#09/1940

[carbone14]

Le pilote de chasse tchécoslovaque Josef František du 303 Squadron RAF posant devant son Hurricane – Bataille d'Angleterre – Septembre 1940

Josef František est un pilote tchécoslovaque qui a combattu dans les armées de l'air polonaises, françaises et anglaises. Il est le pilote non anglais de la RAF ayant obtenu le plus grand nombre de victoires pendant la bataille d'Angleterre (17 victoires en septembre) avant de se crasher le 8 octobre 1940.

[creme-meme]

HELLO????

[butchsophiewalten]

Small Excerpt from Twitter Space 09/28/24

Kyle asks Martin a question: "In your Opinion, what would each character [in The Walten Files] listen to? What kind of music?"

Martin answers, "I've al- It's so crazy, because people always ask me this, and to me, the answer always changes, because my understanding of the characters changed a bit. Like, their core always remains the same, but the way I understand how they work is different, For example; I feel like, um- I think Jack would listen to a lot of old- old-timey, 1930s or 1940s music. And I feel like that's because he's probably someone that- it's harder-- He's someone that I feel doesn't adapt well to the world- to the style of the world changing. And I'm not talking about (cultural stuff ?), I'm talking more about like, how people dress, what kind of music they listen to, I feel like Jack kind of remains stuck in the time he grew up in.

And I feel like that almost lack of desire to change, lack of desire to try to adapt to this new world that's coming- because- I feel like part of why I chose the 1970s is because I feel like that was a really- almost a transitionary decade for the world and pop culture, and stuff like that. So, to me I feel like Jack would be someone that wouldn't, uh, try to adapt to like, the rest of the world. He would just remain in the style of what he was accustomed to. Because to me, that's how Jack is as a person. I don't feel like he's trying to change the way he thinks or the way he sees life as a whole.

Felix I feel is more simple; I feel like Felix listens to- I remember this was, um, Felix's old voice actor Coker's idea, but I feel like that actually fits him really well, he's uh, listens to a lot of like, 70's rock and stuff like that. A bit of Badfinger--"

Kyle interjects. "I don't know if- if I'm using the term right. Would you say something like- would he listen to like, Yacht Rock, do you think?"

Martin agrees. "Yeah. Yeah, I think so, yeah. So, I feel like- that's sorta- I feel like if Jack remains true to what he grew up with, I feel like Felix is always changing. Always evolving, like, he changes along with the world. He usually listens to, I feel like like- further along in the story, like after 1974, he listens to more late 70's, early 80's music.

Sophie, I feel, is different. I feel like Sophie is someone that just listens to whatever is on the radio. I don't think- and she maybe fixates on one song or another that she listened on the radio, but she doesn't have, like, any- any sort of, like, cassettes or vinyls of her own, I think they're all Jenny's. Because- to me, Sophie is someone that, in a way, doesn't really know what she wants yet. She doesn't know what kind of person she is. And, of course, we're gonna go further into that in season two, but to me I feel like she- that is also reflected in what kind of music she listens to. She just listens to anything. Because she doesn't really have a specific style, to what kind of music she likes.

Rosemary... I feel it would be a lot of 60s music. A lot of, uh, Woodstock music, kinda, I've always imagined. I don't know why, it always- it always struck me that way.

And, uh, Charles, I feel... Charles listened to a lot of like, songs that are still popular to this day, from that era, to me. I remember- [Kyle] sent me... 'Charles' Work Cassette' (a playlist Kyle made), and I was like, that is definitely what he would listen to."

Kyle: "Hold on, I wanna make sure that it has the right-- damn! Nevermind, I was gonna say, like, 'Oh, would he like Hotel California,' and then I checked, like-"

Martin: "Yes! Yes, yes!"

Kyle: "That's the thing! It came out after he died!"

Martin: "Yeah, it came out after he died, but listen, bear with me here, I've always compared Charles, like, as a character; his style, the way he jokes around, to my father. And to me, I feel like- all the songs that I listen to when I write Charles, when I draw him, whatever. They're all songs that I listened to when I was a kid, and I had to listen to my father's radio. Which is a lot of like, Hotel California, Free Bird, Suzie Q, and stuff like that, y'know? That kinda- that style of music...

And, to me I feel like the most interesting one is Bon. I feel like Bon- Bon is the only one in which the music he listens to actually plays a part in the story. And it's- I feel like Bon, he kind of, like, his era of music is Classical music, because to me, he's a character that has been stripped away from all identity. And he- he's sorta, like, a person-- The way I feel like Bon sees himself is as the default person. Like, he can't picture himself as anything more than a blank slate. And to me, I feel like classical music fits there, because to me it's almost like he regressed back to, like. the earliest-- I wouldn't say the earliest. But like, one of the earliest forms of music. And to me, it's also because that kind of music represents his almost, like, unspeakable desire for-- to almost have, like-- I don't- I don't wanna give anything away. But, if I were to put it-- to make sense of his own identity, of his own life. It's like, I feel like I've always sensed that he almost releases that struggle, through that kinda music.

