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Procesiona el Jueves Santo en Salamanca, es impresionante ver a mas de 100 chicas, muchas de complexión pequeña, soportando un peso tremendo durante el largo recorrido.Llevando sobre sus hombros el trono de la Virgen
UN HOMENAJE A MI AMIGA SONIA
óleo sobre lienzo.
Foto reeditada
I believe stories play an integral part of our lives and a good storyteller has a unique place of his/her own. In this scene Joe Plaice was telling the crew that " the devil be at the wheel of that there ghost ship". His character is a classic storyteller!
EXPLORED ! :) awesome!!!!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_Bagh
Muslim Bagh is a town of Qilla Saifullah District in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. According to Census of 1998, the population of Muslim Bagh is 70,361 (Male 37,303 and Female 33,058) and 10,188 household. Muslim Bagh (formerly called Hindu Bagh) is believed to be named after a garden planted by a Hindu saint and Later it was named as "Muslim Bagh" by former minister of that time "MOLVI SALEH MUHAMMAD MARDANZAI".
In some winters, Kan Mehtarzai and Muslim Bagh experience several feet of snow, though normal temperature is about 19-50 °F.
Various tribes of Kakar Pashtoon inhabit the Valley, in kakar tribes the most famous tribes Mardanzai,Sargarhai, Samkhail, sultan zai, Baigzai. Medium statured and well built these handsome people are mostly wheat complexioned but some of them are really fair and have blue eyes. Though in touch with the outside world for a long time they have retained their age-old traditions and are proud of them. Their hospitality is well known and the coming of a guest is always considered a blessing. There are seven Union council of Muslim Bagh.
Railways
This section of railways, when laid during the British Raj, was called the Zhob Valley Railway (ZVR). It has been out of service since 1986 but these days all the left over track is being uprooted and sold as scrap. This was once longest Narrow-Gauge Railways of the subcontinent. During First World War, a Railway line was laid from a place called Khanai (30 km north of Quetta) to a place called Hindubagh (renamed as Muslimbagh in 1960s). Hindubagh had Chrome mines, which was used in munitions of First World War. The railway line at that time was a private siding for the Balochistan Chrome Ore Company. The work started on Khanai-Hindubagh line in 1916 and was opened for rail traffic in 1921. In 1927, the Hindubagh to Qila Saifullah section was opened and finally the section up to Zhob was opened in 1929. The total length of this railway from Bostan to Zhob was 294 km, which made it the longest narrow gauge railway of the subcontinent in 1920s. It had 11 stations in between including the famous Kan Mehtarzai station which was the highest station in Pakistan at an altitude of 2224 metres (7295 feet).
For a long part of its journey, the railway followed the Zhob River and thus it was called the Zhob Valley Railway (ZVR).
Chromite
Chromite is the source of chromium used commercially and as an alloying element plays an important role in metallurgy. Balochistan is endowed with huge reserves of chromite. The first discovery was made at Muslim Bagh and Khanozai in district Kila Saifullah in 1901. Muslim Bagh deposits were first discovered by Vredenburg during the same period in the course of regional reconnaissance mapping of the province. Chromite mining has not been systematic but random and totally disorganised. It is mined by both open pit and underground methods. In Muslimbagh, Ras Koh Range and Wad areas, chromite is mostly mined by open pit method. However, due to podiform nature of the chromite, underground mining is also done. Use of donkeys for hauling the ore from underground is still in practice. The haulage machinery is also used. Presently, 300 to 500 tons of chromite are being produced at Muslim Bagh and Khanozai daily. It is taken in trucks to Karachi where it is crushed and packed in bags for export to foreign countries. The mineral is being sold between Rs30,000 to Rs45,000 in the local market. Price depends on chrome content. China is a big market for the Balochistan chromite. Production activity in the sector directly depends upon the export market. The Provincial Inspectorate of Mines is responsible for regulating the mining operations. Presently, a few local companies are engaged at Muslim Bagh. The sources added that during 1970s, Pakistan Chrom Mines (PCM) project was launched in Muslim Bagh area which was closed in 1989 due to financial constraints and lack of locally available technical staff. The land for mining is allotted under the Mines Act 1923 by the Directorate of Minerals, Balochistan. The provincial government levies 10 per cent sales tax. The export earnings from chromite during the period 1997-98 to 2001-02 have varied between Rs167 million to Rs404 million.
Archeology
The district has some archaeological sites mainly attributed to the Mughals. The ruins of an old fort called Mughalo Killa or "the fort of the Mughals" were found to the west of the Karezgai village, about 3¼ kilometres from Muslim Bagh, below which there is a spring of water which was reopened about 125 years ago. Fragments of ancient pottery were found in these ruins and it is said that old silver and copper coins were also found. The ruins of a fort called Khanki lie near Shina Khura about 25 kilometres east of Muslim Bagh. Local tradition asserts that the fort was held by Miro, a Mughal governor, who was miraculously overthrown by Sanzar Nika, the progenitor of the Sanzarkhel Kakars. There are also ruins of an old fort called the Mughalo Brunj in Murgha Faqirzai. Similar ruins occur near Toiwar, Sharan, Ismailzai and on the Zhar hill near Akhtarzai. There also exist ancient karezes, said to have been made in Mughal times, which may be considered as relics of archaeological interest. These include Karez Akhtarzai, Karez Soghai and Mustafa Karez in Killa Saifullah sub-division and 2 karezes in Sra Khulla, about 6½ kilometres from Muslim Bagh.
It is located at 30°49'31N 67°44'25E with an altitude of 1787 metres.
Re-Edited From Original Colour Version: www.flickr.com/photos/andy_ledd/3073465095/
He’s as a streetlife available denizen across whom I usually come, indeed I didn’t know where he’s from, but his hoary hair tufted, scragyy, raw-boned, dark suntanned complexion, it was appeared to be ups and downs, dripted and floated on the sea of his life, he told me that he's been supposed to be resemble a controversial charater in swashbucklers of KimDung’s ( a decade 60's well-known Chinese novelist of Kungfu swashbuckler romance)
Summary Data
State or Country of birth: Illinois
Home prior to enlistment: Winnebago, Illinois
Occupation prior to enlistment: farmer
Service:
Co M 8th Illinois Cavalry - 1864 - 1865
Rank at enlistment: private
Highest rank attained: private
Principal combat experience:
Monocacy, Maryland
numerous scouts and skirmishes with rebel guerrillas
Casualties: none
Photograph by: Gideon Smith, Geisboro, D.C.
Inscription in period ink on back: "Charles Prescott"
There were several men named Charles Prescott who served in the Union cavalry during the Civil War. However, based on my research the man who best fits this photo according to his matching signature, physical description (blue eyes, brown hair, light complexion, and standing 5'8" in height), and who had an opportunity to be at the Geisboro Cavalry Depot in Washington, DC, was Charles Prescott of Winnebago, Illinois.
The 8th Illinois Cavalry Regiment had originally been recruited in the late summer of 1861. Since that time it had served entirely in the east, fighting with the Army of the Potomac. It's most notable battles and campaigns from 1861 through 1863 included Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Stoneman's Raid, Brandy Station and Gettysburg, as well as many more numerous minor skirmishes and scouts. It had acquired a well-deserved reputation as one of the most reliable hard-fighting regiments of cavalry in the Union Army. In January 1864 a majority of the men of the 8th Illinois Cavalry agreed to reenlist as veterans, and while the men went home on veteran's furlough the regiment took the opportunity to recruit new members to help fill up its ranks.
One of those responding to the call was Charles Prescott, a farm boy from Winnebago County, who was born in October 1848. Prescott lied about his age, claiming to be 18, the minimum age for enlistment, when he signed up on January 29 at Marengo, Illinois. In actuality he had just turned 15 the previous October. He was big for his age, standing 5 feet 8 inches tall, and was described as having blue eyes, brown hair, and a light complexion. His father was dead and his widowed mother still had several other children at home. Prescott was offered an enlistment bounty of $300 ($140 to be paid up front and $160 at discharge). The money must have been a significant windfall for the young lad. Charles Prescott was mustered into the service at Marengo, Illinois on February 2, 1864, with the notation that his time in service was to date from his enlistment on January 29.
On February 18th the regiment's commanding officer issued an order recalling all veterans stating, "All leaves and furloughs to officers and men are herby revoked, and all will join the regiment at St. Charles, Illinois, without delay. The regiment is ordered to active service in the field at once, where it has been continuously in the front during the last two and a half years. It is a high compliment to the regiment to be ordered back again inside of thirty days, while other cavalry regiments have been permitted to remain over two and a half months at home, evidently showing that the Eighth Illinois Cavalry is two and a half times more efficient than some other regiments. I will therefore expect that the regiment will assemble promptly and be ready to fight its way through as heretofore, without expecting or receiving any favor from any source. The fighting reputation of the old Eighth must be retained without any fictitious puffs so much depended on by others. - William Gamble, Colonel Commanding Eighth Illinois Cavalry."
No matter what the veterans might have thought of the compliment paid to their abilities, the premature recall from their veteran furloughs must have disappointing. For the new recruits, such as Charles Prescott, it meant the beginning of their grand adventure in the army. On February 25, 1864 they took the train headed for Washington, DC, and arrived on March 1st with the snow "several inches deep and thawing." On March 3rd the regiment was sent to camp at Geisboro Point "by the side of the government corral, where were kept from ten to fifteen thousand horses for mounting cavalry and for artillery purposes." While at Geisboro, Prescott took the opportunity to have his photo taken with his saber and holstered pistol. In it he is wearing spurs and has a piece of small brass on his cap that may be the number 8. The men of the 8th Illinois Cavalry remained in this camp about two months then moved to other quarters in the city. During the day the men were assigned guard duty at various places throughout the city. And at night they patrolled the city, entered suspicious places and arrested any hapless soldier who should be found without a pass. "But this work, although it amused the men for a time, and was arduous to perform, did not satisfy those who longed for more active service."
