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Even in the most mundane of times, Legs Malone is largely mysterious: with an impish sense of humor, a serious side, and her signature boast - the girl with the 34½-inch inseam - she's got a towering charm and an air of unexpected action. Add a sparkly veil and a sheer robe of sequins and shine, and the atmosphere tonight is positively charged.
Legs wraps up this edition of the Sharkbite Sideshow. I haven't seen her in ages, which is a little silly, given that she performs and produces shows all through New York. It's a treat to watch her tonight.
We all love a whiff of scandal, especially when it wafts in with a platinum-blonde sensation from foreign shores. So when Sukki Singapora is introduced as an artist who has been banned in her home country of Singapore, we're instantly curious.
Singapore is, of course, famous for its caning and general intolerance when it comes to public behavior, and is not likely to be a territory that wants to see as much of Sukki as we are about to see - but if I were a banning sort, I'd probably consider it. She beams and struts through her Sharkbite Sideshow debut tonight, full of energy and the promise of scandalous trouble ahead.
This week's Sharkbite Sideshow lands during Shark Week, which is more or less a national holiday when it comes to shark people (I myself do not observe Shark Week, but I do appreciate it when ordinary folks start talking casually about Megalodon, in the same matter-of-fact way that everyone in the world becomes some sort of expert on synchronized diving during the Olympics).
Kicking off the show is Nikita Darling, who does for my appreciation of pole dancing what Shark Week does for the Discovery Channel's ratings. She's got shiny mermaid pants and a seashell shirt on when she's not on stage, and in this shot she's off the poles for a moment - but not for long.
Sasha the Fire Gypsy is captivating at the Sharkbite Sideshow, a burlesque-meets-carny event that features dancers in their finery, some sideshow antics, a raffle (which I win!), and a few other tricks hidden up a few other sleeves.
I met (in passing) and photographed Sasha last year at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade, and this is the first time I'm seeing her perform. She's dazzling. After some athletic pole-dancing acrobatics during intermission, she closes the show with a set of fire routines: she dances wrapped in a fire belt, does fire-eating tricks, and finally spins fire poi (twirling flaming torch wicks on lengths of chain).
Sharkbite producer Joe the Shark has invited me down tonight to shoot the show, and I'm glad I came.
There's heavy grain in this image, which is shot pretty much in darkness by firelight; Sasha's waist was properly illuminated, but there wasn't much light on her face, so I had to rather forcefully persuade the detail in the picture to reveal itself.
In the "How Time Flies" Department, I've just checked through my photo stream, and the last time I took a photo of Nikki Le Villain was almost four years ago. Obviously, I need to get out more.
Tonight Nikki is the go-go dancer at the Friday the 13th edition of the Sharkbite Sideshow.
In addition to keeping the house warm at the start of the show and during intermission, she comes up later in the evening to cover a minor delay between acts. By this time the resident Bachelorette Party is pretty well oiled, and the Bachelorette comes up to share the impromptu go-go space. Often enough the Invocation Of The Bachelorette can be one of those things that's a lot more fun for the Bachelorette than it is for anyone else, but Nikki is generous and encouraging, and what could have been a dreary interlude ends up being a pretty happy occasion.
Folks who go to burlesque shows, do remember to always tip your dancers. Like the sage says, they work hard for the money.
Winter is everywhere, or so it seems, and when I arrive to stake out my photo spot at this week's Sharkbite Sideshow, the room is chilly and the street outside is downright frigid.
Nikita Darling makes the night feel temperate - though for those of us setting up before the house opens, she shares a bit of insiders' insight about how cold the vertical poles are on a night like this.
I'm back at the Sharkbite Sideshow tonight, and the first thing that happens is Sydney Sunrise, who kicks things off with a go-go set and is the ubiquitous stage kitten for the show.
We'll have fire, magic, storytelling, burlesque, audience participation, and a raffle for two different cuts of Friday the 13th on DVD, as the evening moves on. In the meantime, Sydney is simply delightful.
Acrylic painting by Christopher Henry. Artist and co-owner at Tattoo Boogagloo in San Francisco CA. You can find this image and other paintings of mine,on shirts, hoodies,iphone cases, even coffee mugs, at www.redbubble.com/people/sharkbites
Thank you for looking at my work. For print enquiries please contact me via www.Sharkbite-photography.com
This image was taken at Bronte pool on the 12 April 2015 on an early morning sunrise shoot
At a burlesque show, a wardrobe malfunction is more a matter of timing than of material failure. So tonight at the Sharkbite Sideshow, it's not that we weren't going to be visited by Bunny Buxom's buxom resources - it's just that there's an unscheduled early appearance, which is quickly rectified and tucked back out of sight.
Bunny's number tonight is a display of ceaseless tassel-twirling, so I'm glad of the moment of stillness. I'm shooting at slow speeds in this dark venue, which is always just beyond the easy reach of my equipment, and she is a blaze of wriggle and shimmy for most of the act. Here I get her more or less at rest, which means more or less in focus.
Mail (chain mail, chainmaille) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. A coat of this armour is often referred to as a hauberk.
HISTORY
The earliest example of mail was found in a Dacian chieftain's burial located in Ciumești, Romania. Its invention is commonly credited to the Celts, but there are examples of Etruscan pattern mail dating from at least the 4th century BC. Mail may have been inspired by the much earlier scale armour. Mail spread to North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, India, Tibet, South East Asia, and Japan.
Mail continues to be used in the 21st century as a component of stab-resistant body armour, cut-resistant gloves for butchers and woodworkers, shark-resistant wetsuits for defense against shark bites, and a number of other applications.
ETYMOLOGY
The origins of the word “mail” are not fully known. One theory is that it originally derives from the Latin word macula, meaning "spot" or “opacity” (as in macula of retina). Another theory relates the word to the old French “maillier”, meaning “to hammer” (related to the modern English word “malleable”).
The first attestations of the word “mail” are in Old French and Anglo-Norman: “maille” “maile”, or “male” or other variants, which became “mailye” “maille” “maile”, “male”, or “meile” in Middle English.
The modern usage of terms for mail armour is highly contested in popular and, to a lesser degree, academic culture. Medieval sources referred to armour of this type simply as “mail”, however “chain-mail” has become a commonly used, if incorrect neologism first attested in Sir Walter Scott’s 1822 novel The Fortunes of Nigel. Since then the word “mail” has been commonly, if incorrectly, applied to other types of armour, such as in “plate-mail” (first attested in 1835). The more correct term is “plate armour”.