And that's why when he kills Susan, and when he puts her in Banny, there's always classical music playing. Because, to me, I feel like that's how Bon is able to express himself without putting it into words. Because I feel like not even he could put it into words. He's not gonna, like, stop in the middle of a scene and monologue his entire backstory and his life. But he expresses it in very artistic ways, in my opinion."

[nofatclips-home]

The Ultimate Film Studies Watchlist:

Pre-1920s 4:52 The Films of the Edison Labs 6:05 The Films of Louis and Auguste Lumiére 6:57 The Big Swallow (1901) 7:56 Le Voyage Dans La Lune (1902) 9:04 The Great Train Robbery (1903) 10:07 Fantasmagorie (1908) 10:56 Suspense (1913) 11:41 The Birth of a Nation (1915) 13:48 Intolerance (1916) 14:56 J'accuse (1919)

The 1920s 15:52 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) 16:46 The Phantom Carriage (1921) 17:29 Haxan (1922) 18:07 Sherlock Jr. (1924) 18:51 Greed (1924) 19:33 The Last Laugh (1924) 20:25 Battleship Potemkin (1925) 22:25 A Page of Madness (1926) 23:10 Metropolis (1927) 23:51 Napoleon (1927) 25:02 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) 25:43 The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) 26:57 Un Chien Andalou (1929) 27:22 Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

The 1930s 28:50 M (1931) 29:35 Freaks (1932) 30:24 The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) 30:54 Duck Soup (1933) 32:04 L'Atalante (1934) 33:01 Modern Times (1936) 33:36 Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937) 35:45 Stagecoach (1939) 36:26 The Rules of the Game (1939) 37:48 Gone with the Wind (1939)

The 1940s 39:18 The Great Dictator (1940) 39:59 Fantasia (1941) 41:20 Citizen Kane (1941) 43:15 To Be or Not To Be (1942) 44:56 Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) 45:49 Casablanca (1943) 46:56 Double Indemnity (1944) 48:18 Ivan the Terrible (1944) 48:51 Beauty and the Beast (1946) 49:50 Paisan (1946) 50:39 Brief Encounter (1946) 51:25 The Bicycle Thieves (1948) 52:43 Children of the Beehive (1948) 53:15 The Red Shoes (1948) 54:17 The Third Man (1949)

The 1950s 55:35 Sunset Blvd. (1950) 56:28 Los Olvidados (1950) 57:26 Rashomon (1951) 58:42 Singin' in the Rain (1952) 59:34 Tokyo Story (1953) 1:00:59 Ugetsu (1954) 1:01:35 Rear Window (1954) 1:02:42 The Night of the Hunter (1955) 1:03:42 Ordet (1955) 1:04:17 Pather Panchali (1955) 1:04:57 Seven Samurai (1956) 1:06:25 The Searchers (1956) 1:07:25 A Man Escaped (1957) 1:08:27 The Cranes are Flying (1957) 1:09:08 Touch of Evil (1957) 1:09:51 Vertigo (1958) 1:11:22 The 400 Blows (1959)

The 1960s 1:12:53 Psycho (1960) 1:13:42 L'Avventura (1961) 1:14:39 Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 1:15:35 La Jetee (1962) 1:16:10 Vivre Sa Vie (1963) 1:17:17 8 1/2 (1963) 1:18:04 It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) 1:18:50 The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) 1:19:26 Woman in the Dunes (1965) 1:20:01 Persona (1966) 1:21:08 The Battle of Algiers (1966) 1:21:52 Andrei Rublev (1966) 1:22:42 Playtime (1967) 1:23:18 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 1:24:28 Kes (1969) 1:25:23 Once Upon a Time in the West (1969) 1:26:25 The Color of Pomegranates (1969) 1:27:07 Army of Shadows (1969)

The 1970s 1:28:25 The Conformist (1970) 1:28:53 A Touch of Zen (1971) 1:29:37 The Godfather Part I & II (1972-1974) 1:30:37 Pink Flamingos (1972) 1:31:45 The Spirit of the Beehive (1973) 1:32:39 The Exorcist (1973) 1:33:08 La Maman et la Putain (1973) 1:34:22 Badlands (1973) 1:34:53 The Conversation (1974) 1:35:32 A Woman Under the Influence (1975) 1:36:45 Jeanne Dielman 23 Quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelle (1975) 1:37:52 Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) 1:39:05 Nashville (1975) 1:39:40 Jaws (1975) 1:40:47 Barry Lyndon (1975) 1:41:17 Taxi Driver (1976) 1:42:28 Eraserhead (1977) 1:43:37 Stars Wars (1977) 1:44:41 House (1977) 1:45:09 Alien (1979) 1:46:22 Apocalypse Now (1979) 1:47:32 Stalker (1979)

The 1980s 1:48:43 Raging Bull (1980) 1:49:33 The Shining (1980) 1:50:27 Pixote (1980) 1:51:10 Koyaanisqatsi (1982) 1:52:08 Videodrome (1983) 1:52:32 Ran (1985) 1:53:27 Come and See (1985) 1:54:23 Tenshi no Tamago (1985) 1:55:23 A Short Film About Killing (1988) 1:56:20 A City of Sadness (1989) 1:57:24 The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989) 1:58:31 Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) 1:59:42 Do the Right Thing (1989)