In the spring, rather than join General Grant for the opening of his campaign at the battle of the Wilderness, the regiment found itself in the role of onlookers. The regiment was divided by detachments and sent to various posts in Washington, Maryland and Virginia. On July 4, much of the regiment was dispatched to Point of Rocks on the Potomac River to intercept Mosby and his band of partisan rangers. After a brief skirmish there, they moved up beyond Frederick where they confronted the advance force of General Jubal Early's army on its way to attack Washington. The 8th Illinois took part in the battle of Monocacy on July 8 and 9 and the subsequent retreat to Baltimore. From there they were sent to Cockeysville to guard the railroad from rebel depredations.
August found the men scouting along the Potomac near Muddy Branch and guarding the fords on the river. The regiment also conduced raids into Virginia against Mosby and his guerillas, after which, "The regiment then returned to Muddy Branch with their prisoners, horses and plunder. This expedition, like many others that preceded it, was one requiring great courage and endurance. Marching from thirty to forty miles and skirmishing most of each day, lying down on the ground at night and rising in the morning to repeat the labor of previous day, was a work to be endured only by veterans like those of the Eighth Illinois Cavalry." Presumably the new recruits managed to keep up with their veteran comrades.
For some time the regiment had been divided by separate detachments, but it was now about to be scattered to an even greater distance - stretching from Muddy Branch on the Potomac north of Washington to Port Tobacco far south of the city, and embracing an expanse of some sixty to seventy miles. "September 8th, part of the regiment was sent down the Potomac, on the Maryland side, to the vicinity of Port Tobacco to look after and arrest blockade runners, which duty though arduous and sometimes perilous served to amuse the men, and was very different work from that of facing and fighting the rebels, which they were always prepared to do." Charles Prescott was included in the detachment sent to Port Tobacco.
By October the scattered detachments of the 8th Illinois Cavalry were consolidated somewhat in Loudon County, Virginia, and engaged in scouting against Mosby and his guerillas. On November 24, 1864 the regiment was sent to Fairfax Court House as part of a new brigade whose "duty was to guard the line extending from Prospect Hill on the Potomac River to Burkes' Station on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, a distance of twenty miles, and to scout and forage the country in our front to the Rappahannock River."
The coming of snow and cold weather sent the men into winter quarters. "The winter was spent in a very agreeable manner for soldiers. The finest houses in Fairfax were used as headquarters; the men built excellent huts for their protection and barracks were erected for the horses. When building their huts some of the soldiers asked for permission of General Gamble to take bricks from an elegant mansion, the 'Love House,' to construct their chimneys. The General gave permission to take none but loose bricks. In forty-eight hours that fine building was a heap of ruins. When questioned as to exceeding their permit the soldiers replied that they brought away 'none but loose bricks.' A fine church building was in like manner made to contribute to the comfort of the men."
"January, 1865, found the regiment performing the ordinary duties of winter life in the field and at the headquarters both of the brigade and the regiment. Frequent parties and social gatherings enlivened and relieved the monotony of camp life. A grand New Year's ball was given at the brigade headquarters, where a number of guests from Washington and no small number of Virginia ladies were present." Otherwise, for the enlisted men anyway, the new year of 1865 opened much like the latter part of 1864, with frequent scouts and skirmishes with confederate guerillas.
News of the fall of Petersburg and Richmond created great excitement and wild enthusiasm within the camp of the 8th Illinois Cavalry. The surrender of Robert E. Lee a week later was even more happily received. The mood changed drastically upon receipt of the tragic news of the President's assassination at Ford's Theater by the actor John Wilkes Booth on the evening of April 14.
"The Eighth were at once sent down the Maryland side of the Potomac, in the vicinity of Port Tobacco, which country they thoroughly searched, leaving no nook or corner in which the assassin could be secreted. The well known rebel sentiment of this part of Maryland made the duty extremely arduous, for no information would the citizens give which they could possibly withhold. Booth, however, had succeeded in crossing the river into Virginia, and was finally captured by other cavalry."
Following their unsuccessful search for Booth, the regiment returned to their camp at Fairfax. News of the surrender of the rebel army under Joseph Johnston in North Carolina arrived in camp on April 29. This virtually put an end to the rebellion. "Following this event, rebel soldiers came by scores to our headquarters to be paroled, as the same terms were granted them as were given the soldiers of Lee and Johnston."
When, on June 16, 1865, the regiment was ordered to proceed to St. Louis, Missouri, "arrangements were rapidly made, and on the 19th the Eighth Illinois bid farewell to Fairfax and Virginia. We marched to Washington and took the Baltimore and Ohio railroad to Parkersburg, West Virginia. At that place we were taken on board of steamboats. On arriving at Cincinnati, Ohio, Companies I and M were transferred to the railroad and went to St. Louis by cars...Companies I and M reached East St. Louis June 25th, and Companies B and E June 27 and that afternoon crossed the river and went in Benton Barracks...The majority of the regiment came in by boats by way of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers."
"July 1st orders were received to proceed to fort Riley, Kansas, which gave great dissatisfaction. The men claimed they re-enlisted for three years or during the war; that now the war was over and having fulfilled their part of the contract they should be mustered out. A petition embodying these views was signed by all the officers present belonging to the regiment, and sent to General Pleasanton, chief of cavalry in Missouri. The General telegraphed the substance of the petition to Washington with a hearty indorsement; and on the 4th of July an order was received to turn over all government property and be mustered out. When the order was read to the men such a shout as went up from them had not been heard since their victories over the rebel cavalry in Virginia."
The next two weeks were spent in turning over government property and in preparing the muster rolls. Muster out was completed on July 17 at Benton Barracks in St. Louis and on the 18th the regiment started for Chicago. Those that did not live in Chicago went out to Camp Douglas where final payment and discharge was completed by July 21.
Charles Prescott, only 16 years old at the time he mustered out, was now a veteran with a year and a half of service in the army. At discharge, he chose to retain his government issued arms and accordingly had $21 of his pay withheld in order to pay for his carbine, revolver and saber. He retuned home to his mother for a while and took work as a laborer. By 1880 he had moved out on his own, boarding with a family in Fairmont, Nebraska, and working as a carpenter. In 1881 he married a woman named Anna, who also hailed from Illinois. The two of them would eventually have four children; three sons and a daughter: Wade in 1883, Bertie in 1885, Charles C. in 1889, and Ethel in 1894.
Charles continued working as a house carpenter and eventually bought his own home in Fairmont. By 1920 he had retired and his grown sons had moved out, although Ethel, his 25-year-old unmarried daughter, was still living at home and working as a telephone operator. Charles Prescott, the one-time boy veteran, died sometime around October 1927.
[All quotes taken from "History of the Eighth Cavalry Regiment Illinois Volunteers" by Abner Hard, M.D., surgeon of the regiment, published 1868.]
I absolutely love dressing Jade for fall. Her warm complexion pulls it off so well. Fired up the sewing machine and cranked out this cute little cozy flannel shirt for her, getting in the mood for the season.
A beautiful Lady in her gorgeous red gown, relaxing in the rose garden. Her complexion is flawless. I enjoyed this colouring, so romantic. Hope you like.
Lucy Jackson
African American music hall and variety performer. The performing partner of William Henry Smith from ca. 1908. Jackson and Smith were married sometime around 1919.
b NYC 4 Oct 1876 md to William H. Smith (b Phila PA).
Passport Applications etc.
19 Dec 1903 applies at Hamburg Germany for travel to St Petersburg, Russia.b 17 Oct 1877 in Montreal Canada to an American citizen. By occupation a dancer, she is 5’ 0” tall and described as “a negress”. Passport #914 issued at Hamburg.
19 May 1908 applies at Bucharest, Roumania for travel in Europe. She refers to passport #914 issued 19 Dec 1903 (see above), however, there is a noticeable change in the signature on the 1908 application and henceforth. Born 4 Oct 1876 in NYC, 5’ 0” tall, black complexion.
29 Dec 1910 applies at Vienna for travel to Bucharest to fulfill theatrical engagements. States she left the US in May 1896.
26 Dec 1913 applies at Hamburg for travel to Russia and Roumania for 6 months.
3 Jan 1916 applies at Moscow for travel in Russia and Sweden. She identifies herself as a widow. Attestation by Emma E Harris, Kozikinski St. 12.
9 Nov 1917 applies at Moscow for travel in Russia, Scandinavian Countries and England. Husband was William Jackson born at New Orleans LA. Attestation of William Henry Smith. Affidavit… 8 Oct 1917 Residing in Moscow since 19 Apr 1917. “I am a variety artist and during the past 21 years have visited most of the large cities in Europe. I have contracted to perform in a theatre at Harbin China, where I shall go at the beginning of the year. From Harbin, I shall return to the United States. “ Names an uncle, Richard Brown of Portsmouth VA.
24 Oct 1918 applies at Shanghai, China for travel to the Philippine Islands and Hong Kong. States her father is George Jackson of Richmond VA, deceased. Statement by American Consulate General, Shanghai, 18 Oct 1918, “Lucy Jackson, whose application for an emergency passport is sent herewith, declares to leave for Manila about the end of this month. As noted on the back of her application form, she has not been in Shanghai sufficiently long to be able to secure an identification, but this Consulate General has no reason to believe that she is not entitled to an American passport.”
