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On 19 December 2022, the bipartisan United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack voted unanimously, 9 - 0, to refer former President Donald tRump to the U.S. Department of Justice for prosecution on charges of:
☞ Obstruction of an official proceeding;
☞ Conspiracy to defraud the United States;
☞ Conspiracy to make a false statement;
☞ Attempts to incite, assist, aid or comfort an insurrection.
▶ Introductory material to report: here.
▶ Full report: here.
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▶ After refusing to concede the 2020 U.S. presidential election and then perpetuating false claims of widespread voter fraud, then-President Donald tRump summoned a mob to the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The Committee received sworn testimony that tRump knew he did not win the election, identifying him as "the center of the first and only effort by any U.S. President to overturn an election and obstruct the peaceful transition of power".
▶ A terrible and sad moment in our history, but also a critical one, reaffirming that no one in America is above the law, including (especially) the president. That is, of course, pending action by the Justice Department.
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▶ Note the date of release on the cover of the report: "December 00, 2022." Obviously, the committee had sent the cover sheet to the Government Printing Office before the final report was completed.
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Reports of further austerity measures have been denied by Downing Street.
Downloadable from www.kingswaymodels.com/freedownloads
Group A MG Metro Turbo from the 1980s driven by Malcolm Harrison and Paul Taft in the Historic Touring Car Challenge race at the 2016 Silverstone Classic where it failed to finish. Report on the meeting in Classic and Competition Car 72. Read free online at www.classicandcompetitioncar.com
“Human happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.”
― George Washington
just playing with my outfit for camo night :))
© Leanne Boulton, All Rights Reserved
Taken at the police cordon at the scene of the helicopter crash into Clutha Vaults in Glasgow, Scotland. Reporters who are so often thought of as 'vultures' but do a job that brings us the reality of life and death in this world.
Numerically speaking the oldest artic in the First Aberdeen fleet, 10154 prepares to leave Caslte Street while operating a Bridges service 1 to Garthdee & RGU.
These B7LAs have been the main stay of the Bridges for over 13 years now, although their time may come to an end soon as new deckers due next year may oust them.
Photo date: 14/08/2018
©Jordan Adam
Do not use this photo without my written permission, Anyone caught uploading this photo without consent will be reported.
Oh, the unparalleled agony of trying to write a book report on a novel that she neither enjoyed nor understood. At least it was fun using the antique typewriter.
This doll is Raspberry Sorbet, posing for the theme "Bloomsday" in the Blythe a Day group on Flickr. I had never heard of Bloomsday before so I looked it up. It's an annual celebration of the life of James Joyce, on June 16th--the day his novel Ulysses (set in 1904) takes place. The protagonist is named Leopold Bloom, hence the name Bloomsday. I've never read Ulysses, but I found it for free on Amazon for Kindle, so I downloaded it and will try to find out what all the fuss is about, because I also found out that it is considered by many to be the greatest novel of the 20th century! The things I learn while photographing my dolls!
Mission/Trial Report 14
Date: 08-30-2325
Location: Council Chambers, Citadel
Defendants Present:
• Cian Lios
• Daisy MacKenzie
• Fazzy Constantine
• Noah Constantine
• Ryoma Halvern
• Tai Astrofengia
• T1NM4N
• Vahenir
• Scrap
• Zeth Ryder
BluShock Special Witness:
• Jaron
Prosecutor:
• Tobias Sidonis
It had been some time since the “former” BluShock crew’s last mission on Stackspire Colony, where C-Sec—led by the newly installed BluShock Commander Robert Kean—finally apprehended Fazzy Constantine and his crew. Now, dragged back to the very heart of galactic law, they were forced to stand before the Citadel Council and answer for their alleged crimes.
The list was long: Noveria. The Citadel bombings. The destruction of Stackspire. The accusations were heavy, the weight of the galaxy pressing down on them. The crew knew they had their evidence ready, their witnesses lined up, their innocence to prove. But Daisy reminded them at every turn that this was a stitch-up from the very beginning. The Council wasn’t looking for truth—they were looking for blood.
As the day began, the sound of sirens split the wards. The apartment doors blew open under the force of C-Sec. Fazzy and his crew’s old friend from Valtoria—now C-Sec agent Saeed Massani—entered with the unit. He wasn’t here as an ally. He was here as law. He was here to do his job. And so the crew was marched out.
The journey through the Wards was chaos incarnate. Barricades, shouting mobs, and angry citizens lined the streets. “Murderers!” “Terrorists!” “Traitors!” Some cursed their names. Some wept for lost loved ones in the bombings the crew had actually prevented. None of it mattered. The people had already been told the story. The truth had been written out of history.
The elevator doors opened to the Council Chambers. What awaited them was a scene of grandeur and judgment. Crimson-leaved trees, sculpted planters, pristine staircases ascending into the chamber of galactic justice itself. The Council was assembled: an Orc councillor, a Turian, an Asari, and a Salarian—the brother of the slain Administrator Calzen of Noveria. Prosecutor Tobias Sidonis presided over the case, his voice cold and sharp as he read the charges.
The crew were lined up, cuffed, made to climb the steps to the platform of judgment. Their witnesses were already there: Gavin Tarius and Darrek Solan of Noveria. Marco and Leo, the garage brothers of Stackspire. Private investigator Havid Gabour and Battle Ready Pizza Joint owner, A Krogan. Then the accusations came. Twenty counts. Smuggling. Murder. Bombings. Destruction. Fabricated evidence was hurled onto holoscreens for all to see: falsified images of Fazzy in a relationship with the Salarian Administrator; Tai Astrofengia handing over a suspicious package; the long-missing BluShock operative Chastian Necrosa setting the Citadel bomb timers. The lies were as grotesque as they were elaborate.
The crew spoke, one by one, defending themselves. Their innocence was unwavering. They reminded the chamber of their deeds: the evacuation of Stackspire, the halting of the Citadel bombings, the saving of billions from galactic annihilation—not once, but twice. But the Council’s faces remained stone.
The witnesses were called. The Stackspire trio spoke truth to power and confirmed the crew’s actions had been heroic. But betrayal was present as well—the Turian receptionist from Noveria, who once thanked BluShock for saving him, now lied under oath. He declared they were behind the massacres at Port Hanshan, his words dripping with falsity, his motives bought and paid for by unknown hands.
Then came Jaron. The dragon-being from Duneshade, Icaros. He had traveled far to stand in their defense. His evidence cut through the lies: recorded footage of the Stackspire president himself planting charges, abandoning the colony, and triggering the explosion that would later be pinned on Fazzy and his crew. His proof revealed the trap for what it was: a staged execution, an attempt to erase BluShock from the galaxy.
But even that was not enough.
The chamber quieted as the Council withdrew to deliberate. When they returned, the sentence was swift and merciless. Guilty. Guilty on all counts. Their heroism meant nothing. Their sacrifices meant nothing. The truth meant nothing.
Prosecutor Sidonis gave the order: Purgatory. The infamous space prison where convicts are sent to vanish into silence. A place so remote, so forgotten, that escape was not even a rumor. Fazzy, Daisy, Noah, and the rest would be cast into its abyss for an undefined sentence. Their ranks were stripped. Their honor burned. Their legacy erased.
Daisy spat words at the Orc councillor, a defiant curse about his manhood, her voice echoing as the crew was marched away. Saeed Massani, once a friend, once a comrade, carried out the Council’s will and led them to their doom.
Outside, celebrations broke across the galaxy. Illium News Network broadcast the verdict: “Justice has been served. Fazzy Constantine and the BluShock crew are incarcerated.” In the streets, there were cheers. In the Presidium, there was relief. For most, it was over.
But for Fazzy and his crew, stripped of everything, this was not the end. Somewhere, beyond the sirens and the cells, lay a future untold. Could they rise again? Could they ever return to the galaxy as its heroes?
That remains the unanswered question.
End of Report.
My first attempt at a triptych. I don't think I will be doing very many of these....they are ALOT of work. Check it out on the larger scale to see all the juicy details!
"cemetery of Taormina: an Angel seems to write on the monument of a boy who died at 17, the epitaph reports: born on 2 August 1871, to all joys, to all hopes, he died, at only seventeen, never the death, there were more ferocious pitfalls in the promises of life"
“cimitero di Taormina: un Angelo sembra scrivere sul momumento di un ragazzo morto a 17 anni, l'epitaffio riporta: nato nel di 2 agosto 1871, a tutte le gioje, a tutte le speranze, morì, a soli diciassette anni, non mai la morte, celo' più feroci le insidie, nelle promesse della vita”
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The photographer Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden: and some "secret stories” of Taormina ...