The 1990s 2:00:54 Goodfellas (1990) 2:01:48 Close-Up (1990) 2:02:49 A Brighter Summer Day (1991) 2:03:51 Man Bites Dog (1992) 2:04:42 Hardboiled (1992) 2:05:43 Satantango (1994) 2:07:12 Pulp Fiction (1994) 2:08:28 Clerks (1994) 2:09:34 The Lion King (1994) 2:10:21 La Haine (1995) 2:11:25 Cure (1997) 2:12:00 Festen (1998) 2:12:54 Beau Travail (1998) 2:13:27 Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) 2:14:22 The Matrix (1999) 2:15:10 American Movie (1999)

[youryurigoddess]

A nightingale sang in the London Blitz

When exactly was that certain night, the night Aziraphale and Crowley met — and spoke for the first time in 79 years in the midst of the London Blitz?

And what’s the deal with the nightingale’s song, really?

Grab something to drink and we’ll look for some Clues below.

The night they met

The Blitz, short for Blitzkrieg (literally: flash war) was a German aerial bombing campaign on British cities in the WW2, spanning between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941. The Luftwaffe attacks were carried out almost non stop, with great intensity meant to force a capitulation and similarly strong impact on British life and culture at the time.

Starting on 7 September 1940, London as the capital city was bombed for nearly 60 consecutive nights. More than one million London houses were destroyed or damaged, and more than 20,000 civilians were killed, half of the total victims of this campaign.

The night of 29 December 1940 saw the most ferocity, becoming what is now known as the Second Great Fire of London. The opening shot of the S2 1941 minisode is a direct reference to recordings of that event, with the miraculously saved St Paul’s Cathedral in the upper left corner.

The actual raid lasted between 06:15 and 09:45 PM, but its aftermath continued for days. The old and dense architecture of this particular part of the city turned into a flaming inferno larger than the Great Fire of 1666. Multiple buildings, including churches, were destroyed in just one night by over 100,000 bombs.

Incendiary bombs fell also on St Dunstan-in-the-East church that night, the real-life location of this scene as intended by Neil. It was gutted and again claimed by fire in one of the last air rides on 10 May, when the bomb destroyed the nave and roof and blew out the stained glass windows. The ruins survived to this day as a memorial park to the Blitz.

Such a delightfully Crowley thing to do: saving a bag of books with a demonic miracle adding to the biggest catastrophe for the publishing and book trade in years. 5 million volumes were lost, multiple bookshops and publishing houses destroyed in the December 29th raid alone.

Even without this context, judging by the seemingly unending night, overwhelming cold and darkness, broken heating at the theatre, and seasonal clothing (like Aziraphale and Crowley’s extremely nice winter coats), it’s rather clear that it was the very beginning of the year 1941.

Everything suggests that Aziraphale and Crowley’s Blitz reunion happened exactly 1900 years after their meeting in Rome — which, according to the script book, took place between 1 and 24 January 41 (Crowley was right: emperor Caligula was a mad tyrant and didn't need any additional tempting; there's a reason why he was murdered by his closest advisors, including members of his Praetorian Guard, on 24 January 41).

Interestingly, both events involved a role reversal in their otherwise stable dynamic, with Aziraphale spontaneously taking the lead instead of letting the demon be the one to do all the tempting and saving, and ended with a toast.

The S2 Easter Egg with the nuns of the Chattering Order of St Beryl playing table tennis at the theatre suggests that the Blitz meeting happened on a Tuesday afternoon, which doesn’t match any of the above mentioned days, but sets the in-universe date for 7 January 1941 or later.

The Chattering Order of Saint Beryl is under a vow to emulate Saint Beryl at all times, except on Tuesday afternoons, for half an hour, when the nuns are permitted to shut up, and, if they wish, to play table tennis.

The nightingale

January means one thing: absolutely no migratory birds in Europe yet. They’re blissfully wintering in the warm sun of Northern Africa at the time. But, ironically, when the real nightingales flew off, a certain song about them suddenly gained popularity in the West End of London.

It might be a shock, but A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square wasn’t a hit from the start — even though its creators, Eric Maschwitz and Manning Sherwin, were certainly established in their work at this point. The song was written in the then-small French fishing village of Le Lavandou shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War with first performance in the summer of 1939 in a local bar, where the melody was played on piano by the composer Manning Sherwin with the help of the resident saxophonist. Maschwitz sang his lyrics while holding a glass of wine, but nobody seemed impressed. It took time and a small miracle to change that.

Next year, the 23-year-old actress Judy Campbell had planned to perform a monologue of Dorothy Parker’s in the upcoming Eric Maschwitz revue „New Faces”. But somehow the script had been mislaid and, much to her horror, replaced with the song A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square. She had never professed to be a singer but even so, she gathered her courage and went out onto the moonlit set dressed in a white ball gown. Her heartfelt rendition of the now evocative ballad captured the audience’s imagination and catapulted her West End career to stardom.

