7CvhvUtLd4k/s1600-h/BE021437.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 116px; height: 147px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuOTa0iMjI/AAAAAAAAAOY/7CvhvUtLd4k/s200/BE021437.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340018247446180402" border="0" /></a><br />On November 25, 1970, famed author Yukio Mishima and four members of the Tatenokai, under pretext, visited the commandant of the Ichigaya Camp—the Tokyo headquarters of the Eastern Command of Japan's Self-Defense Forces. Inside, they barricaded the office and tied the commandant to his chair. With a prepared manifesto and banner listing their demands, Mishima stepped onto the balcony to address the soldiers gathered below. His speech was intended to inspire a coup d'etat restoring the powers of the emperor. He succeeded only in irritating them, however, and was mocked and jeered. He finished his planned speech after a few minutes, returned to the commandant's office and committed seppuku. The customary kaishakunin duty at the end of this ritual had been assigned to Tatenokai member Masakatsu Morita, but Morita was unable to properly perform the task: after several attempts, he allowed another Tatenokai member, Hiroyasu Koga, to behead Mishima.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuOya3pSnI/AAAAAAAAAOo/NxMcPdIiTro/s1600-h/yukio-mishima.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 131px; height: 173px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuOya3pSnI/AAAAAAAAAOo/NxMcPdIiTro/s200/yukio-mishima.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340018780035172978" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuPHUFGVxI/AAAAAAAAAOw/3chuSJOT-R8/s1600-h/yukio211.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 116px; height: 173px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuPHUFGVxI/AAAAAAAAAOw/3chuSJOT-R8/s200/yukio211.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340019138989807378" border="0" /></a><br />Another traditional element of the suicide ritual was the composition of jisei (death poems) before their entry into the headquarters. Mishima planned his suicide meticulously for at least a year and no one outside the group of hand-picked Tatenokai members had any indication of what he was planning. His biographer, translator and former friend John Nathan suggests that the coup attempt was only a pretext for the ritual suicide of which Mishima had long dreamed. Mishima made sure his affairs were in order and left money for the legal defence of the three surviving Tatenokai members.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuOgGaJN8I/AAAAAAAAAOg/mbYckjNEL78/s1600-h/mishima.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 135px; height: 90px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuOgGaJN8I/AAAAAAAAAOg/mbYckjNEL78/s200/mishima.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340018465305081794" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuPY1eZdBI/AAAAAAAAAO4/hrUPprdYSJ4/s1600-h/yukio_mishima1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 105px; height: 88px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuPY1eZdBI/AAAAAAAAAO4/hrUPprdYSJ4/s200/yukio_mishima1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340019440012063762" border="0" /></a><br /><br />*the most recent documented act of Seppuku was done by <span style="font-size:100%;">Isao Inokuma</span>, gold medal winner for Judo in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. He also authored several prominent books and manuals relating to judo, contributing to the sport's development. He became the CEO of the Tokai company in 1993, but committed suicide in 2001 by means of seppuku, possibly due to the financial losses suffered by his company. He was 63 years old.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://www.hatashitasports.com/productimage/20070930213143.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 202px; height: 202px;" src="https://www.hatashitasports.com/productimage/20070930213143.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div></div>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-20106551136230448422009-05-26T01:32:00.007-04:002009-05-26T01:53:47.771-04:00Images of old Japan<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuA25hm51I/AAAAAAAAANQ/AFjgKEW_oTs/s1600-h/jap6.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 281px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuA25hm51I/AAAAAAAAANQ/AFjgKEW_oTs/s400/jap6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340003463820928850" border="0" /></a><br />student<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuAzMwxETI/AAAAAAAAANI/Pnh-QscoZRg/s1600-h/jap4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 249px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuAzMwxETI/AAAAAAAAANI/Pnh-QscoZRg/s400/jap4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340003400265306418" border="0" /></a><br />geisha performing<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuAuLaxYtI/AAAAAAAAANA/NSFMw90jAIw/s1600-h/jap2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 334px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuAuLaxYtI/AAAAAAAAANA/NSFMw90jAIw/s400/jap2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340003314005271250" border="0" /></a><br />women on trial.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuApeC-VaI/AAAAAAAAAM4/QprPN8ofgD0/s1600-h/jap1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 344px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShuApeC-VaI/AAAAAAAAAM4/QprPN8ofgD0/s400/jap1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340003233106384290" border="0" /></a><br />imitating Seppuku? My next post will be on this subject.