23 Apr 1919 applies at Manila, Philippines for travel to Hong Kong and India. Attestation by Bob Cowan, merchant of Manila.
9 Dec 1919 applied for passport in Calcutta, India for travel in Burma, Straits Settlements, Java, China, Hong Kong. Lists her husband as William H Smith for the first time. States she has resided in France from 1910 to 1911 and Egypt from 1911 to 1912 and various other countries. She names her father as William Jackson of Richmond VA.
14 June 1920 as Lucy Jackson Smith, applies for passport in Batavia, Java D. E. I. for travel in Netherlands East Indies, Straits Settlements, French Indo-China, Hong Kong and China. Attested by William Henry Smith. She names her husband as William Henry Smith of Philadelphia, retired.
29 Jan 1923 William Henry Smith dies in Shanghai.
It's perfect! Pot belly? Check. Loin cloth? Check. Fixed expression of fear of the outside world? Check. Weird blue complexion? Check.
It's just missing the shoulder hair...
Empress Xyndera (Born 705AV) is the daughter of a famous scholar from a noble house who studied at the library of Cassandria. She was a phenom at birth, being that she was the first woman born with the characteristic complexion of someone with pure Vieroccan blood in five generations. This is due to the highly recessive nature of the Vieroccan gene in women. She was worshipped from birth in the temples on Cassandria and she remained on the island for her entire early life.
When she was 17, her existence was reported to the then High Chief Talorajhi, but when he attempted to make her one of his many wives, his son Oberajhi challenged him to a duel and killed him. Oberajhi then courted Xyndera for a year before they married in 723AV. It was in the 720's that Oberajhi sought to advance his Kingdom into an empire, and there was no more perfect wife to help him complete this task. She is the most intelligent and educated woman on the planet, a true natural genius. She is fluent in a dozen languages and is well versed in political theory and the history of warfare and battle tactics and technology. Their marriage brought incredible stability and legitimacy to Oberajhi's rule and the birth of their son convinced his parents that it was their destiny to rule the known world.
Their son, Aybel (Born 724AV), was the first child of two pure blood Vieroccan's in over 500 years and his white hair is attributed to his miraculous birth, which fulfilled an old prophecy. Vieroccans famously have very poor fertility, which explains their race's decline in number since the end of their inter-marriages with the Vieran. Most Vieroccan men take many wives, hoping to have at least one son, because sons of Vieroccan's always share their characteristic complexion, but almost always, their daughters look like the mother. Since Aybel's birth, Xyndera has had three failed pregnancies and her physician advised her to not attempt a fourth. Aybel is a very kind and bright young man. He is well learned and a capable swordsman and hunter. He shares his parents ambition and desire for justice and peace, and like his parents, he believes peace will only come when the world is united under the Scorpion banner of house Nhazdaq.
King Davian has been cautioned that the Emperor of Attenor is not to be underestimated, because he is advised by the greatest mind in Esterdame and is highly motivated to see his son rule the world.
It is time to give these girls some attention and some fresh photos. This is probably the best TNT in my collection. She has a beautiful complexion and is wearing her original hair ribbon. This dress is one that I made awhile ago and remains a favorite.
Vintage postcard. Photo: Steve Schapiro. Robert de Niro in Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976).
Legendary American actor Robert De Niro (1943) has starred in such classic films as Taxi Driver (1976), Novecento/1900 (1978), The Deer Hunter (1978), Awakenings (1990) and GoodFellas (1990). His role in The Godfather: Part II (1974) brought him his first Academy Award, and he scored his second Oscar for his portrayal of Jake La Motta in Raging Bull (1980). De Niro worked with many acclaimed film directors, including Brian DePalma, Francis Coppola, Elia Kazan, Bernardo Bertolucci and, most importantly, Martin Scorsese. He also appeared in French, British and Italian films.
Robert Anthony De Niro was born in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan, New York City in 1943. His mother, Virginia Admiral, was a cerebral and gifted painter, and his father, Robert De Niro Sr., was a painter, sculptor and poet whose work received high critical acclaim. They split ways in 1945 when young Robert was only 2 years old after his father announced that he was gay. De Niro was raised primarily by his mother, who took on work as a typesetter and printer in order to support her son. A bright and energetic child, Robert De Niro was incredibly fond of attending films with his father when they spent time together. De Niro's mother worked part-time as a typist and copyeditor for Maria Piscator's Dramatic Workshop, and as part of her compensation, De Niro was allowed to take children's acting classes for free. At the age of 10, De Niro made his stage debut as the Cowardly Lion in a school production of The Wizard of Oz. De Niro proved to be uninterested in school altogether and, as a teenager, joined a rather tame street gang in Little Italy that gave him the nickname Bobby Milk, in reference to his pale complexion. While De Niro was by all accounts only a very modest troublemaker, the gang provided him with the experience to skilfully portray Italian mobsters as an actor. He left school at age 16 to study acting at Stella Adler Conservatory. Adler, who had taught Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger, was a strong proponent of the Stanislavski method of acting, involving deep psychological character investigation. He studied briefly with Lee Strasberg at the Actor's Studio in New York City and then began auditioning. After a momentary cameo in the French film Trois chambres à Manhattan/Three Rooms in Manhattan (Marcel Carné, 1965), De Niro's real film debut came in Greetings (Brian De Palma, 1968). However, De Niro's first film role already came at the age of 20, when he appeared credited as Robert Denero in De Palma’s The Wedding Party (Brian De Palma, Wilford Leach, 1963), but the film was not released until 1969. He then appeared in Roger Corman's film Bloody Mama (1970), featuring Shelley Winters. His breakthrough performances came a few years later in two highly acclaimed films: the sports drama Bang the Drum Slowly (John D. Hancock, 1973), in which he played a terminally ill catcher on a baseball team, and the crime film Mean Streets (1973), his first of many collaborations with director Martin Scorsese, in which he played street thug Johnny Boy opposite Harvey Keitel.
Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese worked successfully together on eight films: Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), New York, New York (1977), Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1983), Goodfellas (1990), Cape Fear (1991), and Casino (1995). In 1974, De Niro established himself as one of America’s finest actors with his Academy Award-winning portrayal of the young Vito Corleone in The Godfather: Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974), a role for which he learned to speak Sicilian. Two years later, De Niro delivered perhaps the most chilling performance of his career, playing vengeful cabbie Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976) alongside Jodie Foster. His iconic performance as Travis Bickle catapulted him to stardom and forever linked his name with Bickle's famous "You talkin' to me?" monologue, which De Niro largely improvised. In Italy, De Niro appeared opposite Gérard Dépardieu in the epic historical drama Novecento/1900 (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1976). The film is an exploration of life in Italy in the first half of the 20th century, seen through the eyes of two Italian childhood friends on opposite sides of society's hierarchy. He also starred in The Last Tycoon (1976), the last film directed by Elia Kazan. The Hollywood drama is based upon Harold Pinter's screenplay adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Last Tycoon, De Niro continued to show his tremendous skill as a dramatic actor in the Vietnam war drama The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino, 1978). The film follows a group of friends haunted by their Vietnam experiences. De Niro later portrayed middleweight boxer Jake LaMotta in the commercially unsuccessful but critically adored film Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980). The previously skinny De Niro had put on 60 pounds of muscle for his riveting turn as LaMotta and was rewarded for his dedication with the 1981 Academy Award for Best Actor.
In the 1980s, Robert De Niro's first roles were as a worldly ambitious Catholic priest in True Confessions (Ulu Grosbard, 1981), an aspiring stand-up comedian in Scorsese's The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese, 1983), and a Jewish mobster in the sprawling historical epic Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone, 1984). Other notable projects included the Sci-Fi art film Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985) and the British drama The Mission (Roland Joffé, 1986), about the experiences of a Jesuit missionary in 18th century South America, which won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival. It was followed by fare like the crime drama The Untouchables (Brian De Palma, 1987), in which De Niro portrayed gangster Al Capone opposite Kevin Costner as Eliot Ness, the mysterious thriller Angel Heart (Alan Parker, 1987), and the action-comedy Midnight Run (Martin Brest, 1988). De Niro opened the 1990s with Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990), yet another acclaimed gangster film from Scorsese that saw the actor teaming up with Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci. De Niro next starred in a project that earned him another Oscar nomination, portraying a catatonic patient brought back to awareness in Awakenings (Penny Marshall, 1990), co-starring Robin Williams as a character based on physician Oliver Sacks. Dramas continued to be the genre of choice for De Niro, as he played a blacklisted director in Guilty by Suspicion (Irwin Winkler, 1991) and a fire chief in Backdraft (Ron Howard, 1991). Soon afterwards, the actor was once again front and centre and reunited with Scorsese in a terrifying way, bulking up to become a tattooed rapist who stalks a family in Cape Fear (Martin Scorsese, 1991). The film was a remake of the 1962 thriller starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum. Peck and Mitchum made appearances in the remake as well. De Niro received his sixth Academy Award nomination for Fear, with the film becoming the highest-grossing collaboration between the actor and Scorsese, earning more than $182 million worldwide. After somewhat edgy, comedic outings like Night and the City (1992) and Mad Dog and Glory (1993), another drama followed in the form of This Boy's Life (Michael Caton-Jones, 1993), in which De Niro portrayed the abusive stepfather of a young Leonardo DiCaprio. That same year, De Niro made his directorial debut with A Bronx Tale (Robert De Niro, 1993), a film adaptation of a one-man play written and performed by Chazz Palminteri. In 1994, De Niro was practically unrecognizable as the monster in actor/director Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of the Mary Shelley novel Frankenstein (Kenneth Branagh, 1994). It was followed by another Scorsese telling of mob life, this time in Las Vegas. De Niro portrayed a character based on real-life figure Frank ‘Lefty’ Rosenthal in Casino (Martin Scorsese, 1995), co-starring Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci. In Heat (Michael Mann, 1995), De Niro re-teamed with fellow Godfather star Al Pacino in a well-received outing about a bank robber contemplating getting out of the business and the police detective aiming to bring him down.