At the age of about 11-12, I made a very particular discovery, I found a fair number of ancient photographs (they had been well hidden by my grandmother) inside an ancient chest of drawers in our house in Taormina, for me it was a huge surprise, the a taste for the forbidden appeared in me for the first time, they were black and white photographs, they portrayed naked boys, or only partially dressed in drapes or sheets, they were posed to imitate certain statues (or drawings) of the Greco-Roman period; I was very intrigued by them, every now and then I went to look at them, without ever feeling discomfort, I did not consider them vulgar photographs. Some of the photos were the size of a postcard, others of various sizes increasingly larger, up to a format similar to A3; on the back there were stamps, there were also, inside small red cardboard boxes, glass plates, not large, looking at them against the light, they let us glimpse images of naked boys, or only partially dressed: they were photographic negatives made on glass plates. What was that particular photographic material hidden by my grandmother in the dresser of our house? Let's take a step back in time let's teleport to April 2, 1787 when the German poet, narrator, playwright Johan Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) lands in Palermo, following his Grand Tour in Italy (the word "tourism" derives from it) he will say of Sicily that it is a place of splendor, beauty and harmony, but at the same time a place of poverty, suffering, misery and social injustice; Goethe wrote the book "Journey to Italy", revealing himself to be one of Italy's most passionate admirers, stating that "Sicily is the key to everything" (the incredible resemblance of thought with the great Sicilian writer and journalist Leonardo Sciascia (1921-1989) who published in 1979 the book entitled “Sicily as a metaphor”). At the time of Goethe (and for a long time to come) the knowledge of Sicily was made up of stereotyped ideas, it was considered a land of mysteries, a den of brigands, which aroused fear in travelers, tourism did not exist, very few knew a foreign language, journeys with carriages were slow, nothing strange therefore that Taormina was an unknown village at the time. Garibaldi, in the year 1860, frees Sicily from the domination of the Bourbons. In February 1863, Count Ottone (Otto) Geleng (1843-1939) arrives in Taormina from Germany, he is a landscape painter, he begins an intense pictorial activity, thus succeeding in making Taormina and its landscapes known in the various cultural circles of Germany and France. Count Otto thus invites the then painter (who later became a photographer) Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden (1856-1931) to come to Taormina to treat his "subtle ache", pulmonary tuberculosis, which would have benefited from the mild climate of Sicily. Von Gloeden, twenty-two, arrived in Taormina in 1878, became passionate about photography by taking lessons from the local engineer and photographer Giuseppe Bruno (1836-1904), perhaps also a teacher of Giovanni Crupi (1859-1925), landscape photographer friend of von Gloeden, Crupi himself could also have contributed to the training as a photographer of the young von Gloeden. Like Otto Geleng's paintings, the photographs of the young Wilhelm also began to entice the then bourgeoisie across the border to come to Sicily: in the last 20 years of the 1800s the foundations were being laid for tourism in Sicily. The photographs taken by von Gloeden had as their subject young Sicilian adolescents dressed in the old-fashioned way with drapes, or completely naked, at most adorned with wreaths of flowers or laurel leaves placed on their heads, the young models assumed well-studied poses under the directed by the photographer baron, designed to create scenes that wanted to reconstruct the atmosphere of the mythical Arcadia (bucolic landscape of ancient Greece). In his poetics we can find the interest in disguise and transvestism, the young fisherman is made ambiguous by making him wear a wig, made resembling a young Sicilian girl; the images are not produced for the sole and mere trade, they are works that will be published in various famous magazines (such as "The National Geographic Magazine" or "the photographic progress", A. Stieglitz publishes his nudes on “Camera Notes"), also participating in international photographic exhibitions. The young models are filmed among ancient ruins, in rocky environments, outdoors, eliciting a spiritual feeling full of nostalgia, which follows pictorial models of German romanticism. In the photographic book "Verga photographer" (created on the discovery of 327 glass plates and 121 celluloid frames), in Giovanni Verga (1840-1922) great Sicilian narrator, it is possible to observe his photographs interwoven with "realism", while in the photographs of von Gloeden the symbolism andthe spiritualism predominate, however Wilhelm will also produce documentary-type photographs, photographing the terrible earthquake (and tsunami) of Messina (and Reggio Calabria) of 1908. Von Gloeden seems fully integrated into the Taormina society , nevertheless suffers heavy homophobic attacks from the local press and from important characters from Taormina, including Otto Geleng himself, who will be sued by the baron, which will then be withdrawn upon payment of 896 lire, and a restorative declaration published in the "Gazzetta di Messina" . Von Gloeden worked in his house-studio in front of the Hotel San Domenico Palace, with him lived his sister Sofia Raabe (1847-1930), daughter of his mother's first husband, who helped him manage the house-studio, and in the to receive the illustrious guests who visited him (such as Oscar Wilde, FA Krupp, Richard Strauss, the German emperor Wilhelm II, Eleonora Duse). Von Gloeden died on February 16, 1931 at the age of 74, he was buried in the non-Catholic cemetery of Taormina, his heir was his all-around assistant Pancrazio Buciunì known as "il moro" (1879-1963) ("u 'moru", family nickname), which continues the activity, selling the prints: he undergoes two searches in full fascist regime with partial seizure and destruction of the photographic material that belonged to von Gloeden (fascism persecuted homosexuals, the repression of homosexuality was entrusted to the fascist police, which confined many homosexuals to the islands of the Mediterranean, Lipari was one of these, see the beautiful film by Ettore Scola "a special day"), Buciunì undergoes two trials for detention of obscene material, and, despite an adverse appraisal by the appointed expert prof. Stefano Bottari, holder of the chair of history of medieval and modern art at the University of Messina, who declares much of the seized material obscene, the Court of Messina, demonstrating tolerance and open-mindedness, acquits Buciunì. At this point in the story we return to my grandmother's dresser and reveal the little mystery: the hidden photographs belonged to my great-grandfather Don Gaetano D'Agata (1883-1949), von Gloeden's assistant photographer, also on the baron's teaching, he made nude photographs, as well as landscape or portrait photographs; Don Gaetano was a globetrotter, in our family album he is portrayed in various parts of the world, always in the company of beautiful women: but I will never know if those "forbidden photos" were taken by my great-grandfather Gaetano or by Von Gloeden himself, because my grandmother, having understood that I was going to peek at them in secret, made them disappear permanently, and I never heard anymore of that photographic material. For my part, it is only right to mention other figures who contributed to making Taormina the current destination for international tourism. Lady Florence Trevelyan (1852-1907), was Queen Victoria's lady-in-waiting, she was then sent into exile in various parts of the world by Queen herself, she arrived in Taormina and stayed there forever, she was a woman of exceptional gifts, endowed with great sensitivity and humanity, animal rights activist, philanthropist, passionate about esotericism, she was married to the then mayor and doctor of Taormina dr. Salvatore Cacciola, she were one of the first women admitted to world Freemasonry (her husband Cacciola also belonged to Freemasonry): I have already talked about it previously in one of my photographic stories. On the occasion of the XXI festival of the two worlds in Spoleto, in 1978, the essayist and literary critic Roland Barthes (1915-1980) curated an exhibition entitled "Wilhelm von Gloeden", with interventions by artists such as Andy Warhol, M. Pistoletto and J. Beuys. Finally, Raffaella Perna, Researcher in History of Contemporary Art at the University of Catania, underlines in her book on "Wilhelm von Gloeden, disguises, portraits, tableaux vivants", of how LaChapelle, Witkin, Mapplethorpe are the contemporary artists who they are indicated as heirs of von Gloeden's poetics.
P.S. Von Gloeden's photographs were made by photographing both the large panels with gigantographic reproductions of von Gloeden's works, which are located at the entrance of the Mocambo bar in Taormina, and in the shop-bazaar of the photographer from Taormina, my late friend, Nino Malmbrì (owner of the baron's original photographic material). The photographs of Gaetano D’Agata, were taken from my family album: in a photo a little damaged, but exceptional for its historical and emotional value, my great-grandfather, the photographer Gaetano D'Agata, here very young, holds his daughter "Ninitta" (a of the four children, had by three wives), she is my paternal grandmother; in another photo, the photographer Gaetano D'Agata poses next to her a few years later, with my grandmother already a young girl; always made by great-grandfather D'Agata there is both a portrait photo, a close-up, of my very young grandmother "Ninitta", and there is a photo of her posing as a peasant girl, with a painted backdrop behind her, as if used in studio photos; finally I put two photos taken by my great-grandfather Gaetano "en plein air" of bathers, "the location" is the beach of Mazzarò (Taormina). The photographs of the tombstones of the characters mentioned in the story were taken in the Catholic and non-Catholic cemetery of Taormina; the monumental funerary complex of Count Otto Geleng at the top presents the bust of his son Ermanno, the presence of symbolisms such as the hourglass, the rooster, the book (the Holy Bible) and the god mercury, makes me believe that Count Otto was part of the Masonic lodge of Taormina, at the time the mayor of Taormina was also part of it, dr. Cacciola and his wife Lady Florence Trevelyan: in his palace, Dr. Cacciola, built a temple, which became the first Masonic lodge in Taormina: the "Renaissance" (1904).