<br /><br />The society of traditional Japan was long held to be a good example of one in which shame is the primary agent of social control. Ancient Greece has also been described as a shame society. The first book to cogently explain the workings of the Japanese society for the Western reader is The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Chrysanthemum-Sword-Ruth-Benedict/dp/0618619593/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243316798&sr=8-1">Chrysanthemum and the Sword</a>. This book was produced under less than ideal circumstances since it was written during the early years of World War II in an attempt to understand the people who had become such a powerful enemy of the West. Under the conditions of war it was, of course, impossible to do field research in Japan.<br /><br />Nevertheless, depending on the study of members of that culture who were available for interview and study in the West, namely war prisoners at detention centers, as well as literary and other such records pertaining to cultural features, Ruth Benedict drew what some regard as a clear picture of the basic workings of Japanese society. Her study has been challenged and is not relied upon by anthropologists of Japan today, but one that has stood the test of time as an inspiration and starting point still useful for many purposes.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">*If you want to see other photos of old Japan visit this <a href="http://oldphotosjapan.com/en/">site</a>. </span>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-56603053584510852792009-05-21T00:56:00.012-04:002009-05-21T01:34:09.415-04:00Auguste Rodin: the gates of hell<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShTfntAz2RI/AAAAAAAAALw/48Sk3HQaK04/s1600-h/368px-Hoellentor.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 185px; height: 303px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShTfntAz2RI/AAAAAAAAALw/48Sk3HQaK04/s400/368px-Hoellentor.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338137331531766034" border="0" /></a><br /></div>The Gates of Hell ''La Porte de l'Enfer'' is a monumental sculptural group work by French artist Auguste Rodin that depicts a scene from "The Inferno", the first section of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. It stands at 6 m high, 4 m wide and 1 m deep (19.69'H × 13.12'W × 3.29'D) and contains 180 figures. The figures range from 15 cm high up to more than one metre. Several of the figures were also cast independently by Rodin.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShTkJMne-KI/AAAAAAAAAMA/zt7EIOOnLMw/s1600-h/Auguste_Rodin_1893_Nadar.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShTkJMne-KI/AAAAAAAAAMA/zt7EIOOnLMw/s320/Auguste_Rodin_1893_Nadar.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338142304997669026" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />History</span><br /></div>The sculptural ensemble was commissioned by the Directorate of Fine Arts in 1880 and was meant to be delivered in 1885. Rodin would continue to work on and off on this project for 37 years, until his death in 1917.<br />The Directorate asked for an inviting entrance to a planned Decorative Arts Museum with the theme being left to Rodin's selection. Even before this commission, Rodin had developed sketches of some of Dante's characters based on his admiration of Dante's Inferno[citation needed].<br />The Decoratives Arts Museum was never built. Rodin worked on this project on the ground floor of the Hôtel Biron. Near the end of his life, Rodin donated sculptures, drawings and reproduction rights to the French government. In 1919, two years after his death, The Hôtel Biron became the Musée Rodin housing a cast of The Gates of Hell and related works.<br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShTk5VuOuwI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/uqmFj4k6QVI/s1600-h/RodinGates_of_Hell_detail1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 122px; height: 163px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShTk5VuOuwI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/uqmFj4k6QVI/s200/RodinGates_of_Hell_detail1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338143132075604738" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShTktpgtq6I/AAAAAAAAAMI/_6r_ZBazFxk/s1600-h/fugit-amor.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 132px; height: 182px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShTktpgtq6I/AAAAAAAAAMI/_6r_ZBazFxk/s200/fugit-amor.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338142931229191074" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShTlUctOSrI/AAAAAAAAAMg/3nbKj22-Yjs/s1600-h/RodinGates_of_Hell_detail2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 99px; height: 131px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShTlUctOSrI/AAAAAAAAAMg/3nbKj22-Yjs/s200/RodinGates_of_Hell_detail2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338143597806897842" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShTlcHLTFzI/AAAAAAAAAMw/kRH--7pMTYA/s1600-h/4day-4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 164px; height: 131px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShTlcHLTFzI/AAAAAAAAAMw/kRH--7pMTYA/s200/4day-4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338143729466414898" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShTlFqDbJfI/AAAAAAAAAMY/xBAcMy1tvw8/s1600-h/musee_rodin_porte_d_enfer.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 165px; height: 123px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShTlFqDbJfI/AAAAAAAAAMY/xBAcMy1tvw8/s200/musee_rodin_porte_d_enfer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338143343691638258" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShTlYh_4_TI/AAAAAAAAAMo/he0HIJdpMTY/s1600-h/The_Thinker_Gates_of_Hell_Auguste_Rodin_detail-1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 157px; height: 122px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShTlYh_4_TI/AAAAAAAAAMo/he0HIJdpMTY/s200/The_Thinker_Gates_of_Hell_Auguste_Rodin_detail-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338143667946847538" border="0" /></a><br />Inspiration<br /></div>A work of the scope of the Gates of Hell had not been attempted before, but inspiration came from Lorenzo Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise at the Baptistery of St. John, Florence. The 15th century bronze doors depict figures from the Old Testament. Another source of inspiration were medieval cathedrals. Some of those combine both high and low relief.