For the rest of the 1990s and into the new millennium, Robert De Niro was featured yearly in a big-screen project as either a lead or supporting figure. His films include the legal crime drama Sleepers (Barry Levinson, 1996), the black comedy Wag the Dog (Barry Levinson, 1997), the crime drama Cop Land (James Mangold, 1997), the crime thriller Jackie Brown (Quentin Tarantino, 1997), the spy action-thriller Ronin (John Frankenheimer, 1998) and the crime comedy-drama Flawless (Joel Schumacher, 1999). At the turn of the century, De Niro struck out into decidedly different territory with Analyze This (Harold Ramis, 1999), a hilarious and highly popular spoof of the mob movies that had garnered him fame. Analyze This earned more than $100 million domestically, with De Niro playing a Mafioso who seeks help from a psychiatrist (Billy Crystal). De Niro took on another comedy, Meet the Parents (Jay Roach, 2000), as Ben Stiller's future father-in-law. The smash hit spawned two sequels: Meet the Fockers (Jay Roach, 2004) and Little Fockers (Paul Weitz, 2011), both of which were also box-office successes. De Niro continued to switch between comedic and serious roles over the next few years, reuniting with Billy Crystal for Analyze That (Harold Ramis, 2002), and starring in the spy thriller The Good Shepherd (Robert De Niro, 2006) with Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie. The following year De Niro was featured as a secretive cross-dressing pirate with a heart of gold in the fantasy flick Stardust (Matthew Vaughn, 2007), while 2009 saw a return to dramatic fare with Everybody's Fine (Kirk Jones, 2009). In Italy, De Niro starred in the romantic comedy Manuale d'amore 3/The Ages of Love (Giovanni Veronesi, 2011). De Niro earned yet another Academy Award nomination for his turn in David O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook (2012), playing the father of a mentally troubled son (Bradley Cooper). De Niro teamed up again with Silver Linings Playbook director Russell and stars Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence for the biopic Joy (David O. Russell, 2015), based on the life of Miracle Mop inventor Joy Mangano. Later that year, De Niro starred as a widower who returns to the workforce in The Intern (Nancy Meyers, 2015), with Anne Hathaway. In 2016, he starred in another biopic, Hands of Stone (Jonathan Jakubowicz, 2016), playing Ray Arcel, the trainer of Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán. That same year De Niro received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama for his contribution to the arts. De Niro, who has long resided in New York City, has been investing in Manhattan's Tribeca neighbourhood since 1989. His capital ventures there included co-founding the film studio TriBeCa Productions in 1998 and the Tribeca Film Festival (since 2002). De Niro married actress Diahnne Abbott in 1976. The couple had one son, Raphael, before divorcing 12 years later, in 1988. De Niro then had a long relationship with model Toukie Smith who produced twin sons, Aaron Kendrick and Julian Henry, in 1995. Then in 1997, De Niro married Grace Hightower, with whom he has two children. Recently. he could be seen in The Comeback Trail (George Gallo, 2020).
Sources: Biography.com, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Sarae again. Another addition to my newest gallery, Facegirl.
An edited and cropped version from an earlier post.....
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Model: Mary Lee
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Sitting under an awning tent in the mid-afternoon summer sun. She leaned back to talk with a friend and I caught this candid moment. I like how the softer light, highlights her natural beauty.
Piero's war
You sleep buried in a wheat field
it's not the rose, it's not the tulip
watching on you from the shadow of ditches
but it's a thousand red poppies (...)
Faber
La guerra di Piero - Fabrizio De André
La guerra di Piero
Dormi sepolto in un campo di grano
Non è la rosa, non è il tulipano
Che ti fan veglia dall'ombra dei fossi
Ma sono mille papaveri rossi (...)
Faber
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“A story exists only if someone tells it.”
TITIAN TERZANI
... this aphorism to introduce this photographic story, which begins in Germany close to the Second World War, to end tragically in Sicily: the main protagonist of this "photographic" story is of German origin, his name is Carl Ludwig Hermann Long (known as Luz Long), but this story could not exist without another great protagonist, American, his name is Jesse Owens. Let's start in order, Luz Long is a brilliant law student at the University of Leipzig, he represents the incarnation of the Aryan man, he is tall, blond, has an athletic physique, his great passion is the long jump, he is a natural talent, this allows him to enter in a short time among the best long jumpers of the time (so much so that he won third place at the 1934 European Championships); Long will be one of the favorites in the long jump at the Berlin Olympics in 1936, whose historical context is that of Nazi Germany which would soon unleash the Second World War, including the racial hatred that resulted in the extermination camps with the Holocaust. Luz Long is remembered both for his great sportsmanship gesture towards his direct American opponent Jesse Owens, who, thanks to Long's unexpected help, will win the long jump competition, thus winning the gold medal (one of the four gold medals he won), while Long finished second by winning the silver medal, but Long is also remembered for his sincere friendship with Jesse, free from hatred and racial prejudice. The Berlin Olympics represent an extraordinary propaganda to the ideals of the Third Reich, it is a very important historical moment to show the superiority of the Aryan race to the whole world; the sports facilities were built with the utmost care by the architect of the Nazi regime Albert Speer (with architectural references from Ancient Greece), the sporting event was about to turn into an ideological tool of the regime, the documentary film " Olympia" of 1938 was also shot for this purpose directed by Leni Riefenstahl (author of films and documentaries that exalted the Nazi regime), where many innovative cinematographic techniques were used for the time, with unusual and original shots, such as shots from below, extreme close-ups, to the platforms in the Olympic stadium to photograph the crowd. Hitler wanted to demonstrate the supremacy of the Aryan race with the Olympics, the Aryan athlete had to correspond to a statuesque stereotyped figure, tall, blond, athletic, fair complexion, blue eyes, Luz Long was the ideal incarnation of him. Forty-nine countries participated in the Olympics, a number never reached before; German-Jewish athletes were expelled from all sports; even African Americans were discriminated against in their country, but they were allowed to compete, even if in smaller numbers, one of them was called James Cleveland Owens, but everyone knew him as Jesse (due to an error of interpretation by the his professor); it was his athletic abilities that allowed him to achieve several records, an important moment was the meeting with Larry Snyder, a good coach, and so thanks to his victories he had the opportunity to compete in the Berlin Olympics: he will be the protagonist of the Olympic Games, a 23-year-old boy originally from Alabama, who in a few days will win 4 gold medals, the 100m race, the 200m race, the 4x100m relay race and the long jump race in which there will be the story that will be worth all the gold medals in the world with Luz Long). Let's get to the point, on the morning of August 4, 1936 Luz qualifies for the long jump final, for Owens the qualification takes place in conjunction with the races of 200 mt. plans, Ownes is engaged in both races, the simultaneity of the two events, and a different regulation between the European and the US one entails him two null jumps, the first jump he thought was a test to test the terrain (as per the US regulation) , instead it was a valid jump for the competition, the second jump sees him very demoralized and makes the worst jump of his life. the elimination is now one step away, but Long interprets with great depth of mind the psychic state of prostration of his direct opponent, he sees him transformed into a face, dejected, Luz approaches him in a friendly way and suggests him to disconnect 20-30 cm before the serve line (and shows him the exact point by placing a handkerchief right next to the platform, at the height of the ideal take-off point, even if not all those who report the event in their chronicles remember the detail of the handkerchief), but also exhorts him by telling him that a champion like him shouldn't be afraid to take off first for the jump: for Owens the third jump if it had been void would have meant his elimination from the competition (and the certain victory of Luz), but, thanks to the suggestion of a technical nature (and perhaps the laying of the handkerchief...), but also affective-psychological ( !) by Luz, Owens following the advice of his direct rival, makes a formidable jump, which allows him to qualify. Long is the first to congratulate Jesse, both on the occasion of qualifying and after him with his final victory, which will result in his fourth gold medal. A deep, true friendship is born between Long and Jesse, in the videos available of the time it is really exciting to witness their handshakes and their embraces in those first moments, under the stern gaze of the Führer, a friendship that will consolidate in the following days, making a habit of dating in the olympic village. After the 1936 Olympics, in 1939 he became a lawyer, in 1941 he married, shortly after his son Kai was born, in 1942 he was called up as an officer of the Luftwaffe and sent to the front line, in April 1943 he was assigned to the Herman armored division Göring and the following month he was sent to Sicily immediately after the Allied landing on the island (Operation Husky): Long dies at the age of thirty, he is in Niscemi with the armored division, and is thus involved in the fighting for the defense of the Biscari-Santo Pietro airport; the causes of death are not certain, the most plausible is that of an aggravation due to wounds sustained in combat against the Anglo-Americans, he was found by a fellow soldier on the side of a road, from here he was transported to the nearby field hospital, where he died on July 14, 1943. He was first buried in a temporary cemetery, then his body was exhumed and then transferred in 1961 to the German military cemetery of Motta Sant'Anastasia while it was still under construction, now it is there that Luz Long rests: crypt 2 “Caltanissetta”, plate E, his name engraved on the slate slab preceded by the rank “Obergefreiter-dR" (Appointed of the Reserve), followed by the dates of birth 27 IV 13 and of death 14 VII 43; it is what remains of Luz Long, one of the 4,561 German soldiers who died in Sicily during the Second World War and are buried here. In his last letter to his friend Owens, Luz magining its end near, he asks him to go to her son and tell him who had been his father; his friend Jesse did as requested and even went to his son's wedding. And Owens….? … Jesse returned to his homeland did not have the respect he deserved after winning 4 gold medals (!), Those were the times when black people were considered "second class" (!); indeed, although with a nod the fuhrer saluted him (as Owens himself declared), the behavior of the American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt was unspeakable, he did not even deign to welcome the Olympic winner to the White House as tradition required (! ). Back in the United States, Jesse had to adapt to doing the most varied jobs, including being a boy at a gas station. To make a living he raced against horses, dogs and motorcycles, as a freak show; many years would pass before his value was recognized; he said «all the medals I have won could be melted down, but the 24-carat friendship that was born on the platform in Berlin could never be reproduced».