It was precisely 11 April 1940 at the Comedy Theatre in Panton Street and the revue itself proved to be a great success — not only it kept playing two performances nightly through the Blitz, but also returned the next year. And the still operating Comedy Theatre is mere five minutes on foot from the Windmill Theatre, where Aziraphale performed in 1941, and not much longer from his bookshop.

Now, most Good Omens meta analyses focus on Vera Lynn’s version of the song from 5 June 1940, but it didn’t get much attention until autumn, specifically 15 November, when Glenn Miller and his orchestra published another recording. And Glenn Miller himself is a huge point of reference in Good Omens 2.

According to the official commentary the infamous credits scene is establishing Aziraphale and Crowley’s final resolve for the next season using the same narrative device The Glenn Miller Story (1954) does in its most crucial scene. It starts with the tune (and audio in general) totally flat, then adds a piano on one side, and gradually becomes fully multidimensional. The Good Omens credits not only emulate the same sound effect, but bring it to the visual side of the narrative by literally combining the individual perspectives of the two characters together. Even though they’re physically apart, their resolve — and love to each other — brings them even closer than before. Aziraphale smiles not because he’s being brainwashed, but because he knows exactly what to do next.

Some of you might have noticed that Tori Amos’s performance for Good Omens is actually a slightly shortened version of Miller’s recording — much less sorrowful than Vera Lynn’s full lyrics that include i.a. this bridge:

The dawn came stealing up

All gold and blue

To interrupt our rendez-vous

I still remember how you smiled and said

Was that a dream or was it true?

Which is a huge hint when it comes to what we can expect from the main romantic plot line in the Good Omens series. The original song introduces an element of the doubt — it seems like there was no nightingale at all, only the mirage woven by the singer clearly intoxicated with love, much like Aziraphale and Crowley for the length of the last six episodes. Crowley’s comment in the season finale might allude to that interpretation, stating that there are no nightingales — never have been. It was all a dream. But the version we’re working with here is short and sweet, and devoid of that doubt. In the Good Omens universe angels were actually dining at the Ritz, the streets were truly paved with stars (or will be shown as such in the next season), and a nightingale really sang in Berkeley Square, as the omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent narrator, God Herself, had shown us.

All in all, it’s not an accident that the “modern” swing ballad activating Aziraphale’s memory and opening the 1941 minisode is the Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller. It’s a track naturally associated with A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square when it comes to music style and the sentiment in the lyrics.

But why the sudden popularity? In the great uncertainty and hardship of the Blitz, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square provided solace and escapism for listeners, offering a glimpse of hope and love amidst the darkness of war. It became a universal anthem of resilience and a reminder of the power of love transcending difficulties. By January 1941 the whole city knew this tune by heart, including a certain West End aficionado with a cabinet full of theatre programs in his bookshop. Thanks to Maggie’s grandmother, he most probably had a record at hand to play during his spontaneous wine night with Crowley. We can only suspect the details, but it was was mutually established as their song exactly at that time or soon afterwards. Pretty sure we will see a third installment of that minisode for many, many reasons, but especially because of this “several days in 1941” answer by Neil:

The Man Hunt

In 1941 A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square gained even more popularity as the romantic theme of the Fritz Lang’s newest film Man Hunt. The 1939 story by Geoffrey Household first appeared under the title “Rogue Male” as a serial in the Atlantic Monthly Magazine where it received widespread comment, soon becoming a world-wide phenomenon in novel form. Its premise criticizes Britain's pre-war policy of appeasement with Germany, ready to sacrifice its own innocent citizens to the tentative status quo. Sounds a bit like Heaven's politics, right?

Yes, I'm trying to make you watch old movies again — like all the other classics, Man Hunt (1941) is easily available on YouTube and other streaming websites.

The next part will include spoilers, so scroll down to the next picture if you prefer to avoid them.

The plot of the movie seems simple enough: the tall, dark, and handsome Alan Thorndike, who nearly assassinates Hitler, narrowly escapes Germany and back in London continues to evade the Nazi agents sent after him with the help of a young trench-clad “seamstress” named Jerry, bridging the class divide and becoming unlikely friends-partners-romantic interests. It doesn’t end well though.

Jerry's small London apartment serves as a hideout for Alan when he was being followed by Nazis, similarly to how Aziraphale's bookshop is a safe haven for both Crowley and Gabriel in S2. She helps the man navigate the streets and eventually out of London — by sacrificing herself and getting forcefully separated from him by a patrolling policeman. The last time they see each other, Alan watches Jerry look back at him yearningly and disappear in the fog, followed by the elderly officer.

Unfortunately in the next scene we learn that the latter is a Nazi collaborator and helps the agents apprehend Jerry in her own flat. Staying loyal to her love and uncooperative, she’s ultimately thrown out of a window to her death, but posthumously saves Alan once again — through the arrow-shaped hatpin he gifted her earlier that is presented to him as the evidence of her off-screen fate.

Long story short, thanks to Jerry’s sacrifice Alan not only survives, but is able to join the war that broke out in the meantime and go back to Germany, armed with a rifle and a final resolve to end what he started, no matter how long will it take. The justice will be served and the dictator will pay with his life for his sins.