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShTj4P2ZxzI/AAAAAAAAAL4/qG5G4dXIlNY/s1600-h/369px-Florenca146.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 123px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShTj4P2ZxzI/AAAAAAAAAL4/qG5G4dXIlNY/s200/369px-Florenca146.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338142013807773490" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-52452390038585619672009-05-20T21:40:00.006-04:002009-05-21T01:37:27.770-04:00Franz Kafka: Before The LawI have read and recommended this short story more times than I can remember. Kafka at his best.<br /> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: center; margin-left: 100px; margin-right: 100px;" align="center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShSzcZhn36I/AAAAAAAAALo/iaxwCF-6RmE/s1600-h/14934_kafka_franz.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 141px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShSzcZhn36I/AAAAAAAAALo/iaxwCF-6RmE/s200/14934_kafka_franz.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338088758810501026" border="0" /></a></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style=";font-family:Constantia;font-size:12;" ><span style="font-size:85%;">Before the law sits a gatekeeper. To this gatekeeper comes a man from the country who asks to gain entry into the law. But the gatekeeper says that he cannot grant him entry at the moment. The man thinks about it and then asks if he will be allowed to come in sometime later on. “It is possible,” says the gatekeeper, “but not now.” The gate to the law stands open, as always, and the gatekeeper walks to the side, so the man bends over in order to see through the gate into the inside. When the gatekeeper notices that, he laughs and says: “If it tempts you so much, try going inside in spite of my prohibition. But take note. I am powerful. And I am only the most lowly gatekeeper. But from room to room stand gatekeepers, each more powerful than the other. I cannot endure even one glimpse of the third.” The man from the country has not expected such difficulties: the law should always be accessible for everyone, he thinks, but as he now looks more closely at the gatekeeper in his fur coat, at his large pointed nose and his long, thin, black Tartar’s beard, he decides that it would be better to wait until he gets permission to go inside. The gatekeeper gives him a stool and allows him to sit down at the side in front of the gate. There he sits for days and years. He makes many attempts to be let in, and he wears the gatekeeper out with his requests. The gatekeeper often interrogates him briefly, questioning him about his homeland and many other things, but they are indifferent questions, the kind great men put, and at the end he always tells him once more that he cannot let him inside yet. The man, who has equipped himself with many things for his journey, spends everything, no matter how valuable, to win over the gatekeeper. The latter takes it all but, as he does so, says, “I am taking this only so that you do not think you have failed to do anything.” During the many years the man observes the gatekeeper almost continuously. He forgets the other gatekeepers, and this first one seems to him the only obstacle for entry into the law. He curses the unlucky circumstance, in the first years thoughtlessly and out loud; later, as he grows old, he only mumbles to himself. He becomes childish and, since in the long years studying the gatekeeper he has also come to know the fleas in his fur collar, he even asks the fleas to help him persuade the gatekeeper. Finally his eyesight grows weak, and he does not know whether things are really darker around him or whether his eyes are merely deceiving him. But he recognizes now in the darkness an illumination which breaks inextinguishably out of the gateway to the law. Now he no longer has much time to live. Before his death he gathers in his head all his experiences of the entire time up into one question which he has not yet put to the gatekeeper. He waves to him, since he can no longer lift up his stiffening body. The gatekeeper has to bend way down to him, for the great difference has changed things considerably to the disadvantage of the man. “What do you still want to know now?” asks the gatekeeper. “You are insatiable.” “Everyone strives after the law,” says the man, “so how is that in these many years no one except me has requested entry?” The gatekeeper sees that the man is already dying and, in order to reach his diminishing sense of hearing, he shouts at him, “Here no one else can gain entry, since this entrance was assigned only to you. <span style="font-style: italic;">I’m going now to close it.”</span></span></span><br /></div><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 6pt 4cm; font-style: italic;"><span style=";font-family:Constantia;font-size:12;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:78%;">*"Before the Law" is a parable in the novel The Trial (German Der Prozeß), by Franz Kafka. "Before the Law" was published in Kafka's lifetime, while The Trial was not published until after Kafka's death.</span>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-44411430937483112702009-05-19T21:01:00.010-04:002009-05-19T23:42:29.886-04:00Palmyra Island: mystery, murder and a curse<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNiQU0cyVI/AAAAAAAAAKA/C4rs7XZGpgQ/s1600-h/palmyra_aerial_lgCMYK.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 132px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNiQU0cyVI/AAAAAAAAAKA/C4rs7XZGpgQ/s200/palmyra_aerial_lgCMYK.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337718015970298194" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">This is as close to the show "LOST" as you can get!