Civilizations that used mail invented specific terms for each garment made from it. The standard terms for European mail armour derive from French: leggings are called chausses, a hood is a coif, and mittens, mitons. A mail collar hanging from a helmet is a camail or aventail. A shirt made from mail is a hauberk if knee-length and a haubergeon if mid-thigh length. A layer (or layers) of mail sandwiched between layers of fabric is called a jazerant.
A waist-length coat in medieval Europe was called a byrnie, although the exact construction of a byrnie is unclear, including whether it was constructed of mail or other armour-types. Noting that the byrnie was the "most highly valued piece of armour" to the Carolingian soldier, Bennet, Bradbury, DeVries, Dickie, and Jestice indicate that:
There is some dispute among historians as to what exactly constituted the Carolingian byrnie. Relying... only on artistic and some literary sources because of the lack of archaeological examples, some believe that it was a heavy leather jacket with metal scales sewn onto it. It was also quite long, reaching below the hips and covering most of the arms. Other historians claim instead that the Carolingian byrnie was nothing more than a coat of mail, but longer and perhaps heavier than traditional early medieval mail. Without more certain evidence, this dispute will continue.
MAIL ARMOUR IN EUROPE
The use of mail as battlefield armour was common during the Iron Age and the Middle Ages, becoming less common over the course of the 16th and 17th centuries. It is believed that the Roman Republic first came into contact with mail fighting the Gauls in Cisalpine Gaul, now Northern Italy, but a different pattern of mail was already in use among the Etruscans. The Roman army adopted the technology for their troops in the form of the lorica hamata which was used as a primary form of armour through the Imperial period. After the fall of the Western Empire much of the infrastructure needed to create plate armour diminished. Eventually the word "mail" came to be synonymous with armour. It was typically an extremely prized commodity as it was expensive and time consuming to produce and could mean the difference between life and death in a battle. Mail from dead combatants was frequently looted and was used by the new owner or sold for a lucrative price. As time went on and infrastructure improved it came to be used by more soldiers. Eventually with the rise of the lanced cavalry charge, impact warfare, and high-powered crossbows, mail came to be used as a secondary armour to plate for the mounted nobility.
By the 14th century, plate armour was commonly used to supplement mail. Eventually mail was supplanted by plate for the most part as it provided greater protection against windlass crossbows, bludgeoning weapons, and lance charges. However, mail was still widely used by many soldiers as well as brigandines and padded jacks. These three types of armour made up the bulk of the equipment used by soldiers with mail being the most expensive. It was sometimes more expensive than plate armour. Mail typically persisted longer in less technologically advanced areas such as Eastern Europe but was in use everywhere into the 16th century.
During the late 19th and early 20th century mail was used as a material for bulletproof vests, most notably by the Wilkinson Sword Company. Results were unsatisfactory; Wilkinson mail worn by the Khedive of Egypt's regiment of "Iron Men" was manufactured from split rings which proved to be too brittle, and the rings would fragment when struck by bullets and aggravate the damage. The riveted mail armour worn by the opposing Sudanese Madhists did not have the same problem but also proved to be relatively useless against the firearms of British forces at the battle of Omdurman. During World War I Wilkinson Sword transitioned from mail to a lamellar design which was the precursor to the flak jacket.
Also during World War I a mail fringe, designed by Captain Cruise of the British Infantry, was added to helmets to protect the face. This proved unpopular with soldiers, in spite of being proven to defend against a 100 g shrapnel round fired at a distance of 90 m.
MAIL ARMOUR IN ASIA
Mail Armour was introduced to the Middle East and Asia through the Romans and was adopted by the Sassanid Persians starting in the 3rd century AD, where it was supplemental to the scale and lamellar armour already used. Mail was commonly also used as horse armour for cataphracts and heavy cavalry as well as armour for the soldiers themselves. Asian mail was typically lighter than the European variety and sometimes had prayer symbols stamped on the rings as a sign of their craftsmanship as well as for divine protection. Indeed, mail armour is mentioned in the Koran as being a gift revealed by Allah to David:
21:80 It was We Who taught him the making of coats of mail for your benefit, to guard you from each other's violence: will ye then be grateful? (Yusuf Ali's translation).
From the Middle East mail was quickly adopted in Central Asia by the Sogdians and by India in the South. It was not commonly used in Mongol armies due to its weight and the difficulty of its maintenance, but it eventually became the armour of choice in India. Indian mail was often used with plate protection. Plated mail was in common use in India until the Battle of Plassey and the subsequent British conquest of the sub-continent.
The Ottoman Empire used plated mail widely and it was used in their armies until the 18th century by heavy cavalry and elite units such as the Janissaries. They spread its use into North Africa where it was adopted by Mamluk Egyptians and the Sudanese who produced it until the early 20th century.
Mail was introduced to China when its allies in Central Asia paid tribute to the Tang Emperor in 718 by giving him a coat of "link armour" assumed to be mail. China first encountered the armour in 384 when its allies in the nation of Kuchi arrived wearing "armour similar to chains". Once in China mail was imported but was not produced widely. Due to its flexibility and comfort, it was typically the armour of high-ranking guards and those who could afford the import rather than the armour of the rank and file, who used the easier to produce and maintain brigandine and lamellar types. However, it was one of the only military products that China imported from foreigners. Mail spread to Korea slightly later where it was imported as the armour of imperial guards and generals.
Japanese mail armour
In Japan mail is called kusari which means chain. When the word kusari is used in conjunction with an armoured item it usually means that mail makes up the majority of the armour composition. An example of this would be kusari gusoku which means chain armour. Kusari jackets, hoods, gloves, vests, shin, shoulder, thigh guards, and other armoured clothing were produced, even kusari tabi socks.
Kusari was used in samurai armour at least from the time of the Mongol invasion (1270s) but particularly from the Nambokucho period (1336–1392). The Japanese used many different weave methods including: a square 4-in-1 pattern (so gusari), a hexagonal 6-in-1 pattern (hana gusari) and a European 4-in-1 (nanban gusari). The rings of Japanese mail were much smaller than their European counterparts; they would be used in patches to link together plates and to drape over vulnerable areas such as the armpits.