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Il barone fotografo Wilhelm von Gloeden: ed alcune “storie segrete” di Taormina …
Io, all’età di circa 11-12 anni, feci una scoperta molto particolare, trovai un discreto numero di antiche fotografie (erano state ben nascoste da mia nonna) dentro un antico comò in casa nostra a Taormina, per me fu una enorme sorpresa, il gusto del proibito si affacciò in me per la prima volta, erano fotografie in bianco e nero, ritraevano ragazzi nudi, o solo in parte vestiti con drappi o lenzuoli, messi in posa imitavano certe statue (o disegni) del periodo greco-romano; io ne ero rimasto molto incuriosito, ogni tanto le andavo a riguardare, senza mai provare disagio, non le consideravo fotografie volgari. Alcune foto erano della grandezza di una cartolina, altre di varie dimensioni sempre più grandi, fino ad arrivare ad un formato assimilabile all’A3; sul retro c’erano impressi dei timbri, c’erano anche, dentro dei piccoli scatoli in cartoncino di colore rosso, delle lastrine in vetro, non grandi, guardandole in controluce, lasciavano intravedere immagini di ragazzi nudi, o poco vestiti: erano i negativi fotografici realizzati su vetro. Cosa ci faceva quel materiale fotografico, così particolare, nascosto da mia nonna nel comò di casa nostra? Facciamo un salto indietro nel tempo teletrasportiamoci al 2 aprile 1787 quando a Palermo sbarca il poeta, narratore, drammaturgo tedesco Johan Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), in seguito al suo Grand Tour in Italia (turismo deriva da esso) dirà della Sicilia che essa è luogo di splendore, bellezza ed armonia, ma al tempo stesso luogo di povertà, sofferenza, miseria ed ingiustizia sociale; Goethe scrive il libro “Viaggio in Italia”, rivelandosi uno dei più appassionati ammiratori dell’Italia, affermando che “la Sicilia è la chiave di tutto” (incredibile la rassomiglianza di pensiero col grande scrittore e giornalista siciliano Leonardo Sciascia (1921-1989) che pubblica nel 1979 il libro dal titolo “la Sicilia come metafora”). Ai tempi di Goethe (e per molto tempo ancora) la conoscenza della Sicilia era fatta di idee stereotipate, era considerata terra di misteri, covo di briganti, il che incuteva timore nei viaggiatori, il turismo non esisteva, pochissimi conoscevano una lingua straniera, i viaggi con carrozze ertano lenti, nulla di strano quindi che Taormina fosse all’epoca un villaggio sconosciuto. Garibaldi, nell’anno 1860, libera la Sicilia dalla dominazione dei Borboni. Nel febbraio del 1863, dalla Germania giunge a Taormina il conte Ottone (Otto) Geleng (1843-1939), egli è un pittore paesaggista, inizia una intensa attività pittorica, riuscendo in tal modo a far conoscere Taormina ed i suoi paesaggi nei vari circoli culturali della Germania e della Francia. Il conte Otto invita così l’allora pittore (poi divenuto fotografo) barone Wilhelm von Gloeden (1856-1931) a venire a Taormina per curare il suo “mal sottile”, la tubercolosi polmonare, che avrebbe tratto giovamento dal clima mite della Sicilia. Von Gloeden, ventiduenne, nel 1878 giunge a Taormina, si appassiona alla fotografia prendendo lezioni dall’ingegnere e fotografo locale Giuseppe Bruno (1836-1904), forse anche insegnante di Giovanni Crupi (1859-1925), fotografo paesaggista amico di von Gloeden, il quale Crupi stesso potrebbe anche aver contribuito alla formazione come fotografo del giovane von Gloeden. Così come i dipinti di Otto Geleng, anche le fotografie del giovane Wilhelm incominciarono ad invogliare l’allora borghesia d’oltre confine, a venire in Sicilia: negli ultimi 20 anni dell’800 si stavano gettando le basi per il turismo in Sicilia. Le fotografie realizzate da von Gloeden avevano come soggetto giovani adolescenti siciliani vestiti all’antica con drappi, o completamente nudi, tutt’al più adornati da coroncine di fiorellini o foglie d’alloro messi sul capo, i giovani modelli assumevano pose ben studiate sotto la regia del barone fotografo, atte a realizzare scene che volevano ricostruire l’atmosfera della mitica Arcadia (paesaggio bucolico dell’antica Grecia). Nella sua poetica possiamo riscontrare l’interesse per il travestimento ed il travestitismo, il giovane pescatore viene reso ambiguo facendogli indossare una parrucca, reso somigliante ad una giovane ragazza siciliana; le immagini non vengono prodotte per il solo e mero commercio, sono opere che verranno pubblicate su varie riviste famose (come “The National Geographic Magazine” o “Il Progresso fotografico”, A. Stieglitz pubblica i suoi nudi su “Camera Notes”), partecipando anche ad esposizioni fotografiche internazionali. I giovani modelli sono ripresi tra antichi ruderi, in ambienti rupestri, all’aperto, elicitando un sentimento spirituale carico di nostalgia, il che ricalca modelli pittorici del romanticismo tedesco. Nel libro fotografico “Verga fotografo” (realizzato su ritrovamento di 327 lastre in vetro e 121 fotogrammi in celluloide), in Giovanni Verga (1840-1922) grande narratore siciliano, è possibile osservare le sue fotografie intessute di “verismo”, mentre nelle fotografie di von Gloeden predomina il simbolismo e lo spiritualismo, purtuttavia Wilhelm produrrà anch’egli fotografie di tipo documentaristico, andando a fotografare il terribile terremoto (e maremoto) di Messina (e di Reggio Calabria) del 1908. Von Gloeden sembra pienamente integrato nella società taorminese, ciononostante subisce pesanti attacchi omofobi dalla stampa locale e da importanti personaggi taorminesi, incluso lo stesso Otto Geleng, i quali verranno querelati dal barone, querela che verrà poi ritirata dietro pagamento di 896 lire, ed una dichiarazione riparatoria pubblicata sulla “Gazzetta di Messina”. Von Gloeden lavorava nella sua casa-studio di fronte l’Hotel San Domenico Palace, con lui viveva sua sorella Sofia Raabe (1847-1930), figlia del primo marito di sua madre, che lo aiutava a governare la casa-studio, e nel ricevere gli illustri ospiti che lo andavano a trovare ( come Oscar Wilde, F.A. Krupp, Richard Strauss, l’imperatore tedesco Guglielmo II, Eleonora Duse). Von Gloeden muore il 16 febbraio 1931 all’età di 74 anni, viene sepolto nel cimitero acattolico di Taormina, il suo erede è il suo assistente tutto fare Pancrazio Buciunì detto “il moro” (1879-1963) (“u’ moru”, soprannome di famiglia), che ne prosegue l’attività, vendendone le stampe: il quale subisce in pieno regime fascista due perquisizioni con parziale sequestro e distruzione del materiale fotografico che apparteneva a von Gloeden (il fascismo perseguitò gli omosessuali, la repressione dell’omosessualità fu affidata alla polizia fascista, che confinò molti omosessuali nelle isole del mediterraneo, Lipari fu una di queste, vedi il bellissimo film di Ettore Scola “una giornata particolare”), Buciunì subisce due processi per detenzione di materiale osceno, e, nonostante una perizia avversa da parte del nominato perito prof. Stefano Bottari, titolare della cattedra di storia dell’arte medioevale e moderna dell’Università di Messina, che dichiara osceno gran parte del materiale sequestrato, il Tribunale di Messina dimostrando tolleranza ed apertura mentale, assolve il Buciunì. A questo punto del racconto ritorniamo al comò di mia nonna e sveliamo il piccolo mistero: le fotografie nascoste appartenevano al mio bisnonno don Gaetano D’Agata (1883-1949), assistente fotografo di von Gloeden, anch’egli sull’insegnamento del barone, realizzò fotografie di nudo, oltre che di paesaggio o ritratto; don Gaetano era un giramondo, nel nostro album di famiglia lui è ritratto in varie parti del mondo, sempre in compagnia di belle donne: ma io non saprò mai se quelle “foto proibite” erano realizzate dal mio bisnonno Gaetano o da Von Gloeden stesso, perché mia nonna, avendo capito che le andavo a sbirciare di nascosto, le fece sparire definitivamente, e di quel materiale fotografico non ne seppi più nulla. Da parte mia, è doveroso citare altre figure che contribuirono a rendere Taormina l’attuale meta del turismo internazionale. Lady Florence Trevelyan (1852-1907), era dama di corte della regina Vittoria, dalla stessa regina Lady Florence fu poi mandata in esilio in varie parti del mondo, giunse a Taormina e qui vi restò per sempre, era una donna dalle doti eccezionali, dotata di grande sensibilità ed umanità, animalista, filantropa, appassionata di esoterismo, fu sposa dell’allora sindaco e medico di Taormina dott. Salvatore Cacciola, fu una delle prime donne ammesse alla massoneria mondiale (apparteneva alla massoneria anche il marito Cacciola): ne ho già parlato in precedenza in un mio racconto fotografico. Robert Hawthorn Kitson (1873-1947) era un pittore britannico omosessuale, egli lasciò l’Inghilterra a causa dell’emendamento Labouchere, che rendeva illegale qualsiasi atto omosessuale nel Regno Unito (1885), giunse a Taormina e qui si stabilì, costruendo nel 1905 Casa Cusani, una villa con vista sull’Etna, oggi casa museo; nella sua sala da pranzo si trovano gli affreschi “proibiti” realizzati da Frank Brangwyn, essi narrano dell’amore omosessuale tra Kitson ed il suo compagno Carlo Siligato: nel 1908 in seguito al terremoto che distrusse Messina (e Reggio Calabria), essi adottarono un bambino che era rimasto orfano, divenendo di fatto una famiglia omosessuale, all’epoca assolutamente proibita; gli affreschi di Casa Cuseni sono ispirati alle fotografie di von Gloeden, così come nella villa, si trova una “autocromia a colori” del 1910, realizzata da von Gloeden, documento eccezionale che testimonia la volontà del barone di sperimentare nuove tecniche. In occasione del XXI festival dei due mondi di Spoleto, nel 1978, il saggista e critico letterario Roland Barthes (1915-1980) cura una mostra intitolata “Wilhelm von Gloeden”, con interventi di artisti quali Andy Warhol, M. Pistoletto e J. Beuys. Infine, Raffaella Perna, Ricercatrice in Storia dell'arte contemporanea all'Università degli Studi di Catania, sottolinea nel suo libro su “Wilhelm von Gloeden, travestimenti, ritratti, tableaux vivants”, di come LaChapelle, Witkin, Mapplethorpe siano gli artisti contemporanei che vengono indicati come eredi della poetica di von Gloeden.
P.S. le fotografie di Von Gloeden sono state realizzate fotografando sia i grandi pannelli con gigantografiche riproduzioni delle opere di von Gloeden, che si trovano all’ingresso del bar Mocambo di Taormina, sia nel negozio-bazar del fotografo taorminese, compianto mio amico, Nino Malmbrì (possessore di materiale fotografico originale del barone). Le fotografie di Gaetano D’Agata, sono state prese dal mio album di famiglia: in una foto un pò rovinata, ma eccezionale per il suo valore storico e per me affettivo, il mio bisnonno, il fotografo Gaetano D'Agata, qui molto giovane, tiene in braccio sua figlia "Ninitta" (una dei quattro figli, avuti da tre mogli), lei è la mia nonna paterna; in un'altra foto, il fotografo Gaetano D'Agata posa accanto a lei qualche anno dopo, con mia nonna già ragazzina; sempre realizzate dal bisnonno D'Agata c'è sia un foto-ritratto, un primo piano, di mia nonna "Ninitta" molto giovane, e c'è la foto di lei mentre posa come contadinella, con dietro un fondale dipinto, come si usava nelle foto da studio; infine ho messo, due foto realizzate dal mio bisnonno Gaetano "en plein air" a delle bagnanti, "la location" è la spiaggia di Mazzarò (Taormina). Le fotografie delle tombe dei personaggi menzionati nel racconto, sono state fatte nel cimitero cattolico ed acattolico di Taormina; il complesso monumentale funerario del conte Otto Geleng in alto presenta il mezzobusto del figlio Ermanno, la presenza di simbolismi come la clessidra, il gallo, il libro (la Sacra Bibbia) ed il dio mercurio, mi fa ritenere che il conte Otto facesse parte della loggia massonica di Taormina, all’epoca ne faceva parte anche il sindaco di Taormina, dott. Cacciola e sua moglie Lady Florence Trevelyan: nel suo palazzo il dott. Cacciola, realizzò un tempio, che divenne la prima loggia massonica di Taormina : la "Rinascimento"(1904).
There have been reports for a while now of Snow Geese in the upper Fraser Valley. My first attempt to see them was a discovery of a flock of fake snow geese, that did me no good.
On this morning I saw many Swans and Bald Eagles and finally spotted a good size flock flying out of the rising sun coming from Chilliwack way. They circled towards the south and seemed to either land in southern Abbotsford near the border or over it.
Report Goldstrand - youtu.be/IZWWvaq2Bxc
Teaser Goldstrand - youtu.be/LoU-WM9wJ7Y
Zimmerführung Suite 9903 - youtu.be/ckMaYc-ynSs
Begleitet Lena mit zum Opening an den Goldstrand in Bulgarien und ins Hotel Grand Marina Beach. Entdeckt die Partydestination am Schwarzen Meer, die weit mehr als nur Party bietet.