<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNkceUY67I/AAAAAAAAALA/RGOkRFEuRUQ/s1600-h/4-7-02+0071.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNkceUY67I/AAAAAAAAALA/RGOkRFEuRUQ/s200/4-7-02+0071.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337720423701867442" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Palmyra is one of the last uninhabited islands in the Pacific.<br />Although officially listed as an island, Palmyra is actually an atoll. The difference between an atoll and an island is that an atoll is formed by the growth of coral around the rim of an ancient ocean volcano that has sunk below the surface of the sea over eons of geologic time, giving the classic atoll a circular or horseshoe shape. Hundreds of such atolls dot the massive area that is the Pacific ocean. (Perhaps the most famous of these is Bikini Atoll where the U.S. Navy tested nuclear weapons in the 1950s).</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNig_95yLI/AAAAAAAAAKI/ZI3dBzLHcws/s1600-h/palmyra4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 138px; height: 105px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNig_95yLI/AAAAAAAAAKI/ZI3dBzLHcws/s200/palmyra4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337718302430578866" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNin47vOKI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/-c7xJjkwdhc/s1600-h/palmyra7.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 136px; height: 82px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNin47vOKI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/-c7xJjkwdhc/s200/palmyra7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337718420801534114" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Palmyra island's coordinates are 5 degrees, 52 minutes North, 162 degrees, 6 minutes West, placing it near the very center of the Pacific ocean or about 1000 nautical miles south-southwest of Hawaii in the North Pacific Ocean, or about one-half of the way from Hawaii to American Samo</span><span style="font-size:100%;">a. The isla</span><span style="font-size:100%;">nd measures approx</span><span style="font-size:100%;">imately a mile and a half in length by a h</span><span style="font-size:100%;">alf mile wide.<br /></span><p align="left"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNkAW9T7tI/AAAAAAAAAKw/fIUy8RD5NFA/s1600-h/palmyra_atoll_91.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 138px; height: 81px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNkAW9T7tI/AAAAAAAAAKw/fIUy8RD5NFA/s200/palmyra_atoll_91.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337719940689686226" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNj464YV1I/AAAAAAAAAKo/8Tkigm-NFy8/s1600-h/Palmyra-Island-Map.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNj464YV1I/AAAAAAAAAKo/8Tkigm-NFy8/s200/Palmyra-Island-Map.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337719812893726546" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">Lying six degrees above the equator, [Palmyra consists of] about fifty islets covered with dense vegetation, coconut trees, and balsa-like trees up to 30 meters tall . . . the west lagoon is entered by a channel which will only accommodate vessels drawing 4 meters or less of water; much of the road, the landing strip and many causeways built during [World War II] are unserviceable and overgrown. </span></p> <span style="font-size:100%;">On a nautical chart, Palmyra is but a tiny speck in the middle of </span><span style="font-size:100%;">the mass of blue that represents the Pacific Ocean. The island lies well off of the major shipping lanes for vessels plying the Asian/American run and is geographically perhaps one of the remotest places on earth and one of the last few truly uninhabited islands left in the world. Local fauna consists of mosquitoes and other insects, lizards, land and coconut crabs, a huge bird population, palm and coconut trees and mangrove bushes. The interior is thick jungle. The coral reef and lagoons at Palmyra are also a breeding ground for gray and blacktip reef sharks whose aggressiveness is well known throughout the Pacific. This has been noted by every person who has ever ventured to the island, sometimes with fatal consequences. (Many visitors to the island found that swimming and even wading in the island's lagoons was completely out of the question because of the large shark population and their aggressive nature).</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNkMWCtjKI/AAAAAAAAAK4/pB_ueadLNm0/s1600-h/palmyra_ss_11_east_lagoon.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNkMWCtjKI/AAAAAAAAAK4/pB_ueadLNm0/s200/palmyra_ss_11_east_lagoon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337720146602331298" border="0" /></a><p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"> In 1855, a whaling ship was reported wrecked on Palmyra's dangerous reefs, but attempts to locate the ship and its crew turned up nothing. </span></p> <p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"> In 1911, ownership of the island was granted to Judge Henry E. Cooper of Hawaii from a purchase price of $750.00. He eventually sold all but one small islet on Palmyra (Home Island), apparently believing the rumor that priceless Inca artifacts of gold and silver, part of the pirate plunder of the <i>Esperanza</i>, were still buried there under a tree. With the exception of Home Island, possession of the rest of Palmyra eventually fell, in 1922, to the Fullard-Leo family, who in 1940 became embroiled in a legal skirmish with the United States over ownership. The United States wanted jurisdiction of Palmyra assigned to the Department of the Navy in anticipation of World War II in the Pacific. </span></p> <p align="left"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNleAh-7BI/AAAAAAAAALg/oBPJK7yNQ5w/s1600-h/rusted+tank1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 