Riveted kusari was known and used in Japan. On page 58 of the book Japanese Arms & Armor: Introduction by H. Russell Robinson, there is a picture of Japanese riveted kusari, and this quote from the translated reference of Sakakibara Kozan's 1800 book, The Manufacture of Armour and Helmets in Sixteenth Century Japan, shows that the Japanese not only knew of and used riveted kusari but that they manufactured it as well.
... karakuri-namban (riveted namban), with stout links each closed by a rivet. Its invention is credited to Fukushima Dembei Kunitaka, pupil, of Hojo Awa no Kami Ujifusa, but it is also said to be derived directly from foreign models. It is heavy because the links are tinned (biakuro-nagashi) and these are also sharp edged because they are punched out of iron plate
Butted and or split (twisted) links made up the majority of kusari links used by the Japanese. Links were either butted together meaning that the ends touched each other and were not riveted, or the kusari was constructed with links where the wire was turned or twisted two or more times; these split links are similar to the modern split ring commonly used on keychains. The rings were lacquered black to prevent rusting, and were always stitched onto a backing of cloth or leather. The kusari was sometimes concealed entirely between layers of cloth.
Kusari gusoku or chain armour was commonly used during the Edo period 1603 to 1868 as a stand-alone defence. According to George Cameron Stone Entire suits of mail kusari gusoku were worn on occasions, sometimes under the ordinary clothing
Ian Bottomley in his book "Arms and Armor of the Samurai: The History of Weaponry in Ancient Japan" [34] shows a picture of a kusari armour and mentions kusari katabira (chain jackets) with detachable arms being worn by samurai police officials during the Edo period. The end of the samurai era in the 1860s, along with the 1876 ban on wearing swords in public, marked the end of any practical use for mail and other armour in Japan. Japan turned to a conscription army and uniforms replaced armour.
EFFECTIVENESS
Mail armour provided an effective defence against slashing blows by edged weapons and penetration by thrusting and piercing weapons; in fact, a study conducted at the Royal Armouries at Leeds concluded that "it is almost impossible to penetrate using any conventional medieval weapon." Generally speaking, mail's resistance to weapons is determined by four factors: linkage type (riveted, butted, or welded), material used (iron versus bronze or steel), weave density (a tighter weave needs a thinner weapon to surpass), and ring thickness (generally ranging from 18 to 14 gauge (1.02–1.63 mm diameter wire) in most examples). Mail, if a warrior could afford it, provided a significant advantage to a warrior when combined with competent fighting techniques. When the mail was not riveted, a well-placed thrust from a spear or thin sword could penetrate, and a pollaxe or halberd blow could break through the armour. Some evidence indicates that during armoured combat, the intention was to actually get around the armour rather than through it - according to a study of skeletons found in Visby, Sweden, a majority of the skeletons showed wounds on less well protected legs. The flexibility of mail meant that a blow would often injure the wearer, potentially causing serious bruising or fractures, and it was a poor defence against head trauma. Mail-clad warriors typically wore separate rigid helms over their mail coifs for head protection. Likewise, blunt weapons such as maces and warhammers could harm the wearer by their impact without penetrating the armour; usually a soft armour, such as gambeson, was worn under the hauberk. Medieval surgeons were very well capable of setting and caring for bone fractures resulting from blunt weapons. With the poor understanding of hygiene however, cuts that could get infected were much more of a problem. Thus mail armour proved to be sufficient protection in most situations.
MANUFACTURE
Several patterns of linking the rings together have been known since ancient times, with the most common being the 4-to-1 pattern (where each ring is linked with four others). In Europe, the 4-to-1 pattern was completely dominant. Mail was also common in East Asia, primarily Japan, with several more patterns being utilised and an entire nomenclature developing around them.
Historically, in Europe, from the pre-Roman period on, the rings composing a piece of mail would be riveted closed to reduce the chance of the rings splitting open when subjected to a thrusting attack or a hit by an arrow.
Up until the 14th century European mail was made of alternating rows of round riveted rings and solid rings. After that point European mail was almost all made from wedge riveted rings only. Both were commonly made of wrought iron, but some later pieces were made of heat-treated steel. Wire for the riveted rings was formed by either of two methods. One was to hammer out wrought iron into plates and cut or slit the plates. These thin pieces were then pulled through a draw plate repeatedly until the desired diameter was achieved. Waterwheel powered drawing mills are pictured in several period manuscripts. Another method was to simply forge down an iron billet into a rod and then proceed to draw it out into wire. The solid links would have been made by punching from a sheet. Guild marks were often stamped on the rings to show their origin and craftsmanship. Forge welding was also used to create solid links, but there are few possible examples known; the only well documented example from Europe is that of the camail (mail neck-defence) of the 7th century Coppergate helmet. Outside of Europe this practice was more common such as "theta" links from India. Very few examples of historic butted mail have been found and it is generally accepted that butted mail was never in wide use historically except in Japan where mail (kusari) was commonly made from butted links.
MODERN USES
PRACTICAL USES
Mail is used as protective clothing for butchers against meat-packing equipment. Workers may wear up to 3.6 kg of mail under their white coats. Butchers also commonly wear a single mail glove to protect themselves from self-inflicted injury while cutting meat.
Woodcarvers sometimes use similar mail gloves to protect their hands from cuts and punctures.
The British police use mail gloves for dealing with knife-armed aggressors.
Scuba divers use mail to protect them from sharkbite, as do animal control officers for protection against the animals they handle. Shark expert and underwater filmmaker Valerie Taylor was among the first to develop and test shark suits in 1979 while diving with sharks.
Mail is widely used in industrial settings as shrapnel guards and splash guards in metal working operations.
Electrical applications for mail include RF leakage testing and being worn as a faraday cage suit by tesla coil enthusiasts and high voltage electrical workers.
STAB-PROOF VESTS
Conventional textile-based ballistic vests are designed to stop soft-nosed bullets but offer little defense from knife attacks. Knife-resistant armour are designed to defend against knife attacks; some of these use layers of metal plates, mail and metallic wires.
HISTORICAL RE-ENACTMENT
Many historical reenactment groups, especially those whose focus is Antiquity or the Middle Ages, commonly use mail both as practical armour and for costuming. Mail is especially popular amongst those groups which use steel weapons. A modern hauberk made from 1.5 mm diameter wire with 10 mm inner diameter rings weighs roughly 10 kg and contains 15,000–45,000 rings.