I wouldn’t be myself without mentioning that the main villain has a Roman chariot statue similar to the one in Aziraphale’s bookshop, an antique sculpture of St Sebastian (well-known as the gayest Catholic Saint) foreshadowing his demise, and a chess set symbolizing the titular manhunt/game of tag with the protagonist.

Aziraphale’s song

Will Aziraphale sacrifice himself as well? Or has he already? If his coin magic trick can be any indicator, we should expect at least a shadow of a danger touching the angel’s wings soon.

Let’s sum up the 1941 events from Aziraphale’s perspective: the very first time they’ve interacted after almost a century, Crowley actively sabotaged his entire existence twice by stepping onto a holy ground and by being outed by agents of Hell, both on the very same night and both because of his undying dedication to the angel. That’s enough of a reason not only for performing an apology dance, but also maintaining a careful distance for Crowley’s sake for the next 26 years. Only when he heard that his idiot was planning to rob a church, he gave up since he “can't have him risking his life”.

That’s when Crowley, sitting in a car parked right under his bookshop, offered him a ride. It wasn’t even subtle anymore. It was supposed to be a date, this time both of them understood it. But Aziraphale wouldn’t risk Crowley’s safety for his own happiness, especially not when he can name his feelings towards him and knows that they are reciprocated — the biggest lesson he learnt back in 1941.

So he did what he’s best at, he cut Crowley off again, but this time with a promise of catching up to his speed at some point. Buddy Holly’s Everyday, which was originally planned to play afterwards instead of the Good Omens theme, adds additional context here:

No, thank you. Oh, don’t look so disappointed. Perhaps one day we could... I don't know… Go for a picnic. Dine at the Ritz.

Aziraphale, carefully looking around and feeling observed through the whole conversation in the Bentley, consciously used the “Dine at the Ritz” line from A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, from their song, as a code only the two of them understand. Not as a suggestion to go out for a meal, but a promise. A hope for the privilege of being openly in love and together — maybe someday, not now, when it’s too dangerous — even if it leads to a bad ending.

Fast forward to 2023 when for one dreadful moment Crowley’s “No nightingales” robbed Aziraphale even of that semblance of hope. He looked away, unable to stop his tears anymore. Only their kiss helped him pull himself together and make sure that a nightingale did sing the last time he turned — just like in their song — this time without a smile, as a goodbye.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

A year in illustration, 2023 edition (part two)

(This is part two; part one is here.)

The West Midlands Police were kind enough to upload a high-rez of their surveillance camera control room to Flickr under a CC license (they've since deleted it), and it was the perfect frame for dozens of repeating clown images with HAL9000 red noses. This worked out great. The clown face is from a 1940s ad for novelty masks.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/23/automation-blindness/#humans-in-the-loop

I spent an absurd amount of time transforming a photo I took of three pinball machines into union-busting themed tables, pulling in a bunch of images from old Soviet propaganda art. An editorial cartoon of Teddy Roosevelt with his big stick takes center stage, while a NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo's official portrait presides over the scene. I hand-made the eight-segment TILT displays.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/06/goons-ginks-and-company-finks/#if-blood-be-the-price-of-your-cursed-wealth

Working with the highest-possible rez sources makes all the difference in the world. Syvwlch's extremely high-rez paint-scraper is a gift to people writing about web-scraping, and the Matrix code waterfall mapped onto it like butter.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/17/how-to-think-about-scraping/

This old TWA ad depicting a young man eagerly pitching an older man has incredible body-language – so much so that when I replaced their heads with raw meat, the intent and character remained intact. I often struggle for background to put behind images like this, but high-rez currency imagery, with the blown up intaglio, crushes it.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/04/dont-let-your-meat-loaf/#meaty-beaty-big-and-bouncy

I transposed Photoshop instructions for turning a face into a zombie into Gimp instructions to make Zombie Uncle Sam. The guy looking at his watch kills me. He's from an old magazine illustration about radio broadcasting. What a face!

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/18/the-people-no/#tell-ya-what-i-want-what-i-really-really-want

The mansplaining guy from the TWA ad is back, but this time he's telling a whopper. It took so much work to give him that Pinnocchio nose. Clearly, he's lying about capitalism, hence the Atlas Shrugged cover. Bosch's "Garden of Earthly Delights" makes for an excellent, public domain hellscape fit for a nonconensual pitch about the miracle of capitalism.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/27/six-sells/#youre-holding-it-wrong

There's no better image for stories about techbros scamming rubes than Bosch's 'The Conjurer.' Throw in Jeff Bezos's head and an Amazon logo and you're off to the races. I boobytrapped this image by adding as many fingers as I could fit onto each of these figures in the hopes that someone could falsely accuse me of AI-generating this. No one did.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/06/attention-rents/#consumer-welfare-queens

Once again, it's Bosch to the rescue. Slap a different smiley-face emoji on each of the tormented figures in 'Garden of Earthly Delights' and you've got a perfect metaphor for the 'brand safety' problem of hard news dying online because brands don't want to be associated with unpleasant things, and the news is very unpleasant indeed.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/11/ad-jacency/#brand-safety