Das komplette V-Blog vom Goldstrand in allen 7 Teilen plus Preview gibt es hier - youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnS4RXnhE-PlB32tgxDLlHnew7JEn9NGX
Wenn Ihr selbst an den Goldstrand fahren wollt, empfehlen wir Euch dieses Hotel: www.booking.com/hotel/bg/marina-grand-beach.de.html?aid=3...
Perfekte Komplettlösuingen bietet das Reisebüro Belwan an: reisebuero-belwan.de/
"ArcelorMittal Reports $6.7 Billion Loss and Plan to Raise $3 Billion" by STANLEY REED via NYT t.co/0r0TzWvIAO (via Twitter twitter.com/felipemassone/status/695530426308419585)
Report and full photo gallery on my website:
www.obsidianurbexphotography.com/leisure/spaceship-love-h...
Spaceship Love Hotel is an abandoned hotel/adult entertainment venue in Japan. There are themed rooms; medieval, funfair, airplane, Vegas, Disney etc
For my report I decided to do a very serious topic. The unfair treatment of frogs! Are they not breathing, thinking, loving, individuals whose soul wants to be free? *sobs* It's just so sad for them, they have a hard life...
-Lagoona
With this shot I am finishing my late report of annual Riga city festival 2018 (Rīgas svētki 2018).
Dream Garden. Riga Latvian Society – 150th Anniversary at Rīgas svētki 2018
I think my uniform looks perfect! I'm sure my shipmates think so too!
The retro pinup look will never die!
This is another of the themes Cindy, Roberta & I played with during our most recent photo shoot! It was exciting and kind of got me all tingly to have something hard between my legs! [giggle]
My ensemble for this set consists of my Danskin black nylon spandex leotard with copper & black French heeled seamed stockings and Romance garter belt from secretsinlace.com along with my black patent 5½" heels from electriqueboutique.com, and a cute little fedora to top it all off!
To see more pix of me in other tight, sexy and revealing outfits click this link:www.flickr.com/photos/kaceycdpix/sets/72157623668202157/
To see more pix of me in FF and RHT stockings & lingerie click this link: www.flickr.com/photos/kaceycdpix/sets/72157627113549549/
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"non-Catholic cemetery of Taormina: the tomb of Sofia Raabe (immediately behind the tomb of her brother von Gloeden) with the Cross on which the dates of birth and death are reported: Von Gloeden worked in his house-studio in front of the Hotel San Domenico Palace, with him lived his sister Sofia Raabe (1847-1930), daughter of his mother's first husband, who helped him to run the house-studio, and in receiving the illustrious guests who came to visit him"
“cimitero acattolico di Taormina: la tomba di Sofia Raabe (subito dietro la tomba di suo fratello von Gloeden) con sopra la Croce sulla quale sono riportate le date di nascita e di morte: Von Gloeden lavorava nella sua casa-studio di fronte l’Hotel San Domenico Palace, con lui viveva sua sorella Sofia Raabe (1847-1930), figlia del primo marito di sua madre, che lo aiutava a governare la casa-studio, e nel ricevere gli illustri ospiti che lo andavano a trovare”
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clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;
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The photographer Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden: and some "secret stories” of Taormina ...
At the age of about 11-12, I made a very particular discovery, I found a fair number of ancient photographs (they had been well hidden by my grandmother) inside an ancient chest of drawers in our house in Taormina, for me it was a huge surprise, the a taste for the forbidden appeared in me for the first time, they were black and white photographs, they portrayed naked boys, or only partially dressed in drapes or sheets, they were posed to imitate certain statues (or drawings) of the Greco-Roman period; I was very intrigued by them, every now and then I went to look at them, without ever feeling discomfort, I did not consider them vulgar photographs. Some of the photos were the size of a postcard, others of various sizes increasingly larger, up to a format similar to A3; on the back there were stamps, there were also, inside small red cardboard boxes, glass plates, not large, looking at them against the light, they let us glimpse images of naked boys, or only partially dressed: they were photographic negatives made on glass plates. What was that particular photographic material hidden by my grandmother in the dresser of our house? Let's take a step back in time let's teleport to April 2, 1787 when the German poet, narrator, playwright Johan Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) lands in Palermo, following his Grand Tour in Italy (the word "tourism" derives from it) he will say of Sicily that it is a place of splendor, beauty and harmony, but at the same time a place of poverty, suffering, misery and social injustice; Goethe wrote the book "Journey to Italy", revealing himself to be one of Italy's most passionate admirers, stating that "Sicily is the key to everything" (the incredible resemblance of thought with the great Sicilian writer and journalist Leonardo Sciascia (1921-1989) who published in 1979 the book entitled “Sicily as a metaphor”). At the time of Goethe (and for a long time to come) the knowledge of Sicily was made up of stereotyped ideas, it was considered a land of mysteries, a den of brigands, which aroused fear in travelers, tourism did not exist, very few knew a foreign language, journeys with carriages were slow, nothing strange therefore that Taormina was an unknown village at the time. Garibaldi, in the year 1860, frees Sicily from the domination of the Bourbons. In February 1863, Count Ottone (Otto) Geleng (1843-1939) arrives in Taormina from Germany, he is a landscape painter, he begins an intense pictorial activity, thus succeeding in making Taormina and its landscapes known in the various cultural circles of Germany and France. Count Otto thus invites the then painter (who later became a photographer) Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden (1856-1931) to come to Taormina to treat his "subtle ache", pulmonary tuberculosis, which would have benefited from the mild climate of Sicily. Von Gloeden, twenty-two, arrived in Taormina in 1878, became passionate about photography by taking lessons from the local engineer and photographer Giuseppe Bruno (1836-1904), perhaps also a teacher of Giovanni Crupi (1859-1925), landscape photographer friend of von Gloeden, Crupi himself could also have contributed to the training as a photographer of the young von Gloeden. Like Otto Geleng's paintings, the photographs of the young Wilhelm also began to entice the then bourgeoisie across the border to come to Sicily: in the last 20 years of the 1800s the foundations were being laid for tourism in Sicily. The photographs taken by von Gloeden had as their subject young Sicilian adolescents dressed in the old-fashioned way with drapes, or completely naked, at most adorned with wreaths of flowers or laurel leaves placed on their heads, the young models assumed well-studied poses under the directed by the photographer baron, designed to create scenes that wanted to reconstruct the atmosphere of the mythical Arcadia (bucolic landscape of ancient Greece). In his poetics we can find the interest in disguise and transvestism, the young fisherman is made ambiguous by making him wear a wig, made resembling a young Sicilian girl; the images are not produced for the sole and mere trade, they are works that will be published in various famous magazines (such as "The National Geographic Magazine" or "the photographic progress", A. Stieglitz publishes his nudes on “Camera Notes"), also participating in international photographic exhibitions. The young models are filmed among ancient ruins, in rocky environments, outdoors, eliciting a spiritual feeling full of nostalgia, which follows pictorial models of German romanticism. In the photographic book "Verga photographer" (created on the discovery of 327 glass plates and 121 celluloid frames), in Giovanni Verga (1840-1922) great Sicilian narrator, it is possible to observe his photographs interwoven with "realism", while in the photographs of von Gloeden the symbolism andthe spiritualism predominate, however Wilhelm will also produce documentary-type photographs, photographing the terrible earthquake (and tsunami) of Messina (and Reggio Calabria) of 1908. Von Gloeden seems fully integrated into the Taormina society , nevertheless suffers heavy homophobic attacks from the local press and from important characters from Taormina, including Otto Geleng himself, who will be sued by the baron, which will then be withdrawn upon payment of 896 lire, and a restorative declaration published in the "Gazzetta di Messina" . Von Gloeden worked in his house-studio in front of the Hotel San Domenico Palace, with him lived his sister Sofia Raabe (1847-1930), daughter of his mother's first husband, who helped him manage the house-studio, and in the to receive the illustrious guests who visited him (such as Oscar Wilde, FA Krupp, Richard Strauss, the German emperor Wilhelm II, Eleonora Duse). Von Gloeden died on February 16, 1931 at the age of 74, he was buried in the non-Catholic cemetery of Taormina, his heir was his all-around assistant Pancrazio Buciunì known as "il moro" (1879-1963) ("u 'moru", family nickname), which continues the activity, selling the prints: he undergoes two searches in full fascist regime with partial seizure and destruction of the photographic material that belonged to von Gloeden (fascism persecuted homosexuals, the repression of homosexuality was entrusted to the fascist police, which confined many homosexuals to the islands of the Mediterranean, Lipari was one of these, see the beautiful film by Ettore Scola "a special day"), Buciunì undergoes two trials for detention of obscene material, and, despite an adverse appraisal by the appointed expert prof. Stefano Bottari, holder of the chair of history of medieval and modern art at the University of Messina, who declares much of the seized material obscene, the Court of Messina, demonstrating tolerance and open-mindedness, acquits Buciunì. At this point in the story we return to my grandmother's dresser and reveal the little mystery: the hidden photographs belonged to my great-grandfather Don Gaetano D'Agata (1883-1949), von Gloeden's assistant photographer, also on the baron's teaching, he made nude photographs, as well as landscape or portrait photographs; Don Gaetano was a globetrotter, in our family album he is portrayed in various parts of the world, always in the company of beautiful women: but I will never know if those "forbidden photos" were taken by my great-grandfather Gaetano or by Von Gloeden himself, because my grandmother, having understood that I was going to peek at them in secret, made them disappear permanently, and I never heard anymore of that photographic material. For my part, it is only right to mention other figures who contributed to making Taormina the current destination for international tourism. Lady Florence Trevelyan (1852-1907), was Queen Victoria's lady-in-waiting, she was then sent into exile in various parts of the world by Queen herself, she arrived in Taormina and stayed there forever, she was a woman of exceptional gifts, endowed with great sensitivity and humanity, animal rights activist, philanthropist, passionate about esotericism, she was married to the then mayor and doctor of Taormina dr. Salvatore Cacciola, she were one of the first women admitted to world Freemasonry (her husband Cacciola also belonged to Freemasonry): I have already talked about it previously in one of my photographic stories. On the occasion of the XXI festival of the two worlds in Spoleto, in 1978, the essayist and literary critic Roland Barthes (1915-1980) curated an exhibition entitled "Wilhelm von Gloeden", with interventions by artists such as Andy Warhol, M. Pistoletto and J. Beuys. Finally, Raffaella Perna, Researcher in History of Contemporary Art at the University of Catania, underlines in her book on "Wilhelm von Gloeden, disguises, portraits, tableaux vivants", of how LaChapelle, Witkin, Mapplethorpe are the contemporary artists who they are indicated as heirs of von Gloeden's poetics.