One of the drawbacks of mail is the uneven weight distribution; the stress falls mainly on shoulders. Weight can be better distributed by wearing a belt over the mail, which provides another point of support.
Mail worn today for re-enactment and recreational use can be made in a variety of styles and materials. Most recreational mail today is made of butted links which are galvanized or stainless steel. This is historically inaccurate but is much less expensive to procure and maintain than historically accurate reproductions. Mail can also be made of titanium, aluminium, bronze, or copper. Riveted mail offers significantly better protection ability as well as historical accuracy than mail constructed with butted links. Riveted mail can be more labour-intensive and expensive to manufacture. Japanese mail (kusari) is one of the few historically correct examples of mail being constructed with such butted links.
DECORATIVE USES
Mail remained in use as a decorative and possibly high-status symbol with military overtones long after its practical usefulness had passed. It was frequently used for the epaulettes of military uniforms. It is still used in this form by the British Territorial Army, and the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps of the Canadian Army.
Mail has applications in sculpture and jewellery, especially when made out of precious metals or colourful anodized metals. Mail artwork includes headdresses, Christmas ornaments, chess sets, and jewelry. For these non-traditional applications, hundreds of weaves or patterns have been invented.
IN FILM
In some films, knitted string spray-painted with a metallic paint is used instead of actual mail in order to cut down on cost (an example being Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which was filmed on a very small budget). Films more dedicated to costume accuracy often use ABS plastic rings, for the lower cost and weight. Such ABS mail coats were made for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, in addition to many metal coats. The metal coats are used rarely because of their weight, except in close-up filming where the appearance of ABS rings is distinguishable. A large scale example of the ABS mail used in the Lord of the Rings can be seen in the entrance to the Royal Armouries museum in Leeds in the form of a large curtain bearing the logo of the museum. It was acquired from the makers of the film's armour, Weta Workshop, when the museum hosted an exhibition of WETA armour from their films. For the film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Tina Turner is said to have worn actual mail and she complained how heavy this was.
WIKIPEDIA
We're racing forward toward Halloween season - already? how did that happen? - and if ever there was a holiday that reached out with kind, wear-something-awesome arms to the burlesque community - well, Halloween is a perfect fit.
This is a pre-show moment courtesy of Ivory Fox, performing at a summer-night Friday the 13th edition of the Sharkbite Sideshow. Ivory is a limber, strong, ballet-trained acrobat and dancer, and as we see here she shouldn't play with guns.
Pre-show at the Sharkbite Sideshow, New York City, winter. The room is icy - the back performance room at R Bar is a one-story affair, and directly above us lies a thin roof and a lot of cold sky. Producer Joe the Shark is troubleshooting the sound system, the bartender is making sure everything is ready for the night, and a couple of performers are setting props and revving up their stage personae.
Tonight's stage kitten is Peaches Con Cream, and it transpires that she doesn't have any pictures for her portfolio. The light is a little dim for making portraits, and so there's more grain than I'm happy with, but we do what we can with what we've got.
Sasha the Fire Gypsy is a Sharkbite Sideshow regular, on the eloquent flames and also on various other acrobatic mysteries. Tonight she performs a dark hula-hoop routine with one of those Psihoop LED light-up hula hoops, and over intermission she takes a quick break hanging and swinging upside-down from the dance pole on the side of the stage where it is too dark for pictures.
Some nights she dances with flaming costume accessories - headgear, fiery hoops, and more - and some nights, like tonight, she does a straight routine of classic fire-eating, which she imbues with limber grace.
Chain mail (often just mail or sometimes chainmail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was generally in common military use between the 3rd century BC and the 16th century AD in Europe, and longer in Asia and North Africa. A coat of this armour is often referred to as a hauberk, and sometimes a byrnie.
HISTORY
The earliest examples of surviving mail were found in the Carpathian Basin at a burial in Horný Jatov, Slovakia dated at 3rd century BC, and in a chieftain's burial located in Ciumești, Romania. Its invention is commonly credited to the Celts, but there are examples of Etruscan pattern mail dating from at least the 4th century BC. Mail may have been inspired by the much earlier scale armour. Mail spread to North Africa, West Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, India, Tibet, South East Asia, and Japan.
Herodotus wrote that the ancient Persians wore scale armour, but mail is also distinctly mentioned in the Avesta, the ancient holy scripture of the Persian religion of Zoroastrianism that was founded by the prophet Zoroaster in the 5th century BC.
Mail continues to be used in the 21st century as a component of stab-resistant body armour, cut-resistant gloves for butchers and woodworkers, shark-resistant wetsuits for defense against shark bites, and a number of other applications.
ETYMOLOGY
The origins of the word mail are not fully known. One theory is that it originally derives from the Latin word macula, meaning spot or opacity (as in macula of retina). Another theory relates the word to the old French maillier, meaning to hammer (related to the modern English word malleable). In modern French, maille refers to a loop or stitch. The Arabic words "burnus", برنوس, a burnoose; a hooded cloak, also a chasuble (worn by Coptic priests) and "barnaza", برنز, to bronze, suggest an Arabic influence for the Carolingian armour known as "byrnie" (see below). The first attestations of the word mail are in Old French and Anglo-Norman: maille, maile, or male or other variants, which became mailye, maille, maile, male, or meile in Middle English.
The modern usage of terms for mail armour is highly contested in popular and, to a lesser degree, academic culture. Medieval sources referred to armour of this type simply as mail; however, chain-mail has become a commonly used, if incorrect,[citation needed] neologism coined no later than 1786, appearing in Francis Grose's A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, and brought to popular attention no later than 1822 in Sir Walter Scott's novel The Fortunes of Nigel. Since then the word mail has been commonly, if incorrectly, applied to other types of armour, such as in plate-mail (first attested in Grose's Treatise in 1786). The more correct term is plate armour.
Civilizations that used mail invented specific terms for each garment made from it. The standard terms for European mail armour derive from French: leggings are called chausses, a hood is a mail coif, and mittens, mitons. A mail collar hanging from a helmet is a camail or aventail. A shirt made from mail is a hauberk if knee-length and a haubergeon if mid-thigh length. A layer (or layers) of mail sandwiched between layers of fabric is called a jazerant.