99px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNleAh-7BI/AAAAAAAAALg/oBPJK7yNQ5w/s200/rusted+tank1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337721549577186322" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNlJa-5XPI/AAAAAAAAALY/XYLo-ICXfLY/s1600-h/hala+on+bunker1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 97px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNlJa-5XPI/AAAAAAAAALY/XYLo-ICXfLY/s200/hala+on+bunker1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337721195900525810" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">Although the private-ownership status of Palmyra was eventually resolved in favor of the Fullard-Leo family, the island was still used as a naval air facility during World War II in the Pacific. Palmyra also became a base of operations for air attacks against Japan. As a result, American military relics can be found in abundance there. Old gun emplacements, ammunition and fuel dumps, abandoned war equipment, machine-gun bunkers, underground tunnels and buildings, as well as what is left of the old landing strip, lend a timeless and ghostly feeling to the place. </span></p> <p align="left"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNkj_leYXI/AAAAAAAAALI/gFbmHbsu8JI/s1600-h/140893-344x251.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 131px; height: 95px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNkj_leYXI/AAAAAAAAALI/gFbmHbsu8JI/s200/140893-344x251.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337720552890982770" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNk2w45UAI/AAAAAAAAALQ/7sfjFkirkDA/s1600-h/front+of+bunkers1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 93px; height: 98px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShNk2w45UAI/AAAAAAAAALQ/7sfjFkirkDA/s200/front+of+bunkers1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337720875363422210" border="0" /></a></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">Primarily, Palmyra functioned as a refueling station during World War II for long-range air patrols and extended submarine missions against Japan in the Pacific. The island itself was attacked only once when, on December 24, 1941, a Japanese submarine surfaced offshore and began shelling the beach and a dredging barge with its deck gun. A five-inch gun battery on the island drove the submarine off. </span></p> <p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"> Hal Horton, a former Navy officer was stationed on Palmyra from 1942 to 1944 and had this to say about the island:</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">"Once one of our patrol planes went down near the island. We searched and searched but didn't find so much as a bolt or piece of metal. It was weird. Like they'd dropped off the edge of the earth. Another time, a plane took off from the runway, climbed to a couple hundred feet, and turned in the wrong direction. They were supposed to go north and they went south instead. It was broad daylight. We never could figure it out. There were two men aboard that plane. We never saw them again. We had some very bad luck on that island. Old salts in the Pacific called it the Palmyra curse. [The island] . . . is very small. You [could] fly over it at ten thousand feet and not see it if there [were] a few clouds in the sky. Once we heard a plane overhead trying to find us, but he crashed in the drink before he could find the runway. We didn't get to the poor guy fast enough. Sharks found him first."</span><br /></p><p align="left">It seems that many of these experienced and adventurous sailing people ventured to Palmyra expecting to find an island nirvana, but like Fletcher Christian and the mutineers of <i>HMS Bounty</i> who found that life on Pitcairn Island deteriorated into a grim struggle for survival, so perhaps did their romantic notions about Palmyra soon fall apart.<br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Murder on Palmyra</span></span><br /></div><p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"> In 1974, the grisly double murder of a sailing couple that became the subject of the book <i>And the Sea Will Tell</i> took place on Palmyra. The evidence at the subsequent trial for murder showed that Mac and Muff Graham of San Diego, who had ventured to Palmyra for an extended stay of up to a year, were probably killed for their expensive sailboat, the <i>Sea Wind</i>, and the large quantity of food stores it contained. (The murderer was an ex-convict and fugitive named Buck Walker who, along with his girlfriend Stephanie Stearns, had also taken up residence on the island. Walker and Stearns, described by some as "hippie types", had sailed from Hawaii to Palmyra on a small and very poorly outfitted boat. Walker was later tried, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of the Grahams, while Stearns was acquitted, a verdict that remains controversial to this day). </span></p> <p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">It was a full six years after the murders that the skeletal remains of Muff Graham were discovered washed ashore on Palmyra by South African sailors Sharon and Robert Jordan during their own extended stay on the island in 1981. Although the Jordans had heard stories from other yachting people about the murders of the Grahams, they had never connected the event to Palmyra atoll until they discovered a stack of old newspaper clippings about the missing couple laid out on a table in a building in the jungle, apparently left behind by someone attracted to the island because of the notoriety of the murders (and who seemingly wanted to let others know about them, too).<br /></span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">Sharon Jordan concerning the murders: "When we arrived at Palmyra we discovered that someone had left a huge pile of newspaper clippings all about the Grahams, their sailboat, their sinister disappearance, etc. The one really strange thing was that I knew with absolute certainty that I would find the remains of at least one of the Grahams. And I did."