P.S. Von Gloeden's photographs were made by photographing both the large panels with gigantographic reproductions of von Gloeden's works, which are located at the entrance of the Mocambo bar in Taormina, and in the shop-bazaar of the photographer from Taormina, my late friend, Nino Malmbrì (owner of the baron's original photographic material). The photographs of Gaetano D’Agata, were taken from my family album: in a photo a little damaged, but exceptional for its historical and emotional value, my great-grandfather, the photographer Gaetano D'Agata, here very young, holds his daughter "Ninitta" (a of the four children, had by three wives), she is my paternal grandmother; in another photo, the photographer Gaetano D'Agata poses next to her a few years later, with my grandmother already a young girl; always made by great-grandfather D'Agata there is both a portrait photo, a close-up, of my very young grandmother "Ninitta", and there is a photo of her posing as a peasant girl, with a painted backdrop behind her, as if used in studio photos; finally I put two photos taken by my great-grandfather Gaetano "en plein air" of bathers, "the location" is the beach of Mazzarò (Taormina). The photographs of the tombstones of the characters mentioned in the story were taken in the Catholic and non-Catholic cemetery of Taormina; the monumental funerary complex of Count Otto Geleng at the top presents the bust of his son Ermanno, the presence of symbolisms such as the hourglass, the rooster, the book (the Holy Bible) and the god mercury, makes me believe that Count Otto was part of the Masonic lodge of Taormina, at the time the mayor of Taormina was also part of it, dr. Cacciola and his wife Lady Florence Trevelyan: in his palace, Dr. Cacciola, built a temple, which became the first Masonic lodge in Taormina: the "Renaissance" (1904).
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Il barone fotografo Wilhelm von Gloeden: ed alcune “storie segrete” di Taormina …
Io, all’età di circa 11-12 anni, feci una scoperta molto particolare, trovai un discreto numero di antiche fotografie (erano state ben nascoste da mia nonna) dentro un antico comò in casa nostra a Taormina, per me fu una enorme sorpresa, il gusto del proibito si affacciò in me per la prima volta, erano fotografie in bianco e nero, ritraevano ragazzi nudi, o solo in parte vestiti con drappi o lenzuoli, messi in posa imitavano certe statue (o disegni) del periodo greco-romano; io ne ero rimasto molto incuriosito, ogni tanto le andavo a riguardare, senza mai provare disagio, non le consideravo fotografie volgari. Alcune foto erano della grandezza di una cartolina, altre di varie dimensioni sempre più grandi, fino ad arrivare ad un formato assimilabile all’A3; sul retro c’erano impressi dei timbri, c’erano anche, dentro dei piccoli scatoli in cartoncino di colore rosso, delle lastrine in vetro, non grandi, guardandole in controluce, lasciavano intravedere immagini di ragazzi nudi, o poco vestiti: erano i negativi fotografici realizzati su vetro. Cosa ci faceva quel materiale fotografico, così particolare, nascosto da mia nonna nel comò di casa nostra? Facciamo un salto indietro nel tempo teletrasportiamoci al 2 aprile 1787 quando a Palermo sbarca il poeta, narratore, drammaturgo tedesco Johan Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), in seguito al suo Grand Tour in Italia (turismo deriva da esso) dirà della Sicilia che essa è luogo di splendore, bellezza ed armonia, ma al tempo stesso luogo di povertà, sofferenza, miseria ed ingiustizia sociale; Goethe scrive il libro “Viaggio in Italia”, rivelandosi uno dei più appassionati ammiratori dell’Italia, affermando che “la Sicilia è la chiave di tutto” (incredibile la rassomiglianza di pensiero col grande scrittore e giornalista siciliano Leonardo Sciascia (1921-1989) che pubblica nel 1979 il libro dal titolo “la Sicilia come metafora”). Ai tempi di Goethe (e per molto tempo ancora) la conoscenza della Sicilia era fatta di idee stereotipate, era considerata terra di misteri, covo di briganti, il che incuteva timore nei viaggiatori, il turismo non esisteva, pochissimi conoscevano una lingua straniera, i viaggi con carrozze ertano lenti, nulla di strano quindi che Taormina fosse all’epoca un villaggio sconosciuto. Garibaldi, nell’anno 1860, libera la Sicilia dalla dominazione dei Borboni. Nel febbraio del 1863, dalla Germania giunge a Taormina il conte Ottone (Otto) Geleng (1843-1939), egli è un pittore paesaggista, inizia una intensa attività pittorica, riuscendo in tal modo a far conoscere Taormina ed i suoi paesaggi nei vari circoli culturali della Germania e della Francia. Il conte Otto invita così l’allora pittore (poi divenuto fotografo) barone Wilhelm von Gloeden (1856-1931) a venire a Taormina per curare il suo “mal sottile”, la tubercolosi polmonare, che avrebbe tratto giovamento dal clima mite della Sicilia. Von Gloeden, ventiduenne, nel 1878 giunge a Taormina, si appassiona alla fotografia prendendo lezioni dall’ingegnere e fotografo locale Giuseppe Bruno (1836-1904), forse anche insegnante di Giovanni Crupi (1859-1925), fotografo paesaggista amico di von Gloeden, il quale Crupi stesso potrebbe anche aver contribuito alla formazione come fotografo del giovane von Gloeden. Così come i dipinti di Otto Geleng, anche le fotografie del giovane Wilhelm incominciarono ad invogliare l’allora borghesia d’oltre confine, a venire in Sicilia: negli ultimi 20 anni dell’800 si stavano gettando le basi per il turismo in Sicilia. Le fotografie realizzate da von Gloeden avevano come soggetto giovani adolescenti siciliani vestiti all’antica con drappi, o completamente nudi, tutt’al più adornati da coroncine di fiorellini o foglie d’alloro messi sul capo, i giovani modelli assumevano pose ben studiate sotto la regia del barone fotografo, atte a realizzare scene che volevano ricostruire l’atmosfera della mitica Arcadia (paesaggio bucolico dell’antica Grecia). Nella sua poetica possiamo riscontrare l’interesse per il travestimento ed il travestitismo, il giovane pescatore viene reso ambiguo facendogli indossare una parrucca, reso somigliante ad una giovane ragazza siciliana; le immagini non vengono prodotte per il solo e mero commercio, sono opere che verranno pubblicate su varie riviste famose (come “The National Geographic Magazine” o “Il Progresso fotografico”, A. Stieglitz pubblica i suoi nudi su “Camera Notes”), partecipando anche ad esposizioni fotografiche internazionali. I giovani modelli sono ripresi tra antichi ruderi, in ambienti rupestri, all’aperto, elicitando un sentimento spirituale carico di nostalgia, il che ricalca modelli pittorici del romanticismo tedesco. Nel libro fotografico “Verga fotografo” (realizzato su ritrovamento di 327 lastre in vetro e 121 fotogrammi in celluloide), in Giovanni Verga (1840-1922) grande narratore siciliano, è possibile osservare le sue fotografie intessute di “verismo”, mentre nelle fotografie di von Gloeden predomina il simbolismo e lo spiritualismo, purtuttavia Wilhelm produrrà anch’egli fotografie di tipo documentaristico, andando a fotografare il terribile terremoto (e maremoto) di Messina (e di Reggio Calabria) del 1908. Von Gloeden sembra pienamente integrato nella società taorminese, ciononostante subisce pesanti attacchi omofobi dalla stampa locale e da importanti personaggi taorminesi, incluso lo stesso Otto Geleng, i quali verranno querelati dal barone, querela che verrà poi ritirata dietro pagamento di 896 lire, ed una dichiarazione riparatoria pubblicata sulla “Gazzetta di Messina”. Von Gloeden lavorava nella sua casa-studio di fronte l’Hotel San Domenico Palace, con lui viveva sua sorella Sofia Raabe (1847-1930), figlia del primo marito di sua madre, che lo aiutava a governare la casa-studio, e nel ricevere gli illustri ospiti che lo andavano a trovare ( come Oscar Wilde, F.A. Krupp, Richard Strauss, l’imperatore tedesco Guglielmo II, Eleonora Duse). Von Gloeden muore il 16 febbraio 1931 all’età di 74 anni, viene sepolto nel cimitero acattolico di Taormina, il suo erede è il suo assistente tutto fare Pancrazio Buciunì detto “il moro” (1879-1963) (“u’ moru”, soprannome di famiglia), che ne prosegue l’attività, vendendone le stampe: il quale subisce in pieno regime fascista due perquisizioni con parziale sequestro e distruzione del materiale fotografico che apparteneva a von Gloeden (il fascismo perseguitò gli omosessuali, la repressione dell’omosessualità fu affidata alla polizia fascista, che confinò molti omosessuali nelle isole del mediterraneo, Lipari fu una di queste, vedi il bellissimo film di Ettore Scola “una giornata particolare”), Buciunì subisce due processi per detenzione di materiale osceno, e, nonostante una perizia avversa da parte del nominato perito prof. Stefano Bottari, titolare della cattedra di storia dell’arte medioevale e moderna dell’Università di Messina, che dichiara osceno gran parte del materiale sequestrato, il Tribunale di Messina dimostrando tolleranza ed apertura mentale, assolve il Buciunì. A questo punto del racconto ritorniamo al comò di mia nonna e sveliamo il piccolo mistero: le fotografie nascoste appartenevano al mio bisnonno don Gaetano D’Agata (1883-1949), assistente fotografo di von Gloeden, anch’egli sull’insegnamento del barone, realizzò fotografie di nudo, oltre che di paesaggio o ritratto; don Gaetano era un giramondo, nel nostro album di famiglia lui è ritratto in varie parti del mondo, sempre in compagnia di belle donne: ma io non saprò mai se quelle “foto proibite” erano realizzate dal mio bisnonno Gaetano o da Von Gloeden stesso, perché mia nonna, avendo capito che le andavo a sbirciare di nascosto, le fece sparire definitivamente, e di quel materiale fotografico non ne seppi più nulla. Da parte mia, è doveroso citare altre figure che contribuirono a rendere Taormina l’attuale meta del turismo internazionale. Lady Florence Trevelyan (1852-1907), era dama di corte della regina Vittoria, dalla stessa regina Lady Florence fu poi mandata in esilio in varie parti del mondo, giunse a Taormina e qui vi restò per sempre, era una donna dalle doti eccezionali, dotata di grande sensibilità ed umanità, animalista, filantropa, appassionata di esoterismo, fu sposa dell’allora sindaco e medico di Taormina dott. Salvatore Cacciola, fu una delle prime donne ammesse alla massoneria mondiale (apparteneva alla massoneria anche il marito Cacciola): ne ho già parlato in precedenza in un mio racconto fotografico. Robert Hawthorn Kitson (1873-1947) era un pittore britannico omosessuale, egli lasciò l’Inghilterra a causa dell’emendamento Labouchere, che rendeva illegale qualsiasi atto omosessuale nel Regno Unito (1885), giunse a Taormina e qui si stabilì, costruendo nel 1905 Casa Cusani, una villa con vista sull’Etna, oggi casa museo; nella sua sala da pranzo si trovano gli affreschi “proibiti” realizzati da Frank Brangwyn, essi narrano dell’amore omosessuale tra Kitson ed il suo compagno Carlo Siligato: nel 1908 in seguito al terremoto che distrusse Messina (e Reggio Calabria), essi adottarono un bambino che era rimasto orfano, divenendo di fatto una famiglia omosessuale, all’epoca assolutamente proibita; gli affreschi di Casa Cuseni sono ispirati alle fotografie di von Gloeden, così come nella villa, si trova una “autocromia a colori” del 1910, realizzata da von Gloeden, documento eccezionale che testimonia la volontà del barone di sperimentare nuove tecniche. In occasione del XXI festival dei due mondi di Spoleto, nel 1978, il saggista e critico letterario Roland Barthes (1915-1980) cura una mostra intitolata “Wilhelm von Gloeden”, con interventi di artisti quali Andy Warhol, M. Pistoletto e J. Beuys. Infine, Raffaella Perna, Ricercatrice in Storia dell'arte contemporanea all'Università degli Studi di Catania, sottolinea nel suo libro su “Wilhelm von Gloeden, travestimenti, ritratti, tableaux vivants”, di come LaChapelle, Witkin, Mapplethorpe siano gli artisti contemporanei che vengono indicati come eredi della poetica di von Gloeden.