Postscript:
Long did not share the Nazi objectives and ideology, he was in complete antithesis with them, endowed with great sensitivity and profound nobility of mind, he was very far from the fanatical and cruel creed of Hitler's Germany, as demonstrated by the words he wrote in 1932 in a letter sent to his grandmother: “all the nations of the world have their heroes, the Semites as well as the Aryans. Each of them should abandon the arrogance of feeling like a superior race."
On his tombstone (as well as on others), under which his remains rest closed in a box, next to his name, today there are some small stones, they are small symbols, which recall the Jewish custom of leaving, instead of flowers, a pebble on the graves of the deceased, to demonstrate that his story has not been forgotten, it is a message of peace and brotherhood of which Luz was a promoter in life, his thoughts also reach us through his burial place, because, as stated on the plaque placed at the entrance to the German military cemetery of Motta Sant'Anastasia "the graves of the fallen are the great preachers of peace" (Albert Schweitzer, Nobel Peace Prize).
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“La storia esiste solo se qualcuno la racconta.”
TIZIANO TERZANI
… questo aforisma per introdurre questo racconto fotografico, che inizia in Germania a ridosso della seconda guerra mondiale, per terminare in maniera tragica in Sicilia: il protagonista principale di questa storia “fotografica” è di origine tedesche,si chiama Carl Ludwig Hermann Long, detto Luz (conosciuto come Luz Long), ma questa storia non potrebbe esistere senza un l’altro grande protagonista, statunitense, si chiama Jesse Owens. Iniziamo con ordine, Luz Long è un brillante studente di legge all'Università di Lipsia, rappresenta l’incarnazione dell’uomo ariano, è alto, biondo, ha un fisico atletico, la sua grande passione, è il salto in lungo, è un talento naturale, ciò gli permettendogli di entrare in breve tempo tra i migliori saltatori in lungo dell’epoca (tanto da conquistare il terzo posto agli Europei del 1934); Long sarà uno dei favoriti nel salto in lungo alle Olimpiadi di Berlino nel 1936, il cui contesto storico è quello della Germania nazista che da lì a poco avrebbe scatenato la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, incluso l’odio raziale sfociato nei campi di sterminio con l’Olocausto. Luz Long viene ricordato per il suo grande gesto di sportività verso il suo diretto avversario statunitense Jesse Owens, che, grazie all’inaspettato aiuto di Long, vincerà la gara del salto in lungo, così conquistando la medaglia d'oro (uno dei quattro ori da lui vinti), mentre Long arriverà secondo vincendo la medaglia d'argento, ma Long viene anche ricordato per la sua sincera amicizia verso Jesse, scevra da odi e pregiudizi raziali. Le Olimpiadi di Berlino rappresentano una straordinaria propaganda agli ideali del Terzo Reich, è un momento storico importantissimo per mostrare al mondo intero la superiorità della razza ariana; le strutture sportive vengono realizzate con la massima cura dall’architetto del regime nazista Albert Speer (con riferimenti architettonici dell’Antica Grecia), la manifestazione sportiva diviene uno strumento ideologico del regime, a tale scopo viene girato il film-documentario “Olympia” del 1938, diretto da Leni Riefenstahl (che oltre ad essere attrice, regista, fotografa, diventa autrice di film e documentari che esaltano il regime nazista), nel docu-film delle olimpiadi vengono impiegate molte tecniche cinematografiche innovative per l'epoca, con inquadrature insolite ed originali, come le riprese dal basso, con primi piani estremi, l'utilizzo di binari nello stadio olimpico per riprendere la folla. Hitler vuole quindi dimostrare con le Olimpiadi la supremazia della razza ariana, l’atleta ariano deve corrispondere ad una figura stereotipata statuaria, alto, biondo, atletico, carnagione chiara, occhi azzurri, Luz Long è la sua incarnazione ideale. Alle Olimpiadi partecipano quarantanove Paesi, un numero mai raggiunto prima; gli atleti ebreo-tedeschi vengono espulsi da tutte le discipline sportive; anche gli afroamericani, sono discriminati nel loro paese, però ad essi viene concesso di gareggiare, anche se in numero minore, uno di loro si chiama James Cleveland Owens, ma tutti lo conoscono come Jesse (per un’errore d’interpretazione da parte del suo professore); sono le sue capacità atletiche a consentirgli di realizzare diversi record, un momento importante è l’incontro con Larry Snyder, un bravo allenatore, e così grazie alle sue vittorie gli si presena l’opportunità di gareggiare alle Olimpiadi di Berlino: sarà lui il protagonista dei giochi olimpici, un ragazzo di 23 anni originario dell’Alabama, che in pochi giorni si aggiudicherà ben 4 medaglie d’oro, la corsa dei 100, dei 200, la corsa a staffetta dei 4x100 e quella del salto in lungo nella quale ci sarà la vicenda con Luz Long che varrà tutte le medaglie d’oro del mondo). Veniamo al dunque, la mattina del 4 agosto 1936 Luz si qualifica per la finale del salto in lungo, per Owens la qualificazione si svolge in concomitanza con la gare dei 200 mt. piani, Ownes è impegnato in entrambe le gare, la contemporaneità dei due eventi, ed un diverso regolamento sportivo tra quello Europeo e quello Statunitense gli comportano due salti nulli, il primo salto egli pensa fosse di prova per saggiare il terreno (come da regolamento Statunitense), invece è un salto valido per la gara, il secondo salto lo vede molto demoralizzato e compie il peggiore salto della sua vita, l’eliminazione è oramai ad un passo, ma Long interpreta con grande profondità d’animo lo stato psichico di prostrazione del suo diretto avversario, lo vede trasformato in volto, abbattuto, Luz gli si avvicina con fare amichevole e gli suggerisce di staccare 20-30 cm prima della linea di battuta, gli mostra il punto esatto dove staccare poggiando un fazzoletto proprio di fianco alla pedana, all’altezza dell’ideale punto di stacco (anche se non tutti coloro che riportano nelle loro cronache l’evento, ricordano il particolare del fazzoletto), ma anche lo esorta dicendogli che un campione come lui non deve temere di staccare prima per il salto, qualche centimetro in meno per lui non sono certo un problema!: per Owens se il terzo salto diviene nullo comporterebbe la sua eliminazione dalla gara (e la sicura vittoria di Luz!), ma, grazie al suggerimento di carattere tecnico (e forse della posa del fazzoletto…), ma anche affettivo-psicologico (!) di Luz, Owens seguendo il consiglio del suo diretto rivale, compie un formidabile salto, il che gli consente di qualificarsi. Long è il primo a congratularsi con Jesse, sia in occasione della sua qualificazione, sia dopo, con la sua vittoria finale, che gli comporterò la conquista della quarta medaglia d’oro. Tra Long e Jesse nasce una profonda, vera amicizia, nei video disponibili dell’epoca è davvero emozionante assistere alle loro strette di mano ed ai loro abbracci di quei primi istanti, sotto lo sguardo severo del Führer, amicizia che si consoliderà nei giorni successivi, prendendo l’abitudine di frequentarsi nel villaggio olimpico. Dopo le Olimpiadi del 1936, nel 1939 Luz diventa avvocato, nel 1941 si sposa, poco dopo nasce suo figlio Kai, nel 1942 è richiamato alle armi come ufficiale della Luftwaffe e spedito in prima linea, nell’aprile del 1943 viene assegnato alla divisione corazzata Herman Göring ed il mese successivo è inviato in Sicilia subito dopo lo sbarco degli Alleati sull’isola (chiamata Operazione Husky): Long muore così a trent'anni, si trova a Niscemi con la divisione corazzata, viene coinvolto nei combattimenti per la difesa dell'aeroporto di Biscari-Santo Pietro; le cause della morte non sono certe, la più plausibile è quella di un suo aggravamento dovuto alle ferite riportate in combattimento contro gli Anglo-Americani, viene trovato ferito da un suo commilitone sul ciglio di una strada, da qui viene trasportato nel vicino ospedale da campo, dove morirà il 14 luglio 1943. Dapprima viene sepolto in un cimitero provvisorio, poi la sua salma viene riesumata e quindi trasferita nel 1961 nel cimitero militare germanico di Motta Sant'Anastasia mentre è ancora in costruzione, adesso è li che Luz Long riposa: cripta 2 “Caltanissetta”, piastra E, il suo nome inciso sulla lastra di ardesia preceduto dal grado “Obergefreiter-dR" (Appuntato della Riserva), seguito dalle date di nascita 27 IV 13 e di morte 14 VII 43; è quanto resta di Luz Long, uno dei 4.561 soldati tedeschi morti in Sicilia durante la Seconda Guerra Mondiale e qui sepolti. Nell'ultima lettera all'amico Owens, Luz immaginando che il suo destino a presto si sarebbe compiuto, gli chiede di andare da suo figlio e dirgli chi è stato suo padre; l'amico Jesse fa quanto richiesto, va persino alle nozze del figlio.