</span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">Indeed, she did. Days later, while out beach combing, Sharon found a human skull and other bones that had apparently fallen out of a metal box of World War II vintage that had washed up on the beach after a storm. The bones were later determined to have belonged to murder victim Muff Graham. (Sharon Jordan's discovery of Muff Graham's skeletal remains is in itself a long shot at the odds in that Sharon just happened to be walking along that particular stretch of one of the earth's most isolated beaches at what experts later determined was most likely the only time that the bones would ever be exposed. Evidence at the murder trial showed that the next tide would have most certainly washed the bones back out to sea to disappear forever).</span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">The condition of the remains suggested that Muff Graham had been either shot or bludgeoned to death, her body dismembered, and then burned with an acetylene torch. Her body was then placed in a small metal storage container that had been removed from one of the old military rescue boats on the island and then finally dumped into the lagoon. Just what forces actually caused the container with Muff Graham's remains to surface is still a mystery. Vincent Bugliosi, author of <i>And the Sea Will Tell</i>, noted how the average human body, even when confined inside a container, usually floats to the surface in about ten days. Strangely, the container holding Muff Graham's body seems to have stayed submerged for almost seven years. (Sharon Jordan told me that she felt that it was possible that her and Rob Jordan's raising of a submerged boat from the bottom of Palmyras lagoon -- the same boat from which the two missing containers had been lifted -- might have somehow caused a disturbance that allowed the container to break free from the bottom). It is also a mystery as to how the heavy wire that had been wrapped around the lid of the container to hold it shut came loose. Sharon Jordan found the wire lying next to the container still bent in the exact shape of the box that it was once wrapped around. (Mac Graham's remains have never been recovered and are believed to have been hidden in a second missing container, perhaps somewhere on or near the island. That fact that Mac is still missing remains as one of the more enduring mysteries of Palmyra).</span> </p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Synchronicity </span><br /></span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">Tom Wolfe, a yachtsman who was on Palmyra just before the murders, testified at four different criminal trials in relation to the crime. Just one month prior to the trial, Wolfe had an experience that is either a further bit of testimony from the realm of synchronicity or a part of the strange residual power that affects those who have had contact with Palmyra: one morning, after a brutal storm had hit the coast along his beachfront home located on the Puget Sound in Washington, Wolfe went out for a walk along the shore to see what kind of flotsam the storm may have deposited on the beach. A mere forty feet from his house, he spotted a cylindrical object washed up on some rocks. Uncovering the object, he was astonished to discover that it was a cardboard mailing tube containing three copies of the Palmyra Island detail chart! Recounting this story later to one of the defense attorneys in the trial, Wolfe could only wonder at what strange forces could have caused the Palmyra chart to wash up literally on his doorstep on the eve of his scheduled testimony during a critical stage of the trial. He noted that "finding that damn chart was eerie [and] I'm not the superstitious type, but I'll admit, it really shook me. It was as if Palmyra, the island itself, had reached out and touched me from three thousand miles away." (If not a supernatural occurrence, one would have to wonder what the astronomical odds were of such a thing happening. In my correspondence with Tom, he told me that he still has those charts today, slightly warped with some bits of seaweed clinging to the outer edges).<br /></span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">And the list of strange things that occur in connection with Palmyra keeps growing; like the Sirens of Greek mythology whose sweet singing lured sailors to their deaths on rocky coasts, Palmyra also seems to beckon: </span></p> <ul><li><span style="font-size:100%;"> In 1977, sailor Amanda Lane and four friends, while sailing to Hawaii from Micronesia, made a stop at Palmyra only to be frightened off the island after just a single night by a group of strange "hippies" who had taken up residence there. According to Lane, she and her group fled in fear from the island after the hippies told them a weird story about the possible deathly fate that might have befallen one member of their group, a tale that Amanda and crew took to be a sort of veiled threat of violence and that the hippies might have been trying to imply that it was not wise of them to stay for very long on Palmyra. Years later, Amanda came to believe that the hippies might have been fully aware of the fate that had befallen the Grahams and may have been trying to take advantage of that notoriety in order to have Palmyra all to themselves.