P.S. le fotografie di Von Gloeden sono state realizzate fotografando sia i grandi pannelli con gigantografiche riproduzioni delle opere di von Gloeden, che si trovano all’ingresso del bar Mocambo di Taormina, sia nel negozio-bazar del fotografo taorminese, compianto mio amico, Nino Malmbrì (possessore di materiale fotografico originale del barone). Le fotografie di Gaetano D’Agata, sono state prese dal mio album di famiglia: in una foto un pò rovinata, ma eccezionale per il suo valore storico e per me affettivo, il mio bisnonno, il fotografo Gaetano D'Agata, qui molto giovane, tiene in braccio sua figlia "Ninitta" (una dei quattro figli, avuti da tre mogli), lei è la mia nonna paterna; in un'altra foto, il fotografo Gaetano D'Agata posa accanto a lei qualche anno dopo, con mia nonna già ragazzina; sempre realizzate dal bisnonno D'Agata c'è sia un foto-ritratto, un primo piano, di mia nonna "Ninitta" molto giovane, e c'è la foto di lei mentre posa come contadinella, con dietro un fondale dipinto, come si usava nelle foto da studio; infine ho messo, due foto realizzate dal mio bisnonno Gaetano "en plein air" a delle bagnanti, "la location" è la spiaggia di Mazzarò (Taormina). Le fotografie delle tombe dei personaggi menzionati nel racconto, sono state fatte nel cimitero cattolico ed acattolico di Taormina; il complesso monumentale funerario del conte Otto Geleng in alto presenta il mezzobusto del figlio Ermanno, la presenza di simbolismi come la clessidra, il gallo, il libro (la Sacra Bibbia) ed il dio mercurio, mi fa ritenere che il conte Otto facesse parte della loggia massonica di Taormina, all’epoca ne faceva parte anche il sindaco di Taormina, dott. Cacciola e sua moglie Lady Florence Trevelyan: nel suo palazzo il dott. Cacciola, realizzò un tempio, che divenne la prima loggia massonica di Taormina : la "Rinascimento"(1904).
Dear Olivia,
Clouds on the horizon could be gathering to nourish with life giving rain, or, they could be breaking apart with the promise of good times ahead. Either way, be grateful. Clouds are just plain beautiful.
Sony RX1 User Report.
I hesitate to write about gear. Tools are tools and the bitter truth is that a great craftsman rises above his tools to create a masterpiece whereas most of us try to improve our abominations by buying better or faster hammers to hit the same nails at the same awkward angles.
The internet is fairly flooded with reviews of this tiny marvel, and it isn’t my intention to compete with those articles. If you’re looking for a full-scale review of every feature or a down-to-Earth accounting of the RX1’s strengths and weaknesses, I recommend starting here.
Instead, I’d like to provide you with a flavor of how I’ve used the camera over the last six months. In short, this is a user report. To save yourself a few thousand words: I love the thing. As we go through this article, you’ll see this is a purpose built camera. The RX1 is not for everyone, but we will get to that and on the way, I’ll share a handful of images that I made with the camera.
It should be obvious to anyone reading this that I write this independently and have absolutely no relationship with Sony (other than having exchanged a large pile of cash for this camera at a retail outlet).
Before we get to anything else, I want to clear the air about two things: Price and Features
The Price
First things first: the price. The $2800+ cost of this camera is the elephant in the room and, given I purchased the thing, you may consider me a poor critic. That in mind, I want to offer you three thoughts:
Consumer goods cost what they cost, in the absence of a competitor (the Fuji X100s being the only one worth mention) there is no comparison and you simply have to decide for yourself if you are willing to pay or not.
Normalize the price per sensor area for all 35mm f/2 lens and camera alternatives and you’ll find the RX1 is an amazing value.
You are paying for the ability to take photographs, plain and simple. Ask yourself, “what are these photographs worth to me?”
In my case, #3 is very important. I have used the RX1 to take hundreds of photographs of my family that are immensely important to me. Moreover, I have made photographs (many appearing on this page) that are moving or beautiful and only happened because I had the RX1 in my bag or my pocket. Yes, of course I could have made these or very similar photographs with another camera, but that is immaterial.
35mm by 24mm by 35mm f/2
The killer feature of this camera is simple: it is a wafer of silicon 35mm by 24mm paired to a brilliantly, ridiculously, undeniably sharp, contrasty and bokehlicious 35mm f/2 Carl Zeiss lens. Image quality is king here and all other things take a back seat. This means the following: image quality is as good or better than your DSLR, but battery life, focus speed, and responsiveness are likely not as good as your DSLR. I say likely because, if you have an entry-level DSLR, the RX1 is comparable on these dimensions. If you want to change lenses, if you want an integrated viewfinder, if you want blindingly fast phase-detect autofocus then shoot with a DSLR. If you want the absolute best image quality in the smallest size possible, you’ve got it in the RX1.
While we are on the subject of interchangeable lenses and viewfinders...
I have an interchangeable lens DSLR and I love the thing. It’s basically a medium format camera in a 35mm camera body. It’s a powerhouse and it is the first camera I reach for when the goal is photography. For a long time, however, I’ve found myself in situations where photography was not the first goal, but where I nevertheless wanted to have a camera. I’m around the table with friends or at the park with my son and the DSLR is too big, too bulky, too intimidating. It comes between you and life. In this realm, mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras seem to be king, but they have a major flaw: they are, for all intents and purposes, just little DSLRs.
As I mentioned above, I have an interchangeable lens system, why would I want another, smaller one? Clearly, I am not alone in feeling this way, as the market has produced a number of what I would call “professional point and shoots.” Here we are talking about the Fuji X100/X100s, Sigma DPm-series and the RX100 and RX1.
Design is about making choices
When the Fuji X100 came out, I was intrigued. Here was a cheap(er), baby Leica M. Quiet, small, unobtrusive. Had I waited to buy until the X100s had come out, perhaps this would be a different report. Perhaps, but probably not. I remember thinking to myself as I was looking at the X100, “I wish there was a digital Rollei 35, something with a fixed 28mm or 35mm lens that would fit in a coat pocket or a small bag.” Now of course, there is.
So, for those of you who said, “I would buy the RX1 if it had interchangeable lenses or an integrated viewfinder or faster autofocus,” I say the following: This is a purpose built camera. You would not want it as an interchangeable system, it can’t compete with DSLR speed. A viewfinder would make the thing bigger and ruin the magic ratio of body to sensor size—further, there is a 3-inch LCD viewfinder on the back! Autofocus is super fast, you just don’t realize it because the bar has been raised impossibly high by ultra-sonic magnet focusing rings on professional DSLR lenses. There’s a fantastic balance at work here between image quality and size—great tools are about the total experience, not about one or the other specification.
In short, design is about making choices. I think Sony has made some good ones with the RX1.
In use
So I’ve just written 1,000 words of a user report without, you know, reporting on use. In many ways the images on the page are my user report. These photographs, more than my words, should give you a flavor of what the RX1 is about. But, for the sake of variety, I intend to tell you a bit about the how and the why of shooting with the RX1.
Snapshots
As a beginning enthusiast, I often sneered at the idea of a snapshot. As I’ve matured, I’ve come to appreciate what a pocket camera and a snapshot can offer. The RX1 is the ultimate photographer’s snapshot camera.
I’ll pause here to properly define snapshot as a photograph taken quickly with a handheld camera.
To quote Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” So it is with photography. Beautiful photographs happen at the decisive moment—and to paraphrase Henri Cartier-Bresson further—the world is newly made and falling to pieces every instant. I think it is no coincidence that each revolution in the steady march of photography from the tortuously slow chemistry of tin-type and daguerreotype through 120 and 35mm formats to the hyper-sensitive CMOS of today has engendered new categories and concepts of photography.
Photography is a reflexive, reactionary activity. I see beautiful light or the unusual in an every day event and my reaction is a desire to make a photograph. It’s a bit like breathing and has been since I was a kid.
Rather than sneer at snapshots, nowadays I seek them out; and when I seek them out, I do so with the Sony RX1 in my hand.
How I shoot with the RX1
Despite much bluster from commenters on other reviews as to the price point and the purpose-built nature of this camera (see above), the RX1 is incredibly flexible. Have a peek at some of the linked reviews and you’ll see handheld portraits, long exposures, images taken with off-camera flash, etc.