I really struggle to come up with images for my linkdump posts. I'm running out of ways to illustrate assortments and varieties. I got to noodling with a Kellogg's mini-cereal variety pack and I realized it was the perfect place for a vicious gorilla image I'd just found online in a WWI propaganda poster headed 'Destroy This Mad Brute.' I put so many fake AI tells in this one – extra pupils, extra fingers, a super-AI-esque Kellogg's logo.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/05/variegated/#nein

Bloodletting is the perfect metaphor for using rate-hikes to fight inflation. A vintage image of the Treasury, spattered with blood, makes a great backdrop. For the foreground, a medieval woodcut of bloodletting quacks – give one the head of Larry Summers, the other, Jerome Powell. For the patient, use Uncle Sam's head.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/20/bloodletting/#inflated-ego

I killed a long videoconference call slicing up an old pulp cover showing a killer robot zapping a couple of shrunken people in bell-jars. It was the ideal image to illustrate Big Tech's enshittification, especially when it was decorated with some classic tech slogans.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/22/who-wins-the-argument/#corporations-are-people-my-friend

There's something meditative about manually cutting out Tenniel engravings from Alice – the Jabberwock was insane. But it was worth it for this Tron-inflected illustration using a distorted Cartesian grid to display the enormous difference between e/acc and AI doomers, and everyone else in the world.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/27/10-types-of-people/#taking-up-a-lot-of-space

Multilayer source images for your remixing pleasure:

Scientist in chemlabhttps://craphound.com/images/scientist-in-chem-lab.psd

Humpty Dumpty and the millionaires https://craphound.com/images/humpty-dumpty-and-the-millionaires.psd

Demon summoning https://craphound.com/images/demon-summoning.psd

Killer Robot and People in Bell Jars https://craphound.com/images/killer-robot-and-bell-jars.psd

TWA mansplainer https://craphound.com/images/twa-mansplainer.psd

Impatient boss https://craphound.com/images/impatient-boss.psd

Destroy This Mad Brute https://craphound.com/images/destroy-this-mad-brute.psd

(Images: Heinz Bunse, West Midlands Police, Christopher Sessums, CC BY-SA 2.0; Mike Mozart, Jesse Wagstaff, Stephen Drake, Steve Jurvetson, syvwlch, Doc Searls, https://www.flickr.com/photos/mosaic36/14231376315, Chatham House, CC BY 2.0; Cryteria, CC BY 3.0; Mr. Kjetil Ree, Trevor Parscal, Rama, “Soldiers of Russia” Cultural Center, Russian Airborne Troops Press Service, CC BY-SA 3.0; Raimond Spekking, CC BY 4.0; Drahtlos, CC BY-SA 4.0; Eugen Rochko, Affero; modified)

[whatamessofthoughtswithjess]

It truly feels like we’re slowly losing them all. It’s so hard for me to process their deaths at times. Harry Potter has always meant so much to me. It was my escape from life, from reality, from the hardships I endured growing up. I’ll truly never be able to explain how grateful I am for this world that JK Rowling created & so graciously shared with all of us. These characters were truly brought to life by the actors and actresses that played them. I’ll forever be grateful for their love, hard work, and dedication to these roles. May they all rest in eternal paradise. 💔✨

Alan Rickman: 02/21/1946-01/14/2016

Robbie Coltrane: 03/30/1950-10/14/2022

Michael Gambon: 10/19/1940-09/27/2023

Maggie Smith: 12/28/1934-09/27/2024

[pinturas-sgm-aviacion]

1940 09 Cant Z-501 Gabbiano 146 Squadriglia - box art Italeri

[arthuntblog]

Imi Knoebel [Germany] (b 1940) - ‘Fishing Yellow III Ed‘, 2007-09. Acrylic on plastic foils, collaged (60 x 60 cm).

[metalcultbrigade]

John Lennon 09 October 1940 – 08 December 1980

[submissivegayfrenchboy2]

17 / 01 / 2025

🇺🇸🇬🇧 English / Anglais 🇬🇧🇺🇸

My SteveBycky fanarts

You may have noticed that in the past few days I've rebloged (and commented) a lot of SteveBucky fanarts and fanfictions. It inspired me these two drawings that I've made quickly, with pencils.

Here are drawings that I made in homage to Steven Rogers and James Buchanan Barnes.

The first one I made is a drawing where we see the Winter Soldier in a gigantic pond and Steven is very small. We can imagine that the Winter Soldier is normal size and Steve Rogers is abnormally tiny, or that Bucky Barnes is huge while Steve is normal size even though he is small. Or maybe Steve is tiny and Bucky is giant, which explains the size difference. I drew Steve with a light blue shirt and big pants, brown shoes and standing on a large wooden crate to try to wait for his huge lover. James Barnes is dressed in his outfit seen in the Disney+ series FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER. So he has his new mechanical arm, but I left him with his long hair that we saw until AVENGERS ENDGAME.