Ed Owens….? … Jesse rientrato in patria non riceve dal suo Paese il rispetto che merita dopo aver vinto ben 4 medaglie d'oro (!), sono i tempi in cui le persone di colore vengono considerate di “serie B” (!); addirittura, sebbene con un solo cenno, dal Führer viene salutato (così dichiara lo stesso Owens), invece il comportamento del presidente americano Franklin Delano Roosvelt, è inqualificabile, non si degna di accogliere il vincitore olimpico alla Casa Bianca come prevede la tradizione (!). Tornato negli Stati Uniti Jesse deve adattarsi a fare i lavori più disparati, fra i quali anche il garzone in una pompa di benzina. Per guadagnarsi da vivere gareggia contro cavalli, cani e motociclette, come fenomeno da baraccone; passeranno molti anni prima che gli venga riconosciuto il suo reale valore; egli ebbe a dire «si potrebbero fondere tutte le medaglie che ho vinto, ma non si potrebbe mai riprodurre l’ amicizia a 24 carati che nacque sulla pedana di Berlino».
Post Scriptum:
Long non condivideva gli obiettivi e l'ideologia nazisti, lui era in completa antitesi con esse, dotato di grande sensibilità e profonda nobiltà d’animo, lui era lontanissimo dal credo fanatico e crudele della Germania di Hitler, lo dimostrano le parole che egli scrisse nel 1932 in una lettera inviata a sua nonna: “tutte le nazioni del mondo hanno i propri eroi, i semiti così come gli ariani. Ognuna di loro dovrebbe abbandonare l’arroganza di sentirsi una razza superiore".
Sulla sua lapide (così come su altre), sotto la quale riposano i suoi resti chiusi dentro una cassetta, accanto al suo nome, è posta oggi qualche piccola pietra, sono piccoli simboli, che ricordano l’usanza ebraica di lasciare, al posto dei fiori, un ciottolo sulle tombe dei defunti, per dimostrare che la sua storia non è stata dimenticata, è un messaggio di pace e di fratellanza del quale Luz è stato promotore in vita, il suo pensiero ci giunge anche attraverso il suo luogo di sepoltura, perché, come riporta la targa posta all’entrata del cimitero militare germanico di Motta Sant’Anastasia “i sepolcri dei caduti sono i grandi predicatori della pace” (Albert Schweitzer, premio Nobel per la pace).
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(Yes I know, I said I wouldn’t post yet, but maybe there’s exceptions because I don’t have shifts today and on Monday. I hope you enjoy the prequel/prelude.)
The bloody feeling of shite smogs never felt great. May’s never been that cold. Backburners. Or that’s what they call it now.
Man: “Fancy some fun tonight? It’ll be worth your while…”
Rowena: “Piss off.”
Sentimentally, that’s what I’m doing, walking down the streets of London. Last two years were a tough cookie trying to help some damn clients fix things. When they didn’t pay me enough I worked as the bondswoman. I’d add hitwoman up the list given my skills—if I did I’d be interrogating a oil tycoon in a bar in Liverpool.
And now it’s full of scum. My last trip to France didn’t fare well on me, I should have chosen Hong Kong. That’s where ol’ gran was from. Love me some Cantonese too.
Second man: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,”
Rowena: And summer’s lease hath all too short a date; sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, and often is his gold complexion dimm’d;—“
Second man: “Alright, stop there. Pass. Ironic isn’t it, Rowie? The weather...”
Rowena: “Stop calling me Rowie, Jones. I didn’t like Shakespeare much...”
Jones: “Heh, Rowan. I prefer Row but Rowie sounds great.”
Rowena: “How’s it going with the lad over there?”
Jones: “Mate’s high on acid. Beware he might shoot some lasers outta his fingers.”
Within 30 minutes I’ve already met three different kinds of men on the street. There’s the drunkard, and recently the trippy one. Jones however, is someone different. A hacker for sure, he likes reciting poems and blabbering in riddles. Kinda like that DC villain.
Rowena: “Don’t call the cops. Be steady. We’ll let him lash out then stop him. By the way, you gonna upload that art right?”
Jones: “Sure fam. I got a hot minute. Might be against the rules, but people can see what she did at least.”
Rowena: “She’ll sue us for the painting...”
Jones: “C’mon Rowie, copyright’s not a big thing these days anymore. Kinda irrelevant. Least we’ll be labelled like Robin Hoods...”
Rowena: “Doing it for the charity fund then? She’s clincally braindead, no shite we can do either....”
Jones: “There we go. Bollocks our culture’s going downhill these years. I’ll click that button and share the art.”
If I knew it’s the best internet, it couldn’t be Flickr. Way to know that’s a shite site. Probably a online delivery to the Louvre gets it spread and her wife gets the rest from the testimony.
But anyways, I can’t be too sure if that guy’s a vamp. Or a lycan, but people call em lucans cos of the banned words. Government’s idiocracy slides through the textbooks too.
Not too soon. I think I sensed the fucker through my heat vision. He seems startled by Jones’ clock which shouldn’t have rang at this point. Fuck. We’re compromised. Now the bar is turning into the bloody fight.
Might like the sound of it even if he pulls out a gun, but I don’t care if the patron gets hurt. Lad owes me money too.
Jones: “You brought anything to the table yet?”
Rowena: “Absolutely. One of em owes me rent. I’m chuffed to see him here.”
Jones: “What are you waiting for? You got the axe ready yet?!”
Rowena: “Never say never.”
Then it’s gonna be a blast.
***
I'll be watching you~
.......................................
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed.
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Shall I compare thee to a summers day
by William Shakespeare
Its sad how the indian subcontinent is obsessed with complexion.
The situation is even worse for females around the region, where fair girls are given more priority and are thought to be more beautiful.
Mohakhali Slum,Dhaka.
-----
One of my personal favorites from that day.
Folks. this is my possibly my last upload from Bangladesh. I'm leaving the country tomorrow. I'll be missing in action for one day:P.
At long last, seems like an eternity, I was confident enough of my complexion to venture out today. I put on full makeup and made slightly tentative steps back into the the real world. I chose a casual outfit, pink top, straight denim skirt and my new boots. As usual it was very windy in the park and the sun was shining very brightly so the eyes are squinting a bit!
Jane xxx
I say the fiercest doll from the NU.Face Heirloom Collection is Vanity & Glamour Nadja Rhymes. Nadja has definitely become one of my sought-after characters when she made a comeback in 2015 with a new face sculpt and every single version have been an absolute perfection. When I think of Nadja though I only think of her in the darkest skin tones like Dark A-Tone and Nubian because that’s how she was introduced. The dark complexion is kind of her trademark. That’s what she’s known for and those are what I consider her default skin tones but as Jessy shook things up a bit for Nadja in 2017 the flood gates are open for her. She can definitely pull off skin tones from the lightest to darkest. For the first time ever she is in the A-Tone skin tone which we’ve only seen used for Jordan Duval for Fashion Royalty and has been the main skin tone for The Dynamite Girls’ African-American characters such as Remi and Reese. I’m thankful that she does not have the skin tone mismatch issue that Coquette Jordan Duval had.
With Nadja I’m always looking forward to her next look and with Vanity & Glamour the purple lip in combination with this silver hair color is truly unexpected. I would have never pictured her in this look. This is a very good example of a hairline that is well rooted comparing it to the Jason Wu 10th Anniversary dolls that were kind of rooted sloppily. Due to the fact that these dolls are handmade and that slight differences with each copy are inescapable I appreciate that they paid attention to getting the hairline close to perfect. In this high ponytail hairstyle with the hairline exposed it is imperative that the hair is rooted with precision. Details, details, details. It’s all about the details honey!
Nadja, along with Erin, has one of the best face designs in the Heirloom Collection in my opinion. While I dream of this Talking Drama Adele inspired face design on Dominique (being that she’s Adele’s cousin) I can’t deny the fact that this is perfect on Nadja. I do have to point out that the irises seem unbalanced on some copies of Vanity & Glamour possibly due to the dark outline. I usually prefer it to be a lighter color because in the instance that the paint application on the irises are uneven it’s not so obvious. Another thing that I noticed is that some copies of Vanity & Glamour (like the one in the picture) have dark eyeshadows. I prefer it to be a shade lighter like in one copy that I got so the bottom lashes are more prominent and it doesn’t feel so severe. Even the eyeshadow on the prototype used for the promotional shots were almost faint to the point that it looked like it was left blank or unpainted.
With their return in the Fashion Royalty brand, the Close-Up dolls of today are not as basic as they were from a few years back. The new Close-Up dolls come with a few extra accessories and in Vanity & Glamour’s case she comes with a jewelry set, a black petal embellished shrug, a handheld mirror and a pair of shoes thus the not-so-basic price tag. While Nadja has been criticized for being racy as she once again dons a skimpy outfit there’s no denying that she’s still the best even as a Close-Up doll. I think she is the perfect example of a lingerie doll with an edge. While there’s usually a vintage pin-up inspiration on lingerie dolls I love that she is a combination of both modern and vintage glamour which is rare for Fashion Royalty. She does remind me of the dolls from Fashion Royalty’s Mineral Matters Collection in 2008 which I’m hoping that Integrity Toys would come up with a Close-Up collection either for FR or NU.Face paying homage to those iconic dolls like MetalMaven Vanessa and GoldStroke Adele. I would love to see Jessy Ayala’s take on that.