Yet, I mentioned earlier that I reach for the D800 when photography is the primary goal and so the RX1 has become for me a handheld camera—something I use almost exclusively at f/2 (people, objects, shallow DoF) or f/8 (landscapes in abundant light, abstracts). The Auto-ISO setting allows the camera to choose in the range from ISO 50 and 6400 to reach a proper exposure at a given aperture with a 1/80 s shutter speed. I have found this shutter speed ensures a sharp image every time (although photographers with more jittery grips may wish there was the ability to select a different default shutter speed). This strategy works because the RX1 has a delightfully clicky exposure compensation dial just under your right thumb—allowing for fine adjustment to the camera’s metering decision.
So then, if you find me out with the RX1, you’re likely to see me on aperture priority, f/2 and auto ISO. Indeed, many of the photographs on this page were taken in that mode (including lots of the landscape shots!).
Working within constraints.
The RX1 is a wonderful camera to have when you have to work within constraints. When I say this, I mean it is great for photography within two different classes of constraints: 1) physical constraints of time and space and 2) intellectual/artistic constraints.
To speak to the first, as I said earlier, many of the photographs on this page were made possible by having a camera with me at a time that I otherwise would not have been lugging around a camera. For example, some of the images from the Grand Canyon you see were made in a pinch on my way to a Christmas dinner with my family. I didn’t have the larger camera with me and I just had a minute to make the image. Truth be told, these images could have been made with my cell phone, but that I could wring such great image quality out of something not much larger than my cell phone is just gravy. Be it jacket pocket, small bag, bike bag, saddle bag, even fannie pack—you have space for this camera anywhere you go.
Earlier I alluded to the obtrusiveness of a large camera. If you want to travel lightly and make photographs without announcing your presence, it’s easier to use a smaller camera. Here the RX1 excels. Moreover, the camera’s leaf shutter is virtually silent, so you can snap away without announcing your intention. In every sense, this camera is meant to work within physical constraints.
I cut my photographic teeth on film and I will always have an affection for it. There is a sense that one is playing within the rules when he uses film. That same feeling is here in the RX1. I never thought I’d say this about a camera, but I often like the JPEG images this thing produces more than I like what I can push with a RAW. Don’t get me wrong, for a landscape or a cityscape, the RAW processed carefully is FAR, FAR better than a JPEG.
But when I am taking snapshots or photos of friends and family, I find the JPEGs the camera produces (I’m shooting in RAW + JPEG) so beautiful. The camera’s computer corrects for the lens distortion and provides the perfect balance of contrast and saturation. The JPEG engine can be further tweaked to increase the amount of contrast, saturation or dynamic range optimization (shadow boost) used in writing those files. Add in the ability to rapidly compensate exposure or activate various creative modes and you’ve got this feeling you’re shooting film again. Instant, ultra-sensitive and customizable film.
Pro Tip: Focusing
Almost all cameras come shipped with what I consider to be the worst of the worst focus configurations. Even the Nikon D800 came to my hands set to focus when the shutter button was halfway depressed. This mode will ruin almost any photograph. Why? Because it requires you to perform legerdemain to place the autofocus point, depress the shutter halfway, recompose and press the shutter fully. In addition to the chance of accidentally refocusing after composing or missing the shot—this method absolutely ensures that one must focus before every single photograph. Absolutely impossible for action or portraiture.
Sensibly, most professional or prosumer cameras come with an AF-ON button near where the shooter’s right thumb rests. This separates the task of focusing and exposing, allowing the photographer to quickly focus and to capture the image even if focus is slightly off at the focus point. For portraits, kids, action, etc the camera has to have a hair-trigger. It has to be responsive. Manufacturer’s: stop shipping your cameras with this ham-fisted autofocus arrangement.
Now, the RX1 does not have an AF-ON button, but it does have an AEL button whose function can be changed to “MF/AF Control Hold” in the menu. Further, other buttons on the rear of the camera can also be programmed to toggle between AF and MF modes. What this all means is that you can work around the RX1’s buttons to make it’s focus work like a DSLR’s. (For those of you who are RX1 shooters, set the front switch to MF, the right control wheel button to MF/AF Toggle and the AEL button to MF/AF Control Hold and voila!) The end result is that, when powered on the camera is in manual focus mode, but the autofocus can be activated by pressing AEL, no matter what, however, the shutter is tripped by the shutter release. Want to switch to AF mode? Just push a button and you’re back to the standard modality.
Carrying.
I keep mine in a small, neoprene pouch with a semi-hard LCD cover and a circular polarizing filter on the front—perfect for buttoning up and throwing into a bag on my way out of the house. I have a soft release screwed into the threaded shutter release and a custom, red twill strap to replace the horrible plastic strap Sony provided. I plan to gaffer tape the top and the orange ring around the lens. Who knows, I may find an old Voigtlander optical viewfinder in future as well.
Cualquiera de las imágenes aquí publicadas están registradas. El uso sin consentimiento por mi parte de ellas, reportará la denuncia al registro de propiedad intelectual.
Nail technicians and skin-care specialists (the salon workers who do the most waxing) earn a mean annual pre-tax wage of $22,150 to $31,990. This figure doesn't include tips, which can total another $4,430 to $6,398—a clear financial incentive to befriend your clients in this service-based, nonreciprocal way.
And yet. When it came to 38, I wanted the cash, not the compliment, to show the value of my abilities. And maybe, to compensate for how she got to leave feeling so clean and sexy—but I could still smell her body on me, ever so faintly, even after I threw away the gloves and washed my hands.
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I’m not sure what the phrase “owning your sexuality” means to you, but for me, one thing it entails is responsibility: doing my best to make sexual choices that are sound for me and a partner. (That’s also part of doing consent well.)
If I am offering something sexually light and fun but anticipate that it will be emotionally or interpersonally complex–or if I’m feeling stressed, confused and worried about it–then I can know that easy-breezy is neither what I can expect nor earnestly offer.
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Can Sex “Just for Fun” Be Emotionally Healthy?
October 11, 2011 by Heather Corinna
msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/10/11/can-sex-just-for-fun-...
This week’s installment of Heather Corinna‘s sex-and-relationships advice column tackles the issue of casual sex.
...Q: So excited for this new blog spot! Can you discuss whether it’s emotionally healthy to have sex outside of relationships? I want to own my sexuality, but all of the advice around me seems to be no-sex-outside-of-relationships-or-marriage. I know this depends on the individual, but any insight would be great! I’ve been toying with asking an ex–whom I am friends with–to have sex just for fun. I’m 98 percent sure he’ll agree, but I am worried about emotional health consequences. He has always wanted a much closer relationship than I do. I’m worried I’ll feel guilty for possibly leading him (or myself) into wanting more.
You’re right: this is a very individual and situational decision. To give some context, a recent study found that, on average, for 20-year-olds, casual sex and committed relationships led to the same level of psychological health. But individuals aren’t averages. Not everyone wants or is comfortable with sex in the same kinds of relationships or scenarios (including committed relationships). Context and interpersonal dynamics factor in, too.
There are some guidelines, however, that everyone can apply. When a sexual situation is likely to be sound, we usually feel good heading into it, as does anyone else involved. If we feel uncertain or predict negative feelings on anyone’s part, those are strong cues not to proceed.
I’m not sure what the phrase “owning your sexuality” means to you, but for me, one thing it entails is responsibility: doing my best to make sexual choices that are sound for me and a partner. (That’s also part of doing consent well.) If I am offering something sexually light and fun but anticipate that it will be emotionally or interpersonally complex–or if I’m feeling stressed, confused and worried about it–then I can know that easy-breezy is neither what I can expect nor earnestly offer.
Even when I’m having sex-for-sex’s-sake–which I would define as sex that takes place outside of a larger intimate relationship, without any agreed-upon, intended or implied commitment–that doesn’t mean I have zero responsibility for my emotional health or that of others. My partner (or wanna-be partner) and I still owe one another respect, care and consideration, which includes considering possible outcomes, even if we don’t intend to be there with each other for them.
It sounds like you’re on board with that, and you’ve already voiced your own sense that this specific situation probably isn’t sound for you or your ex. While he’d likely agree to sex, clearly some of this wouldn’t be fun for him or you, and could be an emotional landmine. While your romantic relationship may be over, you two are in a relationship: you have a history and a friendship, and it sounds like you have strong feelings for and about one another that are not only or primarily sexual. If what you want is just a roll in the proverbial hay, this isn’t likely to be it.
It also sounds like you’ve been curious about sex outside of romantic relationships, but you haven’t felt supported in or exposed to alternatives. So you might also want to give yourself more time to take a bit more stock of what you want and to find people to talk with who aren’t all saying the same things. If that’s not currently available to you, Sex & Single Girls is a great anthology with a diverse array of women writing about various sexual experiences. I also think Jaclyn Friedman’s new book, What You Really Really Want, could be just the thing for you.
My best advice is that you hold out for an opportunity to explore casual sex if and when you feel a lot better about it. That will also likely entail a partner or scenario you don’t feel so conflicted about; that feels more likely to be explosive in the ways you want, rather than the ways you don’t.
Check out last week’s advice about lube blues.
Have a sex, sexual-health or relationships question you want answered? Email it to Heather at sexandrelationships@msmagazine.com. By sending a question to that address, you acknowledge you give permission for your question to be published. Your email address and any other personally identifying information will remain private. Not all questions will receive answers.
Photo from Flickr user skampy under Creative Commons 2.0.
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When the Sweet Spot Becomes a Sore Spot
October 31, 2011 by Heather Corinna
msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/10/31/when-the-sweet-spot-b...
Q: I’m a 21-year-old lesbian. A problem has popped up in me and my girlfriend’s sex life. When we practice tribadism with just skin, after a while a very small raw spot will show up, bringing with it a sharp pain. Both of us have this problem. Neither of us is clean-shaven, but we do trim–would shaving help? Is there anything else we can do?
A: Ah, friction. Sometimes it feels so awesome. Other times it hurts. Part of what makes genitals so sensitive is that genital tissue is far more delicate than other kinds of skin on our bodies. With genital friction, there’s a tipping point after which a wowie can turn into an owie.
To avoid being rubbed raw, first make sure you and your partner are always very well-lubricated. Lube from a bottle tends to do the job better than our bodies’ lubricant when it comes to friction-intensive sex.
Apply lube before you start and add more as needed throughout. Be generous and don’t skimp.