I was mostly inspired by the amazing arts by my friends @antoniomatosxd2 @joepringle

This allows a contrast with the other drawing, which I did afterwards, where I imagined Steven Rogers and James Barnes during the Second World War. Steve is dressed in a light blue shirt, again, but with a collar more reminiscent of 1940s fashion, a sweater and tie in the color of the American flag, and his hair styled in the front. His gray pants are more flared at the bottom, as men's pants were cut in the 1940s. Likewise, his brown shoes reveal his white shoes. Next to him is his best friend and lover James Barnes, dashing in his American soldier's uniform. They look at each other lovingly. 🥰 I designed this drawing where the size difference is more realistic and consistent with what we see in the movie CAPTAIN AMERICA. FIRST AVENGER.

I've talked here about my love for the height difference in the Stucky ship :

--------------------------------------------------

🇨🇵 Français / French 🇨🇵

Mes fanarts Stucky

Vous avez sûrement remarqué que j'ai reblogué et commenté de nombreux dessins et histoires sur Steve Rogers et Bucky Barnes. Ça m'a donné envie d'en publier aussi. Je les ai fait rapidement avec des crayons de couleur et des feutres.

Voici des dessins que j'ai réalisé en hommage à Steven Rogers et James Buchanan Barnes.

Le premier que j'ai fait est un dessin où l'on voit le Soldat de Lhiver étang gigantesque et Steven est tout petit. On peut imaginer que le Soldat de l'hiver est d'une taille normale et que Steve Rogers est anormalement minuscule, ou bien que Bucky Barnes est immense alors que Steve a une taille normale même s'il est petit. Ou alors, Steve est minuscule et Bucky est géant, ce qui explique la différence de taille.

J'ai dessiné Steve avec une chemise bleu clair et un pantalon gros, des chaussures marrons et monté sur une grande caisse en bois pour tenter d'attendre son amoureux immense. James Barnes est vêtu de sa tenue qu'on voit dans la série Disney+ FAUCON ET LE SOLDAT DE L'HIVER. Il a donc son nouveau bras mécanique, mais je lui ai laissé sa longue chevelure qu'on a vu jusqu'à AVENGERS ENDGAME.

Cela permet un contraste avec l'autre dessin, que j'ai fait après, où j'ai imaginé Steven Rogers et James Barnes durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

Steve est vêtu d'une chemise bleu clair, là encore, mais avec un col plus proche de la mode des années 1940, un pull et une cravate au couleur du drapeau américain, et les cheveux coiffés sur le devant. Son pantalon gris est plus évasé en bas, comme les pantalons masculins étaient coupés dans les années 1940. De même ses chaussures marrons laissent voir ses chaussures blanches. À côté de lui se trouve son meilleur ami et amoureux James Barnes, fringant dans son uniforme de soldat américain. Ils se regardent l'un l'autre amoureusement. 🥰 J'ai conçu ce dessin où la différence de taille est plus réaliste et conforme à ce que l'on voit dans le film CAPTAIN AMERICA. FIRST AVENGER.

@stevechoosesbucky @steverogersnotebook @stevebuckythyla @steveandbvcky @stevebuckybliss @stevebucky-art @stevebuckythor @stevebuckybrainrot @stuckyfanart @stuckybangs @stuckys-baby @stuckyedtogether @stuckybingo @stuckylibrary @stuckylibrary-blog @buckybarnesstan3 @stuckyasks-blog @stuckyanddandelions @stuckyaesthetic @steverogersdaily @steverogersxreader @steverogersx @buckystevelove @bucky-bucky-bucky-bucky @bucky-barnes-diaries @bucky-bucky-boo @bucky-bucky-bucky @captainamericass @preserumsteve @preserum-feral @preserumstevesuggestions @winterslove1917 @chrisevansbuddy @prewarstucky @buckybarnes @buckybarnesdaily @buckybarnesstar @buckybarnesgifs

[rockyp77mk3]

"Founded in July 1940, the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) specialized in raids and reconnaissance behind enemy lines. Masters of desert navigation, they relied on lightly-armed jeeps and trucks to traverse the Sahara and gather intelligence. The LRDG's 'Road Watch' reports on Axis troop movements were vital to Allied successes." - National Army Museum of the UK NAM Accession Number 1988-09-39-4)

[ijustwanttoreadfanfiction]

Masterlist

Eddie Munson:

Friendly Sex (Completed) - Eddie Munson x AFAB! Reader

Chapter 1 - The Party - Updated version posted 02/04/23

Chapter 2 - The Pact - Updated version posted 02/04/23

Chaper 3 - The Reward - Updated version posted 02/04/23

Chapter 4 - The Interrogation - Posted 04/04/23

Chapter 5 - The Cafeteria - Posted 06/04/23

Chapter 6 - The Darkroom - Posted 09/04/23

Chapter 7 - The Unknown - Posted 10/04/23

Chapter 7 - The Unknown Part II (Extra smut cutscene) - Posted 12/04/23

Chapter 8 - The Visit - Posted 14/04/23

Chapter 9 - The Calm - Posted 16/04/23

Chapter 10 - The Storm - Posted 19/04/23

Chapter 11 - The Cheerleader - Posted 23/04/23

Chapter 12 - The Confession - Posted 25/04/23

Chapter 13 - The End - Posted 30/04/23

Friendly Sex - The Cutscenes

The Drama Closet - Posted 05/05/23

Click here for Friendly Sex Playlist

Eddie Oneshots & Drabbles

Doomsday - Eddie Munson x AFAB! reader

The Encore of Eddie Munson - Eddie Munson x Reader

Kas!Eddie Munson x AFAB! Reader Playlist Fic

Happy To Be Here - Eddie x AFAB! Reader (Crack fic)