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;"> In 1981, John Harrison, a Canadian yachtsman, along with his two daughters, were marooned on Palmyra after their sailboat was struck by a typhoon and de-masted. With the help of fuel air-dropped to them by the Coast Guard, Harrison and his daughters managed to motor their disabled vessel to Palmyra. There they subsisted on fish, coconuts and what they had salvaged from their vessel, supplementing this diet with canned goods supplied by Palmyra's only permanent resident at the time, self-appointed caretaker and island hermit, Ray Landrum. They remained on Palmyra for over a month while a somewhat bizarre legal entanglement and the foot dragging of both the United States and Canadian governments ensued over who should be responsible for assisting the three castaways. They were eventually rescued by plane after spending days clearing the old runway on the island. </span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">In 1987, after acting on a tip from a fishing vessel, a Coast Guard C-130 aircraft sighted a sailboat just southeast of Palmyra. An aerial inspection revealed no sign of life onboard the drifting sailboat and Coast Guard personnel noted that the mast was broken off and that the sails were torn and shredded. A week after the sighting, the vessel was boarded by Coast Guardsmen. who found the skeletal remains of owner Manning Edward onboard. The cause of death was undetermined. But prior to leaving on his extended three-year voyage through the Pacific, Manning had spoken excitedly about his plan to visit an uninhabited island called Palmyra. </span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;"> In 1989, another sailboat named the <i>Sea Dreamer</i>, in transit from San Diego to Hawaii was caught in a storm that pushed her far off course to the south, and onto Palmyra Island. After a brief stay on the island, the boat again departed for Hawaii and then disappeared. An extensive search by the Coast Guard between Palmyra and Hawaii and even along the coast of the United States failed to turn up any trace of the <i>Sea Dreamer</i> and the four members of the Graham Hughes family that were her crew. (Again in the spirit of synchronicity, you will recall that the murdered couple, Mac and Muff Graham, were also from San Diego and their vessel was named the <i>Sea Wind</i>).<br /></span></li></ul><span style="font-size:85%;">*All recognition goes to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Will-Tell-Vincent-Bugliosi/dp/0804109176"><span style="font-style: italic;">And The Sea Will Tell</span></a> authors Vincent Bugliosi Bruce B. Henderson. Check out that book!<br />*Thanks also to Curt Rowlett for his further research. Check out his <a href="http://www.strangemag.com/index.html">site</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Labyrinth13-Tales-Occult-Crime-Conspiracy/dp/1411660838/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242783544&sr=8-1">book</a>.</span>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-33067040053809442182009-05-19T17:41:00.000-04:002009-05-19T18:11:13.030-04:00Joseph Mugnaini: Ray Bradbury's illustrator, friend<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMqu1xGZoI/AAAAAAAAAJA/lFUCl0ktXdc/s1600-h/360.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 197px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMqu1xGZoI/AAAAAAAAAJA/lFUCl0ktXdc/s200/360.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337656967559538306" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMq0R58QmI/AAAAAAAAAJI/U0-YuK2gwzs/s1600-h/500-1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 193px; height: 171px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMq0R58QmI/AAAAAAAAAJI/U0-YuK2gwzs/s200/500-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337657061012161122" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The Halloween Tree is one of my favorite stories and always makes me nostalgic for that time of year. The story is great and gothic but still, very much for kids. Joseph Mugnaini was once again called upon by Bradbury to illustrate the story and he did a fantastic job. His illustrations, besides the original cover, were scattered throughout the book. I believe there were nine or ten of them. Enjoy.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMrne2i0YI/AAAAAAAAAJY/DPh53y0GDio/s1600-h/160967634_43b432930c_o.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 181px; height: 291px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMrne2i0YI/AAAAAAAAAJY/DPh53y0GDio/s320/160967634_43b432930c_o.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337657940660900226" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMrtEJum_I/AAAAAAAAAJg/gOoryboh5m4/s1600-h/brad2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 208px; height: 286px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMrtEJum_I/AAAAAAAAAJg/gOoryboh5m4/s320/brad2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337658036572822514" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMrxZ4CNEI/AAAAAAAAAJo/7z6ooFm8d2w/s1600-h/halloween1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 204px; height: 277px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMrxZ4CNEI/AAAAAAAAAJo/7z6ooFm8d2w/s320/halloween1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337658111123665986" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMrfTD22WI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/e6mZZ61AOHU/s1600-h/500.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 186px; height: 285px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMrfTD22WI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/e6mZZ61AOHU/s320/500.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337657800056559970" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMr1iDitRI/AAAAAAAAAJw/r_NTZ3F6Uto/s1600-h/mugnainiSplashPlate.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 289px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMr1iDitRI/AAAAAAAAAJw/r_NTZ3F6Uto/s400/mugnainiSplashPlate.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337658182038893842" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMr5YUMvfI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/6vtWY85nE9k/s1600-h/picture.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 353px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMr5YUMvfI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/6vtWY85nE9k/s400/picture.