A waist-length coat in medieval Europe was called a byrnie, although the exact construction of a byrnie is unclear, including whether it was constructed of mail or other armour types. Noting that the byrnie was the "most highly valued piece of armour" to the Carolingian soldier, Bennet, Bradbury, DeVries, Dickie, and Jestice indicate that:
There is some dispute among historians as to what exactly constituted the Carolingian byrnie. Relying... only on artistic and some literary sources because of the lack of archaeological examples, some believe that it was a heavy leather jacket with metal scales sewn onto it. It was also quite long, reaching below the hips and covering most of the arms. Other historians claim instead that the Carolingian byrnie was nothing more than a coat of mail, but longer and perhaps heavier than traditional early medieval mail. Without more certain evidence, this dispute will continue.
IN EUROPE
The use of mail as battlefield armour was common during the Iron Age and the Middle Ages, becoming less common over the course of the 16th and 17th centuries when plate armour and more advanced firearms were developed. It is believed that the Roman Republic first came into contact with mail fighting the Gauls in Cisalpine Gaul, now Northern Italy. The Roman army adopted the technology for their troops in the form of the lorica hamata which was used as a primary form of armour through the Imperial period. After the fall of the Western Empire, much of the infrastructure needed to create plate armour diminished. Eventually the word "mail" came to be synonymous with armour. It was typically an extremely prized commodity, as it was expensive and time-consuming to produce and could mean the difference between life and death in a battle. Mail from dead combatants was frequently looted and was used by the new owner or sold for a lucrative price. As time went on and infrastructure improved, it came to be used by more soldiers. The oldest intact mail hauberk still in existence is thought to have been worn by Leopold III, Duke of Austria, who died in 1386 during the Battle of Sempach. Eventually with the rise of the lanced cavalry charge, impact warfare, and high-powered crossbows, mail came to be used as a secondary armour to plate for the mounted nobility. By the 14th century, articulated plate armour was commonly used to supplement mail. Eventually mail was supplanted by plate for the most part, as it provided greater protection against windlass crossbows, bludgeoning weapons, and lance charges while maintaining most of the mobility of mail. However, it was still widely used by many soldiers as well as brigandines and padded jacks. These three types of armour made up the bulk of the equipment used by soldiers, with mail being the most expensive. It was sometimes more expensive than plate armour. Mail typically persisted longer in less technologically advanced areas such as Eastern Europe but was in use throughout Europe into the 16th century.
During the late 19th and early 20th century, mail was used as a material for bulletproof vests, most notably by the Wilkinson Sword Company. Results were unsatisfactory; Wilkinson mail worn by the Khedive of Egypt's regiment of "Iron Men" was manufactured from split rings which proved to be too brittle, and the rings would fragment when struck by bullets and aggravate the injury. The riveted mail armour worn by the opposing Sudanese Madhists did not have the same problem but also proved to be relatively useless against the firearms of British forces at the battle of Omdurman. During World War I, Wilkinson Sword transitioned from mail to a lamellar design which was the precursor to the flak jacket.
Also during World War I, a mail fringe, designed by Captain Cruise of the British Infantry, was added to helmets to protect the face. This proved unpopular with soldiers, in spite of being proven to defend against a three-ounce (100 g) shrapnel round fired at a distance of one hundred yards (91 m). A protective face mask or splatter mask had a mail veil and was used by early tank crews as a measure against flying steel fragments (spalling) inside the vehicle
IN ASIA
Mail armour was introduced to the Middle East and Asia through the Romans and was adopted by the Sassanid Persians starting in the 3rd century AD, where it was supplemental to the scale and lamellar armour already used.
WEST ASIA, INDIA AND CHINA
Mail was commonly also used as horse armour for cataphracts and heavy cavalry as well as armour for the soldiers themselves. Asian mail could be just as heavy as the European variety and sometimes had prayer symbols stamped on the rings as a sign of their craftsmanship as well as for divine protection. Indeed, mail armour is mentioned in the Quran as being a gift revealed by Allah to David: 21:80 It was We Who taught him the making of coats of mail for your benefit, to guard you from each other's violence: will ye then be grateful? (Yusuf Ali's translation)
From the Abbasid Caliphate, mail was quickly adopted in Central Asia by Timur (Tamerlane) and the Sogdians and by India's Delhi Sultanate. Mail armour was introduced by the Turks in late 12th century and commonly used by Turk and the Mughal and Suri armies where it eventually became the armour of choice in India. Indian mail was constructed with alternating rows of solid links and round riveted links and it was often integrated with plate protection (mail and plate armour). Mail and plate armour was commonly used in India until the Battle of Plassey by the Nawabs of Bengal and the subsequent British conquest of the sub-continent.
The Ottoman Empire and the other Islamic Gunpowders used mail armour as well as mail and plate armour, and it was used in their armies until the 18th century by heavy cavalry and elite units such as the Janissaries. They spread its use into North Africa where it was adopted by Mamluk Egyptians and the Sudanese who produced it until the early 20th century. Ottoman mail was constructed with alternating rows of solid links and round riveted links. The Persians used mail armour as well as mail and plate armour. Persian mail and Ottoman mail were often quite similar in appearance.
Mail was introduced to China when its allies in Central Asia paid tribute to the Tang Emperor in 718 by giving him a coat of "link armour" assumed to be mail. China first encountered the armour in 384 when its allies in the nation of Kuchi arrived wearing "armour similar to chains". Once in China, mail was imported but was not produced widely. Due to its flexibility, comfort, and rarity, it was typically the armour of high-ranking guards and those who could afford the exotic import (to show off their social status) rather than the armour of the rank and file, who used more common brigandine, scale, and lamellar types. However, it was one of the few military products that China imported from foreigners. Mail spread to Korea slightly later where it was imported as the armour of imperial guards and generals.
JAPANESE MAIL AMOUR
In Japan mail is called kusari which means chain. When the word kusari is used in conjunction with an armoured item it usually means that mail makes up the majority of the armour composition. An example of this would be kusari gusoku which means chain armour. Kusari jackets, hoods, gloves, vests, shin, shoulder, thigh guards, and other armoured clothing were produced, even kusari tabi socks.
Kusari was used in samurai armour at least from the time of the Mongol invasion (1270s) but particularly from the Nambokucho Period (1336–1392). The Japanese used many different weave methods including a square 4-in-1 pattern (so gusari), a hexagonal 6-in-1 pattern (hana gusari) and a European 4-in-1 (nanban gusari). The rings of Japanese mail were much smaller than their European counterparts; they would be used in patches to link together plates and to drape over vulnerable areas such as the armpits.