Candyland - Rockstar! Eddie Munson x AFAB! Bar Dancer Reader

Billy Hargrove:

The Sunshine Series: Billy Hargove x AFAB! Reader

Sunshine - Billy Hargrove x AFAB! Reader

When The Party's Over - Billy Hargrove x AFAB! Reader

Heartbreaker - Billy Hargrove x AFAB! Reader

Closer - Billy Hargrove x AFAB! Reader

Blue Crush - Billy Hargrove x AFAB! Reader

Here Comes The Sun - Billy Hargrove x AFAB! Reader

Other Oneshots:

Jim Hopper:

Dirty Dancing - Jim Hopper x AFAB! Reader

Working Lunch - Jim Hopper x AFAB! Reader

Playlists

Spotify Profile Link

Stranger Things:

Max Mayfield's 80's Walkman

Nancy Wheeler's Stereo

Robin Buckley's Record Collection

Billy Hargrove's Mixtape

Eddie Munson's Mixtape

Jim Hopper's Vinyl Collection

Steve Harrington's 80's Walkman

Jonathan Byers' Mixtape

Miscellaneous:

Penelope & Colin (Bridgeton Inspired Playlist)

The Steve Roger's 1940's Songbook

Sith!Reader (Star Wars Inspired Playlist)

Spidey Vibes (Spiderman Inspired Playlist)

Targaryen!Reader (GOT/HOTD Inspired Playlist)

[pix4japan]

Komeido Bookstore at Gumyoji Shotengai

Location: Gumyoji, Minami Ward, Yokohama, Japan Timestamp: 17:12・2024/04/09

Fujifilm X100V with 5% diffusion filter ISO 3200 for 1/140 sec. at ƒ/13 Classic Negative film simulation

Located at the eastern entrance to the Gumyoji Kannon Street Shopping Arcade (Gumyoji Shotengai), just a minute's walk from Gumyoji Station on the municipal Blue Line subway, lies the Komeido Shoten bookstore.

Rooted in its origins dating back to around 1940, Komeido Shoten is presently under the stewardship of its third-generation owner. The bookstore underwent renovation in 2008, expanding its offerings to encompass a diverse range of books within its 49.58 square-meter (533.67 square-foot) premises.

Among its collection, one can find a plethora of comics, magazines, and novels. Notably, the selection leans less towards business-oriented titles and more towards catering to the preferences of its core clientele, which predominantly comprises students, housewives, and retirees from the local community.

A unique feature of the bookstore is its practice of including small gifts and product samples with many of its books, a gesture that resonates particularly well with the cost-conscious women who frequent the establishment. Furthermore, in recognition of the large student population in the vicinity, the store maintains a well-stocked inventory of relevant textbooks to meet their academic needs.

For links to Google Maps and additional source references, please check out my latest write-up, a concise 1-minute read (https://www.pix4japan.com/blog/20240409-komeido).

[margotfonteyns]

Bewitched: Ladies Sing Rodgers & Hart

01 - Ruth Etting - Ten Cents A Dance (1930) 02 - Helen Ward - Blue Moon (1935) 03 - Maxine Sullivan - Spring Is Here (1938) 04 - Helen Humes - Sing For Your Supper (1939) 05 - Bea Wain - I Didn't Know What Time It Was (1939) 06 - Adelaide Hall - The Lady Is A Tramp (1940) 07 - Helen Forrest - Bewitched (1941) 08 - Lena Horne - Where Or When (1941) 09 - Hazel Scott - Dancing On The Ceiling (1947) 10 - Lee Wiley - Manhattan (1950) 11 - Betty Carter - I Could Write A Book (1955) 12 - Helen Merrill - Wait Till You See Him (1955) 13 - June Christy - You Took Advantage Of Me (1956) 14 - Peggy Lee - It Never Entered My Mind (1956) 15 - Jeri Southern - He Was Too Good To Me (1956) 16 - Ella Fitzgerald - A Ship Without A Sail (1956) 17 - Sarah Vaughan - A Tree In The Park (1956) 18 - Abbey Lincoln - This Can't Be Love (1956) 19 - Carmen McRae - Isn't It Romantic? (1958) 20 - Billie Holiday - Glad To Be Unhappy (1958) 21 - Blossom Dearie - To Keep My Love Alive (1960) 22 - Anita O'Day - Johnny One Note (1960) 23 - Nancy Wilson - Little Girl Blue (1962)

Bonus Tracks:

24 - Mary Lou Williams (piano) - Lover (1954) 25 - Dorothy Ashby (harp) - Thou Swell (1956)

Download: flac / mp3