I checked in with Searah Deysach, the fantastic owner of Early to Bed, to see if she had any specific lube suggestions; she keeps up with brands and types like nobody’s business. She suggested a high-quality silicone lube, such as Uberlube or Sliquid Silver–they tend to be longer-lasting and slicker than water-based lubricants. But if you prefer water-based, she suggests glycerin-free brands such as Sliquid Sea or Liquid Silk (my fave), which are kinder to vulvas and vaginas than those with glycerin.
Searah and I are of one mind about hairy issues. She says, “Hair that is growing back after shaving can be especially irritating, as stubble can be vicious on delicate tissues. “ I agree. Stubble from hair removal is more likely to irritate than the softer pubic hair we tend to have when we don’t shave. If all you do is trim, chances are hair isn’t the problem.
Consider positioning. I’d suggest experimenting with an eye for reducing how much weight is being put on each of your genitals. Try finding ways you can scissor without anyone really being “on top” at all, like lying on your backs toe to head. Searah suggested straddling your lover’s thigh as an alternative. Similar feeling, less pain. If you do like a missionary-style V-on-V position, whoever’s on top can try to balance so less weight rests on the other person’s tender bits–e.g., by bracing their hands on a headboard. Mixing up positions often helps, too. And if and when either of you start feeling raw, don’t keep going with the activity that got you there–take a break from genital sex or at least consider that spot done for the day. If it remains raw the next day, lay off the intense pressure for as long as it takes to heal.
Now and then this still might happen, especially because, when we’re very aroused, pleasure can cause us to space out on signals of pain. But with these adjustments, you can probably make it a rarity instead of a norm.
Check out last week’s advice to a woman whose fiancé monitored her vagina’s size.
Have a sex, sexual-health or relationships question you want answered? Email it to Heather at sexandrelationships@msmagazine.com. By sending a question to that address, you acknowledge you give permission for your question to be published. Your email address and any other personally identifying information will remain private. Not all questions will receive answers.
Photo from Flickr user Gray Marchiori-Simpson under license from Creative Commons 2.0
Line drawing from Wikimedia Commons.
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My Year in Waxing School
Naked people don't tip well, and more tricks of the trade.
By Virginia Sole-Smith|Posted Friday, Nov. 19, 2010, at 12:08 PM ET
www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2010/11/my_year_i...
The 38th client I worked on at Beauty U. was my first full Brazilian wax—the kind where you remove all (or almost all) of your hair below the belt. I'd waxed many bikini lines and other body parts. I'd also assisted on Brazilians, handing my teachers wax-dipped Popsicle sticks the way nurses hand over scalpels. But now, it was my turn to wield the wax, solo. "I know—I'm a hairy beast!" Client 38 apologized, hopping onto the waxing table, clad in disposable thong. "You have to fix me. I'm going on vacation with my boyfriend."
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She spread her legs. I put on some vinyl gloves and worked down and across her pelvis, twirling clumps of hair and trimming them free. You have to trim any hair longer than eyebrow-length to prevent "locking" with the wax. You also have to act like this is normal, even though a part of your brain is thinking, "Pubic hair, pubic hair, oh my God, pubic hair." But I was getting better at trimming, and also at acting. And so clouds of hair piled up on the paper-covered table while 38 chatted about her vacation plans (the Poconos; if she was lucky, a proposal), her C-section scar, and how she liked my red glasses.
The $1.8 billion business of superfluous hair removal is our most intimate and uncomfortable kind of beauty labor. When I enrolled in a 600-hour aesthetics program at my local strip mall beauty school, I knew the standard feminist rhetoric against hair removal: Women wax because we've been culturally indoctrinated to hate our bodies in their natural state. I also knew the women's magazine defense, that removing excess hair celebrates our femininity and increases sexual pleasure. And I'd been in 38's position enough to know that waxing can make you feel vulnerable in ways feminists haven't even considered and hurts more than women's magazines (or at least, their beauty advertisers) let you believe.
But being on the other side of the waxing table turns out to feel simultaneously more exploitative and more empowering than I ever expected. There is, for example, the moment when your client shuts off from you, closing her eyes to "relax." Your client is in charge, having commissioned you to perform this service. And yet they are also terribly vulnerable, half naked, exposed and—eyes closed—hoping for the best.
After I trimmed, I tested the temperature of the hot wax on the inside of my wrist and painted a stripe along 38's inner thigh, quickly covering it with a muslin strip. She tensed before I ripped, then relaxed even as her brown skin tinted pink: "That hurt so much less than last time!" I watched some spots of blood well up. "I'm going to have you do my eyebrows, too," she added. And as I waxed my way along the crevice of her inner thigh to some very sensitive parts, 38 closed her eyes, drifting into that blissful state we enter whenever a spa service goes well.
With most Beauty U. clients, I liked offering this respite from their harried lives and from the even more harried relationship they had with their bodies. Before beauty school began, I hoped this body shame part wouldn't be so true. Instead, I saw women hating their bodies—in subtle ways, like 38's matter-of-fact "I'm a hairy beast!"—with every spa service I performed. So I saw my role as providing a kind of safe haven of acceptance, where a client could feel comfortable enough to drift away
Two hours into 38's appointment, I was the one who could not relax. I had waxed right through my dinner break and my back ached from hunching over the table. I removed all the hair 38 had asked me to (all but a delicate landing strip) and cleaned up her brows. I held a hand mirror between her legs, angling it so she could decide if she was satisfied. I'd snipped off her paper thong, so we looked together like those consciousness-raising women's groups from the 1970s. Only with me still wearing my vinyl gloves, now sticky with a layer of wax.
By that time, I knew that 38 had two kids, was divorced, and was going back to college. I liked 38. I wanted her to enjoy vacation and get engaged and have a good life. But we weren't friends. There was nothing reciprocal in our conversation. We were taught to avoid sharing personal information about ourselves whenever possible. "Customers don't care about your life," teachers told us. "They're buying your full attention." And that seemed to work. Once clients relaxed, they told us all sorts of personal things, like when they next expected to have sex and why their mothers made them crazy. And we learned that letting clients share these intimate details was good for business. "Remember to mention something about them or their life that they've talked about previously. Keep notes about each customer on file if you need to," advised one handout. It was much like being a therapist, serving soul and body.
In April, the New York Post reported that "NYC Women are Strangely Bonded to the Beauticians who Wax Their Brazilians," quoting smitten spa-goers who viewed their waxers as surrogate moms. But the story didn't explain how this one-sided friendship is made all the more awkward by socioeconomic differences. No matter how friendly their relationship, the client still pays and the waxer still needs that money. Nail technicians and skin-care specialists (the salon workers who do the most waxing) earn a mean annual pre-tax wage of $22,150 to $31,990. This figure doesn't include tips, which can total another $4,430 to $6,398—a clear financial incentive to befriend your clients in this service-based, nonreciprocal way.
Before starting, I assumed that most clients tip the industry's expected standard of 20 percent. They don't. I wasn't surprised, for example, when 38 tipped me just $5 (under 15 percent) because we never got big tips when clients got naked. Like johns who mistake their hooker's acrobatics for true love, clients can put such emphasis on the girlfriend-bonding time that slipping us a wad of cash would destroy the fantasy.
If her tip had been bigger, I would have been more delighted that 38 had taken time to write a "Client Kudos!" card about me: "She was professional and friendly at the same time. … Thanks so much!" She even drew a star on top next to my name. "That makes up for the bad tip," said my classmate Campbell about my Client Kudos. "Look how happy you made her!" Most salon workers say making clients feel good is their biggest source of job satisfaction. But I'm not convinced it's enough to balance out the often exhausting, difficult, and underpaid labor. No matter how much we liked our clients, we still had to brush stray pubic hairs off our sleeves, pick seaweed-stained disposable thongs out of the shower, and work around the occasional menstruating bikini wax client.
But it's also true that many waxers find this work empowering because the services require such skill and our clients are so thrilled with the results. Even if we don't totally return our clients' affections, we feel a kind of sisterhood with them and our fellow salon workers, because we're all toiling away together to meet some impossible beauty standard. When Campbell and I practiced our first Brazilian together, she rubbed the back of our "client" (another classmate), singing songs to distract her from the pain. We all traded stories about waxing and then, childbirth—that other time when a woman spreads her legs in pain and the support of other women gets her through.
And yet. When it came to 38, I wanted the cash, not the compliment, to show the value of my abilities. And maybe, to compensate for how she got to leave feeling so clean and sexy—but I could still smell her body on me, ever so faintly, even after I threw away the gloves and washed my hands.
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"Daily Report: Twitter’s Fourth-Quarter Forecast Spooks Investors" by JIM KERSTETTER via NYT t.co/WmvETPDAan (via Twitter twitter.com/felipemassone/status/659361294089367552)
12th Recon Company, 8th May 1903, Capital square
[Start of report]
Despite our briefings at the start of this whole damned affair, we knew there was something amiss about the capital after all of this started. Our encounter with the cultists and their pagan arts confirmed as much. Demons or not, enough bullets can put down these cultists and their spawn if the men's courage holds.
Our push to retake the main square ended in failure. A gathering of cultists discovered our scouts and before we could fight back, they retreated to call something strange.
A towering, veiled creature floated across the stones and over us. Strange symbols and trails of light floated across its skin with claws the size of swords, though it did not deign to use them. Instead, it would extend one arm and in a blink, one of them men would be turned to ash where he stood. A half-dozen of these disintegrations were enough to break the courage of our charge and force a retreat, save myself and a handful of others who dared not risk the demon's wrath.
We hid beneath the rubble like rats as this monster floated overhead, quiet and steady like fog. I ordered the photographer to capture an image of this terrible thing. No sane man would believe a report such as this without evidence.
Note: I know not if we should bear holy sigils or cannons against something like this. Where these things go, we must avoid. I've told the men whatever spirits they come across, they are welcome to; anything to keep our morale intact. I shudder to think on what else has infested the capital, or come to retake it from the hands of men.
[End of report]
Nurse Mouse has been called to the castle. Princess Mouse has flu like symptoms. Oh, no!
Maileg Mice
Maileg suit case, black trunk, mug, green cabinet, gift bag as castle walls
Bedding made by me
Bed, dollhouse, bike, and mirrors - repainted by me
Jello, thermometer, spoon, medicine bottle - Target (Christmas gift from my husband - he picked them out and bought them on his own)
Rug - 1990s 1:12 dollhouse
Fl;oor - scrapbook paper