Riveted kusari was known and used in Japan. On page 58 of the book Japanese Arms & Armor: Introduction by H. Russell Robinson, there is a picture of Japanese riveted kusari, and this quote from the translated reference of Sakakibara Kozan's [ja] 1800 book, The Manufacture of Armour and Helmets in Sixteenth-Century Japan, shows that the Japanese not only knew of and used riveted kusari but that they manufactured it as well.
... karakuri-namban (riveted namban), with stout links each closed by a rivet. Its invention is credited to Fukushima Dembei Kunitaka, pupil, of Hojo Awa no Kami Ujifusa, but it is also said to be derived directly from foreign models. It is heavy because the links are tinned (biakuro-nagashi) and these are also sharp-edged because they are punched out of iron plate
Butted or split (twisted) links made up the majority of kusari links used by the Japanese. Links were either butted together meaning that the ends touched each other and were not riveted, or the kusari was constructed with links where the wire was turned or twisted two or more times; these split links are similar to the modern split ring commonly used on keychains. The rings were lacquered black to prevent rusting, and were always stitched onto a backing of cloth or leather. The kusari was sometimes concealed entirely between layers of cloth.
Kusari gusoku or chain armour was commonly used during the Edo period 1603 to 1868 as a stand-alone defense. According to George Cameron Stone Entire suits of mail kusari gusoku were worn on occasions, sometimes under the ordinary clothingIan Bottomley in his book Arms and Armor of the Samurai: The History of Weaponry in Ancient Japan shows a picture of a kusari armour and mentions kusari katabira (chain jackets) with detachable arms being worn by samurai police officials during the Edo period. The end of the samurai era in the 1860s, along with the 1876 ban on wearing swords in public, marked the end of any practical use for mail and other armour in Japan. Japan turned to a conscription army and uniforms replaced armour.
EFFECTIVENESS
Mail armour provided an effective defense against slashing blows by edged weapons and some forms of penetration by many thrusting and piercing weapons; in fact, a study conducted at the Royal Armouries at Leeds concluded that "it is almost impossible to penetrate using any conventional medieval weapon". Generally speaking, mail's resistance to weapons is determined by four factors: linkage type (riveted, butted, or welded), material used (iron versus bronze or steel), weave density (a tighter weave needs a thinner weapon to surpass), and ring thickness (generally ranging from 18 to 14 gauge (1.02–1.63 mm diameter) wire in most examples). Mail, if a warrior could afford it, provided a significant advantage when combined with competent fighting techniques.
When the mail was not riveted, a thrust from most sharp weapons could penetrate it. However, when mail was riveted, only a strong well-placed thrust from certain spears, or thin or dedicated mail-piercing swords like the estoc could penetrate, and a pollaxe or halberd blow could break through the armour. Strong projectile weapons such as stronger self bows, recurve bows, and crossbows could also penetrate riveted mail. Some evidence indicates that during armoured combat, the intention was to actually get around the armour rather than through it—according to a study of skeletons found in Visby, Sweden, a majority of the skeletons showed wounds on less well protected legs. Although mail was a formidable protection, due to longswords getting more tapered as time progressed, mail worn under plate armour (and stand-alone mail as well) could be penetrated by the conventional weaponry of another knight.
The flexibility of mail meant that a blow would often injure the wearer, potentially causing serious bruising or fractures, and it was a poor defence against head trauma. Mail-clad warriors typically wore separate rigid helms over their mail coifs for head protection. Likewise, blunt weapons such as maces and warhammers could harm the wearer by their impact without penetrating the armour; usually a soft armour, such as gambeson, was worn under the hauberk. Medieval surgeons were very well capable of setting and caring for bone fractures resulting from blunt weapons. With the poor understanding of hygiene, however, cuts that could get infected were much more of a problem. Thus mail armour proved to be sufficient protection in most situations.
MANUFACTURE
Several patterns of linking the rings together have been known since ancient times, with the most common being the 4-to-1 pattern (where each ring is linked with four others). In Europe, the 4-to-1 pattern was completely dominant. Mail was also common in East Asia, primarily Japan, with several more patterns being utilised and an entire nomenclature developing around them.
Historically, in Europe, from the pre-Roman period on, the rings composing a piece of mail would be riveted closed to reduce the chance of the rings splitting open when subjected to a thrusting attack or a hit by an arrow.
Up until the 14th century European mail was made of alternating rows of round riveted rings and solid rings. Sometime during the 14th century European mail makers started to transition from round rivets to wedge shaped rivets but continued using alternating rows of solid rings. Eventually European mail makers stopped using solid rings and almost all European mail was made from wedge riveted rings only with no solid rings. Both were commonly made of wrought iron, but some later pieces were made of heat-treated steel. Wire for the riveted rings was formed by either of two methods. One was to hammer out wrought iron into plates and cut or slit the plates. These thin pieces were then pulled through a draw plate repeatedly until the desired diameter was achieved. Waterwheel powered drawing mills are pictured in several period manuscripts. Another method was to simply forge down an iron billet into a rod and then proceed to draw it out into wire. The solid links would have been made by punching from a sheet. Guild marks were often stamped on the rings to show their origin and craftsmanship. Forge welding was also used to create solid links, but there are few possible examples known; the only well documented example from Europe is that of the camail (mail neck-defence) of the 7th century Coppergate helmet. Outside of Europe this practice was more common such as "theta" links from India. Very few examples of historic butted mail have been found and it is generally accepted that butted mail was never in wide use historically except in Japan where mail (kusari) was commonly made from butted links. Butted link mail was also used by the Moros of the Philippines in their mail and plate armours.
MODERN USES
PRACTICAL USES
Mail is used as protective clothing for butchers against meat-packing equipment. Workers may wear up to 8 pounds (3.6 kg) of mail under their white coats. Butchers also commonly wear a single mail glove to protect themselves from self-inflicted injury while cutting meat, as do many oyster shuckers.
Scuba divers sometimes use mail to protect them from sharkbite, as do animal control officers for protection against the animals they handle. In 1980 marine biologist Jeremiah Sullivan patented his design for Neptunic full coverage chain mail shark resistant suits which he had developed for close encounters with sharks. Shark expert and underwater filmmaker Valerie Taylor was among the first to develop and test shark suits in 1979 while diving with sharks.