So I took two spins around the yard while still wearing today's make up, including a complexion covered in bare minerals foundation....then I just Stopped....not pretty! Also I should have put my hair up in a clip, but really I liked it down with the earrings. Yes, it's my real hair, it's just very thin on top. Such a slave to vanity and crazy girly logic ;0)
Based upon these new challenges, maybe I should just offer someone a nice meal and conversation in exchange for yard service?! CRAY CRAY GIRL!!!
SCOUT: "Oh look Paddy! Camellias just like we have at home in the garden."
PADDY: "You are quite right Scout! Aren't they beautiful!"
SCOUT: "Yes, indeed Paddy, especially when compared to my grey plush complexion and my mink fur collar."
PADDY: "What do you mean Scout?"
SCOUT: "Well. I think I would look particularly fetching with a pretty pink camellia bloom behind my ear. Don't you think so Paddy?"
PADDY: "Well... I... err..."
SCOUT: "For an imaginative bear, sometimes you lack vision Paddy."
Paddy, Scout and I spent a delightful Saturday with the Famous Flickr Five+ Group in Mount Macedon, where I have never been before. Now I have, I would very much like to go back to such a picturesque place again.
The Forest Glade Gardens are well established European inspired landscaped gardens of six hectares that are to be found on the Mount Macedon Road in the hill station town of Mount Macedon.
The Forest Glade Gardens are just shy of one hundred years old. The gardens were originally two adjoining properties that comprised orchards and lush grazing paddocks. In 1941 local family the Newtons purchased and extended the property and set about creating one of Mount Macedon's most stunning gardens.
In 1971 the Forest Glade Gardens were acquired by Melbourne property developer Mr. Cyril Stokes who together with his partner Trevor Neil Bell, developed the gardens even further. Cyril was a great collector of European antiques, and his love of European antiquity is reflected in the gardens, particularly in the many classical marble and bronze statues dotted about the grounds.
Unfortunately the Forest Glade Gardens were partly destroyed by the tragic Ash Wednesday bushfires of 1983. However, after many years of hard labour put in by Cyril and Trevor, The Forest Glade Gardens were reborn from the ashes. The gardens are built on a sloping block and consist of a range of terraces all of which offer wonderful vistas. A garden designed to give pleasure all year round, the Forest Glad Gardens contain several heritage listed trees and are made up of smaller themed gardens including; the Italian Garden, the Japanese Garden, the Daffodil Meadow, the Peony Walk, Hydrangea Hill, the Topiary Gardens, the Bluebell Meadow, the Fern Gully and the Laburnum Arch.
In 2011 the property was gifted to a registered charity - The Stokes Collection Limited - with the intention of keeping the Forest Glade Gardens maintained and open to the public.
The Mount Macedon township is located east of the Mount Macedon summit, which is approximately 60 km north-west of Melbourne.
The name of Mount Macedon is apparently derived from Philip II, who ruled Macedon between 359 and 336BC. The mountain was named by Thomas Mitchell, the New South Wales Surveyor General.
Settled in the 1850s by gold miners and timber cutters, the railway arrived at the Mount Macedon township in 1861, providing a vital connection to Melbourne, and sealing the town's future as a 'hill station' resort for wealthy Melburnians escaping the summer heat in the 1870s. With the land deforested, large blocks were sold and beautiful and extensive gardens were planted around the newly built homes. The rich soil and good rainfall also made the area suitable for large orchards and plant nurseries who could send fruit and flowers back to Melbourne. Newspaper owner, David Syme, built a house, "Rosenheim" in 1869. It was acquired in 1886 for Victorian Governors to use as a country retreat, making Mount Macedon an attractive destination for the well heeled of Melbourne society. A primary school was built in Mount Macedon in 1874, and as the decades progressed, hotels, guest houses, shops, a Presbyterian Church and Church of England were built. In 1983, Mount Macedon was devastated by the Ash Wednesday Bush Fires. A large portion of the town was raised, and a number of lives were lost. However, like a phoenix from the ashes, Mount Macedon has risen and rebuilt. Today it is still a popular holiday destination, particularly during spring time when the well established gardens flourish with flowers and in autumn when the exotic trees explode in a riot of reds and yellows.
It’s official: the color for this Halloween season is Bone White!
Cadence Majorette’s pale hair and complexion make her the ideal model for this color. This picture is for the theme “Bones” in the Blythe a Day group on Flickr.
I finally released this doll from her box. I had to put her on a Cream complexion body though. I am finally happy with her eyes. Yesterday, I purchased a Fresh doll for those pink camo pants - had to use a pin to hold them up! The blouse/vest is from Clear Lan.
one more letter after "HA" would have given a clue to seasoned travellers about the country where this was shot (which I normally keep hidden) ;-)
yet savvy travellers could still get a clue from the complexion of the lanky packer ...
I did not enter this room under my own power.
I pull myself together, quite literally, off of the cold, sterile floor. The environment is sans sound, not even white noise. My surroundings, as revealed by scant luminescence in the ceiling, consist of four walls, three padded, one a window into a darkened room beyond. A closer look reveals various erect objects therein, looming so indistinctly in the shadows, one cannot discern if they are machinery, mannequins, or otherwise.
I no longer have the need to fall into deep slumber. SOMEthing has willed me into a dormant state and delivered me to this unfamiliar setting.
Two strangers, a burlesque rabbit and a clown with a surly complexion, seem to be joining me in this most precipitate relocation. Both are asleep as I was moments ago. The pervasive aura of nonsensicality about me, in the disjointed things and circumstances that are my company, exert what I must describe as the notion that I have been thrown into an abominable…
Wonderland.
If this IS indeed his production, Tetch is playing for a most unamused audience. I disperse my form up into the walls and corners, probing for the most minute crevice in which to escape through, to no avail. I return my attention to my fellow inmates. Strangely, the woman, March Harriet, was in league with Tetch when last I looked. The explanation as to why she was now a prisoner alluded me. And this thuggish clown is of no concern at all. I suppose there is no reasonable cause for killing them just yet. Dammit all.
Two more half-hearted inspections of my cell later, they have begun to stir. I know not if they are aware of their captor, as I am. As such, appearing before them as the Mad Hatter would be a gamble. Furthermore, as Clayface, they may be intimidated beyond giving me any clues to our situation. It would be wise to meet them on common grounds, as hired muscle myself. A Penguin goon will suffice.
The clown groggily rolls onto his back, grunts in realization, and leaps up to face me. Harriet remains seated on the floor, rubbing her eyes and already looking suspiciously bored… impassive?.. with the circumstances. As though she had foreseen all this. I shall question her first.
Clown: I’ll bust yer lip if you steps nears me, yah hear?
“Penguin Goon” (nasally): Relax guys, we’re in the same boat here. I already checked our escape routes, and it don’t look too peachy. Either of you kno-
Harriet (fuming): Hatter. For all his intellect, he’d agree to rob a street musician if the invitation was written in rhyme. WHY did I stick around with that WORM?
“Penguin Goon”: … Your BOSS caged us up? You’re saying he was roped into doing’ this by another crime boss?
Right then, a voice as appealing as an un-oiled door hinge crackles over the intercom.
Crane: A humble doctor is all I profess to be. Contradictorily to others in my field, however, FEARLESS in the realm of discovery.
One of the shapes opposite our side of the glass shifts, now evidently the Scarecrow: Hands clasped at his back, and beady eyes flitting between our trio, as he closes some distance between us with painfully deliberate strides.
Clown (backpedaling from his aggression): Hey, uh, Mr. Crow, I don’t think you really wanna have me in this box here. Y’see, my boss already has it out for you, an’ me? Well, I don’t like to brag, but I’m somethin’ of his right-hand man! “Chortle”, they call me. He won’t like this too good; not one bit.
I keep my composure with great effort. Knowing full-well of Chortle’s employer, and my hand in creating him, I cannot help but ponder if Crane has placed this cruel reminder of my handiwork here intentionally. He had indeed been there the night I awakened the Joker. As if on cue…
Crane (fixating solely on me now, his rasp sounding like wet grime trickling out of a rain gutter): For shame, Karlo, fooling the lower class criminals like this. Didn’t you KNOW your captors would spoil your fun soon enough?
Myself (whipping into the bloated and towering identity I assume when feeling uninspired): It would seem I’ve been made.
Chortle trips backward, his blue hair standing even more so on end. Harriet runs up to the glass and begins pounding at it.
Harriet: I know you’re out there, Hatter! You hear me? Let me out this instant! Do you know what this freak can DO to me?!
Chortle: To US???
Another shadow moves. Tetch whimsically glides into view, that half-sadistic, half-feather-brained look plastered on his freckled face. He makes a sweeping bow to our cell and readjusts his headwear.
Tetch (speaking through his teeth, in a singsongy manner): No sense in fretting, my dear. Dr. Crane has assured me this final procedure will perFECT our master plan once and for alllll!
Harriet: You’ll never find hired help again after this! I’m the best gun that your pathetic gang ever had!
Tetch (still waltzing about): Ah, but there will be no need for super-villainy in Gotham in a few short hours, no no… This is to be The Batman’s last hurrah!
Myself: Surely you cannot keep us in suspense, Crane. You do so enjoy… you must pardon my verbiage… to CROW.
He shuffles over to a control panel.
Crane: Do you want to hear a flaw of yours, Karlo? You see only cinematic solutions to problems. You deceive and thwart and trick, but you always so desperately need the scene to be genuine. You couldn’t accomplish anything if you didn’t receive raw emotion back for your efforts. Perhaps you’ve given up on killing The Batman for that very reason. The stone-cold vigilante that never appreciated your commitment.
As Crane and Tetch continue to adjust knobs and dials on their equipment, Chortle and Harriet fruitlessly search our limited space for a means of departure.