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337658248143879666" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">"As an author, illustrator and teacher, he inspired hundreds of Southern California artists. In addition to writing four arts instruction books, he received many awards for paintings, graphics and book illustrations. Best known for his work with science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, he earned an Academy Award nomination and the Golden Eagle Award for his paintings for the film Icarus, a Bradbury collaboration, He was also the primary illustrator for many of Bradbury’s books. His paintings and illustrations are held in the collections of the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institute, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art."</span> <a href="http://www.otis.edu/"><span style="font-size:78%;">-from Otis:</span><span style="font-size:78%;">College of Art and Design(famous alumni)<br /></span></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Joseph Anthony Mugnaini passed away January 23, 1992.</span>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-5962064284863628092009-05-19T15:18:00.002-04:002009-06-17T21:33:14.152-04:00Theda Bara: actress, first sex symbol of film?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMIUEPna6I/AAAAAAAAAIA/TmIJi11L_JI/s1600-h/bara3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMIUEPna6I/AAAAAAAAAIA/TmIJi11L_JI/s400/bara3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337619124193815458" border="0" /></a><br /><b><br />Theda Bara</b> (born <b>Theodosia Burr Goodman</b>) (July 29, 1885 – April 13, 1955), was an American silent film actress. Bara was one of the most popular screen actresses of her era, and was one of cinema's earliest sex symbols. Her femme fatale roles earned her the nickname "The Vamp" (short for vampire). The term "vamp" soon became a popular slang term for a sexually predatory woman. Bara, along with Broadway turned film actress Valeska Suratt, and the French film actress Musidora, popularized the vamp persona in the early years of silent film and was soon imitated by rival actresses such as Louise Glaum, Nita Naldi and Pola Negri.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMKe0CEsQI/AAAAAAAAAIY/uqPNoIT2BVg/s1600-h/theda-bara.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 317px; height: 192px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMKe0CEsQI/AAAAAAAAAIY/uqPNoIT2BVg/s400/theda-bara.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337621507843862786" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMKizA4HRI/AAAAAAAAAIg/OZBEOv-hs-g/s1600-h/theda.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMKizA4HRI/AAAAAAAAAIg/OZBEOv-hs-g/s400/theda.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337621576289885458" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMNGts7DgI/AAAAAAAAAIw/NoSdUvJ8L3M/s1600-h/Thedacleo.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMNGts7DgI/AAAAAAAAAIw/NoSdUvJ8L3M/s200/Thedacleo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337624392362561026" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMNS6eZSnI/AAAAAAAAAI4/Jj2MfP-FKDc/s1600-h/crowley.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 162px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShMNS6eZSnI/AAAAAAAAAI4/Jj2MfP-FKDc/s200/crowley.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337624601949719154" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Theda & Aleister Crowley would have made a nice pair...<br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;" ></span>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com60tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1361181614522840257.post-70746509084303347052009-05-19T13:36:00.000-04:002009-05-19T15:51:20.374-04:00Le néophyte, one of my favorites.<i>Le néophyte.</i> (The Neophyte). c. 1877. Etching. Béraldi 55. 23 1/2 x 28 3/8 (sheet 26 1/2 x 33). Printed on cream chine collé mounted onto a heavy white wove paper support sheet. Unsigned.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShLuq2sjRXI/AAAAAAAAAH4/d5NKzcpEncQ/s1600-h/neophyte3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 336px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dbdoZgQA5q8/ShLuq2sjRXI/AAAAAAAAAH4/d5NKzcpEncQ/s400/neophyte3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337590928391751026" border="0" /></a><br /><br />"The central figure is the young monk, Frère Angel, from George Sand's novel, <i>Spiridion</i> first published in 1838. Doré made a lithograph of the figure in 1855, and subsequently executed 2 oil paintings. In 1875 he did another lithograph of the subject. The etching above went through several trial plates."<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">"Gustave Doré was a celebrated 19th-century French illustrator. He displayed artistic talent from the age of five, and at fourteen, published his first album, <i>Les Travaux d’Hercules.</i> He debuted at the Salon in 1847 with two drawings, and was hired by Charles Philipon to produce caricatures for the J<i>ournal pour Rire.</i> Already well-known by the age of sixteen, he continued his high school studies at the Lycée Charlemagne, copied paintings at the Louvre, and studied prints at the Bibliothèque Nationale. In the Salon of 1864, he exhibited paintings as well as religious sculptures, and also began to submit cartoons to publications such as the <i>Journal pour tous, Cariacature,</i> and the <i>Le Charivari.</i> In all he produced some total 10,000 lithographic illustrations. At the age of 23, Doré turned from print journalism to making wood engravings for classic texts, and would illustrate some twenty editions between 1852 and 1883. He had a gift for dramatizing his subjects--a talent that was complemented by his incredibly vivid imagination and speedy execution."<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.allinsongallery.com/">Allinson Gallery Inc.</a></span><br /></span>divespellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568382861837710672noreply@blogger.com46