Mail is widely used in industrial settings as shrapnel guards and splash guards in metal working operations.
Electrical applications for mail include RF leakage testing and being worn as a Faraday cage suit by tesla coil enthusiasts and high voltage electrical workers.
STAB-PROOF VESTS
Conventional textile-based ballistic vests are designed to stop soft-nosed bullets but offer little defense from knife attacks. Knife-resistant armour is designed to defend against knife attacks; some of these use layers of metal plates, mail and metallic wires.
HISTORICAL RE-ENACTMENT
Many historical reenactment groups, especially those whose focus is Antiquity or the Middle Ages, commonly use mail both as practical armour and for costuming. Mail is especially popular amongst those groups which use steel weapons. A modern hauberk made from 1.5 mm diameter wire with 10 mm inner diameter rings weighs roughly 10 kg and contains 15,000–45,000 rings.
One of the drawbacks of mail is the uneven weight distribution; the stress falls mainly on shoulders. Weight can be better distributed by wearing a belt over the mail, which provides another point of support.
Mail worn today for re-enactment and recreational use can be made in a variety of styles and materials. Most recreational mail today is made of butted links which are galvanised or stainless steel. This is historically inaccurate but is much less expensive to procure and especially to maintain than historically accurate reproductions. Mail can also be made of titanium, aluminium, bronze, or copper. Riveted mail offers significantly better protection ability as well as historical accuracy than mail constructed with butted links. Riveted mail can be more labour-intensive and expensive to manufacture. Japanese mail (kusari) is one of the few historically correct examples of mail being constructed with such butted links.
DECORATIVE USES
Mail remained in use as a decorative and possibly high-status symbol with military overtones long after its practical usefulness had passed. It was frequently used for the epaulettes of military uniforms. It is still used in this form by the British Territorial Army.
Mail has applications in sculpture and jewellery, especially when made out of precious metals or colourful anodized metals. Mail artwork includes headdresses, decorative wall hangings, ornaments, chess sets, macramé, and jewelry. For these non-traditional applications, hundreds of patterns (commonly referred to as "weaves") have been invented.
Large-linked mail is occasionally used as a fetish clothing material, with the large links intended to reveal – in part – the body beneath them.
IN FILM
In some films, knitted string spray-painted with a metallic paint is used instead of actual mail in order to cut down on cost (an example being Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which was filmed on a very small budget). Films more dedicated to costume accuracy often use ABS plastic rings, for the lower cost and weight. Such ABS mail coats were made for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, in addition to many metal coats. The metal coats are used rarely because of their weight, except in close-up filming where the appearance of ABS rings is distinguishable. A large scale example of the ABS mail used in the Lord of the Rings can be seen in the entrance to the Royal Armouries museum in Leeds in the form of a large curtain bearing the logo of the museum. It was acquired from the makers of the film's armour, Weta Workshop, when the museum hosted an exhibition of WETA armour from their films. For the film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Tina Turner is said to have worn actual mail and she complained how heavy this was. Game of Thrones makes use of mail, notably during the "Red Wedding" scene.
WIKIPEDIA
When it changes, New York changes fast, and in the after-dark entertainment worlds it sometimes changes even faster than that.
This picture is from late January of 2014. The pole dancer is Nikita Darling, a constant favorite performer and someone I photographed whenever possible; she is warming up the crowd before the Sharkbite Sideshow, a regular stop of mine on the circuit, in its home at the R Bar on Bowery.
Nikita, who is used to me shooting during her opening numbers, is playing with me tonight - gazing straight into the lens sometimes, looking off into the distance and primping for the camera other times. She's delightful on stage.
She moved upstate about a year ago, and started a pole fitness studio; it has been ages since I last saw her, though we send notes on Facebook now and then. The R Bar closed suddenly, and with it Sharkbite went on an extended hiatus. Now, 18 months later, this might as well be fiction, a glimpse back into a world that moved on and exists only in memory.
For my part, in January of 2014 I am about to start rehearsal for a production of Julius Caesar, and I've been fighting what I think is a lingering cold for weeks - it was a nasty winter, so that was plausible. Actually I'm a few weeks away from being diagnosed with kidney failure, which will have me on dialysis by early April.
One thing I don't miss about R Bar is its insanely-dim lighting; everything about this picture is soft, a side-effect of excavating it out of deep-red and dark and trying to keep the noise to an acceptable level. Which is how it works, sometimes, with memories.
Tonight's Sharkbite Sideshow opens with go-go dancing and incidental pole work from Ivory Fox. It's my first time seeing her perform, and I love the perky and mischievous air that permeates her stage work.
Shooting at the R Bar is a tricky proposition: it's dark in there. I've reduced the noise in this picture by simplifying things into a duotone, and then adding back some of the brighter colors of the original, creating - I hope - an entertaining, old-timey atmosphere.
Sure as sharks, Sasha the Fire Gypsy closes the show in a flurry of flame. She's a regular performer at the bi-weekly Sharkbite Sideshow revue - she doesn't do her fiery thing every single show, but she is there for most of them, and she's always a pleasure to watch.
Ivory Fox spends a fair amount of her stage- and pole-time upside-down, and as I'm shooting her performance, it occurs to me that most of us spend just about no time upside-down.
Anyway.
At tonight's Hotsy Totsy Burlesque Tribute to Doctor Who, Ivory is Clara Oswald - three of the Eleventh Doctor's companions, more or less, depending on how you count her. Or them. I'm actually only up to the beginning of her plotline(s), so I won't say more, because I'd have to read up on her, and Spoilers.
I've seen Ivory perform on the pole as a gunshot-victim's corpse - in a past Friday the 13th Sharkbite Sideshow routine - and as a living, breathing, non-fictional woman. All of the facets are delightful. Rumor has it she makes a mean soufflé.
All too often I find Apathy Angel in the unlit areas of my burlesque nights: she's an aggressive and fast-moving performer (she trained as a ballerina from her young days), and after a night of low-light photography sometimes all I have is a collection of vaguely girl-shaped pixels.
Tonight at Sharkbite Sideshow, where she is a regular performer, sometimes I've got the light and sometimes I haven't. Apathy steps through the crowd in a slim gray cat suit, tipped with jeweled claws, and slings herself a few times around the dance pole.
My shots of her dance are for the most part a deep and distracting red, so I've moved this in a monochromatic direction: not my usual processing instinct, but an interesting shift in style.