Chortle (to her): You’ve worked with the guy! You’re telling me you don’t know how to get people in and out of this box??
Harriet: I just deliver the goods! You think I’m into this psycho-crap? I’m just paying grocery bills here!
Crane (ignoring the babble): It was this study of your character, Karlo, that sparked my latest master plan. My GREATEST plan. You see, though I have developed variations to my toxins over the years, they’ve always brought about the fears festering deep inside my victims. They were REAL fears, Karlo, just like those you instill.
He approaches the glass barrier once again.
Crane (a brusqueness in his croak): Here’s whats going to happen. You three will be subjected to my most potent gas, as Hatter takes control of your minds. As a general rule of trial and error, the physiologies of a man, woman, and metahuman will do nicely to provide us with any inconsistencies in results. With luck, you will all be the final casualties of our tests to end The Dark Knight’s reign, as we engineer NEW fears for you to experience. WithOUT luck… well, you will all be much too dead to disapprove.
Chortle: An’ here I was thinking MY boss wasn’t funny!
Crane was not his usual self. Normally, he may have carried a creeping smile upon his stitches as he outlined his schemes, yet something was amiss on this occasion. His voice lacked smugness; his confidence seemed to have evolved beyond simple gloating. Now, a sense of unchecked purpose and drive was woven into his words. He believes unequivocally this to be his very last plot.
Myself: And IF you successfully implant phony terror within us, what then, Crane? We both know The Batman WILL have a way to evade the same fate.
Tetch: We will not beeeee targeting the big bad Bat this go-around, no siree! I’ve been busy as a beaver creating a new line of teeny-tiny mind control devices, that blend beautifully with Dr. Crane’s concoctions. Like pollen drifting from lovely flowers, they will float into every nostril and ear canal in Gotham…
Crane: And then we allow this cesspool of a city to experience the one fear it’s sorely needed; the fear of Batman himself. We will drag his symbol, his legacy, into the muck, and he will live to see thousands die, screaming in horror at the image he’s fought so hard to keep pure.
He throws a final lever, and the whirring and buzzing of electronics behind the walls commences.
Crane: This is a noble cause. You understand, of course.
Chortle: Okay, okay, look, I’m not really one of the Joker’s finest! My name’s Nate, Nathan Cachin! I just signed up a month ago, an’ I got a gal back in Blüdhaven! Listen, I know some corrupt cops in GCPD that’d let you take some death row inmates off their hands for your science project here. Great stuff here, by the way, I rea-
A haze begins to occupy the room. I realize now that the out layer of the walls themselves are Tetch’s microscopic devices, each housing a portion of Crane’s gas. They anticipated I could have escaped via ventilation, they had pumped it in from elsewhere.
Chortle (perspiring profusely): Um… UH… Deep breaths, guys!
Harriet (drawing an obscured knife from her outfit, striving to puncture the glass with it): You idiot, it *stab* gets into your system just *stab* by skin contact! He gave us a damn *stab* POWERPOINT!
It is time I resort to less than flashy means of elusion. I dehydrate the clay in my fists, and subsequently begin to pound the window along with Harriet.
Tetch (linking his modified hat to the instruments that are invading our bodies): Such unruly children! You’ll go to bed as instructed!
Harriet suddenly sinks to her knees, then flat on her stomach. Rapid glances over her shoulders up at the ceiling result in her howling into the floor, her face turning red as saliva flows freely from her mouth.
Harriet: DON’T LET ME FALL! OH GOD, THERE’S NOTHING BETWEEN ME AND IT! NOTHING BETWEEN..
Crane: Oh dear. It appears you’ve willed incurable casadastraphobia into your old colleague, Tetch. Given the severity of this dosage, she is convinced she will plunge into the sky at any moment. Momentarily, she will try with all her might to burrow into the ground. What do you think the cause of death will be? Heart failure? Concussion?
Harriet’s knuckles snap and an even brighter hue of crimson engulfs her forehead as she slams her limbs and body into the tile.
Harriet: GET ME AWAY FRO-
A snap like celery rings out, and her thrashing halts.
Crane (terse): And the next, Tetch?
Tetch: I’m getting another signal. The clown drank up his toxins like warm milk; Time for dreamland!
Chortle: This is not cool! I want to see your degrees, both of yous!
Chortle seizes up. His gaze slowly tilts down himself, his eyes bulging as it reaches his legs. Ungodly shrieking ensues. He topples into the wall, seemingly fumbling for an item in his coat pockets and kicking his legs out as though he had stepped in an anthill.
Crane: Stop PLAYING, Tetch.
Tetch: But the INfinite possibilities! … Very well. One order of “Batmanophobia”, coming up!
Chortle grasps his kneecaps, fingertips digging deep into his skin through his trousers. Amidst the blood-curdling hollering, two wet pops, and he at once sinks back, prominent vacancies where the joints had been.
Crane: Genuphobia. Almost laughable.
I am next. Little more progress than a hairline rift has come from Harriet’s and my aggression. I feel a tingle as Tetch starts to invade my mind. Before he can establish contact, I strangle the consciousness that is about to be overtaken. It bursts like a cyst, gone in the blink of an eye. The agony is incomparable to any other I have felt.
Tetch (stamping his foot): No fair! He went down the rabbit hole!
Crane: … Oh. Now that IS very interesting. You severed the persona that Hatter took hold of. But you’re still here with us, aren’t you? We can keep at this until we finally get the REAL you in there. With so many characters embedded in you, you won’t run dry any time soon. You’re a renewable resource, Karlo. Fancy that.
I resume feebly pummeling the glass, as Tetch reels in more of my personalities. One after the other, before he can inject them with Crane’s desired phobia, I extinguish them, losing myself in excruciating fragments. I won’t outlast this. They will breach my defenses in no time whatsoever.
As all life seems to dim about me, I hear a muffled shattering. My glazed eyes observe a pair of lime green and orange boots crack Tetch right in the cheek, leading him to somersault over the control console and land on his face. His assailant… Walker. Humming his own rendition of the Superman cartoon’s theme.
Walker: Daaah dadadadaaah, bum bum bummm. Daaah dadadadaaah… KILL-er Mottthhh!
Crane: YOU.
He leaps at Killer Moth with hypodermic needles clutched in his glove. Walker retaliates by drawing his cocoon gun. One shot sticks Crane’s hand to his machinery, another grazing his temple and twisting his mask sideways. Crane roars as his free hand also clings to the substance when he goes to remove the disguise.
Walker: Heads up Bas!
He chucks a detonator at my prison. I am too weak to avoid the blast, as it demolishes the glass and splatters most of myself all about. Walker leaps in, and begins shoveling my matter back into a cohesive pile with his helmet.
Walker: Don’t sweat it pal, Killer Moth has never let down loyal customers. Your Moth Signal will function for 5 years without fail, or your money back!
Myself (woozy and fighting to expel Tetch’s remaining gadgets from my essence): I am indebted to your punctual rescue, however, I… purchased no alert beacon from you.
Walker (face drooping): You didn’t? I got a signal from…
I clamber over to Chortle, and extract a small implement from his pocket, sopping with blood.
Myself (tossing it to its manufacturer): Your devotee, it would seem.
Walker: Well, that’s… not going on my brochure. It’s already hard enough to market protection to all these hoodlums. My prices are equitable! You would THINK it’d be a piece of cake, selling extra help to such a cowardly and superstitious lot…
Myself: Is that a paraphrase?
Walker: Might’ve been Robert Louis Stevenson.
He calls over his shoulder to Crane.
Walker (chipper): Nothing personal, Scarecrow, but you can’t go around kidnapping my investors.
Slightly more corporeal, I limp towards Crane, who is still furiously pulling at the adhesive. I lean down to his level. The speech pattern I am able to manage is a hoarse gurgle.
Myself: The Batman’s wings will be clipped one day, Crane… But not by means of this fraudulent ploy. Gotham’s children should suffer only their sincerest fears…
I hold a clawed hand close to Crane’s face.
Myself: You concur, of course.
He nods, a mixture of loathing and trepidation swirling in his eyes.
Walker: You were going to off Batman without ME? Never mind, Crane, DO take this personally.
One more shot from Walker’s launcher conks Crane’s head back into the desk, putting him out like the light. With that, I start off for the exit. I can sense the gaping cavity where so many voices within me once resided. Hardly any of them linger.
Walker (catching up behind me): Hey, Bas! Take this, on the house. It’s still active.
I accept the blemished Moth Signal.
Myself (in a voice I do not recognize): … Couldn’t hurt.
***
} I am delighted to announce that this Killer Moth dialogue has been approved by the man himself. {
There were a number of pipe bands in the Castlebar St. Patrick's Day parade. I love taking pictures of pipers as they generally have interesting faces - certainly as far as I am concerned this man has a wonderful and typically Irish face!
This shopper at the Sydney Fruit & Vegetables Market in Flemington negotiates her way back to her car wearing a face shade. These shades are popular with asian ladies so as to protect their complexions from the fierce Australian sunshine. Note the lady in the background to the left of the shopper is wearing a variant style of shade.
My nickname for Scarlett is Strawberry Shortcake cause of her red hair and creamy complexion. She's wearing Vanilla Sweet (thanks Jess!) thus the title 'Strawberry & Vanilla'. ;)
beautiful asian long haired girl posing next to a red high tech supercar with headlights shining, girl has a heart shaped face with a smooth complexion, girl is slim and athletic wearing a body hugging jumpsuit, environment setting is a beautiful long empty road lined with trees full of autumn leaves, scene is lit with beautiful soft light, use a nikon D850, 8K resolution, 24mm f/1.2mm lens, photorealistic scene, --v 5a