Scooter Pie handles the opening and intermission go-go tonight at the second of Sharkbite Sideshow's May Babies shows - as it happens, there are a lot of May Babies in burlesque, so they needed two shows to get everybody properly involved.
I used to photograph Scooter years ago at Starshine Burlesque, one of the first and fundamental neo-burlesque revue shows in New York. She moved out of the city for a while, and I'm delighted to see her again.
At some point in the proceedings at late September's Sharkbite Sideshow, host and emcee (and magician) Nelson Lugo confesses that he harbors a bit of a ballerina fetish. (He also says he has a Batman fetish, but I'm with him on the ballerinas.)
It's a good night to lose hearts and heads to dancers: Aurora Black is one of two, count 'em two ballerinas performing tonight. Her number is a graceful, whirling take on the classic fan dance.
Tattoo and design by Christopher henry at Tattoo Boogaloo in San Francisco Ca. For tattoo appointments email me at, crutch623@hotmail.com or call #415-391-1053 anytime after 1pm to speak to the shop directly.
Completed: Water Filter and Water Softener Installation
The GE Heavy-Duty Water Filtration Unit (Model: GXWH40L) with a GE Household Sediment Filter (Model: FXHTC) and the GE Water Softener (Model: GXSF40H) were installed using 1 inch copper pipe, solder fittings, and push-fittings. (See: www.geappliances.com)
Note that the electric outlet box and the power control box for the water heater have been moved.
Note also that the pipes are well supported at key points.
The push fittings provided installation flexibility and the ability to protect the plastic components from heat damage.
For this installation a hybrid pipe fitting method was used. Soldered copper fittings hold to specific dimensions. Push-fittings also hold to specific dimensions and provide easy axial rotation after they are installed. Threaded connections do not have these advantages. For this installation, the copper fittings were Nibco brand and the push-fittings were SharkBite brand. (See SharkBite Global Headquarters: www.sharkbite.com/usa/)
Stella Chuu is a stellar cosplay model and costumer - seriously, check out some of the photos on her website - and so it's a pleasure to see her perform at the Sharkbite Sideshow.
My summer schedule of shows and rehearsals is largely keeping me from my usual diminished round of shows and parties, so this is from nearly a month back. It's Shark Week now, as I post this image, and all the more reason to investigate Sharkbites from the relative safety of the back room at R Bar.
Downtown stripperformance artist Tigger! hosts the May Babies edition of Sharkbite Sideshow. Which means, for the uninitiated, that we are likely to see a lot of Tigger! in the course of the evening; and we do.
In his solo number, Tigger! explains that he has spent a lot of time and money perfecting a classic burlesque act, with very expensive fans and a full, resplendent gown. He strips off his hosting outfit and, completely nude, begins to work his way through a precisely-mimed fan dance and striptease, demurely concealing his body with the fans that aren't actually there, coyly easing off the elbow-length gloves he isn't wearing, wrestling with a stuck zipper that doesn't quite exist.
(The exclamation point is part of the name, and part of the personality as well.)
The state of Aaron's legs the next morning. As you can see he's still wearing his board shorts from his day at the beach, and that red stuff on the foot of his right leg is his dried blood!
The tube coming out of his left leg is the tube from the wound vac.
Had these sitting on my MP unlisted, finally got around to getting them out xD
Rock 'em your way ;]
Available on the MP; 65L$/each
11x14 liquid acrylic painting by,Christopher Henry. Tattoo artist and part owner of Tattoo Boogaloo in San Francisco CA, For custom painting commissions email me at, crutch623@hotmail.com You can also find most of my stuff at www.redbubble.com/people/Sharkbites
Hosting the Sharkbite Sideshow this week is Princess Sunshine, a nightmare homespun midwestern chaperone sort of character who balefully fills the evening with chipper, practical, caustic, passive-aggressive, and manic wit. Accompanying herself on Blondie the Ukulele, Princess S. (Juliet Jeske) leads us in happy songs about the joys of leaving your partner for a younger partner, how All Men Want Is Pussy, and a variety of improvised children's tunes on dark, disturbing themes. She's tart, and hilarious.
I've known of Princess Sunshine forever, and I have no idea how I've managed to escape seeing her before tonight. It's a treat.
Just a few years ago, it was rare to spot a PsiHoop out in the wild - the LED hula hoops were expensive and mysterious, and seemed like a triumph of mystery and tech. Nowadays they're a lot more common, but they haven't lost their wow-factor. There are DIY kits and custom jobs, and different color schemes designed for different hooping styles. In practiced hands, they still keep an audience wide-eyed and thrilled.
Topher Bousquet is a contortionist as well as a hoopist, and he twists in and out of the glowing arcs cast by the spinning rings. He's a blaze of motion, and so most of my shots of his performance are blurry streaks. The human eye makes sharp images out of light and motion in darkness. Left to its own devices, the camera is not so forgiving.
This edition of the Sharkbite Sideshow lands during Shark Week, and so everything about the evening is a little special. I'm performing in a play outside in Riverside Park on Fridays through the month of August, but rain tonight leaves me free to swim with the Sharkbiters.
Shark Bite and Hammerhead on Splash Records, looks like Richard Hewson tried his best to stick to the"Jaws" connection.
"Hammerhead" on B-side is a killer Disco/Funk instrumental that sounds like the main theme from a lost 1970's movie.
1976 German pressing on Splash label.
This past Valentine's Day I was at Sharkbite Sideshow, our homegrown bi-weekly selachian excuse for a bit of burlesque, a bit of storytelling, sometimes some magic, and a healthy dose of pole dancing.
As an inveterate (inevitable?) single guy, I generally try to ignore Valentine's Day, much as it generally ignores me. It's easy to do, in this kind of company.
Closing the usual fabulous night of teases and tricks, Little Motown performs with a giant fluffy boa built of plastics.
In the "haven't seen you for ages and it's completely my fault" category, let me present Rosabelle Selavy, a performer I first photographed at the Slipper Room a few ages back. Since I saw her last she has picked up a whole new discipline of moves on the pole, and she's working these days on her aerial skills. I'm delighted to see her tonight at the Sharkbite Sideshow, where she does pre-show and between-acts go-go, both on and off the pole.
Alas, the poles at the R Bar are mostly in shadow; what meager light there is pools most encouragingly in center stage. Still, I catch a few in-focus shots of Rosabelle in the course of the night.